Process

Concept:

For this part of the module, I was rather taken by photographs that had been edited or censored to omit someone from said photo. Usually, censorship is done by the state, or other official regulators, but on occasion, an individual might seek to change family photos by scratching out a person’s face, or a statement might be made by publicly defacing an image of a leader. This is the path I took for my appropriation, by taking images of two major world leaders, and applying my own style of censorship to the photos, stripping the leaders of any meaningful identity. Through this I’d hope to convey a sense of disillusionment with the current state of political affairs.

Influences:

A major player in the art world who mostly focuses on the failings of the world around us would be famed graffiti artist Banksy. His work often makes light of current events by twisting the meanings of other well-used images. An example of his work regarding appropriation would be the famous “Flower Thrower” piece, which displays a rioter about to throw an object, in the original context it is a weapon in his hand, but in Banksy’s work, that has been replaced by a bouquet of flowers. In terms of censorship, he pixelated a bust of a priest. This piece was revealed just before Christmas of 2011, to highlight the Catholic church covering up cases of abuse within the church hierarchy.

Images Above: http://www.michaeloart.com/banksy-his-most-powerful-pieces/