The following is my first attempt at a synopsis of my intended installation. It's purpose is to give a brief description of the work itself and a short bio for promotional purposes.
Triptych Exhibition
Thursday, 29 July 2010
Monday, 26 July 2010
Post-animation depression
Fulfilling what I set out to do still feels quite empty in some ways. Every time I produce an animation I am reminded that in order to do this all the time I would need resources that I simply don't have. I have only been able to produce animation when I am studying at an institution that has the facilities that I need.
I had a notion that if I were to film something that is much lighter than my previous 'dark' work it would somehow quell the self-loathing that I sometimes feel. Despite the positive feedback I still feel the same about this animation as I have with every other piece of work that I have produced. I feel empty when I am not animating, it doesn't matter what the content of the animation is, I am in love with the process, with the movement and expression. It's like life is something that just happens when I am not working, I try to take part, to play the game, socialise, engage, earn money and perform but I only ever feel like myself When I am at home with Duncan, talking about my work or when I am creating animated 'things'. At the moment I am very much alone without a sounding board. As it is the summer NUCA is devoid of people, my peers and I are working on our projects independently as there aren't as many tutors around. Alone in a vacuum I start to doubt what I have done.
It's at this stage that I feel like I should do it all over again because it's 'not good enough', really it's just because I enjoyed doing it so much that I don't want it to end. It's now that I start to feel really alone but no longer able to socialise because I have spent too long being absorbed in my work. I begin to look at the mundane every-day things and worry about the money I have spent pursuing this. I hear the voice of every single person who has told me that what I am doing is a waste of time and I feel like an idiot.
Viva la pessimism.
This is the part I hate.
I seek out things that I think might 'cheer me up', too mentally exhausted to think about the next project. I go out with friends and feel like I left an important part of me somewhere else. I make Dunks meals on autopilot, with a fake smile and hope that he doesn't notice. The façade slips a little more than it usually does and I start to act like an asshole. I can no longer deal with conversations that don't have anything to do with my work. So how do I pull myself out of this self absorbed hole?
The only thing that has ever worked is to move onto the next project. However, there are things I still need to do with this project. I need to organise musicians, e-mail people, promote a piece of work that I no longer believe in, write evaluations, study sound theory, look into exhibition opportunities...
I have about 3 weeks left of feeling like this, listlessly moving from one thing to the next, before the chaos will envelop me again as we prepare for the exhibition and I prepare myself to start back at my job. I can't think beyond that.
It's not the worst kind of depression but it is tedious, expected and not really much fun :(
I had a notion that if I were to film something that is much lighter than my previous 'dark' work it would somehow quell the self-loathing that I sometimes feel. Despite the positive feedback I still feel the same about this animation as I have with every other piece of work that I have produced. I feel empty when I am not animating, it doesn't matter what the content of the animation is, I am in love with the process, with the movement and expression. It's like life is something that just happens when I am not working, I try to take part, to play the game, socialise, engage, earn money and perform but I only ever feel like myself When I am at home with Duncan, talking about my work or when I am creating animated 'things'. At the moment I am very much alone without a sounding board. As it is the summer NUCA is devoid of people, my peers and I are working on our projects independently as there aren't as many tutors around. Alone in a vacuum I start to doubt what I have done.
It's at this stage that I feel like I should do it all over again because it's 'not good enough', really it's just because I enjoyed doing it so much that I don't want it to end. It's now that I start to feel really alone but no longer able to socialise because I have spent too long being absorbed in my work. I begin to look at the mundane every-day things and worry about the money I have spent pursuing this. I hear the voice of every single person who has told me that what I am doing is a waste of time and I feel like an idiot.
Viva la pessimism.
This is the part I hate.
I seek out things that I think might 'cheer me up', too mentally exhausted to think about the next project. I go out with friends and feel like I left an important part of me somewhere else. I make Dunks meals on autopilot, with a fake smile and hope that he doesn't notice. The façade slips a little more than it usually does and I start to act like an asshole. I can no longer deal with conversations that don't have anything to do with my work. So how do I pull myself out of this self absorbed hole?
The only thing that has ever worked is to move onto the next project. However, there are things I still need to do with this project. I need to organise musicians, e-mail people, promote a piece of work that I no longer believe in, write evaluations, study sound theory, look into exhibition opportunities...
I have about 3 weeks left of feeling like this, listlessly moving from one thing to the next, before the chaos will envelop me again as we prepare for the exhibition and I prepare myself to start back at my job. I can't think beyond that.
It's not the worst kind of depression but it is tedious, expected and not really much fun :(
Update 6
I think I have about 3 weeks to go until the deadline for our reel so today might be a good time to stop, reiterate what has happened and evaluate the work so far.
I feel that I can sit back and say that I am proud of the style that I have developed for this particular piece. I think that the materials that I have employed work very well together, the relationship between the different mediums can be manipulated to cause some visually interesting effects. It does seem quite different to anything that I have done before so my hope is that it stands out from the other forms of animation that are commonly used.
