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Bailey
Kirshner
about my thesis
This thesis undertakes an exhaustive and obsessive exploration of the colors red and blue through the mediums in which I work, while also comparing and contrasting the colors as they appear physically and digitally.
why red and blue?
One day I was drawing in class and only had a red and blue pen with me. I was forced to draw everything with these two colors, even things that aren’t traditionally red or blue. This created an obsession. I was fascinated with the way these drawings of various subject matter looked with just these two colors. From that point forward, I decided I was only going to draw with red and blue, and to use them in as many ways as possible. Through doing this, I developed strong associations with, and a sense for, these two colors. I could pick a person, an object, or a place and decide which one felt more red and which felt more blue. I then took this a step further after noticing the various hues these colors can be perceived to be based on the medium used. I also noticed a great limitation with the two colors based on the different media, usually more so with red than with blue. I decided that this topic needed to be explored further...
red and blue archive
This book captures the excitement and feeling of playfulness that these colors bring me, while also illustrating my exhaustive, obsessive exploration. It allows a comparison of the colors as they appear physically and digitally. The book also acts as a guide for anyone looking to use these colors, allowing them to see the range that they can achieve across different mediums. The book accomplishes this while simultaneously providing a playful, tactile, unique, and immersive experience.
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medium/size: book board, white iris book cloth, ceramic, polymer clay, risograph prints, USB, and yarn, 8x10 inches
virtual field trip
The virtual field trip images were screenshotted on google earth to explore the different reds and blues that occur naturally on this earth. I visited every ocean and different bodies of water all over the world, as well as deserts and rocky locations.
3D book
This book is the turning point in the narrative that is my thesis. I take the meaning of red and blue to another dimension, literally and figuratively. Not only is this book in 3D, but it exposes the viewer to another side of red and blue. The reader will literally be looking through a filter made up of red and blue, while looking at images that make up what red and blue mean to me. They will be using red and blue as a tool to look at something that may not look red and blue, but which evoke a sense of red and blue to me. Now that I have all these objects and materials that are physically and digitally red and blue (red and blue archive), I will be filtering my life (things that are not these colors) through a red/blue lens.
color comparison sculpture
This artist book captures the excitement and feeling of playfulness that these colors bring me, while also illustrating my exhaustive, obsessive exploration, in addition to being able to compare the colors physically and digitally. The book also acts as a guide for one looking to use these colors, allowing them to see the range that they can get across different mediums. I wanted to accomplish this all while simultaneously providing a playful, tactile, and immerse experience like no other.
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