KALEIDOSCOPE

COMPLETE

2009-05-25T17:03:00.000-07:00

I have now completed my film, and it is currently rendering. I will then burn it to DVD with no menu and loop it, so as it plays automatically when inserted. I will be in Japan on Saturday the 30th of May, so I will be unable to set up my work, but will hand it over to Nancy with my artist statement.

SPEECH BUBBLES

2009-05-19T18:52:00.000-07:00

I found this interesting piece of footage on youtube, and feel that it relates to my film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwQymdXiZ44

William Kentridge also uses stop motion, although in a different way to what I am creating. His 'Automatic Writing' features lines drawn and then rubbed out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmvK7A84dlk

JAMES JEAN

2009-05-14T23:09:00.000-07:00

James Jean's "Crayon Eater"

WOLF AND PIG

2009-05-14T23:06:00.000-07:00

Aaron showed me a really rad video that uses stop motion. A narrative was photographed, and then the 1,300 photographs were printed out and photographed again.

See it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmkLlVzUBn4

THE RED ROOM

2009-05-12T19:07:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure David Lynch's red room from Twin Peaks (1990) is the best thing I have ever seen in my life. The actors learned their lines phonetically backwards and then the footage was played in reverse. I don't want to ruin anybody's life here, so please only watch this if you've seen the entire series. I would probably have been dead for three years if someone showed this to me before I'd seen it all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9HN4zSriDs

ESREVER

2009-05-12T18:54:00.001-07:00

Today I completed the sequencing of my scenes, and made sure they linked together adequately. I am really happy with the way the constructed flash worked out, it's kind of ghetto but I think that adds to the charm and also links well with the beginning and ending. Now all that is left to do is add the audio, and then alter the length of the visuals so that they fit together well. Seeing as the final product will be a loop, and given that the song I am using has reversed parts in it, I am thinking that it would be interesting to then reverse the song to create a larger looped piece. Therefore, the song would play once, as would the film, and then once the visuals beginning looping, the song would play backwards until the film again comes to an end. I could then copy and paste this, resulting in the song forwards, then backwards, then forwards, then backwards, etc, each with the same visuals.

Seeing as I still have a few weeks to complete this, I might then experiment with distorting the visuals the more the song repeats. For example, changing the order of scenes or repeating certain parts. This alludes to some form of echo, and also relates to attitudes, and as a microcosm words and quotations being changed over time.

PROGRESS

2009-05-12T00:10:00.000-07:00

In order to construct a coherent narrative within my stop-motion film, I have been splitting and grouping series of photos to make scenes. Using Preview to gauge changes, I then create folders and subfolders, placing the appropriate images in each. Oftentimes it is neccessary for me to rename each of the files so as they are shown in the reverse order, and consequently, are played in reverse in Quicktime. Once I have selected "open image sequence" in Quicktime and exported it as a short movie, I drag each scene into Premier Pro, adjust the speed and duration and link it to the scene prior. The majority of the film is 75% of the original speed, but the constructed camera flashes made from images of sparklers are shown at 100%, and images of me holding different cameras are shown at 50% of the original speed. It wasn't until about half-way through the making of my video that I learned how to reverse clips in Premier Pro, which saved me a great deal of time in manually renaming them pre-rendering.

I have included a short clip or scene, which features me holding a cardboard heart which is on fire. This scene is made from over 50 photographs, and will be played at 75% of this speed in the film.

STANLEY DONWOOD

2009-05-11T23:01:00.000-07:00

I enjoy the work of British artist Stanley Donwood, particularly his collaborations with Radiohead. Donwood has designed the majority of the band's album and poster art. As well as working on Radiohead art and promotional material, Donwood runs his website called Slowly Downward. In 2002 Donwood and Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke won a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package for the Special Edition of the album Amnesiac. Donwood's writings have also been used in his Radiohead album artwork and appear frequently on Radiohead's official website. Within his work, Donwood explores and questions society, sexuality, war, conformity and politics.

One of my favourite pieces of Radiohead album art is the cover of Hail to the Theif (2003), in which Donwood has created maps of war torn cities such as Kabul and Grozny out of brightly coloured blocks with politically charged words or phrases. I also really like the artwork from Kid A(2000). The third image I have chosen to include in this blog post is called Residential Nemesis (1999) and is a part of the Kid A album art.

STORYBOARD

2009-05-11T21:23:00.000-07:00

This is a scan of my initial storyboard for my independent project.

KIREI DESU

2009-05-06T01:20:00.000-07:00

I am still unsure what to title this piece. At the moment, given that I will be travelling to Japan in three weeks, I am thinking of calling it "Kirei Desu", which is Japanese for "you're beautiful", or "it's beautiful". I made this picture of my boyfriend today:

LIKE SPINNING PLATES

2009-05-05T21:43:00.000-07:00

I have decided upon using "Like Spinning Plates" by Radiohead from Amesiac (2001) as the musical accompaniment to my film. Not only is it one of my favourite songs, it fits extremely well with my imagery and the style of the film as there will be a number of reverse scenes.

"Like Spinning Plates" is built over the reversed backing track of an electronic version of "I Will", which Radiohead later released in a much different from on Hail to the Thief (2003). Says Thom Yorke, "We'd turned the tape (of "I Will") around, and I was in another room, heard the vocal melody coming backwards, and thought, 'That's miles better than the right way round', then spent the rest of the night trying to learn the melody." He sung the backwards melody. It was recorded forwards, and then listened to backwards, with Yorke doing the phrasing so as to create backwards sounding words, but it's sung forwards.

