Joel- Peter Witkins

2. “I wanted my photographs to be as powerful as the last thing a person sees or remembers before death.” – Joel-Peter Witkins

3. Joel- Peter Witkins • American photographer whose photos often include themes such as: • Decapitation • Childhood • Various outsiders such as, transsexuals, dwarves, intersex and physically deformed individuals The morbid nature of his photographs stemmed from his experiences of death at an early age. http://imgarcade.com/1/joel-peter-witkin-self-portrait/

4. ‘Self-Portrait’ (1984) http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/photographs/joel-peter-witkin-self-portrait-1984-5138351-details.aspx

5. ‘The Kiss’ (1982) http://blog.art21.org/2011/10/06/on-view-now-the-curious-case-of-night-scented-stock/witkin_lebaiser/

6. ‘Pentitente’ (1982) https://www.pinterest.com/pin/288300813619900742/

7. ‘Satiro’ (1992) http://lenscratch.com/2014/04/twin-visions-joel-peter-witkin-jerome-witkin/

8. “I experienced death before I had experienced life.” Joel – Peter Witkin

9. Supernatural References • Witkin has made a conscious effort to create his own collection of Gods, who do not fit the regular expectation of what you would expect to be a figure of worship. • Using human afflictions, he created an entire pantheon of super naturals. • He believed that photographs displaying such individuals were a type of moral cryptograms, a way of communicating a message to the reader in a code in order to ‘mirror our own unfathomed darkness’. ‘Macabre Tableaux’ https://www.pinterest.com/explore/joel-peter-witkin/

10. Edward Hopper • Hopper was an oil painter born in Nyack, New York in 1882. http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/items/detail/portrait-edward-hopper-2161

11. “…he was a recluse, a captive of his over achieving upbringing, a prisoner of humiliating memories or early rejection, the tenant of his failing body, and the sole occupant of a darkly silent philosophy that resonated with virtually anyone who confronted his work.” Gerry Souter

12. Edward Hopper • Hopper was an oil painter born in Nyack, New York in 1882. • Attended a Baptist Bible School where he underwent a strict religious education, hindering his adolescent freedom and leading to breaks of depression. • Like Witkin, Hopper’s paintings reflected his own feelings and thoughts. • He began by painting unpopulated introspective compositions of landscapes and objects such as boats. • Transitioned to include a collection which focused on drained individuals, each often captured with something undone (or done), or awaiting something to come and change their lives. http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/items/detail/portrait-edward-hopper-2161

13. Room In New York (1932) http://www.edwardhopper.net/room-in-new-york.jsp

14. Hopper’s Work • Paid attention to technical details such as a mixture of light and shadow, as seen in the painting on the right. • Often he searched for a typical scene, not a unique one and found himself bringing his experiences down a notch to reduce them to a common denominator to make his art. • Although he embraced the realist American art movement, he also welcomed and lionized the Expressionists and Surrealists amongst other ‘ists’ that surfaced during his time period. ‘Automat’ (1927) http://www.edwardhopper.net/automat.jsp

15. ‘Nighthawks’ (1942) http://www.edwardhopper.net/nighthawks.jsp

17. The Centaur • These originate from Greek mythology, and they usually have a bad representation and are described as symbolizing “…violent lust, adultery, brutality, vengefulness, heretics, and the Devil.” • For example, there is one story of the centaur Nesus who tried to rape Heracles’ wife, Deianeira. This seemed to be common behavior of these creatures and therefore explains their bad representation in Greek mythology. • The centaur plays a very important role Witkins’ photograph. The reference to this mythological creature is what inspired us to create a monologue built mainly with quotes from Greek figures https://cartman.tv/storage/incredible/id_11945_lang_en_print_yes.html

18. “The astounding photographs of Joel-Peter Witkin hurl us into the realm of myth, where gods bewilder and horrify with a tangled chain of crimes…” Eugenia Perry • Hammered a nail into his head to prove that it can be done without hitting the brain. • This act could relate to that of King Sisyphus, who was forced to roll a boulder up a hill for all of eternity, just to repeatedly watch it roll back down. • Witkin’s intention was to portray that impaling his own face could possibly pay for his own undisclosed transgressions. • He often interpreted traditional myths to suggest a current distortion of the soul. Marvin Burkhard – ‘Human Oddity’ http://theredlist.com/wiki-2-16-601-809-view-outstanding-profile-witkin-joel-peter.html

19. “Whatever comes from God is impossible for a man to turn back''. Herodotus Historian of the 5th century BC http://herodotushistories.com/herodotus-quotes/ • Depression • We cannot change what God has decided for us, therefore we are helpless and have no hope for change. • We also argue that, as our character is suffering from schizophrenia, this is something that has come from God, and thus can not be stopped, therefore, we are hopeless for a better future.

