Black and White

Group Artist's Statement

Our group project, "The Value of Emotions", was inspired by life. Since our show theme is "Beyond Black and White" our interpretation of the theme brought us to consider our emotions. Our personal outward expression of our inner emotions always seems to be within a very limited range. Even the world as a whole seems to exist in indifference or mid-tone without any expression of highlights or shadows. Our piece was done using photos depicting the range of emotions, not only by the use of images that bring them to mind, but, by our use of black and white photos. Artistically, our achromatic color scheme emphasizes the values from depression or sadness to elation or joy showing all the tones in between. We also chose to use black and white photos due to our esteem for Ansel Adams whom once said, "There is nothing worse than a brilliant image of a fuzzy concept." We felt that even this quote was reflective of the way we treat our emotions.

Our intention was to design a piece that would be publicly displayed and would evoke thought and consideration of the viewer's emotions. It is our hope that the viewer will consider the ranges of emotions within their own life and try to add some color to their future expressions.

As Artists our responsibility is to create a piece that makes the viewer feel. Some of the photos chosen were used for their shock value. Even the placement of some within groups of proximity are to make the viewer cringe and to cause feelings of discomfort. Our subject, while not exactly taboo, is something that most do not want to deal with. We tend to stuff or control our emotions and our piece is meant to remind viewers that there is a place for them and that even without acknowledging them they shape the person that we are.

Karen Gillis

Carrie Miller

Stephanie Felus

ARTH 170

Alden Cavanaugh

Spring 2006