The lyrics are as follows; "while you make pretty speeches / I'm being cut to shreds / you feed me to the lions / a delicate balance / and this just feels like spinning plates / I'm living in cloud cuckoo land / and this just feels like spinning plates / our bodies floating down the muddy river."

"Like Spinning Plates" can be heard here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQBDsNiCCNM

MUSIC

2009-05-05T20:49:00.000-07:00

My boyfriend (and co-star of my film) and I spent five hours shooting series of photographs for my project. We decided on plain black longsleeved clothing to emphasize the white masks and props. After viewing the photographs consecutively in iPhoto, I have a basic idea of how the film will look as it animated them slightly. I also enjoyed how the test photographs and the real ones merged together when I was flipping through them, and I may make two videos; one edited as I originally intended, and one with every picture in together as I feel that this would mirror the jerky, broken movements of stop motion, and it would be an interesting way of using repetition without using the same footage.

I have also been thinking about music for the piece. At the moment I am considering "The Pink Room" by Angelo Badalamenti, from the David Lynch film "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me" (1992). Also "David Bowie I Love You (Since I Was Six) by the Brian Jonestown Massacre, "2:45AM" by Elliott Smith, or a cover version of Visage's "Fade to Grey" by Nouvelle Vague.

TEST

2009-05-04T21:04:00.000-07:00

Upon advice from Bill and Aaron, I have decided against using After Effects to edit my stop-motion film. I will be instead using both Quicktime and Premier Pro. I have created a short experimental piece in Quicktime, included below, to get the feel of timing, etc.

STOP MOTION EXAMPLES

2009-05-04T18:12:00.000-07:00

My film will be made from a number of still images pieced together, and will therefore resemble old silent films, in which the speed was variable due to it being hand-cranked. Another work that uses this method is one of my favourite music videos, "Thirty-Three" by Smashing Pumpkins, directed by Billy Corgan and Yelena Yemchuk. It can be viewed here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc9ZbS4KMdg

Another music video I enjoy which employs the use of stop-motion is "The Hardest Button to Button" by The White Stripes, which can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLESpHrtvxs

One piece I found very interesting was this video by Lasse Gjertsen, found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzqumbhfxRo

MANUAL SETTINGS

2009-05-04T17:52:00.000-07:00

Today I experimented with the manual settings on two digital cameras at my disposal, particularly the black and white option, manual contrast settings and rapid shoot or "burst" functions. I took a series panning around the living room, watching my digital clock change the time, and also used a number of the letters I printed and experimented with sticking them on a surface. Although I enjoyed the look of my hands being an active part of the process, in the final film, I will not be including them. The text will appear as if by itself.

Experimenting with the rapid shoot function using black and white (images one - five). Experimenting with adjusting the ISO (images six - seven).

TEXT

2009-05-04T17:38:00.000-07:00

I have been unsuccessful in my attempts to acquire a Nixon mask for use in my video, as the online stores I searched were out of stock. This was perhaps a blessing in disguise, as after further consideration, the presence of a Nixon mask may appear arcane on the surface, and may distract from what the work is about. After trying a number of stores around the city, I have settled for a plain white expressionless mask, which will tie in with the white cardboard props. Additionally, it links with my concept in that it offers no identity, therefore emphasizing the fact that everything good as already been said and that we are just regurgitating ideas.

Today I designed the letters for the cardboard speech bubbles. I chose my favourite font, Helvetica as it is clear and generic, and will thus allow a focus on the words. I placed a number of individual letters in Photoshop on a new document that was 4x6 inches, and printed them at a photo developing store (my friend gives me free prints). This was done so that they were of good quality, featured rich blacks, and were also of adequate thickness. Here is an example of one of the twenty-five I created.

UNTITLED

2009-05-04T17:25:00.001-07:00

My as of yet untitled film opens with a shot of a sparkler burning, which I envision will take up the entire screen. This will pan backwards and reveal a masked figure holding the sparkler in one hand until it burns out. The figure will then exit the shot, only to appear holding a camera. Once a picture has been taken, and the flash recycled, the figure is replaced by another masked figure in his place, also holding the camera. This is placed below the frame, and a different camera is produced. The scene follows as the last one did, again once the flash is gone, the figure is replaced by the first one. Again, they exit the scene. Returning with a piece of white card, representing a speech bubble, the letters are placed on at intervals. The words used will be "you set my heart on fire", which are lyrics from a song by Jens Lekman titled "Pocket Full of Money". Another white cardboard creation will be the shape of a heart, which proceeds to be set on fire. Due to the stop-motion nature of the film, this will appear from thin air. I am unsure of the order of further scenes, but a white cardboard ray-gun will be included, and the final scene will feature the second figure holding a sparkler in the same manner as the opening scene, and this will zoom to a close up shot, thus creating a loop.

I will attempt to order a Richard Nixon mask from the internet, as although the film has no literal connection to him, the mask remains a symbol of popular culture, and is also quite eerie.

INDEPENDENT PROJECT CONCEPTS

2009-05-04T16:12:00.000-07:00

I have had a number of ideas in regard to my Independent Project. Initially, I found this freedom in regard to style, subject matter and format a little overwhelming. However, once I came up with a basic concept, they tended to develop with ease. In keeping with the general themes I have explored in my previous projects for this class; popular culture, dream-states, nostalgia, re-appropriation, re-contextualizing, and repetition.

