MEDA202 A2- Prototype Statement

For my Final work I have a wind chime with an Arduino attached to it and a light shining at the wind chime, so the shadow hits the wall. In the prototype the Arduino constantly shakes the wind chime randomly then stops when someone goes underneath it. The work seemed to have a hypnotic or mesmerising effect on the audience. Wind chimes are classified as a type of percussion instrument and were originally used as a symbol of good fortune and used to ward off bad spirits. In my research I have found that it I similar to “Particle” by Kanta Horio. In Horio’s work he uses magnets and sends magnetic pulses that make the paper clips jump around causing sound and a random pattern or movement of the clips. I feel as though this is similar to mine because the Arduino is set up to shake/spin the wind chime causing a noise and the pattern of the shadow to change also making a hypnotic work. After the presentation of my prototype I am still wondering if I should keep going with an aesthetic look or add a message as well. So, I have come up with an idea for each. If I were to focus on the aesthetic side I think that I might have the Arduino lightly shake the wind chime so it slowly increases of decreases as a person gets closer to it and see how that looks or if it changes the audience interaction. For the message behind the artwork I was thought of having it relate to the USA elections and have houses cut out attached to the bottom of the wind chime and colour them red, white and blue, maybe use some tinted plastic so it shows on the reflection. Have a cut out of Trumps hair or last name on top of the wind chime, so it shows him shaking up house hold. Then have the wind chimes stop when someone walks under it as a metaphor for someone going up to vote. I now need to try and focus on and decide on a look.

MEDA202 A1 Interactive Art

Interactive art are artworks that use the audiences input to produce an outcome which can vary for each viewer and turns the audience into partners of the work. I strongly believe that the execution of interactive art is just as important as the idea or message behind the work. The Human Non-Human exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences uses architecture, biotechnology, robotics, design, film and more. The exhibition has four instalments represented by; food, work, sex and belief. I have chosen to look at the “food” instalment called ‘Ballistic Bundts’ by Lindsay Kelley. ‘Ballistic Bundts’ is an interactive artwork made of a bullet riddled ballistic gel that is shaped and moulded to look like an old cakes and jelly’s. Ballistic gel is used in the military to test projectile weapons which replicates the density of human flesh. The gels are put inside glass display cases and look like a patisserie. Lindsay Kelley’s execution and finished product of her work to show the impact of social and technological change on the experience of making and eating food. The artwork also incorporates the kitchen of the past and present, and gender places where the outside world meets the domestic and personal. Through talking about what materials and thought went into ‘Ballistic Bundts’, understanding how the elements work and a discussion of the final product of Lindsay Kelley’s work, we can find that the execution of the idea or message of the artwork is equally as important as the message.

 Through discussing the elements used in Lindsay Kelley’s ‘Ballistic Bundts’, we can see what materials and decisions are behind the artwork which make up the final product. In my encounter with ‘Ballistic Bundts’, at first glance from a distance I thought it was just old glass cakes inside a display but on a further and closer inspection I came to realise that it was made of a gel. Ballistic gel that is mainly used as a human flesh stimulator for military equipment tests. This discovery led me to realise the Kelley was using what looks like on the outside to be different jelly’s and commenting on the relationship between food and military. This enticed me towards the work and make it much more interesting. In researching the artwork, I came across a photo of a display case that had gloves in it, so you could put your hands in the gloves and touch the gel. Which I think is a great way to have the audience physically interact with the artwork. Unfortunately, when I went to the museum of applied arts and sciences to look at the exhibition that display case was not shown. I think that physically touching the work gives the audience a closer connection or intimacy with the work and proves that it is a gel and feels like a gel. In “Volatile Milieus: The Poetics of Interactivity”, Vera Buhlmann writes; “the open-mindedness towards potential outcomes of any situation. Even though we readily have different preconceived models of how to react available for almost any situation, there are always other possibilities. To interact is to focus on the very peculiarities of a situation [...] it is to focus on what makes a situation different from the general.” This quote relates to the work through the discovery of different materials that were once preconceived to be something else. Realising that it was made of Ballistic gel then leads to the themes and ideas behind the artwork.

