Thursday. 10/7.

So, stuffs from class--some makes more sense than others, but that's the way I work. I'll try to order 'em linearly, and I'll also talk a bit about how my visual piece is (not) coming.

Lyric Fragments:

Counterpoint is the easiest test of/for harmony.

Baby Jesus jolting the crowd with guitar solo, his hips gyrating to the bass.

It's all up in here, here where here where we are.

Aphorisms

Music, science, Christianity--each has its own definition of god and sex.

Everything is somehow connected, right?

Relationships never change--only the language used to describe them does.

Some possible visual inspiration if I get super stuck:

Hacked in real life--appropriating concrete items in inappropriate ways.

PostSecret--original text with found images (like postcards).

So, the following here are the various prompts/inventories that we did. Some are widely divergent as the relationship slant (e.g., sex, friendship, break-up, etc.) I take influences where or what is appropriate.

What visual reference(s) come to mind when you think of your mastertape?
R Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet," various operas/musicals, The Watchmen, Full Metal Alchemist, Cowboy Bebop, Neon Genesis Evangelion. For the most part,these have "each" of my components in various amounts--the closest would probably be Evangelion, as it is heavy in terms of (mainly) Christian imagery, heavily science-based, and music setting the mood throughout.

What visual aesthetics make sense for this project?
Pop art, Manga/Anime, erotic art, realism, child's first drawing(s).

These decisions are based on accessibility--even though I may get into abstract ideas, I still want the ideas to be made clear in terms of concretes--formats that are purely abstract would not suit this project. Forms where you can see the action, in detail, and still understand without necessarily knowing would be awesome.

Materials to use
Collage, video,(bodily) fluids, wine/bread.

Since I have three main ideas I'm trying to tie into one idea, collage would probably be best, and then the challenge becomes how to make the collage sing without being unnecessary weighed down. Body fluids would be cool, as each mode does have specific fluids associated with it (music-sweat; Christianity-blood; science-any number of chemicals), but that may be going too far.

Color Pallet
Chiaroscuro (which isn't a color pallet, really--don't kill me), blacks/whites, primary colors.

I'm mainly interested in intersections without too much extraneous fluffs--like the concept of light/dark and focusing on bold, resonant colors.

Installation location
Gallery space, adult theater, book, college residence hall.

Again, depending on the end product(s) and how racy.

Map Version
Separate territories for speakers; a common space/border (e.g., bedroom, classroom); landlocked/enclosed by science, music, and religion. Each terratory has space for both regrets and happiness. A space for the undefined/magic of a poem.

Symbols
Caution: floor may be wet; No smoking; No Running.

This, I can probably look up and embed images here.

Inventory
I probably should scan and post, but for now, I drew:

A male and female, a bed, a guitar/music notes, a cross, an angel, a chair, an equal sign, an approximation sign, a logical "or", a box with letters and numbers.


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In terms of the visual, I think I'm finally narrowing something down--I did a four panel comic, but it felt too much like The Watchmen, specifically in terms of the idea of symmetry (there's literally a page in the middle of that work that is symmetrical, and symmetry isn't exclusively a The Watchmen idea, but it feels so loaded since I know the references). I then tried representing the crucifixion by means of musical symbols, but I was stuck on what the text should be--I threw around some ideas containing representation and sign, but it felt hokey. Maybe I'm over-thinking and trying to be too literal? It seems like I can easily blend two of three of the mastertapes impulses, but it always feels like one is being left out or having a disservice performed to it. Another idea was a Jesus character rocking out on a guitar made like a Newton's cradle, but eh--wackness personified.

So now, the image is going to be a music bar called fish and chips--fish to represent Christianity, chips being digital chips, and music bar is explanatory. Maybe it'll be like an advertisement with a slogan like "The perfect place to meet, greet, and see what happens next." I actually like the way that sounds, as I'm painting, in the end, relationships, and the openness of this phrase allows me to talk about relationships and what happens next, whether this is getting together (in various degrees), separating, or a number of ways things can meet and react. Still conceptualizing what to do outside of the title (visually), but the title, I feel, will be bad-ass.

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I think I'll end each entry with a song that's inspiring me now, so for today, it is James Labrie's "I Need You." Being a huge Dream Theater fan, I'm very interested by members' side projects. Especially with the recent turmoil of the band (i.e., the drummer who founded the band 25 years ago leaving), it's nice to hear others be productive (though this was recorded/planned before the shenanigans). Why it makes me happy, aside from reminding me of undergrad/my obsession with Gothenburg metal, is that James was very involved in the song writing process. Usually, in Dream Theater, he would literally fly in to lay down vocal tracks--the mindset was that Dream Theater was an instrumental band who just happen to have a singer, so it wasn't necessary for vocal lines/melody input from the damn vocalist, and at times, it would show, as James' voice wouldn't fit a song. Maybe now, he'll be more involved in the process, especially vocally, as he knows his voice best, and probably can take songs to that proverbial next level.