Since the inception of technology, it had become inextricably linked to art because it produces a wide range of avenues for artists to explore, and to transcend their own reality. For this reason, photography and digitally manipulated images have become prevalent in contemporary art; there is a sense of realism in photography that cannot be captured through other media, and digital programs offer artists to alter the visual language and subjects in the photographs. One artist who manipulates digital media to enrich his work is Tom Chambers, who uses the photographic technique of photomontage, compiling layers of photographs, to create his images. In his acclaimed 2009 series, Entropic Kingdom, Chambers successfully makes a statement about the fragility of the zoomorphic network, continually weakened by the human race that refuses to help. The technology used permits Chambers to enhance the visual language of his work and create greater meaning that engages his audience. Additionally, by using digital manipulation and photomontage, Chambers is allowed to distort reality and incorporate animals in surreal contexts and transcend reality. These two effects of technology help to elicit a response from the viewer and reinforce the intended meaning of the pieces in Entropic Kingdom. Chambers exploits the relationship between technology and art by using photomontage to enhance his work and allow the audience greater insight into their socio-political context.
In Entropic Kingdom, Chambers strongly employs several elements of visual language that are enriched via technology, including his use of space, desaturated contrasting colours and balance. His work, Saccharine Perch, demonstrates these elements of Chambers’ personal aesthetic. The use of photomontage in Saccharine Perch adds dimensions and layers that would not have been possible in standard photography, while creating a sense of symmetry and balance. With a precise distinction between the fore-, middle- and background in this image, the viewer is given a greater sense of perspective; one example of this is seen in the dissimilarity between the birds in the fore- and background. Without this strong sense of space, the birds shown in the distance could be confused with the small, frightened birds in the foreground, instead of appearing large and foreboding. Space is also important when considering the contrasting colours that Chambers has employed. The cake and birds featured in the foreground strongly contrast with the dress worn by the girl in the middle ground, but are harmonious with the purplish, yellow clouds and grass in the background. The colours are somewhat murky and desaturated, contributing to the intense feeling of foreboding that is cast by the image. Tom Chambers cleverly uses space and muted colour to create an apprehensive mood that enhances the ominous meaning of his series, with the aid of technology.
Along with visual language, his subject matter incorporated relies on technology to create meaning, and also to contribute to the surrealistic qualities of his pieces. Surrealism was an artistic movement founded in the 1920’s by author, Andre Breton, that constitutes the nature of a dream; commonly seen to be an exaggeration of the physical world or creation of unrealistic events, images or places. Tom Chambers uses surrealistic devices to draw relationships that would not naturally occur, generally between humans and animals. Chambers writes, “I desire to move beyond documentation of the present, and rather seek to merge reality and dreams in musing about possibilities of the future” (reference), referring to his use of surrealism. This merging of reality and dreams is seen in his piece Goatherd, which features a young girl reading from a book, surrounded by goats. In a natural environment, it would be very difficult to fabricate an image like this, unless the creatures were taxidermied, however this may lead to the animals appearing stiff and lifeless. The realistic quality of the animals in the compromising situation they are in would not have been able to be captured, had it not been for Chambers’ astounding use of photomontage and technology. This creates a very surrealistic image that would have otherwise been unfeasible, and enhances the meaning of the series by fabricating the dreamlike relationships between humans and animals.
The use of visual language and the dreamlike, surrealistic atmosphere aids the viewer to draw meanings from the pieces and articulate a response. Having interviewed several people on the nature of Chambers’ pieces, there is a unanimous consensus that the foreboding mood captured in Entropic Kingdom, and the surrealistic elements of his work, help the viewer to understand them. Chambers claims that the purpose of this series is to create an “emotional connection in the viewer” by offering images of a “disturbed eco-system created by man’s self-serving interests” (reference). A strong emotional affiliation is created between the viewer and the image in the digitally created photograph, Camouflage. This piece is a highlight of Entropic Kingdom that almost summarises the statement Chambers is trying to make. It features a scared teenage girl who has been digitally placed behind a defiant-looking deer, hiding. The image uses colour and strong tonal contrast to create a mood of fear and foreboding as with Chambers’ other images, as well the effective use of space. As aforementioned, surrealistic elements are key in this image, with the relationship between the girl and the deer being dreamlike and unreal; however, this is where the piece draws its meaning. The girl is hiding, scared, behind the protective deer from an oncoming character who appears to be threatening the two. She is abdicating care for the animal, putting herself first and out of harm’s way, as is seen on a daily basis in social-political and environmental conflict. In his artist statement, Tom Chambers has written, “the tension [between animals and people] has escalated with man’s increasing disregard for the fragility of the environment and abdication of his responsibility to care for the earth” (REF). This is compellingly articulated in all Chambers’ works, with the assistance of technology. Superfluous use of visual language is created via technology and incorporates surrealist devices that engage the viewer and draw an emotional response.
that creates ominous moods and the employment of surrealist devices, both created via technological aid, engage the viewer and draw an emotional response.
Without technology, Tom Chambers would be a photographer with ideas worth sharing. With technology, he is given the avenue to explore, create and move people with emotive concepts in an artistic form that transcends reality. He uses heightened visual language to capture a mood that affects the viewer and enters the dreamlike lens offered by surrealism. These two consequences of technological use assist in delivering meaning and gaining emotional responses from the viewer to portray his message. That is, a zoological cry for help, unaided by the seemingly superior race of human beings, who are so bent on change; change that is not always of benefit to all species. Chambers’ Entropic Kingdom relies on technology to visually enhance and stimulate the viewer, while delivering a message encased in an environmental and socio-political purpose.
No comments:
Post a Comment