The animation is about to enter user testing/feedback. Where I will ask a few people to jot down times in the animation where it is either too flashy, repetitive, dull etc. So that I can polish it in editing before publishing it digitally.
I enjoy the cyclical process of work never being in one state or static. That it reinvents itself. That it is breathing out of its binary state (digital format) into a light state (projection) before returning to its binary state. Evolving and picking up mass as it journeys through these states. Like a sound recording on magnetic tape, that picks up ambient noise. This process of manifesting adds qualities and textures to the recaptured, re-encoded work. Whilst also shedding some of itself in the process. Leaving those behind in the ephemeral transaction as it passes though.
Time permitting I would have projected and filmed it again.
Tutorial: I had a good tutorial, discussing elements of the project that had not worked as intended. Mainly the participation aspects. For the second project. I will be working harder on guidelines and information to possible participants and the communications around my projects in general. Whilst also looking critically at how other artists, galleries and exhibitions are promoting. I also need to consider the information within the space, for viewers. My current “think for yourself” strategy, is detracting from the wider purpose and needs to be reformed.
Consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate users in the Sprawl – Neuromancer – William Gibson
I feel positive about what I am doing so far. The seminars about curation have pushed me into a new set of themes. I am reading Neuromancer – William Gibson and my research is looking at texts that deal with cyber space. The vocabulary and imagery is appealing. There are clear parallels with the concerns of power, media and value (commodity/product/function). With these contemporary texts and the older texts (Marx, Debord) that I am pursuing as part of my dissertation.
They are becoming comforting veins of thought as I look to extend my practice into new spheres and themes.
Mental Installation
I recently created a project open to Arts & Humanities students booking space in the installation rooms for a week of installations.
The setup and green light of the project went smoothly, receiving good feedback from tutor’s. I advertised the project through word of mouth and posters around the Arts & Humanities building.
The project was entitled Mental Installation. Which coined a phrase regarding a description of thought. Or what a single thought might be represented as. The brief was to create a short lived installation. This would be replaced by the next person and so on.
For my part of the installation. I had the idea of a thought as a psychic object. Actions that are resultant are manifestations of those thoughts.
In the end what communicates most is a very simple message. Yoko Ono (In conversation with Rirkrit Tiravanija) 2009.
The manifestations I wanted to represent were distilled ideas of the preoccupations that I have had whilst undertaking my degree.
The hammock form is something I find interesting due to their floating property and the qualities they have for the user. The rose petals were fresh and scented the white space.
On the wall adjacent to the hammock I printed out an excerpt of Swift code that defined a function to breathe and then executed the code in a loop that had an undefined variable.
For the last object in the installation. I used a helium balloon on a wire loop, with a small flag with the hashtag uos_finite handwritten on it. As the helium in the balloon dissipated it raised the flag. Anyone who looked up the #uos_finite on Twitter would have discovered it corresponded to quotes from luminous figures on the topic of world peace. Posted throughout the course of the installation (dissipation of the helium).
I took various long exposure images of the balloon as the helium dissipated. These will be used in an animation piece.
In the second part of this analysis. I would like to review any feedback and reflect on the experience.
I am currently looking to develop a larger scale project. Involving more people. I have a lot to think about before I embark on this. As well as completing the animation piece that is connected to this work.
