Mattia Process Portfolio

Visual Analysis of Pictures I took in Paris: Looking for inspiration for a Three Dimensional Piece

The use of Perspective

Visual Exploration and Analysis of Ideas on the theme of Luxury

Evaluation of Ideas

Summary of Screen The slide shows and evaluates possible designs for the upcoming sculpture. These all come from the inspiration taken from visual elements identified in the objects I analyzed in the earlier slide. The artist reference seen on the right shows how motion can be represented in a static three dimensional piece, something I want to achieve with my own sculpture.

Selection of the Final Idea

Work In Progress: Visual Effect As soon as the piece was finished I realized it was missing something, a visual effect that would make it look different, not regular, but also would give it more meaning as a piece. So I decided to spray paint the center of the piece in a metallic black, in order to give it a burnt look. This would add meaning to the piece as it will connect the concept of consumerism, which is essentially what the piece represents, to a more unsettling atmosphere more sad and aggressive at the same time amplifying the overall meaning of the piece.

Work In Progress: Exhibition I was considering once the piece is done how I would exhibit it, in a gallery environment and realized how it is difficult to find a manner to make sure the piece can be seen all around, considering its oval shape and the fact that it has to stay vertical. After a long thought process, I realized how I could hang the piece and possibly make it rotate all throughout the exhibition. This way, I am able to show the audience the piece at 360 degrees while also giving them the possibility to admire its complex structural construction.

Compositional Structure In order to make this piece successful, I will need a color scheme that will appeal to the audience and at the same time connect to my line of work. The symmetrical structure of the wings and the complexity in their design, are the perfect elements to create onto the butterflies the main focus point of the piece, directing the attention of the viewer onto the contrast of the different color schemes I will select for each butterfly aiming to focus the viewer’s attention to their look, which will combine bright and vibrant colors.

These elements will create a contrasting effect, making the piece more interesting for the viewer and at the same time more attractive if put in a gallery environment

Theme Inspiration During these holidays I was outside in the sun looking for inspiration, then four butterflies stopped right in front of me lying on flowers, there It was the only time I was able to admire their aesthetical characteristics from very close. They stayed there for more or less one minute and in that minute I could realize how beautiful their wings were a mixture of complexity and accurate design. I believe that their representation on a piece could be really successful as butterflies are admired by most people because of their beauty and the piece will be aiming to highlight their aesthetical aspects portraying a concept of harmony.

Visual Requirements The element which is crucial to me other than the color schemes used is the shape of the butterfly. It is key for me to find the single one which I believe has the right features to be successful in an art piece, the most symmetrical, more complex and of a shape that I can easily manipulate with stencils. This element I believe is the most important as the shape of the butterfly mixed with the color scheme will be the two determining factors of the success of my piece.

Artist Reference This piece by ALEC MONOPOLY was done on the occasion of the movie which he decorated with his art, named MADAME BUTTERFLY, which is at the same time the name of the opera. As we can see in his piece, he is using a very similar approach to what I want to do in my piece in terms of highlighting the structure of the butterfly. On the other hand, he is not using colors to increase the visibility of that feature which I strongly believe will increase the overall aesthetic satisfaction and will create a stronger attachment with the audience as colors are proven to stimulate the brain into certain emotions.

Exploring ideas and brainstorming ideas about money and power

Conclusion: Choice of a Final Idea

Developing ideas and Experimentation for a Mixed Media Collage

Summary of Screen The screen explores what representations I could use to construct a meaningful two dimensional piece while also on the right side exploring how some spray painting techniques work like stencil, dripping, color combinations and freehand

Experimentation: Techniques and Compositional Efficiency

This transitional slide of experimentation represents the explorations of the different medias I will use for the construction of my piece “Safe�. The visual effects represented on the screen have been made to understand what works well and what does not so that the techniques I will use on my final piece will be as effective as possible to convey messages and ideas.

