Assignment 4: Awakening (Final)

The concept behind this image is an individual’s social awakening. I believe we, as humans, are all bounded by the blue fabric of reality. This fabric restricts our movements and thoughts, but it keeps us safe within the boundaries of reality. However, there will always be a few who would gain a new insight. This social awakening encountered by the guy in the middle, is represented through the releasing of the blue fabric. The wing like structure formed by the ribbons showed his liberation and ‘enlightenment’.

However, reality beyond the blue fabric, beautiful as it is, is not what it seems. The true reality is in fact more precarious and overwhelming. So here comes the choice for the individual. If the awakened individual is overwhelmed by the true reality, he would plunge to his death. However, if he wants to, he could always get back into the fabric of reality with his new insight and keep silent about it forever. Or he could awaken the rest with this new found knowledge.

This is the purpose of this picture. With education, we know there is something wrong with this world, the government and social structure. However, a lot of us choose to conform to them despite having the knowledge. Some of us are activists who silently protest the government and seek to enlighten the rest. There are also those who failed terribly and lose their mind and soul to this new knowledge. What are we going to do when we gain this knowledge? What can we do to enact change? Are we being manipulated without us knowing about it? These are all questions worth pondering about as we inspect this image.

Regarding the technique, I used simple Photoshop tools to put the various images together, First I have to take the different people individually and crop the blue cloth onto them. I then used erase tool to create the cloudy effect on the guy in the middle. This gives the impression that he is rising above the clouds.

This current picture and concept is an evolution of the three pictures I did previously on Consumerism.