Gerry Workshop 3- Making It Different

jamesdrakes420

Nov 25, 20225 min read

Updated: Dec 12, 2022

29/11/22 This is Gerrys final workshop on Photo Mashups

In this workshop, we were given the brief of taking objects and combing them together to create an abstract version of another object or concept. We were given two different tasks, to create an object using two random objects in the workshop and to create a methodical outcome using two objects outside of the workshop.

random outcomes-

These random outcomes, where created from random objects that I was given in the workshop. We were tasked to bring in random objects, that were placed onto a table in the workshop, then we were told to stand facing the other way and were given two random objects from the table. The two objects I was given were a Vape and a bell from a Lindt chocolate bear.

These are the objects I was given, to make something from. I decided to experiment with taking photographs of the objects at different angles and perspectives. I did this, so that I could incorporate these different angles into my work.

For my first outcome, I decided to experiment with photoshop and the object selection tool. I decided to use a photograph a dog and incorporate it with these objects to create an abstract outcome. I decided to combine this image of the dog with both the vape and the bell.

This is the dog outcome that combines this image of the dog, with the vape and the bell. I decided to create this outcome because I though of a conceptual idea. The conceptual idea revolves around the idea of people owning vapes like they are dogs. This is because Vapes are really common today and are owned by a large section of society, like how dogs are. I thought about the phrase "Every man and their dogs" and how that kind of relates to vapes in society today. I personally think that this outcome is effective because it is abstract but it also kind of makes sense in an abstract way, when you think about how a large section of society owns them like they are pets.

This is another photograph, that I am going to combine with my objects. I chose a factory chimney because being in a public place, where people are vaping, reminds me of factories. It reminds me of the Industrial areas near Grimsby, where I am from. This is because the factories and refineries, constantly produce these large clouds that can be seen in the sky around the whole area.

This outcome combines the vape with the factory chimney. I decided to create this because vapes remind me of factories. This is because vapes are always producing toxic fumes and smoke like factories do and they both pollute the air that we breathe in. They are also both really bad for our lungs. I also thought about how vapes are produced in these chemical plants in china and lots of people in society preach about them being safer than smoking. This is why I linked them with this imagery of a factory because they are both bad for the environment and human health. I also included the ribbon of the bell in the smoke to create a fire effect. I think that this combination is effective because there is a strong contextual link between both the vape and the factory. However I think that I should remove the ribbon from the small because it feels a bit overkill.

Methodical outcomes-

This is the second task in the brief, to create Methodical outcomes using objects that I have chosen. I have created three different outcomes, that use three objects. The objects, I have used, consist of sunglasses, a ballon dog and an oven glove.

This is the first object I am going to use to create an outcome with. I have two pairs of these sunglasses, a white pair and a black pair. when I found these sunglasses, I thought of the idea of creating a butterfly from the shape of the frame.

Here, I have used the object selection tool, to cut out the sunglasses so that they are ready to drop into another document. I also cut them out, so that they can be manipulated into the space of a butterfly.

This is the final outcome for the butterfly concept. I have used the sunglasses to create the wings. I have stretched the white pair, to create the lower part of the wings. The body of the butterfly is made from the vape, that I used in the previous task. I also drew the arenas in photoshop onto the butterfly. I think that this outcome is interesting and I personally like it because I've always looked at those sunglasses and thought, that they look like butterfly wings. I think that I could improve it by cleaning up the edges of the glasses because they are a bit rough, from where I have cut them out of the image. I would also add a background if I was to develop this outcome further.

I decided to combine these to objects together.This is because I wanted to use my Jeff Koons style balloon unicorn/dog and combine it with a dogs head. I found an image of a dog and used the object selection tool, to cut its head of its body, so that I could combine it with the body of the balloon dog.

This is the balloon dog outcome, where I have combined the head of a dog with my balloon dog ornament. I think that this is an interesting but funny concept because it looks silly and goofy. But I do think that this concept does make contextual sense because it's a take on Jeff Koon's balloon dogs. However, I don't really like this outcome because I think the dogs head looks horrible. This is because I tried to colour match it with the rest of the ballon dog, but I think it looks terrible. I also think that I need to make the dogs head larger, so that it covers the top section of the balloon dog's head.

This Is my final object, that I am going to use to create an outcome. This object, is an oven glove, that I found in my Kitchen. When I found this glove, I thought of the concept of turning it into a whale, due to the overall shape of the glove.

I found this image of a whale, That I have combined with the glove to create the final outcome. I used the object selection tool in photoshop to cut up this image of the whale. This is because I only need certain sections of the whale, like the tail and the flippers.

This is the final whale outcome. I think that this outcome is hilarious because it looks really goofy. I do think that this outcome is successful because the shape of the glove works well with the curves of the whale. However I accidentally added an extra fin, so it kind of looks like a creature from Avatar. One area I would improve on is maybe, trying to blend the colours of the glove and the whale and try match. the same tone.

Artist research-

Stephen McMennamy-

Stephen McMennamy is an American designer who is known for his "combo photos", where he combines objects and photographs, to create interesting and abstract outcomes. The outcomes often range in subject material from funny, interesting, clever, or even acts as social commentary (Brave the Woods, 2022). He also takes all the photographs himself and combines them together without editing in photoshop.

Here are two examples of photo mashups created by McMenamy. This project is called "Combophotos" and is a photography project that allows him to experiment with different experimental techniques. He also leaves the line, where he joins the images together. This creates an abstract divide in the image between each object. I think that his work is interesting and I personally like it. I think that concepts like this are interesting because they can have different meanings, depending on how you personally interoperate it.