Kristin Becker's DTC Classes at WSU

A dark purple rug with light purple lines across it.

My first texture image is of a purple rug I own.  The lines across the rug in this image make up decorative leaves that are throughout the rug.  I chose just a sliver of the rug, however, so it is not as easily visible what the lines are supposed to represent.  These lines are pretty substantial in size.  They are lighter in color as well to contrast the darker color of the main rug.  The rug is a low rug, so it is not particularly soft, but not coarse or rough either.

A closeup of a black and gray rug.

My second texture image is of another rug I own.  It is a coarse, tough rug usually found in doorways.  This rug would not be described as soft.  It is black and gray in color with varying colors in between.  I took a closeup of the rug to focus in on the intricacies of the rug and the coloring.  It has a crossing pattern that is seen where the gray outlines the black, which is an example of lines and planes where the black is the plane and the gray is the line.

Grass:

There are two main textures in this photo. The grass is soft and smooth to the touch whereas the cement is rough and cold. You can get this feeling from the way the grass is in the picture. The blades are going in every direction as well as are bend, showing that it is not a rigid structure but rather soft. There are many lines in the grass as well as on the cement. Every blade of grass is a different color showing that there are hundreds of blades of grass that make up the plane of grass as seen. The lines in the grass are going in every direction but the cement lines are only vertical. You can see that the cement is rough based on how you know cement feels from past experiences and memories.  The lines of the cement give the feeling of a rough, cold texture compared to the grass.

Lanyard:

The lanyard shows texture by the small groves that are woven together to create the lanyard. You can also see the smooth texture of the shapes that contrast the rough yard feeling the shapes are on. There are many lines that form planes on the lanyard. Each shape is made up of lines that come together to make a plane and these planes are also considered points because they draw the viewer’s eyes to them.

Close-up of a artificial flowers and a glossy wood background. Photo by me.

The image I chose features an artificial white rose and smaller red artificial flowers, with stems and leaves attached, in front of a glossy, light-colored wooden door.

The wood in the background is very simplistic and consistent when it comes to texture. It is very smooth, no bumps or ridges on the surface, and your fingers glide over it with ease. Although some grain in the wood is seen, this does not effect the overall flatness and consistency of the surface. The white rose’s petals have almost a watercolor paper consistency; slightly rough, dry, and easily bendable. There are tiny parallel ridges that extend down the petals which is the cause of the slightly rough, papery texture. The stem of the rose is a very smooth plastic that, like the wood, has no tension or relief in the surface. The smaller red flowers have a near identical paper texture to the rose, but they have larger ridges therefore have a more wavy surface. They are also much thinner and more bendable, and the edges of the petals are slightly jagged which makes them a bit ticklish on the fingertips. The leaves that are attached to the stems have a slight waxy feel, and the stems in the leaves cause the surface to have tiny ridges that run from the center stem to the edge of the leaves in a parallel fashion. The edges of the leaves are a bit rigid and rougher than the surface of the leaf, but not quite enough to be sharp.

Photograph of a flower by Callie McCluskey

The picture I’m using is a picture of a succulent that I took from the Moscow farmers market. The plant is made up of leaves that start small and close together in the middle and enlarge with every row away from the center. The leaves are so packed together in the middle of the flower that you cannot see past the green tops of the leaves until the peddles move farther apart and begin to open up. The shape of the leaves starts large in width and meets together at a point at the top. The color changes slightly from a darker pink in the center to bright green and then back to a bright pink on the outside of the succulent. Each leaf is waxy to the touch and feels as if it could be made of a soft plastic. The leaves are thicker as the move away from the center but still fragile enough that you could break it open by pressing your fingernail into it. There are small hair-like things sticking up along the back of each leaf but do not show on the side facing up. There are watermarks that appear on each leaf from the last time the plant was watered, leaving behind a white, thin residue that forms in a circle the size of a water droplet. On top of the succulent is a leaf from a flower that has fallen off quite some time ago. The leaf is all dried up and has shrunk in size. The leaf feels thinner than a piece of paper and is so dry, it would easily break by pinching it. The Succulent is sitting in a thin, black plastic container. The container is flimsy in order to allow you to remove the plant once it is bought. There is also the same residue on it as was on the leaves from the last time the plant got watered.

Pink – 2017 This image is from Laurent Chehere’s series ‘The Flying Houses.’ The inspiration for this piece is from the urbanization policy of Napoleon III and Baron Haussman.

