I presented my Small Town Clowns film "in progress" for winter term review. It's funny I don't think I have been as proud of my own visual art ever, but my presentation was tangled in a gnarly mess of technical errors.
Initially my problem began with the death of a projector for transferring the film to digital. When this projector broke I turned on my back up only to watch the lamp suddenly dim, chased by the curious sound of a bubbling noise. It took some luck but I eventually found another projector on short notice to use....but once I brought it back to the studio I noticed that it too was broken-the part that grasps the take up reel was slightly broken enough that the reel couldn't lock. At this point the screening room had become a pretty sorry looking projector graveyard. It was at this point that I recruited Nina to unravel the film slowly off of a Pérrier bottle while I yanked on the other end to slowly guide the strip through the projector's belly. Thanks again Nina! Needless to say this left me with much less time than I had expected for progress. I'm using this spring break to stock up on good projectors. I want them to be my friends again.
After having come to a reasonable point in the project to be "showing" it for critique, I had made a DVD with Dustin. As it turned out, we discovered too late that all of the videos worked on the DVD except mine! Ridiculous. This is what I get for thinking Super 8 is Digital Art I guess. Ultimately, my work being in progress for critique turned out to be a really good thing. While I really wanted to be prepared to show off a finished product-I think I wouldn't have taken as much away from the critique if I had. The phrase "in progress" seems to invite viewers to speak freely and critically without the work without the idea that it is "done" and not open to suggestion. I could go on about what was said but thats a totally different blog - I'll just settle to say it was definitely helpful.
On the other side of the pet rock my sound/music project at school has been thriving, even through break, and I am nearly finished with a full length album or document of sorts. I have been considering the project conceptually, attempting use the same approach as my films - by incorporating sound documents and archetypes from art/sound art/music history into my songs. I am hoping to use them as tools for creating accessible music - in some weird way. For instance right now I am deconstructing the notes involved in a composition by Marcel Duchamp to be rearranged into a pre-existing structure in a pop song. Long story short I have been spending a lot of time in that little sound room. I consider this album to be my ode to that little closet of noises.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Small Town Clowns
So it's about time I started working out the next dream page in to a film. Initially when I began this project, I only thought to make separate stories from each page - not re-using characters for multiple films or videos. But recently Ying suggested the idea of re-using my mustache character throughout the series of films, and this would bring about a better sense of uniformity and open up the possibilities of elaborating on themes and images.
Ultimately, I tried to established an implied narrative in Mustache Police where I was challenging Dali's symbolic image from art history. In other words, I was trying to pose the question of Dali's celebrity more memorable than his art. But something I discovered during the critiques was that my ability to make the film depended so much on my love for surrealism in the first place. To some extent, this is an obstacle that many aspiring artists face...the notion of making referential art that is "original". How can I, as a filmmaker, claim my ideas for myself - when most of my techiques are rooted in my knowledge of art and film history? Where is the line between influence and originality drawn?
My next film is based on a dream page which bears the simple statement "Small Town Clowns". So this time, I have decided to re-use the mustache character from my first film and put him in a more dense and confusing situation involving Clowns. The concept is that I will be calling on symbols of clowns from art and film history, and attempting to thread together a narrative consisting of them seeking out to reclaim the mustache.
I am still not sure how much to decide on as far as storyboarding - but I have definitely decided to get some shots immitating paintings of Clowns Picasso made in his Rose Period. Many of these paintings were made of real people Picasso discovered on his travels - italian townsfolk and wanderers. There is one specific painting, which involves a rose colored Clown sitting on a horse. My plan is to get the right costumes together and do all of the filming in my hometown Fossil, Or. I have friends who actually live on ranches back home. If I can convince them - which I think I can - I'll be getting them one to dress up like the clown on the horse...and I will try and shoot frame by frame on them sitting still. My intention is to recreate the moment when the actual clown was painted and turn it into stop motion.
Finally, my ultimate goal is to finish a third film based on this concept. This is where it gets tough. I need to do some thinking to decide which side of the war will win; or if resolution is necessary at all?
Above are some images I have found from Picasso's Rose Period of Clowns, and some other relevant images... If anyone has suggestions for me - Clowns they know of...or general criticism, etc. Please dish it out. I am still trying to put all of this in perspective a little bit. Its not easy to abandon the original ideas I had.
