There's no escaping this reality.

I got some images to illustrate the progression to a tri-color print. The image above (which doesn't seem to appear properly) was my original draft processed directly into illustrator for tracing. As I mentioned in a previous post it came out badly. There wasn't any definition to the details and the forms were generally oversimplified.




Having seen how this first draft came out in illustrator I realised I'd have to redefine and darken the edges myself. This is the original composition detailed with black in photoshop. It doesn't have to be perfect, this attempt was crude but the lines are simplified enough later it comes out fine.


I used the cutout filter in photoshop's filter gallery to get a real time approximation, pictured above, and it's already clear this version is better suited to this sort of processing. Cutout filter proved to be of lower fidelity than the live trace functions in illustrator though, so it was only useful for drafting an image and quickly previewing how it would survive tracing.This is the final product, in panels to compensate for the 24 in. screen width (height 14 in.). Unlike images processed by the cutout filter, the live traced prints are easily resized without unwanted pixilation.

This is the later after color separation in illustrator, which again yields better results than similar techniques in photoshop in my experiments. Three panels each with one of the three colors used make up the image in greyscale in the lower right corner.

All problems solved.

I've been experimenting with how to break down my image into a tri-color print and haven't gotten good results with my draft and simple adjustments like contrast. I took some inspiration from Man Ray, who often detailed his photographs in pencil before making prints, and started defining the images by hand in photoshop prior to processing them in illustrator. I'm getting much better results when transitioning to three colors now. I'll try to get some images up later to illustrate the process. A common thread this work seems to share with that of Man Ray, I am beginning to notice, is derealisation.

I had another idea for text, I have to make note of it before I forget again. "All problems solved."

Load universe into gun, aim at brain... fire.

I got to thinking about how manipulation is personally significant. It quickly became clear that manipulation of perception was relevant. I've never felt terribly comfortable with reality, so I've become intimately familiar with many means of manipulating, but ultimately never escaping it.

This is suicide no. 11. The profane finality of this escapist is yet to be seen, but there is intention in the gesture. This is desperation and misery at the surface, hope and ideal beneath.



This is the stuff of dreams, a crystal of Dimethytryptamine magnified at 400x. Dr Rick Strassman theorized that in human physiology the pineal gland, a sort of vestigial third eye, synthesizes DMT. The expressed effect of this chemical is perceived as dreams. If a brain is traumatized into shock the pineal gland can release a flood of the chemical manifesting in what is known as a near death experience.


I made some adjustments to the image to create some negative space and optical refinement.


I'm playing around with just how it fits and this was appealing to me. I'm still uncertain how it will be colored exactly, so this is black and white. What I like is the play of contrasts. The material world and the artificial, permanent and ephemeral, dreams and drugs. The themes here have deep personal significance, I am not generally comfortable explaining my symbolism since it has a way of decapitating interpretation. I am beginning to understand that my art direction tends to be downright esoteric, or at least irrelevant to the audience, so I hope these notes help with insight. I was also thinking of some surrealist work like "This is not a pipe" by Renee Magritte.
Some text can lend a lot of meaning to a piece, but more importantly clarify the artist's statement. In this respect I might simply state the analogy and title literally "Load universe into gun, aim at brain...fire." This describes the effects of smoking DMT, in particular breakthrough experiences that can be as difficult to psychologically integrate as a bullet. On the other hand there is always the potential for miscommunication and its disastrous consequence. The first words that came to mind for this piece were "Shall we live to regret..." and "Or forget?" but this seems obtusely suicidal and could detract too much from the meaning. I'm going to experiment with this a little and see how I can incorporate text.

Why Not Sneeze, Rrose Sélavy?

Why not Sneeze, Rrose Sélavy?

I have in mind the occasion when Marcel Duchamp got hold of some friends to show them a cage which seemed to have no birds in it, but to be half-full of lumps of sugar. He asked them to lift the cage and they were surprised at its heaviness. What they had taken for lumps of sugar were really small lumps of marble which at great expense Duchamp had had sawn up specially for the purpose. The trick in my opinion is no worse than any other, and I would even say that it is worth nearly all the tricks of art put together. –Andre Breton

This was the first thing to cross my mind when I thought of manipulation in art. It seems like an interesting example to me. The work is dada and one of Duchamp's readymades. He forces the viewer to interact, tricks them, and works on various levels of significance beyond; it's promise of sweetness ultimately a burden. Then I was thinking dada and found some more examples from Man Ray, and Marcel Duchamp. Man Ray manipulated objects in his art to convey ideas, and ideas to convey his dreams.

Le Violon d'Ingres

Kiki's body is as finely crafted as the instrument,

or

Man Ray could play the young parisian as one would an instrument.




In any case a proiminent theme is manipulation.








Monument to Sade


The image was cropped and illustrated by Man Ray, taking on entirely new significance.
















Marcel Duchamp as Rrose Selavy

The artist is his own work of art. Early photographs of Duchamp as Selavy were apparently masculine. This later image refines the concept to something more glamorous.

Cross dressing seems profoundly manipulative.
















Marquise Casati






Simply reimposing the image for three pairs of eyes creates an otherworldly effect.










Dora Maar


Partially solarized, except the hand and face.

< Note the pair of amputated hands.
Tears


False tears from a true manniquin. Again there is deep significance to a simple manipulation.










Le Monde (The World)






A rayograph coupled with a photo. Great contrasts.










Profile and Hands





Solarization effect dramatically alters the original photograph.


These were all by Man Ray, this last one is another perfect example of manipulation by Duchamp.



L.H.O.O.Q.


A cheap reproduction of the Mona Lisa with a mustache drawn on. The title roughly means to say she has a hot ass. The statement is one of perverted beauty.