Oscar Munoz

Oscar Munoz Artist Analysis

Oscar Munoz was born in Colombia in 1951 and, from an early age, had an interest in drawing and the arts. In high school he began taking classes at the Academia de Bellas Artes (fine arts academy) and the year after finishing high school he completed the visual arts study program. Munoz works with photography, print making, graphite drawing, installation art, audiovisual media and sculpture. His early works were inspired by the urban expansion that occurred in Columbia when he started work as an artist; the slums that were created in his home had a substantial impact on his pieces. As he progressed as an artist, he began to explore the ideas of memory, loss and the violence that has occurred in Columbia all his life. The piece above, titled 'photograph' expresses the idea of being frozen in time. Munoz made the connection between memory and the violence in Columbia because of the fact that he thought the past, present and future of Columbia would most likely be riddled with violence, war and cruelty. He also explore the fragility of memory and how easy it is to forget what has happened in the past.

Formal Elements

These themes are all conveyed through the artistic style that these images have; for this reason Oscar Munoz could certainly be described as an expressionist artist. The use of browns and earthy colors conveys the suffering that has occurred in his country; the colors carry strong associations with dirt, which could also be associated with the slums in Columbia which would have been very unhygienic. The brown could also be associated with dried blood or burnt skin or other physical consequences of violence. The shapes of the subjects are very distorted which could also convey the agony that occurs in war, and the fact that the texture is scratched and distorted shows the frailty of memory and how easy it is to lose memories especially when contaminated with trauma. I also think that it is interesting that the photos are presented on fabric; it further emphasizes the divide between the memory and the viewer and the past and the present because its almost like they are behind a curtain. Obscured. Separate. Distant. That is how the form conveys the emotion in the picture. As for lines, the images flow down in a downwards direction, suggestive of the emotional situation of the people of Columbia when it came to the themes he was exploring. It is memetic of the feeling of hopelessness. As for tone, the figures are significantly darker than their surroundings, emphasizing this darkness. This darkness further conveys the feeling of hopelessness.

Reflection

I am very fond of Oscar Munoz's work; the themes he conveys are related to memory which is something my pieces have explored in the past. As for the aspects of his work that I will carry over to my own, I plan on using similar colors and to do a similar thing with fabric. As for the aspect of the themes, I intend on exploring the ideas of memories that Oscar Munoz has explored.

Photoshoot Plan

Annotation

This is my photoshoot plan for the pictures of the projections. It details my plans for the shoot and some of the thinking behind the use of projection in the picture. When designing the photoshoot plan I tried to relate it to the artists work; I set the artists famous piece 'Cortinas de Bano' as the background to show how central it was in the planning and inspiration of the photoshoot.

Oscar Munoz Photoshoot Plan non-projections edit.jpg

Annotations

This is my photoshoot plan for the pictures that would make up the edits that I would project onto fabric. The image that was selected for the background was picked because it was an example of the kind of things I wanted to take photographs of. I adjusted the opacity to make the text more visible and to make the photoshoot plan more visually appealing. I think that this plan was a success; I feel that if I were to do it again I would try to be more creative when it comes to using text, and possibly use a photo that I took with a DLSR camera as the background.

Photoshoot Plan Annotations

Contact Sheet

Contact Sheet Annotations

These are the photographs I will be editing in the style of Oscar Munoz. This photoshoot is significantly smaller than the others, containing 35 photos as oppose to 145, which is something that does limit the shoot. This is something I would change if I were to do it again. However, unlike other photoshoots, every image in this shoot is in focus; This meant that I only focused on images composition when selecting photographs. The selected photos were the ones that I found the most interesting; I did my best to select a variety of 'types' of photographs. That is, I tried to select photos from a variety of angles with notably different and unique compositions. Overall I think the shoot was a success and I think I produced some interesting stand-alone photographs.

