Grad Work

Thursday afternoon I went to see work presented by the graduate student Bree. I feel like a jerk on account of forgetting to write down her last name. If I am able to find it I will fix this little problem right away.

In Bree's first set of photos I was not sure what the different frames were supposed to mean and why she had kept the tags still on them. After reading her artist statement all these questions, along with some others I wanted to ask her were answered. When she was a girl her aunt and uncle would send her picture frames with her name on them, but her name was always misspelled. I like that she incorporated something personal into her work. However, I think she could have gone a little deeper in showing the significance of the frames. One person in the audience suggested that she put her aunt and uncle's names on the frames and have them be misspelled. This is a good idea to run with because I think it would be comical and also help explain the meaning behind the frames. I also think putting something different inside the frames would help as well. The images inside need to show the connection to her, rather just being something that comes with the frame. Little tweaks like this may help strengthen her series.

Bree talking about her frames

Her second set of work was also very colorful but not very easy to look at up close. Professor Jim Stone noted that up close they made him dizzy but are nice from far away. I would not go as far as to say they made me dizzy, but I do agree that they were more pleasant from the other side of the room. Mostly because I was able to see the figures in the photos. In some ways I kind of felt like I was looking at something I was not supposed to be looking at. When I think about them now I think about them almost as surveillance photos, only with a very colorized background and the figures are white and faceless. I cannot offer my thoughts on what needed improvement in this series. I can say that she had a very creative idea and produced interesting work. Overall I liked her frame series better.