Emotion in Art - IB MYP5 E-portfolio (Piece 3)

    

 

Layout:

Artistic Intention:

    Through this layout I plan to show how different issues can bring up different emotions into society. This is shown by the masks (representing humans)on top and the strings coming out of their eyes. The strings are going to be knotted into different bracelet styles as shown in the image on the right, each of the four masks will have different issues painted onto them which will be, LGBTQ+ rights, racism, pollution and animal endangerment. All the strings would be a combination of two shades of the same colour which would signify the varied amounts of depth of the issues. 

    This combination of colours and there will be two strings of one colour attached onto different masks. They would represent the emotions felt by the people who care about these issues. As a whole these strings and masks are going to surround a question mark which depicts questioning or confusion as different people may have different perspectives on the same issues. However even though this causes confusion it allows the audience e to view the issues form more that one emotional perspective with the help of the multicoloured strings. So, overall this artwork shows how different issues can cause different emotions to arise in different people and being confused about how to react to a certain issue is completely okay.

Exploration

1) Threads:

    I decided to knot the strings in such a way that they don't seem repetitive or boring. To do that I decided to use four different colours, four different styles of knotting and two strings of each style and colour. This way not only did the strings stand out in every mask but there were no two strings that had the same colour and style. This uniqueness would allow the audience to have something to pay close attention to when viewing this artwork and brings variety into it. If the colours and styles were the same or were repeated then as the audience walked around the piece, it wouldn’t seem interesting and since this is an installation, all four of the sides need to be appealing because all of them would be visible to the viewers.

2) Masks:

    I decided to use paper masks to bring out the issues in a more abstract way. The masks were covered in tissue so I didn't have to paint it white to start painting the issues on it. The four issues that I chose to depict were racial discrimination, LGBTQ+ rights, animal endangerment, and pollution as a whole. When some of these issues were easy to establish through the masks some required a lot of detail, for example the one with animal endangerment, I took the leopard, tiger and zebra skin patterns which were all classified as endangered in 2020, so painting those details took a lot of time and effort, whereas the one for racial discrimination was comparatively much easier.

3) Question Mark:

    As a part of my exploration for the question mark, I first drew different types of question marks in different fonts with a pencil on the cardboard. This helped me see how the question mark would look in a bigger size on the actual material that I’m making it on. For the cubism style painting I didn't require much exploration or practice because in one of the previous units, we studied cubism in detail and I was already confident about that part, After that to cover the edges up, I brainstormed different techniques such as cutting thin strips of cardboard, covering it with paper, painting it etc. Out of all the three options, my teachers recommended the covering it up with paper option as it seemed most ideal.

4) Attachments

    Since this artwork was a huge installation, It had a lot of attachments to make. For example, the strings had to be attached to the masks. I was very confused for a long time as to how to attach the knotted strings in such a way that they don't break the mask and ruin my efforts. After a lot of thinking and trying with paper, I decided to take a paper cutter and create tiny slits at the tear ducts of the eye. This not only made sense with the concept but also worked as a method to attach the knotted strings. I then did the same for all four masks. The next attachment was attaching the question mark with the base. To do this, I took four pieces of galvanized Iron wire (GI wire) and attached it under and inside the space between the two parts of the question mark leaving extra wires on top to attach the masks later.

Process/Materials

I got this slide straight from my submission

(zoom in to read) 

Reflecting

What artistic skills did I develop?

    By completing this artwork, I think that I developed my skills in painting with precision. That is because the masks weren’t flat, so getting straight lines and painting within those lines is a skill that I was able to further develop as an artist. Apart from that, another place where I had to use precision while painting was the question mark, even though I have experience in creating cubism art, the cardboard has a certain texture with bumps etc, which make it harder to assume where the line is going and where it’s supposed to reach.

The question mark also helps me develop the skill of creating a contrast, even though I knew how to create contrast I was able to develop this artistic skill further by painting the question mark. Since one section had multiple sections around it, I had to plan the shades of grey in such a way that no two sections next to each other have the same shade.

How does the piece justify the Intended Outcome?

    The Intended outcome for this piece was to show confusion in choosing the correct emotions around several issues and I feel that all of that has successfully been represented through the art piece. All the different strings represent different emotions which are attached to the masks which represent the global issues, which is then attached to the question mark showing visible confusion about which emotion is the “correct” one to pick. Because a reaction to something in a certain way or a expressing a certain emotion for an issue might seem like a bias against people who feel other emotions which can trigger them and cause unnecessary unwanted conflicts.

What helped me?

    To be honest, my Individuals and Societies classes helped me gather enough information to choose the four issues, if it wasn’t for the knowledge that I have gained in my MYP humanities lessons, I would’ve had to spend a lot of time researching and studying global issues before I could narrow down to four that are completely different but also important at the same time. This saved a lot of my time and allowed me to create quality work in a more efficient manner.

What did I learn from this artwork?

    This artwork helped me gain a lot of knowledge about galvanized iron wires (GI wires) because that was one of the main components of the artwork that made it firmly stand. One of the things I learnt was how easy it if for the wire to turn and move, so even the slightest pressure on any part of the wire can cause it to ben in that direction and change the entire shape of the intended structure.

    Another very important skill I learnt though this artwork was cutting the GI wires. Initially I was trying to cut the GI wire from the front side of the wire cutter, I tried for about 2-3 minutes, changing the angles, doing everything in my ability to cut the wire from the front of the wire cutter, however it wasn’t cutting. So, after that, I took the wire cutter in my hand and examined how it worked, I then realized that the back part of it has a sharp blade which is used to cut the wire, so I punched the wire a little backwards and was able to cut the wire then.