Pipilotti Elisabeth Rist, born June 21st 1962, is a Swiss visual artist who specializes in experimental video and installation art. Her work is frequently characterized as surreal, sensual, psychedelic art with an emphasis on the female body. Her work is commonly labelled as feminist art. Rist's work is noted for its multi-sensory elements, which include overlapping projected imagery that is richly coloured, as well as sound components that are part of a wider atmosphere with areas for visitors to relax or lounge. Rist's work frequently turns a white cube gallery's architecture into a more tactile, aural, and visual experience.
The aspect that draws my attention most is the use of projection to portray the story and photographs of the artist. In my opinion. the projected imagery hands more freedom over when experimenting with different ideas and compositions, the projector allows me to maneuver and manipulate the way I wish the images to be perceived. I also enjoy the idea of overlapping photos in the same style as Pipilotti, I would like to overlap some photographs of flowers and project them onto an eye or around a face.
I really like the idea of using a blank, empty space and illuminating it with artwork. Giving meaning to something that held no value, but now has a definition behind it. This is one of the main reasons as to why I am looking forward to working on Pipilotti Rist's artwork as she uses projection. The use of overlaying and creating something psychedelic, engages a larger scale of creativity when taking photographs or when editing. There is a lot of artistic liberty that I sense comes with studying Pipilotti Rist's work, primarily due to the colour schemes being in your complete control, you are able to contort a ray of different images to create something illusionary. Pipilotti Rist's work overlaps quite nicely with my previous artist Petra Collins as they both implement light as a main source for their work. So I believe Pipilotti Rist is a perfect artist to transition into and lead me into a future artist.
PHOTOSHOOT PLAN
My aim for this photoshoot is to capture a range of images that will work as a great base for the rest of my work on this artist. I will be using my iPhone camera to capture these. I would like to capture images of flowers because in a handful of Pipilotti Rist's work, it is seen to include multiple photographs of flora imagery. To make it more interesting, I plan on developing them into psychedelic photos that create the same style as Pipilotti.
My inspiration is primarily the work she does with projected imagery onto walls, I'd like for the photographs to mirror those. The lighting of the photoshoot is not an important factor as the images will be close up, due to the extensive editing that I'll use, it is not imperative to have a strong focus on lighting.
Experimenting with the camera angles is important as this photoshoot is going to be a foundation on which the rest of my work on Pipilotti will rely upon. Ensuring that there are different compositions will create an expansive contact sheet.
My main challenge will be that the photographs are well executed and reflect the same style as Pipilotti Rist.
CONTACT SHEET
For my photoshoot, I primarily focused on flowers and capturing close up photos of them This is because for my further developments I plan to project these images onto someone's face, replicating Pipilotti Rist's projected imagery aspect of her art. Initially, I was skeptical towards my plan and ideas for this photoshoot as I was not certain on how I wanted to execute it. To take these images, I used my phone camera to get up close and ensure that the details were as prominent as they could be. This is because of my later plans for my redraft which are to used projected imagery. Due to the lack of diversity in my photoshoot, I plan on making the images much more interesting during the editing process, matching the same standard and style as Pipilotti. Something I would certainly like to improve is the contents of the photoshoot. by this I mean to expand the props that I use to create a more interesting photoshoot for both myself and the viewers.
DEVELOPMENTS
My shots from my contact sheet present the edited photographs from my contact sheet, all in the style of Pipilotti Rist. To develop these photos I used Adobe Photoshop, I chose this software due to the number of editing tools that are available.
To further edit my photographs, I reduced the "curve" to give attention to the areas of the image that stood out the most and where the colours from the lights surfaced the most. When I had finished with those steps, I went back to re-adjust the lighting and contrast as those elements in the phot, may have been dulled down when proceeding with the other editing steps.
To achieve a psychedelic end result, I opened one of my images on photoshop and then copied and pasted it onto a new tab. Once that was done, I used the colour tool to change the colour of the image, making sure that both images were different colours. I then used the select marquee tool to copy the image onto the previous on one. I pressed Ctrl + T so i could rotate the image to 180 degrees as this would be the main step to achieve the psychedelic look i desired. I used the opacity tool to reduce the image opacity which would allow the different colours to blend seamlessly, allowing the two colours to merge. I pressed the normal tool and experimented with the different options so it would contort with the photographs. This step was the most imperative as it really pushed the distinct look I was aiming for. What I would like to do next is project these images onto a face and distort the emotion and facial features as Pipilotti Rist does. I believe this would be a great way to delve deeper into the style of Pipilotti and incorporate the use of projection and nature.
PROCESS LOG
You'll see that I began with the basic steps needed to create a solid foundation for the rest of the editing, this consisted of changing the brightness and contrast, the original lighting was off slightly and this step enabled a good base for the rest of the editing. I then changed the colours using the hue/saturation tool to create different colours which would result in an ultimately more interesting development.
Once I had made two separate colours of the same image, I copied and pasted it onto one another and then reduced the opacity. I did this because it would make way for both the colours to be visible and creates an almost translucent feel to it. The colours blend seamlessly. I then pressed Ctrl +T so I could flip the image upside down and create a psychedelic photograph.
