As it is with Tempest 1, this work illustrates the relationship between the viewer/spectator and the subjected body of the signifier. This push and pull creates visual tension that has been dominating both subjects since the dawn of time although more obvious through delivery methods such as social media and modern advertisements.

The collage represents the fragmentation of the signifier through ripped and cut out pieces of paper, and the surrealist approach adds an intensity to the viewer/subject relationship through a dreamlike approach possessing unreal qualities conceived by the author somewhere between asleep and awake. The sun and moon covering the subjects face elevates her status and although history has manipulated how the viewed body should be positioned, she connotes a goddess being that pulls back from the viewer, drawing them in. The ripped pages from Shakespeare’s comedy The Tempest is open to interpretation, itself, adding mystery to the work.

Theoretical Approach to Visual Research

Those who hold different positions of perspective from differing social and cultural backgrounds may visualize representations of artistry in dichotomic segments unless guided by the author to an extent, whether this be through simplification or extensive research into numerous societal backgrounds for consideration. The deception of assuming the participant shares understanding with the author in this project relied on exploring insider/outsider, familiar, perspectives relevant to the audience (Mannay, 2016). This pathway has driven the extent of research and informed a more critical approach to the design of this project in that the message must not be lost in translation or assumptions of shared understanding.

During research, I became increasingly aware of visual memory and how it works in the viewer. This aided in a deeper awareness of how to use a visual response to a serious situation by manipulating conscious levels of visuals already embedded into our systems and generating new ideas into something perceptible. (Williams and Newton, 2007) The theoretical framework surrounding the topic of a visual response to methods in advertisements were difficult to convey due to the broad abstractions between society and culture in my research field.