This project details the history of the word “odd” through its use in colloquialisms. Each collage in this essay describes a specific phrase that uses the word. The goal of this project is to familiarize the viewer with the feeling of being the odd one out, or the feeling of being in a peculiar or odd environment, and to do so by creating surreal and interesting environments and landscapes within the collages. This project also intends to come at the word “odd” from every angle by attempting to depict common phrases. I utilize fading and gradients frequently in this project in order to highlight the nuances of the duality between even and odd, or good and bad. This project simultaneously answers my feelings about being called odd or being a social reject at times, while also addressing the common societal notions of good and evil, chances and gambles.
The first piece begins the essay with a stark statement of feeling different from your peers, and how this feeling may pass down from members of different generations. The second portrays a dreamlike landscape with a derivative of the DreamWorks logo that I made in Adobe Illustrator, and a sea of scrap metal, with the boy from the logo fishing for something special in a sea of junk. The third depicts a sphere with listed odd numbers at the bottom and upside-down even numbers listed at the top, to demonstrate how things that are odd and peculiar may stand out to the “odd-ball” or the odd one out. The fourth image show a child throwing a pair of dice into a pile of previously thrown dice. This is an investigation on our risk taking, and what it really means to leave things up to the odds to dictate our future. The final piece is a political statement, that questions whether our politicians are really “at odds” with each other or if they are working together against us, because sometimes it seems like they do both. The phrases in the collage titles connect the images to the word, and draw a comparison to the message of the image and the emotion of the speaker.
This project revolves around these phrases because that is how the word “odd” has been used most commonly throughout history. ”Odd” has never been used alone, it always comes with an accompanying “even” or a surrounding colloquialism. This projects is supposed to emphasize that, while putting the meaning and emotion of each phrase into a visual format.
