Year 10 assessment Theme: Disguise The image depicts a very unusual and abstract subject of malformation and abnormality, it is quite uncanny and unsettling to look at due to the illusion of floating hands and a humanoid head of scribbles and ambiguity. Sat in a bright white room with rough timber floors, lies a white pillar small in stature and resembling a sort of monolith of marble reminiscent of the smooth Ancient Greek architecture. Beside it a red, tangled pile of wires lies barely in the frame cut off by the image boundaries along with a long piece of wood leant against the walls behind it. In the center of the image is the ghostly figure sitting on a wooden deck chair; coat draped over the back of it, lifeless and limp. The peculiar forearms and hands peak through the sleeves of the blue coat without any signs of a body attached to the other side. Furthermore, the hood of the coat stands up on its own atop the chair with the scribbly form of the head attached almost holding it up as if a balloon is attached to the point of the hood. The pale face is hard to make out due to it only being made from scribbles and signature like movements of a pen upon the image. This image is very cold because of the cool colours such as blue, white and light pink illuminating the picture. The image is a picture of the unusual portrait genre due to its unconventional features and qualities; Normal portraits can be interpreted in many ways following certain rules and different expectations such as centered subject, rule of thirds and a face or body part of a person incorporated into the image. Although, this image is an unusual portrait because of the lack of normally expected features as a result of the eerie and ‘abnormal’ subject. The wiry face breaks the normal rules of a portrait although also complies because of the incomplete yet full aspects throughout: the full arms and the empty and incomplete face as well as the empty space at the top of the image becoming a full image in the lower half with a pillar, a chair, some wires and the floor. Overall, the absence of a complete person imposes the genre of the unusual portrait via its spectral and uncanny imagery, breaking the expected fixtures of a portrait. Lucas Blalock most likely created this image using post production editing software to slowly sketch the face in with little lines but the actual image of the chair and the coat in the room was most likely made using some sort of mount for the camera and then used a timer to get into position, hiding behind the coat on the chair and putting his arms through the sleeves of the coat. To recreate this image or use it as inspiration I would use the setting of a run down and overused house or studio to replicate the setting of the image. The middle/central angle creates a middle ground between photographer and viewer whereas if the angle was high up it would create an inequality as the viewer would feel more powerful or dominant or if the angle wasa very low angle, in contrast, the subject would feel overwhelmingly dominant, but the viewer would feel less powerful and insignificant. To achieve the same feel I would use the same middle angle to match the atmosphere of the Blalock image. Finally, Lucas Blalock possibly used a filter to achieve that cool and bright tone within the image also using editing software after the photoshoot; this accentuates the whites and pale colours and fades the blue and red to become more diluted. This image is a very ethereal and uncanny version of a portrait. The unusual portrait provokes feelings of obvious confusion regarding the construction of the scene as well as the production of the head and how the wiry lines were made. Furthermore, the image makes me think of urban abandonment and derelict buildings. The feeling of neglect ties into this image fittingly due to the unfinished and empty atmosphere around the image (the empty face and cold room). Although this image doesn’t scream discomfort or display negativity it makes me feel uncomfortable and has a very uneasy air to it. This could be attributed to the ambiguity of the image and the face of the figure, but I think that a contributing factor is also the white walls and paint which I link to run down buildings or abandoned houses. In conclusion this image makes me feel very uneasy and uncomfortable regarding the white walls and the dusty and paint splattered floor, the unclear roots of the hand and the ambivalence of the incomplete head with no facial expression or emotion. ‘Tessa sitting’ really evokes the fear of the unknown where we are unsure because of something ambiguous or mysterious. The three questions I would ask Lucas Blalock about this image are: what feeling do you pair with this image the most? What made you create this image? Why did you choose this setting to compose your work in? I feel like these questions would reveal the most about the thought behind the creation of this image and give us a clearer insight into the process behind the composition and creation of the image. After doing some research, I understand that the image was made with comedy in mind alluded to by the title, “intentional photoshop fails”. The form of low art shows Lucas’ humor and wit in his work. For example, once on the matter of humor he stated, “humor can carry a lot of other things with it. It also sorts of invites the viewer to get involved,” The use of the photoshop techniques also provides a sense of humor in the incoherence of the work, with how he uses it to stitch together different images and products to reimagine them in post productional editing. He sees his work as less of a series but more of a continual, “working things out” in his words. This image links to the theme of disguise because of its mysterious and puzzling nature; the mystery of the unlinked hands attached to thin air, or the old room littered with paint and dust or even the scribbled head of the figure only clearly outlining its nose all provoke feelings of fear and uncanny because of this disguised and secretive atmosphere. Moreover, the face of the figure central in the middle of the frame is obscured by its unfulfilled look: the scribbles that make up its face leave masses of room and emptiness therefore leaving them inconspicuous the same way a disguise would. In conclusion, this image relates to the overall theme of ‘disguise’ because of the unknown essence and obstructed complexion of the ghostly figure.