From time to time I get obsessed with a particular genre of images. This often results in an artistic exploration of that genre. The more knowledge we have as artists, the better our ability to explore more and more complex themes in our art.
A recent obsession with urban decay led me to an exploration of war photos that show the bleak realities of battle. I took a particular interest in photos showing bombed out cities on the verge of collapse. I think there is a stark beauty in these images. There is no doubt that they carry with them a emotional depth that effects us when we see them.
The image above was taken of Leningrad during World War II. Its one of many that fascinates me. I was looking at it the other night and I thought to myself, what if the image were raised up from stark reality to surrealism? What if the image took on an almost dreamlike state. How would it change perceptions of the image?
And right there I recognized a conceptual idea that needed to be explored. War and surrealism. So I reworked the image above to transform it into something new.
I'd dabbled with this concept a few months back in the Low Res Art Project with an image taken from a video of the war in Syria. But at the time I did so, I was not in the mindset of war as surrealism. But looking back I realize that I was close to the idea even then.
So these new pieces will be an offshoot of the Low Res Art Project. This means that I must adhere to specific rules. The first is that no image in the series is for sale. This is strictly an experimental project and because we are using screen captures and historic images taken by other people, we feel that ethically it would not be proper to sell them even in their altered state. The second is that an image must go through at least a 60% alteration so that it meets the requirements of the United States Visual Art law which states that a piece of art that uses in part or whole the work of someone else must in some way radically alter the original work.
With all these things in mind, I look forward to exploring the concept further. Please feel free to discuss or ask questions in the space below.
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