Car Boot Sale

To address the issue of using page in my work I visited a car boot sale in hope of induing some older image that related to my project, I then knew i could scan and adapt these images to fit into my work. I had used this technique before, and by scanning then re printing and cutting out individuals it created a satisfying texture and edge to the photographs.

Examples of photographs that have been scanned, cut then re-scanned.

Re-Take

I went back to the original case of the man who mistook his wife for a hat. I had found an image of a man playing the flute and believed it would tie in very nicely, seeing as he was a professor of music. I also figured that using the lines of musical notes would not only portray this but also it represent the geometric shapes he would visualise. I liked the slight facial disfigurement, this was a concept that I had talked to Ceri about during a recent tutorial and I feel it focuses again on the detachment from society but also the break from reality in the mind.

This is a photo from 1066 of William the Conquerer at the battle of Hastings. Oh no it's obviously the aforementioned image, just checking you are reading this.

The Lost Mariner

For the case of the Lost Mariner; taken from Oliver Sack's book, 'The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat.' The Lost Mariner is an elder man, who's mind is trapped in his youth as a submariner. He is an older gentleman in 1975 but inside his mind he believes himself to still be his former 19 year old self in 1945 where he worked as submariner. I was interested in the concept of the submarine and how it half is exposed whilst half is submerged and this gave connotation of the human subconscious and i decided to include this some how in my image. The line acts as some sort of surface, of time or sea and separates the two dates and thus his states of mind and body.

The final image for the Lost Mariner

Other avenues of the image, created before i settled on the former.

Breakthrough

Auspicious adj. Marked by success; prosperous. Suggesting a positive and successful future. “An auspicious time to purchase the stock.”


A fitting word for a fitting time.


I feel I have finally broken into something successful. I was looking at the case of the man who mistook his wife for a hat, an individual who see patterns and shapes instead of the objects and what they are, when he is handed a flower he describes its visual, geometric qualities but fails to reach the conclusion that it is a flower.

In this image i was focusing on what it is to be a patent of medical condition, you are isolated, judged for your characteristics and impairment, you are not seen as an equal and in this same sense the medication often prescribed acts as a barrier between the patent and him/herself, further complicating their functioning as a valued and equal member of society.

This image was a displaying part of the patients symptoms of only recognising shapes and pattern. The font used again is considered (as before). I was carrying out some reattach when I discovered a section about the font 'Albertus' one which was used in the 60's tv show 'The Prisoner' which is a favourite of mine. I decided the font would be a very good choice to be within my images, not only acting as a binding of sorts but also because in carried the mysterious elements seen in the prisoner, the illusion of identity, the experiments to change characteristics, I felt the show had strong connection with what was seen in the case studies in Sacks' book.

Textures

Today I wanted to find more texture to use for my project, I have previously been using textures taken from mono printing onto paper with a roller and then scanning these in, but i wanted to expand from these and I took my camera outside. I found textures such as scratched metal and tarmac were quite interesting and so I took these images for use in my work.

Some examples of textures used in my work- a red filter has been applied to all.

States of Mind

Dogmatic adj. 1. Expressing rigid opinions; Prone to expressing strongly held beliefs and opinions. “A dogmatic speech.” 2. Asserting opinions in a doctrinaire or arrogant manner; opinionated.

Im definitely very dogmatic, and probably too much of the time.

I began exploring ideas with the ideas of the mind within my images, I took to an early photograph i had found of a patient in bed and began playing with what I could to do the image.

I enjoy the suggestions of these images but again there is not enough meaning, I need to really include the stories of the patients.

Mental

Austere adj. 1. Markedly simple without adornment or ornamentation. “An austere office;” “An austere writing style.” 2. Strict or stern in appearance or manner. “He was an austere movie critic.”

I guess sometimes I can be too austere.

My project is coming to its conclusion and finally I feel I'm coming to a resolution. I've spoken with Jonny and Pete these past few weeks and have been discussing my ideas and images, I'm very happy with them and feel they've really progressed visually more so than in terms of what they say, design wise I'm very content with but I'm not sure if I was putting a strong enough message across and was worried about this. Pete said for me to be considering how I'm telling something, I'm telling a story and I thought about how I could do that in a subjective sense and stray away from an objective sense because of the nature of my abstract drawings, subjectivity is much more successful for me and the issues of the body were not translating. I discussed the idea of dementia and forgetting and this sparked ideas for further work. I felt something was brewing.

An example of the place my work was at.

I was also speaking to Jonny and we again had a conversation about mental health issues and how this alternative perception of reality could chime with the work I was creating. It was during this talk I realized that at the very beginning of the project ( possibly before) ,I bought a book by professor Oliver Sacks called the man who mistook his wife for a hat,  which is a series of psychological studies on patients; delusions and breaks from reality. It was interesting that my whole visual and mental journey this project, had come round to one complete circle, starting where I finished. I decided to venture down this avenue of case studies from the book.