Month: November 2017

A Magical Story

A Magical Story, 2017
Wayang Kuilt Animation for 3840 x 480 LED Screen
Hannah Kwah

Short Abstract:
A Magical Story is inspired by a Malaysian folktale, Umpong-Umpong and Babakud. Each part of the scene recreates the story of two lovers where the girl was transformed into a peacock by an evil witch and the boy finding a magical flower to change her back together with other girls that are trapped in the cages as birds. In this piece, I was inspired by Wayang Kuilt hence deciding to use paper cutting as a medium to showcase the asian elements of storytelling. The animals moving around creates an illusion of interaction with the piece.

Selected Still Images:

Final Video:

Methodology(Unity + digital illustrations):
https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/hkwah001/2017/10/09/process-wip-unity-tryouts/
https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/hkwah001/2017/10/16/process-wip-unity-tryouts-2/

Methodology(After Effects + digital illustrations):
https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/hkwah001/2017/10/23/process-wip-after-effects-tryouts/
https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/hkwah001/2017/10/30/process-wip-after-effects-tryouts-2/
https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/hkwah001/2017/11/06/process-wip-after-effects-tryouts-3/
https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/hkwah001/2017/11/13/process-wip-after-effects-tryouts-4/

Exhibition at Art Media Nexus

Photos credits: Solomon Quek Jia Liang. A Magical Story, MAN NTU LED, 15m by 2m, North Spine Plaza NTU Singapore 2017.

Research (mockups – paper & trying out unity):
https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/hkwah001/2017/09/01/moodboard/
https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/hkwah001/2017/09/11/process-storyboard/
https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/hkwah001/2017/09/18/processstoryboard-revision-illustration-technical-tryout/

Mockups (illustration of wayang kuilt – digital):
https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/hkwah001/2017/09/25/process-wip-mockups/
https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/hkwah001/2017/09/29/process-wip-mockup-2/

Future development:
I would like to make it interactive by exploring more on Unity with Kinect and when the audience passes by he/ she would become a puppet and move around to explore the background instead of seeing it as a film.

Contact info:
Hannah Kwah
hkwah001@e.ntu.edu.sg

Final Broadcasting: O$P$

Title:
Know someone who is in need of money? Contact the WULONG JIJI GAOGAO PTE. LTD. right now. Help is always available.

Description:
Our broadcast is about two civilians that owe a huge amount of money to an infamous loan shark organisation,
Wu Long. The duo had to find enough money around the place so that they could pay the head of the loan shark organisation the total amount of money they had borrowed from him. The debtors had a buffer time of about 5 minutes to collect as much money as they could or hide, after which the loan sharks would start chasing them down. Will the debtors be able to collect enough money before the time run out?

In the live stream, Cher See and Xin Feng were role playing as the infamous loan sharks while Joan and Hannah were role playing as the civilians. The civilians’ mission was to locate all the hidden envelopes that contain money, finding every possible areas that had the hidden stash of money. The head of the loan shark, Long Ge (aka Cher See) had dispatched an underling, Ah Feng (aka Xin Feng) to find the two civilians to pressure them to pay back the money they owe. Joan managed to find the envelopes hidden around the area but was caught by Ah Feng shortly after she found the third envelope. She was brought to Long Ge to check on the amount of money she had collected. Joan had to wait for Hannah to find the remaining amount of money that was escalating every 10 mins. On the other hand, Hannah had to go around and beg people for money so that she could pay back her debts while finding ways to escape the loan sharks. After finding enough money, Joan asked Hannah to come find Long Ge to return back the remaining sum. In the end, both civilians were able to pay back what they had borrowed from the loan sharks.

Final Broadcast

Final Broadcast

Hannah & Joan live broadcast:

Know someone who is in need of money? Contact the WULONG JIJI GAOGAO PTE. LTD. right now. Help is always available. (a video stream about two debtors on the road to repaying their debts to a infamous loan shark organisation)

Posted by Joan Li on Wednesday, 15 November 2017

Know someone who is in need of money? Contact the WULONG JIJI GAOGAO PTE. LTD. right now. Help is always available. (a video stream about two debtors on the road to repaying their debts to a infamous loan shark organisation)

Posted by Joan Li on Wednesday, 15 November 2017

Cher See & Xin Feng live broadcast:

Know someone who is in need of money? Contact the WULONG JIJI GAOGAO PTE. LTD. right now. Help is always available. (a video stream about two debtors on the road to repaying their debts to a infamous loan shark organisation)

Posted by Xin Feng on Wednesday, 15 November 2017

Combine broadcast:

Part 1:

Know someone who is in need of money? Contact the WULONG JIJI …

a video stream about two debtors on the road to repaying their debts to a infamous loan shark organisation

Posted by Goh Chersee on Wednesday, 15 November 2017

Part 2:

Know someone who is in need of money? Contact the WULONG JIJI …

a video stream about two debtors on the road to repaying their debts to a infamous loan shark organisation (PART 2)

