Melinda Gibson Case Study
A series of 3-5 images using traditional methods (non-digital) based on my study of the experimental intent for a campaign using his style. Consisting of my case study, creative brief, experimental processes, final works and reflection.
Melinda Gibson’s primary interests lie within the shifting boundaries of the photographic medium and how imagery is received and understood within its contextual surroundings. Using experimental techniques, she explores, examines and questions existing theories and codes of practice, pushing the boundaries of what really constitutes ‘seeing.’
In her works, she mostly cuts out the subject’s portraits and replaces them with another photo. Her works are mostly coloured and more modernized.
Creative Brief
Name of Organisation:
Social Creatives
Social Creatives is an Institute of Public Character from 2008 to 2018 that operates as a Creative Enterprise (subset of social enterprise). We are guided by our artistic and social impact, to create colours in our social fabric, to engage, to educate and to expose arts and creativity in the society. We sincerely believe in bringing arts to the heART and serving the people as a catalyst for a vibrant eARTh. Our motivations are through the first form of communication - Cave Drawings. (Commonly known as murals).
Issue:
- As all events are canceled due to the pandemic, there isn’t a source of entertainment for people to relieve stress.
Insight:
- Art can serve as a platform to seek comfort in.
Message:
- Art is a form of therapy
The Theme (concept):
- No matter the environment or location, art will always be there, be it in different mediums and forms to comfort you. To show what people take comfort in regardless of the location.
Process
For this activity, I had to use Photoshop as well, as my printer is not working. In reference to Gibson’s works, I then picked out photos that I’ll be using for my background as well as the main medium that I’ll “cut out“. The method I used create my works were similar to the one I used in John Stezaker’s case study. However, after deleting the selected portion and replacing another image, I had to merge the 2 layers before “cutting out“ another portion to be replace with another image.
As for the background, all the photos are personally taken by me. I decided to use my own image as I feel that it will be more relatable as I replace the subjects with another image to deliver my message.
For the replacement images, I selected images from the Internet (except for the clouds photo) of what people usually find comforting upon seeing, touching etc. Combined with art, which I used Social Creative’s murals to represent.
Reflection
Through this activity, I learned how to combine multiple photos together to tell a story. I also realised that Melinda Gibson’s work techniques are quite similar to John Stezaker’s, only different in its purpose. For this week’s activity, I decided to include some of my personal photos as I feel that the issue that I am working on is quite relatable. By using my own photos, I could explain and express my artwork more efficiently. One thing I found difficult however, was the harmony of putting all the photos together. It was difficult to find a photo in an exact colour or hue, to match and be cohesive with the whole thing.