Contact Sheet

First Developments

First Development Annotations

These are the first developments that I plan on projecting onto fabric to connect them further to Oscar Munoz. I really like how these edits turned out; I feel that one could connect them to the ideas of fleeting memory that Oscar Munoz explores. The fact that each picture is a segment of a larger image conveys a sense of fragmentation and mystery; similar to that of lost memory. Also the presence of blank colour further conveys the emptiness that one is left with when memory's fade. The monochromatic nature of many of the pictures further conveys ideas of memory because of the associations black and white pictures have with memory and the past. The shapes of the objects in the picture are obscure, like fragmented memories can seem; they seem wrong or off because they are not entirely accurate recollections when memories are forgotten. As for lines in the picture, it could be argued that the shape form a line leading the viewers eyes into the patches of emptiness. This could be memetic of the path memories take from feeling so real we can touch them to behaving like they never existed. The texture of the picture is to me

Highlighting Success

These are my most successful edits in the style of Oscar Munoz. These where the pictures that I felt where the most interesting; I think the shapes they made were the most obscure and the most unusual, which conveys how lost or distant memories can feel really odd in a special way. I especially like how 'badly' they have been cropped. I think this emphasizes how disjointed memories can feel and how 'untidy' the process of forgetting and piecing together the past can be. I especially like how the objects in the pictures are suspended above nothingness and surrounded by empty space, symbolizing how 'at risk' distant memories are of being forgotten and how easy it is for them to fade into obscurity.

Other Pictures to be Used

These are the other photographs that I think will be rather interesting if projected on fabric. I tried to select photos that depicted things in front of white or black backgrounds so that you would be able to see the fabric 'through' the picture itself; the fabric would become part of the picture as oppose to simply the thing the photograph was on.

Second Developments

Annotations

Oscar Munoz's most famous piece is titled 'photograph' which involves distorted photographs of people printed on fabric; this is what these edits are based on. I photographed the projection of the above images on fabric, doing my best to capture all of the relevant details of the image. I think that these edits to convey the idea of memory because of the association that projections can have with memory; before digital film was invented projection would be used to present them. For this reason, distant memories contained in film can be seen through projections. I also think that the folds in the fabric distort the image in an interesting way that conveys how delicate and easily distorted memories themselves can be. The pictures themselves use low-key lighting which also relates to the idea of memory: it suggest that the projections themselves are surrounded by darkness just as distant memories are surrounded by the emptiness of forgotten memories. This is further emphasizes by the fact that in most of the pictures the projections are composed in the center of the image; they are genuinely surrounded by darkness. The photos, while having been taken in colour, appear rather monotone. This can convey how hopeless it is to resist the distortion of memories; while you can treasure some and keep some safe in photographs and letters, you can not keep every memory you have.

Something that subtracts from these images success is an error in some of the darker pictures; on the right edge of the images is a line of white which is a result of the pictures not being formatted correctly. If I were to take these photographs again I would format the images correctly.

Editing Process and Formal Elements

I tried to further convey feelings of memory through the way in which the pictures were edited; I leaned further into the ideas of specifically bad memories as oppose to simply memories in general. These pictures contain a great deal of darkness which gives the image a nightmare-like aesthetic. This nightmare aesthetic emphasizes the idea of memory because memories can often be contained in dreams. The shapes in the pictures are more often that not distorted squares; this distortion is memetic of how easily corrupted and compromised memories can be after a great amount of time. As for line, the pictures often contain branches and trees spreading outwards from a certain point in the frame. This relates to, for me, memories spreading out and disappearing into obscurity as they are forgotten, just like the branches disappear into the darkness. The composition of the picture places the lighter aspects of the images, being the projection, in the center, surrounded by darkness. This alludes to the 'dangerous' situation distant memories are in when it comes to being forgotten, thus connecting the images further to the idea and concept of memory. The images texture is the same texture as the fabric the pictures are projected on, which presents a sort of ghostly aesthetic. This ghostly aesthetic emphasizes themes of fear which further solidifies the nightmare aesthetic that conveys the theme of bad memories. As for the pictures form, the composition alludes to a three dimensional space where the projection is far away from the viewer; this presents how distant memories are.

