CONSTRUCTING A CHARATER - PORTRAITS

Hell's Bells: A Western - John Bock, was exhibited at Sadie Coles last year and although I drew little from it at the time, there was a strong construction of characters. It was an amalgamation of kitsch, romance and horror created with ominous red lighting that immersed the room in this alternate world.

Some of my original notes on the show included;

"Red lights - dangerous alien experiments 

Separating sections of the face and layering at different angles in a 

3D collage with important objects - cigarettes, prosthetic leg, tooth picks 

walls were hanging red velvet blankets, red rope barriers became legs of a 

monster hidden in another section, red spotlights, operating table, Claus Oldenburg 

inspired alien human headless forms, had to duck to walk between sections, red 

spotlight leaving shadows of the sculpture behind. 

Sound of video flooded through - fully entered his world although wasn't personal 

or specific to anyone - similar to The Garden audio-visual portal to Vada Vada"

Richard Mosse uses a strong colour scheme to create a sense of identity almost like branding. I want my characters to be instantly recognisable so a strong colour scheme is the way forward.

Bill Viola realized that things could not be separate, your life and your work are one, or at least should be for optimal contentment. Viola also sees the cameras as keepers of the soul, the only real way to document a person.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uenrts2YHdI

In (Stanislavsk, 1950) it explains how the actor will always be far more interesting as themselves rather than forcing a character. This because learnt actor behaviour is universal but the actor's true person is individual to them. So in order to not present a flat character I need to choose a model that already is the character I want.
Costume also seems to be a strong feature in the book and this is definitely something I need to rein in with my ideas. I'm drawn to the Elizabethan era and it's ever so grand use of ruffs and the the use of white face paint they used in order to appear like they had not been working in the sun, inciting wealth. Clothing could end up being a whole separate project in itself so I'm going to try restrict to the bare minimum so I can use more carefully considered items such as more iconic accessories. However, the aim is not to create a nude so this needs to be planned out alongside the model to sort out practicalities.
Need to decide on a model, slim built male is preferable - Harry?

Canon: Juan Jose Barboza-Gubo & Andrew Mroczek: A subtle homage to Peru's trans community and their strength and bravery via depicting them as saints and religious icons. The subtleties make the images much stronger and even in dilapidated locations it still appears grand because of it.

"To embrace all aspects of self: the masculine and the feminine, the divine and the human, the resilience and the vulnerability, this is the core of [Canon]. And it’s important to remember that these aren’t issues that belong to Peru exclusively, these are issues of humanity that belong to the world." 

Having followed Harris Reed's career closely for the past year via his prolific social media presence, I've watched a lot of his trips to libraries informed by Victorian era fashion develop into modern garments and his way of picking out certain details is similar to how I wish to depict my character through subtleties in costume and location.

Props I can pick out from this include: canes, forbidden fruit, feathers.

In Summary:

Character:

Embrace all aspects of the saintly self: the masculine & the feminine, the divine & the human.

(Choose a model that already is the character I want - Harry)

Narrative:

A contrasting character.

(A hidden monster or anti-Christ - not necessarily a person)

Costume & Props:

Only important objects/iconic accessories.

(Ruffs, canes, forbidden fruit, red velvet)

Setting:

Immerse the room in an alternate world of subtle romance & horror.

(Persian rugs, dark wood, ominous red lighting, royal purple, red and gold colour scheme)

STANISLAVSKI, C. (1950). Building A Character. London: Bloomsbury, pp.18-19.