010 - Three Most Important Research Issues

In regards to the feedback that I received from my Pecha Kucha presentation, more research needs to be done and I have gathered three main points to focus on while doing so.

Image Credit: Untitled, from the series This is not a House, 2009 © Edgar Martins. Courtesy the Artist

First, is the use of photography in art, journalism and documentary. The next one is the impact of Edgar Martins' work and its intent to portray the fall of the U.S. house market. The last thing I want to cover is the reaction of the audience to his work and how this affects the project entirely.

009 - Pecha Kucha Presentation

These are my slides for my Pecha Kucha Presentation which focuses on Documentary Photography, Photojoournalism and Photography as an artistic medium.

008 - Harvard Referencing

Calado, J. (2011). 'Edgar Martins The Original Sin'. Hot Shoe. April 2011, pp. 8-19. [Online]. http://edgarmartins.com/pdf/11_10_04Hot_%20Shoe_Article.pdf. [Accessed: 21/11/2011]

Martins, E. Artist website. [Online]. http://edgarmartins.com/. [Accessed: 21/11/2011]

Martins, E. (2011). 'This is Not a House'. AG. Spring 2011: pp. 14-23. [Online]. http://edgarmartins.com/pdf/11_10_04_Edgar_Martins_revised.pdf. [Accessed: 21/11/2011]

Martins, E, (2009). This is not a House Series. The New Art Gallery Walsall.

Osborne, P. (2010). This is Not a House by Edgar Martins. Lewis, Dewi Publishing. [Online]. http://www.edgarmartins.com/pdf/11_02_22_EN_PeterOsborne.pdf. [Accessed: 21/11/2011]

Unknown. 'The New York Times's Gilded Age'. Scrapbook. Volume 14: No. 41. [Online]. http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis/docview/getDocForCuiReq?lni=7W54-DF30-Y935-M00T&csi=154608&oc=00240&perma=true. [Accessed: 21/11/2011]

007 - Reflective Writing: Written Analysis

The summer project, namely Holding On: Letting Go, was not only an insight on how I worked as an artist, it was also a way to initialize various ideas for a more in depth approach to Fine Art: Photography. I wanted to convey the emotions involved within the said theme. Therefore, my pieces were mostly photographs that were carefully post-processed to certain amounts of abstraction to keep them open to interpretation yet still highly relative to the message/s that I wanted to convey. My approach to the project consisted of a process of collecting imagery and using them as materials to create digital paintings (i.e. layered images) through Photoshop to convey feelings, emotions and experiences.

A continuation project called Second Life was started as a way to develop my work wherein different types of media as well as techniques were used to re-create and produce pieces and ideas that are more interesting than the earlier ones that I made. Some of the methods that I used were ones suggested by fellow students and lecturers which I gathered after one-to-one tutorials and group seminars. The feedback that I received was a good way to know what other people’s perspective was on my work. This also helped me realize what else I could do and how to take the project a step further. Due to this, I decided to use traditional media and refer back to my images as a way of re-invention.

Instead of using photographs as pieces, I used them instead as reference points for abstract watercolour paintings that included the use of unusual techniques (i.e. blowing air to produce shapes) and materials (i.e. string/s). This particular way of producing artwork seemed the most competent and a lot of the people who have seen them have mentioned how interesting the results are. Being able to strip a photograph away from its true essence and re-producing it as something completely different is proving to be a really good and effective technique in terms of photography and art alike.

The next step that I would like to take for this project is to continue on re-inventing my images but with other types of media as well as combining them. There is also possibility of re-visiting the pieces that I have already created and produce them again but with further depth and detail. Further research is also a vital part of improving my work and skills. A few ways of doing this is by using the links (i.e. book titles, artist names and films) that I have collected from group seminars and tutorials. I would also like to gather more feedback and collect information on how to make my pieces connect with the audience in a better way so that the message and meaning are seen the way I want it to be shown.

006 - Second Life Project

After my 'Holding On: Letting Go' project, I had to move on to producing another set of works that showcased further exploration of media and ideas hence leading to a Second Life. Since my initial aproach was photographic, I decided to go back and use traditional media (i.e. painting, watercolours) to recreate the pieces that I produced with a camera. The process of doing so led me to realize that re-creating a photograph through a different medium can produce something totally different and can alter its meaning entirely. I learnt this through the various feedback that I got during the group seminar that I participated in class. There are still a lot of potential for development and I hope to be able to experiment more as I go along with this project.