Tracey Moffatt’s Adventure Series Essay Example
Given her exploration of identities and social narrative it is fitting that Adventure Series (2004) depicts Tracey Moffatt as the main character in her own action comic . Sadly, State of the Art’s editor Alex McDonald has created an extremely accurate critique of the series in that video work is well put together, but the rest of the project “is another step backwards for an artist from whom we expect something more1.”
The art work created during her residence at Brisbane’s Institute of Modern Arts last year is currently on display at the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery. At first glance it is hard to make the connection between the DVD work Love (2003) and the printed work Adventure Series. It would greatly enhance the viewer’s perception between the works if the gallery would have organized the video work as the introduction.
Adventure Series shares many apparent similarities with her previous work Something More (1989)1. One of these similarities comprise of Tracey Moffatt as the main character. It also has a combination of painted backgrounds with photographs of the cast digitally layered over the top. The use of cinematic staging is also apparent that was originally used in Something More. With these similarities and the combination of the unsuccessful dimensions Adventure Series comes across as forced, thus hindering a successful 1970s retro appearance.
The work is laid out in a comic book format which accentuates the tacky 1970s retro backgrounds that already look too cartoonish to combine with realistic stylized photographs of the racially diverse models . After comparison it will come as no surprise that Tracey Moffatt “commissioned a young Brisbane woman graphic artist to paint the backdrops as she could paint them better than she could .” This mistake in judgment to outsource components compromised the project’s ability to seamlessly fuse together. Since the painted backgrounds are not detailed a considerable amount of distraction is created,
The art work created during her residence at Brisbane’s Institute of Modern Arts last year is currently on display at the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery. At first glance it is hard to make the connection between the DVD work Love (2003) and the printed work Adventure Series. It would greatly enhance the viewer’s perception between the works if the gallery would have organized the video work as the introduction.
Adventure Series shares many apparent similarities with her previous work Something More (1989)1. One of these similarities comprise of Tracey Moffatt as the main character. It also has a combination of painted backgrounds with photographs of the cast digitally layered over the top. The use of cinematic staging is also apparent that was originally used in Something More. With these similarities and the combination of the unsuccessful dimensions Adventure Series comes across as forced, thus hindering a successful 1970s retro appearance.
The work is laid out in a comic book format which accentuates the tacky 1970s retro backgrounds that already look too cartoonish to combine with realistic stylized photographs of the racially diverse models . After comparison it will come as no surprise that Tracey Moffatt “commissioned a young Brisbane woman graphic artist to paint the backdrops as she could paint them better than she could .” This mistake in judgment to outsource components compromised the project’s ability to seamlessly fuse together. Since the painted backgrounds are not detailed a considerable amount of distraction is created,