A Small bit about the artistJason Salavon is an American contemporary artist. He is noted for his use of computer software of his own design to manipulate and reconfigure preexisting media and data to create new visual works of fine art.
Born in Indiana 1970, raised in Texas, and based in Chicago, Salavon earned his MFA at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and his BA from The University of Texas at Austin. His work has been shown in museums and galleries around the world. Reviews of his exhibitions have been included in such publications as Artforum, Art in America, The New York Times, and WIRED. Examples of his artwork are included in prominent public and private collections inluding the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago among many others. |
Using software processes of his own design, Jason Salavon generates and reconfigures masses of communal material to present new perspectives on the familiar. The final compositions are exhibited as art objects, such as photographic prints and video installations, while others exist in a real-time software context.
Salavon is noted for his use of custom computer software to manipulate and reconfigure media and data to create new visual works of art. A significant body of Salavon's work involves two general means of manipulating pre-existing media to create works of art: first, by overlaying images (such as multiple photographs) and averaging the result to create visual amalgamations and, second, by distributing processed media (such as individual frames of a movie) side by side or in other configurations. An example of the first means is Salavon's 2004 suite of works, 100 Special Moments, which consists of images based on the average of groups of 100 distinct commemorative photographs culled from the Internet. An example of the second means is his 2000 work,
Salavon's work has been and continues to be shown in numerous exhibitions around the world and is a part of many public and private collections (Hill 2004:54). He has also received commissions to create site-specific artworks, including a commission at the US Census Bureau in Suitland, Maryland. More recently, he received a commission to create art for the expansion of McCormick Place in Chicago.
At one point, the Google search results for the term "Playboy" placed Salavon's website in a higher position than Playboy's own website. This was likely the result of extensive blogosphere discussion about and linking to Salavon's website for his works Every Playboy Centerfold, The Decades, amalgamations showing the decade-by-decade evolution of the "average" Playboy centerfold from the 1960s to the 1990s.
Salavon is noted for his use of custom computer software to manipulate and reconfigure media and data to create new visual works of art. A significant body of Salavon's work involves two general means of manipulating pre-existing media to create works of art: first, by overlaying images (such as multiple photographs) and averaging the result to create visual amalgamations and, second, by distributing processed media (such as individual frames of a movie) side by side or in other configurations. An example of the first means is Salavon's 2004 suite of works, 100 Special Moments, which consists of images based on the average of groups of 100 distinct commemorative photographs culled from the Internet. An example of the second means is his 2000 work,
Salavon's work has been and continues to be shown in numerous exhibitions around the world and is a part of many public and private collections (Hill 2004:54). He has also received commissions to create site-specific artworks, including a commission at the US Census Bureau in Suitland, Maryland. More recently, he received a commission to create art for the expansion of McCormick Place in Chicago.
At one point, the Google search results for the term "Playboy" placed Salavon's website in a higher position than Playboy's own website. This was likely the result of extensive blogosphere discussion about and linking to Salavon's website for his works Every Playboy Centerfold, The Decades, amalgamations showing the decade-by-decade evolution of the "average" Playboy centerfold from the 1960s to the 1990s.
Analysis of '117 Homes for Sale, Chicagoland' Jason Salavon, digital photography, 1999
This is a Digital Photograph, its has been created on a digital software like Photoshop. If you look closely into the centre of the image you can see the faint out line of a house. The colours of the image are very dull and uninspiring, But I think that it is very clever because of the fact its is all the colures of a normal house, but it has just that affect of unhappiness and depression.
This image reminds me of as if I was dreaming about a new life in a new place, but it is all a haze because you don't know were you are going. The reason why I chose this image is because of the fact that its all about travel and new places which is always good to talk about.
In my opinion I think that the focal point of this is the centre of the image this is because of that fact that the image has the image leads the eye into the centre.
I would say that the image is asymmetrical this is because of the different shadows in the image.
The colours that have been used are muted to make the picture more powerful and more dark, this gives the photograph a scary felling this is very affective because of the fact that it is quite a dark scene and something bad is going to happen. The dominate colour in this I would is defiantly the dark greys and dark reds, I say this because they are the first colours that you see in the image.
The light is coming mainly from the top of the image, but it also comes from the left and the right. The areas that are in highlight are the top of the image, The mid tones are on the left and right of the image and the dark shadows is at he bottom of the image. The light and tone gives the image depth which makes It a lot more surreal. The light and tone gives the image of it being very dark and miserable.
The texture in this is very hard to explain, but personally I would say that it is very jagged. Also it is cross hatched which gives the image more texture to the image more interesting. the pattern that has been used is very random which it gives the picture a bit of aggression and a mood about it.
This image reminds me of as if I was dreaming about a new life in a new place, but it is all a haze because you don't know were you are going. The reason why I chose this image is because of the fact that its all about travel and new places which is always good to talk about.
