Essay Plan

Essay Plan

Hannah Hoch

·      The image:

-       How was it made?

-       Why was it made?

-       The possible interpretations?

-       The social/cultural context in which it was produced?

-       How does your chosen image relate to your own practice?

Layout:

Introduction of essay – point of this essay? What am I looking to discuss? To research and analyse the work of Hannah Hoch. The culture of the time she lived in and the reasoning behind her work. What she went through, experienced, that reacted in her infamous photomontages being made.

100 words                                         (99)

Introduction into culture/history and Dadaism - for artistic/historical context of politics/art movement.

400-600 words                               (681)

Introduction of Hannah Hoch – How she came to be an artist, where she started, where she studied, her influences – and how did this contribute to/affect her work? Where was she in terms of being in the Dada movement and early 20^th century Germany. Especially as a female?

200-400 words                                (241)

The image. Critically analyse. What is your initial response? Research the analysis from other essayists. How was it made? Why was it made? What does it mean? The interpretations, this image has several. Compare its meaning to its historical context.

600 words                                    

Compare to other/similar works around that time period/era. How is it different? How is it similar? Was it reacted to differently? Why?

500 words                                        (611)

Conclusion – irony of her diminished status as a woman at the time to the infamousness of her work today. Compare the images’ meaning to todays’ culture/politics.

200-400 words

Dompteuse (Tamar), 1930

Initial presentation

This presentation was to show my initial research and ideas. The artists I researched were surreal-based practitioners - painters and photographers for variety. My initial shoots were to explore a particular "visual" and a particular path I wanted to travel down. Manipulative/studio based, or staged and exterior. My tutor found the first interesting simply by the way I had presented the images, laying over one another with a fading transition on the presentation software - so the transitions were soft/gradual to the changing surreal expressions on the face in the photographs. The latter however, sparked more interest, perhaps because it carries more room for change/variety and potential. Perhaps because it was not manipulated, which tends to be preference over manipulation - it is real, yet surreal.

Mannequin repetition

Linking in with the work on repetition, I thought it an idea to apply this notion to my work with the mannequins. Ideally when obtaining and photographing them I wanted a number of them in the same frame. However practicalities gone in the way (unable to carry dozens of mannequins to the areas), so I had to use photoshop to get the end result. 

Technique:

1. Select the original mannequin in frame, copy.
2. Paste into new layer, and scale to appropriate size.
3. Move to appropriate location in frame and change brightness depending where is placed in frame. 

Note: too much digital manipulation will decrease image quality, as shown in some images below*

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I definitely warm to this style, I find the images intriguing and bizarre. 

I do intend to use the mannequins further, but perhaps in an even more strange set up. Perhaps suspending them, similar to Araki's style? It'll prove a challenge with ropes needed, but it's possible.