FOUNDATION 4D PROJECT 4: POETICS OF TIME

PROJECT BRIEF

Choose a specific location in ADM, and create an encounter with any medium that expresses one of the following categories of time. 1. Measured time 2. Experienced time 3. Edited time 4. Biological time.

 

OVERVIEW

I started this project with research on two artists, Tehching Hsieh and Marina Abramovic who are the pioneers of performance art. I decided to have a performance art for this project after having a better understanding of it. Due to time constraints, my performance was recorded and presented in the form of installation. The purpose of this performance is to cause realization of the current issues. INDIVIDUALISATION

 

PROJECT PROPOSAL

PROJECT 4 PROPOSAL

 

PROCESS

I had 21 meals alone for 15 days, as I skipped some and there were technical issues for a few meals that were not recorded. All the video clips were edited to the similar scales to keep the consistency. The edited video was presented in the installation is 2 hours 11 minutes in clock time.

There is a speed up version of part of the original video. The scale and framing are able to capture my movement and the environment. There is no surprise in this artwork as all my movements are similar. The regular movement suggests my oppressive emotion, and also form a contrast to the irregular movement in the background. The contrast of an individual against the group emphasized my loneliness.

DINING ENVIRONMENT REFERENCE https://www.pinterest.com/pin/490118371940344390/
DINING ENVIRONMENT REFERENCE https://www.pinterest.com/pin/490118371940344355/
TRIAD COLOURS http://www.tigercolor.com/Images/Triad.gif

Moreover, the deliverable of this project is an installation of my recorded performance. I created a dining environment for my audience to experience the artwork. The images above are my references. The style of the dining environment is colourful and bright like where a group of friends normal hang out at. I used two orange, two green chairs, and one white table for my installation to achieve the ideal effect. I chose the colours according to colour theory that triad colour which are green, violet and orange to create the playful environment.

MENU REFERENCE https://www.pinterest.com/pin/490118371940398927/

TABLE SET UP
TABLE SET UP

Further, text is used in my installation to clarify the content and emphasize my emotion. I wrote down my feeling after every meal and consolidate those into a menu-like sheet with the performance art title and other information. It was placed on the white table for the audience to read while they are watching the video. Some small notes were also placed on the table to deliver my message to the audience.

 

FINAL INSTALLATION

INSTALLATION SET UP
INSTALLATION SET UP

The installation lasted for 2 hours and 11 minutes started from 1230pm on 20th November 2017 at ADM level 2 outside 2D studio. I invited my friend for lunch at my installation. That was my first time eating with friends in 15 days. My friends and classmates had pizza with me and also shared their opinions with me. The whole installation was recorded by Gopro. There is a five-minute video  of some moment above as I could not be able to upload the whole 2 hours video.

 

ALL IN ALL

SOCIAL EVENT
SOCIAL EVENT

This is the first time that I am having performance art and installation. I was always curious about those in the past. Finally, there was a chance for me to do so. Eating alone seems to be an easy task but it is difficult for me as I am an extrovert person who loves to socialize. I am also self-conscious that I care about how people think of me. Putting myself in the situation without company in the public is torture. I felt insecure when I was eating alone. In addition, I did not expect that this performance art would affect my social life that much. I missed several chances to enjoy great food with friends because I need to follow the rules I set. Actually, I only spent around 2 hours in total eating alone but I felt like the time was double. It is because those experiences are unpleasant. However, I felt that time past faster when I was sharing food with friends at the installation. This project is interesting that I never think about time in depth as it is just something we experience every day. I appreciate that we actually have the ability to design time. Lastly, I think this project also helped me to discover my potential, and decide my major.

 

PROJECT 3: IMPOSSIBILITIES OF BEING

PROJECT BRIEF

Compose a one-minute video sequence in landscape format, HD resolution (1920 x 1080) pixels of the chosen location with the soundscape.

 

LOCATIONS

I listed down thirty places that I had never been to in Singapore. Haw Par Villa is the place that made me curious. I heard about it long time ago but had no chance to visit. Therefore, Haw Par Villa was chosen as the location for this project. Haw Par Villa is famous public park because of its range of Chinese folklore status. The status includes Monkey Mountain, Courts of Hall and etc.

