Category Archives: Research

4D Proj. 3: Progress report

November 3, 2016 Arianne Leave a comment

I have updated an improved version of my film: Disregard.

As I continued editing my 4D project 3, my main concern was about how to sequence the clips between people eating (being extremely engrossed in their food) and clips of the after math, whether it was fish bones on a tissue, empty bowls, cutlery being washed, or food being thrown away. I think, for my idea, it made the most sense to sequence them interchangeably.

screen-shot-2016-11-03-at-12-13-43-pm — screenshot of my film sequencing in iMovie

I was debating between staging a scenario where a person would continuously get annoyed at me (the photographer/interviewer) as they ate, showing how people don’t really register much or care for what happens around them as they eat.

However, I quickly began to realise that a video consisting just of people getting irritated would be rather bland. While I was filming, I then thought of the idea of just making that irritation a small part (still significant), but also combined with the narrative of the viewer themselves experiencing the feeling of eating food (either eating at home, in a hawker, etc) but then thrown in with scenes that will quickly remind you that the food will disappear afterwards, just like our own memories and experiences.

Assignment 3, Research

4D Project 3: Disregard – more process (first 20s)

October 27, 2016 Arianne Leave a comment

This is the ‘rough sketch’ (20s) of my film.

Assignment 3, Research

Foundation 4D Proj. 3: ‘DISREGARD’ process

October 26, 2016 Arianne Leave a comment

These words outline the main idea for my film:

This will follow the behaviour of humans while they eat and relate it to the concept of desiring experiences. What do people think of when they eat? Do they get irritated when they’re bothered? Perhaps they insist on solely, themselves, living in the moment, disregarding and blocking out the intrusions. Yet, they do not realise what happens to the food they enjoyed in the moment – forgetting what time brings to the indulgence.

I wanted to focus on people eating, so at first I filmed people at hawkers as I walked past, and just people eating in general.

screen-shot-2016-10-26-at-11-17-39-pm

screen-shot-2016-10-26-at-11-18-54-pm

But since I wanted to include what happened to food after the indulgence and after the consummation, I needed to grow mould. Or at least, show what happens to food in the events afterwards (ones that we don’t give much thought to).

I intended to use food moulding (like my Project 2) but to do that, I would need to use found videos as I do not possess the right cameras or resources to be able to do such a long timelapse – over a couple of days – for food to mould.

So, I had to think of an alternative to growing mould – I think the process of washing food off of dishes and throwing it into waste bins is similar.

Assignment 2, Research

4D Project 2 – Process Update

October 12, 2016 Arianne Leave a comment

To pursue the notion of rot and moulding in food (as symbols), I decided to make my own food grow mould and rot. At first, I wanted to try moulding fruit (more specifically, an apple) by cutting into it a design so that the mould would grow through the skin, like so:

However, I read online later on that apples, out of all the fruit that mould, would form mould the slowest – this would not give me enough time to take good photos before the project’s 30+ images were due. So, I decided to throw away the apple and then use another food item that would mould quickly: bread.

The conditions for growing mould on bread are:

Moisten the bread
Let it catch the spores from the air (that will start moulding eventually)
Put it inside a plastic bag so the spores do not cause illness (to me) and the mould can grow and be observed easily.
Put it inside a dark area, as most mould doesn’t grow in sunlight.

Disappointingly, even though I had read online that mould would take 2-3 days to grow, by the 4th day I had seen no signs of any growth and I was about ready to give up and use online images of mould. But then, on the 5th day, the first sign of growth was spotted on the bread and I just carried on from there.

The problem still though, was that I didn’t want to just have a sequence of pictures of a singular slice of bread moulding; I wanted it to have a connection to my idea of food as human nature, as a memory.

So, Robert gave me the idea of showing the beginning, that is, right before one is about to consume the food, where the excitement and the energy is highest and where the thought of what happens to the food afterwards is far, far away from one’s mind. And then, showing the end. Which would be the bread as it becomes mouldier and mouldier. I decided there and then that I would pair up the photos – pictures of a meal about to be eaten with scans of the mould on the bread.

The older the picture, the more mouldy the bread would be.

