before photographing anything I spent some time researching ‘found objects’ and ‘triptychs’ but this was hard as the subject matter was so broad that so many different things came up in research. This was both good and bad as it meant that I had a lot of freedom with what I could focus my images on.
“A found object is a natural or man-made object, or fragment of an object, that is found (or sometimes bought) by an artist and kept because of some intrinsic interest the artist sees in it”-http://www.tate.org.uk
I felt that the best way to approach my Found object Triptych was too research individual artists first:
Marcel Duchamp
Arguably changed the course of art history by challenging the notion of “what is art” he is considered to be the “father of conceptual art. “He had a interest in the themes and exploration of sexual identity and desires which led him towards dadaism and surrealism”-thearthistoryy.org. He appeared to be secluded from the outside world and kept very much too himself and socialised within a small group of close friends. One of his most famous found object pieces was “Fountain”
This piece is interesting as because of its simplicity it is open to interpretation. I personally find the image interesting as a urinal is usually associated with dirt and it is something you would expect too be unclean but the urinal in this image looks clean. I also like that the urinal is signed because this shows a sense of ownership. The environment that the urinal is in also challenges the intended use of the object. From researching Marcel Duchamp this image does exactly what he intended as it challenges the definition of art.
Man Ray
Was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movement. He was well known for his photography and was a renowned fashion and portrait photographer. One of his most famous pieces of work was, “Cadeau”
This is one of my favourite images for “found object” as I like the idea of taking a normal household object and turning it into something quite disturbing. I like how a useful object has been taken and turned into something completely useless. The image actually makes me feel a certain amount of discomfort as it makes me think about how it could be used which obviously triggers images of tearing and destruction which is ironic as an iron is used to flatten a material surface rather than destroy it.
I also like that Cadeau translates to gift. This makes me have a umber of thoughts, the first one being “what a bizarre and horrible gift” gift implies that it would be received by someone, how would someone react if they were offered such a thing. The instalment was one of five and the image above is a replica as the original was stolen, I can’t find the images of all the irons. Many of Man Rays instalments were stolen or lost “Man Ray sometimes made objects in order to photograph them, and then discarded them, or reused them in other ways”-tate.org.uk
“Gift is a typical product of Man Ray’s double-edged humour. Its sadistic implications need not be stressed. Its erotic aspect is revealed by Man Ray’s remark: ‘You can tear a dress to ribbons with it. I did it once, and asked a beautiful eighteen-year-old coloured girl to wear as it as she danced. Her body showed through as she moved around, it was like a bronze in movement. It was really beautiful”-tate.org.uk
After reading this quote I was shocked as it is not something that I would usually hear, I also find it fascinating that he actually used the object.
Edward Weston
“Edward Weston brought photography into the Modern age with his radical approach to composition, lighting, focus, and form.”
Edward Weston’s images too me are nice too look at, the compositions of his images are very beautiful and appealing too the eye. From looking at weston’s work it is clear that he was predominantly a portrait photographer which I think is also evident even when looking at his found object photography. His images of shells represent the human form, particularly the curved nature of a woman’s body:
Weston’s work is interesting as he has a good eye for detail an his images are simple and delicate.
Process
My final images are inspired by renaissance paintings as they are what originated the idea of found object. I spent a lot of time trying to find objects that I found interesting but this proved difficult as I was looking too hard. I felt that I was trying to find meaning behind things that wasn’t there. After a while I felt that I was more inspired by everyday items than objects of beauty or uniqueness. I photographed a few items before coming up with my final concept. My concept was inspired by my housemates rotting food that had been left in the fridge. I combined this idea with renaissance art, found object and the idea of life, death and permanence. I looked at well known images of fruit bowls etc. for example the image below by: Fede Galizia
Here are some of my firsts attempts at my final arrangement:
As you can see from the images above I had issues with my initial composition, this was for a number of reasons; poor lighting, bad focus, textured background and arrangements of objects. In the final 6 images above you can see that there is a curve on the bottom surface, this is because I was using a chair to place my objects on, I combated this by placing a board underneath all the items to make the surface flat. To set up my images I used a blanket draped over a chair with a board on it, I kept the items set up for two weeks as my projects was focusing on the rotting of the flowers and fruit.
I took around five images a day after I found an arrangement I was happy with, as seen below:
Because of the frequency I was taking the images I had to try and get the same lighting in every image to create a nice flow, this was difficult as I was taking images at different times of the day. I combated this by taking the images in darkness using the same lamp positioned in the same way in every image, I also used a reflector to eliminate shadows. Once my camera was set up in the way I wanted I did not move it for the full duration of the project.
Below are some more of the images I took:
