Artist Statement:
In constructing my gif I wanted to make a longer piece that had multiple shapes, images, and almost contain a visual narrative. The goal of the piece was to illustrate the minds process of forgetting childhood memories and how often we fight against this loss. Usually such resistance takes the form of an individual elaborating on stories their parents told them about their youth, stretching details they've been told into a pseudo-reality in the hopes of unknowingly substituting this for a lost memory.
Within the gif the profile of the older male represents an older person losing a memory as the childhood (cowboys) try to ride away with his thoughts. He resists the lose of his memory by using his tongue to pull back the memory from outside his head.
I created a background of flashing squares in different patterns to simulate the memory games I played throughout elementary school. Specifically, I riffed on the memory game that involves flipping over cards in an attempt to make pairs. The squares and different patterns are designed to make you try to find a pattern (or pair) which is never satisfied within the composition. There are also various images of these squares that have a lag time or remain on screen longer then the others. This hopefully creates the experience of discomfort as the pattern doesn't stick to the same progression it did in the first several seconds of the gif. This should play a "trick" on the memory by not fulfilling expectations.
A reflection that I had after completing this gif is that i was to long. The longer form that I choose to use detracted from the effectiveness of the gif format. By placing in several different images that seem to take a literal meaning the intellect is engaged more then the emotions. I feel that my composition failed in its original purpose of creating a feeling in the observer. In my next gif I will make a more abstract piece that has a less available meaning and can therefore provide longer observation and inquiry.
None-the-less, I do like the radioactive brain and the cowboy patterns.
A reflection that I had after completing this gif is that i was to long. The longer form that I choose to use detracted from the effectiveness of the gif format. By placing in several different images that seem to take a literal meaning the intellect is engaged more then the emotions. I feel that my composition failed in its original purpose of creating a feeling in the observer. In my next gif I will make a more abstract piece that has a less available meaning and can therefore provide longer observation and inquiry.
None-the-less, I do like the radioactive brain and the cowboy patterns.
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