I’ve organised my posts through hashtags you can use to filter them out as you read!
inspiration: overall data vis inspiration
research: for specific assignment/projects
process: of projects
tasks: individual/mini tasks given throughout the semester
thoughts: reflections, personal logs, reflections on completed assignments, etc.
(Apologies for these long, probably not necessary rants - sorry Karen!)
As an update project wise - I’m currently sketching out the third frame for my animation. I think I’ve already stated my reflections numerous times in this journal, but this subject was a lot more challenging than I initially thought. I’m very grateful for Karen to be leading this class - a teacher I really do look up to, not just because of her own works and design career, or teaching methods, but because she cares. I’m reminded of my year 12 Fine Arts teacher too - both like walking encyclopedia’s and indexes for artists, artworks and conceptual thought. I appreciate all the information I have been able to absorb during this class, something I’d would have never explored in my own design time.
(this isn’t to say other teachers don’t care, it’s just something I very much appreciate).
I look forward to presenting my work on Monday, as well as seeing how far everyone else has come along. My progress may not be as ‘advanced’ as I expected at the beginning of this, but I’m proud of starting and continuing my growth in other mediums and fields of design :)
I’ll remind myself at these times towards the end of the semester, same as I reminded myself in first year: “Everything will be okay”.
Process development #6: Scanning my images to an algorithm.
With the help of Karen I was able to get her algorithm to read my photos to see if it can automatically tell me when the lights are on and off. The output gave me colours where the ‘lighter’ colours would determine the light is on, and ‘darker’ colours would be off. This was a really cool experiment to see if scanning images to see where light is was possible - and it is! Not sure if i’ll go down this route, but i’ll see!
This is such an interesting piece I think personally - props to you for trying out code for the first time (I wouldn’t dare!).
This is just my personal take on your concept - but there’s a beauty to how an apartment is together, yet separate. A transition of these photos could be a really interesting approach that collates all these apartments, all these people in an analytical manner. It views the concept of ‘being awake’ through a whole nother lense.
There was unbridled joy when I figured out a strip of code that could generate random flowers for me. However, again, followed by disappointment knowing it wouldn’t run on my actual garden sketch.
Right now, I’m just working on troubleshooting my code (as in the giant flower acting as the sun + the missing flower on Day 14), which becomes clear when I tell the console to print the variables I’m giving it. Also, I’m hoping that as I wrap up this week for presentation, that I can also add on the finishing touches such as hover functions etc that I would need in order for my garden data to fully communicate.
This is far from what I imagined at the beginning, but then again maybe with the given time and circumstances, this will have to suffice. Here’s to hoping it’s good enough for presentation by Monday!
Joanne I adore how these are turning out - your lyrical sense in creating personal, intimate data is from a standpoint I’d never be able to think of myself. I’m not sure if this was intentional, but the orange and warm tones/colours of this scene really does seem to reflect a comfortable, carefree conversation with another individual. Really beautiful :)
RE - my previous post on having a change of plan. Here’s some visual/aesthetic inspiration for my animation - utilising subtle movements to produce a heightened awareness frsm the audience. I adore these grayscale illustrations - turned into gifs done by Nancy Liang, portraying a calm, surreal mood.
I don’t think I need to explain why this is relevant, and I thought utilising my platform on here, as well as reflecting on again, the stark confrontation of data itself would adhere to both this subject and address an issue of high importance.
I’ll let the chart speak for itself. Here’s the source to see the exact numbers: https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/
WEEK 13 / A CHANGE IN DIRECTION/ A REFLECTION PT.1
OKAY. So here we are. Final week.
and I am utterly, completely, inevitably lost. (click to read my lengthened rant)
Post breakdown 3.0 this week due to personal life and uni stress, I have yet to feel as if I’ve succeeded in this project.
So after talking to Stef and (very soon, like in 5 minutes I will be writing out an email) to Karen - I’ve decided to take a change in direction for my final piece.
It will still be a projection. It will still have sound, and animation.
