Women in Black
For this project I took advantage of pictures I took during halloween weekend. I decided to recreate an iconic seen from Men In Black. Agent J ( Will Smith) tells everyone to look into the nuralizer he is holding and proceeds to wipe everyones memory. To recreate this I first took a photo of myself (with the help from a friend) standing in a similar position. In the reference I was using he (Agent J) was standing in front of a wall with graffiti on it, therefore I placed myself in the same (but different) environment. To add motion, I used a picture of my badge from the costume (homemade) and made it sway side to side. I wanted to show the light flashing so I experimented with using effects and presets panel. I was looking for something that looked like a camera flash. Using the lens Flare effect I was able to create a flash that the nuralizer makes in the movie.
Graffiti Wall: https://www.pexels.com/photo/pineapple-on-wall-decor-137077/
Aalayna Southerland’s Women in Black is a reimagined Men in Black, with the female artist as the subject. Positioned in a graffitied alley way, readying the iconic memory erasing device from the series. The positioning of the subject is almost taunting, as she is about to wipe your brain clean of any trace you had of her.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can understand from the work it is a retelling of the story of men in black, an agency working with the aliens from other planets, now told through the lens of a woman. It asks how this would change the movie, how has the media been coded to remove women from the spotlight, and how could it be told differently. The subjects' off kilter head and semi smile, create a tone of taunting, at the moment of memory loss. To erase the subject's memory like it is another day at the office. The taunting from the figure, presents as if they know more than the viewer, opening up more questions into the story.
The work largely transforms the artist and her surroundings into an entire story. The composition of the subject and environment, replacing the male dominated space of the movie industry invites curiosity into the work. The subject is transformed into the character, taking on the roles of them. The motion of the bright light would ideally be brighter, becoming a stronger nod to the movie's memory wiping technology.
Though this has been done before, it asks the question of why women haven’t been the lead role in these movies, and invites the viewer to explore this. Especially as modern movies take classic movies, and, “gender swap,” them for profit, instead of creative effort. The art and motion brings the character to life, like viewing into another reality, where the stories can be fully explored under the creative lens.
Compared to the movie, Aalayna has created the exact body language and feeling derived from the original. Agent J comes into the role in the movie, and this work seems like a fully realized agent. More effort could have been put into making a message of exploration and creation with gender roles. But the final product transforms the artist and asks the viewer what has really changed. Does it change the story if you replace the lead with a woman, and if so why?