year2

* r o s i e p o t h e c a r y

[rosiepoth]

Going through the book picking out the most managable instructions. Ideally it would be brilliant to represent them all but physically some are too difficult. For instance 

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After..

Looking through a book Paula suggested called 'grapefruit' by Yoko Ono I really felt the need to respond to the instructions and to physically carry out the commands and display these in such a way to create our own installation. Me and Brendan decided to collaborate because we both enjoyed the book and bounce ideas off each other well. 

A bit of info on the book and what it's about..

Grapefruit is an artist's book written by Yoko Ono, originally published in 1964. It has become famous as an early example of conceptual art, containing a series of "event scores" that replace the physical work of art – the traditional stock-in-trade of artists – with instructions that an individual may, or may not, wish to enact.

Grapefruit is one of the monuments of conceptual art of the early 1960s, She has a lyrical, poetic dimension that sets her apart from the other conceptual artists. Her approach to art was only made acceptable when white men like Kosuth and Weiner came in and did virtually the same thing as Yoko, but made them respectable and collectible.

[rosiepoth]

New brief..

'This module enables the programme to respond flexibly to external opportunities raised by emerging events such as those created by international partnerships, industrial links or cultural phenomena.

This may involve collaboration between students, across programmes or institutions, locally, regionally or internationally or alternatively enable the programme to respond to emerging issues from its own sector. This may be in the form of specific practices that are at risk of under-representation within the programme or the defined need to address a specific cohort area of development.'

From my understanding the new brief is an oppertunity to create a piece of work or series of works which colloborate or respond to either 

- people

- places

- sites

- events etc

I think it's important to carry on with the underlying theme which seems to run through out my work, that being installation and used/found/recycled objects. 

[rosiepoth]

My schedule..

Due to my fretting over the little time left, i've made my self a rough time table for how i'm going to spend the remaining week. 

Monday - film experiments

Tuesday - Source props/materials for video

Wednesday - Film

Thursday - Edit

Friday - Edit and finish PDF

Out of all the issues i've come across regarding the film i've discovered the next slot available in the photography suite is Friday which is leaving it far too late. I've also not left my self enough time to source a proper wooden potty chair, so instead i'm going to use a regular wooden chair to just represent it. Regarding the space i'm recording in, i'm thinking of the next best space available which to me would be clearing out my ever so drab room, the bleak walls and carpets and terrible paint job with provide a perfect setting for the installation I wish to create. 

[rosiepoth]

After lots of time adding filters and generally getting used to using final cut, imovie, and quick time i've made this short little stop frame relating to Susan Wiley. I've used filters to create a similar ambience to the original footage of herself and plain font over the top with a quote of the suicide note her father left on the day of the trial, as I feel it's quite powerful, it can be taken in the sense that no one will understand why he did what he did, no one will ever begin to understand her etc etc. I think as a whole it's a genuinely thought provoking statement. 

[rosiepoth]

I decided that in order to fully understand the film workshops we have over the next week I would need some more stills to make a longer stop frame. I decided to take a collection of photos of containers being hoarded in relation to the documentary I watched on Genie and her nature to do so. This video is literally just for experimentation use so that I can really explore how to use final cut pro until I have the final footage I want to use. 

[rosiepoth]

A few screen shots i've taken of real footage of Genie storing containers of liquid in her room. I've added the initial sketch of the layout of how I want my photo's to turn out. I'm thinking just something simple like an old wood table with different glasses, tins etc. 

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The first video I watched. 

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Her name? Susan Wiley

'The girl was given the name Genie in her case files to protect her identity and privacy. "The case name is Genie. This is not the person's real name, but when we think about what a genie is, a genie is a creature that comes out of a bottle or whatever, but emerges into human society past childhood. We assume that it really isn't a creature that had a human childhood,” explained Susan Curtiss in a 1997 Nova documentary titled Secrets of the Wild Child.'

[rosiepoth]

I can't believe that i've never heard about this case before. There are literally thousands of  written responses, imagery, videos and documentaries on her. I feel I need to learn her full name before I go any further. 

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'Psychologists, linguists and other scientists exhibited great interest in the case because of its perceived ability to reveal insights into the development of language and linguistic critical periods.'

