Tuesday, 14 December 2010
Feedback Tutorial
Today I had my feedback tutorial with Will, which I thought went well. When marking myself I didn't have a clue as to what level I was up to and also felt quite flustered as I had just done my Assessment and spoke about my work. I found the feed back very usual and definitely have some leads to continue with. My goals for the next few weeks are to research new artists suggested to me and carry on with the idea of video portraits, but in different situations. I think this is quite tricky because the main element of the portraits I want to make is to be unconscious of the camera, but this is hard to do so, as it is myself initially making them. I also need to begin to make plans for networking for next term.
Sunday, 5 December 2010
Review Show and Assessment
When putting up my piece I decided to project it onto the wall and have headphones so that the viewer could listen to it if they wanted to. With it being exhibited in the Link Gallery I knew there would be a lot of passers by and the chances of them to stop and watch the video for too long were quite slim, but I didn't really care about that.
When putting up the piece and projecting it onto white card, I got feedback from people that when I was sat still it looked like a photograph or painting and was quite surprising when I start moving in it. Also people said when they began to listen to the footage they were drawn in and wanted to carry on listening. These were all new comments to me, and I liked how from watching it on my laptop to portraying it in an exhibition changed the perception of the piece. When first watching the footage, I found it really uncomfortable and hard to watch, but looking back from that I like that, and I think it's quite brave of me to put that footage out in public, it has bizarrely made me feel more confident.
I left the footage raw and unedited at one hour, but did experiment with a 2 minute cut version. I didn't think it worked well at all, because what I was experimenting with was how I unfolded and acted in front of a camera, not necessarily the contrast between the two halves of footage.
In my Assessment I found that 5 minutes was not enough and I had so much more to talk about. I thought I spoke about my work clearly though and got some good feedback.
When putting up the piece and projecting it onto white card, I got feedback from people that when I was sat still it looked like a photograph or painting and was quite surprising when I start moving in it. Also people said when they began to listen to the footage they were drawn in and wanted to carry on listening. These were all new comments to me, and I liked how from watching it on my laptop to portraying it in an exhibition changed the perception of the piece. When first watching the footage, I found it really uncomfortable and hard to watch, but looking back from that I like that, and I think it's quite brave of me to put that footage out in public, it has bizarrely made me feel more confident.
I left the footage raw and unedited at one hour, but did experiment with a 2 minute cut version. I didn't think it worked well at all, because what I was experimenting with was how I unfolded and acted in front of a camera, not necessarily the contrast between the two halves of footage.
In my Assessment I found that 5 minutes was not enough and I had so much more to talk about. I thought I spoke about my work clearly though and got some good feedback.
Tuesday, 23 November 2010
'Self Portrait, One Hour'
The video portrait I have created is entitled 'Self Portrait, One Hour', which is exactly what it is. Myself sat in front of the camera for an hour. I wanted to explore how conscience we are of the camera and ultimately watch myself back and see how I felt about the footage. The first half an hour there is people in the room with me and there is general conversation going on, I did this because I wanted to know how unaware I could be of the camera if distracted by other people despite the fact it being right in front of me. There was no strict plan as to what unfolded or what we spoke about, it was completely unscripted. On contrast to this, the second half of the footage is me by myself, alone with the camera. I wanted to get a juxtaposition and see how it looked also.
When looking back at the footage I found I couldn't watch it at first and was embarrassed of what I was seeing. It didn't seem plausible in my mind that that is how I looked. This is exactly what I wanted to happen, but to understand why we felt like this. The people whose voices are featured in the film, but you never see, also said they found it distressing to know that is what they sounded like. I had my anxieties, as such, playing out in front of me.
The piece itself is very simple and I like the idea that you can only see me when other things are going on and that the idea of a picture in the viewers mind is being built. I found when sitting in front of the camera time went by slowly and I was always aware I was being filmed, and make an effort not to look into the camera. What I found most fascinating from the footage i collected was in the last few minutes, there is only a second, where I am not conscience of the camera, and you can really tell, but seconds later I snap out of it. Different layers have appeared to come out of the footage that I wasn't aware of at the time but I am really pleased about.
When getting tutor feedback, they suggested I cut the piece for the exhibition show, and that people will definitely not watch the whole entire hour. To me this wasn't important as it wasn't about what the audience thought or picked up just as yet. I wanted to keep the footage raw.
When looking back at the footage I found I couldn't watch it at first and was embarrassed of what I was seeing. It didn't seem plausible in my mind that that is how I looked. This is exactly what I wanted to happen, but to understand why we felt like this. The people whose voices are featured in the film, but you never see, also said they found it distressing to know that is what they sounded like. I had my anxieties, as such, playing out in front of me.
The piece itself is very simple and I like the idea that you can only see me when other things are going on and that the idea of a picture in the viewers mind is being built. I found when sitting in front of the camera time went by slowly and I was always aware I was being filmed, and make an effort not to look into the camera. What I found most fascinating from the footage i collected was in the last few minutes, there is only a second, where I am not conscience of the camera, and you can really tell, but seconds later I snap out of it. Different layers have appeared to come out of the footage that I wasn't aware of at the time but I am really pleased about.
When getting tutor feedback, they suggested I cut the piece for the exhibition show, and that people will definitely not watch the whole entire hour. To me this wasn't important as it wasn't about what the audience thought or picked up just as yet. I wanted to keep the footage raw.