My first idea was to design a two-dimensional poster, featuring the same photograph taken with different media, and thus creating alternative readings. For example, an image of a sparkler taken with a polaroid camera, an analogue camera with black and white film, an analogue camera with colour film, a digital camera in both black and white and colour and a still from a video camera. I would then scan these and place them in Photoshop and create a pattern. This deals with the aforementioned notions of nostalgia and repetition. I wished to capture the border of the negative casing of the analogue images, in order to further distinguish them from the digital prints. I would allow the image taken from the video camera to be somewhat blurred, so as it effectively highlights the motion typical of that format. Although this concept interests me, I wished to further develop my digital imaging skills, and felt that this could be done by experimenting with film.

Therefore, my second idea was to create a stop motion film, again dealing with the notion of nostalgia. I had planned to create a series of digital photographs, perhaps an imagined narrative, perhaps based on my past (by photographing old childhood photographs and contrusting memories), which would then be viewed within the frame of a polaroid picture, as though it was merging from photograph to photograph. This would be done by highlighting the middle of a blank polaroid I took which didn't develop. I would then adjust the opacity and simply place the other image behind it, then animating it in Adobe After Effects. I wish to explore this option, however, outside of class time as I feel my third proposal is the strongest both visually and conceptually.

My final concept deals with referencing in much the same way as my Narrative Project does. As with this previous assignment, I will be using quotations from song lyrics to illustrate the point that everything has already been said. The project will be a stop-motion film in black and white, which follows a narrative, yet also loops and is able to be played endlessly. It features a degree of iconography common in my work such as cameras, sparklers, rayguns and hearts, which all relate to personal connections, as well as popular culture. I have constructed a crude storyboard, which I will endeavour to scan in at a later date.

INDEPENDENT PROJECT

2009-04-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

For this project you will be given the freedom to develop an image project on a theme and in a format of your own choosing. You will be required to give a class presentation of about 5 minutes that outlines your project concept and how you intend to resolve it formally. The project may take a variety of forms, including 2D prints, 3D objects, artist book, screen based work or some other digital output. You may stick to black and white imagery or you can incorporate colour. The appropriate output of your work will be discussed with the class when you give your presentation and at individual consultations with your lecturer.

I completed my Narrative Project during the Easter break. Despite printing problems, this was resolved early on. I am pleased with my project, as I feel that I went in a different direction, yet still addressed the criteria of a narrative.

THE QUOTE GENERATOR

2009-04-07T19:04:00.001-07:00

In regards to my narrative project, I wish to reference the work of Danielle Freakley or "The Quote Generator", as I feel there is a link between her project and the dialogue I will be using in my assignment. Freakley converses only in quotations throughout her daily life. She reads aloud the quote in its ordinary speaking voice, not in character. The quote is always followed by a spoken reference. All quotes must be referenced. She is currently in phase one; in which quotes are via commercial products whose authors are people the she does not know, for example, quotes from films, books, advertisements, lyrics, etc. The duration of phases one is one and a half years. Phases two is quotes from people she has interacted with directly; family, friends, lecturers, etc. This will be continued for one year. Phase three allows her to speak using original quotations from herself as first person in the past. The quotes must be at least one month or older. This will be conducted for six months.

The quotes chosen must be congruent with the Quote Generator’s genuine personal tastes, and feelings. The database is updated on an ongoing basis. The Quote Generator does not choose phrases at random, and responds to her context like any regular human being in conversation.

Included below is the Quote Generator Manifesto.

"The Quote Generator pays homage to the people who have gone before and said it the way it wishes it could. The Quote Generator is a verbal mimicry product of it’s people and culture. The Quote Generator lets their hot and cold and banal shit out of its mouth. The Quote Generator is absorption of unoriginality. The Quote Generator is a regurgitation library to live by. The Quote Generator is a semiotic experiment and a performance art project. Language is already stolen, we already quote all the time. The Quote Generator is a concentrated overdramatised version of a very natural process of repetition and assimilating information. The Quote Generator steals some of the best and worst, offensive, polite, prosaic, practical and pointless lines – whatever it deems worthy to steal for use of its own voice. The Quote Generator reads, and researches as it speaks. The Quote Generator is both the reader and composer/editor. The Quote Generator is not an actor spouting lines on a stage. The Quote Generator assimilates others lines into everyday social life. The Quote Generator is another language: the language of the pseudo. The Quote Generator pseudo speaks through social life. The Quote Generator was cultivated from the revulsion of small talk = the predetermined entrées in conversation. The Quote Generator attempts to resolve/pervert those insecure, anxious, not knowing what to say moments, perhaps feeling as though you’re not smart enough, or funny enough or enough enough in conversation. The Quote Generator engages with the points in your life where you have a strange feeling as though you are in a B grade film. The Quote Generator resembles a Borg like creature, it assimilates and it is a collective voice. The Quote Generator is a response to our heavily parasitic nature towards our influences, conscious or unconscious. The Quote Generator reminds you of the time you saw them speak, they had everyone in stitches with laughter but when you said the exact same phrase, no one laughed. The Quote Generator is an artificial intelligence. The Quote Generator asks you what percentage of your speech is habit, vomit and spiel. The Quote Generator is vomit until you are what you eat, the books you read, the music you listen to, the films you watch, the people you talk to."

The Quote Generator on Andrew Denton's "Enough Rope"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsrGvwXsenE

BEN FROST

2009-04-07T18:25:00.001-07:00

Australian artist Ben Frost is well known for his controversial and confronting paintings. The artist uses a collage style of juxtapositioning on his complex and dynamic Pop Art pieces. In using mash-ups of popular culture iconography and personalities, his work critiques our media and advertising obsessed society. Frost is subverting these elements and re-contextualising them.

Free - While They Last (2007) / Disruption (2005) / The Curse (2007)

ARTIST PRESENTATIONS

2009-04-06T23:22:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed the class artist presentations today, particularly those addressing Sir Peter Blake and Ben Frost.

