~*COFA Work*~ @graceatcofa - Tumblr Blog

making glitches with a hex editing program

simplifying the mona lisa further and exploring how it's so pervasive and recognisiable despite removing integral elements such as identity and face

Redrawing and copying the most cliche icon of art. I wanted to examine the pervasiveness of these chiches and how they shape the perception of art within culture

Conceptual Statement + Bibliography

ANSWERING QUESTION 2 THE HUMAN QUESTION The concept of my final work explores my fascination with my parent’s lives before they had me or my brother. In the original photos my parents are around 24, 8 years before giving birth to me. There is this void in time where I do not know what happened yet still exists as a reality, laden with history. Holding the film in my hands and realising the age of it outdated me was thought-provoking.

Within the work, I wanted to exemplify the way in which we are human through the nature of our species creating artefacts and holding sentimentality to memories and stories, as well as our desire to transcend mortality and challenge the inexorability of time. These artefacts are passed along and enable us to evolve through knowledge. As our historical archives grow larger and larger, us as humans and our availability of resources to continue progressing are seemingly endless. My expansion in regards to this notion was by ‘time travelling’ through digital means in order to position myself within my parents era when they were in their 20s and held no idea or recollection of me. I was also very interested in the way we can shift our presence from the physical realm into metaphysical spaces, such as within technology. The alteration of our experience of space and body is analysed in the way I position myself in these photos.

Drawing from my research from Assessment 1 in which I explored the customisable nature of the modern human mainly through advancements in genetic modification and cybernetics, Assessment 2, as an extension of that concept, investigates the notion of malleable memory and the intervening of new media within artefacts to create new realities.

Looking at On Kawara’s works relating to dates and times, as well as Chris Marclay work, “The clock” which collaged several different time scenes from films to create an artwork which synchronised with real time, I was very interested in the notion of our presence in regards to current and past space. Drawing from the methodologies and concepts of Chino Otsuka series “Imagine finding me” (2005), where a photographer interweaves her current self into childhood photos as a form of dialogue, and Ms and Mr (Xerox Missive 1977/2011) in looking at how separate realities merge into a new reality by combining and merging separate films, I was interested in working with film or photography to manipulate my parent’s old photos with my presence. These forms were chosen as they document reality and the ‘truth’ the closest, and i believed that creating illusions through these mediums would create more of a hyperawareness of my concept.

By utilising photography and digital manipulation through photoshop I alter colours and textures to make myself blend in with my parent’s environment, deliberately choosing my body language as an interaction of the environment. Each gesture of mine is interpreted within the photo and shifts the meaning of the work in attempting to evoke a haunting or eerie sensation. The flux between my existence and non-existence is demonstrated through the glitchiness and transparency in my pieces, exemplifying the unnerving nature of these photos and how I am not supposed to be there, yet am forcing an modification of truth and connection.

However, there are limitations to this practice. even if i position myself within these photos as an attempt to force a visual connection between my parents, i will never truly have met my mother or father when they was 24. The human body, while definitely undergoing major possibilities and advancements in the fields of biology, cybernetics and technology, is powerless against the fixed nature of time.

Bibliography: Chino Otsuka’s series - “Imagine Finding Me” (2005) URL: http://chino.co.uk/gallery/IFM/ifm_1.html Christian Marclay’s “The Clock” (2010) URL:http://whitecube.com/artists/christian_marclay/

On Kawara’s works:

URL:http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=3030

Tutorial on how to use mask layers in photoshop: URL: http://www.photoshopessentials.com/basics/layers/layer-masks/ Ms and Mr : “Xerox Xmissive” (1977/2011) URL: http://www.novamilne.net/artwork_item.php artwork=20111224212159

#Conceptual statement #cofa1002 #assessment2

Final Artwork

#assessment2 #cofa1002

Researching Artists who examine the notion of time, space, presence and memory in their works. (part 2)

Chino Otsuka I like otsuka's use of dreamy film photography and the recurring themes of memory, childhood and nostalgia within her works. The last three pictures are all apart of her "Imagine Finding Me Series" (2005) which take childhood photos from her growing up and are superimposed with her current self as a form of interaction. Otsuka states that with neoteric mediums, such as digital manipulation, one can revisit and converse with individuals from their past, creating a whimsical connection. I really liked her works and it soldified my concept of going through old photos and looking at spaces where I didn't exist as a person, utilising digital mediums as my vehicle in traversing the landscapes of the past.

