ADAD Assessment 2 Concept Statement
After the completion of assessment 1, I was triggered and engaged by the binaries of rich and poor. Initially it was simply the contrast between rich and poor, and the perspective that I’ve reviewed this topic from is briefly the materialistic differences, such as wealth, assets or life differences. This comparison had gradually led me into a deeper understanding of the binaries of rich and poor, and started to investigate into matters of having and not having, accessing and not accessing etc. There are more to explore and yet to be spoken rather than reviewing it from an average one-sided understanding from the society. Therefore, this thinking process had inspired my idea for the final project, which is to develop a series of works that conveys the message of to have and not to have while the contrast between rich and poor is being implied.
Through my series of conducted research that relates to binary that I’ve selected, I’m mainly focusing of the shifting of value in the field of art industry. By adopting art as an example, it demonstrates the unchangeable purpose of art that continuously serves the rich throughout century, stating that art had become another way of showing off their wealth. Thus, leading art to an extend that it became unreachable and inaccessible for those who are eager for, my research 2 indicates that residents from rural regions of the city tend to have less chances and possibilities of accessing art galleries or other art related resources. While those who live in the center region of the city had received more distribution grant from the government, directly conveying the message of to access and not to access, ultimately reflecting the binaries of rich and poor.
Experiment 1 was conducted in order to explore the notion of to have and not to have, by better understanding this binary and the deeper meanings behind it. The inspiration of this experiment was from my tutor, where she mentioned about applying a plastic bag on top of a tap to simply convey the message of not access. I’ve also decided to adopt mediums outside of computer software in this series of experiment and work, in order to challenge myself during the process of creation. Therefore, the first experiment was completed through an installation art form, where I’ve applied a lock onto are tab, door and car key, as each symbolizes different aspects of life. Tab refers to the resources provided, the door refers to freedom and mobility, and the car key means materialistic owning such as wealth, houses or cars. By simply applying a lock onto each item, it could broadly represent the notion of to have and not to have.
The second experiment was conducted to focus on the notion of to access and not to access. I’ve simulated the scene of a merchant shelf, where the iPad act as the shelf with a photo, and on top of it is an acrylic board that separates the distance between audience and the shelf, creating the sense of hopelessness and inaccessibility through the obscure visual shock. It generates both physical and psychological barrier that restricts from those who can’t access to resources, that can possibly provoke audience’s sympathy towards the matter of to or not to access towards certain things.
Leading my idea to the final work, which is a combination of both ‘to have and not to have’ and ‘to access and not to access’. Where the major idea of portraying this idea was inspired by my work environment, a retail store. Due to some circumstances I encounter during my work, I’ve witnessed many of those who cannot access to the resources that are sitting right in front of them, and had emotionally triggered myself in creating the final work. That is a series of photographs that focuses on the quantity of the merchandise, inspired by photographer Andreas Gursky’s work 99 Cent II Diptychon, 2001.Where his purpose is to always demonstrate the excess resources vs those who can’t access. My had similar idea, but from a different approach, that is, I’ve changed the price tag of each merchandise within the photo manually and increased the price by 100% to create a visual shock towards audience. This would provoke audience’s curiosity in why the price is so high and begin to understand those who can’t access’s perspective. I’ve further enhanced this idea through the presentation form, as I’ve printed the photos In a lightly transparent paper, that would be stick onto the wall to act as a ‘virtual’ shelf, and really setting the scene for the audience to review and understand the binary.
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