MEDI 323: Individual: Initial Proposal

For this module I'm exploring the nature and relationship of the inner workings of the human psyche through image. I want to explore the nature of how human experience interlaces to create places in our minds eye. I have studied psychology in the past and I feel that it makes my ideas on these subjects somewhat informed, having said that however I also think that there is a very artistic and creative element to the human subconscious as most memories tend to work by linking 'pictures' of our world to other 'pictures' that are also stored in the brain relating to the first 'picture' these then link on and on eventually forming the web of own conscious and subconscious mind.

The work I'm doing builds upon images created in a module from last year which I termed 'Dreamscapes' because I wanted these to convey what humans saw when they dream and the random fusion of thoughts, memories and feelings blur to create a space that sums up something yet isn't actually that object or place etc. Dreamscapes used to be a landscape image all of my memories of a place but in this project have now evolved far beyond the original concept, with one of the new dream images I have mad actually being about a dream. This image 'Orca Dream' is essentially a picture of my dream, looking somewhat like a photograph of the unreal. 

This project also pertains to my idea of 'unreal estate', which is anything you feel some ownership over, but isn't actually real, for example  on-line games, on-line communities, or even popular franchises such as The Lion King. This idea I feel is relevant, as people often feel a sense of ownership over things such as a certain song, describing it as theirs, even though they have not written or recorded it. It is also becoming more and more prevalent in an internet obsessed, consumerism fuelled culture where sometimes the 'hyper real' is more important or valued than the 'real' and people view themselves more and more through their computer game based achievements and express themselves more and more using online avatars. 

I want my images to convey a sense liminality, of how reality and the imaginary can blur and smudge together where the thresholds cross and fuse. In some of the images I have already made I try to achieve this by havening no solid background or foreground and rather there are just layers and hidden things that 'move' when you view the images again or from a different angle.

 

My influences for this module in essence is everything, in so far as what I have seen, done and experienced in my life.  Artistically the surrealist movement and in particular Dali has been a huge inspiration to me.  Also video gaming has played a massive role in my life in all aspects including artistically and in a smaller way the same can be said for comics. I am also influenced by literature especially slightly surreal authors such as C.S. Lewis and Edgar Allen Poe.  I also like nonsense poetry since I am very much an escapist. I also think that children's or a child like style art is also very relevant to this project because children think a lot freer and faster than adults and also have a very different view point. I would like to explore what children think about when they create art or how it feels to create art in a childish way, this also relates to memories and psychology but it would be interesting to research if a 'childish' Dreamscape would be very different and how much 'Unrealestate' children accumulate.
   

The subject matter is at present quite personal to me, and I would the work to continue to evolve and steer itself, branching into any mediums I feel are relevant but I do intend for the end result to be image-based. So far the process has been very organic and it flows when I am making computer based images but it is so absorbing I will not stop until the image is (at least to me) finished or perfect.

MEDI 322: Collaborative Practise: Intermediate Proposal

Initially my plan was to make a website to both advertise and sell my friend`s custom/ bespoke cake shop. This idea has evolved into making other promotional items such as business cards and also doing the professional photography for the gallery that she would like on her site.

As this is her business she is obviously involved very heavily in the creative side of things in terms of the actual style of the website and has agreed to feed back on a regular basis about how she thinks the website should look. This will be discussed between the two of us since I also would like some creative input. Technically I will also be collaborating with her father who is providing the domain and server space so I will have to communicate with him mainly via emails.

A major change is that my collaborator also would like me to design some graphics for the website in the form of cupcakes to be used as buttons etc. I aim to have the basic coding done before Christmas break and also to have a selection of graphics for my collaborator to feed back on. I would like to use one of these for a place holder so that I can actually get something in the domain space as quickly as possible because time is money and in the retail world it's smart to not waste either, even if the products are to be custom order. Also my collaborator has mentioned that she wanted a blog that tied into her site as she feels this would be a good idea both personally and for her business. This I would need to set up for her, theme, link in and show her how to operate and maintain.

It has been a both a challenge and enjoyable working with a friend, as it makes it difficult to know where the boundaries are and how professional to be. I do think that this will get easier overtime and as the project develops. Also sometime contact issues can arise since organising around two people is always harder than organising around one person, I think this is part of the process though. 

I have a very strong foundation now in terms of the artistic direction of the website so I feel confident that me and my collaborator know where we both stand but obviously we will need to constantly feedback to one another as the project grows and develops. The theme of the site will be very much 50's kitsch as well as obviously cakes. I am looking forward to creating the graphics as well as the actual website but this will be an added challenge. It will need to be fairly closely collaborated on but it also gives massive artistic responsibility for the company so I am effectively helping in the general branding of the business which is fairly huge! 

I also think that is important that we focus on a few photo shoots so that I have a nice selection of images to work with in terms of building a gallery into the site. Also it would be nice to showcase the items in the layout of the actual site itself. I have actually done food photography before so I am actually fairly confident about this area of the work because food photography is enjoyable and I have researched the psychology of how to market the images well. I have just purchased a Canon PowerShot compact camera to complete the photography required. As it shoots in film, my collaborator will have the option to 'vlog' about the creative process of anything relevant to her site.

