It was a very tough consultation session with Paul because I really had to narrow down to what I really want my viewers to see. I thought I would just be presenting how I intended my work to be but it turned out that I still need to consider more critically what I want to present. Paul's recommendation is to enlarge one photo and present it. But I just cannot come to terms with his suggestion because to me, my recollection of the past is not a single image but a collection of it. But I do agree that a large image would create a sense of focus and impact to the viewer.
On the other hand, I guessed I really struggled with his comments because my subject matter is really personal. The physical distance between my dad and I is real, so is the gap that is created because of the accumulation of time and space that is neglected over the last decade. Counting to date I have not seen my date for almost half a year and every time I look at the photo-montage I feel like a little girl trying so hard to make things 'right' again. Therefore at that point for me, both works need to exist as one because to me, they are a progression of how over the years despite the challenge of distance, I am searching of ways to re-unite the old times. The torch projection representing me searching and reminiscing about the past and the virtual photo-montage about how I am trying to overcome the challenge of distance through virtual means. That was way I chose to arrange my frames in a way that creates a rectangular border. Although the various frames are arranged freely and not constricted to a pattern, I ensured that there was a focal point by placing the largest frame in the middle of the arrangement. This is the compensate the lack of a focal point when presenting a collection of images.
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| Largest frame placed in the center to create a focal point |
Nevertheless, I do agree with Paul that the video can be eliminated but I still wanted to keep both set of works. So I left the consultation in a dilemma and I felt really disappointed and worried because I thought my idea was alright and I could have set up my work on the same day. Recalling about it now, Paul is right why did I get so worked up about it? At least I had the luxury to make a choice between two works that I have created. Since I have already intended to set up my work on the same day after I consulted Paul, I took a short break to think about the work I wanted to present. I compared the appeal of both works to the viewer and decided to narrow to the piece with the old photos because the work must exist together with the audience. Since I came to NIE, the artworks that I have created would always revolve around the notion of viewers' interaction and participation with the artwork also known as 'Relational Aesthetics' (coined by Nicholas Bourriaud in his book Relational Aesthetics, 2002). So I wanted to retained this key aspect in my final year project too. Moreover in terms of authenticity, this work using the torch projection is something that really came out from my exploration without direct influence by any artists. As compared to the virtual family photo-montage, I drew the inspiration heavily from John Clang and thus I do feel restricted and did not really challenged myself to break the overall concept. Whereas, the cutout old photos and the torch projection still retained the juxtaposition of virtual and real with the addition of interactive element as the audience play a game of matching the image.
At the same time, relating back to my chosen theme of 'shadow', which represent a silhouette that can only be cast in relation to the source of light and a object and it is something that is fleeting and not permanent, so does my cutout represent the silhouette of the people representing the kind of closeness and relationship remain as a part of my memory that only exist in the past and is not permanent. The only way is to recall it is to be a explorer searching for a treasure, but as soon as the projection is off, so does the pretense that things are still the same ends.
Another take away from this point that I have to critical consider what I want to present reminded me how it would be like for my students in terms of decision-making in the process of creating their coursework. For example like how Paul used analogy to enlarge my perspective when viewing my work and that he gave me room for me to make my own decision instead of dictating what I should do, how do I juggle with this when I am a teacher. Would there be opportunity for my students to reflect and decide what is best for their work or in order to go with what is the norm of getting distinction neglect the chance for them to develop skills for decision-making and a sense of ownership to their work?
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