Sir Peter Thomas Blake is an English pop artist, who designed one of the most recognised and icon pieces of collage art, the sleeve for The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. This work has subsequently been referenced and imitated often. The means of production was the construction of a set with cut-out photographs and objects such as flowers centred around a drum with the title of the album. Interestingly, Blake recieved only a one-off fee of £200 for the design with no subsequent royalties. Blake collaborated with his wife on this cover collage, known as "People We Like"

According to Blake, the original concept was to create a scene that showed the Sgt. Pepper band performing in a park; this gradually evolved into its final form, which shows the Beatles, as the Sgt. Pepper band, surrounded by a large group of their heroes, rendered as lifesized cut-out figures. Also included were wax-work figures of the Beatles as they appeared in the early '60s, borrowed from Madame Tussauds. The wax figures appear to be looking down on the word "Beatles" spelled out in flowers as if it were a grave, and it has been speculated that this symbolises that the innocent mop-tops of yesteryear were now dead and gone. At their feet were several affectations from the Beatles' homes including small statues belonging to Lennon and Harrison, a small portable TV set and a trophy. A young delivery boy who provided the flowers for the photo session was allowed to contribute a guitar made of yellow hyacinths. Also included is a Shirley Temple doll wearing a sweater in homage to the Rolling Stones (who would return the tribute by having the Beatles hidden in the cover of their own Their Satanic Majestie's Request LP later that year).

The collage depicted more than seventy famous people, including writers, musicians, film stars and (at Harrison's request) a number of Indian gurus. The final grouping included Bob Dylan, Marilyn Monroe, Aldous Huxley, Sigmund Freud, Edgar Allen Poe, Karl Marx, Oscar Wilde and Marlon Brando. I particularly enjoy Blake's piece Tattooed Lady (1961)

ALEXANDER RODCHENKO

2009-04-06T23:03:00.000-07:00

Alexander Rodchenko was a Russian artist, photographer, graphic designer and sculptor who was one of the founders of Constructivism and Russian design. Originally working as a painter and graphic designer, Rodchenko was one of the most versatile Constructivist and Productivist artists to emerge after the Russian Revolution. Gradually, his work became based more heavily in photomontage and photography, with the latter being socially engaged, formally innovative and opposed to a painterly aesthetic.

Rodchenko used photo montage to create powerful images that would be used for propaganda for the USSR.

I particularly enjoy this Constructivist poster, which can be likened to architecture in that it is highly symmetrical and equal in structure. The bold, graphic typography and selective imagery work extremely well together.

ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG

2009-04-06T22:53:00.000-07:00

This piece by Robert Rauschenberg is titled "Retroactive 1".

GEORGE GROSZ

2009-04-01T19:47:00.001-07:00

Upon my research regarding Raoul Hausmann for my artist presentation, I re-discovered the image "Republican Automatons" (1920), by Hausmann's contemporary George Grosz. Grosz was another founding member of the Berlin Dada, and interestingly, his name appeared stamped on the body of the central figure in Hausmann's "The Art Critic". Grosz employs the tools of caricature and satire within his works, targetting mainly industrialist, military officers and clergymen. The artist was an uncomprimising opponent of miliarism and National Socialism, and became one of the first German artists to attack Adolf Hitler within his works. Not surprisingly, Grosz emigrated to the United States of America in 1932, becoming a citizen in 1938.

This painting depicts Grosz's view of modern man as a machine, most notably reflected by the faceless figures, missing limbs and attributes which identify them as human, waving the German flag with devotion regardless.

TATLIN AT HOME

2009-04-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

Raoul Hausmann

Tatlin at Home (1920)

RICHARD HAMILTON

2009-03-31T22:16:00.000-07:00

I really like the work of English painter and collage artist Richard Hamilton. I first discovered his work when reading about one of my favourite albums, the Beatles' 1968 self-titled release, colloquially refered to as The White Album. Hamilton was involved with various members of the 1960s Pop Music scene, and it was his friendship with Paul McCartney which led him to design the cover art. The work consists of a plain white sleeve, with the band's name discreetly embossed and right-alligned. The original record covers (early LP and CD releases) also featured a unique stamped serial number, which highlighted, according to Hamilton "the ironic situation of a numbered edition of something like five million copies".

I particularly enjoy Hamiliton's piece "Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?" which was created in 1956 for the catalogue of the This Is Tomorrow exhibition in London, in which it was reproduced in black and white. The image was additionally used in posters for the exhibit. The collage consists of a number of images sourced from American magazines. The principle template is taken from the Ladies Home Journal for Amstrong Floors, and demonstrates a modern sitting room. The title of the work is taken from copy in the advert, which states "Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing? Open planning of course - and a bold use of colour".

Hamiliton has subsequently reworked the composition and subject matter of the Pop Art collage, most notably in 1992 with an alternate version featuring a female bodybuilder.

PROCESS

2009-03-30T23:11:00.000-07:00

I have included a series of screenshots detailing my work process. Click the images to enlarge them. After transforming the image from it's original sepia tone to black and white, by going Image > Adjustments > Desaturate, I then explored the filter options in Filter. Additionally, I cropped the photograph greatly, ensuring only the mouth, neck and shoulders were visible.

I selected a half-tone pattern (the pattern type I chose was "line"), as I find the texture to be visually appealing. It reminds me of newspaper print, and creates a link between the image and the text. This pattern was also useful in concealing the pixelation of the images, as I had to enlarge them quite a bit to fit within my 4x4 inch box (at a resolution of 300).

I then adjusted the contrast of the piece by clicking Image > Adjustments > Brightness / Contrast.

