PROPOSAL

Final Project: Proposal

1.Abstract

As our country experiences racial divide, violence, and pain surrounding political and social issues, many people desire peace, joy, unity, and tranquility in these difficult times. The focus of my final project is to bring light to aspects of our community that will evoke these feelings and remind us of the possibility of peace and joy to exist even in the midst of pain. My goal is to create a typology of art in photography that displays murals and artifacts that display a message or provide the audience with these feelings if they are able to be present in the environment. The goal of my project is to show the existence of peace, joy, unity, and tranquility in our communities to allow positivity to overshadow the negativity in our world.

2.  Artist Statement/Background Information

In the past few years, we have seen an increase in racial and political divide, stress and chaos from the Covid pandemic, and an increase in violence in the United States. We saw a growth in mass shootings in 2020 during the pandemic. According to CNN, the increase in mass shootings coincided with a rise in gun violence during the pandemic. They reported that the United States firearm homicide rate in 2020 was the highest since 1994. In addition, there was an increase in suicide deaths which CDC reports that over 49,000 people died by suicide in 2023 (1 death every 11 minutes).  From the Black Lives Matter movement following the many police involved killings of Black men and women to the current ICE protest, our country has and still continues to experience difficult and trying times. In our world, where so much chaos, pain, and fear exist, there is an extreme need and desire for peace, joy, unity, and tranquility. My goal is to explore different communities in search of murals and artifacts that are placed in our communities that represent peace, joy, unity, and tranquility. This project will shine a light on these representations to show that in the midst of the chaos and trauma that exist we must work to look beyond the pain and find those things that can bring us joy. I feel that most of the time, especially in the media, the focus is on the negativity in the world. This project aims to focus on positivity as a way to help us cope with the negative and unfortunate things that are currently happening and that have happened in the past. I was inspired for the project by our Walk 1, Mapping Senses when I photographed the ICE protest and Walk 5, Walk in Your Name when I recorded areas of South Los Angeles that have been affected by gun violence in honor of my uncle that was murdered. The words that will drive my completion of this project are “Peace and Joy Exist Even in the Midst of Pain”.

3. Images of previous works that relate to this project

These images from previous works are related to this project because they were images the represent some of the political and social issues that inspired the concept for the project.

4. Detailed Proposal

The final form of my project will consist of photographs of murals that represent peace, joy, unity, and tranquility in different communities in Los Angeles. I will also photograph artifacts or symbols that represent these emotions. For example, I will photograph a waterfall that I’ve seen in the community that many people view as a place of peace. In addition, I will create photographs using simple materials that represent these emotions as well. I will use these photographs to create a typology in the art of photography. It will be inspired by Brend and Hilla Becher who were German photographers that worked as a duo. They are known for their creation of a series of photographic images or typologies of industrial buildings and structures that were often organized in a grid. The goal is to evoke these feelings in the audience and to relay the message that if we take time to notice we can find peace, joy, unity, and tranquility even in the midst of the chaos and pain that currently exist in the world. I want to remind others to make a conscious effort to search for things in their environment that will bring these feelings to life. 

My project is connected to Stevphen Shukaitis’ concept of affective composition. Shukaitis believed that through affective composition a connection is made between art and the audience  by displaying the feelings and experiences of the audience that are related to political and social issues. I feel that my project is connected to this concept because even though the photographs won’t necessarily be of political issues, they are in some way related as it can be seen as a resolution to the issues we are experiencing. My goal is to have the audience connect to the message in the murals, the artifacts, and the photographs I create to represent those feelings in hopes that they experience the desired emotions of peace, joy, unity, and tranquility. 

My project is connected to the reading The Beach Beneath the Street by McKenzie Wark through the idea that freedom is born out of need. It is the belief of sociologist Henri Lefebvre that freedom is not the opposite of necessity. It is explained that without the experience of need, there can be no being. It is further described that needs are few; desires are many. There is no desire without a need at its core. Need can be intense: hunger, thirst, lust. Need without desire, without play, artifice, luxury, superfluity, is no longer human. It is human poverty (p. 96). This idea connects to my project because the inspiration comes from the need and/or desire to experience a sense of peace, joy, unity, and tranquility in an environment that is overwhelmed with the realities of racial divide, chaos, and pain. The current state of our country has created a need or desire to feel emotions of positivity in aspects of our community and our world.

5. Images Accompanying Proposal

These images inspire the idea of what my photographs will look like. For those that are drawings, I will recreate them in a photograph. 

6. Production of Artwork

I estimate that this project will take 3 days to complete. I will begin the project on July 3^rd. The first two days will be exploring the community for locations that display murals or artifacts that represent the desired feelings. I will also use these days to create photographs that also represent the desired feelings. I will use my camera to take photographs. I may possibly need models (2-3) to create the photographs that I have in mind. I may also use rocks, paper, and markers for these photographs. On the third day I will edit my photographs and create the typology of photographs. The cost for this project will only be approximately $30 for gas to drive to the different locations.