For this blog post, I decided to focus on ‘The Flying Houses’ series created by Laurent Chehere. Laurent Chehere is a photographer who also works on creating surrealistic images of emotions and feelings he is inspired by. He is from Menilmontant, the working neighborhood of Paris, making that location his prime focus and inspiration for most of his work. He also likes focusing on travel, foreigners accents, spices, architecture, and cinema. All his images are his original work, and he makes sure to put them together to make an image that is a representation of his childhood, current life, and future goals.

‘The Flying Houses’ project of his is a surrealistic and poetic representation of the vintage architecture of Paris. He gains his experience also from other such artists with similar scope of art. His primary work is to choose normal houses in the working class and portray the dreams and hopes of those living in those houses. He photomontages different elements like the roof, antennas, the sky, and different characters. One speciality about his images are that he makes sure the image size is huge so people can observe even the smallest details that go into making his project.

The Caravan – 2012 This image is a representation of the struggles between magic and tragedy. Magic represents the vision Laurent Chehere has and the tragedy represents the problems and struggles the people in the caravan are actually going through.

From the images added into this blog post, we can see how variant his work his. He shoots images of buildings, circuses, caravans, and other locations. It is an accurate representation of the rich and poor of the city of Paris. The first image of the pink house is a criticism of the 19th century urbanization policy of Napoleon III and Baron Haussman and how they changed the architecture into boring avenues and buildings. The pink smoke from the house symbolizes cry for help. The second picture majorly focuses on the tragedy and the future of the people in the caravan. Chehere also added a lot of supernatural figures and animals into his ‘The Flying Houses’ series because he wanted it to be a lot more superficial and surrealistic.

Sources:

https://mymodernmet.com/laurent-chehere-surreal-flying-houses/

http://www.laurentchehere.com/laurentchehere.com/FLYING_HOUSES_INTRO.html

The bottom  of a vintage mirror frame hanging on a wall. (Photo by Me)

Texture gives an image depth and presence.  It is a very important aspect of how we perceive art and photography.  Texture is not limited to soft, fuzzy, or coarse things like blankets and carpet. Things like glass bottles have texture too, they are just smooth, hard, and cold, possibly sharp or loads of other things as well.  I find that smoother surfaces tend to get left out when talking about texture.

The image above is of the bottom of a vintage mirror frame hanging on a white wall.  It is a solid, wooden frame, the actual surface is rather smooth but the frame gives the illusion of roughness.  The withered look of the frame comes from the thick coat of matte white paint, layered  haphazardly over the brown wood.  In some areas the paint is flaking off the frame,  creating imperfections and blemishes on the ornate carvings in the wood.  The harsh way the paint is laid on the wood is scratched and gritty.  The wood of the frame is carved into a chunky organic pattern.  The terminal points of this pattern ending in blunt paisley like shapes.  Shadows are created by the inset patterns on the paisley shapes.  These inset pattern gives the frame depth, and a certain fluidity on its rigid surface.

The wall behind the mirror also has a slight texture.  The wall is solid and bumpy.  The white paint has a slightly glossy finish.  The small bumps and lines on the wall are random and rigid.  They cast the smallest of shadows back onto the wall. Due to the wall being repainted so many times the paint looks as if it has been caked on, it is obvious that the paint is heavily layered.

AREA 1:

There were various Speakers present at the Netroots Nation 2016 Keynote plenary “The Digital CultureSHIFT: Moving from Scale to Power to Achieve Racial Justice”. Several speakers had differentiating stances on the issue at bay which regarding who was in control of the digital technologies we have present, and do the current digital platforms that are available help people progress or do the perpetuate the status quo? Samhita Mukhopadhyay, the Senior Editorial Director of Cultures and Identities, begins by stating how much the use and popularity of digital platforms have increased since they were first released. She calls these progressive steps “the third phase of internet advocacy”. With the popularity of digital platforms, people are able to share more information about bias events which gives people an opportunity to realize the bias surrounding them and actually make a change about it. In return, Rashad Robinson, the Executive Director for ColorOfChange, states that although platforms have helped minorities spread awareness regarding bias, and has helped some people successfully advocate for justice we must not mistake this new presence as power. In other words, although popular social sites give awareness and advocates a platform, that presence is not to be mistaken for power because the only people who hold power are those running the platforms. Moreover, if most workers at popular social media platforms choose to adjust their policies and algorithms and limit our freedom of posts of speech on their sites, they are the ones who have power over its users. In return, Robinson stresses that we must hold these large companies accountable just like we would for any other industry that was limiting our capabilities. Furthermore, the increase of bias awareness and advocacy led to the idea of a digital media shift. However, most speakers were able to offer a valid range of opinions regarding whether or not the actual platforms available that led to this shift were helping or limiting the cause.

