Critique Writeup (Elle)

I made this piece, “Assembly Line," to explore two different aspects of industry; the disgusting and overwhelming nature of excess, and the calm, reassuring nature of controlled patterns found in mass-production. Thus I created a tension between a static, aesthetically attractive image and an “assaulting,” jarring, and hard-to-watch video—together illustrating the human conflict with simultaneous attraction and aversion.

Critique of my work focused largely on the tension between the two pieces; many said that while the image had a calming effect, the video was uncomfortable and headache-inducing—yet they "couldn’t look away from it." Andy Warhol’s soup cans were brought up as a possible influence, but people found my piece to be more “relentless” than Warhol’s. Ultimately, the class seemed to agree that the two components (the image and the video) worked together to create one complete piece that made a strong statement about industry.