Assignment 2, My Work, Research

4D – Project 2

October 5, 2016 Arianne Leave a comment

A teacher of mine (she taught literature) once told me that all literature is either about food, sex, or death. Thinking about it, I think it makes perfect sense about us as humans.

My first project focused on the nature of time and what it does to a moment as it transitions to a memory, questioning what is left behind after loss.

I want to explore further, and rather look into the nature of humans as we are, in relation to time. I kept thinking though, about how I wanted to show this in a series of photos, and then I remembered what my teacher had said above.

And as I was looking through possible images and ideas online, I came across this account called Two Red Bowls on flickr.

Despite being an account that obviously appreciates food photography in all its beauty, it was the images of the empty bowls and plates (after everything had been consumed) that got me thinking about human nature.

I think food and consumption is a very good representation of our hunger for things: for money, for a lover, or for anything in between. We eat and eat, chew continuously, some of us with less awareness of our limits than others. But in the end, we are left with some pieces. A grain of rice here, a smudge of sauce there. What we do with the leftovers (after we experience the moment) relates to what my first project was about. The leftovers are either washed away (forgotten and cleaned) or left to rot and mold. I think this accurately symbolises the notions of bitterness and grudges, of a memory turning foul because of the refusal to let it go. I want to express this with my project.

Artist References, Research

Foundation 4D – Project 1 Further Exploration

August 28, 2016 Arianne Leave a comment

After looking at the work of Samantha Ann Francis, I came across an artist by the name of Travis Bedel who does anatomical collages by combining aspects of the human anatomy with flora and fauna.

Though I am not particularly interested in delving into the scientific, biological side of the human body, I am very drawn to the way the flowers complement with the body through colours, shades, and tones. I think that humans and flowers go well together and flowers (to me) have always represented a certain kind of sad beauty – alive, growing, yet frail.

Additionally, Bedel and Ann Francis fuel my interest in layering photographs upon other photographs via editing and looking at the effects of those, how they can introduce nostalgia, bittersweetness, and relate to the concept of loss.

I also saw these layered images while browsing online by Emily Acosta (http://amouramelia.com/) I really like the effect of layering images one over the other and these photos will be part of my references for my own shooting.

When I look at these photos, I interpret some sort of longing, the subject (the person’s silhouette) escaping the bounds of their outline and reaching out into the city lights, the skylines, the animals that come from the ocean. Combined with Travis Bedel’s use of flora and fauna, I want to relate humans to aspects of the world that will together tell the story I want to relay.

Artist References, Research

Foundation 4D – Project 1 Initial Ideas/Thoughts/Inspirations

August 26, 2016 Arianne Leave a comment

For my project (Assign. 1), I want to tell the story of the emotions associated with loss and grief. Initially, I had formulated the idea of expressing a ‘corrosion of the mind’ by being overwhelmed and eventually consumed from the inside out, by obsessions such as arrogance, greed, ambition, etc. This stemmed from the movie Train to Busan, a South Korean zombie horror film I watched recently. For a few days after watching it, I was kept awake and disturbed at the complete domination of the human body by the infection/disease. Figuratively, we are all dominated by one thing or another; I wanted to bring this to light.

However, after deeper consideration of what this topic entailed, I realised that I myself am affected (and possibly in danger of being corroded by my own thoughts). Without going into too much detail, someone important to me is leaving, while not permanently, I will be without their presence. For a long time, I battled the fear of loss and of grief; when I accepted it, it did nothing to ease the burden of this pain. I found myself desperately clawing for an escape; an escape from my own mind. And as a result, I decided to specifically look into the notion of loss to the human mind from one person to another. The lingering effects of someone’s presence stay in unanimated places, a dancing relationship of the living with the non-living tied together in our memories and minds.

While looking for photographers and researching into this topic, I came across a photo-book called Shibuya Is Calling, by Samantha Ann Francis. The images captivated me.

They combine the presence of people with the emotionless places of the world, urban jungles or natural settings. They overlay image above image, telling vast stories in one frame. Francis has opened up the possibility of different photos combined together and I would like to look at this technique and photograph people and places that are significant to me.

arianne gor_