solaced

ADAD1001 Studio

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[group assessment]

initial concepts

Event ideas?

- Advertisement?

- Video-based

- Annihilation film - as in desire, beauty and dystopia

- Playtest - Black Mirror (Netflix) - Stimulation

- “Have you ever desired something so bad?”

- Framing desire as an addiction

- Wanting something that we can’t have

- Incorporating an advertisement

- Recovery groups

→ Start with a rolling TV of advertisement

→ Everyone tell their stories

Weekly Concepts

- Affect and body politics

- Context and time

- Value

- Static, noise, interference, glitch

- Desire

- Reflection

- Desirous objects??? → Objects that we desire, list.

- Beauty, money, attention

Definition of Desire:

In other words, desire makes things happen. We can think of desire as the movement towards something (an object, idea, image) that it brings that something into being. Art and design often explore this productive potential of desire, playing with the idea of desire as something that mobilises, changes, and adds to daily life.

- Desire can allow a person to forget the ‘real world’ [hyperreality - inability to distinguish simulation from reality, particularly in technologically advanced postmodern societies]

Inspiration *to watch*

Annihilation

Black Mirror Season Three “Playtest”, “San Junipero”

Gucci x Frieze ‘Second Summer of Love’ Video Series (Aesthetics, Creative Direction)

Maniac - desire to find happiness [Hyperreality]

- ‘Ad buddy’

- Desire to find a pattern, get away from chaos

- “The only thing that matters is what’s real”

Description of miniseries

Annie Landsberg and Owen Milgrim are two strangers who are drawn to the late stages of a mysterious pharmaceutical trial. Each has a different reason for participating in the experiment – she is disaffected and aimless, fixated on broken relationships with her mother and sister, while he has struggled throughout his life with a disputed diagnosis of schizophrenia. The radical treatment, using pills that the inventor claims can repair anything about the mind, draws Annie, Owen and 10 other subjects into a three-day drug trial that they’re told will permanently solve all of their problems, with no complications or side effects. Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned.

Episode 2 25mins 45secs - video sequence of scientists explaining the pills [introduction of reality turning into a hyperreality]

- Desire for change in oneself

- Scientists desire to ‘fix’ others with the pills, so they can eventually fix themselves

Concepts

Infomercial

- talking about ‘desire’ as a product

- advertising an event to promote this product

- desire within a hyperreal context?

Utopia

- Collection of objects

- Advertisement/spokesperson roleplay? Or play?

1. What is our Utopia about?

2. What are our roles?

3. What are we promoting/advertising?

4. What objects will we create?

→ Expand our understanding of desire

beyond consumerist frameworks to

something that drives cultural and social

formations.

- Trial subjects

- Company trying to build a new utopia, building technology to… suppress desire?

- Desire is a distraction to a human’s purpose in life

- Each of the objects can be examples of ways objects can work in different scenarios

- Objects essentially sedate the subjects not to feel desire

VIDEO PLOT 

 - Subjects are desensitised, robotic, mundane, low energy levels

- As days go on the subjects lose their emotion and become more emotionless we become more reliant on the objects

- Video diary of subjects using the objects [shot over the period of a month] - can edit to only need to show a few days over that timeframe

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[group assessment] Inspiration

https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2017/06/26/for-millennials-thinking-and-emotions-are-equals-more-or-less/#a9c867b76f23 

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ADAD1002 Concept Statement

Cindy, Karla, Coco and Alicia

Desire is engrained in our human condition and it controls most if not all of our thoughts and actions. It mobilises, changes and adds to daily life. We wanted to explore the pervasiveness of desire and how it influences our daily activities, through the creation of a collection of video diary entries. These clips are based on the clinical trial of products that are designed to eliminate our ability to process emotion.  The company producing these products believes that emotion distracts people from completing tasks and being productive. Through the use of these products we are no longer distracted by our human tendencies and ultimately are stripped of our emotive capabilities. 

Inspired by Black Mirror, our video questions the effects of our dependence on technology and our consumerist inclinations. These impacts are not far from what artificial intelligence and smart assistance technologies could be doing to humans. 

The documentary ‘Human’ (2015) by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, reflects aspects that we seek to question in our video, particularly exploring what it means to be human.  The clip with José Mujica highlights his perspectives on consumerism and why we have the need to collect material items. 

In our video, desire is both being eradicated and brought to fruition. By letting these products remove our desire, are we not falling victim to the company’s desire for perfection?  

José Mujica, Human documentary

[cindy8750]

Broken Magazine perf.

[cindy8750]

Broken Magazine

[cindy8750]

AFFECTS & BODY POLITICS

My first assessment introduced some subtle propaganda, I thought the issue of technology vs. human was an interesting topic to advocate for. I found that it was intersting that Chris Burden was willing to get shot in the arm for a concept or something he stood for morally. Chris Burden works in Performance Art and Conceptual Art, he has produced some of the most shocking works in the 20th century, his main ideas that he was trying to portray included the reality of pain to an audience which had become desensitised to the plethora of television images of injured or dead American soldiers in Vietnam and the general domination of violence shown in the media.

