Exercise: Choosing Content!
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I found this text hard to read. I had to read it several times. I had to
understand the context of the text by Googling ‘The Daffodil Affair.’ It
appears that the book is rather odd and not easy to follow. That made
me feel better that I’d found the text hard to read!!
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The text certainly created an impression of war torn London, a man in a
grey suit, in a neutral, austere environment, in a bruised, crushed and
dusty city. However, the power the piece had over me came with “The
anger” which had ‘Burst deeper’ and ‘The innermost principle of the
man”. These phrases give me an insight into who he is and what drives
him, what kind of person he is not what he looks like or where he
stands or what he looks at. !
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It was this passion, this anger, this principle, which had burst deeper,
not burst out in a fit of anger, but deeper, that I wanted to explore and
capture. !
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Travelling home from London on the train gave me three hours to
doodle and to think. (I need to make more empty time to doodle and
think). Bursting deeper is about stuff going in, spreading its roots,
taking root, pervading, circulating, pulsing, beating, bleeding, leaking,
seeping, gathering energy below the surface, infecting, strengthening.
On the outside the man simply has a “fixed contraction”. On the inside
his anger is defining the “innermost principle of the man” !
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I wanted to show this passion in the
image - who the man is - the layers, the
depth, and the passion.!
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I then let my mind wander during my
research. I simply followed where it went.
I didn't stress about recording references
or capturing data, I just went with it. I
loved it. It created a real energy in me. I
played with techniques, and approaches
and images and layers. It was 23.30
before I even knew it. I wanted to stay up
all night to get the thing done. But
common sense prevailed and I went to
bed! !
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Anyway, I got up at 06.00 the next
morning and worked on several images
before work. I played around with several
combinations and compositions, via
iPhoto and PowerPoint before finally
deciding. I did not find this decision easy.
I put the decision off and kept changing
my mind. Even now I could continue to
play with new combinations and
compositions. However, I have called
‘time’ as I recognise the need to move
on. !
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I used my imagination a lot in this piece.
If I didn’t have enough visual information
to inform my illustration, I either did a
quick search (what did suit collars look
like during WWII?) or I made it up. !
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I am pleased that I did not go with the
initial instinct of creating an image of a
grey man looking out of a grey window
over a grey city. I am pleased that I went
with his emotion and what makes him
who he is. !
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T h e! r o o m! w a s! v o i d! a n d!
unquickened;! it! was! like! a! room!
in!a!shop!window!but!larger!and!
emp9er;! and! the! middle:aged!
man! who! sat! at! the! desk! had!
never! thought! to! impress!
himself! upon! what! he! entered!
every! day.! Comfort! there! was!
none! nor! discomfort;! only! did!
the! occupant! deign! to! qualify!
the! pure! neutrality! of! his!
surroundings,! it! would! surely! be!
austerity! that! would! emerge.!
The! spring! sunshine! turned!
bleak!and!func9onal!as!it!passed!
the! plate! glass! of! the! tall:
uncurtained!windows.!
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The!windows!were!large;!the!big!
desk! lay! islanded! in! a! creeping!
parallelogram! of! light;! across!
this! and! before! the! eyes! of! the!
man! si@ng! mo9onless! passed!
slantwise! and! slowly! a! massive!
shaA!of!shadow.!
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Perhaps! twenty! 9mes! it! passed!
to! and! fro,! as! if! outside! some!
great!joy!wheel!oscilla9ng!idly!in!
a!derelict!amusement!park.!And!
the! man! rose,! clasped! hands!
behind! him! and! walked! to! a!
window! –! high! up! in! New!
Scotland! Yard.! He! looked! out!
and! war:9me! London! lay!
beneath...! on! his! brow! was! a!
fixed! contrac9on;! this! he! had!
carried! from! desk! to! window,!
and! now! there! was! neither!
hardening! nor! relaxa9on! as! he!
looked! out...! during! 15! years! he!
had! controlled! the! file! of! police!
papers! which! dealt! with! the!
abduc9on! and! subsequent!
history! of! feeble! minded! girls.!
Here! lay! his! anger! as! he! looked!
out! over! London...! year! by! year!
the!anger!had!burst!deeper!un9l!
it! was! now! the! innermost!
principle!of!the!man.!!
I am kind of pleased with the outcome. I like the feel of the grey suit, the stance
of the man who could be looking out of the window, the layers, the energy and
the passion in the thick mono print which makes up the base layer and the fact
that you can not see his face or his expression; that this is left to the reader’s
imagination.!
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However there are elements that I am not happy with. To be honest, if this piece
was being assessed, I would spend more time on improving the final image. I
would start to do this by adding more layers to cover up and disguise the
passion. I would work at getting the image to more clearly show passion
bursting in and festering and taking root. To do this, I think I would need to work
much bigger. !
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