20. ''Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is just opinion.” • Democritus Philosopher of the 5th century BC • http://www.physicscentral.com/explore/writers/lederman.cfm • Confusion • This quote questions what life is and therefore represents the emotion of confusion.

21. Sigmund Freud • Born in 1856 in Moravia, living in Vienna for most of his life. • Focused on the nervous system until turning his attention to psychology at the age of 30. Later coined the term ‘psychoanalysis’. • Lead to developments in the working mind in general, sexual instinct during childhood and the examination of dreams. • Freud believed that there was a hidden lair in the human mind, where memory and basic instincts are stored. He called this the unconscious mind. http://www.biography.com/people/sigmund-freud-9302400

22. “The relationship between cinema and psychoanalysis is as old as these two institutions themselves.” http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2015/15-mind-blowing-films-influenced-by-psychoanalysis/

23. Andre Breton • Surrealism began in Paris in 1924 after Breton published a manifest inspired by psychoanalysis and Freud’s book ‘Interpretation of Dreams’. • He believed that art and literature could represent the unconscious mind. • Since we are often unaware of our unconscious mind, his aim was to reveal it and reconcile it with rational life. • This lead to major development of the Surrealist style with it becoming an international movement, influencing the world of art, literature and cinema as well as social attitudes and behavior. http://www.surrealists.co.uk/breton.php

24. "I believe in the future resolution of these two states, dream and reality, which are seemingly so contradictory, into a kind of absolute reality, a surreality [sur = "on", "above" in French], if one may so speak.” Andre Breton http://www.surrealists.co.uk/breton.php

25. ‘Un ChienAndalou’ (1928)Salvador Dali & Luis Bunel • Probably one of the most iconic Surrealist films. • A cross-dressing man travels through space and time, one minute he is dead, then he is alive in a woman’s apartment. • There is no line between reality and fantasy, dream or desire. • The film is essentially a chaotic dream as impossibilities unravel on screen. http://arttattler.com/archivesalvadordali.html

26. “Schizophrenia is a disorder of thinking where a person’s ability to recognise reality, his or her emotional responses, thinking processes, judgment and ability to communicate deteriorates so much that his or her functioning is seriously impaired. Symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions are common”. Max Birchwood & Chris Jackson

27. Schizophrenia Other Effects include: Withdrawal: Staying in bed, avoiding social contact, emotional detachment. Psychotic symptoms: Persecutory delusions Hallucinatory behaviour. 3. Behavioural excesses: Aggression, restlessness, provocation of family discord. 4: Hallucination Hearing voices & other sounds. One can hallucinate in any 5 sensory modalities. • Three main types include symptoms such as: • Believing or feeling that their behaviour us being influenced or controlled by an external force. • May believe he or she is being watched, followed or persecuted in some way. • May have lost their sense of identity or purpose and may believe they have powers or abilities out of the ordinary.

28. “Well you have to show paranoia, anger, confusion, depression, elation, just every spectrum of all our emotions…’’ Ethan Campbell – 23 year old sufferer

29. “The Voices In My Brother’s Head”Maria Lazzati http://www.narrative.ly/stories/the-voices-in-my-brothers-head/

30. ‘Schizofrequency’: Applying Our Research • Frequent spontaneous switching, no single personality has control over the patient’s behaviour: • Shot： writes the abnormal notes in the crazy state. • Shot: socks tied on his wrists • Produce incoherent strings of words or syllables rather than sentences: • Entire film is led by eccentric monologue • After assuming executive control of the body: • – Shot: close-up of the character’s face, eyes with restlessness • Alternate personalities: • Shot: overhead shot which four personalities going around the character with whispers

31. ‘Schizofrequency’: Applying Our Research ‘Un ChienAndalou’ • We chose to begin with the iconic eye shot to symbolize that our character is being controlled by other personalities. The Surrealist reference here is very blatant, which is what we intended. The bar code also represents control, as our character is institutionalised inside his own head.

