Assignment 4: False Reality

This assignment requires me to use a minimum of 4 photographs with the following techniques—photogram, photo montage and image manipulation to produce a photo with the theme, false reality.

For this assignment, I have used a total of 4 photographs. They are as follows:

Idea and Concept

While doing the surrealism class exercise, I was thinking of tree deforestation. To illustrate this idea of people cutting down too many trees, I was initially thinking of doing a photo montage of an open wound of a tree bleeding. However, this does not meet the requirement since it would require less than 4 photos. Dwelling deeper along this train of thought, I decided to illustrate a picture of a tree being burnt to death due to the yearly clearing of the land (deforestation) for farming in Indonesia. The idea is trees are precious and they are dying due to deforestation. My message is “Save the trees! They have a life too!”

Hence, with the aid of the above 4 photographs, my artwork is as shown below.

I am thinking of using either the above picture or the picture below as my art piece. I have made some changes based on the blending modes used. The second picture is as follows:

After Tutorial

During tutorial, my tutor Jing commented that my art piece is too logical and I have to re-work on this piece base on the theme surrealism. I was thinking about it over the weekend and was struck with the idea of a laptop representing a sea of information, is vomiting books out of its screen. To make it more surrealistic, I decided to place the laptop in a bird cage and a pile of books thrown out of the cage onto the grass.


Idea and Concept

Based on the idea mentioned above, my message is: The world of information is currently limitless and available to all. In the past, computers are meant solely for scientists to do research. Thus, the laptop is locked in a bird cage. However, now, computers are available to all. Hence, the sea of information in the laptop is vomiting books that are thrown out of the bird cage. The pile of books strewn on the grass signifies that information is limitless and available to everyone on earth. 

I have taken and used a total of 9 photos as shown below:

Re-worked  Art Piece

The picture below is my final art piece, a photo montage and manipulation of all the 9 photos taken above. 

Final Artwork

After consulting my tutor, Ms Chiang, I have re-worked on this assignment because it is still too logical and it is not surrealistic enough. With Ms Chiang's advice, I have came up with the following artwork. I have used four photos to form this art piece. They are as follows:

With these four photos, I came up with my final artwork, Censorship. This artwork portrays the prevailing censorship of online information among countries around the globe.

Class Excerise B

This is a class exercise done as a group of 4. We have composed a surrealistic picture with the following definition.

Definition of Surrealism

A photo that brings out the thoughts of a subconscious mind in an irrational manner.


Our Artwork on Surrealism

This artwork is our inital idea.

This is our final artwork

Idea and Concept

While brainstorming in our group, we came across this idea of an apple seeking revenge due to the unnatural actions of man kind. We pursued this idea further and decided to use the following concept for our artwork. Genetic modification of food or plants and use of pesticides for the cultivation of food has altered them so much so that it might come back to haunt us. We eat apples because it is presumed to be healthy but now with genetic modification and use of pesticides, it may harm our health.

Comments on Masterwork (Surrealism)

Done By: George Grie, June 2009

Title: Ghost ship series: The ninth wave

The above masterpiece by George Grie illustrates an old sailor’s expression of “The Ninth Wave”. It means a single wave larger than all the others. This wave is often referred to as a destroyer or killer wave. In reality, although waves sometimes form larger ones when they meet, there is no fixed interval when a large one can be predicted.

The concept of “ghost ship” may have started because the most remote and isolated places on earth is the sea and in ancient days, your survival on the sea depends on one’s ship. Thus, this dangerous transport arose some very intense superstitions.

One the contrary, “The Seventh Wave” is the wave that sailor’s wait for, when they have no wind. Based on the above context provided by the artist, I believe the masterpiece is conveying that one should not sit down and wait for things to happen. One has to find one’s own determination and collaborate in teams in order to succeed and ensure safety in life. This shows that we are interdependently connected to others on earth.