Tag: reflection

[PDP] Reflection on Rose Bond & Matt Adams

March 27, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Rose Bond, an Canadian artist, was a guest lecture on Friday where she shared her works. I was fascinated how she incorporates narratives together with digital media where she uses projection and sounds. It is interesting where the sounds from the installation is combined together with the city sounds.

Gates of light was the installation that attracted me. It is a interesting combination of sounds with visuals. Without even understanding the concept or background of what was going on, I still could understand that the year reflected together with the visuals. It showed a narrative piece where there was an active audience who were viewing the artwork.

Photo & Video Credits: http://rosebond.com/work/gates-of-light-2004-2007/

She briefly mentioned about the use of projectors to portray the narratives of the 120-year-old Eldridge Street Synagogue and its dynamic immigrant neighbourhood. I hoped that she would have given me more insight about her design process of how she thought of using specific visuals to match the various sounds and the research she had to do to actually get to the final product.

The other works she mentioned also deals a lot with projection and animation where I can see the progression of traditional medium: film strips to the digital medium: after effects in her works.

 

Matt Adams, an UK artist, who deals with interactive arts and games in a creative manner. I was fascinated where he incorporates both interactivity and game play together. I felt that he uses a lot of human interacting with the platform he has provided. The use of space, interactivity and game play all in one piece was amazing.

Kidnap, the first work presented gave me the impression of fear and unable to do anything within my control. It stimulates the process of being kidnapped and later on being helpless in an enclosed space. It’s interesting to see the participation level to experience the process of kidnap and being locked up. I felt that it was a live performance art piece where online audiences could participate in the environment. It seems that the audiences were surveillance cameras watching the ‘captives’ doing things inside the enclosed space.

I was amazed by the elaborate planning done by the team as they were inspired by the notorious Spanner Trial. The amount of research needed to be conducted together with the approval of people consent was a tough process. It reminded me of modern day context where we are being kidnap by social media or the internet where they have all our datas with or without our consent. 

Photo Credit: https://www.blasttheory.co.uk/projects/kidnap/

The other work that I could be a platform for me to further develop my FYP idea was desert rain. The idea of having different people in a closed environment to play a digital game by using projection to showcase the digital environment was fascinating since it was a time where digital had some limitations. After having experience the virtual space, the participants were lead to a physical environment where they learnt more about how these people they were suppose to find were involved the main topic: Gulf War.

I enjoyed this piece the most as it incorporates the element of game play, narratives, performance and interactivity. I felt that the process of ideating the idea and having to execute the installation was so detailed. I thought that I could incorporate the element of a digital side and later bring the audience to a physical space to experience the idea of a living room environment. 

Photo Credit: https://www.blasttheory.co.uk/projects/desert-rain/

Photo Credit: https://www.blasttheory.co.uk/projects/desert-rain/

Maze by Juan Pablo Bravo from the Noun Project

Reading: The Garden of Forking Paths by Jorge Luis Borges, Translated by Helen Temple and Ruthven Todd

January 27, 2017 / / 0 Comments
Maze by Juan Pablo Bravo from the Noun Project

Maze by Juan Pablo Bravo from the Noun Project

Summary:
The Garden of Forking Paths tells the story in the context of World War I where an Asian man, Dr. Yu Tsun, working for the Germans, found out about the ‘new British artillery park’ where the Germans were suppose to attack.  He was therefore chased by Captain Richard Madden, an Irishman working for England. Dr Tsui decides to go to his friend, Dr. Stephen Albert’s house to seek a place of refuge. His ancestor, Ts’ui Pen wrote a novel where a Labyrinth was mentioned. Dr. Albert explained about it having a symbolic meaning where there were various futures with many different possible solutions. It was a massive guessing game without using the word itself. Captain Madden arrested Dr. Tsui as the latter killed his friend so to convey the secret place name, Albert to his Chief in Berlin.

Reflection:

After reading the short story The Garden of Forking Paths, I was confused when I read it for the first time. I did not understand why the main character, Dr. Yun Tsun was running away from Captain Richard Madden and why he killed his friend, Dr. Stephen Albert despite the latter allowing Dr. Tsun to seek refuge in his home. In the story, different types of actions led to many possible outcomes or solutions. After I read it a couple of times to fully understand the author’s point of view and the reason of stating multiple possible outcomes, I found the story quite interesting. Readers remained in suspense over what was going to happen to Dr. Tsun. Additionally, there was a special meaning behind the labyrinth his great grandfather Ts’ui Pen was writing about in his incomplete novel which Dr. Tsun was reflecting upon.

The part where Dr. Tsun got pursued by Captain Madden was thrilling, since Dr. Tsun knew the secret behind which part of Germany was going to be attacked by England. As I read the story, I felt like I became the main character trying to escape from the other spy in order to get the information to the country I was serving, getting help from a friend to get away from the other person. In that desperate situation of trying to get the secret information out, I had no choice but to kill my friend to get on the news so as to reach the country I was serving.

The Labyrinth was an interesting part of the story as it mentioned that there were many possible outcomes or solutions depending on the type of actions taken. It was mind-blowing. Many times we think that if something were to happen, the outcome would only have one answer. However if we change our mentality from there being only one outcome to having multiple outcomes, it would create a guessing game.

In interactive narratives, having multiple outcomes of a story could spark the interest of readers to continue on reading. One would not be able to identify what would happen next since there are so many possibilities out there.

 

Proper Structure of the Plot

Reflection: The Internet Classics Archive | Poetics by Aristotle Part VII

January 23, 2017 / / 1 Comment
Proper Structure of the Plot

co-creation by Esther Se.Kim from the Noun Project

From the reading, Aristotle mentioned about the proper structure of the Plot having a beginning, middle and end. I feel that it is similar to English Literature having different Acts representing the three sections of a Plot. Each Act expands more of the story the author is trying to portray.

I find the reading interesting as the Plot is compared to ‘very small animal organism’ and ‘one of vast size’. It cannot be too short, as the reader cannot understand the structure of the story that will live them in confusion. However, if the Plot is too long one can be lost in the midst of it. Therefore it has to be of certain length for one to fully comprehend and appreciate the Plot.

I feel that the Plot does not need to follow exactly to the proper structure of starting with a beginning and finishing off with an ending. When the Plot changes or have an unexpected twist in structure, the reader will become more curious. This causes them to continue reading the story.

Sometimes we feel that to fully tell a story the plot has to be long. Many times we have to cut the length of the story to fit the amount of words. When the content is compromised, the reader is left confused and the fortunate of the story can change from good to bad.

Narrative

Reflection: The four concepts by Eric Zimmerman

January 18, 2017 / / 0 Comments
Narrative

Book by Junior Alvarez from the Noun Project

From the reading, I learned that written and published books are a platform where the digital age is created. In this age, we sometimes neglect how useful books can be because all the information we need is just a click away. With the benefits of technology, they could cause us frustration in many possible reasons namely, the lack of cultural sophistication in the game industry, the limitations and the lack of understanding it.

I also learned about narrative not being subjected to just a story but it has an initial state, a change in that state, and insight brought about by that change. There is a narrative misconception that I have which is a need for words.

Through the reading, I gain insights that the game of chess can be a means of narrative even though that have never crossed my mind. How can chess be a narrative isn’t it just a game of tactics? When I related it back to the definition of narrative it became clear. The pieces on the chessboard are the initial state. When the game commences, the players would move the individual pieces are the change in that state. As one of the players places the queen on the opponent side, the game shows an insight brought about by that change.

Many times I would ask if something was narrative. However the question Zimmerman pose on his reader was ‘in what ways might we consider this thing a “narrative thing?”’ changes how I would question an art piece in future.

Just a curious thought whether theatre play is a form of narrative?