I am thinking it may be smart to do a bit of market research so that I can really make the website effective. Although in principle the website advertises food, so uses some of the same 'retail psychology' it has to function and look good as the figurehead of a business.  

MEDI322: Collaborative Practice: Initial Proposal

For my Collaborative Practice module I intend to work with a friend of mine that is aiming to start up a commission based business centering on bespoke cakes and gifts. I will be the ongoing site content editor in collaboration of course with my friend. Also her photographer and maybe will be required to produce other promotional or marketing material.
The main context of the idea is to help my friend with her commission based business as she would like a website and professional photos of her cakes. She needs someone with a design background and computing skills to aid her in putting together a really cohesive and eye-catching site to be the front of her upcoming business.

Since we know each other she is happy for me to be working course deadlines. This provides a unique opportunity to be both professional yet relaxed which I feel will make the collaborative process a lot smoother and more beneficial. The actual technical aspect of this project will be collaborating to get the best photos and website possible. She will obviously want and expect certain things and also I have certain ideas of what would look best. I will have to work to what she wants and also ensure that I have a degree of creative control. I feel that this will be a very creative and flexible process as she needs a website and photos for a very creative business and as such is very artistic herself, this I feel gives the project a lot of scope for collaboration.

I feel that this project will be very beneficial since I am very interested in website design as a career, also it gives me more opportunity to hone my skills as a photographer to a much more professional and business standard. I also have an interesting in advertising and marketing and feel that this project will very much call on these skills, so I can both use what I know and also develop a more focused approach in this particular area.

MEDI317: Extended Dissertation: First Proposal

Proposed Title: Internet Culture 

Summary: For my Dissertation I would like to look at the entity I know as the internet culture. I want to see how it has evolved out of cultures from around the world and also then how it feeds back into modern culture. Does it create an over culture? Does it draw from an over culture? Could it even be classified as a culture? How do things you do online affect your real life social status? I feel it’s a very valid subject as the internet is vast becoming the most valued resource for recreation and communication.

Things that I think are included in internet culture:

Memes

Social Networks

Blogs

YouTube

MMO’s

Internet  & Anonymity

Internet as a human right?

I would like to research this in-depth as I am interested in what I perceive to be a ‘feedback-loop’ between reality and the effective ‘world’ of cyber space. More and more we are basing our life in and around our computers, with casual social gaming, MMO’s, forums, social networking sites, blogs and YouTube. It’s a really broad topic that I hope will narrow down with research and time. I feel that Its incredibly relevant and current as the effects of the internet grow and spread as it itself grows and spreads. 

Proposed Initial Research Methods and Lines of Enquiry:  

 I intend to study any publications I can find on this matter. I would like to look at professional academic papers and books since I think it would add weight and validity to my subject. However The internet itself is an important tool and I think it may be a good idea to use it as fully as I can. I could use social networking sites and forums to collate opinions of people that actually use the internet. I think it would be useful to watch any documentaries and or films about this subject area since it is so broad.

MEDI 259: Project Proposal

I intend to produce an installation, working in projection, the size and space that they would take up should however be scaled appropriately to the space given.  The basis of the idea is that using the style I have already developed I intend to use both new and cataloged photos of my own and blend them to create a new ‘pocket’ of reality if you will.

The space these projections would inhabit will be a fusion of multiple spaces since you have not only the places or objects in the image being projected but also the objects and landscape that they will be displayed in. Although they may be very personal to me (as the way I view the world would be conveyed in the images) I would hope the audience would be able to identify some part of their lives or even their dreams in each image.

For the purpose of the installation I aim to produce a collection of different reality pockets, my original intention was to have them tightly themed (for example my originals are all about autumn) but I do feel that it does not reflect the true nature of life and indeed how humans perceive reality. This is proven by the fact that instead of one concrete idea of a space, humans often pull in several images for one space to include things like sounds, scents, feelings and memories, this results in many images blurring in the human mind or similar places being recalled at the same time, so one thing is associated with another and so on.

I would therefore like to attempt to illustrate the complex nature of how human beings deal with reality and space. The aim is to produce something that can at once look both familiar and alien to most people.  I like this style in a lot of fantasy, there are many books, photos and films that use the real to create the surreal but particularly I find the ‘Alice in Wonderland’* series particularly inspiring.

On the technical side of things I would want each ‘environment’ to stay for a reasonable length of time before disappearing so I would have to set up specific time delay on each slide.  It would be reasonable to have approximately a minute so that the viewer can see the entire environment before it changes and then react to that change these would be then cycled through continuously until the exhibition ended.  It would be interesting to see not only the viewers’ reaction to one landscape but also the reaction of the viewer as they changed. Therefore as follow up work or indeed part of the documentation of my project I would like to film peoples reactions to the spaces, this I feel would help to see what was effective and what was not and would also become an experience in itself.