HAW PAR VILLA
TEST SHOTS

I visited Haw Par Villa on a Saturday afternoon. The whole place is relatively quiet and, there was only a few foreign tourist visiting. I was attracted to the vibrant colours of the statues. The outdoor area of Haw Par Villa is bright with the blue sky, while the indoor area only has some spotlights shining on the statues. The contrast inspired me of my video. I did around 70 test shots with my phone when I first visit to try out different angles and scales.

 

SOUNDS

30 SOUNDS

I started recording sounds before visiting the place. It is because interviewed some people about their opinions of hell. Most of them told me that their stressful daily life is like hell. Thus, I recorded thirty sounds with zoom recorder from our daily life, such as the sound of the curtain, door lock, turning off the switch, the MRT train moving and etc.

 

RESEARCH ON THE VISUALS

WIDE SHOT
CLOSE-UP

The video contents both still images and videos. Wide shots are used to show the environment at Haw Par Villa, while close-up shots are used to capture the facial expression and emotion of the statues. Both overexposure and underexposure are applied to show the peace and darkness. Flashing light effects are used to direct audience’s attention. Further, distort visions are used to evoke chaos.

BLUE
RED

Lastly, I referred to some experimental videos on Vimeo. Some are simply using colours to create the mood, for example, the video above (https://vimeo.com/143827409). Therefore, I applied colour theory to create visual contrast just like my first encounter of the location, the peace of the outdoor area and the darkness of the indoor area. Blue associated with stability. It symbolizes peace and heaven and has the calming effect. It forms a strong contrast with red, which associate with danger and power.

 

RESEARCH ON THE SOUNDS

Many say that horror movie is less scary when you mute the sound. Sounds play an important part in a video, and also has perspective like images. My video contents foreground and background sounds to create space of sounds. The rhythm will be regular and irregular at different parts, while the intensity will transfer from soft to loud to achieve the acceleration of the emotion. Also, there will be sudden changes of pitch, and speed to create chaos.  

 

LOW-FI STORYBOARD

I did a low-fi storyboard and a draft video to determine the rough sound effects and the timing of each sense. The video starts with peaceful sense with soft cicada sounds like the morning. The sound gradually speeds up while the senses become dark and cruel. Several feedbacks are gathered after the first presentation, and it helped me to understand what still images, videos and sounds I need to add in and improve to achieve the idea effects.

 

EMOTIONAL GRAPH 

After experimenting with images and sounds, I realized that the purpose of my video is to evoke certain emotion. Therefore, I rethink about the structure of my video and came up with an emotional graphic.

 

REFINEMENTS

Further, I added in flash of the scary image and random sounds at the beginning based on the emotional graph. Keyboards and some other sounds are added to boost the emotion of the video. According to research, the minor chords are able to evoke negative emotions, while major chords are able to evoke positive emotions. Thus, I experimented with minor chords and came up with a short background music for the last two third part of the video. Also, I punched my bed to create drums beats, as drums help to create a solid beat and rhythm.

BLEND MODE
TRANSPOSE RATIO

The video is edited in Premiere Pro. Many video and audio effects are used in this video, for example, adjusting the blend mode and transpose ratio for the last one-third of the video to achieve the distorted effects.

 

FINAL VIDEO

I named this video HEW PAR VILLA, as ‘H’, ‘E’, ‘L’ and ‘L’ form the word HELL. This video uses visual elements and sounds to evoke fear. Yet, the senses are made to be a combination of fear and pleasure. All the sound effects are created by using the daily objects, such as plastic bag, bed, door locks. It is more like a symphony instead of horror movie trailer with jump shots. The precise structure and the uses of elements, such as colours, are able to bring the audiences to walk through a museum of hell in one minute.

 

ALL IN ALL

This project is challenging as this is the first time that I creating my own soundscape. I used to edit video using existing background music, so I could follow its rhythm. However, I had to create my own rhythm. It required time and efforts for me to explore and execute. I am glad that my professor, classmates, and friends gave me constructive feedback along the way.

 

REFERRENCES

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24957406

https://historyofdrumsandpercussion.weebly.com/role-of-drums-in-music.html

http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html

http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_560_2004-12-14.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROJECT 1: PICTURE STORY – CURATING SELF

PROJECT BRIEF

Accomplish the three tasks with various manipulation techniques in photography.

