Monday, July 25, 2011

A Cabinet Of Curiosities

























In celebration of the 200th Anniversary of P.T Barnum’s birth, I have created ‘A Cabinet of Curiosities’ and from this created a box containing photographs of all the weird and wonderful things contained in the cabinet. The idea behind this to awaken the viewers’ natural curiosity about the world. P.T Barnum created an experience for the general public, making exhibitions of weird and unusual things or people. I chose to create a piece that captured this experience. With this project I ask the viewer to look, question, explore but mainly enjoy what they see.

I used found objects, natural forms and created hand-made objects. I spent time sourcing the objects within the cabinet by gathering objects from second hand shops and markets. Although I had enough material to create a 3D piece, I wanted to capture the objects and experiment by creating images with a ‘moody’ atmosphere, and for them to retain a sense of mystery.

To challenge the way of looking at an object, I took photographs using mediums such as a magnifying glass. I experimented with different lighting, but felt the best images were the ones created by using low lighting. This allowed a range of shadows and a strong contrast between light and dark. I kept the colour palette limited and slightly de-saturated. I tried to make the objects have some sense of character rather than just remaining as a solid form. The images have a touch of voodoo and magic, which adds to the mystery of the objects.

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