I remember something I heard my parents talk about when I was younger about a monk who burnt himself in the busy streets of Saigon, with a bit of research I came up with the infamous image called ‘The Burning Monk’ (1963), where a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk in the name of Thich Quang Duc attempting to protest by using his body as political. He was fighting for the oppression of Buddhism in Vietnam by communists. Photographer Malcolm Browne captured the scene in Saigon for the Associated Press, it is now an iconic image. 

References:

https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/the-burning-monk-1963/

https://www.theartstory.org/artist-burden-chris.htm

[cindy8750]

HISTORY OF MASKS

Having been inspired by the history of masks and how theatrical performances in the Ancient Greek times had used them to illustrate a whole new character. I dove into the rich history of masks and what they were used for.

Masks were not only used amongst royalty at balls but also professionally at masques and ballet events. Later on there was an evolution of cinema film which enabled masks to be used to portray different characters, people, symbols. Famous movies or theatrical performances such as; The Phantom of the Opera, The Mask, Scream.

References:

Image: https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjoy9b0hsndAhXHFYgKHVXwBd0QjB16BAgBEAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ancientpages.com%2F2016%2F11%2F25%2Fancient-greek-costumes-masks-and-theater-in-focus%2F&psig=AOvVaw3Qk5QLYEbUMbdoqq4olWr8&ust=1537514742320521

Image 2: https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiM77n3h8ndAhWZZt4KHVWYAf4QjB16BAgBEAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.justposhmasks.com%2Fa-pair-of-greek-theatre-masks-venetian-harlequin-comedy-tragedy&psig=AOvVaw3Qk5QLYEbUMbdoqq4olWr8&ust=1537514742320521

http://www.historyofmasks.net/famous-masks/theater-masks/

[cindy8750]

Digital coding

I used these images as a reference to imitate technology on the mask. I brainstormed for a while on how I would interpret a mask that portrayed technology and it came to me whilst I was watching the matrix and seeing the coding and the world that the people were in and how they interacted with technology. 

References:

Images: https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjqnqTEhsndAhWZUd4KHTbcC2IQjB16BAgBEAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcryptotimes.org%2Fblockchain%2Fdigital-day-2018-highlights-eu-blockchain-partnership-initiative%2F&psig=AOvVaw2Tv_SvH5wOOo0LKGWPDVW0&ust=1537514638691283

https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjH___WhsndAhWaMt4KHdVcBnkQjB16BAgBEAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.colourbox.com%2Fvector%2Fabstract-blue-binary-computer-code-technology-data-background-vector-21227818&psig=AOvVaw0zlojv9L-qD0ZUEMlK1LTI&ust=1537514680444723

https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwil083fhsndAhUYfd4KHSnUCkQQjB16BAgBEAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fanyonecanlearntocode.com%2Fblog_posts%2Fwhich-coding-language-should-i-learn&psig=AOvVaw0zlojv9L-qD0ZUEMlK1LTI&ust=1537514680444723

[cindy8750]

Styrofoam & Thoughts

After playing with styrofoam and experimenting with its qualities I have realised that its surface is not solid to be drawn on, especially with a pencil. I tried to draw on eyebrows and it took off some pieces of the styrofoam. I actually found this material quite difficult to work with. Initially, I thought of carving out the eye area to mimic the digital image produced in my first assessment but after careful consideration and some mindful advice not to risk any injuries to myself I avoided cutting the eyes. Instead, I critically thought about how else I could portray the idea of identity and the fusion of technology which blurs the line between reality and fantasy. 

- Painting on the styrofoam was so easy, the acrylic paint dried up fast and although it was a smooth surface, the little holes in between were easily filled when you dip the paintbrush into the water and back onto the paint.

- I was suggested today to use malleable materials - I bought clay

--> Using clay was difficult to stick on the styrofoam, however when mixed it became a soft texture. If I had a larger portion of clay I could make the head. However, I had limited time to carry out experiments and execute ideas, so I stuck by the styrofoam 

[cindy8750]

Experimentation and Research

I was highly inspired by the works of Marcus Coates, he was born in London in 1968, he was awarded the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Artist Award in 2008. He works in various media, which includes photography, sculpture and sound. He is best known for his performative films, which explore encounters between the human and animal worlds, this is a key theme highlighted in most of his work. 

Above all, his work inspired me to observe the human nature and their connection with technology in contemporary society. I started by observing my siblings who basically have their heads glues to their phones all day. As soon as they wake up they’d get their phones and climb back into bed, same thing when they get home. They would be glued to their phone until dinner and then until they sleep and bring their phones out. After observing their routine and my routine which merely resembles theirs, it reiterated my need to carry on and portray this kind of concept on how humans and technology interact. 

