A guide to Intimacy for Asexuals

Image result for Annie Abrahams the big kiss

(Source taken from: https://thirdspacenetwork.com/annie-abrahams/)

Title: The Big Kiss

Artist: Annie Abrahams

Medium: Webcam performance installation art

Year: 2008

The Review

On October 10 2008, Annie Abrahams set up a live video shoot of her and Mark River sitting on opposite ends of a partition, simulating a kiss over a split video screen.

(Source is a screen shot from: https://vimeo.com/2070207)

From the image we can see the two artists manuvering their faces in front of the camera while looking towards the screen to see if their faces were match up forming a ‘kiss’. The live video consist of the both of them sticking their tongues out and pressing kisses againgst each other as though they are making out with each other physically.

According to the website thirdspacenetwork, Abrahams’ works explores the ‘intimacy’ and even ‘sexuality’ of humans ‘in the “telematic embrace”‘ which is the internet, and the idea of ‘being alone but together’. It draws parallels to how the millenials of the 21st century have used their technology like snapchat, skype, etc to have real time conversations with each other despite being in different locations. It is almost as if conversing with an object and not an actual person.

As mentioned by Randall Parker in his writing ‘the third space’, people can assume their internet identities in a ‘reinvented world of their choosing’. They can take walks with each other, converse with each other, initate acts of intimacy, etc without actually touching. It becomes this invisible barrier between two people that keep them apart, but still together at the same time. As a result, this ‘portal’ which allows us to see each other in different locations has the potential to become surreal or fantasy like because it does not show the ‘utimate truth’.

If we cross reference this work, with Nam June Paik’s ‘Egg Grows’ we can see a similarity with this idea of the third space being ‘decieving’.

Image result for egg grows nam june paik (Source taken from: http://kmccarth.umwblogs.org/2015/01/26/nam-june-paik/)

From above we see an egg being broadcasted in real time ov various Tvs placed in different positions and of different sizes. As a result the images of the egg become distorted to fit the TV screens, making them bigger then usual, or positioned weirdly.

In conclusion this becomes an alternate reality that conincides with the actual reality we exist in, however, it has far more potential to be manipulated into something that we want to see of want others to see.

Sources:

  • http://bram.org/toucher/TBK.html
  • https://thirdspacenetwork.com/annie-abrahams/
  • Paker R. ,The third Space, http://www.randallpacker.com/third-space/
  • Video recording of ‘The Big Kiss’: https://vimeo.com/2070207

Micro-project 2: Tele-stroll

Micro-Project 2: Tele-Stroll

This project was supposed to be a reflection of how two artists would collaborate to create an almost telepathic walk with both parties walking in two different areas.

In this project I paired up with Farzana to create just that.

The Plan

The initial idea is for the video to reflect the more personal use for technology, and how we use it in our everyday lives. Hence we used it to simulate a study session.

The locations we chose was a library setting and a home setting, which are common areas that students choose to study for thir projects. However in both scenarios one would act rather differently when studying. In this case Farzana is ‘studying’ in the library and I am ‘studying’ in hall.

We also planned to synchronised our actions from a certain time and attempt to join up our actions in others. It kind of reflect the kind of studious mentality that every singaporean has growing up in this rat race environment.  Subsequently, there is a change in action for the at ‘home’ set up, showing a more distractable nature when you are in a place of comfort rather then outside. This results in more movement and a change in evironment, to want to break free from studying and just wander about (procrastination).

The Outcome

The outcome was a little haphazadous. Due to the poor internet connection, some of the video got buffered on my end, due to the more obscure locations I wandered to.

Posted by Ros Farzana on Wednesday, 24 January 2018

The Reflection

I find this form of video taping quite personal, almost like walking and talking with your friend in real life. Even for something as simple as studying, one does not need to leave the comforts of their home any more to find company.

 

Week 1 Assignment

‘Open source as a Culture’ by Siva Vaidhyanathan highlights the positive effects of Open Studio, however the essay also focuses on the negative. Open Studio Practice ‘increases the creativity’ with idea sharing. However it also results in the issues of Copyright and increase in online hackers. The creation of the internet results in increased accessibility to ideas, images, information etc, it has been easier to steal them as well.

Image result for hakers

(source taken from: http://geekmexico.com/blog/hakers-genios-sin-merito/)

This leads many large companies like micro-soft, as mentioned in the essay, to protect their intellectual property with copyrights and trademarking.

On the other hand, ‘Open Source Studio’ by Randall Parker discuss several ideas regarding the evolution in the Art world with the birth of technology.

The first being the interconnectivity brought by the internet. With the creation of the web what has traditionally been isolated, for example the artist studio space, portfolios, etc, can be communicated to a global scale. Many people have taken to the internet to voice through social media (eg; facebook, Twitter), online forums have been created to share information with the communitty creating discussions without the need to congregate. Similarly, Open Source Studios takes advantage of the connectivity brought by the internet and becomes an online sharing platform that showcases artworks of various medias to a international audience.

Image result for interconnectivity

(Source is taken from: https://greenerideal.com/interconnectivity/)

Image result for art websites

(Source is taken from: http://conceptartempire.com/gathering-online-art-critiques/)

Secondly, the essay references Siva Vaidhyanathan’s ‘Open Source as a Culture’, which once again brings across the dilemma that follows open space practices, copyright.

Finally, the essay also highlights the works of artists that have embraced the idea of Open studio Practice. DIWO or do it with others is a concept that encourage sharing of ideas or Audience interaction.

Image result for diwo

(source take from: http://ruthcatlow.net/?page_id=27)

 

Experimental Interaction Lesson One: Experiment in Social Broadcasting

Posted by Elizabeth Quek on Thursday, 18 January 2018

It was really interesting walking around the school, like a visual diary, and the way we interact to a camera is a very different experience when you are walking by yourself or with you friends.

We spend a lot of time angling the camera to capture what we see in the camera, also working with new technology makes it difficult to use the system at first. There are alot of easter eggs in the Live video app, i think it got stuck half way after.

When we came back from our expedition, we were greeted with a wall of our live videos. Its overwhelming to interact with it. Kind of like how you are bombarded with so much information of the same locations but various experiences.