I chose the normal tool and browsed through the different options, this step is crucial for the editing process. I did the same for all my other flower imagery to create an expansive set of developments
REDRAFT: PHOTOSHOOT PLAN
REDRAFT: CONTACT SHEET
For my redraft photoshoot, I use the images from my previous photoshoot and projected them onto a face that was pressed up against clear sheet of plastic. I really wanted to ensure that i captured the essence of Pipilotti Rist's photography through the projected imagery and faces. To take these images, I used an empty gallery that was spacious enough for me to project the pictures in and that reminded me of the location and setting that Pipilotti Rist uses. I used a variety of different projected imagery so it would create a diverse contact sheet, it also avoided repetition. When using the camera I ensured that the face was visible and still the main component of the image as the projector was mainly light and thus creating multiple shadows on the face. So the positioning of the camera is crucial as it determines the clarity of the whole photoshoot. I am certainly pleased with the imagery that I was able to capture and my ability to adapt my previous photos. In some of the photos the face is not evidently pressed as much as i would like but it is not so much a worry as I have a chance to enhance the images during the editing process. I trust that the most successful aspects of this photoshoot is the imagery and projections that I captured, although the faces do not replicate the exact work of Pipilotti, I did enjoy the process of capturing these photos and editing them.
REDRAFT: DEVELOPMENTS
For my redraft, I took the images from my first photoshoot and projected them onto a face that was pressed up against a sheet of clear plastic. I used an element from Pipilotti Rist's work which was the use of projected imagery and faces that were pressed up close to the camera to create these contorted faces. The editing software that I used was Photoshop. I opened up the image on photoshop and adjusted the brightness first, this would create a solid base for the rest of the editing process. Ensuring that the contrast was adjusted was important as the shadows may have blurred some parts of the photograph, making sure you could still clearly see the rest of the image plays a major role. I also changed the curve which fixed the rest of the lighting and making the image as vibrant as it could be. I feel that ensuring the vibrancy was emphasised really reflects Pipilotti Rist's artwork as her projections are very bold and bright. What I'd like to do next is assimilate the use of blending and double exposure into my next photoshoot, this way I am able develop further the ideas I had for Petra Collins.
PROCESS LOG
I first started by increasing the brightness, this was so the face was more prominent as It was originally hidden In most of the shadows. The increase in brightness also improved the clarity of the image as the low-key lighting hid the majority of the face. Then adjusted the contrast to create an overall concise image, I ensured that I didn't increase the contrast too much so the image did not turn out saturated and over edited.
The next was to slightly increase the curve so the image received a final touch up on the lighting. When I used the curve, it also made sure I was able to decrease the brightness if it was required. This step, for me, is crucial when editing my photos as it emphasises any qualities or features of the photograph that were not prominent.
However a you scroll through the process, you'll notice that for some images, I had decreased the brightness instead. After editing a handful of images, I found that the method most appropriate was to first decrease the brightness and then increase the contrast ever so slightly, then I would increase the curve to get an overall better development.
The final step I took was to touch up on the colour balance of the image. This brought back any colour that was lost during the entirety of the editing. This mainly consisted of drawing colour back to the face.
HIGHLIGHTING SUCCESS
I am particularly pleased with how these images turned out and believe that they are the most successful. These photographs accurately depict Pipilotti Rist's work as they mirror her peculiar compositions and style, alongside her lighting and colours. The different lights on the image. highlight subtle details on the image that seem to bring it all together. they contradict each other very well, one is quite simplistic and single toned while the other includes a multitude of colours. The compression of the face against the glass may represent the restricted feelings placed onto people throughout life. I am pleased wit how both images are open to different interpretations.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS
These images display my further developments of my previous photoshoot, for these, I have double exposed imagery from my very first photoshoot onto my second photoshoot. I edited these images on Photoshop as I have done for the majority of my images. My aims for the photoshoot were to take my former developments and contort them into something more idiosyncratic which would accurately reflect Pipilotti Rist's work. I wanted to find a way to make these images even more peculiar and distinct than they appeared originally. For every image I opened up two photos on Photoshop and copied the flower image onto a facial one. I reduced the opacity to create a translucent effect that would showcase both images whilst creating a whole new one. After that I selected the "normal" tool and experimented with the different option to conjure something truly distinct. To ensure that the image was clear and visible, I increased the brightness and adjusted the contrast, I also touched up on the lighting by either decreasing or increasing the curve, depending on what deemed appropriate.
HIGHLIGHTING SUCCESS
I have chosen this image to highlight success this due to its colouring and quality. It has all the attributes of Pipilotti Rist's work; the distortion of the face, projected imagery. I am very pleased with the outcome of this image due to the mixture of colours, they blend with each other seamlessly, conjuring an ultimately new and diverse image. I really enjoy how the face is almost coming out of the light and it is where the attention is focused to. The coloured lights almost imitate the look of a flower and it appears as if the girl is suffocating in the lights.