Work In Progress: Symbolism I also started adding a few symbols on the piece, popular themes connected to the concept of wealth, such as love, referring more precisely to the so-called “gold diggers� the people around you that are only with you because of your money and a religious cross. The aim of the cross is to connect the audience to the concept of death as in certain cases having infinite resources caused people to get bored, leading them to depression and eventually suicide, while also addressing the risks of being killed because of what you have, armed robberies, conflicts of interest things that wealth can lead you towards without even realizing.

Work In Progress: Message Work In Progress: Background Following the earlier experimentation of visual effects, I started constructing my piece. The bills initially were not bright enough risking to create a significant lack of color in my exhibition while at the same time causing the piece itself to risk not getting to the audience in the specific way I want, therefore I had to take green spray paint to then go over the bills, improving their visual impact. I also started creating a sort of frame around the piece using chrome spray paint, which I believe will help the audience to focus their attention towards the center of my piece while also creating a more aesthetically pleasing design.

As it can be noticed with the previous picture a few elements worked and others did not, therefore needing constant improving and special care. The piece at this point can very easily be ruined so I have to be careful with what I do on top. The concept of the heart composed of the two question marks did not work, as because of my inexperience with spray paint, I drew the lines too thick therefore causing the meaning not to be recognizable, therefore I went over it, drawing a black outline which closes the shape, which covered the damage, however, the black is too thick and does not visually look nice anymore, meaning that I will need to choose a different color and reconstruct the whole shape again.

The lines dripping in different directions worked well overall, the visual effect they create is very effective in terms of creating an atmosphere in which the message of the piece can be shared efficiently, I used and will use more of these in areas looking empty in order to make them more aesthetically pleasing.

Investigating how Banksy uses symbolism to share specific messages

Theme: Selection.

The theme I selected for my new artwork is the fragility of the heart. Since my last pieces are focusing a lot on emotional topics, this theme is something that is important to me as I believe it is one of the deepest characteristics of a human. I aim to investigate the topic by creating a 3-dimensional sculpture using symbolism to make sure there is a connection with the audience. Present with the shape of the heart.

Ideas: Selection.

I have sketched and considered 6 ideas for this new project which were all based on the same theme. They all explore the fragility of the heart and some of them give better the idea than others. The two which address better the idea are the broken glass effect and expanding cracks. With their composition and their properties, they indirectly communicate the audience the message I want to share.

Visually I believe that the broken glass effect would look better as the materials I would use to construct the piece, in this case, I was considering broken pieces of mirror, would make it nicer to look at and the reflection of themselves would make it more personal to them.

Experimentation: Maquette In order to see what the effect I selected would look like, I created a maquette out of clay to understand how the concept of the shattered glass looks on an actual 3D piece.

The outcome is very interesting even though I was not able to fully represent the cracked sections you would normally see when glass breaks in pieces. 3D dimensionally the effect is very nice I believe on a large scale the effect would be very successful in attracting the audience

WO

Artist Reference: Inspiration This art piece titled “LOVE” made by the american artist Robert Indiana connects quite well with my current work as the next step I will be taking before finalizing my sculpture is to select a word which I will add on the sculpture. Indiana uses in this scenario the word love quite effectively, as he manages with his piece to give space to the viewer for personal interpretation. This element in my opinion is crucial to make the artwork feel more personal to the viewer, therefore amplifying its impact on society.

RD

To finalize the piece I just need to select a word placed centrally on the piece that will work well with the message I am trying to send, the broken heart portrays the effect, the word will represent the cause. In my previous pieces, I used the word “feelings” for the audience to give a personal interpretation. In this piece, I could use the same word or select something which would better fit the concept of fragility.

Considering the use of text in my work.

Self-motivation is the theme that I believe enables me to express myself the most out of all the ones I have already done. It is a topic that can really impact people and change their mentality, more specifically create art which can change the way people see the world. I have always had the belief that motivation is the one and the only thing which pushes us to live happily with no worries, making us do what we normally do at our best.

This piece by MIMMO ROTELLA named WITH A SMILE, the decollage technique used in a different way from the piece I have already made inspired me to use this different technique, in this piece I am currently making as the structure looks more irregular and at the same time more artistic.

