Throughout my life, I’ve had
trouble understanding why people act certain ways, and do things a certain
way. I’ve always found it interesting
that there were social things that people seemed to just know, or do without
really thinking about why, especially since these things didn’t come naturally
to me. I was recently diagnosed with
Asperger’s Syndrome, which explained a lot of why I’ve had this strange view of
people. The majority of my work is based
on my perception of other people. I’m
very logical and literal, and a lot of the things people do seem contradictory,
or absurd to me. My pieces are usually
exaggerations of things people do that don’t make sense, or seem strange to me.
Identification Document
1, Pratt, "Part of Your World", Acrylic on Canvas, 12"x16", Self-directed, 2012
2, Pratt, "Animal Crackers", inkjet prints, 10..5"x7", Studio Lighting, 2012
3, Pratt, "Family Album", Inkjet Printed Book, 6"x7.5"/54 pages, Visual Book, 2012
4, Pratt, "Dinosaurs Eating Sweets!", Inkjet-printed book, 4.25" x 5.5"/18 pages, Visual Book, 2012
5, Pratt, "The World's Greatest Living Dancer", Video/Performance, 5:53, Experiments in Visual Thinking, 2010
6, Pratt, "Wetter", Inkjet Print, 30" x 40", Experimental Photo, 2011
7, Pratt, "Hard Friction", Inkjet Print, 20" x 30", Self-directed, 2012
8, Pratt, "Desperately Hungry for Her", Inkjet Print, 40 " x 60", Experimental Photo, 2011
9, Pratt, "Untangle Me Already", Inkjet Print, 26.7" x 40", Self-directed, 2012
10, Pratt, "Love in Bloom", Inkjet Print, 40" x 30", Self-directed, 2012
11, Pratt, "The Juice Press", Inkjet Print, 40" x 30", Experimental Photo, 2011
12, Pratt, "The Book Club", Video, 10:44, Video 1, 2011
2, Pratt, "Animal Crackers", inkjet prints, 10..5"x7", Studio Lighting, 2012
3, Pratt, "Family Album", Inkjet Printed Book, 6"x7.5"/54 pages, Visual Book, 2012
4, Pratt, "Dinosaurs Eating Sweets!", Inkjet-printed book, 4.25" x 5.5"/18 pages, Visual Book, 2012
5, Pratt, "The World's Greatest Living Dancer", Video/Performance, 5:53, Experiments in Visual Thinking, 2010
6, Pratt, "Wetter", Inkjet Print, 30" x 40", Experimental Photo, 2011
7, Pratt, "Hard Friction", Inkjet Print, 20" x 30", Self-directed, 2012
8, Pratt, "Desperately Hungry for Her", Inkjet Print, 40 " x 60", Experimental Photo, 2011
9, Pratt, "Untangle Me Already", Inkjet Print, 26.7" x 40", Self-directed, 2012
10, Pratt, "Love in Bloom", Inkjet Print, 40" x 30", Self-directed, 2012
11, Pratt, "The Juice Press", Inkjet Print, 40" x 30", Experimental Photo, 2011
12, Pratt, "The Book Club", Video, 10:44, Video 1, 2011
1 Shawn Pratt BFA: Part of Your World
1, Pratt, "Part of Your World", Acrylic on Canvas, 12"x16", Self-directed, 2012
Part of Your World: I found out over the Summer that I have Asperger's Syndrome, a condition that, I feel, has benefits and detriments. On one hand, I'm logical and objective and good at figuring things out but, in contrast to that, I don't really understand how to interact with people, which has caused various problems for me. These paintings were made as a way to try and communicate that. I chose animals that are very well adapted to survival, and extremely specialized, but because they're misunderstood or feared by people they often don't actually survive very well. The animals are saying various things that I've either thought about when faced with an issue that stemmed from this condition, or something that I want people to understand a little better.
