This project made me a little uneasy: a) I’ve progressively lost my creativity since I was a kid and b) this required taking photos of myself. Now for me, I didn’t feel the need to use props and there’s no “model-like” posing. I wanted to focus on encompassing what I defined as a “selfie,” which these days refer to the face. Now, had I had photoshop on my laptop, this may have turned out a bit different (as in a lot better…at least that’s what I’d like to think), but seeing that I only had my cell phone and an undergraduate library printer, I had to settle for a little less.

She’s a bit wonky and messy, and I definitely wouldn’t categorize this as my best work, but that’s the point. I wanted to make myself uncomfortable. I wanted to create something that was imperfect and didn’t all fit together like puzzle pieces. Something that reflects what all of us feel at times. I think we allow society, especially social media, to dictate our self worth. We put forth all these standards of beauty that at times cloud our judgment and make us feel inferior to our peers. As embarrassing as it is to admit, when I was taking these selfies, I would try and pout my lips and create the illusion that my nose was smaller. It’s was always something that I had subconsciously done, but looking at my expression in many of the photos I had taken, I began to notice the pattern. I realised my hesitancy to be a little silly. I didn’t want to take unflattering pictures, succumbing to the fear of what others would think about me. In some ways, there was a sense of freedom while doing this project. I wanted to distort myself and make it weird. As someone who doesn’t have a lot of self-confidence, it was, initially, a little difficult to post this. But, if I could take away anything from this, it’s that life is too short to take yourself too seriously. Seeing myself in this fashion is strange, to say in the least, but it’s refreshing. I’m not going to always be “put-together” and that’s okay.

Abraham Avnisan.

Sin Sol, Forest Memory:

The Between Bodies exhibits were ones that I found rather peculiar. I’ve been to a few different museums in this area and even out of the country, but Avnisan’s stood out as something that I hadn’t quite seen before. As shown in the photo above, he had utilized a projector and created a forest scene, almost a taste of virtual reality. On each side of the room, two iPads were suspended in mid-air. If one were to hold the iPad, they’d be able to see poetry written on the walls, along with a CGI fairy. Something very different from traditional art shows and displays. It left me wondering what the artist was trying to communicate. Though I may not have a formal answer or thought-up concept that describes what I feel as though is happening in it, from a more surface level, the experience was fun and new. I found this piece quite creative, replicating the serenity and calmness of a forest through a medium that not many artists use. While graphic design, film, virtual reality (via headset), etc. is common for technological art, this was a less common way of presenting it. The poetry that appeared on the screen of the iPad, was also voiced in an audio clip that looped. It was very fascinating, but also made you think about what it all could possibly mean or signify.

My Take:

Reading through Avnisan’s writing, a lot of questions about life and death, even survival had been provoked. If you were to simply look at the forest, there’s a sense of peace that washes over you. However, I interpreted this more as almost a façade; it’s deception that arises from making judgments solely as an outsider. Once you really listen to the words that are verbally spoken around you and experience the virtual component, there’s a hidden aspect that comes to the light. There’s a sense of heaviness (I personally felt), that you can’t seem to shake. For me, Avnisan was implicitly showing how multilayered our world is. How something can look a certain way from an outside perspective, but once you’re subjected into its interworks, thoughts, beliefs, ideologies, etc. it may completely differ from what you expected.