COMPELLING COMPOSITES
SUMMARY:
"Compelling Composites" was a project assigned to test our knowledge in Photoshop and our ability to create a unique and engaging stories through simple images. The story needed to be powerful and meaningful and address issues within society and the world. We needed to pay attention to correct symbolism, which proved to be a challenging tasks.
IDEA:
I didn't know exactly what I wanted to work with, but I knew that I wanted to focus on aspects of humanity. At first, I wanted to work with animals, however, I decided that my current interest in AI would be a better match for this project.
SKETCHES & CREATION
For the first step, we had to create a list of different ideas that we want to create which concluded in 24 rough sketches. I originally wanted to work with one of my rough sketches that included a wolf laying on fur with a human climbing out. After thinking about that sketch for a longer time, I realized I didn't really like the idea. I decided to work from a other sketch that portrayed a human tied around a phone with red string.
FINAL SKETCH:
QUESTIONS
1. What themes would you like to explore in this work?
I would like to explore the themes of visual storytelling and also the relationship between humans and technology. I want to enhance my knowledge within Adobe Photoshop and use different tools that haven't been demonstrated in class. I would also like to explore the connection between humans' physiological thinking with the idea of the "red thread of fate" tying humans to their phones.
2. What feeling(s) do you want to convey in this work?
I want to convey feelings of understanding and dissatisfaction. I want viewers to be able to apply themselves to the work and understand their own relationship with their technology. I want viewers to also be dissatisfied with the reliance on technology and begin to think on how to be more independent in their actions without technology's input.
3. Who is your protagonist (and/or antagonist)?
The protagonists and antagonist isn't clear in this work which is purposeful. While some might see the antagonist as the phone and the protagonist as the human, there isn't a clear distinction between the two. Only the red thread is what keeps them fated. therefore, it is an interaction from technology's input and humans' willingness to use the technology. The work is up to the viewers interpretation, however, I believe that the phone and human play both roles as the protagonists and the antagonist.
4. Is it necessary for us to see the protagonist in order to understand the story?
It is necessary for the viewer to see the human and phone to understand that story. While the distinction isn't clear between the two, if one of the characters was absent, the story would not make sense.
5. What events led to the protagonist to this point?
The human is breaking out of the phone tangled in coding that is transformed into red thread. The human breaking out of the phone shows that the human had been trapped in the phone and the cracking shows signs of struggling or determination to break free. The story is now being portrayed through the illustration of the human falling out of the phone.
6. What might happen next?
The human is falling, however, a red thread holds them together, which can not be broken. The viewer might believe that the human breaks from the thread, however, some might think that he is going to bounce back, however, that is the point of the image. I want the viewer to understand that it is dependent on your awareness and determination to break through, however, the red thread of fate is considered to never be able to be broken, therefore, the work is now demonstrating how technology can not be removed from our structural thinking and innovation
7. How can symbolism be used in the work?
While there isn’t a lot to the work, there is lots of depth into the work. The main component is the red thread. The red thread fate is a myth that says whoever is tied together is to be soulmates and the thread can never be broken. To illustrate that the thread is the technology, I have used red coding to illustrate that the code is morphing into the red thread that holds the human from plummeting down. I’ve also used the hierarchy of scale and portrayed the phone to be higher and angled to seem as if it is peering down at the human. The location of the phone shows that the phone is more significant than the human and shows that it has a dominating effect on the human.
WORK IN PROGRESS
When beginning my final project, I started with finding the layout of the hand in contrast of the phone. What exactly did I want to be the main focus? In this composition, I wanted the focus to be the human being tied into the phone. This ideology would soon change my composition.
I originally started with MANY drafts, but I just couldn't get the composition I wanted. Every phone I found made the work feel super flat. My next plan was to start searching for a person before the phone and that is when I found the picture that I knew would work well. While all the photos were nice separately, the photos did not flow together as one piece. I eventually decided to start over and challenge my idea once again. I but together a new plan that would allow me to play with hierarchy, color, and showing emotion through a artwork that flowed together nicely.
Starting the search for a person was much easier for this project. I was able to find an image that could be altered to fit in my idea. My next step was to find a phone that would fit the same composition as my person. To fit the composition, I wanted the phone to have depth and float above the human to reference the idea that AI could have control of us.
After I found this composition, I had to use generative fill to add in parts of the phone that had been deleted from the hand being cropped out that was holding the phone. I searched through multiples to find the perfect angel that would allow the thread to be seen around the phone while also showing the dimension of the phone. I also needed a photo that was large enough that the phone didn't look pixelated within the work.
I then distorted a green computer code on the home screen of the phone and color corrected it to turn it red. I then drafted where I wanted the red thread to wrap around the guys body. This was the hardest part because I couldn't find read thread that would work well on the red lines. I wanted to create a confusing composition that made it hard to figure out how exactly the scene was falling. If you look closely at the thread wrapped around the feet, it is the same size as the phone, even though the person appears to be bigger. This cancelling of hierarchy plays into my idea that humans and AI are becoming one of the same.
I eventually found a tool that I had never used and found out how to use Adobe patterns! After searching online for many days, I realized that finding an exact image of red thread was extremely hard. I even tried to use AI generative fill to make thread which was not successful. I had to create my own pattern and put it in the Adobe's patterns to be able to use it. I also added shadows and highlights to create depth within the work. I also added a crack in the phone to show force behind the human jumping out and show the negative connotation that this work contains.
FINAL WORK
WHAT I LEARNED:
For my work, The Evolution of Technological Singularity, I wanted to test my knowledge and curiosity through Photoshop's tools. I used lightness and darkness as well as even making my own patterns to tell a story through my picture. Using different photos was challenging, however, this work does show that it is possible.
Photoshop is super detailed and hard to work with when you don't understand everything about it! This project helped me learn how to use photoshop in depth and I even learned about patters. I also learned about how keeps layers organized instead of having tons of layers and having to sort through them all. This project was perfect for me to go in and mess with lots of tools to learn how they work.