Using the Freeform Pen Tool, I traced around the mouth of the man.

I then right-clicked and selected the Layer Via Copy option, which placed a copy of what I had cut-out onto another layer. This enables me to put it above the text layer I am going to create, giving the appearance of words coming out of the mouth.

Again using the Freeform Pen Tool, on another layer I traced out a rough attempt at a swirly shape. I selected the text tool, and after chosing Times New Roman as my font, I clicked at a point along the line I had drawn with the Pen Tool. Prior to this, I ensured that the "paths" icon was checked. Once it was clear that the text would follow the path, I typed in various letters as an experiment. In the Character box I altered tracking, the kerning and the leading of the text.

I traced a few more text paths and changed the colours, but found the result too messy.

Taking a different approach, I simply copy-pasted the first section of text into a text box, centred it, and again played with the leading, kerning and tracking. Whilst I liked this effect, I found it too rigid.

I also experimented with using individual letters at different sizes and moving them manually around the image.

Although I liked this effect, I continued to experiment with the Freeform Pen Tool and Paths. Rather than creating shapes for the text to follow, I decided upon roughly drawn lines.

After double-clicking on the text layer, I put a one pixel black stroke around each letter to make it more pronounced. I was thinking of also putting a half-tone line pattern on the text that would match up with the lines on the image, but felt that a flat colour looked better.

I have since put a drop-shadow on the text instead, as I think it relates to the aesthetic of the images and that era.

PORTRAIT

2009-03-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of stock photos that I scanned into the computer from the catalogue that I will be using portions of. I will be converting these to monochromatic images as per the project criteria.

DIALOGUE

2009-03-30T21:31:00.000-07:00

My boyfriend brought me home a Vintage Superstock catalogue which contains images from the International Photo Library that are perfect for my narrative project. In particular, there is an "office" section, which features many portraits of business men and office workers from the 1950s. Given the amount of material I now have at my disposal I have decided to include a number of different figures, each given an individual panel. The text spoken by one will link directly with the utterance both before and after.

I have allied the quotations so as they form some sort of dialogue. Initially, I isolated each piece of text that refered to a "she", and coupled these together, forming an association with a singular woman. The general picture I am attempting to convey in this imagined conversation is of excess. The quotation from The Wizard of Oz "why, my little party's just beginning" is used, as in the film, ironically, especially when linked with the lyric "here's to the atom bomb". The scene has been constructed to express a recklessness and outrageousness of a world gone mad and an altered state of mind, and can be likened to a dystopia. This will be juxtaposed with the conventional appearences of the 1950s photographs. As well as being a broken conversation, the vomitting out of the words symbolises repetition, regurgitation and reference.

The script for my images is as follows:

This just feels like spinning plates / cheap sex and sad films help me get back where I belong / why, my little party's just beginning / here's to the atom bomb / there was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt / that's rockin' good news / I know a secret or two about Goo / I feel like I know her, but sometimes my arms bend back / she says she would love to come help, but the sea would electrocute us all / I was half in love with her by the time we sat down / hey baby, let's you and me get weird / I'll have to send you a love letter. Straight from my heart, fucker! / Off with her head! / It's really too bad that so much crumby stuff is a lot of fun sometimes / I've never seen them eat, all I've seen them do is drink liquor and snort drugs / this would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence / this whole world's wild at heart and weird on top.

Reading over this, I feel that it comes across as an animated recount or re-telling of various events. I tried to link together the aggressive and violent sounding quotations and place them in the middle of the text, resulting in a climax which then gives way to a reflective stance.

CROP SHOP

2009-03-30T21:17:00.000-07:00

Rather than using an image of a man, I have decided that aesthetically, the piece would work better if I dramatically cropped this to just the mouth, neck and shoulders. Ideally, I would like to find an image or multiple images of men in suits. I feel that this would also work well conceptually, as it reduces distractions and focusses solely on the essential.

WORDS

2009-03-30T20:26:00.000-07:00

I have chosen a melange of lyrics and quotations for use in my narrative project. I will have to organise them so as they develop a suitable flow. They are as follows;

"I was half in love with her by the time we sat down"
The Catcher in the Rye (1951) by J.D Salinger

"It's really too bad that so much crumby stuff is a lot of fun sometimes"
The Catcher in the Rye (1951) by J.D Salinger

"I've never seen them eat. All I've seen them do is drink liquor and snort drugs"
Courtney Taylor-Taylor on The Brian Jonestown Massacre from the documentary Dig! (2004)

"That's rockin' good news"
Wild at Heart (1990) directed by David Lynch

"This whole world's wild at heart and weird on top"
Wild at Heart (1990) directed by David Lynch

"I feel like I know her, but sometimes my arms bend back"
Twins Peaks (1990) directed by David Lynch

"I'll have to send you a love letter. Straight from my heart, fucker!"
Blue Velvet (1986) directed by David Lynch

"Off with her head!"
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) by Lewis Carroll

"I know a secret or two about Goo"
My Friend Goo by Sonic Youth from the album Goo (1990)

"Hey baby, let's you and me get weird!"
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971) by Hunter S. Thompson

"There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt"
Pyramid Song by Radiohead from the album Amnesiac (2001)

"This just feels like spinning plates"
Like Spinning Plates by Radiohead from the album Amnesiac (2001)

"She says she would love to come help, but the sea would electrocute us all"
Nice Dream by Radiohead from the album The Bends (1995)

"Cheap sex and sad films help me get back where I belong"
Motion Picture Soundtrack by Radiohead from the album Kid A (200)