#Cofa1002

Researching Artists who examine the notion of time, space, presence and memory in their works. (part 1) Christian Marclay's The Clock (2010) Marclay meticulously collages time scenes from hundreds of different films to create a real-time clock through his artwork. What I find interesting about this work is the way in which our society has evolved in leaving behind cultural artefacts and the way we can make pastiched works out of these - thus relating to the human question and our 'expansion' upon what was left behind. Moreoever, it is intriguing to know that within our history each minute of the clock has been referenced within film, further reiterating the expansive artefacts left by many, many cultural producers. Marclay intersects all of these separate elements into one artwork, forging a literal clock in the form of a film. The permeability of film to clock to art is very interesting. I like the intersectionality of these separate elements, and might have a look at combining notions of photography, animation etc. within my final work.

#Cofa1002

FURTHER EXPERIMENTATION

Taking a photo from photobooth and investigating the hex codes which made up the pixels of my image. I wanted to examine the way digital media and photography have become medians in which the body travels, and how these medians are deconstructed at the very core. T

sections of iris:

#18182c

#2e2b32

pupil:

#13162b

#13142a

inner corner of eye:

#2a242c

outer corner of eye:

#292529

underside of eye:

#292529

glasses:

#292529

#2a2325

Shades of skin:

#2a2325

#5e4645

#544b3d

#56453c

#76625c

#664e4e

#6a5447

#49393a

shadow:

#3a3236

#262528

#231629

#563e39

hair:

#49393a

lips:

#543b3e

#472939

#5b3e45

#6b4749

#423636

Testing the method i want to use in my assignment. learnt how to use masking tool. Looks pretty shoddy because i took the pictures in photobooth and my facial expressions are ridiculous haha .. hopefully when I do my actual pieces they will convey my concept better when my poses are thought out to respond to the picture. This concept explores my fascination with my parent's lives before they had me or my brother. In this picture my mother is 24, 8 years before giving birth to me. There is this void in time where I do not know what happened yet still exists as a reality (most probably). By forcing myself back into these situations, i want to change the picture to look more surreal and possibly disturbing. . This relates to the human question as I believe that this makes us distinctly human - our ability to sentimentalise memories and live on through artefacts, as well as our desire to return to the past and challenge the inexorability of time. However, there are definitely limitations to this. While we can alter our own bodies and external environment we cannot control the things outside of us like time. I will never know who my mother was when she was 24, though through the rumination and examination of her past photos, I am forcing a connection of her past self and me.

-> hopefully i can get the lighting better when i'm outdoors - these pictures were shot in my room at 1am with indoor lighting. ->maybe these can be animated?? not too sure. will try later.

#cofa1002

Library experiment where i looked at artworks relating to the human form with cellular undertones. I thought it was really interesting in the way it manipulated the human form into something very alien/or biological - representing what we really are and removing just our aesthetic face value. -> I also liked looking at all the books and the dates stamped into them of when they needed to be returned. these all suggested a way of 'living on' in memory. Memory is an interesting concept to explore i think in regards to the human, as well as our consciousness of death and desire to transcend and pass down knowledge as another form of evolution. When i saw the books in the library i thought of this as well, with the human population collating its knowledge to reach where we are now.

#cofa1002

manipulating new photos to make them look more film-ey for my next practice-led research/finalisation of idea.

exploring our intrinsic attraction to safe and confined spaces -> desire

#the womb #cofa1002

Mirrors experiment - week 5

I would like to explore the use of mirrors in creating the illusion of space and presence. suggests mankind's endless expansion? potentials? but also limitations int he physical form of mirrors - what you see is not true. Also could reflect the seemingly infinite vastness of the internet and human infiltration, as well as the multifaceted identities we have gained in the age of cyborg anthropology. Unfortunately i can't produce a physical experiment but i can write up prototypes of what could happen, what it could look like etc. Future inspiration:

Anamorphic sculptures by Jonty Hurtwitz

Leandro Erlich’s “Dalston House

Yayoi Kusama’s “Infinity Mirrored Room”

