Remake, Remix or Appropriate

Finding an appropriate subject to remix for this assignment was not without difficulty. We tossed around many ideas, initially leaning towards recreating a Blink 182 music video in which we would all trash a room and videotape the process. However, eventually we found our way to Jackson Pollock's overwhelmingly emotive 'Number 11' painting from 1952. The idea would be to recreate the painting and allow ourselves to be the blue poles that feature in the image, as we were sure that we wanted to include an interactive element. We organised a date and time to meet on the La Trobe grounds, lay down a sheet, pull out some paints and go nuts. And this is exactly what we did. Our first layer consisted of pastels which added a certain depth to our image that a single layer of paint would not be able to. After the painting was finished, I acted as photographer for the day documenting each idea we came up with to incorporate ourselves into the image as the blue poles (hence being dressed in navy).
The process was extremely collaborative. The initial idea was Heidi's, and from then on each group member contributed equal amounts toward to the completion of the project. Getting the painting done was a surprisingly cathartic experience. I did not realise how much of a release it is to just throw all of your energy into getting paint and pastels onto a sheet. No rules, just expression.
These are the results.  
ORIGINAL

OUR APPROPRIATION

Many photos were taken. We decided that each individual would stand in front of the painting and we would photoshop them together to match the style of the original. The blue skin came to being in post production.





Romany

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