John Baldessari- the guy who put dots on peoples heads.
Who is John Baldessari?
John Anthony Baldessari was born in National City, CA on the 17th June 1931, who later became an American conceptual artist who is still known to this day for his work in photography, and was awarded with Honorary Doctorate from Sab Diego State University. Initially, Baldassari was a painter however he started to incorporate texts and photography into his canvass in the mid 1960’s. In 2009, his work exhibition ‘John Baldassari’ was opened at the Tate Modern in London. Otherwise known as the man who put dots on peoples heads. He heavily focuses on how images function and likes to draw attention to the finer/ small things on his photography work.
What I think of his work
Personally, I do not really understand the intentions behind his photographs as they to me come across being quiet confusing. The main theme in most of his pictures is to use a very contrasting coloured dots, which he lays on top of the images that he initially took and this to me is very confusing, as I do not see the reason behind it. It hides the person who's image is being captured and covers a vital part of the photo. However it could be interpreted to build tension and mystery behind the photo as it leaves you questioning who and what the photo is of. It is also very recognisable, as I instantly associate dots with John Baldessari so on a global scale his work is well acknowledged. John Baldessari does this to give the image an element of mystery which has an affect on the readers mind and the photo as a whole.
What is 'wrong' photos?
*Examples of wrong photos*
Wrong photos are photos that have very poor composition or lack any compositions, some of them being, leading lines, rule of third, avoiding the middle and many more. For example with the image on the very right, we can see the man standing directly in front of the pole which goes against the theory to avoid putting everything in the middle which can make the photo look very boring. Also the man and the car are two significant objects on the photo which lacks one more person where you could turn into a triangle. Most of the photos above also lack the use of diagonal lines which makes the photo look very non-dramtic and it looks very poorly executed due to the heavy use of vertical lines. Talking wrong photos on accident may be easy but to take a 'wrong' photo deliberately will be very hard as you may, without knowing, corporate one of the composition theory inside, so I think this is a very clever way of doing so.
Why does he put 'dots' on his photo's?
John Baldessari was influenced on his trip to Metropolitan Museum in New York in 1965 where he was faced with unpainted plaster to fill in missing shards of Greek vases, this sparked his interest on how images are effected by having portions removed or blotted out, and he has continued to explore this ever since. As he is now most known for putting dots on peoples faces. Also he explained that he was tired of seeing faces all the time and if the face of certain people, specially famous celebrities and if he were to somehow cover their faces, the audience would really pay attention to something else for example the stance of people, their handshakes or their surroundings. When he was questioned that the face should be shown as it is the most important part of the body, he said that by covering it, you tend to dig deep beneath the surface and you can find out more about the artist.
''Why do you take wrong photos?''
"You know, when you're sitting in a dentist office or doctor's office, and you look in a magazine and, and you go, 'What was that?' I would like people to have that feeling, you know, that, 'Wait, what did I just see? "
"You know, when you're sitting in a dentist office or doctor's office, and you look in a magazine and, and you go, 'What was that?' I would like people to have that feeling, you know, that, 'Wait, what did I just see? "
I will not make any more boring art.
I will not make any more boring art.
I will not make any more boring art.
I will not make any more boring art.
I will not make any more boring art.
I will not make any more boring art.
I will not make any more boring art.
John Powell:
Another artist that breaks the rule of composition is John Powell, who's photo above shows us another 'wrong photo'. He does not do this on accident, he takes wrong photos deliberately after breaking the composition theory. The third photo would actually be a very good photo if there was another person as it would create a triangle so that we will have 3 people in on picture. However as the photo has a shallow depth of field we can not clearly see the background which breaks one of the composition theory. Also the man and the women are standing in a diagonal position however there is not a strong enough line to determine the clear diagonal that can result in this image being 'wrong'.
Interpreting John Baldessari's ideas into mine.
In the future I would interpret his ideas into works of my own as I like the sense of mystery that it leaves behind with the element of adding a dot on a persons face. By adding such a small element into the picture, the image completely transforms into something that can be viewed very differently. This suddenly makes the work very abstract as people can now interpret it in their own way and see it in their own individual way. Also by covering a vital part of the photograph for example the main person featured on it, we can really concentrate on the photograph it self and we can explore the compositions and the exposer of the picture. It also leaves us asking questions on the choices that the artist has decided to make. Dots are also a very recognisable symbol therefore by interpreting them into my own work, my work again could be recognised very easily and easily understood.