Alice Murphy : Visual Artist, Photographer and Filmmaker @alicecmu-blog - Tumblr Blog

My studio space

I finally got my words lazer cut for the degree show ! I got acrylic and booked the lazer cutter at the fab lab limerick. These words will be part of my installation

Updated degree show proposal!

I finally have gotten my space confirmed for the degree show which is the board room, which I wanted. I updated my proposal to work with the board room, as my previous proposal was a bit more vague.

Creating words for laser cutting

Each of my photos are inspired by hashtags I've collected off Instagram as popular hashtags used under photos that get a lot of likes.

I have decided for the installation for my photos for the degree show, I've decided to laser cut the hashtags using the facilities available to me at the Fab Lab in Limerick.

Im creating my words on illustrator and then will be laser cutting them into acrylic.

When i will be hanging these words around my photos in my installation i am planning to light the words from behind using lights.

G O A L S

AND

B L E S S E D

Putting ideas into practice This photo was inspired by girls on Instagram posting pictures with their boyfriends who show them off online as if they are an accessory to the aesthetic. This photo can go under the hashtag of either #blessed or #bae. I haven't really decided yet whether to group it off into one or whether it can always apply to both. The idea behind the photograph is obviously one of a sexual nature, posing with the other half (boyfriend). The aesthetic is also set up that it is a very aesthetically pleasing scene and an eye-catching photo to look at, like most successful photographs on Instagram. I included rosary beads in this photograph. The rosary beads are tied around the wrists in a sexual nature. However the symbolism of the rosary beads in this photograph is do with the church and the influence it has on Irish relationships. Our hands may often feel tied as to whether sex before marriage is acceptable, or also whether the relationship is headed toward marriage or not. The blue and the pink rosary beads represent the man and the woman in the relationship. The arms of the man are noticeably white and hairy, typical to the ones of an Irish man. So even if you want your relationship picture on Instagram to be aesthetically pleasing to the western world, there may be some elements to the photograph from your Irish culture that may make it stick out in a way you had not hoped for.

Putting ideas into practice This was another sketch I drew imagining how I wanted my photographs to look, from taking inspiration from girls I saw on Instagram. When I first drew this sketch I thought that this was go under the hashtag of #girlboss. However, when I went to take the photographs it took a different turn. I styled my model to look like an intimidating beautiful girl on Instagram, which is very visible from halfway up the photograph. But when you take more notice, my model is styled in football shorts, and boots, with unshaven legs. Playing GAA when you are young is a huge part of a majority of girls lives. You throw on your gear, you run out without caring how you look (whether your legs are shaven or not) and you go play for the team. I based this photograph off the hashtag #goals. When I think in the mindset of a young Irish girl, goals means going out scoring points for your gaa team and doing well for the team. However, on Instagram goals takes the form of looking good, getting alot of likes and coming across confident with yourself and your life on social media.

The Idea Behind the Work...

This work aims to display my thoughts behind how we are constantly inundated with pictures of American models on our Instagram accounts, and how we as Irish women are seeing and repeating their actions through poses and phrases we post then on our own Instagram accounts without fully understanding them. I find that this may particularly stem from the words in the hashtags we see below these photos. As a young female user of the app Instagram, I have first handedly seen the result of the mindless scrolling women do on a regular basis through their photographs they are posting. I often find myself seeing the same repeated poses, regurgitated captions and an air of temptation and need to hook the viewer. These elements I have identified are mirrored across many social media apps, but Instagram being the most relevant to my work as it is strictly photographs being posted by the users of the app, and also one of the most popular platforms with young women on social media today. I thought about what if I was to create these Instagram style photographs while highlighting that as Irish women, we dont fully understand what we are doing? What if we were to embrace our own culture we learned growing up in our very Irish backgrounds and display it through our Instagram photos?

Each of my photographs will be inspired by certain hashtags in particular, however I plan to subvert the meanings behind these hashtags I am collecting, through a slight parody style in my photos using costume and characteristics we use everyday which identify as Irish women, through the typical aesthetically pleasing setting of Instagram photos. I wish to highlight that there is a lot of information and opinions you can subconsiously form from a minutes glance through social media, which we then repeat without analyzing, comprehending or even realizing where this has come from.

Putting ideas into practice I recently drew some pictures about how I wanted my photos to look from my inspiration from looking at photos on Instagram. The photo of the hair in hearts is based off one of the most liked pictures ever on Instagram, a photo of Kendall Jenner with her hair arranged this way. Many people had commented underneath this photo #blessed. I went away and thought about how would I incorporate Irish culture into a recreation of this photograph. I remember from my school days when you would get ashes on your forehead on ash Wednesday, in the shape of a cross, you were blessed by the priest and you felt brilliant that you were now blessed. I imagine these girls in photos where they are receiving alot of likes for their amazing photo would experience the same feeling for being accepted on Instagram for having an amazing photo. So I decided to combine the two. I made a sketch in my notebook of how I wanted this photograph to look. I then arranged my model in a highly aesthetic pose and then put ashes on her forehead. I feel like I am thinking back on my school days, which were heavily influenced by Irish culture and habits, when I see the ashes on the forehead. However, I also see the new generation of Instagram that we are surrounded by everyday when I see the Instagram aesthetic take place in this photograph.

waestlandbaby

1k Moodboards || Allison Reynolds || Magic AU

For @reniisons

Aesthetic Research

Progress Review Photographs

For my progress review I spoke with the tutors about my idea of subverting Instagram poses and habits into an Irish trying to take on this poses and habits while still embracing her culture.

Although I got the idea across well and the feedback told me the idea had progressed from Christmas, there was some areas to focus in on.

- Is the femme fetale still relevant in my artwork?

I believe I had moved away from the idea of the classic femme fatale most commonly identified in film noir. However, I still think there is a major focus in my work on the modern day Femme Fatale, the instagram model.

We also discussed the technical side behind the photos, and how if i was to focus in more on instagram, think more about the set up for the background of my photos.

I am collecting screenshots on Irish girls on instagram and the awkward photos where they try to pull off the habits and poses of an american girls instagram.

This is "Romain Leblanc & Tom Stayte - Festival Circulation(s) 2016" by Fetart on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

Artist Research Tom Stayte

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Alice Murphy : Visual Artist, Photographer and Filmmaker