I have been trying to put my work into context by looking at what else is out there. I have been able to find very little in the way of animated triptychs other than the research that I have already included in this blog. I think that one of the issues I have with looking at other animations is that my current work has more in common with painting than it does with animation. I am coming to accept that I am an artist who happens to animate, not an animator. When people think of animation they think about story-boards, dopesheets, characters, scripts and for the most part it is something that many people still see as a medium that is aimed at children. I'm not sure I should ever produce work that is aimed at children.
The process of trial and error used for this project has worked better than any amount of planning ever has done. When I have made my stop-motion animations with Elizabeth I felt that the 'Murderer' animation (which was the least planned) actually worked better than most of my other animations. I had such a small time-frame that I had no option but to perform the animation as I went along. This is similar to the way that I approached the triptych. I had an idea of what I wanted to do:
I think that I have achieved everything that I set out to achieve for the visual proportion of this project. I may not have stuck to the theory as strictly as I imagined I would but I'm not sure that I needed to. I'm glad that I did have that theoretical basis as otherwise I might have floundered in a sea of infinite possibilities, as it stood I found suitable theory, read and researched and then took what I knew into the room when I animated. Would anyone be able to tell that I had been looking at Carl Jung? Probably not. Not unless I somehow include a Jung reference in the title of my work, which may happen yet as I am still undecided on a title.
The sound aspect of this project is quite complex. I quickly found that it might be difficult to make a mainstream form of music that would fit the brief. As the animation itself is quite experimental I felt that the sound should also reflect that quality, so after a few 'wrong turns' I finally found a type of musician that could take on the challenge and would have an appreciation of the nature of the triptych.
I find it regrettable that I didn't try to source musicians until I had finished the triptych. It's not that I have felt particularly pushed for time but the time in between finishing the visuals and sourcing the musicians worried me a bit. I did start to feel like this was the point at which it could all fall apart. Luckily my networking paid off and I have had the pleasure of meeting some musicians who are tuned in to what I am doing. It's been helpful to make these associations as I am looking not only at my current project but also thinking about what I might do when I have finished the MA. The people I met at Mopomoso have introduced me to a different approach to music and one that I feel suits my own creative style.
In a way I have ended up with more than I could have hoped for. Instead of finding one musician that was able to help, I found quite a few who were willing to just go off with the brief and create their own musical interpretation inspired by the animation. This has meant that my main role in the sound production was that of coordinator rather than someone who has originated the sound themselves. I knew from the start that I would need to recruit people who could play instruments better than I can, but I had imagined that I might have been able to be present during recordings or been able to give the musicians a lot more direction than I have.
Given the nature of this project I am happy with my decision to collaborate more freely than I had initially planned. Having spoken to the musicians I have been assured that they understand what the project entails, and having seen the type of music that they are involved it I am quite happy to let them do what they need to do without too much interference from me.
My main function in relation to the sound has been:
Research
Most of my research in relation to the sound design was done online as this was the quickest and easiest way of accessing the range of media (inc. audio and video) that was needed for me to be able to get an idea any aural aesthetic. I had regular tutorials with Tom Simmons once I was ready to engage in the sound aspect of the triptych and I found this quite helpful. I would typically make some notes on any suggestions that Tom gave me and use that as a basis, for example, he mentioned the London Improvisers Orchestra (LIO) which led me to come across the Mopomoso site and subsequently make contact with John Russell. There were a great deal of avenues that I didn't explore as I tend to go with what feels right to me.
Contact
At first I tried to source local musicians. I asked around to see if I could find anyone who was suitable. I made a blog post that called for musicians so I had some way of distributing the brief among interested parties. Suzie suggested a local cellist but she didn't reply to my e-mail so I can only assume that she wasn't interested. I posted something on a local music forum and had a response from a local musician who I met with a couple of times but he drifted away and I started to feel a little bit lost. I went into the Playhouse to ask about exhibition opportunities and showed them my work. They suggested that Phil Archer and Liam Wells might be worth talking to. I e-mailed them both and ended up working with Phil.
I explored other avenues as well as trying to source people locally. I e-mailed as many people from the LIO as I could, finding their e-mails through various web pages. I got in contact with Mike at Ditto TV who said that he had a musician in mind who might be able to help too. After finding the Mopomoso Friends network on Ning and establishing this as a point of contact things moved quite quickly. I put a copy of the finished animation on there to see if anyone was interested, at that point I got a response from John Russell who seemed more than happy to help and he invited me to their night at The Vortex in Hackney which turned out to be the most successful way of contacting people.
Collaboration
It's difficult to say if face-to-face contact has been more effective than remote (online) communication. it has to be said that once I had met some of the Mopomoso musicians in person I definitely felt that we had connected in a way that wouldn't have been possible via e-mail. Although I am very much used to communicating on forums and through messages and e-mails, I think that so much more can be said during a real world meeting and the conversation is less abbreviated.
In the case of the musician from Norwich I have come to assume that it was something about our face-to-face meetings that put him off working with me. Sometimes I can be a little scary to people who are quite shy or quiet as I tend to be brash and excitable sometimes. He seemed enthusiastic at the beginning but it soon became apparent that he had drifted away so I turned more towards the other musicians that I have met.
To meet with someone first and then communicate via e-mails seems to be the best way forwards. Once you have met someone I think that people feel more of a psychological obligation to that person. It's easy to dismiss someone that you have never met before as there is no physical form to identify with so it's easier to distance yourself.
To be continued....
Animation
I feel that I can sit back and say that I am proud of the style that I have developed for this particular piece. I think that the materials that I have employed work very well together, the relationship between the different mediums can be manipulated to cause some visually interesting effects. It does seem quite different to anything that I have done before so my hope is that it stands out from the other forms of animation that are commonly used.
I have been trying to put my work into context by looking at what else is out there. I have been able to find very little in the way of animated triptychs other than the research that I have already included in this blog. I think that one of the issues I have with looking at other animations is that my current work has more in common with painting than it does with animation. I am coming to accept that I am an artist who happens to animate, not an animator. When people think of animation they think about story-boards, dopesheets, characters, scripts and for the most part it is something that many people still see as a medium that is aimed at children. I'm not sure I should ever produce work that is aimed at children.
The process of trial and error used for this project has worked better than any amount of planning ever has done. When I have made my stop-motion animations with Elizabeth I felt that the 'Murderer' animation (which was the least planned) actually worked better than most of my other animations. I had such a small time-frame that I had no option but to perform the animation as I went along. This is similar to the way that I approached the triptych. I had an idea of what I wanted to do:
- I wanted the medium to be beautiful in some way.
- I wanted to produce something that is lighter or more hopeful than most of my other animations have been.
- The animation needed to be autobiographical in some way.
- I wanted to express emotion effectively.
- I wanted to use glass on a lightbox and work 2 dimensionally.
- I needed to have a psychological basis for the theory.
- The animation would be in triptych format.
I think that I have achieved everything that I set out to achieve for the visual proportion of this project. I may not have stuck to the theory as strictly as I imagined I would but I'm not sure that I needed to. I'm glad that I did have that theoretical basis as otherwise I might have floundered in a sea of infinite possibilities, as it stood I found suitable theory, read and researched and then took what I knew into the room when I animated. Would anyone be able to tell that I had been looking at Carl Jung? Probably not. Not unless I somehow include a Jung reference in the title of my work, which may happen yet as I am still undecided on a title.
Sound design
The sound aspect of this project is quite complex. I quickly found that it might be difficult to make a mainstream form of music that would fit the brief. As the animation itself is quite experimental I felt that the sound should also reflect that quality, so after a few 'wrong turns' I finally found a type of musician that could take on the challenge and would have an appreciation of the nature of the triptych.
I find it regrettable that I didn't try to source musicians until I had finished the triptych. It's not that I have felt particularly pushed for time but the time in between finishing the visuals and sourcing the musicians worried me a bit. I did start to feel like this was the point at which it could all fall apart. Luckily my networking paid off and I have had the pleasure of meeting some musicians who are tuned in to what I am doing. It's been helpful to make these associations as I am looking not only at my current project but also thinking about what I might do when I have finished the MA. The people I met at Mopomoso have introduced me to a different approach to music and one that I feel suits my own creative style.
In a way I have ended up with more than I could have hoped for. Instead of finding one musician that was able to help, I found quite a few who were willing to just go off with the brief and create their own musical interpretation inspired by the animation. This has meant that my main role in the sound production was that of coordinator rather than someone who has originated the sound themselves. I knew from the start that I would need to recruit people who could play instruments better than I can, but I had imagined that I might have been able to be present during recordings or been able to give the musicians a lot more direction than I have.
Given the nature of this project I am happy with my decision to collaborate more freely than I had initially planned. Having spoken to the musicians I have been assured that they understand what the project entails, and having seen the type of music that they are involved it I am quite happy to let them do what they need to do without too much interference from me.
My main function in relation to the sound has been:
- To establish (through careful research) what kind musical genre might lend itself well to this type of project.
- To make contact with and source people from within that genre.
- To liaise with the musicians and make sure they have a good understanding of the nature of the project.
- To document the process as it evolves.
- To work towards an effective collaboration that is mutually beneficial.
Research
Most of my research in relation to the sound design was done online as this was the quickest and easiest way of accessing the range of media (inc. audio and video) that was needed for me to be able to get an idea any aural aesthetic. I had regular tutorials with Tom Simmons once I was ready to engage in the sound aspect of the triptych and I found this quite helpful. I would typically make some notes on any suggestions that Tom gave me and use that as a basis, for example, he mentioned the London Improvisers Orchestra (LIO) which led me to come across the Mopomoso site and subsequently make contact with John Russell. There were a great deal of avenues that I didn't explore as I tend to go with what feels right to me.
Contact
At first I tried to source local musicians. I asked around to see if I could find anyone who was suitable. I made a blog post that called for musicians so I had some way of distributing the brief among interested parties. Suzie suggested a local cellist but she didn't reply to my e-mail so I can only assume that she wasn't interested. I posted something on a local music forum and had a response from a local musician who I met with a couple of times but he drifted away and I started to feel a little bit lost. I went into the Playhouse to ask about exhibition opportunities and showed them my work. They suggested that Phil Archer and Liam Wells might be worth talking to. I e-mailed them both and ended up working with Phil.
I explored other avenues as well as trying to source people locally. I e-mailed as many people from the LIO as I could, finding their e-mails through various web pages. I got in contact with Mike at Ditto TV who said that he had a musician in mind who might be able to help too. After finding the Mopomoso Friends network on Ning and establishing this as a point of contact things moved quite quickly. I put a copy of the finished animation on there to see if anyone was interested, at that point I got a response from John Russell who seemed more than happy to help and he invited me to their night at The Vortex in Hackney which turned out to be the most successful way of contacting people.
Collaboration
It's difficult to say if face-to-face contact has been more effective than remote (online) communication. it has to be said that once I had met some of the Mopomoso musicians in person I definitely felt that we had connected in a way that wouldn't have been possible via e-mail. Although I am very much used to communicating on forums and through messages and e-mails, I think that so much more can be said during a real world meeting and the conversation is less abbreviated.
In the case of the musician from Norwich I have come to assume that it was something about our face-to-face meetings that put him off working with me. Sometimes I can be a little scary to people who are quite shy or quiet as I tend to be brash and excitable sometimes. He seemed enthusiastic at the beginning but it soon became apparent that he had drifted away so I turned more towards the other musicians that I have met.
To meet with someone first and then communicate via e-mails seems to be the best way forwards. Once you have met someone I think that people feel more of a psychological obligation to that person. It's easy to dismiss someone that you have never met before as there is no physical form to identify with so it's easier to distance yourself.
To be continued....
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
John Cage
“There are two things that don’t have to mean anything; one is music, the other is laughter”
- Immanuel Kant
Interview dated 02/04/1991
I have been reading John Cage's 'Silence' in order to try and help me to understand the foundations of the modern avant garde (improvised) music. Cage is an extremely important figure in the world of experimental music and has influenced a great number of musicians.
http://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/08/arts/the-impact-and-influence-of-john-cage.html
"He asks his questions of the ''I Ching'' and of star maps, indeed of all manner of devices both ancient and random that ''free my mind (ego) from dislikes and likes.'' For both ''Atlas Eclipticalis'' and ''Etudes Boreales,'' Mr. Cage laid transparent paper over maps of the heavens, connecting the dots in ways suggested by the ''I Ching'' (the Chinese tome, when asked, told him to connect different colored stars in different ways), and then transferred those lines, with a minimum of compositional involvement and a maximum of graphic elegance, into conventional musical notation. For ''Ryoanji,'' the tracings were not of star maps but of 15 stones whose arrangement was suggested by the ''I Ching.'' For ''Winter Music,'' the ''I Ching'' was allied to ''imperfections in the paper upon which I was writing.''
Etudes Boreales
Ryoanji (interpreted by Joelle Leandre)20/11/09
John Cage: Freeman Etude #18 (1990) performed by Irvine Arditti
http://www.newalbion.com/artists/cagej/autobiog.html
More than anything I think that Cage was quite a philosopher and his experimental approach has inspired people from many different disciplines. Certainly a person of note in my sound-related research.
Tuesday, 20 July 2010
Sountrack by Phil Archer
***I will be updating this post as the work develops***
Phil Archer is anther person who I have managed to coerce into working with me on the triptych. I know Phil as he works in the Animation department at NUCA but I didn't think about asking for his help until someone at the Playhouse suggested it. Phil does very interesting things with electronics and programming so it is quite different from the improvised or traditional music that many of the other musicians that I have spoken to are involved in.
I do have an avid interest in electronic music but it is not something that I have ever really got involved in other than dabbling in DJing for about a year during my late teens. Some of my friends would use samplers and software like Cubase to make their own tracks. I love listening to the likes of Aphex Twin and Squarepusher but I always had more of an affinity with the individual noises rather than the musical composition itself. That might be why I enjoy creating foley sounds, I can be quite good at noise-making when I want to be!
Phil has been working on some software that uses the forms and movement from the triptych to shape the sound. Phil explained it better in his e-mail:
What I did was to make a little program that analysed the three starting shapes - red circle on the left, tree in the middle, and roots on the right - as they move and change throughout the film. This data (co-ordinates of the shape, size, density, etc.) was then used to control parameters of three physically modelled software instruments. This type of software instrument uses mathematical models to try and generate the sound that a real instrument would make rather than just using pre-recorded samples.Here is Phil's first attempt at the sound:
I have the opportunity of working with Phil on this soundtrack in a way that isn't possible with the other musicians as we are able to meet up regularly so I can have more input into what happens. I enjoyed the general feel of the sound as I feel that it embodies the sense of being lost and alone in a vast environment. One criticism would be that although the triptych starts off as something that is quite bleak and hostile it does become more positive towards the end. As the software merely follows the shapes it cannot create empathy for the character and has not picked up on my intended change in tone toward the end of the animation.
We now have to take a hard look at what works and what doesn't. I feel that the part where the character moves into the 3rd (Shadow) panel and cries is one of the strongest parts of the sound composition, as it is at the moment the sound suits that part really well, I feel that it is the right sound.
I suggested the kinds of sound that might work. Some short mischievous, childlike sounds for the little character as it appears in the centre (Ego) panel, possibly starting off with a higher pitch and ending up lower at the end of the animation to denote the growth of the character. I feel that some kind of icy or crispy sound needs to be added when the salt is used in the animation as this changes the texture. We will review what we have once we have built up another layer of sound.
2nd version:
To build on that we talked about the emotional tone for the piece. My previous work has been quite macabre but for the purpose of this project I wanted to make something that was much lighter. Although it starts of quite bleak and lonely the figure then becomes less afraid of it's surroundings and finds another figure. This meant that the tone needed to become more hopeful towards the end so Phil created another layer of sound to reflect this:
Monday, 19 July 2010
Mopomoso
I had the pleasure of being invited to the Mopomoso night at the Vortex in Hackney. John Russell and Chris Burn founded Mopomoso in 1991, the following is a statement on their website:
I have not had much experience of improvised music. When researching I came across several videos on Youtube and thought that it looked interesting but beyond that I hadn't much knowledge of it as an art form. When I managed to make contact with John I found him to be very helpful and he invited me down to his night at The Vortex. I took Tom along with me and once we had managed to find our way in we were introduced to John who in turn introduced us to a plethora of extremely creative and open minded people.
I had some idea of what to expect from watching the Youtube videos, most of which were filmed by Helen Petts, but nothing really prepares you for the dramatic ambience that accompanies this kind of performance.
The first set came from Josef Klammer and Seppo Grundler. They used a variety of instruments and electronics during their set. There was a touch of the theatre about the way that they interacted with one another, sometimes resembling mime artists in their expressions, especially Klammer. I tried hard to ignore the fact that Grundler bares a striking resemblance to my dentist.
Josef Klammer & Seppo Grundler, Mopomoso July 18th 2010
The next set was performed by The Fantastique Quintette comprising of Dave Tucker (guitar), Dave Solomon (drums), Sonia Paco Rocchia (bassoon), Ricardo Tejero (reeds) and Pat Thomas (piano). Dave Tucker is also a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra (LIO) and someone else that I have been in contact with in relation to this project. Again, one of the most interesting things from my perspective was to watch how the musicians reacted and interacted with each other. What makes this kind of music so special is that there are moments of pure genius amongst the relative chaos of 5 people playing instruments at the same time.
The Fantastique Quintette, Mopomoso July 18th 2010
Earlier I had been discussing with John how the sound (for my triptych) might have to be recorded. He had said that it's quite important for the improvisers to be able to see each other so that they would react in their usual way, but as my track needs to be split into 3 parts it would be impossible for the parts that are to be separate to be recorded in the same room as the mics would invariably pick up the other instruments as well as the instrument it is assigned to. Having watched a couple of performances I can see that at times during the set it is important for the performers to be able to interact visually. However, in places it seems that the musicians are only concentrating on their own instruments and barely cast a glance elsewhere. I started to ponder this and wondered exactly what it would mean for the musicians if they were only looking at the animation, would it change the performance in a negative way?
I also spoke to Will Connor who was sound man for the evening. We have been exchanging e-mails and hopefully he will be able to pull some sound together before the deadline. His booking agent is another useful contact as I will be looking to exhibit after the MA show at NUCA. As Will has worked on film sound as well as improvised music it stands to reason that he would be an ideal person to have on board.
All of these people (As well as just being damn nice people to talk to) are useful to know given my current interest in abstract animation. As my image-making becomes more inclined towards abstraction I feel that the accompanying sound-world should reflect that. I have never been a big fan of just sticking a 'song' over the top of my animations. The world of the music video is quite far removed from the techniques that I am employing at the moment so I knew that if I were to use music it would have to veer strongly towards the avant garde. What strikes me is the parallel between artists and musicians and the way that improvised music relates to fine art. Many artists who end up working non-figuratively, conceptually or in a visually abstract way have first proven that they are accomplished artists in their own right. Likewise the majority of improvising musicians are skilled professionals in their musical field who wish to get more out of their art. Improvising is a good test of musical ability as the musician has to think on their feet and react instantly, sometimes dealing with constantly changing variables in the form of other musicians.
For the final act John was performing with violinist Satoko Fukuda. I think that their set was probably my favourite as it had a more delicate feel than the previous performances. This performance was still very intense in it own way as the pair played beautifully together but it was less chaotic than the previous set. In places it sounded mournful, possibly because of the violin. I really enjoyed the moments of disharmony as I always feel that slightly discordant music gives that uncomfortable but at the same time wonderful feeling of unease.
John Russell & Satoko Fukuda, Mopomoso July 18th 2010
Having had a wonderful night and with my current project looking all the more promising for making contact with some good musicians, I made it to Liverpool St with about 30 seconds to spare before my train departed. It seemed somehow perverse after an evening of so much art and culture that I should have to sit on a train that smelled like Stella and Big Macs.
We hold a passionate belief that improvised music, sometimes called free music or free improvisation offers many exciting opportunities both to players and listeners alike.
I have not had much experience of improvised music. When researching I came across several videos on Youtube and thought that it looked interesting but beyond that I hadn't much knowledge of it as an art form. When I managed to make contact with John I found him to be very helpful and he invited me down to his night at The Vortex. I took Tom along with me and once we had managed to find our way in we were introduced to John who in turn introduced us to a plethora of extremely creative and open minded people.
I had some idea of what to expect from watching the Youtube videos, most of which were filmed by Helen Petts, but nothing really prepares you for the dramatic ambience that accompanies this kind of performance.
The first set came from Josef Klammer and Seppo Grundler. They used a variety of instruments and electronics during their set. There was a touch of the theatre about the way that they interacted with one another, sometimes resembling mime artists in their expressions, especially Klammer. I tried hard to ignore the fact that Grundler bares a striking resemblance to my dentist.
Josef Klammer & Seppo Grundler, Mopomoso July 18th 2010
The next set was performed by The Fantastique Quintette comprising of Dave Tucker (guitar), Dave Solomon (drums), Sonia Paco Rocchia (bassoon), Ricardo Tejero (reeds) and Pat Thomas (piano). Dave Tucker is also a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra (LIO) and someone else that I have been in contact with in relation to this project. Again, one of the most interesting things from my perspective was to watch how the musicians reacted and interacted with each other. What makes this kind of music so special is that there are moments of pure genius amongst the relative chaos of 5 people playing instruments at the same time.
The Fantastique Quintette, Mopomoso July 18th 2010
Earlier I had been discussing with John how the sound (for my triptych) might have to be recorded. He had said that it's quite important for the improvisers to be able to see each other so that they would react in their usual way, but as my track needs to be split into 3 parts it would be impossible for the parts that are to be separate to be recorded in the same room as the mics would invariably pick up the other instruments as well as the instrument it is assigned to. Having watched a couple of performances I can see that at times during the set it is important for the performers to be able to interact visually. However, in places it seems that the musicians are only concentrating on their own instruments and barely cast a glance elsewhere. I started to ponder this and wondered exactly what it would mean for the musicians if they were only looking at the animation, would it change the performance in a negative way?
I also spoke to Will Connor who was sound man for the evening. We have been exchanging e-mails and hopefully he will be able to pull some sound together before the deadline. His booking agent is another useful contact as I will be looking to exhibit after the MA show at NUCA. As Will has worked on film sound as well as improvised music it stands to reason that he would be an ideal person to have on board.
All of these people (As well as just being damn nice people to talk to) are useful to know given my current interest in abstract animation. As my image-making becomes more inclined towards abstraction I feel that the accompanying sound-world should reflect that. I have never been a big fan of just sticking a 'song' over the top of my animations. The world of the music video is quite far removed from the techniques that I am employing at the moment so I knew that if I were to use music it would have to veer strongly towards the avant garde. What strikes me is the parallel between artists and musicians and the way that improvised music relates to fine art. Many artists who end up working non-figuratively, conceptually or in a visually abstract way have first proven that they are accomplished artists in their own right. Likewise the majority of improvising musicians are skilled professionals in their musical field who wish to get more out of their art. Improvising is a good test of musical ability as the musician has to think on their feet and react instantly, sometimes dealing with constantly changing variables in the form of other musicians.
For the final act John was performing with violinist Satoko Fukuda. I think that their set was probably my favourite as it had a more delicate feel than the previous performances. This performance was still very intense in it own way as the pair played beautifully together but it was less chaotic than the previous set. In places it sounded mournful, possibly because of the violin. I really enjoyed the moments of disharmony as I always feel that slightly discordant music gives that uncomfortable but at the same time wonderful feeling of unease.
John Russell & Satoko Fukuda, Mopomoso July 18th 2010
Having had a wonderful night and with my current project looking all the more promising for making contact with some good musicians, I made it to Liverpool St with about 30 seconds to spare before my train departed. It seemed somehow perverse after an evening of so much art and culture that I should have to sit on a train that smelled like Stella and Big Macs.
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
What's in a name?
It's got the the point where I feel that I need a name for my triptych, other than just calling it triptych which seems a bit empty. As it is looking like there will be several versions of the animation with different soundtracks (thought the imagery is exactly the same) I feel like it should be able to be named in a series.
I think I like the idea of using maybe numbers and letters mixed together in a way that looks interesting. Maybe I could just number them but use some kind of system that makes sense in some way. There are 3 panels and the animation is 3 mins long so something mathematical to do with the number 3 might be apt.
However there might be some wordage that would have more of a shared common meaning so it's easier to identify something about the piece. I'm just not sure so any suggestions are welcome.
I think I like the idea of using maybe numbers and letters mixed together in a way that looks interesting. Maybe I could just number them but use some kind of system that makes sense in some way. There are 3 panels and the animation is 3 mins long so something mathematical to do with the number 3 might be apt.
However there might be some wordage that would have more of a shared common meaning so it's easier to identify something about the piece. I'm just not sure so any suggestions are welcome.
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
Update 5
The visuals are finished now, they just need to be colour graded. I met with the external assessor on Monday and he suggested maybe looping parts of it to help with the sound design. Although I appreciate his suggestion I think that this would not be something that I would consider at this stage. I can see that this might make it easier to accompany traditional types of music but I think that it would not only change the aesthetic but also infringe on the improvised technique.