 I believe that understanding how the elements of the interactive work betters the viewers experience and helps them understand the ideas in the project from the artist as well as their own possibilities. Lindsay Kelley’s work ‘Ballistic Bundts’ also shows a ten minute video of the creation of a “cake”. The video shows the preparation of the gel along with the different cake tins and moulds that the ballistic gel is put into. Kelley connects the militaries use of food innovations that have led to break throughs by combining the old cake moulds used in everyday cooking and the ballistic gel. Kelley also manages to challenge the gender roles with her work. Kelley uses old cake moulds along with soviet and American space food from the 1960’s-1980’s, where in most house hold the kitchen would be a more female occupied area. Kelley then combines that with the ballistic gel and the military of today which is still mainly male occupied and joins the two together in her artwork to subvert the roles and show that there is no expectation. Claire Bishop writes in “Participation”; “In calling for spectators who are active as interpreters, [Jacques] Rancière implies that the politics of participation might best lie, not in anti-spectacular stagings of community or in the claim that mere physical activity would correspond to emancipation, but in putting to work the idea that we are all equally capable of inventing our own translations. Unattached to a privileged artistic medium, this principle would not divide audiences into active and passive, capable an incapable, but instead would invite us all to appropriate works for ourselves and make use of these in ways that their authors might never have dreamed possible.” This quote tells us that the viewer is able to interoperate the artwork in their own way that may have been different from the artist intent. The materials used in ‘Ballistic Bundts’ with the ballistic gel that is meant to replicate the density of human skin and the cake moulds that it is shaped lead me also to the ideas of cannibalism that could also be underlying the work. I believe that execution or how the elements of the interactive art work fit together betters the viewers experience and helps them understand the ideas in the project from the artist as well as their own possibilities.

 I believe that a discussion of the execution is needed to show that the work succeeded in presenting its ideas or messages. I think that through discussion of the final product by users is a great way to know if the idea or message got across or if anyone else may have gotten something else out of the artwork. for Lindsay Kelleys work ‘Ballistic Bundts’ I think that she has clearly asked the question of; “How does our experience of eating change with new technologies?” Kelley asks the question by representing bullet riddled military gel into a patisserie and kitchen like setting that also manages to challenge gender roles. Although I did see a photo of the display case with the gloves I was not able to experience it or feel the gel. I feel as though the lighting and set up of the instalment was good and the video set up and artist statements. I believe that a discussion of the execution is needed to show the message got across and because discussion is important.

 In conclusion I strongly believe that the execution of interactive art is just as important as the idea or message behind the work because of the following. We know what materials and decisions are behind the artwork which make up the final product. That understanding how the elements of the interactive work betters the viewers experience and helps them understand the ideas in the project from the artist as well as their own possibilities. That a discussion of the execution is needed to show that the work succeeded in presenting its ideas or messages. These and everything stated above are why I think that the execution is just as important as the message.

 Bibliography

Clare Bishop, Participation, Whitechapel, London, 2006, 11.

 Fairley G 2018, Review: Human non Human, Powerhouse Museum, visual artshub, viewed 27 August 2018, <https://visual.artshub.com.au/news-article/reviews/visual-arts/gina-fairley/review-human-non-human-powerhouse-museum-256333>

 Gee O 2018, Human Non Human, timeout, viewed 27 August 2018, <https://www.timeout.com/sydney/museums/human-non-human>

 Human Non Human, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, viewed 27 August 2018,

<http://human-non-human.info>

 Vera Buhlmann, “Volatile Milieus: The Poetics of Interactivity”, in Association Metaworx (ed.), Meta-worx: Young Swiss Interactive, Birkhauser, Basel, Boston, Berlin, p.10.

