Proposal

Name
Neighborhood Watch (tentative title)

Description
To create a book on my hometown of Lakewood, taking a look not only at the city itself but where it is in the Los Angeles/Orange County region.

Concerns
This book will not be some sort of chronological history, personal history, or even a history at all. Ideally I hope that through content, juxtaposition, and sequencing the book will be productively open-ended and ambiguous, leaving ample room for interpretation on the part of the reader/viewer. ‘Open text’ is going to be my big issue here.

Technical
The use of Photoshop to process/edit/color correct/whatever. In creating this book and compiling different images, I’m interested in different syntaxes and what they can add to the meaning of an image or sequence. The book will comprise of straight digital images (no composites), and scans of negatives both color and B&W. Along with this I plan on the use of actual scans; that is scans of found objects (flyers, mailers, civic swag, things found in the street,…) and images in magazines, newspapers, books, or even scans of photographic prints. A scan allows for a high quality rendering of low relief detail and relates back to the physical object that it was taken from. I’m also going to need to (re)learn InDesign for layout purposes.

Formal
Well, book form for sure but that’s a little too general. Right now I’m not sure what ‘larger form’ the book will be (art book, strange surrealist found object, corporate document,…). This project will be broken up into two different parts. By the midterm I will have the (calling it) satellites done, and by the final a finished book. The satellite side of this will be a smaller ‘report’ type of document describing Lakewood’s position in the LA/OC region. By choosing three specific points within the city I will move out in concentric circles, and on each, taking twelve photos at even measurements (think numbers on a clock) pointed back in the direction of the center point chosen. I’m giving myself free range within the boundaries of the city, but outside I wanted to set up a system that would lead to as little personal interpretation on the surrounding area as possible.

Artist
Walter Benjamin (specifically The Arcades Project), Tom Anderson (specifically Los Angeles Plays Itself), Jonathan Mann, Paul Graham, The Adventures of Pete and Pete

Readings
Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscape, Looking At Los Angeles, Holy Land- D.J. Waldie, various readings on Ideology and Soviet montage, Andre Bazin

Grade
Grade determined by the quality of the final product.

Goals
-To find a balance between shooting/gathering visual information and time to make a meaningful sequence out of it.
-To start the satellite project this week and come to some conclusion on how to present it.
-Learn InDesign
-Learn what goes into creation a book