Siena VI

In Photo we're working on a double exposure project. After hearing horror stories about multiple enlarger monsters, I went into the darkroom absolutely dreading the time-consuming hell that lay ahead. Originally, I thought I would try to imitate photoshop by using methods that inspired photoshop, but that just would have taken too long. However, fear not, because once I regrouped and decided to tackle the assignment differently I ended up with some unexpected and abstract results that I ended up liking a lot. Jana had recommended trying to incorporate double exposure with some of the stuff I've been working on in theme sequence, which sounded like a terrible idea at first. But now that I actually like double exposure I'm working in the direction. I think it might work interestingly to overlap the erratic line quality that I'm drawn to. Today I took pictures with Leah "embodying the gesture" of the woman with fruit in SMN. We'll see what happens...

I think in general I am a pretty stubborn, capricious, and frugal person. A lot of times I end up working with materials because I didn't want to buy expensive ones. It certainly isn't always easier (last Wednesday I carried an old bicycle w/o wheels to studio from the other side of the Arno), but it is usually more of an adventure. I can bounce ideas off of the inanimate refuse that I accumulate instead of starting with a blank canvas. I'm drawn to the push and pull of working with something that already has connotations (sort of like being drawn to people with a lot of baggage, I suppose). I think it definitely makes me more alert and observant since I'm pretty much constantly on the prowl (referring to discarded objects, not people).

I'm really only interested in the handles and spider leg parts of umbrellas. This weekend I've been playing with posing the handles in different gestures. The curved ones really look like hands to me (partly because of growing up with monkeys in a barrel, I daresay), so I'm keeping  interpersonal relationships in mind as I tinker. Two days ago I hammered the screen from Sylva's tv head and then posed a handle to look like it punched the screen, but today I looked at it again and replaced the wooden handle with a bent metal umbrella fret (staff?? I guess I should know the terms that apply to my materials) that sort of looks like its growing out of the broken screen. The latter seems much more hopeful.