In order to make this piece successful, I will need an effective motivational quote that will inspire my audience to change. The quote will need to reflect my philosophy and at the same time, it has to be easy to read, artistic but yet simple. Inspired by a quote of the entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, the one I will use in my piece will be “Live today as if you die tomorrow” connecting to the overall comment I want to make which is spend your money, enjoy your life as long as you are alive.

After this font experimentation, I decided I will use the first one Arial as it is more simple to understand, easier to trace and stencil and due to the rectangular structure of the piece, such symmetric and angular font will look better in the overall context.

In order to make the piece strong, I will need a unique background that will connect to the core theme of my works regarding capitalism. As the background for my previous piece was 100 euro bills, for this piece I will use 500 euro bills. To create harmony in my exhibition and at the same time to represent the theme of capitalism, as we are in a society where people tend to save money, to be “secure” while you are not even sure that you will be here tomorrow

Between the last three combinations of colors, I chose the last one with the blue background as, because of the composition of the piece, it will look better with the purple bills and at the same time keeps the piece in the same tonality. The coloring of the letters gives importance to the main parts of words or specific words themselves, making it more direct and meaningful for the audience. The other compositions did not convince me, as the contrast with the rest of the piece would have been too strong, while this blue background and a few highlighted letters would blend in perfectly with the whole structure

Experimentation: Word Positioning The positioning of the word is crucial to the success of the piece, it does not only have aesthetical reasons in this scenario but also an effect on the audience. It is important for the word to be placed correctly in order for it to stimulate the audience’s thought process without distracting them too much from the background which I want to keep the main focus of the piece.

Layout 8 in this scenario is the best option as by being directly in the center does not deconcentrate the audience from the background. The relatively small size in addition to the type of paint makes it barely noticeable, which is essentially what I am aiming for. Overall it is the most “invisible� option satisfying the requirements I set for this section Artist Reference: Inspiration This Untitled art piece, by Barbara Kruger, shows how I could use text in my own piece. She uses a sentence divided into different pieces, placed in specific locations, in order to make the audience think about a specific concept or idea.

I want to do the same in my piece, choose the right positioning of the world in order for my piece to be aesthetically pleasing and at the same time convey the message at its fullest potential, equally to Barbara Kruger.

Starting Idea I am starting this piece on a big wooden panel of 125 x 125 cm, as I believe this message should impose itself due to its applicability to I believe a significant percentage of my audience. Everyone passed through these moments where for an instant you are happy the second later your world falls apart.

Theme Inspiration I want the main theme of my first piece to be about these pictures I took during the summer representing a fully black background as the main element a flame positioned exactly in the center of the photo. This picture is very appealing to me as it shows movement and staticity at the same time. Other than the aesthetical side of this picture I also like the contextual information that comes with it, a completely black background with no hints of light-absorbing completely every other color with a flame of an incredible brightness in its center making the piece’s main subject opposition, reminding me of the comparison with opposite states of mind such as happiness and sadness or more precisely rage and tranquility.

Development of Idea I started with two layers of black paint and then threw on it big quantities directly from the paint bottle. I put these thick layers of paint in order to create confusion, make the viewer lose the sense of direction aiming to create a chaotic state of mind.

Compositional Process: Background As I am composing the piece, I am noticing the nice effect that the thickened texture is creating. The irregular surface creates a very interesting visual effect on the piece, it does not only make the piece more beautiful to look at but it also creates interesting reflections when exposed to light. These features which I did not plan to have in the composition of the piece actually improved the quality of the piece, however in order to improve this even further I will need to create a more balanced structure, distribute in a more even manner the paint drops keeping the various size variations on all sides.

Fire Experimentation I’ve just tried to represent fire on a piece of cardboard with acrylic paint, the outcome is not as expected. The media makes the fire lose its blinding brightness, and I failed after multiple trials to find the right color scheme to recreate its visual appearance. I am coming to the conclusion that the solution is to change media, as I mentioned the representation of fire is crucial for this piece’s success and acrylic paint does not satisfy those needs. I will now have to go look for a solution, which could possibly involve spray paint.

