#chriskitchen

[in-the-blue-notebook]

BLOG POST #9: This Jungian Life - Chris Kitchen

First and foremost, I didn't understand this podcast even a little bit. but I like metaphors a lot so here we go.

My favorite metaphors recently have been "you lie like a rug" and "the best thing since sliced bread."

"you lie like a rug" is a very fun visual to me and I like the out there comparison

"the best thing since sliced bread" is a favorite because of learning its history. Before sliced bread they considered the next best thing to be wrapped bread, and imagining people saying "sliced bread is the best thing since wrapped bread" is so funny to me.

As for a metaphorical image, idk if this works properly, but I like it a lot, and it seems poetic to me. The other day, I stumbled across this MASSIVE potted plant in some random building. Like the biggest potted plant I've ever seen, this thing is taller than me. Then, upon looking closer, I realized this closed building was actually a courthouse for family court matters. I found it ironic that an environment that hosts moments of turbulence and trauma for families would foster a thriving potted plant. Maybe we are the plant. Trapped in an environment of tense moments and troubled family bonds but thriving nonetheless. That's dumb as hell, but hey, why not run with the metaphor.

Chris Kitchen

[in-the-blue-notebook]

Chris Kitchen "Listening to images" Response

Ok so I was fascinated by the discussion of serial imagery and the way it weaves in and out of being repetitive/consistent and its variations showing individuality. It inevitably reminded me of two side projects I've been doing. First is the "mugshot" instax portraits I've been taking on 5.

this obviously draws parallels to Campt's discussion of mugshots and other obligatory portraits. It makes me reconsider my appropriation of mugshots and its implications, but of course it's in a completely different context. I'll sleep on that.

The passports also reminded me of the experiments I've done with 8x10 paper negative portraits.

in particular when I cut out just the eyes from each image. its pretty much the exact opposite of the passport photo project, but I found it an interesting coincidence.

Chris Kitchen

[in-the-blue-notebook]

CRIT #2

I forgot to take an image of all 3, but I'll try to add it later.

As far as sequencing, they're narrative triptychs so it's pretty reliant on being in a specific order. As for changes, a ton has changed. first and foremost, I've pivoted away from focusing exclusively on labor/employment. Now I am working with childhood fantasy in general. Second I've changed and refined the physical and aesthetic form of the project significantly. I'm now fully embracing the 2.5D sculptural nature of this and incorporating elements that are fully non-photographic like crayon drawings, cardboard cutouts, and fabric for the blood. The triptychs follow both a narrative and tformal structure of transitioning from fantasy to reality. The first section is fully immersed in fantasy with no photographic/realistic assets aside from the subject. The second shows a hybrid of the two meeting with some aspects being fantastical and hand done and others being realistic and photographic. the last is fully in reality and facing the consequences of frame two with purely photographic and realistic assets. This formal structure of reality and fantasy will be the unifying structure of the rest of the project as I explore more scenarios/fantasies.

Chris Kitchen

[in-the-blue-notebook]

Blog Post 4

This section reminded me of the plant I have on my window. I used to have 3, but unfortunately two died. I've become quite attached to the one remaining plant, though frankly often neglect it similar to Nelson's blue stones. It's become a frequent photographic subject for me, documenting its growth and decay over time. It wasn't intentional, but has become a sort of ritual. I also use the remaining empty pots to dry out and preserve flowers sometimes, similarly embracing decay and the beauty it can generate.

[in-the-blue-notebook]

CRIT #1

dreams of labor?

this shit is so rough and rushed please bear with me. Basically this project was inspired by the common question of "what do you want to be when you grow up" asked of children. I find it weird that children are expected to have a dream job and dream of labor. That led me to the disparity between what children think their dream job would look like and the reality of what it would be. This project is currently aiming to look at that difference. It uses visuals taking after children's drawings to illustrate the imagined dream job scenario. Then It breaks that fantasy with an interjection of reality and ruining the scenario. In this draft I was looking at the dream of being a veterinarian. Kids want to help animals, but don't realize that often involves cutting into and even killing many animals for their own good. THIS SHIT IS ROUGH AND EVERYTHING IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. currently I had to rely a lot on compositing but I don't intend to use any compositing in the actual pictures. I instead want to make the scenes with hand drawing and cardboard similar to how I made the props in this draft.

Chris Kitchen

[in-the-blue-notebook]

"156. The part I do remember: that the blue of the sky depends on the darkness of empty space behind it. As one optics journal puts it, "The color of any planetary atmosphere viewed against the black of space and illuminated by a sunlike star will also be blue." In which case blue is something of an ecstatic accident produced by void and fire." Admittedly, this is a weak association, but all of Nelson's mentions of the blue of the sky being quantified and explained resonated with my own fascination with the sky. One of my few gripes about living in NYC is how difficult it is to have a relationship with the sky. It's always interrupted or overshadowed by buildings or what's happening in front of you. Every time I leave or go home, I'm always pleasantly surprised by the sheer scale of an uninterrupted sky. Having it occupy almost half of your field of vision makes it this omnipresent force that I find great comfort in its constancy. I miss seeing endless clouds that I can find anything within or just the subtle changes in hue throughout the day. I like the sky and I miss seeing it all the time.

Chris Kitchen

[in-the-blue-notebook]

Hi y'all,

I'm Chris (Kitchen not Juan). I use He/Him pronouns, and this is "Word Play" a project I worked on for most of last year and plan to continue working on for a very long time. The central concept of the project is a playful re-interpretation and embodiment of language. Some of the photos literally interpret common phrases, or use synonyms/homonyms to re-imagine the meaning, and others focus in on specific parts of a word to create a scene. The inciting phrases for each photo are as follows: 1. Road Head 2. Monkey Business 3. Urinal Cake 4. Moon Landing 5. CARD-inal 6. Lip Stick 7. Mugging 8. Sleeping with the Fishes 9. Tipping the Scales For this class my hope is to find ways to incorporate more substantive concepts and narratives in my work. I'm not sure what that looks like, but I have many ideas. I just need to figure out which one makes the most sense to commit to. I've got a lot to say and figure out on this, so I'm hoping to have a proper conversation about it, but I'm not sure how to summarize it here.