Tom Chambers

"saccharine perch" ~ Entropic Kingdom 2009

The image by Tom Chambers titled “Saccharine Perch” strongly expresses the wildlife habitat and what is has become through the use of photomontage. The image evokes of a desolate place which Chambers is trying to portray a sense of loneliness and emptiness. The image captures the sense of darkness which portrays quite a gloomy emotion. However the title of “Saccharine Perch” is literally expressed as the birds are on the perch which is the cake. This shows a mixed emotion as the titled evokes the image as being happy until the eyes are drawn to the entire picture where there is a sense of darkness. Chambers has used magical realism to create a sense of realism with some elements that seem false. However the contrasting elements seem to unify together to create the meaning of the image. Chambers appears to evoke a childhood memory as it shows of the girl with a cake, which shows innocence and vulnerability. I think Chambers wants the audience to view this image as quite ambiguous as there a very different emotions which the audience can evoke from it.

The image itself that is the focus point shows of a girl who’s head isn’t shown with a flock of birds on a cake, with other birds in the background. However the eyes are drawn directly to the cake as its the brightest image in the picture

The eyes are also drawn to the section of the cake which has been taken out and is on the ground with two other birds. However the birds appear to be photoshop which is what the audience is drawn to.

In the background the sense of the clouds show that there is an expected storm coming which the flock of the birds are flying away from the storm. However the scale of the birds is significantly bigger than the type of birds on the cakes. The birds in the background appear to be bats and it shows as if they have a sense that something bad is going to happen. However it is unknown what is going to happen, whether it is good or bad. The animals in this image appear to be quite vulnerable.

The main colours used is simply warm and cool, as the background of the image shows very warm and earthy colours with the contrast of cool colours which is the girls dress. Which combined together produces a very harmonious colour. Which harmonizing the two colours is created through technology which allows the two types of colour to unify. The image itself creates a symmetry as the image itself is pretty much symmetrical. This symmetrical image softens the image and creates a much quieter image despite the flock of birds everywhere.

"Too delicate for daylight" ~ Entropic Kingdom 2009

The image definitely shows quite a surreal image as she is been able to associate herself with the deers, which are usually quite timid creatures. However it appears the the deers are protecting her in a way. Which Chambers main focus for this body of work ‘Entropic Kingdom’ is the result of man’s disregard for the fragility of the environment and the responsibility for everyone to care for the earth.