Biohazard Man 01

Biohazard Man

This project was a simple class exercise in documentation. We were walking as a group, from one end of South Bank to the other, devising some method of recording the process as we went. I came prepared for the journey with my Canon 60D, and a little yellow LEGO mini figure with a terrified expression on his face. I wanted to see how I could contextualise this little caricature. Playing with the tension of size – a little “human” in an oversized world – and the dramatic facial expression of fear towards nothing and everything all at once, practically speaking this was an easy task. It wasn’t long at all before I’d found several terrifying scenarios and likely hiding spots for this little Biohazard Man.

Conceptually this was an attempt to capture, or invent, an implied narrative from an otherwise unnoteworthy stroll. Further experimentation involved digitally overpainting the figure and other elements with flat colour, incompletely erasing the implication of narrative, the trace of the minifig’s presence still visible, but uninterpretable. This approach amplified the contrivance of the contexts into which I had placed the figure, however, I still wanted the full-narrative version to be available to the viewer. By presenting both versions I challenged the audience to consider this contrivance, and whether this tampering truly erased the narrative value.

Biohazard Man 01

Tonally I approached this task lightheartedly, striving to capture the humour in the narrative. While there were certainly more serious options (as so many other classmates found) the obvious comedy potential begged to be explored.