Highlighting Success

Annotations

These are the most successful secondary 'edits' I made taking inspiration from Oscar Munoz. These pictures did not contain the white line mentioned in the previous piece of annotation, setting them apart from the images that did and obviously making them better. I think that the fact that these pictures are rather bright (even the picture in low key lighting has some very noticeable very bright areas.) adds to their success because they illuminate the room behind the pictures in a very interesting way; I think that this arguable 'imperfection' (the imperfection being that you can clearly see the room behind the pictures projected with objects in it) makes the projections seem more human and more personal. Just like memories. If I were to do the pictures again I would possibly use a tripod to avoid any screen shaking or blurring; but other than that I am fond of the pictures produced.

Highlighting Success Edits

Highlighting Success Edits Annotations

These are the most successful of the secondary edits inspired by Oscar Munoz. I think these edits were the most successful in conveyed the themes of bad memories; these pictures contained the most interesting composition, line work and shape. The thing that sets these pictures apart from the others is the fact that the projection is split into two parts; the image is almost cut in half by darkness. This divide connects the image to the themes of memory because it suggests that the pictures are in the process of being damaged, much like memories when they are in the process of being forgotten. The divide also makes the picture more visually appealing because of the fact that, in some cases, the smaller part of the projection is further back from the camera. This explores perspective in an interesting way and further conveys how disjointed the memories are because its almost as if they are scattered across the room where the photo was being taken.

Secondary Edits 2

These edits are very similar to the previous edits, but these pictures are more visually appealing due to the alterations to the fabric.

Annotations

As you can see these pictures involve an image that has been projected onto either a bundle of fabric or onto fabric that has been tied together to form a 'cone' shape. I think that these pictures were successful for many of the same reasons as I thought the second deveopments were. As with the previous images, I think there is something to be said about the pictures 'imperfections' . The projections depicted are far from perfect; in many of the pictures light from the setting sun made its way into the frame, subtracting from the projections overall quality. The photographs themselves are not straight on and were taken using an Iphone camera as opposed to a DLSR. All these factors could and normally would subtract from the images message, but when the pictures message is something as subjective, personal and imperfect as memory it could be argued that these factors make the pictures more personal. The light from the setting sun making its way into the room tells its own story just as much as the projection does. This is something that further emphasises the theme of memory that the artist and I have attempted to explore. Overall I think that these pictures were a success, but if I were to do them again I would try to use a greater variety of camera angles to add more detail and variety to the pictures.

Edits

Edits Annotations

These are the edits of my second secondary developments. I think that the edits of these pictures adds to their success and aids them in conveying ideas of memory.

Formal Elements

The first formal element that aids the image in conveying the relevant themes is tone; the images contain a very high tonal range which alludes to the diversity of the past and the diversity of memory. Contained within our minds is a great amount of both joy and suffering, just as there is a great amount of light and dark in these pictures. As for the pictures color, they are all monochromatic. This uses the fact that people associate black and white with the past (due to things like black and white photographs and television) to further emphasize the images connection to memory. The lines that are present in the image all appear to point upwards. The easels, string and in most cases projections all point to the top of the frame. This use of line suggests that the pictures are somehow drifting of into obscurity, like memories in the process of being forgotten. The use of shape also conveys ideas of memories. The shapes in the pictures are rather obscure, which connects them to the idea of memory because of the fact that memories are very personal. To another, someone's memories might seem obscure because they would not be able to understand their significance. Seeing these obscure shapes, the viewer wonders what their significance is. I don't think that there is much to be said about the pictures texture or form considering they are clear (as oppose to grainy or blurred) pictures (as oppose to sculptures). For this reason, they will not be discussed in this annotation.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the editing of these pictures added to their success because it made them more capable of conveying the relevant themes. If I was to do these edits again I would try to be more careful when 'coloring-in' certain aspects of the image to avoid the pictures looking in any way 'scruffy'. However, I think that these photographs were none the less a success.

