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song lyrics/visual asthetic
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Brianna Sykes
T206 Midterm Project
In my chosen lyrics from Sufjan Stevens’ song, “Chicago”, I wanted to focus on the word recreate
for my midterm project. Through my images I hoped to accomplish the idea of recreation, specifically a
feeling of new life and energy. To achieve this, I set out with my camera and drove from my hometown
of Greenwood, IN up to Indianapolis area, to stop at a rougher and abandoned part of the city.
My initial thought for a visual aesthetic was to portray grunge and desolation, but that seemed
too obvious with the environment I was shooting. Instead, I decided to implement Neo-‐Plasticism, also
known as the De Stijl movement. The directness and simplicity of Stevens’ lyrics seemed to correlate
well with the intentional balance, structure, and compositional perfection as some of the main
principles that Neo-‐Plasticism movement entails. The De Stijl movement expresses “a new utopian ideal
of spiritual harmony and order,” (“De Stijl). Stevens expresses in his lyrics to let go and allow for new
growth and recreation, so I thought the ideal of this artistic movement matched with the sense of
renewal in the lyrics.
In order to implement this visual aesthetic, I kept my eye out for environments with vertical and
horizontal straight lines, grid-‐like patterns, basic colors, squares, and rectangles. I planned to achieve
this visual aesthetic by observing the architectural surroundings of the different environments.
Once I planned out how I would portray my visual aesthetic, I considered how I would depict
recreation in my images. I chose to capture four images of despair, desperation, and loneliness. These
four pictures represent that the environment is a place of sadness; a place desperate for recreation and
renewal. The final image, a bright primary-‐colored mural in the middle of this desolate city, reads “Now
for the Future.” This last picture found unexpectedly in this environment symbolizes the possibility for
change, potential for recreation someday, and gives off a force of positivity.
Through my chosen song lyric, the visual aesthetic of Neo-‐Plasticism, and my five pictures, the
idea of recreation is all intertwined. Stevens sings about changing himself, while the pictures represent
a positive recreation in the future, but both the song and the images lead to the Neo-‐Plastic ideal of
utopia.
“Chicago”
Sufjan Stevens
You came to take us
All things go, all things go
To recreate us
All things grow, all things grow
We had our mindset
All things known, all things known
You had to find it
All things go, all things go
Visual Aesthetic: Neo-‐Plasticism/ De Stijl Movement