Monday, December 8, 2008
ZARA! Remix picture
ZARA! Expect a little present by your office doorstep tomorrow morning. Let me know if it isnt there because that means the cleaning person moved it.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Response #2 Herman Miller
Response 2
Herman Miller
My interest for this excerpt leid mainly within the description of tools and techniques used by Charles Eames, after having moved his entire laboratory work space into his home on the West coast. The details are as such to describe a scene in which Charles and Ray are working together as silent, independent designers…creating for themselves in the privacy of their own living room. It is easy to see why considering a furniture designer working as a silent genius in the obviousness of his and her own acutal living room space is beautiful in its self. Where else would a designer find better inspiration for the matters of everyday living? More importantly however, I found the relationship described between Charles and his tools to be sympathetic to the entire genre of DIY art and music. The text explains, “the primitive facilities were, in a way, an advantage, for they forced the invention of techniques”. This is many times the case of the independent artist who attempts to record his or her own music. While anybody who buys an Apple computer will have the free music recording program Garageband, most home recording musicians do not own expensive recording gear. This means microphones, digital mixing interfaces, cables, additional software and sometimes even instruments themselves. In one instance, specifically, I discovered ways to make the sound of a bass drum without the help of a drum machine, synthesizer or physical drumset at all. I have had to use the rubber tops of tupperware, or flicking my thumb against a pad of notebook paper. Another time, I duct taped a guitar pickup to the face of a drum set instead of using a drum microphone. These are all simple metaphors for my own personal attempts at treating limitations as tools, rather than discouragement. I feel that the most beautiful thing about DIY music is that it is born out of a process that must be configured according to the artist’s surroundings. In such a way, the elements and tools used by the artist are personally aware of their importance as being mere reflections of the artist’s situational state. For instance, a project created with primitive tools acts as a self portrait in that it is self referential to the artist’s current limitations.
I also find it interesting that Charles Eames’ success is due in part to his situational disparate attitude. It seems so funny when the affection and sympathy for difference is realized through a creative means unheard of by the commercial world, and ultimately acclaimed. I find it difficult at times to believe.
Herman Miller
My interest for this excerpt leid mainly within the description of tools and techniques used by Charles Eames, after having moved his entire laboratory work space into his home on the West coast. The details are as such to describe a scene in which Charles and Ray are working together as silent, independent designers…creating for themselves in the privacy of their own living room. It is easy to see why considering a furniture designer working as a silent genius in the obviousness of his and her own acutal living room space is beautiful in its self. Where else would a designer find better inspiration for the matters of everyday living? More importantly however, I found the relationship described between Charles and his tools to be sympathetic to the entire genre of DIY art and music. The text explains, “the primitive facilities were, in a way, an advantage, for they forced the invention of techniques”. This is many times the case of the independent artist who attempts to record his or her own music. While anybody who buys an Apple computer will have the free music recording program Garageband, most home recording musicians do not own expensive recording gear. This means microphones, digital mixing interfaces, cables, additional software and sometimes even instruments themselves. In one instance, specifically, I discovered ways to make the sound of a bass drum without the help of a drum machine, synthesizer or physical drumset at all. I have had to use the rubber tops of tupperware, or flicking my thumb against a pad of notebook paper. Another time, I duct taped a guitar pickup to the face of a drum set instead of using a drum microphone. These are all simple metaphors for my own personal attempts at treating limitations as tools, rather than discouragement. I feel that the most beautiful thing about DIY music is that it is born out of a process that must be configured according to the artist’s surroundings. In such a way, the elements and tools used by the artist are personally aware of their importance as being mere reflections of the artist’s situational state. For instance, a project created with primitive tools acts as a self portrait in that it is self referential to the artist’s current limitations.
I also find it interesting that Charles Eames’ success is due in part to his situational disparate attitude. It seems so funny when the affection and sympathy for difference is realized through a creative means unheard of by the commercial world, and ultimately acclaimed. I find it difficult at times to believe.
Response #3 Dieter Rams
Response #3
Dieter Rams Interview
Initially, I found the interview with Dieter Rams essentially worthless. Most of the time was spent giving him a superficial celebrity treatment, with a priority concerning his everyday matters above inquiring about his creative process as designer and artist. However, I find it interesting that in many ways Rams’ casual demeanor appears to be a charming and unique characteristic that shows in his work. So ironically, in some ways I found the interview to be appropriate in that it provided insight as to how his personality might be an important aspect in the process of his creative engine. This simultaneity regarding the informal/formal for design is one I find especially refreshing. I admire Dieter Rams’ creative process because I feel that he had found a balance for his affection for design as a technique under the strict purpose to accommodate visual presentation, in addition to his tendency to create functionality under experimental means. Most of all, Rams has been able to seamlessly incorporate a “lightness” about all of his work. For instance, his turntable is so perfectly designed and timely. It is esthetically beautiful, instead of gaudy and demanding. More importantly though, it is charismatic because it feels so convenient and effective…like a good joke that doesn’t take long to tell. Rams’ ability to execute work in such a way must somehow be rooted in his rejection of the visually bombastic. His designs are silently clever, rather than loud.
The brief moment spent in class on the array of slides comparing Jonathon Ive’s designs for Apple with Dieter Rams’ work was immense for me. Call it a homage if you like, but I had absolutely no idea that Ive had essentially copied all of those designs. It seems so obvious now too, everything about Apple’s commercial presentation is aiming to be as pithy and immaculate as Dieter Rams. I feel that Apple does not quite pull it off though. Apple’s attempt comes across more as painstaking than seamless, in some instances.
