Presentation 1 – Sandcastles by Beyoncé

Sandcastles is one of my favourite songs off Beyoncé’s last album Lemonade.

Beyoncé has played an enormous part in the way I sing today. First discovering her back in 2006, she quickly became my favourite artist and I would spend hours everyday trying to emulate her. Being influenced by her music also shaped the genres of music I’m drawn to nowadays – R&B, Soul, Pop and a touch of Jazz.

I recorded this in a classroom in ADM one morning. I got my friend to hold up the camera as I stood in front of a screen and we projected something fun (read: pretentious). Apologies for the abrupt cut at the end, didn’t want to lose some moments but also didn’t want the video to drag out too long.

 

Self Evaluation:

I liked my overall performance in this video. However, I feel that I could have managed my breath better and dragged out some notes longer. Also, I know I tend to close my eyes a lot especially for this song in an effort to emote but I think the eyes are the windows to the soul. Closing my eyes too much would, therefore, lose connection with the audience and that is not something I want. Perhaps in the future, I can work on emoting through my voice and using my eyes and facial expressions to fully convey the story in a song. Here’s to learning more throughout the next few weeks in this module!

The Oceanic / The Current Convening Strategies

The Oceanic and The Current Convening #3 were recently held at the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art, concentrating on research projects and observations within issues surrounding the Polynesian Islands and the Pacific. As The Current Convening was presented in a panel discussion format, I will place emphasis on The Oceanic and what I experienced when I was there.

Strategy #1: Space

The greatest strategy that created an excellent ambience for viewing the large collection of research and artefacts in The Oceanic was the space in which it was held in. The walls were clean white peppered with various colour accents as a result of the different projections and screens, the ceiling was high and it created a sense of serenity, almost allowing me to take my time at each portion of the exhibit and not rush through it. Perhaps I could employ this for my own extended image installation and not clutter the space with too many objects / imagery that would create a tensed atmosphere.

Strategy #2: Lighting

The next strategy building on the first would be the clever play of lighting. When given a large space, The Oceanic was successful in creating focal points using a smart play of lighting. Light was also able to set the mood, enabling me to feel differently at the various segments of the exhibition.

As seen in the image above, light played a key role in directing viewers on where to look and thus created impact in the exhibition space. As someone who loves playing with lighting in my photography, I look forward to lighting my own personal installation space creatively so as to communicate the full depth of my concept.

Strategy #3: Sound

Upon walking into the exhibition area, I immediately heard faint pockets of different sounds echoing all over the space. This added on to the overall ambience yet each individual sound didn’t seem to overpower each other. There was instead  a sense of balance and harmony. For exhibits that contained more explantations than others, individual televisions and headphones were provided which also sparked ideas on how I could use this way to create a direct and somewhat personal connection with an audience in my space. On a whole, sound was used effectively in communication and should be something I think about when I create my own work.