Although I completely understand that the research of this girl can provide massive insight into the pyschological aspect of what happens to these poor people, you can't help but feel she was just another test in the eyes of scientists etc. It's pretty disheartening when you read how her future lead out (which i'l post about in a bit). 

[rosiepoth]

I started..

By starting to read a little into different cases of feral children to find one that particularly interested me. 

I don't want to post all the things I read so i'l just link you to some of the brief explanations I found. 

- http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-feral-children.php - Immediatly I was drawn to the case of 'Genie'. Why? I couldn't tell you, something inside really wanted me to delve more into her story and I wanted to understand and learn about what had happened to her over the years and where she is now. 

'f you ever take a Psychology class or get into a conversation about feral children, Genie’s name will probably come up. For 13 years she was locked inside a room and strapped to her potty chair, other times she was bound in a sleeping bag and put inside a crib. Her father, the one behind the abuse, would hit her with a stick if she ever spoke and he would bark and growl at her to keep her quiet. He also forbade his other children and even his wife from speaking. Because of this, Genie had a very small vocabulary, consisting of about 20 words. The phrases she did know included “stop it” and “no more.” She was discovered in 1970 and today she is considered to be one of the worst cases of social isolation known. She was often thought to be autistic until doctors found out she was really 13 and was a victim of abuse.

She was taken to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles where she was treated for years. After some treatment, she was able to answer questions in one-word answers and she learned how to dress herself. However, she still held onto her learned behavior, including a “bunny walk” where she held her hands up in front of her as if they were paws. She also scratched and even clawed at things. Though she was moved around a lot, she found home with her therapist David Rigler for 4 years, who worked with her daily. He and his family taught Genie sign language as well as ways to express herself without speaking; drawing was a method. Genie then went to live with her mother, and then abusive foster parents, which then caused her to become mute again and afraid to speak. Today she is living somewhere in Southern California.' - A very brief summery of her story. I hate using that word 'story' it makes it seem like something made up, when unfortunalty it is very true. 

[rosiepoth]

Finally!..

After having a really interesting lecture and seminar on Psychoanalysis a point got brought up that i'm highly intrigued by which would be an brilliant starting point for my work. Feral children. Now what got us on to this topic was talking about the subconscious and conscious and if animals have this, which then lead on to whether it's something you are brought up to have and if your situation from birth is changed (for example children raised by animals, neglected etc) would you still have the power to possess a subconscious and or/will they even have it/be able to use it. Fascinating! 

Having watched documentaries about feral children it's not something i'm necessarily new too. I don't want to pretend like I know a lot, but i've sat down and watched and listened about these scenarios before.

[rosiepoth]

My first attempt at a stop motion video. Nothing fancy but after our first video/film workshop in the mac suite I got to learn the basic skills on how to work quick time player to ensemble a series of photos, it was a lot quicker and easier than I initially presumed, however this was the very basis and i’m interested in learning more advanced skills. I would have to edit out the actual stamp leaver thing as I feel that looks far too slow and clumsy, and ideally I would have to spell the word please right!

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A few of the images I took to make up my stop frame. Strangely enough the process of photographing the process of the type writer was quite therapeutic. It really helped me gain a better understanding of the time it takes to create a stop motion and how important every tiny step is. Usually something this tedius would massively frustrate me however when you scroll through the images and get to see the outcome it's pretty satisfying.  Although all my work during this creative strategies work links together whether that be through word or imagery, i'm still unsure on where i'm actually taking my project and what I want the outcome to be. I think i'm going to spend the weekend doing some thorough research because although initially I wanted to stich with the link to my posters I feel like i'm drifting away from the whole sign idea and focusing more on the words and patterns of words. 

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Day 3..

Of the workshop was looking into film making, specifically stop animation. We were given a little insight into some artists who's process was very interesting (which i'l post about later) and given the equipment to play around with making one our self, this links into the film workshops we have next week and encourages us to have some film ready to edit for when we first go. Although we were told today was purely for experimenting I still wanted my work to have some connection to the previous creative workshop collages I had so I decided to film the process of using the type writer.