MEDA201 A1- Experimental Film Project

In the initial footage I used the repetition of the Australian flag to create a sense of rhythm in the film. I then increase the rhythm by speeding up the footage each time the footage repeats, still showing flashes of the flag, because I always like the idea of playing around with the speed or rhythm bring out a different emotion or feeling from the viewer. During the digital editing process of this assessment I also found my footage to be quite boring or dull if I just left it how it was, but through some research and experimentation I found some ways that I could mix it up. I decided to gradually increase the speed of the footage over time to make it more faster and more intense. I also started out with lighter imagery of the cricket, a child and landscapes then went into the footage of the soldiers to give a gloomier feel to the work and showing the desaturation and drawing with permanent marker in the film slowly progress also helped with that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NDFP7p2e9E

MEDA102 Digital Coding

For my project I was inspired by Martha Kull’s work “Sine Waves No II: Fringes”, I decided to create a more electric look because of the digital medium and I liked the hot and cold themes in the artwork. I also use a black background to make the waves more visible and striking. Each time the program is run the waves change form or pattern but also stay a consistent pattern at the centre of the window. I used random on the colours for red and blue on others to give the hot and cold theme. I wanted it to look simple yet mesmerising like some of Sol Lewitt’s works, with the wave details and overlapping. The final product is also more different because I dint want to fill the centre of the page with too many waves or make them too think it distracts you from the darker lines.

CODE:

float points=100; float inc; float noiseRes =0; float noiseInc=0.2; int waves=6; void setup(){ size (600,600);   background(0); //background black stroke(random(255),0,0); strokeWeight(1); noLoop(); noFill(); inc=width/points; } void draw(){   for (int y=0; y<waves; y++){ // forloop repeats waves 5 times    if (y<=2){ //if waves are less than or equal to 2..    stroke (random(255),0,0); // makes stokes different shade of red    } else{ //or make…       stroke (0,0,random(255)); // than make the colour random blue     }     beginShape();// makes the vertex lines connect  for(int x=0; x<points; x++){ // forloop repeats lines 100 times per wave      vertex(inc*x, height/2+  map( noise(noiseRes),0,1,-50,50 ) ); // x coordinates(6*x),y coordinates(300),

// noise between 0to1(width), -50to50(height)

 noiseRes += noiseInc; //Res=Res+Inc to make wave crooked/jagged

 }

  endShape(); // ends the series of lines

}

} 

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) On an A4 piece of paper find the centre of the page

2) From the centre of the page in pencil with a ruler draw 8 lines 5cm long in every direction connected at the centre of the page so it looks like a ‘+’ on an ‘x’

3) At the end of every second line of the 8 lines draw 6 more lines close together that are 1 cm shorter going towards the side of the page, the lines can’t go backwards

4) From the end of the 6 lines draw 4 more lines that are 1 cm shorter going towards the side of the page, the lines can overlap, the lines can’t go backwards

5) From the end of the 4 lines draw 2 more lines that are 1cm shorter going towards the side of the page, the lines can overlap, the lines can’t go backwards

6) Take a photo of the piece of paper

  The idea of the artwork came from me wondering how I would turn a snowflake into a set of instruction because I thought it might be challenging. So I researched to find some artist and I came across Wilson Bentley, one of the first photographers of snowflakes. I researched different instruction artist to get an idea of what to have or how to communicate my ideas, like Sol Lewitt, John Lennon and Yoko Ono. I liked the idea of snowflakes because they are pleasing to look at mostly because they are symmetrical and they each seem to have a pattern. I think that my instruction will work well however I don’t think that they would look exactly like a snowflake because the instructions have the more compacted or closer lines towards the edge of the paper whereas snowflakes seem to be more filled in the centre. I think that the form will change because I have instructed them to do it in pencil so the ‘snowflake’ will not be white. I think that overall the instructions worked because it doesn’t look awful or hurt the eyes however it is not exactly what I wanted to represent because of some of the reasons I’ve already stated. I think that if I wanted to full represent what I wanted to create then I should’ve used black paper with a white ink pen or get the participant to shade in the page with a pencil and use an eraser to do the lines. One of the artworks has continued the other lines on a different start in line and gone from every second from there but I don’t mind that because it mixes things up and is a different interpretation.

