Online Reflective Journal

Finn Stewart

[theonlinereflectivejournal]

[theonlinereflectivejournal]

I have found some new articles that go into detail about Alexander Rodchenko. These would have been great to have found a couple weeks ago as they would have helped me shape Rodchenko’s voice in my animation. Especially because I believe this is the weakest part of my work.

A key fact being that Rodchenko was hired in secret as a ‘civil photographer’ to create propoganda for the Stalin regime. He purposely misrepresented the reality of the construction of the white sea canal. Choosing to depict the workers as heroes rather than the slaves that they were. 126,000 political prisoners... Russian records say nearly 12,000 died, however the higher estimate is 25, 000

I also found a lot of quotes. These seem to relate to his moral dilema

"Art—it is a deity, a deity that is cruel, dark, vengeful, and insidious, with the devil holding power over him... But I have to defeat the devil, since I have the strength not to give in to him…” (from a letter to Rodchenko’s wife, 1915).

"I knew there was a Devil, an almighty devil—the master of beauty... And I wanted to sell my soul to him... my black soul. And I've done a lot for the Devil, and he did even more for me. But the time has come, and I wanted to be the Devil myself and declare my divinity... I myself can now buy souls, to mock and to love them …" (from a letter to Rodchenko’s wife, 1915)

I am excited to study other significant figures in design now that this project is done. I feel it has broadened my scope and understanding a lot!

Articles:

https://davidcampany.com/ussr-construction-no-12-baltic-white-sea-canal-1933-alexander-rodchenko/

Quotes found in this article: https://meduza.io/en/feature/2015/08/04/i-wanted-to-be-the-devil-myself

Images: USSR in Construction no. 12: The Baltic-White Sea Canal. Photographed and Designed by Alexander Rodchenko

[theonlinereflectivejournal]

A collage and more experimentation from my interview project. I am using my DIY cardboard light box to backlight my collage. Words printed from the other side of the paper shine through. The overall effect is sort of photogram-like. I like how it brings attention to the form and shape of the paper clips.

This lighting trick also allows me to practically create diagonal/ other unique framing

[theonlinereflectivejournal]

Experimenting with collage clamped between paper and plexi glass. Had some more success off camera with more clamps

[theonlinereflectivejournal]

A WRAP UP

For my final post I will sum up some of what I’ve learnt this semester.

Firstly, I now feel like I have greater insight into- why I like, what I like in design. Through exploring the history of art and design in the lectures and my own self-guided research on the early 1900s Russian avant-garde, I have begun to contextualise my aesthetic sensibilities and conceptual curiosities. Additionally I have become better at articulating my interests and understanding the links between them. I feel like almost all my assignments were branches of the same tree. So when I trace my growth I can now understand its roots. In other words, my obsessions become obvious when observing the parallels between my projects. 

For example I have started playing with black backgrounds as an allusion to the expanse. The expanse of the universe, the digital world, the unknown or just the darkness. 

Overall I am happy with the lanes that my interview project took me down. Although the work flow was brutal... I got better at 3D modelling, video editing, story telling, Adobe after effects and the oscilloscope was really fun. Furthermore, I explored collaging which I previously hadn’t taken too seriously. I enjoy how it is a distillation of the creative process but nevertheless has infinite possibilities. Find source material / collect inspiration > think deliberately about relations of concepts and elements on the page (working intuitively with hands) > and stick it down in an act of finality. I mentioned in a previous post that this was a needed contrast to the laborious animating- in terms of process but it also contrasted well with the the oscilloscope in terms of the two characters’ perspectives. 

Something I aimed to express in my animation is my interest in the links between everything. The link between man and robot, future and past, quantum probability vibrations and parametric binary systems found in our computers, sound and image. Something that really interests me is looking into the computer to look outward at the universe. The idea that everything is interconnected and of the same essence. To our knowledge the same underlying principles govern every emergent property of this universe. This creates patterns we can observe and learn from. Mathematical patterns, societal/ historical patterns, the pattern of life and death and so on. All of this can be exploited in design. Perhaps this is where the forefront of design is. The same place where science and philosophy is right now. Unfortunately most scientists are pretty crap at creating engaging ways of communicating these patterns (its fair they’re busy).

Thanks to Ben, Andy and Karen for guiding us through this semester. Very cool.

Picture: Screen shot of the premiere timeline for the first 2 minutes of my animation. Pink clips are linked to AE compositions so every-time I make an adjustment in AE the clip has to re-render. I need a more powerful PC if i’m going to do more complex motion graphics in the future...

[theonlinereflectivejournal]

Today I went to an op shop for the first time since lockdown in search of some history books to cut up. I found 2 along with a mysterious card of RAM all in the ‘Australiana’ section. 

Here is what i’ve put together so far. In the 3rd last image i’ve indicated how the camera will move within my animation.

[theonlinereflectivejournal]

These photographs are from when I got to hang out with my friends for the first time in ages! Here I am channeling Alexander Rodchenko’s photography sensibilities from the rafters.

“His images eliminated unnecessary detail, emphasized dynamic diagonal composition, and were concerned with the placement and movement of objects in space.”

(Lumiere, 2016, Alexander Rodchenko bio, para. 4) https://lumieregallery.net/238/alexander-rodchenko/

[theonlinereflectivejournal]

In my animation I am using some music by Arseny Avraamov. It is experimental industrial noise music from the 1920s. I read one youtube comment that called it ＬＡＢＯＲ ＷＡＶＥ. Additionally he experiments with 'drawn sound’ similar to me with my oscilloscope animation. This will help me set the mood while Rodchenko answers my questions. 

