Tag: inverted cross

My Most Recent Show

My second show after graduation was a success.  There was a large turnout for the show and many stopped and looked with great interest at my installation.  All of the other artists hung their work in a salon style.  Mine was the only work that had a conceptual theme with the work.  I’m not saying they were wrong to go with a salon style, I just was a little taken back at the way my work stood out.

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My installation (click to embiggen)

As you can see from the previous post, I did end up tweaking the installation a little bit.  I decided to go with a longer horizontal element.  It gives a little more balance to the overall composition, as well as giving a subtle hint of that most important of heavy metal iconography known as the pentagram.  I also went with larger prints of the bigger elements.  My goal was to get the same size as a vinyl sleeve, but unfortunately I am unable to print that large on my own.  The larger prints ended up being 13″ x 13″, just short of a vinyl sleeve.  A lot of the viewers seemed amazed at the use of CD jewel cases for the smaller prints.  Most thought it was very innovative.  At the time I came up with the idea, I didn’t think of it as innovative, but I do appreciate the compliment.  I had thought about putting CD’s inside the jewel cases, but by the time that idea came to me, I realized I wasn’t going to have time to curate the selections properly.

The goal with the jewel case frames was twofold.  First, I wanted the prints to be small so that people would actually have to go in close to view the images.  Heavy metal is not a musical genre with a high tolerance of casual fans.  One normally must be fully engaged with the music in order to fully appreciate it.  Here I wanted to pull in the viewer in order to full see the image in front of them.  The second reason, which I touched on in a previous post, was because of the importance of physical media to the fans.  Heavy metal fans still purchase physical media more often than digital media.  This reference to the CD is a nod to that importance.

The use of iconography in the larger prints puts forth the public image of heavy metal.  The inverted cross display, also a use of iconography, was arranged to explore the ritual that is a heavy metal show.  To this end, I specifically chose black metal and occult-oriented death metal acts.

In front of my installation. Photo by Jazmin Galindo Hull. (click to embiggen)

In front of my installation. Photo by Jazmin Galindo Hull. (click to embiggen)

That was the thinking behind the most recent installation of my work.  I ended up leaving it up for a week.  It was sad to take it down, but I knew the show had to end sometime.  I am pretty proud of what I accomplished with this installation, and I’m already toying with ideas for the next show, which, if I’m invited, will be in October.

I’m definitely not complaining about the opportunity to add to my CV.

To see other works from the show, check out the images on the Feral Noise Facebook page by clicking here (Facebook login required).

In other news, I am excited to report that I have been making significant progress on another artistic portrait endeavor.  The project has evolved a little bit.  I found, quite by accident (or serendipity), that the new direction is offering much more in terms of my conceptual vision.  I am slowly acquiring images and hope to share these soon on the main website.  I’m also looking at answering a CFE (call-for-entry) for a gallery in Vermont.  I’ll have more details on that in a later post.

To all of you, my faithful and not-so-faithful readers, I bid you good evening as the sandman is calling.  If you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments section below.  I would enjoy your feedback as well.

Rock and Roll Work pt II

The call for entry for the Rock and Roll show at the Minneapolis Photo Center has been answered.  I submitted a total of 6 images to this show.  In the end I chose 4 performance images, 1 of a stage set detail, and another of the equipment sitting on stage, waiting to be picked up.  This was by no means an easy decision, as I have hundreds of good quality images in my archive (from thousands taken) and I had to narrow down to around 5.  I say around 5 because the entry fee allows for 5 images, with each additional costing US$10 per image.

These images were chosen for what they represent in the heavy metal genre on the side of the performer.  King Diamond, with his theatrical stage show, brings forth as much fury and power as any other more aggressive band.  The inverted cross represents the adversarial nature of relationship of heavy metal (and all of rock music) and religion.  Depravis Nocturna of Spectral Manifest brings forth his own fury while maintaining a strict focus.  As the most important instrument, the electric guitar is easily the most universal symbol of rock and roll.  Even when it is not being played, the potential energy is barely contained within.  Jeffrey Nothing epitomizes the horrific nature of some of the subject matter of heavy metal.  There exists a certain mystique to the rock and roll artist in everything from the lifestyle to the live performance.  Aaron Meyers, with the lights seeking him out, maintains and projects that mystique from the shadows as he plays his guitar during an extended solo.

King DiamondInverted Cross - King DiamondDepravis NocturnaFlying V Guitars Jeffrey NothingAaron Meyers

I want to greatly thank Stevie, Brenda, and Justin for their help in curating this entry.  Without them, I would have had a very difficult time focusing (and even beginning).  And Stevie gets an extra thanks for bringing this call to my attention.

I am under no assumption that all of these will get in, but at least 1 would be nice.

So I guess the waiting begins.  It’s time to go live my life while the juror makes his decision.