Meda101 Assessment 3

For Assessment 3 (Moving Image Project) I decided to do a mockumentary about my cat Harley. A mockumentary is a television programme or film which takes the form of a serious documentary in order to satirize its subject. In my mockumentary I used a mid-shot of me being interviewed about my cat and cut it to footage of the cat doing the opposite to what I was saying. For my research I viewed different mockumentary short films on YouTube as well as films such as What We Do in The Shadows, This Is Spinal Tap and Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. The mockumentary shows my home, both of my pets, what it’s like living with them day-to-day and how frustrating it can be from time to time.

https://youtu.be/zjifX2Sd7qw 

Assessment - Sound Project

For assessment 2 (sound project) I have captured and created different sounds that relate to my interpretation of Lyon’s poem “Where I’m from”. I have chosen to do a ‘day in the life’ and record all the noises that I hear often from my alarm to the crackle of a fire. I researched different composers such as Jonathan Wolff (TV composer) and John Williams (Film composer) and how they created different sounds using everyday objects.

https://youtu.be/FwUKkx0nxZY

Still Image (Remoscope) MEDA101

For my Still Image (Remoscope) project I read through Lyon’s poem and created my own version of the poem making it about the area I grew up in an the places surrounding it, like the bush because the environment surrounds my area, the local river and football oval and even Star Wars. I researched some remoscopes and visual poems to get an idea of what to do. Then I went around the area and looked for some places to film. I decided to do some wide establishing shots, low angle shots and ending it on a close up of my face.

REFERENCE LIST

Artist rooms, theme: cultural identity, http://www.tate.org.uk/artist-rooms/collection/themes/artist-rooms-theme-cultural-identity

‘authenticity’, The Oxford English Dictionary Online, https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/authenticity

‘Authenticity’, Theory’s of media, http://csmt.uchicago.edu/glossary2004/authenticity.htm

Barker, C 2007, ‘Issues of subjectivity and identity’, in Cultural studies: theory and practice, 3rd edn, Sage Publications, London

Defining creativity, the art and science of great ideas, http://definingcreativity.com/creative-by-influence/

 ‘essentailism’, The Oxford English Dictionary Online, https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/essentialism

‘knowledge’, The Oxford English Dictionary Online, https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/knowledge

Mansfield, N 2000, ‘Freud and the split subject’, in Subjectivity: theories of the self from Freud to Haraway, New York University Press, New York,

‘Overdetermination’, by mtholyoke, https://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/sgabriel/overdetermination.htm ‘unconscious’, The Oxford English Dictionary Online, https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/unconscious

Preziosi, Donald ‘The art of art history: a criticalanthology’

Representation and reality, Philosophical Interpretation: Sense-Perception and Sensory "Knowledge" Directed by F. Radovic, http://representationandreality.gu.se/research/sections/philosophical-interpretation-sense-perception-and-sensory-knowledge

State of the art, social identity, http://www.univie.ac.at/sittax/htm/social-ident.html

Thoughts on Life and Love, Blog on emotional well being and personal development, http://www.thoughtsonlifeandlove.com/fractured-identities/

Unconscious mind, by Saul McLeod, https://www.simplypsychology.org/unconscious-mind.html

Your creative identity, Scott Jeffrey, https://scottjeffrey.com/your-creative-identity/

SOCIAL IDENTITY

Social identity is how the world or society see us and the expectations and opinions that others have of us. Artists often explore the characteristics that determine our personal and social identity. They construct a sense of who we are as individuals, as a society, or as a nation. They question stereotypes and conventions while exploring attributes such as gender, sexuality, race, nationality and heritage. Our culture is informed by various forms of artistic and social endeavour such as technology, politics, style, music, performance and the arts.

‘[I]dentity operates as a set of resources which people draw upon in presenting and expressing themselves…and [is] performed to some extent through the alignments people make with different groups’ (Tagg & Seargeant 2016, p. 343).

‘Social identities…are associated with normative rights, obligations and sanctions…The use of standardized markers, especially to do with the bodily attributes of age and gender, is fundamental in all societies’ (Barker 2007, p. 221)

FRACTURED IDENTITY

To some degree, we all have fractured identities. The various roles that we are expected to fulfil enable us to pigeon hole parts of ourselves into overlapping identities. The French Philosopher Michael Foucault rejected the view of a person having an inner and ‘fixed’ identity. He identified the self as a continuing discourse in a shifting communication of oneself to others.