Final Poster The modern human is facing the potential for neo-evolution.. - looking at how we as people are becoming increasingly more customisable, not that this is a bad or good thing necessarily. While we certainly do live in a cyborg society already with our reliance on technology and medicine, (e.g. with ear implants, insulin shots etc.) we have never really gone so far as to alter our genetic makeup to be 'naturally' inclined to have different coloured eyes, better memory or have longer life-spans. My research wants to further explore the ramifications of these possibilities in terms of limitations in all sorts of spheres, and also to see if they could ever come into fruition without a universal agreement. Maybe we will never achieve a sci-fi sort of existence. Maybe the highest point humanity can reach is not with external technology that makes us surpass our physical limitations, but rather technologies that help us become a better human community with less war, injustice and suffering?

#cofa1002

Assorted Paper cut outs for referencing + inspiration. Paper Puppets by Julianna Swaney on etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ohmycavalier (listed on August 4th, 2014) Sex Positive poster by Carol Queen Vintage paper cut-out poster, artist unknown. link: www.allposters.com [Accessed on the 18th of August, 2014.] The first and third images are products which explore the further confines of paper in utilising it as a material for toys. The second image is a confrontational piece which holds political goals in raising women's rights. The paper cut out is effective in highlighting a female silhouette which stands out from traditional posters. Conclusively, I wanted to explore interactive aspects of my poster design. I was largely interested in Harvey Fineberg's idea of a 'directed evolution', and thought about how the interactiveness of a poster could relate to that sort of concept, hypothetically revealing local perspective on whether we should 'advance' as a species or not depending on what elements they put on the paper model.

PROJECT MEMBERS NOBUMICHI ASAI (PLANNER / PRODUCER / TECHNICAL PRODUCER - P.I.C.S.) HIROTO KUWAHARA (ART DIRECTOR & MAKEUP) PAUL LACROIX (TECHNICAL DIRECTOR…

[video file] retrieved from http://vimeo.com/103425574 Accessed 18/8/2014 OMOTE is a real-time face tracking and projection mapping device which accurately puts on digital make-up onto its model. The face is suddenly elevated into a canvas or space in which projections can be placed onto, and can lead to very interest body-art pieces which incorporate and combine with technology, hence enabling the expansion of human within art. This source was interesting to watch and gave me ideas of projection, though were too difficult to implement. On the other hand, it helped develop ideas for future experiments, and furthered the idea of a 'customisable' person.

#cofa1002

Reference No.2 - TedTalks

Case, Amber (Jan, 2011) "We are all cyborgs now" [video file] retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/amber_case_we_are_all_cyborgs_now Grey, de Aubrey (Oct, 2006) "We can Avoid Aging" [video file] retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/aubrey_de_grey_says_we_can_avoid_aging Fineberg, Harvey (Mar, 2011) "are we ready for neo evolution?" [video file] retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/harvey_fineberg_are_we_ready_for_neo_evolution All accessed on the 16/8/2014

The first talk by speaker, Amber Case about the nature of our society today - there are arguments that our ability to have instant messaging and social networking are making us less human, or more detached, to each other. However, this tedtalk argues that it is instead facilitating and enriching our ability to be human, to interact and to feel, on a daily basis. The speaker, Amber Case, makes a point that as humans, we've developed into cyborg beings already with technologies as extensions of ourselves. The second talk by Aubrey De Gray explores the possibilities of inhibiting or removing aging. The question of overpopulation arises as a limitation and ramification of longer living. Hence, a divisive camp of those who support artificially induced longer life spans and those against is brought up. The third talk by Harvey Fineberg examines the nature of directed evolution as a progression from the removal of natural selection/evolution due to greater improvements in medical fields. In this, the future of the "human" and its expansion is completely directed within this era, or shortly in the future. Overall, all these talks explore what it means to be a 'human and where our technologies are taking us. From this research i've emerged with understanding the human as a physical species capable of being customised, whilst simultaneously being a community that can empathise and interact with each other (perhaps this is the most metaphorically human thing about us) though there are ethical limitations. the decisions of people today are imperative in building or expanding upon these notions.

#cofa1002

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