I already have a range of images that I have made whilst practicing and I have expanded on some greatly.  I like the quirks of some of my expanded images and would not need to do a lot with them. I am however toying with the idea of making the colors brighter to reflect the fact that some memories are super clear in your brain. The stock images I have all vary greatly in quality and sharpness as they were taken with different cameras and at different times in different places and this I feel is important as it further reflects memories and how some memories may be clearer or blurry or more colorful than others. The act of blending these further represents how memories work.

I find my inspiration is drawn from the clever installations of Doug Aitken** since he cleverly employs photography and projection into his works to make them truly immersive I am also tempted to like him include sound in my work to make it more well rounded.  I have also drawn inspiration from of the more projection-based works of Christian Boltanski*** since they are very evocative and thought provoking.

I would like if I could to use 360 degrees projection so that each environment would take up the entire room or as much of it as possible. My intended audience is the student body and the general public; I would ideally like everyone to find things they identify with in my landscapes so the target audience in essence is the human psyche.

I am intending to expand on the Photoshop techniques I have already used for my preliminary work but I would still like keep the manipulation as simple as possible so that the images still have a very natural feel to them.  For instance I associate a bright yellow flower with the sun, so in that particular environment the flower would be the sun, this links real to dream and memories to feelings. From a technical standpoint the only programs that I do need to use would be photo manipulation software since I already have the images in back catalog. If I did need to do more shoots I would probably use a Nikon D80 although any camera will do and occasionally you get nice results from using a camera on a mobile phone even though mine is currently three mega-pixels I feel that given I am trying to capture the notion of something like memory and reality that the quality of picture could still be compelling.  In terms of workload I intend to produce the work solo, as it is a personal project so I am the main driving force of its creation. 

Technically I think I am capable of handling setup myself, however given the fact I have not used 360 projection before I am not ruling out the possibility of needing a slight amount of technical assistance.

As an end result I would ideally like to have three environments being: Dartmoor, Plymouth and a Graveyard in London. These are all fairly personal places to me and I would like to showcase them as I see them with all my memories, thoughts and feelings to truly showcase what they are like in my head and create a thought provoking environment for its audience.

*Alice in Wonderland – 1865 – Lewis Carroll

**Doug Aitken  - Born in 1969 - http://www.victoria-miro.com/artists/_2/

***Christian Boltanski - Born in Paris in 1944 -http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/boltanski_christian.html

MEDI 236: Documentary Proposal Two

For my documentary project I am going to focus on paganism sadly my research isn’t going as well as I had hoped due the overwhelming amount of hate, prejudice and general misinformation out there. I have come to the conclusion that I am going to have really dig around to actually find some real and valid facts and figures. I am more than likely going to have stills with either a text accompaniment or an audio track. It has worried me at the moment that this may be quite a flippant subject. I have taken some investigative shots of pagan objects and also a cat (being the traditional familiar) and I am pleased with how they turned out even though one might consider them to look stereotypical.

Definition of paganism: A blanket term used to define earth based and polytheistic religions or belief systems. Central to most if not all is a reverence of nature, which may or may not be represented through Gods or Goddesses. Included in the term pagan most commonly one would think of Wicca, Druidism and Shamanism etc. However even in these subsets individuals differ greatly.

Since paganism is in itself an umbrella term for a LOT of different beliefs so I may eventually just focus in on one aspect or one ‘path’ or one Holiday so that it minimizes confusion and my documentary doesn’t feel to cluttered.  

I would like to approach this from a pro-pagan stance and would like to be able to show that pagans are normal people, not to be feared.  

I have emailed and contacted some pagan groups via the internet to try and gather data and participants so I am waiting to hear back from the various groups.  

I would like ideally like to have my documentary with stills and voiceover in a kind of style of the film ‘La Jetee’ to reflect the subtle and gentle almost artistic feel to most earth based religions. I intend to record the interviews on a Marantz since the sound quality is good.   

I am still wondering if I need to include some video or not as ideally I want something hitting and effective without it but am worried I may need it to link things up if I do have the stills making a movie.

I would like to include images of the natural world and pagan objects as well as maybe people and also animals. I want a wide range of images that explain and showcase paganism in a positive light.

I think I would really like to fade on some kind of sunset shot since that is a very natural close and paganism is all about the natural world.

I am hoping overall to have an artistically beautiful piece as well as to make my statement (that being that pagans are just people too) and I hope it flows coherently.

MEDI 236: Documentary Project- Original Proposal

My initial ideas were to do a photo journalism piece about winter in London  since I go there for winter break. I was thinking however that a few pictures would lack any real entertainment value and not be very gripping or go anywhere. It was then I thought of 'La jetée' the film that '12 Monkeys' was based on and thought that it would be interesting to make a documentary in this style. The main idea would still be to try and capture winter in the suburbs around London but maybe in a more whimsical light or with a holiday feel. I would like to have some voices and a sound track with the images to flesh it out a little. I may choose to include a very small amount of filmed footage like in 'La jetée' to better blend it but I would like to approach it from a fairly artistic standpoint. The main crux of this is I am hoping for snow and a lot of it. It is something I find breathtaking and would hope it is fairly interesting subject matter. So in essence the film would consist of mainly stills and a sound track.