Visual Impact: Background The background now dried, I have to admit that I like it quite a lot, the texture looks very nice and gives it an interesting and new look. The overall aesthetic appeal is something that I think could work with the audience quite well. The color scheme could potentially bring me to another topic which I planned to do in the future which is self-assessment. Some comments made from the teachers and my peers in addition to my incertitude if to leave my piece to develop towards this direction or no moved me to convince me to leave it black, with the aim to play with texture and light.

Shifting Direction After a deep reflection, I decided that I will redirect myself from the concept of the flame, a topic that I could always come back to later. The visual impact that the piece creates with a completely black surface, using texture to create light reflections and evoke an emotional response is impressive in my opinion, now I need to find one last element which will connect the piece to my overall practice and amplify the impact of this emotional response onto the audience.

Next steps In order to amplify the emotional response to the composition of my piece while also connecting this art piece to my line of work, I decided while discussing with my teacher that a good solution would be to use text positioned perfectly at the center of my piece. Text in this situation would be a very efficient as while connecting the art piece to my overall line of work, as most of my pieces include text, it also reaches the audience at a deeper emotional level. People connect words to personal experiences, and if I select a world which is connected to a memory, emotions will kick in and make the audience feel the artwork very personal to

WORD

Investigation on the use of color and light reflections: Pierre Soulages

Introduction I selected the artwork because of its close relationship with my current work. Pierre Soulages in his paintings involves two important elements to me which are texture and contrast. These elements combined with multiple others are very crucial for the composition of my work. Therefore, investigating more Soulages technique will enable me to improve my own technique by reaching a deeper understanding of his manipulation of light reflections and texturing paint while also aiming to understand how he evokes very deep emotions in his works through their composition.

Cultural Context Pierre Soulage was born in Rodez, Aveyron in 1919, and is currently still alive. He is a painter, engraver, and sculptor. Soulages is also known as “the painter of black”. He states that the reason why he uses black in his paintings is because of the mental field the color opens when exposed to light, the color which is supposed to be the absence of light becomes a reflection of it itself. In order to define his own artistic practice, Soulage invented a new term, which he called “outrenoir” a french word who’s the closest translation to English is “beyond black”. Pierre Soulages was fascinated when a child by the local Celtic carvings museums, stating on multiple occasions the connections with his artistic style, defining black as the earliest and original tool of art referring to prehistoric carvings found in caves. Finding his passion for art in high school, Soulages then enrolled at Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-arts but was soon disappointed by the teaching method moved back to Rodez. After military service he then decided to establish himself in Paris where he then held his first exhibition at the Salon des Independents. From then his style continued to evolve, opposing the trending movements of the time, although very similar compositionally to abstract expressionism, however, very different in terms of execution as his works were carefully planned to achieve balance. Now at the peak of his career Soulages opened up his own museum, called Musee Soulages in his hometown Rodez, to which he donated 500 pieces.

Comparison and Connections There is plenty of similarities between these pieces as most of them are structured to have the same impact on the audience. The thing that all of them have in common is the color black. This color is used to create reactions with light, as this is the main objective of Soulages practice. Paintings 2 and 3 have in common a few sections of canvas left completely white, I believe his aim in both paintings was to represent on a wider scale the concept of contrast which normally in his works only happens with light reflection on black paint. In painting 1, on the other hand, we can see something different than with all the other paintings, which is the use of a second color, this second color is presented on very thin layers creating a significant contrast with black which is represented in thicker layers. This use of an Feelings 135cmx135cm, 14 october additional color amplifies the sensation of contrast Acrylic and spray paint on wooden panel making the black look denser and darker compared to the lighter blue.

Formal Qualities The work is made out principally of black and white, the white though is sections of canvas which you can see through paint. The black used is very dark and glossy an shines when light is reflected on it creating interesting visual effects. The white of the canvas also creates a very interesting effect, it is very light, the space it occupies is minimal but it is the first thing that appeals to your eye because of its significant contrast with the black background. It’s objective in the painting is to reflect light, as if it aimed to dazzle the viewer.

