Home   Syllabus   Grading   Project Generator   Video Wall   Sayings/Dichos   Class Projects

 

Class Projects

 

Stephanie Brunia, Project List, 2/6/2012

 
I have 2 proposals currently for this semester:
1. Proposal #1. I will work to make life-size tintype portraits. Ideally, this can be done with a camera, however, I am willing to accept that I may resort to creating these through a projection/print process. Aside from the logistics (material, chemicals, the limited time-frame of the chemical process, etc.), this project will marry an antiquated photographic process with current technical means for creating an image (spanning from digital techniques, to optical advancements, as well as potentially refining the chemical process).

As of 2/5/2012 have been sketching some ideas for how to tackle this process I like Maggie's idea of trying to work in a more humid environment to gain a longer processing time with the plate. Thus far, I am still running experiments with how to layer multiple exposures on a plate. I am still currently doing everything out-of-camera. Need to look into the following this week:

  • Where to buy the metal plates
  • Where to coat the plates (most likely an auto body detail shop)
  • How far from the plate will a projector need to sit?
  • If I make the exposure in the Annex Non-Silver Lab, how many segments must I break the figure into?
  • How do I fund these experiments?
  • I also need to start looking into the optics if I am going to make my own camera - could I use the Kodak no.6 lens?
  • Make rough blueprints of the camera that I would need to build - don't yet worry about reciprocity failure with extended bellows.
 
2. Proposal #2. Over the past week, I have struggled with how to marry my expectations of this class with the notion of a class project. The term 'project' can seem a bit limiting, and I kept thinking of it as a product or gadget. Ultimately, I am taking this class to try and understand what constitutes as innovation, and to better understand my own role in innovation. This quickly becomes a very grey area - as an artist, I am frequently used to dealing with making an object from an abstract idea or question. On many levels, that would be considered innovative, however, I do feel that even in a creative field, innovation is often lacking. My second project proposal (which I fully expect will morph throughout the semester) is to create an artistic manifesto--the exact final format is to-be-determined. In many ways, this is creating a box, the opposite of what this class seems to promote, but I have thought a lot about this project and feel that a personal artistic manifesto will help with the following:
  • help me determine how to live on the edges of my own boundaries
  • help to bring a clarity to ways in which I approach art (both my own art and others')
  • in an "everything goes" environment, the art world is currently lacking a cohesive voice, I would love to push collaborations with similarly-minded artists, and a manifesto is the way to begin those conversations
  • I also feel that a manifesto could offer a chance to reveal not only my own assumptions, but areas in which to be truly artistically innovative.

I understand that this proposal is only the beginning of a projectmy hope is that it will lead me to new ideas. I also propose to get my own community involved in this process. I foresee this project as a way of reaching out to my peers in the art community at UNM-my hope is that it will formulate deeper thoughts on the role and function of art in our culture, our role as makers of art, as well as our role as art educators (both inside and outside of the classroom).

As of 2/5/12: Thus far my favorite manifesto: http://www.yvesklein.de/manifesto.html I should admit that I haven't made great strides on a manifesto in the past week, though I've looked at a few and have generated the following questions:

  • How do I want to disseminate my manifesto? newspaper, online, ad in art publication, the Dadaist manifesto was recited at a cabaret show. (I could recite mine at my MFA talk.)
  • What sort of tone do I want to set?
  • Who is my audience? Does a manifesto have to exist for the world, or can it be addressed to myself personally and remain a hidden structure behind my work?
  • What response do I want?
  • Should this document matter?
  • Is art more product or process? Does this matter?
  • Are there certain visual tropes that I want to embrace? Ones to avoid?
  • How do I want someone to define art? Do I want to offer the definition, or offer the process towards the definition?
  • How can I challenge assumptions? (use humor)
  • help me determine how to live on the edges of my own boundaries
  • help to bring a clarity to ways in which I approach art (both my own art and others')
  • in an "everything goes" environment, the art world is currently lacking a cohesive voice, I would love to push collaborations with similarly-minded artists, and a manifesto is the way to begin those conversations
  • I also feel that a manifesto could offer a chance to reveal not only my own assumptions, but areas in which to be truly artistically innovative

I understand that this proposal is only the beginning of a project - my hope is that it will lead me to new ideas. I also propose to get my own community involved in this process. I foresee this project as a way of reaching out to my peers in the art community at UNM - my hope is that it will formulate deeper thoughts on the role and function of art in our culture, our role as makers of art, as well as our role as art educators (both inside and outside of the classroom).