Woods

The music I've chosen:

This song is a single verse:

I'm up in the woods, I'm down on my mind

I'm building a sill to slow down the time

I'm up in the woods, I'm down on my mind

I'm building a sill to slow down the time 

which is sung in a capella and repeated over an over again. However, more and more layers of voices are added each time this verse is sung, creating a very powerful surreal effect by the end of the piece. 

For my visual accompaniment, I want to use photography and editing software to create a collage in a subtler style than Warhol. I'd mostly be working in black and white, and I would be using either a single photograph over and over, or several with slight changes. I want the background to be a forest, with very little people, following the mood of the song. 

Final Outcome:

Curatorial Statement:

"Woods" by Brian Li takes inspiration from the song of the same name by Bon Iver. The song is sung in a capella, with considerable amounts of post editing, and a gradual buildup of voices. In order to achieve a similar feel, the artist edited and layered photographs together to create a sort of surreal collage. The subject of the photo is duplicated multiple times to emulate the effect achieved by the layered voices. 

Taking inspiration from pop art, the artist removed some detailing in the forest scenery, replacing it with rough blocks of color. The colors grow warmer from left to right, as the song also changes to include brighter chords. The horizontal nature of the piece aims to emulate a musical score, as the color and exposure in the photographs are like the notes in the musical piece. The solid lines, therefore emulate the ups and downs of varying tempos and volumes. 

Overall, the piece tries to achieve a feeling of calm and pensiveness that grows into warmth and excitement. 

The Process:

Following the advice from the last couple of days, I went into the forest and took pictures of varying levels of exposure. I layered the high exposure photos to the right in order to emulate the increasing brightness toward the end of the song. I initially arranged the photos in a grid similar to Andy Warhol's pieces, but I felt that it made the piece too clean and segmented. So instead, I blended the ends of the photos together to create this continuous collage. I liked how certain horizon lines matched up, and used this create a flow from left to right.

I introduced some duplicated elements at varying opacities, similar to the layered voices in the song. I added more duplicated elements to the right of the piece to emulate the gradual addition of voices. I chose to keep the last portion of the piece relatively empty, because I feel like the song ended a bit abruptly. Finally, I still wanted to introduce some features from pop art. So, I used blocked colors to remove some texture. In the style of Andy Warhol, I drew solid lines to outline some of the important features, namely to horizon lines. I didn't intend this to happen, but the jagged blocks of color made the photos seem a little bit like Banksy's graffiti. I don't have the sort of political statement that Banksy does, but I do like the graphic feel of it. 

Reflection: 

After looking at the finished piece, I am mostly happy with the outcome. I feel like I achieved a similar feeling to that of the song, and I had a good time photographing and editing. However, I do feel like I rushed some of the graphic elements now. The solid lines definitely add some focus and flow to the piece, but are placed a little awkwardly in certain portions. I would definitely edit those lines in another version. The main problem that I have with the piece is that I think it lacks a sense of purpose. The song itself is relatively inward focused, and does not have much of a message other than engaging ones mind in nature. Therefore, I think that by itself, it is relatively bland. 

One main change that I have developed in my appreciation of art is the use of photography. I've taken several art courses in high school, so I already had a sense for classical and modern art, but I never really got the chance to practice photography. After this module, I have come to see the beauty in capturing something as it appears, but limiting the viewers perception to a single point of view. Then through the lesson on pop art, I came to see the value of editing pictures to emphasize certain features. I am not sure that I would have responded too differently before this course however, because I feel that the piece was still relatively rushed, and looks a bit messy. However, I think I wouldn't have understood it as well.