Overall the painting is perfectly sectioned, almost symmetrical giving it an overall satisfying sense of balance. The painting is in portrait format, and mainly plays with texture where you have very deep black paint covering most of the piece with fewer layers in certain sections creating under light exposure different shades of gray, in general having a very dark tone. The key element here is to play with the contrast between the brightest white and the darkest black with light. The significantly big dimensions of the piece contribute a lot on the effect of the piece on the audience as the small details can be noticed a lot more, while also being more effective at directing the viewer's attention onto the main focus point, the contrast of the very dark sections with the very bright ones. For this specific painting Soulages used oil paint on canvas, he normally applies thick layers of paint, in his works he normally uses objects such as spoons, tiny rakes, and bits of rubber to create the effects he wants in his paintings, where he mostly uses scraping, digging or etching movements depending on whether he is aiming to represent a rough or smooth surface. The aim of the texture represented is then designed to either absorb or reject light, dividing the surface of the painting by alternating the uniformity of the black. The mood of the overall piece is more directed towards sadness as the piece is mainly made out of black. Soulages art works though have no meaning as his objective is to represent an interesting piece from an aesthetical perspective. Personally I really like the piece, the visual impact it creates is very interesting as it both concentrates on the aesthetical side while also putting a big focus on the texture. I really like how the piece also uses light reflections as an aesthetical element which is something I haven’t seen before. Lastly what I like most about the piece is the emotional impact, the deepness of the colors invokes very strong emotions as the piece already by seeing it in a picture puts me in a sad/anxious state, making me reach a very intense emotional level which I have not often experienced with art. To conclude I believe Soulages ability to portray black in different ways, is very impressive and what makes his pieces more interesting is the effect he is able to create in the viewer with a studied and accurate layout of paint.

Conclusion Soulages overall artistic practice impacted my work significantly. As I mentioned earlier the color black is the main link between my artwork and his Soulages artistic style, equally as the use of light to create reflections on the piece. In my piece though light will be reflected singularly on the word Feelings. The visual effect aims to place the word as the main focus point in the structure of the piece, contrasting it with the equally black background but of a more opaque nature. Similarly to Soulages, the textures in my piece are aimed to give a nicer aesthetical effect while with the additional aim to create irregularity, confusion and dispersion throughout the artwork. To conclude the pieces have many characteristics in common, being almost equal in terms of composition, but being significantly differentiated by the presence of text in my piece, which in my opinion gives the piece a more clear and focused direction other than leaving the whole composition to be interpreted by the viewer.

New project: Feelings 2.0 The original objective of this piece is to create in my exhibition a contrasting emotional response between two pieces which are essentially the same in terms of structure, however through a different color scheme evokes opposite emotions or “feelings” as it is written in the piece. The aim is to play with the psychological reaction of a person by putting in front of them a word whose meaning connects closely to personal experiences, and see how their personal response shifts based off their interpretation of the color scheme.

Feelings.

Texture In order to achieve the confusional effect I am looking for, the design needs to have 3-dimensional characteristics.

Looking at Soulages work I realized how the implementation of texture in my concept could visually work very well while also creating an environment where the word “Feelings”, which I will

stencil onto the piece later, acquires more meaning due to the context which I am creating around it.

Project Creation I started coloring the wooden panel with a few bright warm and cold colors such as blue, red, yellow and pink as I considered it would give an interesting initial visual impact on the viewer, however, I did not consider that I was using acrylic paint which once dried tends to give the color a more opaque finish causing them to lose most of their brightness, therefore not creating the visual effect I was aiming for. This led me to opt for a completely white piece as in an exhibition environment it would oppose completely the other black piece I made, causing an interesting emotional response.

Introduction In this Artist investigation, I will analyze one artwork from the famous Abstract Impressionist painter Jackson Pollock, with the aim to analyze in detail his drip painting technique. I chose to investigate this artist specifically after I saw one of his pieces.