"Here's to the atom bomb"
Here's to the Atom Bomb by Smashing Pumpkins from the album Machina II (2000)

"This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence"
A Clockwork Orange (1962) by Anthony Burgess

"Why, my little party's just beginning"
The Wizard of Oz (1939) directed by Victor Fleming

NARRATIVE

2009-03-30T16:30:00.000-07:00

FSE120 Introduction to Digital Imaging: Unit Outline Semester 01/2009
Narrative Project;
In addition to collage, a sense of narrative can be created by working in series or multiples. For this project you will be required to construct a series of black and white images, three minimum, that express a thematic narrative of your own choosing. You will need to consider how best to present your images to convey your ideas. This may include a horizontal format that is read from left to right, a vertical format that is read top to bottom, a grid format, an erratic composition, or a book format.
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I have had a number of ideas regarding my narrative project. The first related to a series of digital photographs I took on the sixth of March. The images worked very well in sequence and followed a narrative, however, I did not really see where I could take them in terms of manipulation. Thus, I abandoned this idea early on.

I also had the thought that I could take a series of photographs of a figure holding up something plain, like a piece of blank paper or cardboard, and then digitally manipulating what was on them. For example, the figure could hold it over their eyes, and I could superimpose somebody else's eyes over the top.

The third idea was to include the lyrics to a song, in order to tie images that perhaps otherwise wouldn't be considered a narrative. However, I found this to be somewhat cliche and literal, and wished to diverge from this concept but still include lyrics within my piece.

The idea that I am currently experimenting with is similiar to the aforementioned concept in that it employs the use of lyrics. But whereas previously, I had thought of using one song, and designating a panel to this subject matter, I am now working in a more ambiguous manner. Using a variety of my favourite song lyrics and quotations from books and film, I will be splicing them together to form a broken narrative, one which hints at cohesion, yet fails to acheive it correctly when considered grammatically and in terms of a dialogue. Additionally, as opposed to matching the imagery with the text, I have resolved to use either the same picture (of a man vomitting these words out), or of different men each doing the same. This relates to a theme of regurgitation of knowledge, repetition and popular culture influence.

I wish to present my work in a grid format, using squares approximately 4x4 inches. I am to present at least nine individual images which will make up the single grid.

GEOFF PARR: STORYLINES

2009-03-26T19:55:00.000-07:00

Geoff Parr's exhibition "Storylines", held at the Criterion Gallery featured thirteen pieces of photographic and digital montage, each delicate and sensual in nature. By juxtaposing sharp images of exotic locations with manipulated and textured images of the body, the works offer a fragmented composition. In my opinion, this technique results in a contridictionary experience; both soothing and unsettling. I felt that the materials used (Archival Digital Print on Rag Paper), furthered and continued the delicate aesthetic of the images. The work above is titled Martha in the Garden (2008), and the work below is titled As One (2008)

FEAR AND LOATHING

2009-03-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

Ralph Steadman

ABCD

2009-03-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

Raoul Hausmann (1886 - 1971) was an Austrian artist and writer. Moving to Berlin in 1901, he soon became one of the key figures in the Dada Movement. His experimental photographic collages, sound poetry and institutional critiques influenced the European Avant-Garde greatly in the aftermath of World War I. In 1918, whilst holidaying on the Baltic Sea, Hausmann was inspired by a picture in a guest room. The patron had glued photographic heads of his son onto a generic portrait of five soldiers. Hausmann, speaking in 1958 states that "It was like a thunderbolt; one could - I saw it instantaneously - make pictures, assembled entirely from cut-up photographs. Back in Berlin that September, I began to realise this new vision, and I made use of photographs from the press and the cinema."

This "photomontage" subsequently became the technique most associated with Berlin Dada, and was used extensively by Hausmann himself, as well as his contemporaries Hoch, Heartfield, Baader and Grosz. Additionally, he became a crucial influence on Kurt Schwitters, El Lissitsky and Russian Constructivism.

ABCD (1923-1924)

FINAL

2009-03-24T17:53:00.000-07:00

Manual collage: (Click to enlarge)

Digital collage: (Click to enlarge)

PROCESS

2009-03-23T23:56:00.000-07:00

In commencing work on my digital collage visually representing a chemically induced dream-state, I initially isolated the head of the central figure. I placed this onto a seperate layer, so as I could edit it to suit the needs of the images it would be replacing. I used the Magnetic Lasso Tool and the Eraser Tool in order to smoothly detach it from it's surroundings, as shown below. This also meant that I could reverse and rotate the head for use on the two upside down children in the top left corner.

I then worked on creating the background. This was done by selecting areas already noted within the work, for example, the grey background within the TV set on the bottom right-hand corner, the "BANG BANG" coming from the heart/lips, some skin on the repeated face, and the lips forming the heart. These little squares were enlarged (simply by pressing Ctrl+T and then holding the shift key and dragging) to exaggerate and demonstrate their texture. I changed each to grey-scale (Image > Adjustments > Desaturate) to make them homogenous in nature. I then placed each layer behind the main layer, and used the Eraser Tool to erase the white of the background. This resulted in the images showing through. This is demonstrated below:

I then selected and isolated the heart from the slogan "I Heart 90s" and used the paint bucket to transform the colour from white to red. This was done to comply with the overall colour scheme, and also a subtle reference to The Red Queen and the White Queen from Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There" (1871). I lined up a series of bullet-like hearts from the gun-head to the central figure's arm. Additionally, I incorporated the image of the heart into the "WILD AT HEART" text, providing another link. Finally, in an attempt to highlight the central figure, I selected it and went to Edit > Stroke and placed a black outline around it, as demonstated below:

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

2009-03-23T14:33:00.001-07:00

I have determined that the idea relating to a chronological "through the looking-glass" approach is conceptually the strongest, and will therefore pursue only this idea. I will continue to use only elements found in the original collage to promote the notion of a visual representation of the unconcious mind as expressed through hallucinogenic and psychedelic drugs. As previously mentioned, I was inspired by the lyrics to Eric's Trip (from the album Daydream Nation, 1988) by Sonic Youth, in particular;

"I can't see anything at all / all I see is me"

Therefore, I decided to place the head of the main figure over the top of each face seen within the work. I also placed the head within the frame, the polaroid and the television screen on the bottom right. I feel that this device contributes to a slightly uneasy atmosphere, and continues with the dream-like conception of recurring motifs; revised and reworked internally, the same but different, with a base on reality, yet still un-real.

