Black Sheep is an art installation that shows different people's perspective on Generation Z (those born from the late-1990s to mid 2000s). When preparing for the project, I began to reflect on my own views of the generation to come up with my concept. I was inspired by the philosophy of artist Robert Rauschenberg, who aimed to create cohesive art pieces with the most outrageous components. This made me think of the "black sheep" idiom. The idea of the black sheep used to be used as an insult; used to describe an outcast of the group or the one who doesn't belong. However, this idea of being different and standing out has evolved over the past decade or so, and has become somewhat of a goal to my generation. Everyone strives to be unique. To some this could be seen as a positive evolution. Yet, based on Rauschenberg's philosophy, if everyone in a group is trying to stand out, once outstanding characteristics become diluted.  With this dual view idea, I was inspired to create a piece that showed two opposing views of Gen Z simultaneously. 

I started brainstorming concepts  for the actual piece. I first looked into creating a dual projection screen.  However, this idea didn't seem to work. So, I went back to the drawing board. After much thinking, the second idea that came to mind was, oddly, inspired by cereal boxes. I remembered, from the early 2000s, how cereal companies  would occasionally print red reveal mazes, messages,  and puzzles on the back and sides of their product boxes, then seal a "magical reveal lens" inside the packaging to reveal hidden objects. I began researching red reveal messages, and began studying additive and subtractive light theory to create this effect. With this knowledge, I was able to figure out the technical side of my project. 

After I had this idea, I started designing the physical pieces of my project. I was greatly inspired by the The Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band  (1967)  album. I felt both the cover and the music  contributed to the message I was trying to get across, and I decided to base my visual components off of the album's cover. 

After I had these components, I attempted to piece them together. I decided to create the dual view in my piece by surveying the teachers and students of the high school, and compare and contrast the data I collected. Then, I would paste the pairs of messages in the head of each singular sheep, and give the viewers a red or blue reveal  lens to see the two different views separately.  I did not have time to build the entire piece, but I created a loose sketch of what it will look like when I continue this project in the future. For presentation day, I created an example for the message reveal effect, and the reveal glasses with the red and blue reveal lenses.