Posted by Goh Chersee on Wednesday, 15 November 2017

Part 3:

Know someone who is in need of money? Contact the WULONG JIJI …

a video stream about two debtors on the road to repaying their debts to a infamous loan shark organisation (Part 03)

Posted by Goh Chersee on Wednesday, 15 November 2017

Where all the remaining money are:

Know someone who is in need of money? Contact the WULONG JIJI GAOGAO PTE. LTD. right now. Help is always available. (a video stream about two debtors on the road to repaying their debts to a infamous loan shark organisation)

Posted by Xin Feng on Wednesday, 15 November 2017

Further Improvements:

The one major problem that the team faces were the internet connection. It was causing lagginess and disconnection when the team were co-broadcasting. However, the team had came to believe that such limitation were actually working in our favor as it created a more interesting composition and dynamics when things were not working as it should have. There were some shots that were quite unusual and could really sell the narrative that the two civilian were actually running away from the loanshark. Nonetheless, the team were still able to complete the project on time even when the internet connection were poor.

Another problem that we could have improved on were the balancing of the game. There were some envelope that were hidden in areas that were too difficult to find and some that were too obvious. Perhap the team could strike a balance if we had another chance to improve on our live stream. However, placing envelops at places that requires strenuous effort to locate promote our team members to interact with passersby, borrowing money and help from them. It remove the stagnancy of our co-broadcasting and introduce new elements to keep the audiences entertain in our stream.

Overview:
In the live stream, I contributed by acted as one of the debtors who co-broadcasted with the other debtor, Joan. I had to fully express myself but sometimes I get caught up with my surroundings and forgot that I was broadcasting. I had portray my usual self. The role play I did implemented with the whole idea of loan shark and debtors. The overall piece was able to come together when all of us played our roles well and did what we were suppose to do. As a debtor I had to find my way around the location so as to either find envelopes or asking the passerby for help.

The collaboration among the team was great. We discussed the ideas we had and decided on one, process of how the live stream should flow, what the narrative should be and changed it accordingly so that it would fit our theme of hide and seek. We had to make a few changes along the way and the biggest change we did was to scrape the police and thief idea since it did not plan out as we had intended to. We had missing elements as to why the thieves we being chased by the police and why there was a need to find clues while solving riddles. The team decided to change it but still stick to the hide and seek theme hence coming out with our final broadcast, loan shark and debtors.

Hole in Space, Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz. Video. Credits: youtube.com

Personally I was super fascinated by Hole in Space where people from different locations could communicate together via the third space which I am currently doing throughout the broadcasting while collaborating with people. Through the collaborative broadcast through adobe connect or OBS, I get to see myself live with the other person. Now the idea of communication via the third space is happening once we could co-broadcast via Facebook live and seeing the environment I am in and the other person. Later seeing it through the screen. 

“A visionary premise … the lines between imagination and reality were blurred almost to distinction” 

LOS ANGELES HERALD EXAMINER, Elaine Warren

I feel that through the constant broadcasting it resulted in what Elaine Warren had mentioned. I was integrating imagination and reality together which causes the lines between the both to be blurred and I resulting in myself forgetting that I was on live stream. Even in the recent telematic stroll, I had forgotten about being online but rather I did whatever I thought it was normal and became more comfortable with it. I even had conversations with my father who was at home and watched TV as if it was normal.

I believe that if Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz were to witness the live streams we had, they would be so glad that we are actually doing the co-broadcasting in the third space. Having to see the collective narrative unfolding through every single broadcast seems more and more amazing.

Grand Theft Avatar. Second Front. Credits Randall Packer oss.

The other artist I am impressed is Second Front. They were so crazy about breaking the norm and creating such great pieces that led to performances in the virtual space. The use of avatar to create performance art what something that amazed me and I have wanted to explore on that area. It seems that anything the Second Front could do they would be the first one to jump in to try it. I feel that it was challenging yet courageous to take on such an act. 

“Imagination is the only limitations towards performance.”

Bibbe Hansen

The most inspirational quote was from Bibbe Hansen when she mentioned the above quote. It had never once struck me that imagination was the only thing that limits what I can do in the virtual space but once she mentioned that I immediately had a lightbulb moment. It made perfect sense since it is performance art we are discussing about.

Their works had inspired me in terms of the final project but instead of creating avatars I feel that I am the avatar in the virtual space. Having the whole live stream unscripted created a freedom in the things we talked about. It seems that the final project that the team had done seems like a performance art piece while incorporating the aspects of a game environment. Like the Second Front, we also had our own currency and tried to play around with that. I had fun in my final project.

Overall, I felt that the final project and the contribution to the project made me became more relax on social broadcasting. Through the exploration of Hole in Space and Second Front, it made me feel that there are more exciting ways to create social broadcasting. I can see what others are doing via their live stream and viewing everything together seems as though I am there and participating as an avatar. It had been an exciting time and changed my view on social broadcasting. 