Identity provides us with a sense of belonging. Our families, our cultural backgrounds, where we live and the type of work we do all contribute to our sense of identity.

Fractured identity relates to "The subject previously experienced as having a unified and stable identity, is becoming fragmented; composed, not of a single, but of several, sometimes contradictory or unresolved, identities" (Hall 1996, p.598)

CREATIVE IDENTITY

Comes from the two words creative and identity. Creative meaning ‘relating to or involving the use of the imagination or original ideas to create something’ and identity meaning ‘the fact of being who or what a person or thing is’. A creative identity is your internal representation of how you see yourself, a composite of your imagination, resourcefulness and genius. Your creative identity can help determine future decisions and projects.

AUTHENTICITY

Authenticity comes from the quality of being authentic. Something is authentic when it is of undisputed origin and not a copy. Often additional information is required or questions must be asked and answered to determine authenticity. Authenticity affects value, meaning and interpretation, acceptance, and human reaction to objects. Questions of authenticity relate not only to aesthetics, but also to philosophy and politics. An example of authenticity can be a simple as making your own decisions rather than copying someone else.

Walter Benjamin once wrote that “the presence of the original is the prerequisite to the concept of authenticity” and “…the whole sphere of authenticity is outside technical …reproducibility.” 

CREATIVE INFLUENCE

Creative influence is the previous artworks that have effected or shaped your creative practice. They can be people, artworks or bands that you may resinate with or inspire to be like. You may find inspiration from just one thing, for example, Cobain in Fricke 1994, ‘I was trying to write the ultimate pop song. I was basically trying to rip off the pixies.’ However you may pull from lots of different things to create your art, example, Sticky Fingers 2013, ��Yeah we’ve definitely got a bunch of different genres bouncing around so I guess it’s hard to draw it down to one influence. I guess our main influences would be Pink Floyd, Gorillaz, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Cold Chisel, You Am I, The Chilli Peppers, but if I had to draw it down to one then I think I couldn’t get away without mentioning local Sydney reggae legends King Tide.”

SENSORY KNOWLEDGE

Sensory knowledge comes from the two words sensory and knowledge. Sensory meaning ‘Relating to sensation or the physical senses; transmitted or perceived by the senses’ and knowledge meaning ‘Facts, information, and skills acquired through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject’. Sensory knowledge is using our sensors to explore or gain an understanding of different art forms. It allows us to us our 5 senses to interoperate different works as well as create a further connection.   

OVERDETERMINATION

Overdetermination is when things are over analysed and that a concept that a single emotion symptom of event, as a dream or a slip of the tongue, may be caused by more than one factor. Freud rejected reductionist views of human behaviour and consciousness. He saw human consciousness as complexly shaped by every experience, even those not remembered. Freud stated "there are no limits to the determinants that may be present" An example of overdetermination is when Bob Dylan was constantly being asked in an interview why he decided to wear a specific shirt for his album cover.

'Freudian theory... [argues] that all psychological (and, by corollary, cultural) material is overdetermined. This means that even the most trivial behaviours...are the focus and expression of the most plural and deep psychological complexity’ (Mansfield 2000, p. 29)

UNCONSCIOUS

Freud divided the mind into the conscious mind and the     unconscious mind. The unconscious is the part of the mind, which is inaccessible to the conscious mind but which affects behavior and emotions. The three common pathways to the unconscious are Dreams, parapraxes and jokes. These three pathways are often indicators of what’s on a person’s mind.

Example of unconscious behaviour can be mannerisms, shaking of the legs while sitting, biting your fingers, playing, with your pen while listening to your teacher’s discussion, etc.

The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud. “The virtuous man contents himself with dreaming that which the wicked man does in actual life.” ... “The dream is the liberation of the spirit from the pressure of external nature, a detachment of the soul from the fetters of matter.”