Number 26, at the Pompidou Center in Paris. This piece intrigued me in its visual composition which is very similar to the two-dimensional works I am currently producing, and after I found out more about how it was made, I realized I was using the same technique in my pieces, the drip painting technique. As I am currently aiming to perfection this technique, I found this to be the right occasion to find out more about its origins and execution.

Jackson Pollock

Analysis of the artwork Alchemy is an abstract piece of work that does not portray a specific subject, however it seems to portray an environment. The colors used are a mixture, cold colors prevail on the painting however warm colors are also present piece but they do not particularly appeal. From the image also a particular texture can be noticed which gives the piece a more intriguing aesthetical effect. Looking at the structure of the piece, the colors and the rapidly changing directions of the poured paint onto the canvas, it seems like the piece together with an environment is aiming to represent a state of mind, a mood or a specific feeling, which is dictated by the choice of dominating sad colors which reflect little or no light at all. The lines used in the piece vary from being very defined to being blurry, a factor which I believe is also affected by their size as it can be noticed as the bigger the lines get the less clear their delimitations. In terms of process, we can clearly see that the industrial paint used for the piece as been poured onto the piece from all directions suggesting that the piece was placed on the floor with the artist walking around it while painting it, due to the dimensions of the piece we can clearly tell that Pollock was moving around the piece all throughout the process, a characterizing aspect of “action painting”. Lastly, we can also tell by the dimensions of the lines that different tools were used to create them, varying from small brushes to pouring it directly from the paint container.

Context Jackson Pollock was born on January 28th in 1912 and died August 11th, 1957 in a car accident caused by his alcoholism which started once his relationship with his wife Lenor Krasner, one of the major influences in Pollock’s work, fell apart. As I mentioned earlier Jackson Pollock is one of the most recognized representatives of the abstract expressionist movement as he was known to be painting in one of the most abstract manners, liberating himself from the vertical limitations of an easel by affixing unstretched raw canvas to the floor. In 1947, his artistic direction significantly shifted towards the “drip style,” known from its use of sticks, trowels, or knives to drip and splatter paint, as well as pouring paint directly from the can. Reminiscent of the Surrealist notions of the subconscious and automatic painting, Pollock’s drips, also called “action paintings,” revolutionized the potential for contemporary art and furthered the development of Abstract Expressionism as a whole.

Alchemy Oil, aluminum, alkyd enamel paint with sand, pebbles, fibers, and wood on commercially printed fabric 1947, 114.6x221.3 cm

Comparisons/Connections Number 26A and Alchemy are two artworks made by Jackson Pollock, the first one, Number 26A one year earlier than the other one, Alchemy, however, we can clearly see that both have as many similarities in their compositional structure as they have differences. At first sight, we can see an evident differentiation in color scheme, we have Number 26A using black and white as the only colors contrasting with the background of the canvas while Alchemy uses a wide variety of colors.

Alchemy is also much denser as an art piece, not leaving much of the canvas to be seen while Number 26A has a lot more uncovered space as the lines are prevalently thinner. We can also see that the use of lines is different in the two pieces, Number 26 A's lines seem to follow a more circular direction with lots of curves and few corners while Alchemy shows a lot more drastic direction changes which are not as evident as in the other piece.

Number 26A Glycerophtalic paint on canvas 1948, 205x121.7cm

Feelings 1.2 (11/11/19) Acrylic and Spray Paint on wooden board 135cm x 135cm

Impact on my own work I believe my work can be considered similar to Jackson Pollock’s as it has the same aim, to give a sense of balance. The drip painting technique is something I’ve pursued a lot with my artworks in general and I think with this piece “Feelings” I reached a new level of expertise which makes it even more similar to Pollock’s work.

Even though the type of paint used is different, affecting the density of lines and how they are sized, I believe that the use of lines is very similar in both the pieces they are used to create a specific texture while also giving a sense of balance to the piece.