Process: WIP After Effects Tryouts 4

Added an introduction so as to create a momentum for the story instead of jumping straight into the forest which looks plain for the beginning. I wanted to attract people in the first part.

However along the way, I faced issues at the ending where the witch did not fade out completely and only half the door closed when I push everything back so as to add the beginning. Every other elements were on point except the ending scene.

Next step:

Fix all the errors of animation and check through the follow once more.

Telematic Stroll with Joan

Part 1:

Telematic stroll – Neighborhood and going home

Posted by Joan Li on Monday, 6 November 2017

Part 2:

Telematic Stroll – Neighborhood and going home (cont.)

Posted by Joan Li on Monday, 6 November 2017

I collaborated with Joan in this telematic stroll project. It was quite an experience having to do things simultaneously and having to synchronise with each other. Usually having people doing things together on the first space is quite challenging since everyone is just so busy in their lives. Coming together to do things together in the third space is even more challenging since we had to synchronise without any practice at all.

There is 2 parts to the video because my phone died half way through the live feed. It was my fault as I did not check my phone’s battery before going live. I have learnt that all times I need to make sure my phone is fully charge so that when through a live feed (which drains lots of my battery especially using data) I would not have disappeared halfway through. Having said that, the experience of filming the east and the west side of Singapore was quite interesting since we get to see different side of Singapore HDB and also our house. It was as if we are in the same house doing the same thing at the same time. Even though there was hiccups and technical problems when we were doing the live video on Facebook, I enjoyed the process.

Final Co-broadcasting technical test 2

Technical test

Posted by Goh Chersee on Wednesday, 1 November 2017

Posted by Xin Feng on Wednesday, 1 November 2017

Technical test 2

Posted by Hannah Kwah on Wednesday, 1 November 2017

Research Critique: Second Front Interview on Networked Conversations

The interview with the Second Front members were exciting and inspirational. They have set me thinking about performance art and their approach or opinions on it. It is so fascinating to see them getting so excited when they crash the internet. Usually when the internet crashes, people start to panic and try to fix the problem asap. Through their reaction, it made me think through how I could approach the similar matter if my internet crashes or lost of internet connectivity instead of getting all panic.

Grand Theft Avatar. Second Front. Credits Randall Packer oss.

Second Front based their experience in theatre performances into the virtual space where they could do anything. In the world of possibilities, many may feel that Second Life would be more interesting since they could go wild in whatever they do as compared with their First Life or personal life. The audiences they have are actively participating in the performance they create however in some instances, they target passive-in-world audiences. It is interesting that having been around for many years, their audiences are still highly active. The link shows the amount of audiences that have participated/ watch their performances. 

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/10/returning-to-second-life/

“Imagination is the only limitations towards performance.”

Bibbe Hansen

It is interesting that they feel the only thing limiting their performance is their imagination mentioned by Bibbe Hansen. Usually we see our surroundings or environment as our limitations but drawing the fact that imagination is the factor. I guess in their case the need to have limitless imagination is the key to constantly create interesting performances. 

“Based on what happens…”

Patrick Lichty

Their works are mainly based on happenings where they played with identities. Second Front steal their audiences identities or making the participants as an avatar without them knowing. In such cases, some are scripted while others are not. It brings the question as to when they decide when it is scripted and when it should be spontaneous. They agree that it depends on the intention of the artist and director, what they want to portray on and their targeted audiences. For Grand Theft Avatar it is a heavily scripted narrative whereas Summer of Love 2.0 and Car Bibbe is spontaneous since the focus is on happenings and events.

Grand Theft Avatar. Second Front performance. secondfront.org.

Car Bibbe. Second Front performance. secondfront.org

As technology evolves without any boundaries… rewiring our brain in technology” is what Liz Solo mentioned in the interview with Second Front. It seems they are progressing further in their experimentations with incorporating various technology with their performance just as Patrick Lichty said. It is interesting that they are already using various platforms, google docs, odyssey art and performance simulator to create their performance personally or for audience. The exploration of world based performance to virtual space is happening currently in their works now.

“Connected with others using tools, immersive, digital culture with 2 foot in”

Doug Jarvis

Collaboration is a huge factor in their performance. Doug Jarvis mentioned in the interview where connecting with other enables him to interact with people all over the world. Since Second Front members are located all over the world, it makes sense that the digital platform is needed for collaborative work. Just as Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz, creators of Hole in Space mentioned that “…create a performance place with no geographical boundaries…” and here Second Front is also demonstrating the same fact. Just as Hole in Space interacts with the audiences through the use of first and second space creating a third space, Second Front also interacts with their audiences in the same manner. 

Second Front :: Network Conversations – Adobe Connect. Interview by Randall Packer.

Overall, the interview with the Second Front members created lots of thinking and made me think of how many times I wanted to separate the virtual and reality. At the same time both realms also portrays me just through a different manner. When performance art push the boundaries, the bodily aspect is not always necessary but the emotions that we have can also be portrayed through an avatar too. I wish that one day I could collaborate with the Second Front members which I could learn from them their performance art vision.