Dieter Rams Interview
Initially, I found the interview with Dieter Rams essentially worthless. Most of the time was spent giving him a superficial celebrity treatment, with a priority concerning his everyday matters above inquiring about his creative process as designer and artist. However, I find it interesting that in many ways Rams’ casual demeanor appears to be a charming and unique characteristic that shows in his work. So ironically, in some ways I found the interview to be appropriate in that it provided insight as to how his personality might be an important aspect in the process of his creative engine. This simultaneity regarding the informal/formal for design is one I find especially refreshing. I admire Dieter Rams’ creative process because I feel that he had found a balance for his affection for design as a technique under the strict purpose to accommodate visual presentation, in addition to his tendency to create functionality under experimental means. Most of all, Rams has been able to seamlessly incorporate a “lightness” about all of his work. For instance, his turntable is so perfectly designed and timely. It is esthetically beautiful, instead of gaudy and demanding. More importantly though, it is charismatic because it feels so convenient and effective…like a good joke that doesn’t take long to tell. Rams’ ability to execute work in such a way must somehow be rooted in his rejection of the visually bombastic. His designs are silently clever, rather than loud.
The brief moment spent in class on the array of slides comparing Jonathon Ive’s designs for Apple with Dieter Rams’ work was immense for me. Call it a homage if you like, but I had absolutely no idea that Ive had essentially copied all of those designs. It seems so obvious now too, everything about Apple’s commercial presentation is aiming to be as pithy and immaculate as Dieter Rams. I feel that Apple does not quite pull it off though. Apple’s attempt comes across more as painstaking than seamless, in some instances.
Resonse 5
Response 5
Ken O’Connell
I found the internet visit with Ken O’Conell an inspiring break from our class routine. O’Connell’s perspective as a Professor who at University of Oregon is very interestin to me because he has been involved with teaching experimental animation since there was a program for it back in the 1980s. He was able to offer us a number of clips of students’ work from the old program, which gave me some insight as to what the format was like back when the program existed. Before having seen these clips, I only new of the program’s brief existence by rumor. Part of me wonders if I would have ended up in that program, instead of multimedia/digital art, had the opportunity lingered through my years at University of Oregon. I often struggle with finding strength as I attempt to ride the fine line between art and design that this program strives so hard to blur. My work with film goes very much against design philosophy, existing as personal reflections on experiential bursts of impulsive camera work and experiments in esthetics/rather than function. However, my work in sound accompanyment to film, intends to act as an emphasis on the implied rhythym that physical projections of film strips already bear. In other words, my work with sound seeks to embody experimentalism as well as functionality. I admire O’Connell’s work with the three dimensional time based work he presented. I feel that it is parallel, in may ways, to the state that electronic music was in during a short period of the early 1980s. As Max MSP began to be designed, many artists sought to create applications that were intuitive to time based note sequencing and simultaneous manipulations thereof. As a result of the genre’s wholly embryonic state, much of the work appears esthetically awkward and conceptualy relient on experimentalism as a challenge agaisnt the restraints of technology. I feel that today, technology has come to a point where the intuition involvd in most software has surpassed the general artist’s aspiration for means of design. Instead, designers are concerned with accomodating the preset filters and functions that software presents them with, and the challenge to experiment as a means of achieving a desired outcome is unfortunately and ironically considered superfluous.
Ken O’Connell
I found the internet visit with Ken O’Conell an inspiring break from our class routine. O’Connell’s perspective as a Professor who at University of Oregon is very interestin to me because he has been involved with teaching experimental animation since there was a program for it back in the 1980s. He was able to offer us a number of clips of students’ work from the old program, which gave me some insight as to what the format was like back when the program existed. Before having seen these clips, I only new of the program’s brief existence by rumor. Part of me wonders if I would have ended up in that program, instead of multimedia/digital art, had the opportunity lingered through my years at University of Oregon. I often struggle with finding strength as I attempt to ride the fine line between art and design that this program strives so hard to blur. My work with film goes very much against design philosophy, existing as personal reflections on experiential bursts of impulsive camera work and experiments in esthetics/rather than function. However, my work in sound accompanyment to film, intends to act as an emphasis on the implied rhythym that physical projections of film strips already bear. In other words, my work with sound seeks to embody experimentalism as well as functionality. I admire O’Connell’s work with the three dimensional time based work he presented. I feel that it is parallel, in may ways, to the state that electronic music was in during a short period of the early 1980s. As Max MSP began to be designed, many artists sought to create applications that were intuitive to time based note sequencing and simultaneous manipulations thereof. As a result of the genre’s wholly embryonic state, much of the work appears esthetically awkward and conceptualy relient on experimentalism as a challenge agaisnt the restraints of technology. I feel that today, technology has come to a point where the intuition involvd in most software has surpassed the general artist’s aspiration for means of design. Instead, designers are concerned with accomodating the preset filters and functions that software presents them with, and the challenge to experiment as a means of achieving a desired outcome is unfortunately and ironically considered superfluous.
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