Ephemera
"SOCIAL MED(ia)S"
Washable Paint, Pills
November, 2016
Washable Paint, Pills
November, 2016
SOCIAL MED(ia)S was created to express a big message that, in my opinion, is a big problem. I made to express how a lot of teens, and even some children or adults, are addicted to social medias and that some really can't live without them. It becomes such a problem that it basically becomes a necessity, like a medication. I have each pill a different color, with the exception of some repeats, to represent a different popular/widely used social media network. I also attempted to place the pills and bottle in such a way that gives off a dramatic message.
Inspirational Artist/Work
One of the big main reasons I so strongly focus on the meaning and message and delivery of the message on this piece is directly because of the artist I used for inspiration, Zenos Frudakis. Zenos makes many different forms of sculptures like busts, portrait statues, and public monuments, which he is also best known for. Although, what I am mainly focused on and using for inspiration is his also well known figurative sculptures. Specifically about his figurative sculptures is the the fact that he beautifully and speechlessly delivers messages through his work that range on levels of “deepness”. I too wanted to try and use that same concept and develop a more meaning focused piece. Although I am just painting pills and not creating clay sculptures, I think his work is definitely an inspirational aspect.
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Brainstorming
When I first came to a conclusion on what the main message would be, I had one image in my head right away (shown above). I originally wanted to use different colored paint on my arm, or someone else's arm, and have several "self-inflicted cuts" that are each bleeding different colors. Those colors would still be representing a different social media similar to how I have it in my final piece. I decided to turn away from this idea because I didn't think it gave the same message as I was hoping for or even in the same tone I was reaching for.
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The idea for my final piece sort of evolved from my previous one (on the left). While still using the same message to be delivered, I figured the only thing I had to really adjust from the previous idea was the tone. I wanted to move away from the self-inflicted cuts to something that reaches more of the "" tone. That's when I thought of trying to interpret some form of medication aspect.
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Process/Expiramention
- Gathering the Materials- The start of this very short process begins with the gathering of the materials. I knew I already had some spare washable paint and brushes I've had for a while, so I knew I could use those. Also, surprisingly enough, there was a spare bottle of pills within my house that I really don't know where they came from. The washable paint, brushes, the pills, and an open space were all I needed, after having these four I could begin the painting process.
- Painting the Pills- To paint the pills I would place the pills down onto a paper towel and use a small brush to simply apply a couple strokes of paint of whichever color is necessary. I used each color to represent a different extremely popular/widely used social media. Yellow - Snapchat, light blue - Twitter, dark blue - Facebook, brown - Instagram, green - vine.
- Placing the Pills- A big part of expressing the message involves the placement of the pills. I wanted to achieve a sort of "spill" type placement to give the look as if they were actually spilled and not a piece of art. I figured a spill would be best to show the overall dramatic and "need of help" part of the idea or message.
- Getting the Right Perspective- Taking the picture was by far the easiest step. The goal for the picture taking process was to get an angle that gives off a dramatic feeling along with also getting a good angle to show off the "spilled" position of the placed pills.
Reflection
The final aftermath of this project is personally my least favorite of all other projects I completed this semester. The overall final appearance, the process, and even the executed idea, are extremely far from my liking. The ONLY aspect of the project that I am actually some what fond of is the message being expressed, I strongly consider this project as a fail. There are many things I could’ve done differently that would’ve made a better outcome. For example; the photographs taken of the piece could be at better angles in an attempt to deliver the message in a stronger and more clear way. I also could’ve used different pills to reflect more of a clear dramatic image.
ACT Connections
- Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork. When you see the figurative sculptures from Zenos, you can almost instantly see the message that’s delivered, but even if it’s not almost instantly for some people, it’s still there and the meaning is still a major role in that piece. I would say that that also applies for my ephemeral piece, it may not be as beautifully executed as Zenos does but it’s still there as is his.
- What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration? When I further researched Zenos and his figurative sculptures after discovering him, I learned that he too also sets his main goal so that anyone from anywhere will understand the interpreted message of a certain piece. This is something that really is the biggest connecting point between Zenos as an inspiration and my piece.
- What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration? When researching it became more clear to me that a lot of people have similar problems within their life that may or may not be personal, but the people still have them. So the fact that they have them and almost unknowingly share them with every other person, makes it easier for a single message to really reach out to a lot of people and have a deeper meaning than it would without those people. Also that unspoken messages can be widely known and understood from s few simple synbols (sculltures, logos, etc.).
- What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research? As mentioned many times throughout this page, I was strongly focusing on creating a piece that doesn’t use words to express a powerful, serious message, which in this case is also spreading amongst millions and getting worse.
- What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research? A couple inferences that were made were, as mentioned before, that many people unknowingly share similar problems that help them to see powerful messages delivered in pieces of art. Also that words are rarely needed to communicate within art, almost never, which I personally extremely admire.