User:Aratrikak
Methods
link to pad: https://pad.xpub.nl/p/MethodsLB23_24Sesh1
WORK 1:
What: “Insides” is an ongoing series of monochrome, digital photographs taken on a phone, made starting in 2020. The series depicts intimate physical forms of the human body, nature, and surrounding objects, acting as a window into the artist’s state of mind. It uses self-portraiture as an investigation of the self. It uses the interplay between form and light to convey moments of joy, grief, frustration, wonder, pleasure, and joy again.
How: These images have been made at various moments in my life over the course of a few years, photographed on my phone. The theme of the series has always been present in my work, and these images were picked out from my archive over many months, with a lot of adding and culling of images depending on what I thought fit the idea of the work best. The works chosen from my archive were often already monochromatic, which made that decision for the work feel organic and cohesive.
Why: I have always been fascinated with the physical form and how shapes can convey feeling. Over the years that I have been exploring this interest, I have found that documenting myself through self-portraiture has helped me through difficulties, helped me celebrate, and helped me reflect on these moments and draw strings through them through time. Certain forms in nature — in their stillness, or their vastness, serve as a mirror to the Self I find myself embodying or aspiring to at the time. Monochromatic visuals help me convey these feelings through my work with more clarity and singularity.
WORK 2:
What: This untitled work is a video made up of a series of short video clips of close shots of the artist’s physical body, like their eyes, face, hair, hands, their mouth while eating lychees. These videos are often glitchy or over processed with colours or filters. The videos retain their original sound, some of which are a song playing in the background, or the sound of the rain, or the leaves of trees rustling in the wind. The videos are all in portrait, as shot on the phone.
How: The phone videos taken by the artist were done either handheld or sometimes with the phone leaned against a nearby object. These videos are taken on different days but always in moments of solitude, such as after a shower, or while relaxing on the balcony. I am moved to film something because of a certain sound I hear, the way I see light hit my body, or certain textures of wetness or stickiness. These videos were then pulled from the archive and put together.
Why: I am interested in the interaction of camera movement x disembodied details of the physical body x live sound. I am also interested in what quality distortion and overlaying filters can bring out in these videos. I wanted to explore the kinds of moods these combinations of things can elicit in video work.