This project has been rather unusual for me in relation to the processes that I have employed. Just before I began this I had been under the impression that everything in life would be much improved if I was only able to organise myself an plan a little better. At the start (during the self-negotiated project) I had tried to reign myself in by drawing up timetables and plans of what I thought should happen in order for me to achieve what I had set out to do.
I have found that my creative work doesn't like to be organised or planned, unlike academic work which benefits from a little foresight. Getting the balance right was tricky at first but once I let go of the project and allowed it too simply exist and grow I found that I wanted to spend time documenting it. After I had finished the 4 'Ego' animations I had reached a creative 'point of no return' and I wasn't really able to document things as I went along. When in a creative/practical work-flow I find it hard to keep up with recording my thoughts. Most of the time was spent animating, editing, thinking about my work and floating through the other parts of my life that require attention like earning money and trying to keep on top of the chaos that is my home.
I started with the centre (Ego) panel and 'performed' 4 animations, I felt happy enough with the fourth animation to use it as a basis for the right (Shadow) panel. After watching some video triptychs I had decided that it would be interesting for some of the things that occurred in one panel to carry over into the next one so that the viewers eye is taken from one panel to the next instead of focussing on the centre. I measured and marked the points where 'events' needed to spread into the next panel, and made a note of where (in time) they would need to coincide.
The fruit (Persona), the tree (Ego) and it's roots (Shadow).
Aside from coordinating some of the movement and events the rest of the animation was decided as I went along. I repeated the process with the left (Persona) panel. I performed the shadow animation about 3 times and the persona twice so it's probably fair to say that I got better as I went along.
The shadow panel is filmed closer than the Persona. This was a visual device that I used to denote the depth of concious involvement. I suppose the reasoning behind this was that the Shadow is more of an internal part of the psyche and as such we are closer to it in some ways, as it is buried deep inside. The persona is more superficial, I feel more detached from that part of the psyche for some reason. Logically it probably should have been the other way around, I would have thought that most people would feel (psychologically) further away from their Shadow. I have a feeling that my thinking was that as the Shadow is internal and the Persona largely external that we are in a way much closer to what is on the inside.
The figure representing me mostly appears in the Ego panel and is born from the parent 'tree'.
The middle (Ego) panel is mostly concerned with depicting events, negative feelings and emotions are in the Shadow panel and outward projections in the Persona. The shock of the father figure leaving the Ego panel leads to the figure (made of broken glass) leaving the persona. In a sense I let my persona slip when I left home, I no longer had to wear such a mask just to fit in like I did at school. I had to keep myself in check as I was living with a new family but I spent the majority of my time with my friends, and a great deal of the time I was not exactly compos mentis. When in an altered state, be it through alcohol, drugs or psychological issues the persona can be almost totally disregarded.
The shock of the father figure leaving the Ego panel leads to the figure 'leaving' the persona.
After the figure leaves the persona a single 'blob' forms. I use bubbles in this panel as it felt like the right substance as it has an almost literal interpretation in this piece. This panel bleeds and bubbles intermittently until the second 'blob' from the Ego panel invades the persona, at this point the panel clears somewhat as the detergent is introduced.
My figure retreats into the roots on the Ego panel and this is mirrored by the roots on the Shadow panel being filled with a dark red colour.
People who have watched it have seemed a little taken back when events spill from one panel to the next, like it somehow breaks a rule or they weren't expecting it. I am happy with the way that this works, although the panels are separate animations the integrated movement somehow brings them together. I can see that if I had filmed it as one animation and then split it into three panels it wouldn't have worked in the same way.
My figure moves off into the Shadow panel and cries with it's back to the Ego.
My figure re-enters the Ego as the lighter colours begin to emerge in the Persona.
Another 'blob' starts to evolve in the Ego and my character pokes at it as the persona and Shadow become lighter.
When I performed my first Ego panel I struggled to introduce my partner's character without it looking contrived or too sentimental. I stand by my decision to include him as I feel that he has been an enormous part of my development and we have been together for so long that we function together as a unit.
'I' discover another figure in the Ego as the dark red drips through the Shadow. Another 'blob' appears in the Persona as I am no longer single.
The two 'blob's in the Persona panel merge slightly as their contents spill together, while the two characters in the Ego combine totally to form a new 'blob'. The Shadow becomes much lighter and not so dense.
Towards the end of the animation the panels look quite similar as the detergent disperses the oil and pigment. In my mind it is a union of differing aspects of the psyche, an evolution or an epiphany of sorts. It has a lot to do with learning to deal with negativity, coming to terms with the self and functioning within a relationship. It's not the end of a story, but the start of a new chapter. In this sense the final movement of liquids in the left (Persona) panel, when they move from the left towards the right of the panel is a lot like a page turning. It's movement is quite different in direction to the rest of the moving liquids in the animation and I think it brings on the end quite nicely.
The project
This project has been rather unusual for me in relation to the processes that I have employed. Just before I began this I had been under the impression that everything in life would be much improved if I was only able to organise myself an plan a little better. At the start (during the self-negotiated project) I had tried to reign myself in by drawing up timetables and plans of what I thought should happen in order for me to achieve what I had set out to do.