In my opinion I think that the focal point of this is the centre of the image this is because of that fact that the image has the image leads the eye into the centre.
I would say that the image is asymmetrical this is because of the different shadows in the image.
The colours that have been used are muted to make the picture more powerful and more dark, this gives the photograph a scary felling this is very affective because of the fact that it is quite a dark scene and something bad is going to happen. The dominate colour in this I would is defiantly the dark greys and dark reds, I say this because they are the first colours that you see in the image.
The light is coming mainly from the top of the image, but it also comes from the left and the right. The areas that are in highlight are the top of the image, The mid tones are on the left and right of the image and the dark shadows is at he bottom of the image. The light and tone gives the image depth which makes It a lot more surreal. The light and tone gives the image of it being very dark and miserable.
The texture in this is very hard to explain, but personally I would say that it is very jagged. Also it is cross hatched which gives the image more texture to the image more interesting. the pattern that has been used is very random which it gives the picture a bit of aggression and a mood about it.
The Syrian Refugee Crisis 2015
There are two layers to this crisis and why it has grown so large. The first is the sometimes-overlapping web of wars and crises that has forced millions of people from their homes in the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, and elsewhere — and that has opened, ever so slightly, a previously closed route to Europe. The second, and less-discussed, is the increasingly anti-refugee politics in Western and other wealthy countries that are best suited to take them? People in those countries, insecure and fearful over the effects of immigration, preoccupied with vague but long-held ideas about national identity, are driving nativist, populist politics, and thus policies that contribute to the crisis.
The biggest driver of the crisis by far is Syria. Four million people, nearly a fifth of Syria's population, have fled the country since the war began in 2011.
It's not hard to understand why Syrians are fleeing. Bashar al-Assad's regime has targeted civilians ruthlessly, including with chemical weapons and barrel bombs; ISIS has subjected Syrians to murder, torture, crucifixion, sexual slavery, and other appalling atrocities; and other groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra have tortured and killed Syrians as well.
Most of these Syrian refugees have ended up in underfunded and crowded camps in neighbouring countries. But seeing little future for their families in the camps, and knowing they may never be able to return home, many have decided to set out on the dangerous and uncertain journey for a better life in Europe.
HOW IS THE CRISIS RELATED TO MY WORK
The reason that I am going to link my work to the refugee crisis is because of the fact there is sense of mystery with in my images, I say this because the families that are in this tragic movement, have a sense of mystery on their side so I believe that this suggests that these are linked. Also the reason for saying that they are linked is because of the reason why they are escaping from the hard reality of their lives and trying to find a brand new place where they can live their lives and be free, I believe that my work links with this because of all my work is of new places and experiences that I have never been on or done before. So just like the refuges I am going on an adventure with the sense of unknown and trepidation.
I also try and make my work try and tell a story, which is harder than you think. But the reason I try and do this is because those people that are traveling from place to place will have stories to tell their kids and grandkids. So this is what I want to do but through a photograph.
There are two layers to this crisis and why it has grown so large. The first is the sometimes-overlapping web of wars and crises that has forced millions of people from their homes in the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, and elsewhere — and that has opened, ever so slightly, a previously closed route to Europe. The second, and less-discussed, is the increasingly anti-refugee politics in Western and other wealthy countries that are best suited to take them? People in those countries, insecure and fearful over the effects of immigration, preoccupied with vague but long-held ideas about national identity, are driving nativist, populist politics, and thus policies that contribute to the crisis.
The biggest driver of the crisis by far is Syria. Four million people, nearly a fifth of Syria's population, have fled the country since the war began in 2011.
It's not hard to understand why Syrians are fleeing. Bashar al-Assad's regime has targeted civilians ruthlessly, including with chemical weapons and barrel bombs; ISIS has subjected Syrians to murder, torture, crucifixion, sexual slavery, and other appalling atrocities; and other groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra have tortured and killed Syrians as well.
Most of these Syrian refugees have ended up in underfunded and crowded camps in neighbouring countries. But seeing little future for their families in the camps, and knowing they may never be able to return home, many have decided to set out on the dangerous and uncertain journey for a better life in Europe.
HOW IS THE CRISIS RELATED TO MY WORK
The reason that I am going to link my work to the refugee crisis is because of the fact there is sense of mystery with in my images, I say this because the families that are in this tragic movement, have a sense of mystery on their side so I believe that this suggests that these are linked. Also the reason for saying that they are linked is because of the reason why they are escaping from the hard reality of their lives and trying to find a brand new place where they can live their lives and be free, I believe that my work links with this because of all my work is of new places and experiences that I have never been on or done before. So just like the refuges I am going on an adventure with the sense of unknown and trepidation.
I also try and make my work try and tell a story, which is harder than you think. But the reason I try and do this is because those people that are traveling from place to place will have stories to tell their kids and grandkids. So this is what I want to do but through a photograph.