Assignment 5 - Reflection

When does the image stop being a collection of pictures and become something else?

The images I chose go from being random mostly unrelated objects to a hopefully somewhat convincing photo of food with a surrealist sort of vibe. In the print I have placed the image that I was trying to mimic to call back to what this is meant to be, to emphasize the fact that these objects have taken up a new form/life. 

Does your work feel seductive, excessive, or uncomfortable?

I think it could maybe be seen as uncomfortable but I think that I would say that it's more questionable than uncomfortable. Why a hot dog? What context is this in? Why is there very little background? To address the last question I think it makes this scene feel like a moment of solitude while also calling back to the idea of advertising. 

Where is the image “too much,” and is that effective?

Instead of creating an overwhelming image full of various objects I wanted to concentrate them in certain areas of the piece like the hot dog or in the drink. I want the focus to remain on these without someone getting overwhelmed by a scene full of chaos, I needed for there to be a visual break. I think this is effective because it leads the viewer’s eye toward the most important areas without getting lost in a sea of noise. It creates the illusion that this is shown from the viewer’s point of view, it acts like someone is just sitting down to lunch.

How does it relate to mass culture or popular imagery?

I think it’s less of a display of mass culture and popular imagery but I do know that the resulting image is recognizable making it easier to relate to the final image. Everyone knows Costco, everyone knows that the price of the hot dog doesn’t change, it shows the contrast between the price of groceries at Costco compared to that of the food in its food court. It’s consumer culture. How much will you reasonably spend here whether it be on lunch or food for the week/month?

Is there tension between sincerity and irony?

There could be. When designing the drink I used an actual garbage bag to mimic coke with ice. And back to the food advertisements, what can be used to make the food in these things look so good? How come we still order these things even if we know that there’s a good chance that we won’t get what’s advertised? Do we just take things at face value? The hot dog is literally made entirely of shoes with bits of a garbage bag and seeds cut from bok choy but when you look at it from afar it seems completely normal.