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Keyhole (Grand Canyon), 2009 by Ryan McGinley
I have been neglecting my FFFFound! feed over the holidays, but am back with a piece by New York photographer Ryan McGinley. Before I get to the image, however, I’ve been noticing my interest in FFFFound! is waning. I have not yet pinpointed the cause of this dwindling interest, however writing these semi-weekly entries has caused me to ask myself the following questions:
1. Are my visual interests and the interests of the FFFFound! contributors diverging?
2. Am I taking less of an interest, today, in the formalism in art and design that captivated my attention for these past 4 years?
3. Is it me, or does the taste level of the FFFFound! set seem to be falling?
4. Now that I’m documenting my analysis of FFFFound! images, something I have been doing in my head for years, have I discovered this really isn’t that interesting or worthwhile?
5. Are there fewer images that surprise, delight or irritate me? And is this because I’ve become significantly more visually literate, or alternatively (and certainly less desirably) I’m so old and out of it, I “just don’t get it.”?
6. Am I simply sick looking at those four ridiculous “F’s” and that perky exclamation point?
Since I don’t have any answers, it’s onto today’s business, the 2009 photo Keyhole (Grand Canyon) from the series Moonmilk by Ryan McGinley. The image reflects FFFFound!'s interest in:
1. Rainbow gradients
2. Beauty
3. Pastel colors
4. Visual nostalgia
5. Young, contemporary photographers
I have admired Ryan McGinley’s photographs for some time now. And like many others who have followed his work, I think he has done well to move beyond documenting the young, good-looking people around him. In this and more recent series, McGinley takes a more active image-making role by finding, creating and/or manipulating the environments within which these same and similar subjects appear. And, by the way, I do think this image is beautiful, even if that does make me a sucker for rainbow gradients.
Found Friday is a semi-regular entry featuring the first image in my FFFFound! feed followed by my attempt to best identify what current visual interests it represents. For me, FFFFound!'s usefulness resides, not in individual submissions, but in the steady stream and sheer volume of images submitted by its contributors.
Cover attributed to Robert McGinnis and sourced from www.iainclaridge.co.uk
I must admit, a dismayed little groan escaped me when I opened my FFFFound! feed this morning. I knew eventually I would be confronted with one of the FFFFound! set's particular interests that won't let me forget I live in a world where image-makers continue to cross that fine line between celebration and exploitation of women. I had hoped I would get several weeks into this project before I needed to address the "T & A" images that often pop up amid book spreads, emo quotations set over atmospheric photographs or extravagant packaging. Luckily for me, however, I can tackle this subject looking at an historical subject, rather than some artfully lit photo of a scantily-clad nymphette.
Today's image is a 1964 crime fiction cover attributed to illustrator Robert McGinnis and reflects FFFFound!'s interest in:
1. T & A (primarily evident on weekends)
2. Pulp novel imagery
3. the feminine gaze / the feminine provocateur
4. that vintage, faded color palette of the late 1950s and early 1960s a la Grain Edit
This image reminds me why, despite my interest in that era's fashion, art and avant-garde classical music, I am glad I did not grow up in the early sixties when women were "girls" and referred to as jobs, but not expected to have one. Also, here's hoping that zebra pelt is an illustration of a clue to the mystery, otherwise am I supposed to imagine this "girl" as an animal; the lioness predator ready to pounce on her next victim? Sheesh.
Found Friday is a semi-regular entry featuring the first image in my FFFFound! feed followed by my attempt to best identify what current visual interests it represents. For me, FFFFound!'s usefulness resides, not in individual submissions, but in the steady stream and sheer volume of images submitted by its contributors.
Poster designed by British graphic designer Donna Wearmouth
I've decided to start a new, semi-regular entry called Found Friday. I am a fan of FFFOUND! although I am not a contributor. It is one of the many online sources I subscribe to for visual research. However, for me, FFFFound!'s usefulness resides, not in individual submissions, but in the steady stream and sheer volume of images submitted by its contributors. One can gleen current visual interests of the FFFFound! set with a few swift scrolls of the magic mouse.
So, I've decided that on Fridays I will open my Reader and feature the first image in my FFFFound! feed and do my best to identify what current visual interest it represents.
Today's image is of a poster by British graphic designer Donna Wearmouth for Quadra Gallery. For me this piece represents FFFFound!'s interest in the following:
1. black and white work with extreme contrast in scale,
2. British neo-modernists
3. diagonals
4. symbolic, but simple, geometric shapes
5. left margin aligned, ragged right typography
Looking at this list, I must admit every item—save number 4—could be included in my own catalog of visual interests. Odd then, I feel so ho-hum about this piece. I admire the attention to typographic detail and the contrast in stroke weights among the various type sizes and styles as well as with the quadralateral symbol. Without knowing the piece's purpose and more about the gallery it was made for, however, it is hard to tell whether the poster's flatness and the separation of type and image make sense, or if these traits resulted from the designer's default approach.
Chinatown, Los Angeles
Found this great flyer in a narrow side street in Los Angeles' Chinatown. I wish I knew who designed it. I have been going on various excursions—I call them urban hikes—I've found in the book Walking L.A. This day I started at Union Station and walked down Olvera Street before heading to Chinatown. The journey certainly made me appreciate the diversity of cultures and experiences one can have, just by walking out your front door and hopping on the Metro. I couldn't believe I was still in my city.
Then I saw this flyer. The flyer design, itself, is interesting as an op-art reference, but it was the play on language—the homonyms—plus its context—the orange tile wall and florescent pink tape—that made this worth documenting.