AREA 2:

This discussion was incredibly eye-opening and I was able to agree with several points from different speakers throughout the panel. However, I must say that there were two speakers in particular which stood out in regards to the opinions they shared. The keynote plenary gave speakers a chance to voice their opinions on how digital media has influenced awareness and advocacy regarding hate crimes, hate speech, and bias events. Moreover, the speakers discussed whether or not they believed that digital media had made a shift resulting in the increase of awareness and advocacy, and if these platforms were aiding or limiting awareness and advocacy against bias. Autumn Marie, a Black Lives Matter Organizer, began by breaking down the question at bay, stating that digital media itself was not responsible for the rise of awareness and advocacy on internet platforms. In other words, now that platforms have an increased amount of users, viral posts bringing awareness to bias events are able to reach more users. Reading Autumn Marie’s statement really opened my eyes to questioning the praise of social media for civil rights movements. Her statements made me realize that it is not the platform itself that is responsible for this shift, it is the people brave enough to advocate for civil rights. To add to this, I must also share that I leaned more towards the weary side of the discussion regarding digital media in this day in age. In particular, I shared the same views as Rashad Robinson. People working at large social media platforms are truly in control of what they approve to keep or disregard on their sites. While it is useful for minorities and advocates to have a platforms to share their ideas, it is of no use if those controlling the platform do not share the same stance.

I chose the photo collage artist John Turck. He is a contemporary artist based out of New York. He deals exclusively with collages made up of photos. In the work that I chose for this post, Turck has created a surreal scene of a man fishing on a misty lake while in the distance, astroids seem to rip away from the ground and into space.

A photo collage by John Turck (MyModernMet.com)

The contrast between the upper and lower portions give the work its power. Seemingly, this collage is made up of just two photographs layered on top of one another.

Turck’s use of lines in this collage is multifaceted. At the bottom of the collage, the ripples in the water at sunrise create contrast. Moving upwards, Turck chose to leave the upper image slightly raised from the image below, casting a small but noticeable shadow. This boundary line enforces a separation of the two source materials, even though most collages try to blend their components seamlessly. This collage would not fool a viewer into thinking it was an unaltered photograph. The color palettes of the source images are similar, which is probably why Turck chose to combine the two. The orange behind the trees in the image in the foreground has a similar hue to the orange of the planet in the background.

Although Turck is an artist of our time, his collage works hard to feel analogue. The image in the foreground of the man in the boat looks as though it was placed physically on top of the space image, and then photographed under a bright light. However, the background image of space looks fantastical, so it is probably computer-generated. Turck’s other works that I found on his Instagram page seem to follow a similar style, with photorealistic imagery in the foreground paired with breathtaking or abstract computer-generated backgrounds. Turck’s use of analogue style shows a commitment to traditional photo collage techniques, even in a time where photo collage artists have a wide range of methods to create their work.

Artist Clover Robin replicates the environment and scenery on her travels through collage (photo from My Modern MET).

Clover Robin is an English artist that uses elements and principles of design to replicate her surroundings while traveling into small collages. On her road trips, Robin presumably does not have access to methods for altering photos digitally, so she is limited to using paper and other materials to manually create pieces. The artist’s collages were done in a small sketchbook, possibly due to the fact that much of her collage-making was done in the small space of the passenger’s seat of a car; this way all of the pieces would be easily portable and kept together neatly.

Robin uses a number of elements and principles of design in her creation of the above piece. For example, the light and dark colors, which visually appear to carry different weight, seem to be evenly distributed between the two halves of the collage, creating an even balance that is pleasing to the eye. The mountains are relatively smooth and lack sharp, aggressive edges, giving them a visual texture that feels calm and soft. These are contrasted with the sharp, straight edges and dark value of the road, the line of which draws the viewer’s eye from the bottom of the page up, which would recreate the direction that Clover’s car would be traveling in if she were driving toward the mountains.