I’ve decided that due to time limits and my lack of skillset in the animation realm (This is my first time trying it out properly). Trying out Adobe Animation, After Effects, and Illustrator... It’s just not my strong point, I didn’t feel motivated or passionate, and I started to become demotivated. I know I stressed in earlier posts about how learning something new is important and fascinating, and I still stand by this. In saying that, I’ve decided to point myself to a direction that both teaches me something new, and utilises my already known skillset and knowledge on illustration.
And that means hand drawing, frame by frame, a sort of subtle-moving gif of the whale.
I reminded myself what the whale symbolises in my concept. It’s the key for my story - creating a poetic, emotional connection to my data. That’s it’s purpose. It’s for inspiration, lyrical movement and engagement of the audience.
In saying that, for now (as we have presentations on Monday). I have decided to take a different route, and not use the whale as a mode for data. Again, this is just for now, as I believe this will allow me to finetune my animation and sound design by Monday. If completed, I can further continue and create a full length animation till Friday’s final submission.
Sound design will be used to measure the scale of the data logs loneliness (a factor I’ve considered since the beginning of this project), and the whale will be a visual storyteller, floating in the air. Lights surrounding the whale will flicker, when a person has logged their data (a factor I again, considered previously).
This is me reflecting on my expectations vs my reality - something I often get highly disappointed by. It’s so much easier to say what you want to do, rather than actually do it, and stumble upon this every. single. time. All in all, these high expectations come at a time consuming, mentally disheartening loss. So in saying that, I’m changing route. I’m coming up with something that still has the same heart as my original plan, but it’s feasible. I can see it working, and I can see myself being happy with it. My idea no longer seems so out of reach.
Let’s hoping it stays that way! Leaving this on a positive note.
Getting a grasp of the visual aspect of my final project, and how I want it to look. I originally wanted to animate my whale in a plain empty space - void of context. But after some thought and looking through the (many) mystical art illustrations people have done based on whales, the idea of him (yes, I am calling it a he) being surrounded by... fog? still an empty space, but this could assist in highlighting an ‘immersive experience’ by producing a sort of environment. Gifs and images under the bar.
This is my history page on youtube. Help. It’s gotten to the point that adobe animate tutorials are being recommended on my home page. It’s taken over.
Utilising Karens suggestion, I decided to try Adobe Animate (I’m a big fan of adobe you see, simply because I do not have any other programs installed aside from Blendr, which I have yet to touch).
It’s frustrating to learn a new program, yet alone a new skill. My friends too, in this course have shared their concern over learning new programs - especially this year as we explore After Effects, animation, coding, 3d modelling...
When I came into this course, I thought I’d be drawing the entire time and my GOD was I wrong. It’s a real process to convert your design style, knowledge and vision onto a different platform/program, but at this moment I am forever grateful for this course allowing me to learn something different. Something untouched leads to unbounded curiousity that makes what I’m learning feel, just so worth it.
On that note, here’s a (very very) simple trial I made using Adobe Animate :)
WEEK 11 (?) / PROJECT SPACE 52 (a work in progress title) - planning gone wrong
Hello I have revived to provide updates on my work.
Here’s the plan I created during week 1, as you can tell by my delays in updating this blog, to my expectations, it has not gone according to ‘plan’.
To further break this down (I guess writing it here will help me out too in understanding what needs to be complete)
We have 9 days to complete our entire project, and I’m currently working on the animation aspect of my work. Unsurprisingly and due to my lack of experience in that field, it’s taking longer than expected.
WHAT I HAVE COMPLETED:
Collection of data
Recording data in layout
Concept sketches and visualisations
CURRENTLY A WIP:
Animation
Artist statement/report
Tumblr blog
WHAT I HAVE YET TO COMPLETE:
Sound design
Projection - final presentation
Working under pressure/more so towards the end point of projects has been a long term habit ingrained in me for years. and when I say ‘years’, I don’t just mean during my uni years.
I try not to make excuses for myself during this pressing time of completing our final assessments for the semester, but a lot has happened. The world is spinning and I can no longer help but think how what I’m doing (in every aspect of life) is not enough. Am I not helping others enough? am I not educated enough on certain current social issues at hand (most definitely), have I been working hard enough? am I entitled to resting, when there’s so much to be done?
