Project 1 Statement

    My montage inverts the meaning of the seasons, turning winter into a season of activity and youth, when it is usually symbolic of hibernation and death.  This isn’t to say that the other seasons portrayed are supposed to be depressing, they are beautiful in their own light, but much more introverted and more subtle than traditionally portrayed.  Summer, spring, and autumn seem uninhabited, while winter is bustling with birds and human activity.  These birds become a comforting pattern throughout the work, interacting with the scene and snowman.  The emphasis on time spent depicting winter in this work allows the viewer to project himself onto the snowman, and sympathize as it melts.  I am reminded of how temporary our own footprint in the world is, and I am humbled by nature’s ability to continue its cycle with or without me.  Nostalgia bubbles to the surface when I think of the urgency of time, and the time that has passed already that is only tangible through fading memories.  By narrating the montage, the piece becomes much more meditative, because it unites thought with image, and there is an ebb and flow to the work that resembles natural phenomenon, like rainfall.  Had I elected to use random sounds, the work would have felt less personal and less unified, since there wouldn’t be a voice guiding you through the piece.  Sounds may have assaulted or contradicted the photographs, or compromised the dynamic undercurrent that the human voice provides.  The human voice is a natural and raw instrument, which compliments the nature imagery.