Portrait Series Progression Update #1

At first, I was slightly worried, as I felt that I was struggling to take it anywhere and draw together a 'narrative' for my crime photo piece. So, I wrote out all my inspiration ideas on one piece of paper to look at as one rather than a mess of notes, adding other things/movies i liked to try and find something I liked to get me inspired.I even wrote down some of the past things I had made, but this did not help a lot to bring the idea together although it did make it easier to see the information laid out. I was struggling to decide, which things to pick out, and nothing felt 'right' I didn't know what crime to do; murder felt a bit intense and I was leaning towards a bank robbing, but I couldn't think of a motive (i now think that was because I needed more inspiration). 

I also looked into Auras after seeing a series called 'A Thousand Souls' by Maciek Jasik in class. Auras have always been interesting to me (even though I don't know a lot about them), I don't believe in the physicality of them however, the concept of colour and how people can radiate energy/feelings in some way. 

After I got out of my slump I was previously stuck in, things were starting to come together. I have found that ideas/elements have been coming together themselves at random times; in bed, in class, etc. Although some things still need sorting, I am now more confident as it is feeling like its going somewhere, as before I felt there was not much meaning behind it.

After talking with Leah Gordon, my ideas became more solid in my head as I spoke of them aloud. Leah agreed that the crime board idea was the best, and when I got back to my room, I decided to split my ideas up onto different pages (I didn't want to totally abandon the others even though I had decided upon the crime one).

As you can see, I was still stuck upon the motive for the crime. At one point I considered not having a narrative or backstory and allowing the viewers to read into it for themselves, however this didn't feel 'right' either.

i finally looked at a mug shot book I got from the library, which lead me to the idea of having an art piece being stolen when I saw a photo of Vincenzo Peruggia, someone who stole the Mona Lisa from the Louvre, claiming to have done it for patriotic reasons - to return to art to Italy. This was perfect and I felt an art crime would be perfect for my concept.
Other things I looked at in the same book were:
The Bonnot Gang, who were a group of French Anarchists who took crime to new levels and used cars to carry out numerous hold ups in 1911, during the Belle Epoque. The 'Belle Epoque' was a period of Western History, meaning 'Beautiful Era', that was characterised by optimism, peace, and technological, scientific, and cultural innovations. In the climax of the period, in Paris, the arts flourished and many art pieces gained recognition.

Photo of First Paper Above:
I also came across the term 'Vagabond' which gave me a new outlook on the character idea. To create a more stylised look as I previously was only thinking of the more realistic aspects with the crime board layout and this lead me to be think about going outside of this. Prior to this I had wanted to do something more stylised, however along the way that had been pushed aside.  I like the term Vagabond as it seemed free and mysterious.
I briefly looked at flower meanings as I like the concept and aesthetic of flowers, so hence why 'Amaryllis' is written. I didn't have a lot of look while looking, however I think that because I didn't have a solid motive idea, I couldn't pick a flower with a suitable meaning.
I always liked the idea of the character not having an identity or gender and I think this transpired by reading conspiracy theories of people appearing from no where and I like the idea of an unknown gender.

Photo of Second Paper Above:
I was still thinking about incorporating language into as I have recently gotten into reading once again and in some crimes, messages are left behind. Although I wasn't sure whether this would work or if I'd like it, I didn't want to completely shut the door. I looked at the lyrics of 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' by Bauhaus, as my car that I am using for the narrative is called Bela Lugosi (an inside joke between a friend and I) so I thought this could become a part of it, and wrote down the ones that stood out to in terms of meaning or imagery, for food for thought. 'time's dead flowers' and 'deathly bloom' and the repetition of 'undead undead undead' all brought to mind the flowers I was thinking of using and how they could be used as well as the concept of resurrection.
This then lead onto me watching Dracula (1931) as I was reminded of Gothic elements from Bela Lugosi/Bauhaus and the concept of resurrection.

Afterwards, I was thinking of possibly having the character being a resurrection of a previous criminal or artist, however I didn't think too in depth into this.
I again looked into flowers slightly more, and learnt that flowers meant a lot to the Victorians in the 19th Century, as they were used to send messages in code when things could not be spoken out loud.  I then also learnt that Oscar Wilde used to have a green carnation in his button hole, so this could be a good way to show flowers.

I then made note of 'Parallel Worlds' as I had previously liked the idea of one floating in the middle in this sort of void and also I had read, again, conspiracies of people coming from these and although i don't fully believe them, they are interesting and could be a point to help grow this idea.

The note at the end was an idea for the dead painter concept who could be named 'Van' something.

Photo of Third Paper Above:

This was just a list of photo ideas and ideas for things to add to the crime board.

I think this idea, even if at the end I don't get a solid deeper message idea, is turning to become a sort of 'alter ego' of myself in a sense.

During this period, I watched a few other movies that have inspired me.
The Crow, which isnt a first hand inspiration, but now I can see how I have taken small parts from it to interpret my idea in new ways. The main example being the make up and resurrection, and although I don't think I am going to take anything exact from this to directly reference it, I can see how the concept has definitely sparked some of the ideas above.

Mysterious Skin. This is a film I enjoyed immensely, the end scene is so BEAutiful omg. But, I did briefly think about the alien projection (as well as Faust) in there when thinking around the subject of where the character of my series got to where they were and their gender.


next steps:
going to go out and take some photos