Initial Plans for Final Project

Yesterday was the first presentation of our intial ideas for the final major project. The content of which will be shaping itself into a proposal in the near future. My project, at its earliest stage, began with the Nude Naked task from the 'picturing the body' module. You can follow the link for the rationale behind that work, but essentially my wish to present my own body in a stark and unflattering manner as a counter to my pride in it, illuminates a key theme which continues into this present project. And that is: an awareness of the problem and weakness of vanity, and yet also a susceptability to it; and following that is (or may be) a response to mock our vanity. That module culminated in the Body (own) piece. But as well as this mockery of pride in physical appearance, there also grew a more personal jest, at my desire to be revered, to be funny, liked, a regarded performer - as evidenced in Self Videos.

The current project then, concerns issues of: self-portraiture; self-mockery and narcissism - the relationship of the two; performance and presentation; the intrigue of the mirror.

At present I'm struggling to define it in words clearer than those, however I am clear on the following pieces that I wish to produce, and in analysing these it may be clearer what it is which underlies my practice.

1. A set of self-portraits using a two-way mirror, so I look at and interact with my reflection rather than a lens, but line up the eyesight to give immpression of a straight portrait, aiming for high clarity and minimum background detail (similar lighting and composition to Robbie Cooper's 'Immersion') reenact the extreme facial performances as done to the bathroom mirror - investigate: my altering of presentation; relationship between inner (thought) and outer (visible) selves; attempting humour; challenging attractive appearance.
2. A similar process using others - where I photograph them (whilst they look at their reflection) at an unknown moment, I will wait and look for some reveal in their character, and then they photograph themselves, with cable release or other - to see how they respond given the option to present their desired look, how it contrasts with the portrait taken by another.
3. As a continuation of Self videos - a regularly updated diary of webcam performances - showcasing a general indulgence of trivial aspects of my personality, experiences, thoughts etc, investigating further the desire to be celebrity/revered/known through attempted humour. 
4. A self-portrait of pixels (can't use paint) - using a mirror, and Adobe Photoshop, various colours, various brush sizes, several pieces - forming an overall progression, striving towards a realistic portrait (eventually looks like a photograph), inspired by the Johannes Gumpp painting of himself in the act of painting a self-portrait - investigating what image I will put upon myself, in what manner and with what adjustments will I reproduce my image?
5. I'm a ... (artist) - a series of videos in which I attempt to prove my creative multitalents (musician, actor, painter, etc.), but which ultimately highlight myself as a failure and fool, wanting appreciation,   inspired in part by Bjorn Veno's promotional videos for pxsnatch.   

Still from Immersion by Robbie Cooper

Johannes Gumpp

Bjorn veno's videos for PXSnatch can be found here.

The feedback from this presentation was encouraging. One significant aspect higlighted, was the notion of a division of self between a public and a private, and how these two perspectives then relate to each other, and furthermore how that relationship is reflected in the work. Also illumated was the conflict between: a yearning to be noticed (likely arising from the public side), and a wariness of being watched or inspected (private).