I also attempted to reiterate and take further the "WILD AT HEART" text and idea. This was intended as an echo and as a statement, also depicted in the repeating and re-sizing of the lips placed representing the heart. I eliminated all other text (aside from "BANG BANG" being spoken from the heart of the central figure" and replaced it with "WILD AT HEART". In addition to this, I adjusted the colour and size of the mass-produced heart found within the frame in the original image, and converted it into a recurring motif relating to the text. This can be most noted within the speech bubble protruding from the anthropomorphic figure with a gun for a head, and an ironic t-shirt, as instead of saying "ULTRA-VIOLENCE" as in the manual collage, it now only expresses a heart.

The repeating of texture in the background relates to familiar elements appearing somewhat altered.

RED

2009-03-23T05:19:00.000-07:00

I have included below my experimentation in regards to the digital manipulation of my manual collage. Rather than further the narrative by adjusting core elements within the initial design, I wished to simply transform the scene with various effects. I began by selecting the white components of the background, and inverting the selection to include the positive forms. I then cut these out onto a seperate layer, and altered the size of the half-tone dots to emulate the quality and aesthetic of newpaper print. This was done in order to achieve a correlation with the origins of the materials used. I did this by going to Filter > Sketch Filters > Half-tone Pattern and opting for "dot pattern". I then put a red colour overlay over the image. After selecting the background layer, I created a gradient overlay by double-clicking on the layer icon, and entering Layer Style > Gradient Overlay and choosing Colour in the Blend Mode drop-down menu. I then went to Gradient Editor and chose red, with 100% opacity on the left side, and 0% opacity on the right-hand side. The gradient overlay was then applied. I subsequently created another layer, which I placed between the two existing layers. This layer consists of the repeated text, "WILD AT HEART". The image below is a screen shot of my process, demonstrating the abovementioned progression and method.

In order to further develop this digital manipulation, I selected the foreground layer and double-clicked on the layer icon, leading me to the Layer Style > Stroke option. I then adjusted the width and colour of the stroke surrounding the main facets of the work. This is shown below:

In resolving this concept, I wished to create a greater visual link with my manual collage. I did this by creating a new layer, and locating an image of television fuzz on the internet, which I stretched to cover the layer. Initially, I had taken my own photographs of television fuzz on my digital camera with a red filter over the flash, however, I did not feel these were suitable to this particular piece. Once selecting the TV layer, I went to Filter > Sketch Filters > Halftone Pattern and selected Circular Pattern. I chose a brown colour to link it with the brown paper used in my manual collage. This is the final result.

SONIC YOUTH - ERIC'S TRIP

2009-03-18T02:12:00.000-07:00

Hatred / I hate the past

I can't see anything at all, all I see is me

That's clear enough

and that's what's important, to see me

My eyes can focus

My brain is talking

Looks pretty good to me

My head's on straight

My girlfriend's beautiful

Looks pretty good to me

Sometimes I speak

Tonight there's nothing to say

Sometimes we freak

And laugh all day

Hold these pages up to the light

See the jacknife inside of the dream

A railroad runs through the records stores at night

Coming in for the deep freeze

Mary; a simple word

Are you there in the country?

Your eyes so full

Your head so tight

Can't you hear me?

Remember our talk

That day on the phone?

I was the door, and you were the station

With shattered glass and miles between us

We still flew away in the conversation

My cup is full, and I feel okay

The world is dull, but not today

She thinks she's a goddess

She says she talks to spirits

I wonder if she can talk to herself?

If she can bear to hear it?

This is Eric's trip

We've all come to watch him slip

He's slipping all the way to Texas

Can you dig it?

(Eric says "the sky is blue")

I see with a glass eye

The pavement view

A shadow forming, across the fields rushing

Through me to you

We tore down the world, and put up four walls

I breathe in the myth

I'm over the city, fucking the future

I'm high and inside your kiss

We can't see clear

But what we see is alright

We make up what we can't hear

And then we sing all night

Scattered pages and shattered lights

A jacknife and a dream

There's something moving over there on the right

Like nothing I've never seen.

IDEAS

2009-03-17T00:03:00.001-07:00

I have been experimenting with a few ideas within my digital collage. The first is to act as a prequel to the narrative dream-state expressed in my manual collage. The idea is to create a "normal" scene using the same iconography present in the inital piece; a television screen, a picture frame, the central figure, etc. This would then be able to link the two images together in an additional narrative. The manual "dream" collage would be followed by the digital "reality" piece. This could be explained as an awakening.

Another idea was less conceptual and more technical, focussing mainly on aesthetics. I have considered splicing in images of fireworks and lights in the plain, white sections. This would be done to further the dream and to make the work more visually pleasing.