References:

http://www.wildculture.com/article/masks-artists-make-faces/981

http://www.katemacgarry.com/artists/marcus-coates/

[cindy8750]

ASSESSMENT #2 ADAD1002

VIRTUAL IDENTITY - FINAL PROJECT

My final project was heavily inspired by Marcus Coates, a contemporary artist living in London. His work, Notodonta Dromerdarius (Moth) Self Portrait, Shaving Foam, 2013′ challenged the notion of defined consciousness for specific animal species through performing that ‘identity is not related to an abstract generalisation but to a particular way of seeing ourselves in relationship to nature’. With this, I took the approach of linking human relationships with the non-human relationship with technology and social media and how it causes us to act in a certain way and how we perceive the environment and ecology. I further researched into the concept of masks and the rich history they preserve, dating back to the 5th century BC in Ancient Greece where masks were a tool of disguise, entertainment and changing an individual’s identity and how they were perceived by others. Taking the idea of disguise I wanted to illustrate contrasting masks, I wanted to convey the idea of social networking and technology, I looked into images of coding and virtual reality. Ideally, the masks are gifted in an ordinary box, I used an old TDE box which was used for gifting purses, there’s a sense of irony and humour. The sense of humour is that you expect a gift with sentimental values, or is materialistic instead you are gifted two masks, one which was painted a skin colour, with slight discolouration towards the eye area, this was to represent the weariness of humans and how long-use of technology makes us extremely tired and worrisome of contemporary or controversial issues. Most importantly though, is the ideology of how we are perceived as on social media, through the use of technology and these ‘masks’ that we as individuals put on ourselves it creates a whole new experience and new environment in which we live in. My first assignment was heavily digitally based therefore I wanted to take a more physical approach, after experimenting with clay I found it difficult to work with. Conclusively, I used the clay on the back of the styrofoam head to imitate the look of ‘coding’. My question explored the relationship between humans and non-humans and I initially thought of the most popular or influential form of relationship that humans can have with a non-human ‘thing’. I sought to produce a physical art piece this time, in my previous assessment I produced a digital image that was glitched or blurred and this was to emphasise the masking of technology, dominating society. However, the image produced reiterated a sense of vagueness in what I was trying to produce. Henceforth, I continued to follow that concept and perhaps expand or specifically focus on the concept of identity. Which brings me to the idea of reality and virtual reality, in which identities are morphed and people’s realities are blurred. There is a thin line between different people and their personalities online in contrast to how they are in person. I also looked into the idea of humans being controlled by the internet and media and how it affects the way an individual may think. This is a controversial issue that has been raised in contemporary society. Furthermore, I based my final project off the concepts that were studied throughout the semester. I was highly inspired by the concept of affect and body politics, this topic inspired me to create more propaganda like art pieces to in subtle ways protest or advocate for what I stand for. Specifically, the work of Chris Burden ‘In Shoot (1971)′ which was a seminal performance in which he asked his friend to shoot him in the upper left arm at a gallery. This was interesting in the sense that it showcased the implications of using the body as political. Similarly, to the case where the Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk who burned himself to death in Saigon, Vietnam in 1963 as a political protest, this image was famous and until this day it is a symbolic representation of using the body as ‘political’. Evidently, my use of the styrofoam head was to convey a sense of body politics. Evaluating this project, I think if I used a physical body or entity to portray my concepts it may have evoked more empathy and further emphasised my ideas and values.

[cindy8750]

Virtual Identity

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[cindy8750]

ADAD

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[cindy8750]

Final Project

My poster conveys the interaction between humans and technology, this poster aids in the understanding of how environments and ecology can be perceived. Specifically, this poster depicts a world in which a conspiracy theorist would perceive his environment and ecology. The image is edited to be mundane and simplistic with the liquid glitch to be the prominent message.

The image portrays the mind being a blurred liquid glitch, communicating that the mind is liquified and non existent, the models being pale and alien-like dehumanises the human body. The digital effects which have replaced the face depict the control of social networks and affairs being implemented into our brains and functioning us also taking away our sense of individuality. The liquid effect that is on the first face is repeated similarly on the second face to show the implications and consequences of how humans have lost touch with their sense of individualism. The image shows the morph of both minds conveying the conformity of humans to technology, and therefore perceiving the world and their environment in the same way.

Human relationships with technology have shielded reality from many people, it has morphed the way us humans perceive life. The domestication of technology endanger our pure perceptions to current affairs because before we are even aware of these situations there are already threads and media articles blasted widely on social platforms. We become subjective and oblivious and because of that we fail to perceive the environment objectively and it’s structural values.

My initial idea was to create a poster that would be propaganda-like because the topic of technology and human relationships was controversial, I incorporated some propaganda in my poster through the words “REALITY” and “PERCEPTION”. I experimented with different tools on photoshop and other applications to create layers within images along with looking at precedents of images with glitches. The general idea was to scrub the face of an image to dehumanise the model. I was inspired by the simplistic nature of artworks with just one prominent feature, however it would encapsulate a plethora of meanings. I asked my sisters to be my subject to shoot, whilst I took a series of images and edited them.

- Cindy

[cindy8750]

Editing image/background/foreground

Turning brightness up

Contrast

Played with filters on ‘VSCO’ and ‘Afterlight’