"Transformation alters reality, endowing it with new perspective that can motivate artist and viewers to question what is normally taken for granted." (Walker, 2001, p.53)
Sandy uses transformation to blend the natural and the unnatural. Through digital photography and editing she creates scenes that look like they could be real, but aren't quite... right. She makes strange and unexpected juxtapositions. The images appear almost as a dream.
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| "Ferns" Source: mocp.org |
Where does the work come from?
Skoglund seems to acquire knowledge simply by observing the banal of the world around her. Her study is that of the ordinary and unremarkable. However, she pays a lot of attention to the meanings and contexts that these common things exist with, so that she can create new meanings for them, or make us question their normality. According to Annenberg Learner's summary on Sandy's image "Revenge of the Goldfish,"Skoglund explores the aesthetics of artificiality and the effects of interrupting common reality."
Her process:
Sandy Skoglund uses sculpture, models, and sets to create the installations scenes that she then photographs. She removes boundaries in the elements that she puts together, to make them overlap, and to merge fantasy and reality together in a more believable way. For example, in her "Revenge of the Goldfish," Sandy painted the room blue, to fit the context of the large terra cotta goldfish swimming around, and the repetition and movement of the fish gives them a greater sense of reality. In the same way, the people in the room seem to not question the fish around them, and despite the color, the room visually looks exactly like any other kind of room. It is believable.
We see Skoglund's almost humorous view toward the banal object in how she presents it. Goldfish are certainly not remarkable or scary, but Sandy presents them as "revengeful." Their new context, where they seem oversized and where they look as if they are swimming threateningly around the two sleeping people, gives them an entirely new, irrational, and fantastical feel. The bizarre result allows the imagination to come up with all kinds of crazy stories to explain what is happening.
Her process:
Sandy Skoglund uses sculpture, models, and sets to create the installations scenes that she then photographs. She removes boundaries in the elements that she puts together, to make them overlap, and to merge fantasy and reality together in a more believable way. For example, in her "Revenge of the Goldfish," Sandy painted the room blue, to fit the context of the large terra cotta goldfish swimming around, and the repetition and movement of the fish gives them a greater sense of reality. In the same way, the people in the room seem to not question the fish around them, and despite the color, the room visually looks exactly like any other kind of room. It is believable.
We see Skoglund's almost humorous view toward the banal object in how she presents it. Goldfish are certainly not remarkable or scary, but Sandy presents them as "revengeful." Their new context, where they seem oversized and where they look as if they are swimming threateningly around the two sleeping people, gives them an entirely new, irrational, and fantastical feel. The bizarre result allows the imagination to come up with all kinds of crazy stories to explain what is happening.
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| "Revenge of the Goldfish" Source: learner.org |
What techniques are effective in her art making strategy?
- repetition- repetition brings emphasis. here the goldfish are an important part of the narrative, so the repetition makes us notice them, but also makes them feel more dangerous, because they make the room feel claustrophobic
- color- the simplification of the color palette removes distracting elements of the image that aren't the focus, so we are better able to see the juxtapositions that Skoglund is trying to present
- transformation of background- transforming the background to make them more vague allows the boundaries to the two ideas/objects/scenes to meld together more believably
- size - the size of the goldfish gives them the "threatening" feel, but also makes their ratio work with the size of the "fishbowl" they are in so that it is believable in that way as a space
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