Abstract Visual Exploration
Part of my thesis considers whether digital communication is disconnecting us from our communities. I argue that because we are often interacting more via text and other digital communication methods and less via physical interactions, we see an increase in loneliness.
This project uses found objects, photography, wire sculptures, and poetry as an abstract exploration of the particular loneliness of a city.
The project began with photos of ordinary objects left on Brooklyn sidewalks collected daily over the course of two weeks. I took photos of dozens of objects and then narrowed the photos down to thirty images with some consistent aesthetic or utilitarian qualities.
Once photographed, each scene of loneliness converts to a two-dimensional scale, flattened and decontextualized from its original environment.
In the second phase of the project, I created two new versions of my collected objects. The first version uses a stylized filter to break down the image to its most basic visual components. For the second version, I used geometric shapes and lines to draw attention to these new components. The color of these elements corresponded to a shared trait among the various photos.
I then transformed these geometric shapes into wire sculptures to consider the recreation of value for these discarded objects.
I created nine wire sculptures in the next phase, bringing the photographed objects back into the three-dimensional space. Each sculpture hangs on a bright yellow string to create contrast, and because I started to think of my wire sculptures like dream catchers.
I photographed the sculptures in the photo lab to bring in two additional elements—light and shadow. The light created beautiful shadows on the backdrop, which allows the viewer to reconsider the loneliness of these objects and their value.
Overlaid on the photographs are the three earlier versions of the objects. These ancillary images allow the viewer to examine further the object, its value, and the shapes of its components. Gesturing toward the ways we assess value, perceive surroundings, and dialogue with the city, the photos prompt the viewer to question and evaluate the objects in their own lives.
To transform this work yet again, I considered my wire sculptures as dream catchers and wrote poems based on what I imagined the objects might dream about. It’s an abstract leap, but it let me ruminate again on the loneliness of these objects.
Accompanying each photograph is a poem that offers a new narrative and an imagined objective for the found objects. They bring a softness to the project and a new form of representation for the initial objects.
I drew some simple illustrations to accompany the poems and titled the booklet Lost & Found. There are poems for all nine of the objects; four of the poems are featured below.
For the final phase of the project, I put all of my work together to imagine a gallery show for the composite photographs. I wrote a press release, designed a 2D and 3D layout for the gallery, and created a title graphic for the gallery show.
The show's layout is meant to feel a little maze-like so that viewers have to find their way around to all the various photos—recalling the way I found the original objects. Viewers would receive the poetry booklet upon entering, and they could try to decipher which poem goes with each composite photograph.
