Denah Emerson

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  1. Thoughts and Precedents Expounded — 2 comments
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  3. Group Two MFADT Network — 1 comment
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  5. Reflecting On the 7 in 7 — 1 comment

Author's posts

Reflecting On the 7 in 7

I loved the 7 in 7 project. I have never been forced to work so quickly before and I have never been so prolific. One of the most challenging portions of this project was defining the constraints in the beginning. It was difficult to decide what my focus would be and to commit to an …

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7 in 7 – Day 7 – Negative Space

The final piece in my series represents Sleeping Beauty. The syringe corresponds to the needle on which she pricks herself. I wanted to use negative space for my final piece to symbolize that the stories we hear as children (and tell children, in turn) are not as they seem in the forefront. Sometimes, we need …

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7 in 7 – Day 6 – Scratchboard

Today’s project explores the mental instability and challenges in Beauty and the Beast. I wanted a medium that would convey something about the experience in a mental ward (as I see it). This is my version of a scratchboard etching. I used crayon on paper for the first layer, painted it with India ink, and …

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7 in 7 – Day 5 – Stop Motion

Today, I made a tiny, adorable stop motion of a pretty gruesome scene in Grimm’s Cinderella. One of the stepsisters cut off her toes to fit into the glass slipper. Here’s the low-res version.

7 in 7 – Day 4 – Gingerbread

Today’s project is a gingerbread oven depicting Hansel and Gretel in the witch’s oven. I used graham crackers, frosting, lots of candy, and fondant. I think preserving the traditional jolly gingerbread theme enhances the gruesome representation of this story.

7 in 7 – Day 3 – Photoshop

Today’s project explores the creepiness of the Pied Piper. I’ve depicted all the children he’s kidnapped on Warhol-esque milk cartons for a modern spin of this To Catch A Predator story. I used Photoshop for this project. For bonus creepiness: the children in these photographs are my actual nieces and nephews.

7 in 7 – Day 2 – Line Drawing

The second project in this series is a line drawing of a wolf howling at the moon. It represents the villain of Little Red Riding Hood. I used micron pens on paper. No lines cross in this piece. The border is painted with acrylic, for the iconic color of this fairy tale. I burnt the …

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7 in 7 – Day 1 – Wire

Aside from time, I have two constraints for this project series: Theme: The Inherent Darkness of Fairy Tales Media: Each project will be in a different medium. My first project is a barbed wire apple. It is the first in my series as a commentary on the inherent darkness of fairy tales. It represents the …

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In Support of Appropriations and Mashup Culture

We live in a culture that assigns great importance (rightly so) to recycling, reusing, and repurposing. The main purpose is to get the most out of our limited resources, to use the entire buffalo. A secondary purpose, which the concept of mash-ups certainly explores, is to not reinvent the wheel. There’s a great quote given …

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On Prototypes

I have to say right off the bat that I am actually obsessed with the pizza box prototype (in What do Prototypes Prototype?). It is genius in its simplicity, resourcefulness, cost, and effect. Bill Buxton’s definition of a prototype through highlighting the differences between sketches and prototypes (What Sketches [and Prototypes] Are and Are Not.) …

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