The feelings perceived from the background of my work and Alchemy can be viewed as very similar, as by having the same objective, they achieve the same outcome, which in this scenario is a similar sense of movement caused by similar textures and a nice irregular aesthetical effect.

New Piece: Exploration of Ideas In this new piece, I decided that I want to explore the concept of love through a modern visual representation of either an image, the use of words or symbols by using spray paint and industrial paint as the main technique. In order to do this piece the way I want, I will need a background which aims to communicate a clear message that can then be covered with dripping paint to give it one of the most pleasing aesthetic appearance I have ever created with my art while also contributing to the meaning of the piece by representing elements such as tears or giving dimensions to certain sections of the piece.

Ideas Exploration: Background In this new piece, I decided that I want to explore the concept of love through a modern visual representation of either an image, the use of words or symbols and as I mentioned earlier use the dripping technique inspired by Jackson Pollock. In order for the piece to be effective as a whole, behind the dripping paint there needs to be a background which will be the essence of the piece and will visually be equally important to the dripping technique later on. The three ideas I sketched on the side are the three options that came up in my mind in order for the piece to be effective and all equally succeed in their purpose to convey a specific message about “LOVE� however as I was considering also including decollage the third idea could be considered more effective.

Artist Reference: Jackson Pollock N.5 This piece by Jackson Pollock inspires my work through its extremely effective use of the color scheme to convey emotion while also being a perfect example of the paint dripping technique which will be one of the main elements in my piece. The overall piece is very harmonious in terms of visual impact, the technique is used to create a very specific atmosphere while it also decorates the painting, however in comparison to my style it can be considered too abstract as everything is left for personal interpretation, my piece in comparison will at least include a symbol or a word, to direct, as I prefer to do with my art, the audience towards a more precise interpretation.

Work In Progress: Background 1 The experimentation with the hearts worked quite efficiently in terms of covering background and also visually I believe it is one of the best options between the ones I tested here. However, the heart does not communicate much to a potential audience, does not provoke any controversial opinion or exciting emotional response barely causing any thought process. This background would cause my piece to be disconnected completely with my overall exhibition, while also not being connected whatsoever in terms of the purpose of my personal artistic practice which consists of provoking opinions and thoughts.

Work In Progress: Background 2 This second background which uses a mix of symbolism and text is very interesting as it already is more effective than the experiment above, as it provokes an opinion, and leaves a lot of elements for a personal interpretation from the audience. This piece, however, has one downside which is that it is not controversial enough. My art in general aims to create debates through targeted symbols and words which I believe in this scenario, considering the substantial visual effects that will be represented on top of this background, risk removing attention from the front and attracting it onto something which is not as important.

Work In Progress: Background 4 The last background I created is the one that both conceptually and visually works best for this piece. The various quotes, all causing controversial opinions aim at defining the concept of love in many different ways while also giving the audience the possibility to explore a different perspective, my perspective, that aims to share my personal beliefs and cause two very opposite reactions, acceptance or rejection.

Work In Progress: Background 3 The third background can be considered a graffiti of the word “LOVE� spread throughout the whole cardboard piece. This background is, in my opinion, the one with the highest visual potential as if structured well on the larger piece could be very nice to look at and pleasing for the eye. The piece works very well conceptually but unluckily it does not cause any debate or provoke controversy as we are exposed to a positive word that can easily be interpreted by any viewer without causing any contrasting thought.

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Alec Monopoly Butterfly: Pinterest.com Pierre Soulages Investigation: www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/pierre-soulages. www.artnet.com/artists/pierre-soulages/. mediation.centrepompidou.fr/education/ressources/ENS-soulages-ENG/ENS-soulages-EN.html. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Soulages.

Barbara Kruger Untitled piece: Pinterest.com Robert Indiana Love: Pinterest.come Mimmo Rotella: Pinterest.com Mr Brainwash: Jackson Pollock Investigation: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Pollock www.centrepompidou.fr/cpv/resource/ckz9o9/r6krA8 www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/jackson-pollock www.guggenheim.org/artwork/3482 Jackson Pollock N.5: Pinterest.com