TASK1: ME

FINAL SHOT: ME 1
FINAL SHOT: ME 2
FINAL SHOT: ME 3

I used to be concerned very much about the judgments from others. It is like a tattoo that is indelible on my skin. I tried so hard to get it away. Eventually, I realized that the problems were not from anywhere else but myself. Happiness is my choice, which has nothing to do with others’ opinions. Why not just KEEP CALM AND EAT ICE CREAM!

EXPERIMENT

In the test shots, I did experiment using a brow colour eyeliner that has a soft texture. After the consultation, I realized that the words written on my face were not harsh enough to express the emotion.

REFINEMENT 1
REFINEMENT 2

Thus, I changed the media to a black waterproof liquid eyeliner, and it looks more like tattoos. The font I used in the final shots is sharp, straight and messy. It creates an uneasy and unfriendly feeling as compared to the test shots. Further, I explored the different composition, and facial expression to achieve the best results. For instance, the first photo in this series was chosen because of its negative space that creates the focal point on my facial expression as well as its cropping below my eyes, which draws more attention to the emotion.

Inspiration from CHANEL’s Gabrielle bag campaign https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4YzMQGkgM8
Inspiration from CHANEL’s Gabrielle bag campaign https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4YzMQGkgM8

Additionally, the framing and arrangement of this series are inspired by CHANEL’s Gabrielle bag campaign. The first photo in this series was taken as portrait and rotated into a landscape photo. Its composition might seems wrong as we see the human in an upright manner normally. The ‘problem’ here hints the problem that I was facing. My figure gradually turns back to upright, which shows I am back to the right track.

TASK2: Object and Representation of Self

“We think with the objects we love: we love the object we think with.”

– THE THINGS THAT MATTER

FINAL SHOT: OBJECT 1
FINAL SHOT: OBJECT 2
FINAL SHOT: OBJECT 3
FINAL SHOT: OBJECT 4
FINAL SHOT: OBJECT 5

According to the dictionary, an object is a material thing that can be seen and touched. For me, it is not just something that I can use but a companion to my emotional life. The object that I attach to the most is my earpiece. I bring it along with me not just because of the good sound quality. It companied me during the long boring rides when I was eating alone, and even helped me to get away with some awkward situation.

 

TEST SHOT: OBJECT 1
TEST SHOT: OBJECT 2

The test shots were taken to try out the framing and emotion. Several feedbacks were gathered during the consultation, which I had improved in the final shots.

REFINEMENT 1
REFINEMENT 2
REFINEMENT 3

The photos in this series are in different scale which tells the different story about the object and me. The long and medium shots here is to capture the environment, and how I react to the environment when I am interacting with the object. While the close-up shots capture the emotion with some environment. Moreover, many photos were taken to test the body gesture, facial expression and etc. Some are cropped from original shots to achieve a better effect. A few scenes in the background were captured accidentally, which I think is the interesting part of this Project.

TASK3: My World

FINAL SHOT: MY WORLD 1
FINAL SHOT: MY WORLD 2
FINAL SHOT: MY WORLD 3

I moved to Singapore years ago by myself. Sometimes, I am confused that where I actually belong to. There is one place here that when thought the ups and downs with me, which is Chinatown. It is like my wonderland, where I can escape from the reality.

TEST SHOT: MY WORLD 1
TEST SHOT: MY WORLD 2

At first, I was quite stuck at this task. I went to Chinatown for several times but have no idea what to focus on. Everything seems equal and it is difficult to spot the high light until my professor pointed out some of the test shots. 

Night scene in Spirited Away written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki http://www.misucell.com/group/spirited-away-wallpapers/

People visit Chinatown mainly for the food. All the sign board lighted up with different designs. Some are hung horizontally, while some are vertical. A few restaurants even have more than one sign board. It seems like a competition that everyone wants to stand out. It reminds me of the movie that I watched for hundreds time since young, Spirited Away written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. There are some scenes when night falls, and night life starts. The background is so dim, yet the street seems so alive with the lights. That was how I feel when I walked around Chinatown like walking in the movie scene. 

 

ALL IN ALL

Photos Display

This project is challenging as I need to convey the message as accurate as possible through a few photos. I was stuck at some point but able to find a solution with the suggestions from professor, classmates, and friends. Through this project, I started to pay more attention to details, the meaning behind as well as the mentality of the curator and how it can inspire me. Lastly, the techniques that I learned in class helped me to execute the tasks more accurate and efficient as I know the purposes of different scales and framing.