The theme of the sharp and the blurry is fundamental for the act of looking / observing. This fact is crucial in higher art education, my sculptural work, the arts and society.
The phantom statute of the unsharp, it’s relationship to our memories, it’s intimate character and openness for interpretation is what attracts me in the blurry. I will first investigate the meaning of the blurry and the sharp within photography, and will then look as a sculptor how the sharp and unsharp relate to sculpture. In this is how I hope to develop a well-founded personal vision about 'the blurry' or the unsharp. In this project, I search for the presence of the unsharp in authentic photographs in my family albums of the 1970s and 1980s. I will create new photographs through the act of enlarging and cutting. Cosyness, mystery, intimacy, tactility and abstraction will be dominant themes in these new photos. Based on these new images, I want to create tactile sculptures and installations that are characterized by blurriness. How do sharpness-unsharpness relate to the memory that takes shape through visual media such as family albums? What is the role of focus and blurring in sculpture versus photography? And what is the impact of this effect on our memories? How does sharpness – unsharpness relate to the tactile space and how does 'being embodied' in a tactile environment relate to the sculptural? How does this relate to other media? These are just a few research questions that I will deal with.
Promotors: Dr. Ria De Boodt (Academy) en Prof. Dr. Gert Verschraegen (UAntwerp)
Image: Detail family photo, portret Anton, 1980-2019 © Anton Cotteleer