Pessemistic thoughts in a way both motivate me. and hold me back. After some reflection, I have so much to be thankful and grateful for - and I won’t let my time and position in society sit well with me until I can help create a shift. This goes towards aspects in society, personal life, and design/art life.
No poetic words written here unfortunately. Blatant, simple words will have to suffice for now as my last two brain cells are dancing.
This experiment gained a lot more attention than anticipated - although I had to extend the experiment for three weeks instead of two (feedback being people particiapting essentially forgot to log in at times when they should’ve, it’s a busy world!)
These people participating are all friends and family of mine, and honestly half way through this data collection the weight of everyone’s unspoken emotions crashed upon me. I know people constantly feel lonely or anxious, because I myself constantly feel lonely or anxious every now and again - but seeing the data written in such a literal manner... It was like a smack to the face, and words cannot describe how heavy my heart feels for the people I love.
I didn’t realise data was so powerful, just because of the documented, undeniable actuality it posesses.
at the end of my data experiment, an overwhelming response of 48 pieces of lonely moments have been collected (minus the two that were started by accident). I don’t know whether to feel happy, as I do, in fact need data - or saddened by the hitting realisation on how common and often the feeling of loneliness can be.
48... 48 hours in two days... maybe I could use this number to my advantage somehow?
Some quick doodles/visualisations for whales and fish as I grasp the idea of how to draw one. (okay so maybe the second image is more than a quick doodle, and was actually for another personal project but I thought since I completed it during this timeline, it fit in quite well!) Thanks to all this research, it actually helped me finalise the piece :)
As mentioned in a previous post, the idea of animating the whale as an entire shadow came to my mind, showcasing the ambiguity and mystery of the 52 Hertz whale itself. After drawing in some shadows, a question of how I’d include making the whale feel ‘of a large scale’ in my animation. I’ll be experimenting with not showing the full whale on the screen, rather just part of it to make it seem more ‘life sized’, rather than the audience viewing it from a distance. Both options will be considered and trialled out to gage which one is more successful.
Studying whale movements and the way they’re shaped for my animation.
There is a heaviness to the way they move - with the weight of themselves and water surrounding them, they glide.
I’m trying to understand the basic shape of a blue whale, as the 52 Hertz whale has been hypothesised to be a hybrid of a blue whale due to it’s similarity in ‘song’ to the blue whale.
This got me thinking, no one really knows what the 52 Hertz Whale looks like. No one really knows how lonely an individual is feeling, unless that individual is you. The notion of animating the whale as a shadow has popped into my mind, and ever since I can’t see the animation being played in any other way.
I’m grateful for the lighthearted-ness in this weeks class. We split up into groups and assessed ‘A Catalogue of Netflix Shows’. Low and behold, ranging from ‘trashy 13 year old movies’ to themes on the darker side, these are all things I have watched/need to watch. It also made me realise how many good content-shows I’m missing out on.. should probably get onto that once holidays start.
We discussed nonsensical data, ‘fun’ data. As ‘irrelavent’ as these may seem, I think they hold great importance of just having a good time and relaxing. Not everything has to hold weight or a whole lot of substance, or our heads may implode, and I’m grateful to have learnt that throughout this course.
Also, each group ranged from something completely irrelavent to hilarious, and I think at this point in the semester everyone’s completely lost it anyway so... here’s to lightheartedness!
WEEK 9 / THE LONELINESS PROJECT - AN INSPIRATION POST
'The Loneliness Project' tells anonymous stories of when people have felt lonely at times. Being all placed in different rooms in a building, the system collects voices of lonely people in a reflective manner - which seems to resonate with my current project. The idea of an apartment holds a communal resonance, yet they are a home and personal space for every individual living there. I suppose, in a way this offers the idea of loneliness being an individual emotion, yet we all feel it collectively. and that in itself brings an overwhelming sense of comfort.
Taking that idea and translating it into mine, I hope the output of my project allows people to view loneliness in a ‘communal’ sort of manner - allowing us to sympathise and find solace.
prguitarman
origamiaround