Thursday, 18 November 2010
Self portrait Artists
Following on from our Cross Course Crit today, I got some useful information and ideas for my video portrait I am currently working on.
Marc Quinn has created a series of self portraits but has done them in a different unconventional sense. His piece entitled 'Self ', is of his head made out of his own blood, the exact amount that is in the human body. He took it from his body gradually over time in order to create this sculpture of his own head, which is encased in a freezer.
I was also suggested to look at the work of Cindy Sherman, who creates portraits in different outfits to portray different characters but they are always initially of herself.
I found looking at different suggestions helpful, but as I am working on my video piece at the moment, I want to find out how it looks from there, and that will give me more of a defined direction that I would like to take it to.
Images taken from : http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_s6gpY93_ouE/TNOQJLK_YFI/AAAAAAAAANE/PrNT-2QQ-r8/s400/MarcQuinn_self1991.jpg
http://www.heathercuriel.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/cindy_sherman.jpg
Marc Quinn has created a series of self portraits but has done them in a different unconventional sense. His piece entitled 'Self ', is of his head made out of his own blood, the exact amount that is in the human body. He took it from his body gradually over time in order to create this sculpture of his own head, which is encased in a freezer.
I was also suggested to look at the work of Cindy Sherman, who creates portraits in different outfits to portray different characters but they are always initially of herself.
I found looking at different suggestions helpful, but as I am working on my video piece at the moment, I want to find out how it looks from there, and that will give me more of a defined direction that I would like to take it to.
Images taken from : http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_s6gpY93_ouE/TNOQJLK_YFI/AAAAAAAAANE/PrNT-2QQ-r8/s400/MarcQuinn_self1991.jpg
http://www.heathercuriel.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/cindy_sherman.jpg
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
Tuesday Talks: David Batchelor
David Batchelor's talk was one of the best out of the Whitworth talks this term. His work is very much about colour and he talked about different ways he explored to manipulate colour. One of his biggest inspirations that he described as defining colour is in the classic film 'The Wizard of Oz', which I couldn't agree more with, even for it's age, the way colour has been expressed in the film is still one of a kind today. It was also quite reassuring that he said he found himself not working as an artist for over 10 years, and now he has books published of his work. This is inspiring because it shows that ideas and opportunities can come at any time and rather than wait around for 10 years, keep on working.
His work visually is stunning to look at but I liked the idea that it came from simple things, colour itself is such a simple thing but has so much power. He created sculpture work out of cheap toys he had bought from £1 shops and that just showed that it is so easy to go out there and find these things we see everyday and ignore and turn them into something we notice. He definitely seems a voyeur in the way that he is always looking out for new things around colour he can use in his work.
As a speaker, I found him very engaging, funny and also easy to follow and understand. It's becoming very clear through these talks I am attending it's very important on how you sell yourself as an Artist.
His work visually is stunning to look at but I liked the idea that it came from simple things, colour itself is such a simple thing but has so much power. He created sculpture work out of cheap toys he had bought from £1 shops and that just showed that it is so easy to go out there and find these things we see everyday and ignore and turn them into something we notice. He definitely seems a voyeur in the way that he is always looking out for new things around colour he can use in his work.
As a speaker, I found him very engaging, funny and also easy to follow and understand. It's becoming very clear through these talks I am attending it's very important on how you sell yourself as an Artist.
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Self Portrait Video
The image above seems to have been inspiration for what I would like to experiment with next. I was really struggling with where to go next, but I knew I wanted it to be around the idea of a self portrait which follows on from our group discussion when ending the Shelter project. This quick drawing seems to have been a door opening for what I would like to do next. I would like to create a video self portrait. I have gained inspiration from Andy Warhol's Screen Shots and how nothing really happens in them but at the same time are quite powerful. Also I want to try a different medium away from mark making and illustration as I feel that I have done all I can with that and it doesn't inspire me at the moment.
The basic idea I have is sitting in front of the camera, just myself. I want to explore the relationship with have with a camera and how we have an unconscious perception of ourselves in our minds, which when shown in reality is not what we want to see. Why is it we have a totally different perception in our minds? and why does it make us uncomfortable when watching ourselves back to see what we really are, which is what everyone always sees us as anyway? This is something I would like to explore, using myself as the experiment.
Thursday, 4 November 2010
Experimental Video
This term I have been attending the 'Alternative History of Film and Video' Lectures and have come across some interesting video work already:
This video by Bjorn Melhus, is quite ambiguous in its theme, were not really sure what is going on when watching it, but it seemed to draw me in, I got the idea of aliens from it, or travelling down a blood stream. I liked the song also and how bizarre it is along with the costume and everything else. What we were discussing in the lecture is how to talk about film and how do we make sense of experimental film.
This piece is by John Smith and is called 'Girl chewing gum', I liked the idea that it is filming in a documentary style but has been narrated with a director as if he is directing the whole thing, and as we watch it we begin to realise how this is not the case as the things he directs get more ridiculous.
This video by Bjorn Melhus, is quite ambiguous in its theme, were not really sure what is going on when watching it, but it seemed to draw me in, I got the idea of aliens from it, or travelling down a blood stream. I liked the song also and how bizarre it is along with the costume and everything else. What we were discussing in the lecture is how to talk about film and how do we make sense of experimental film.
This piece is by John Smith and is called 'Girl chewing gum', I liked the idea that it is filming in a documentary style but has been narrated with a director as if he is directing the whole thing, and as we watch it we begin to realise how this is not the case as the things he directs get more ridiculous.
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