My third idea was to just mess with the entire piece, changing colours and adding effects. It will relate to a series of photographs I have been taking in my own time, in which I have altered the flash on my camera so that each photograph appears red. This simplifies the images to a purer form.

My final idea is my favourite, and presents what I consider to be the biggest challenge. I wish to alter the manual collage using only objects found within the original. This will play with repetition and scale, and was inspired by the Sonic Youth song, "Eric's Trip". The concept is very similiar to my inital idea, however, it follows a progression within the dreamscape, likened to an acid trip. By repeating images, it refers to echoes and hallucinations. The strangely displaced layout of the original collage was done to parallel the structure of human memory and recall within the subconcious mind.

Individually, my collages follow a non-linear narrative, however, when placed together can be read in chronological order.

CLASS WEBSITE

2009-03-02T16:38:00.000-08:00

http://digitalmedia.comuf.com

SCANNED

2009-03-02T16:29:00.001-08:00

This is my manual collage scanned into the computer. I look forward to digitally manipulating it.

THE END IS NEAR

2009-03-01T21:49:00.000-08:00

I feel that this looks a lot more balanced. This is very close to my final design, although I will continue experimenting.

VISUAL EXAMPLES

2009-03-01T21:43:00.000-08:00

This is my inital design. After reading about Terry Dowling and Gary Taxali, I begun experimenting with the background.

Using brown paper, "magic tape", sticky tape, red acrilic paint and black spray paint I constucted a background.

I placed my cut-out images on top of the constructed background, but felt that it would be more aesthetically pleasing if the background was up-side down.

MANUAL COLLAGE

2009-03-01T20:46:00.000-08:00

As previously stated, the within my own manual collage, I wish to communicate the notions of nostalgia and a psychosomatic dream-state. The imagery I have included is sourced from various magazines and newspapers, providing a link to the influence of pop culture iconography in the definition of an era and a time passed. The labelling of the main figure as "wild at heart" (done through the placement of text over the eyes), demonstrates the desire by many to label and categorize, as well as referencing one of my favourite films, David Lynch's; Wild at Heart (1990).

The polaroid in the left hand corner was constructed by scalpelling out the insides and replacing it with a found image of a man in a suit. Over this, I placed the word "doppelganger". This is one of my favourite words, and relates to the homogenous nature of suit fashion, in that one almost feels as though the word "drone" comes to mind. This section, along with the formal picture frame and the television screen section the piece and create frames within a frame. The ornate picture frame enclosing the mass-produced statement "I Heart"

However, despite this simple justification, within the piece I have attempted to explore a narrative that doesn't quite add up. A variety of interpretations are openly encouraged. This is established most significantly in the text at the bottom which reads "Where's Jeff when you need him?". The words in no way relate to the rest of the collage; they were in fact a fragment of a conversation between a friend and someone I'd never seen before in my life.

MONTAGE

2009-02-27T18:17:00.000-08:00

Over the last few days I have been looking over The Art and Craft of Montage by Simon Larbalestier. The works demonstrated in this book have been very inspirational to me, in terms of materials and the possibilities of juxtapositioning. I was also unaware that montage is able to take a variety of forms, rather than simply a two-dimensional approach. The following image is by Andrew Hirniak and features; a pair of specticles, a bird skull, metal type, dry transfers, a fluorescent tube and a combination of different papers, pieces of wood, plastic, and glass, and are housed in a three-dimensional box collage construction.

I also enjoy the work of Terry Dowling, in particular the piece titled "Animal Experiments". The transparent and masking tape that holds elements of the collage in place are a highlighted feature of the work, and their deterioration in the years since the work was created adds another element.

The following piece is titled "Five Ball Baby", and is constructed from doll's heads, painted wooden balls, and a reproduction painting, housed in a three-dimensional wooden construction.

THE ART CRITIC

2009-02-27T18:11:00.000-08:00

Raoul Hausmann

Der Kunstreporter (The Art Critic), 1919–1920

Photomontage and collage with ink stamp and crayon on printed poster poem

COLLAGE CONCEPT

2009-02-27T17:40:00.000-08:00

Within my collage piece, I wish to convey the concept of nostalgia. I wish to do this by utilizing pop culture icons, references and mediums, specifically those related to the 1990s, and transforming them according to the notion of photomontage. This alteration represents the haze of memory and the border between the real and the un-real. Continuing in this individualistic state, is the merging of nonsensical images and text, which illustrates my personal belief that art should not have to be explained.

(THE ACID) TEST

2009-02-23T16:42:00.000-08:00

PETER KENNARD;
Telephone Tapping (1980)

This post has been created to demonstrate my ability to select an image, save it to the computer, re-size it, and upload it to my blog. The image was initailly located at: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/davepalmer/cutandpaste/kennard_big4.html

I selected this image as an example of contemporary photomontage. This form is often cited as orginating just after World War I, however, the manipulation of photographs, using the following techniques; double exposures, darkroom masking, direct contact printing or photograms, has taken place since the invention of photography in the mid 19th century. This being said, the Dadaists, looking for a new means of expression, developed photomontage into a true art form.

London-born Peter Kennard was dissatisfied with painting's lack of immediacy, and as a consequence, took up photomontage for its ability to show the "unrevealed truth" behind the image. Says Kennard; " The point of my work is to use easily accessible iconic images, but to render them unacceptable. To break down the image of the all-powerful missile ... after breaking them, to show new possibilities emerging in the cracks and splintered fragments of the old reality." However, due to the rise in digital manipulations, Kennard understands the changing reception to his work in recent times. "There is a problem with montage in that you see it everywhere now because of digital technology. There is so much transformed imagery around that people accept constructed images without questioning their meaning. I think my work was losing impact because of that."