Part of Your World: I found out over the Summer that I have Asperger's Syndrome, a condition that, I feel, has benefits and detriments. On one hand, I'm logical and objective and good at figuring things out but, in contrast to that, I don't really understand how to interact with people, which has caused various problems for me. These paintings were made as a way to try and communicate that. I chose animals that are very well adapted to survival, and extremely specialized, but because they're misunderstood or feared by people they often don't actually survive very well. The animals are saying various things that I've either thought about when faced with an issue that stemmed from this condition, or something that I want people to understand a little better.
2 Shawn Pratt BFA: Animal Crackers
2, Pratt, "Animal Crackers", inkjet prints, 10..5"x7", Studio Lighting, 2012
Animal Crackers: I lit these photos to look a lot like professional studio portraits. Subjects were brought in, sat on a stool, and were asked to try and catch animal crackers in their mouths. I wanted the people to look really weird, and ridiculous because that's how I see people a lot of the time.
3 Shawn Pratt BFA: Family Album
Selected pages:
3, Pratt, "Family Album", Inkjet Printed Book, 6"x7.5"/54 pages, Visual Book, 2012
Family Album: This book was made as a response to typical family portraits and photo albums. When I was growing up, my mom always wanted us to smile in pictures and take "nice pictures". My brother and I responded by taking what we referred to as "dweeby pics" of everyone when they were least expecting it. The format of the book was intended to mimic the cheesiness of a typical family scrapbook.
4 Shawn Pratt BFA: Dinosaurs Eating Sweets!
4, Pratt, "Dinosaurs Eating Sweets!", Inkjet-printed book, 4.25" x 5.5"/18 pages, Visual Book, 2012
Dinosaurs Eating Sweets: This was a book created using miniature dinosaurs and food shaped erasers. The words were made using a set of dinosaur-themed refrigerator magnets.
5 Shawn Pratt BFA: The World's Greatest Living Dancer
5, Pratt, "The World's Greatest Living Dancer", Video/Performance, 5:53, Experiments in Visual Thinking, 2010
The World's Greatest Living Dancer: This project was focusing on breaking social norms and documenting people's reactions. I find it interesting that there are things that are or aren't generally accepted by society, and that they aren't really thought about until people are confronted with them. I found that the majority of people, when directly confronted with someone dancing next to them weren't sure of how to react and actively tried to ignore what was happening.
The World's Greatest Living Dancer: This project was focusing on breaking social norms and documenting people's reactions. I find it interesting that there are things that are or aren't generally accepted by society, and that they aren't really thought about until people are confronted with them. I found that the majority of people, when directly confronted with someone dancing next to them weren't sure of how to react and actively tried to ignore what was happening.
7 Shawn Pratt BFA: Hard Friction
7, Pratt, "Hard Friction", Inkjet Print, 20" x 30", Self-directed, 2012
8 Shawn Pratt BFA: Desperately Hungry for Her
8, Pratt, "Desperately Hungry for Her", Inkjet Print, 40 " x 60", Experimental Photo, 2011
9 Shawn Pratt BFA: Untangle Me Already
9, Pratt, "Untangle Me Already", Inkjet Print, 26.7" x 40", Self-directed, 2012
10 Shawn Pratt BFA: Love in Bloom
10, Pratt, "Love in Bloom", Inkjet Print, 40" x 30", Self-directed, 2012
11 Shawn Pratt BFA: The Juice Press
11, Pratt, "The Juice Press", Inkjet Print, 40" x 30", Experimental Photo, 2011
12 Shawn Pratt BFA: The Book Club
12, Pratt, "The Book Club", Video, 10:44, Video 1, 2011
Erotica: These pieces are made to emphasize the absurdity of erotic novels. There are so many of these books that they have to struggle to find new and interesting ways to say the same things. The pictures draw attention to this by pairing a few of the passages that stood out to me with imagery that I found online of other things that the words brought to mind. "The Book Club" shows how strange it is for these novels to be discussed openly even though they are readily available--I found most of these books and passages at the local Wal-mart.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)