33. ‘Schizofrequency’: Applying Our Research ‘Un ChienAndalou’ • We chose to begin with the iconic eye shot to symbolize that our character is being controlled by other personalities. The Surrealist reference here is very blatant, which is what we intended. The bar code also represents control, as our character is institutionalised inside his own head. • We ended with the leader of all personalities travelling through space and time, similar to that seen in the film. First, he frequently appears at the window, and then appears in the shot when he is going to ‘save’ our main character.

34. “In my world, I think space can be formed by light in order to create poetry. What does a cinematographer do? A cinematographer tries to translate ideas into images. He tries to work out how you can express this story within this space.” Christopher Doyle http://a-bittersweet-life.tumblr.com/post/35779156663/in-my-world-i-think-space-can-be-formed-by-light

35. ‘Schizofrequency’: Applying Our Research • Our use of sound was carefully considered. We chose an erratic nature in order to enable us to enhance the Surrealist experience for the viewer. • In order to create our Soundscape, we recorded sounds on set and manipulated them in Audition to create a tense atmosphere, adding to the enigma of the film.

37. ‘Schizofrequency’: Applying Our Research • Our use of sound was carefully considered. We chose an erratic nature in order to enable us to enhance the Surrealist experience for the viewer. • In order to create our Soundscape, we recorded sounds on set and manipulated them in Audition to create a tense atmosphere, adding to the enigma of the film. • We chose to use the monologue to express the thoughts in his head, in hope that we will give the audience an idea of what the narrative is without giving away too much.

38. Bibliography Perry, Eugenia (2001) ‘Joel Peter Witkin 55’.  Publisher: Phaidon Press Limited (2014) [ONLINE] Available from: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro55ed2AAak] [Accessed 15th November 2015] (2012) [ONLINE] Available from: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=] [Accessed 14th November 2015] (2008) [ONLINE] Available from: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-JulTmTHeU] [Accessed 14th November 2015] (2009) [ONLINE] Available from: [http://www.edwardhopper.net/automat.jsp] [Accessed 3rd December 2015] [ONLINE] Available from: [http://www.baroquemusic.org/bqxalb.html] [Accessed 14th November 2015] M. J, Birchwood & C, Jackson ‘Schizophrenia’. (1964) – Publisher: Psychology Press Ltd.

39. Bibliography (cont.) Trevor H. Turner. (2003) ‘Schizophrenia: Your Questions Answered’. Publisher: Churchill Livingstone. Tate, Surrealism [December 3 2015] from: [http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/surrealism] [Year N/A] Tate, Surrealism [December 3 2015] Available from: [http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/surrealism] [Last Accessed: 3rd December 2015] [Year N/A] The Surrealist [December 3 2015] Available from: [http://www.surrealists.co.uk/breton.php] [Last Accessed 3rd December 2015] Braude, S.E. (1995) ‘First Person Plural: Multiple Personality & The Philosophy Of Mind’. Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Souter, G. ‘Edward Hopper’. (2012) Publisher: ParkstonePress Williams, L. ‘Figures of Desire. A Theory & Analysis of Surrealist Film’. (1981) Publisher: University of Illinois Press

40. Bibliography (cont.) [2015] [ONLINE] Available from: [http://herodotushistories.com/herodotus-quotes/] [Last Accessed: 30th December 2015] [2000-2015] [ONLINE] Available from: [http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/Kentaurides.html] [Last Accessed: 3rd December 2015] [Year N/A] [ONLINE] Available from: [ http://www.greeka.com/greece-history/greek-people-quotes.htm ] [Last Accessed: 3rd December 2015] [2015] [ONLINE] Available from: [ http://herodotushistories.com/herodotus-quotes/] [Last Accessed: 3rd December 2015] [Year N/A] [ONLINE] Lederman, L. Available from: [http://www.physicscentral.com/explore/writers/lederman.cfm] [Last Accessed: 2nd December 2015]

41. Bibliography (cont.) [2015] [ONLINE] Norton, B. Available from: [http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2015/15-mind-blowing-films-influenced-by-psychoanalysis/ ] [Last Accessed: 3rd December 2015] [2012] [ONLINE] Doyle, C. Available from: [ http://a-bittersweet-life.tumblr.com/post/35779156663/in-my-world-i-think-space-can-be-formed-by-light] [Last Accessed: 3rd December 2015] Freud, S, (1991) ‘On Metapsychology - The Theory of Psychoanalysis: Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Ego and the Id and Other Works 2nd Edition’. Publisher Penguin Group

42. Kayla TroyChantelle WhiteheadGeorge OteleaTingyi JiangGeorge Otelea The End.