Sophie Fallon
Porphyria's Lover
This is a project that I am currently working on.
I feel that today's society is becoming increasingly obsessed with privacy laws, freedom from media and surveillance - a notion explored in the exhibition "Exposed" at the Tate - with reality T.V shows such as Louis Theroux's documentaries giving the viewer a more intimate experience to the subjects by using unscripted social interaction. With this project I aimed to confront these issues and implications through the theme of 'voyeurism'.
The title for this project is appropriated from the poem 'Porphyria's Lover' by Robert Browning; a dramatic monologue in which the speaker describes a scene where he is waiting for his lover to return. When she enters, she explains how she has momentarily overcome societal strictures to be with him. However, realising that she will eventually give in to societies pressures, and wanting to preserve this moment of her worshiping him, he slowly wraps her hair around her neck and strangles her.
This timeless quality is also evident in Craig Horsfield's 'Hernando Gomez', where the sitter's gaze extend's beyond the the picture frame into the unknown, which "disrupts the sense of time and pulls the viewer beneath the ephemeral moment into 'slow time' ". Here the past and present coexist. Similarly, I aim to create the appearance of voyeurism through the subject's despondent facial expression, allowing the viewer to observe from the voyeur's perspective. Along the bottom of this image, I have experimented with the notion that the digital world has become increasingly intrusive, referring the surveillance cameras, and that there's always someone watching you. Here I have used multiple flash photography self-portraits to produce a second faint image of the subject. I created this by using my phone light as opposed to the bright light of the first flash. The result is somewhat ominous and gives the appearance of someone looking over their shoulder. Along the top row I have explored the theme by photographing my friend in various intimate scenarios from secret vantage points.
Mechanical and industrial imagery is also featured in Justin Mortimer's work, and I am intrigued by his bright and acidic colour palette. I aimed to use a similar coloration in my above preparatory drawing, and feel it pierces through the foreground in an intrusive manner, reflecting the voyeuristic theme. In addition, I was influenced by the abstraction in his work. With this collage, I built up layers of coloured paper, and ripped through the layers to create a rough indication of the subject in their surroundings. As I corrected the drawing over this, it became disjointed against the the initial abstract shapes in the background, creating confusion and ambiguity.
For the final outcome to this project, I intend to create a series of multiple images in a variety of media, including painting, photography and prints to adhere to the obsessive nature of voyeurism.
Porphyria's Lover
This is a project that I am currently working on.
I feel that today's society is becoming increasingly obsessed with privacy laws, freedom from media and surveillance - a notion explored in the exhibition "Exposed" at the Tate - with reality T.V shows such as Louis Theroux's documentaries giving the viewer a more intimate experience to the subjects by using unscripted social interaction. With this project I aimed to confront these issues and implications through the theme of 'voyeurism'.
The title for this project is appropriated from the poem 'Porphyria's Lover' by Robert Browning; a dramatic monologue in which the speaker describes a scene where he is waiting for his lover to return. When she enters, she explains how she has momentarily overcome societal strictures to be with him. However, realising that she will eventually give in to societies pressures, and wanting to preserve this moment of her worshiping him, he slowly wraps her hair around her neck and strangles her.
This timeless quality is also evident in Craig Horsfield's 'Hernando Gomez', where the sitter's gaze extend's beyond the the picture frame into the unknown, which "disrupts the sense of time and pulls the viewer beneath the ephemeral moment into 'slow time' ". Here the past and present coexist. Similarly, I aim to create the appearance of voyeurism through the subject's despondent facial expression, allowing the viewer to observe from the voyeur's perspective. Along the bottom of this image, I have experimented with the notion that the digital world has become increasingly intrusive, referring the surveillance cameras, and that there's always someone watching you. Here I have used multiple flash photography self-portraits to produce a second faint image of the subject. I created this by using my phone light as opposed to the bright light of the first flash. The result is somewhat ominous and gives the appearance of someone looking over their shoulder. Along the top row I have explored the theme by photographing my friend in various intimate scenarios from secret vantage points.
Mechanical and industrial imagery is also featured in Justin Mortimer's work, and I am intrigued by his bright and acidic colour palette. I aimed to use a similar coloration in my above preparatory drawing, and feel it pierces through the foreground in an intrusive manner, reflecting the voyeuristic theme. In addition, I was influenced by the abstraction in his work. With this collage, I built up layers of coloured paper, and ripped through the layers to create a rough indication of the subject in their surroundings. As I corrected the drawing over this, it became disjointed against the the initial abstract shapes in the background, creating confusion and ambiguity.
For the final outcome to this project, I intend to create a series of multiple images in a variety of media, including painting, photography and prints to adhere to the obsessive nature of voyeurism.