Natural Attraction, Pearl Kerber

Pearl Kerber
7/30/17

        

 Photo Credit/Citation: Karen Kasmouski, National Geographic, August 2002, page 30

            For my digital art remix I chose to transform a photo of Mount Fuji with regards to the photo referencing four million people living under it. The article in the magazine described how commercialized the area has become due to tourists visiting the volcano. This has positives and negatives to the  people residing near the mountain. A positive is the tourist bring in revenue and jobs , a  negative however is some are buying second homes or hotels are being built which raise the average cost of living.  In mt remix I wanted to have Mount Fuji take a step back, and imagine that there was not any as much developed land in proximity to it as there is now. Having Mount Fuji be seen simply as a natural attraction, and not  as a selling feature for real estate.

Destruction Vs. Harmony

My original image was of a drab man- made archipelago filled with smokestacks and closely clustered factories.  My remixed image was transformed into a sustainable, more livable environment with green space, windmills, people riding bicycles, workplaces and homes existing in harmony with nature.  Although both images have a sunset in the background, the sunset in the original image goes almost unseen, overshadowed by the murky, polluted air.  The remixed version has a clear sky with a beautiful sunset reflected in the clean, clear water below.  The remixed image is also filled with color and is intended to portray a sense of hope and simplicity.  The purpose of my remix is to allow the viewer to re- imagine a polluted space into a simple, livable space where people can live and work more harmoniously with nature.

National Geographic, Page 43

Katherine Dzengelewski

Remix 2 J.Roberts

Glamour Magazine September 2016 p.122

"With all eyes on Rio I have been made aware of all the devastating environmental issues. Deforestation of the Atlantic Forest to make way for golf courses. The waterways are so polluted that athletes have opted out of the Olympics. When I looked at this beautiful image of Rio I was amazed by the beauty of the nature, and then saddened by the abuse of it, so I took out many of the buildings." (written by me where the buildings were removed) Through my final project I began to think about think more in depth about environmental issues, and since the spotlight is currently on Rio I found this image to be relevant. I smudged the Olympic rings to show the further damage that they may do. As a hopeful sentiment I wrote a poem about forest by one of my favorite authors, Oscar Wilde as well as adding forest back into the picture where the buildings once were.

Life After Death

Original 

Remix

The original image of the tree is very striking. It is all about death and destruction and to me references an image of the original tree in the Garden of Eden, and looks similar to a tree that I have seen in a lot of different imagery. You can see the smoke and imagine that the tree is suffering and can't breathe and the fire is so vibrant. 

In the remix I wanted to bring back life to this tree. I put in a smoke free beautiful sunset, fresh healthy trees, green grass, mountains, and even some water. The water is literal and metaphoric. You need water to put out a fire but you also need water to help things grow. Water cleans and gives life. I loved the image of the birds as well. They show that life is happening everywhere. 

Jason Houston, Keepers of the Flame, Nature Conservancy, August/September 2016 pg. 39

Nicole Donegan

Purely Material Interests

  

                                                        

                                                                                 Original

                                                        

                                                                                 Remixed

     This advertisement page had me stopped flipping through the pages in a magazine because it had that colorful sense that looked like a personal sketch. I then glanced the elephant in the background, and felt it was stuck inside a frame with its trunk up high (usually refers to discomfort), and wanted to free it. On the bottom of the image, there’s a quote saying ‘our interests are purely material’ that reflected the fabric and furniture, as well as the animals.

Abeer Moqeem

Source: Architectural Digest, Advertisement between pages 92-96.

A Handbag?- Berger Remix 2

Original Image: Advertisement for handbag designed by Yasu Michino

Photograph by Getty Images

Magazine: The Wall Street Journal Magazine

March 2016

Women’s Style

pg. 90

The original image depicts a leather handbag nestled between large tropical looking tree leaves. The accompanying text describes the inspiration for the bag design: the designer’s bags are “made with water snake, calfskin, and goatskin [which] often links with an aspirational location.” The blurb ends with the quote, “My bags have to make people dream.” The image, and the description were disturbing to me because they disregard the truth that the animals used to produce the bags were once alive and belittle these animals to having the sole function of providing a pleasing aesthetic.  

In my remix, I decided to recreate the handbag, but fill it with the animals whose skin was used to create the original. Next, I added in hands grabbing at the bag in the place of the tree trunk. In the original image, both the animals, as well as the human consumers were omitted from the ad; by inserting the hands, my hopes are that consumers who may have considered purchasing the handbag could now see themselves reflected in the hands, and see exactly what they are reaching for.