This video is a reconstruction of Avraamov’s public performance ‘Symphony of industrial horns’ by Sergey Khismatov in 2009. It shares some jarring and spaced-out qualities with the oscilliscope sounds, drawing a parallels and contrasting my animation’s characters’ perspectives.

Reconstruction of symphony in simulated space available on the artist’s website: http://khismatov.com/The_Symphony_of_Industrial_Horns.html

VERY interesting article on ‘10 Utopian projects by Soviet Avante Garde artists’ (also image source)(english translation): https://russkiymir.ru/en/publications/249304/

Original Russian article: https://arzamas.academy/mag/611-utopist?fbclid=IwAR29E9QdRUPT09Hw-1Oc-Z2VvzV1zVLcxiQfIgtr-n0qEt-Et8OhwpCKcIo

[theonlinereflectivejournal]

A photo by Alexander Rodchenko of soviet workers building the White Sea Canal. This was published in a Stalin propaganda magazine ‘USSR in Construction, No. 12, 1933′ (He designed the entire issue). I am going to use this image with my final question...

“The most efficient means of purposeful communication is control. Is this what you want?”

I have digitally scrawled some notes about how I will fragment Rodchenkos style and voice in my animation as I explore his Utopia failing to exist. The reality of this construction was a ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ that is estimated to have resulted in 25,000 out of the 126,000 workers dying. Meanwhile Rodchenko seeks to glorify the workers as heroes with images inspired by classic war paintings. 

Article summarised & image source: http://markusjaaskelainen.com.au/duty-experiment-photography-alexander-rodchenko/

[theonlinereflectivejournal]

Some examples of “dazzle ships’ from the early 1900s. These cubist ship liveries were intended to disguise the ship’s characteristics from enemies on the horizon. I remember seeing these a while ago now but I found them on the website https://publicdomainreview.org/ that Ben shared in this weeks class. I have a new appreciation for them after learning some of art history this semester. Particularly through my focus on modernist art movements

I find it interesting how these cunningly deceptive instruments of war take on a playful tone. These monoliths also explores the role/exploitation of the artist in wartime.

HMS Kildangan (1918)

HMS Rocksand (c.1918)

HMS Furious (1918)

Article: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/dazzle-ships

[theonlinereflectivejournal]

Screenshots from todays class page layout exercise. We experimented with hierarchy- drawing attention to either the text or image. I chose to play with subtle changes in arrangement, scale, and alignment. I started by using the black bar in the original image as a seperate element to draw focus and suggest the flow of viewing.

I also changed the font to garamond because I felt it made the page more warm and inviting, fitting for a down to earth personal statement.

[theonlinereflectivejournal]

I am finding working in Adobe after effects extremely limiting and frustrating. For a beginner like myself, the process of animating inside AE is so laborious that your vision gets compromised and lost. Simple things are frustratingly hard and the result often looks very flat unless many hours are spent on every second of animation.

I hope to work more practically with collaging, intuitively arranging the page space and then bringing it into AE. Here is my first attempt. Glue, paper, light gradient, and crap on my scanner bed give the image a depth that is hard to achieve in After Effects. Furthermore, It’s much easier to see through the constructivist eye by using the techniques they did.

The image to the right I designed for another class. I think they look good together as a spread. They accidentally share the same vanishing point! (approx.)

[theonlinereflectivejournal]

ANS Electronic Music (FULL ALBUM, soviet early electronic music, USSR, 1969)

Ran into this gem while gathering inspiration for my assignment today. Some of the tracks are soundtracks for sci-fi motion pictures of the day.

[Wikipedia extract] ‘ANS synthesizer is a photoelectronic musical instrument created by Russian engineer Evgeny Murzin from 1937 to 1957. The technological basis of his invention was the method of graphical sound recording used in cinematography (developed in Russia concurrently with USA), which made it possible to obtain a visible image of a sound wave, as well as to realize the opposite goal—synthesizing a sound from an artificially drawn sound spectrogram.’[Wikipedia extract] 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANS_synthesizer

This has a high level of relevance to the manipulation and visualisation of sound waves I am incorporating into my Interview Assignment. Also relates to the outer space utopian/dystopian storytelling... I will have to hunt down some of those old USSR movies

Comment from youtube page ZAPtomic - 2 years ago “I feel like a quantum particle listening to this!”

[theonlinereflectivejournal]

Visual notetaking and storyboarding from interview 

Photography inspired by Alexander Rodchenko. Interested in the varying levels of contrast and its visual impact

[theonlinereflectivejournal]

A sort of de stijl style glitch that occurred in one of my illustrator documents.

The colours are quiet amazing considering the image was a line drawing of a squid.

[theonlinereflectivejournal]

Collage Activity. 

1st - Using cutouts from 70s Australian home and garden magazines. Focusing on colour combos and perspective. Trying to be clever with my combinations such as cutting a slit in the door. I particularly like the copy, ‘Please send me free coloured literature on cast iron baths’.

2nd - Attempting mixed media with markers. This was the logical conclusion of me agonising over the paper and getting antsy.

3rd - A photo of scrap paper found on the floor (not intentional). Viewed through my magnifying lamp

4th - Décollage of an art forum magazine

[theonlinereflectivejournal]

Today I found out that the 032c magazine is named after the same Pantone colour that they use in branding. This was while I was choosing colours for a poster.