Highlighting Success

Annotations

There images are the most interesting of the images above. The aspects of these pictures that sets them apart from the other pictures is actually how 'badly' they are taken. As mentioned in the previous annotations, the images shortcomings give them an identity and arguably tells more of a story than a perfectly taken photograph. For this reason I think that the most successful pictures are the ones where sunlight can be seen breaking through the window and where the stand that holds the fabric in place is clearly in frame; they tell more of a real human story. Just like a memory. If I were to do these specific photographs again I would consider using a polaroid camera because I think that would be a really interesting way to explore the idea of the image telling the story of the photoshoot itself.

Highlighting Success Edits

Highlighting Success edits Annotation

These are the most successful edits of the edits that I made. The thing that sets them apart from other photographs is the 'cleanness' of the editing. I would say that these pictures showed the most careful 'burning' of the picture. I think that the pictures are visually appealing because of the presence of the string draping down into the darkness; I think it adds to the pictures success in conveying the relevant themes because it almost suggests the 'fragility' of memory. The overwhelming presence of darkness also conveys fear that is associated with forgetting. These pictures are some of the darkest edits, which is what sets them apart from the other edits.

Secondary Photoshoot

Second Photoshoot Annotations

This is a revised photoshoot of the projections of edits. This photograph is in many ways an improvement from the previous one; in this shoot a DLSR camera was used which made it easier to take in-focus photographs with an appropriate brightness. The photographs were, however, taken from a smaller amount of of angles. Each shot was taken from eye level in this case, as oppose to from a higher or lower angle.

Third Developments

Annotations

These are some digital edits of the photos taken using the projector. The plan for these images is to print them out and alter them physically by either burning the edges of photographing them under water. As stand alone edits I do still think they convey the ideas that Oscar Munoz tried to convey (or at least similar ideas). These pictures and shapes in the pictures can be quite hard to make out due to the altered opacity which is memetic of how difficult memories can be to make out when they are being forgotten. These photos are, for the most part, quite dark which also conveys the idea of memory by making the content of the pictures even more difficult to make out. The fact that the pictures are in black and white also conveys the idea of memory because of the association we have with black and white images and the past. As for the texture of the pictures, they appear to be almost ghostly due to the altered opacity. The pictures themselves look like a faded memory. Something that could also be said about the photos is how odd their content is; without knowledge of the previous photographs it would be difficult to tell what was actually in the photographs. This, again, relates to the idea of memory because faded memorys are just as difficult to identify.

Highlighting Success

Highlighting Success Annotations

These are the most successful edits from my third developments. I think the things that set these pictures out from the others is how well the two images that have been layered over one another work together; I feel that, together, they create a very interesting and visually appealing image that presents a haunting ghostly atmosphere. This atmosphere plays a big part in these pictures evoking the sense of being forgotten that I tried to convey through these pictures.

AO4

Annotations

This is my AO4 inspired by the artist Oscar Munoz. It is a film of images being projected onto moving fabric. This film, to me, was a great success. The projections were in focus and the fabrics movement were perfect; I would say that the film was just as successful contextually. The movements of fabric represents how fluid and ever-changing memories are. The past can look, feel and even be drastically different depending on when you look back to it; our memories are not perfect and are ever changing. The darkness surrounding the picture conveys memories vulnerability and how 'at risk' they are of fading into obscurity. I think that the presence of the projector aids in the conveyance of themes of memories; the film is shot from the perspective of someone sitting behind the projector watching the projections flick by. This makes the viewer feel like they are sitting watching the projection, which builds a sort off 'intimacy' between the viewer and the projections. This intimacy is a feeling commonly associated with memory because of how personal memory is; this association strengthens the pictures connection to the idea of memory and thus the pictures success.