I have found that my creative work doesn't like to be organised or planned, unlike academic work which benefits from a little foresight. Getting the balance right was tricky at first but once I let go of the project and allowed it too simply exist and grow I found that I wanted to spend time documenting it. After I had finished the 4 'Ego' animations I had reached a creative 'point of no return' and I wasn't really able to document things as I went along. When in a creative/practical work-flow I find it hard to keep up with recording my thoughts. Most of the time was spent animating, editing, thinking about my work and floating through the other parts of my life that require attention like earning money and trying to keep on top of the chaos that is my home.
Method
I started with the centre (Ego) panel and 'performed' 4 animations, I felt happy enough with the fourth animation to use it as a basis for the right (Shadow) panel. After watching some video triptychs I had decided that it would be interesting for some of the things that occurred in one panel to carry over into the next one so that the viewers eye is taken from one panel to the next instead of focussing on the centre. I measured and marked the points where 'events' needed to spread into the next panel, and made a note of where (in time) they would need to coincide.
The fruit (Persona), the tree (Ego) and it's roots (Shadow).
Aside from coordinating some of the movement and events the rest of the animation was decided as I went along. I repeated the process with the left (Persona) panel. I performed the shadow animation about 3 times and the persona twice so it's probably fair to say that I got better as I went along.
The shadow panel is filmed closer than the Persona. This was a visual device that I used to denote the depth of concious involvement. I suppose the reasoning behind this was that the Shadow is more of an internal part of the psyche and as such we are closer to it in some ways, as it is buried deep inside. The persona is more superficial, I feel more detached from that part of the psyche for some reason. Logically it probably should have been the other way around, I would have thought that most people would feel (psychologically) further away from their Shadow. I have a feeling that my thinking was that as the Shadow is internal and the Persona largely external that we are in a way much closer to what is on the inside.
The figure representing me mostly appears in the Ego panel and is born from the parent 'tree'.
The middle (Ego) panel is mostly concerned with depicting events, negative feelings and emotions are in the Shadow panel and outward projections in the Persona. The shock of the father figure leaving the Ego panel leads to the figure (made of broken glass) leaving the persona. In a sense I let my persona slip when I left home, I no longer had to wear such a mask just to fit in like I did at school. I had to keep myself in check as I was living with a new family but I spent the majority of my time with my friends, and a great deal of the time I was not exactly compos mentis. When in an altered state, be it through alcohol, drugs or psychological issues the persona can be almost totally disregarded.
The shock of the father figure leaving the Ego panel leads to the figure 'leaving' the persona.
Interaction between panels
After the figure leaves the persona a single 'blob' forms. I use bubbles in this panel as it felt like the right substance as it has an almost literal interpretation in this piece. This panel bleeds and bubbles intermittently until the second 'blob' from the Ego panel invades the persona, at this point the panel clears somewhat as the detergent is introduced.
My figure retreats into the roots on the Ego panel and this is mirrored by the roots on the Shadow panel being filled with a dark red colour.
People who have watched it have seemed a little taken back when events spill from one panel to the next, like it somehow breaks a rule or they weren't expecting it. I am happy with the way that this works, although the panels are separate animations the integrated movement somehow brings them together. I can see that if I had filmed it as one animation and then split it into three panels it wouldn't have worked in the same way.
My figure moves off into the Shadow panel and cries with it's back to the Ego.
My figure re-enters the Ego as the lighter colours begin to emerge in the Persona.
Another 'blob' starts to evolve in the Ego and my character pokes at it as the persona and Shadow become lighter.
Figurative elements
I initially imagined that I might produce something that was purely abstract but after some audience research I decided to include a figurative element so that the viewers would find it easier to identify with and engage with the animation. It was fairly easy to produce a figure or character that represented myself, I suppose that it would be logical that I would be more comfortable with creating an animated version of myself. One of my friends has frequently pointed out that Elizabeth moves like me. The way I work is to act through the medium of animation and this is probably more apparent in my work with Elizabeth than it was during this project. Still it was easier to create a representation of myself than it was to try and depict Duncan in some way.
When I performed my first Ego panel I struggled to introduce my partner's character without it looking contrived or too sentimental. I stand by my decision to include him as I feel that he has been an enormous part of my development and we have been together for so long that we function together as a unit.
'I' discover another figure in the Ego as the dark red drips through the Shadow. Another 'blob' appears in the Persona as I am no longer single.
The two 'blob's in the Persona panel merge slightly as their contents spill together, while the two characters in the Ego combine totally to form a new 'blob'. The Shadow becomes much lighter and not so dense.
Towards the end of the animation the panels look quite similar as the detergent disperses the oil and pigment. In my mind it is a union of differing aspects of the psyche, an evolution or an epiphany of sorts. It has a lot to do with learning to deal with negativity, coming to terms with the self and functioning within a relationship. It's not the end of a story, but the start of a new chapter. In this sense the final movement of liquids in the left (Persona) panel, when they move from the left towards the right of the panel is a lot like a page turning. It's movement is quite different in direction to the rest of the moving liquids in the animation and I think it brings on the end quite nicely.
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