My narrative project is based on my 45s animation made in animation class. The character in the middle is the main character who is going to apply to be an oculist assistant. However what he doesn’t realize is that he misread the job description and he has arrived to apply for an occultist assistant, and shenanigans ensue.
I made the poster mostly in photoshop. I took a picture downtown and changed the hue and saturation to get the exact feel I was going for. I edited the photo a little to take out little distractions then using selections added the title to the ground beneath his feet. I finally added the billing block to make it really look like a movie poster.
Citizen Artist Statement
My lyrical essay “Mold” is about a young girl coming to terms with her sexuality through her school years. From the interviews I learned just how gradual this realization is and how a supporting community can help with this change, but also exacerbate the difference between your bubble and the larger community.
The passage that inspired my photography from my listener lyric was the one quote I used was a powerful quote from the interview I conducted which was “I feel most out of place when I’m pushed against the mold of who I should be.” The main word I took inspiration from was “mold” which made me think about statue, and the other thing was standing out. I looked for LGBTQ art in the area with the plan of having it shown in in a casual blending in I chose the Gay Liberation installation on stanford campus. I ended up being there when someone was sitting down on the bench who looks very different from the stark white statues.
I didn’t use many complex techniques to create the diptych, it was mostly just selections. I used the pen tool to select the bench and the guy sitting down. I mirrored and used these selections to make the right side of the diptych and then added the text in different text boxes to fit into the bench area. Then back on the left side I made the image black and white, but used my selection of the guy to keep him in color. Finally I changed the saturation on the colored guy to make him look “restored” from the rest of the black and white photo.
ChristopherM_CitizenDiptych
Lyrical Essay
You’re at elementary school, private. Heads down scribbling your times table.
You look up
at all the copy pasted kids doing the same task every day under the guise of learning…Growing. You like your group of friends, the other guys in the class are nice to you too.
You think the uniform might look better on you if you had short hair.
On your way to middle school, first time that your school clothes are really yours. You think that you picked them out well. The basketball shorts are comfy, and you think your t-shirt is nice. You meet a nice person in your first class, you think the pink goes well with the skirt, and her hair is pretty and long. You look around realizing she is not alone in her attire.
For a second left out.
Then she says that she likes your aesthetic, thinks that your short hair really works with your look. This is comforting you realize
even though you have slipped out of your mold.
High School has been going well. You have found nice clubs to join, and your circle of friends has grown even wider. You were asked out yesterday, and decide not to turn her down but try it out. You wonder if the world is really twisting, because no one else seems to care.
School is fun.
Walking down the street with your friends hand in yours. Your life has been different since you’re single, and you’re glad you’ve found someone to talk to. You turn
And hear from across the street, how middle schoolers in relationships are so cute. You look and realize that they are talking about you.
I feel most out of place when I’m pushed against the mold of who I should be.