01/04
From the tutorial back in February, I pitched an idea of a sub-project involving synchronisation. Two subjects, that were going to be twins, with the same poses and expressions. This idea came from when I was staying in Bordeaux for Commune with my commune buddies. We synchronised our daily routines: when we woke up, when we went out, when we ate. And as I was researching on the word origin of "compassion", I thought it was interesting how the word can be separated into "com" and "passion", the former being a Latin preface meaning "together". I thought a series of images in which the subjects (two ore more) would synchronise their movements/poses would be relevant to my project. Although it may not be directly presenting the concept of compassion, it takes a different look to it. After all, compassion means feel another's emotion with the will to help.
05/04
I was thinking of focusing my work on hands. They are the core body part for touch and I think they let us communicate without using our words.
I thought the shoot would be more meaningful to do it with two subjects. It appears to be more intimate that way. Plus, I do not have enough models (I only have my brothers). I think it would be nice if can convey the relationship of my brothers.
02/04
My tutor told me to explore the various movements that can evoke the theme of empathy. An example: a hand on the shoulder. As I don't have access to the library, I decided to do research with films. I sought for subtle gestures that showed humanity instead of watching films that demonstrated it explicitly. One work that was quite marking is My Neighbour Totoro. The relationship between the main characters (who are sisters) is warm and beautiful. The empathetic nature of the older sister is admirable, as well the burst of emotions of the little sister. Even from my perspective, Satsuki (older one) does more than a "big sister duty". She is willing to help the younger one whenever she can. The noteworthy scene of the movie is when she carries Mei (younger) on her back as the latter fell asleep, while waiting for the bus to arrive.
03/04
I think the term "empathy" is more relevant in the project I want to conceive other than "compassion". As I was developing ideas, I realised that my project is more focused in exploring the different facets of empathy rather than developing works than denounced the lack of compassion. Of course, my intention is to show the latter but I think I was also want to represent how everybody is capable of empathy and how everybody is a mix of empathetic and egocentric. I see it more as a spectrum and each person is placed somewhere in between these two.
I was going to base my works on pieces of literature but that was not the case for the previous work and I don't think it would be for this work either. Basing my works off literature might be limiting even though it is something I would like to do in the future.