Month: September 2017

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Sound Art Interesting Finds

SSS / Shore Scene Soundtrack by Cevdet Erek.

URL:  https://vimeo.com/2867660

SSS, the Shore Scene Soundtrack is about mimicking the sea, or imitating a very common piece of nature, by using 2 hands and a piece of carpet. The installation includes a recording mic and carpet, of which it is an interactive, ongoing project where viewers are invited to recreate the sound of the ocean by rubbing their hands on a piece of carpet.

I find this sound art installation to be simple but yet at the same time effective. Although the installation only consists of a carpet, it is able to produce the sounds similar to the sound of the sea. At the same time, it is interactive thus it gives the viewers a greater level of appreciation as they are able to be part of the creation process thus I feel that the viewers will connect to this work much better.

 

Game of Skill 2.0 by Christine Sun Kim

URL:  https://vimeo.com/142659892

Christine Sun Kim was deaf since birth but often explores her unique subjective experiences with sound in her work.

Game of Skill 2.0 is an interactive piece where viewers were invited to touch a staff-like device attached to a Velcro strip hung above their heads. As they walked, dragging the device along the strip, a radio played sound at levels and speeds depending on the direction and speed of the participant.

This sound art installation really interests and intrigues me as, since the artist is deaf since birth, this would have meant that she has never heard actual sound but she still uses sound as part of her art installation. The audio from the radio would change depending on the participant thus each experience would vary. The participants would understand the meaning and idea of the artwork more easily as they are able to experience the installation first hand.

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Seminar Questions

What is Sound?

Each sound as is created propagates amongst the hard Newtonian billiard of matter, adding to the eternal din from which the cosmic maker, at the end of his creation can discern every act, word and deed. Things that make or have sound of some sort and that every activity in the world has an aural component.

 

How has it been used in culture and society?

It has been used in “Sound Art” exhibits as an art form for example, music, kinetic sculpture, instruments activated by wind or played by the public, conceptual art, sound effects, recorded readings of prose or poetry, visual artworks which also make sound, music automatons, film, video, technological demonstrations, acoustic re-enactments, interactive computer programs which produce sound. The invention of the sonograph that observed multiplying sounds and the discovery of three sounds when a recorded sound was played back. In various music cultures, a variety of sounds and figurations assumed the role of creating the presence of silence.

 

What makes an art?

Art in sound art is not in the sense of crafts but fine art and art forms like “steel art” which was composed of steel sculpture combined with steel guitar music along with anything else with steel in it. In art, the medium is not often the message. Art is also a form of aesthetic experience.

 

How does advancement in audio technology affect our sense?

It made our senses more sensitive. For example, surface noise in the sound cinema acted as a backdrop for continued attention and suspended disbelief. Of which the delicate buzz during a film recorded silence whose purpose it is subliminally to confirm the presence of a reproduction underway, thereby establishing the minimum existence of some type of presence. It also intertwines within and among our perception of sound, memory and communication.

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Project 1: My Line is Emo (Process- Part 2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I started working towards my final 6 art pieces, of which i experimented with even more mediums and art making tools as shown on the pictures above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As following, the mark making tools that I used were hamster food, a plastic wrapper and small stones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also experimented using blue-tack and a small vase to make the marks as blue tack allows me to create more accurate and intricate marks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After experimenting with various mark making tools and the attaching an emotion to each of these 36 pieces, I brought it for consultation during tutorial.

After the consultation, I realized that some of my work do indeed have repetitive patterns thus making the work look rigid and not so appealing. Thus, with the comments that the lecturer mentioned during consultation, I made changes and re-did some of the art pieces so as to improve further from my current work!

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Project 1: My Line is Emo (Process- Part 1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

For part 1 of this project, I first started with the experimentation of different mark making tools. I brought various items like, various types of sponges, brushes, velcros, markers, pens, spray bottles to try mark making.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I experimented with cross hatching, splatters, shapes and patterns using the mark making tools that i have brought. Of which, I learnt that sometimes some mark making tools would really surprise me with the types of marks that it can create. An example would be the U-shaped coconut fiber brush which gave the marks a fur like look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was also given a chance to experiment with lino thus I started to carve out patterns on the lino print to create these marks.  It took me some time before I got used to cutting the lino using the cutting tools but it was a great experienced and really enjoyed being able to experiment mark making using lino!

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Creation of planes using thread (Process- Final)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Working on my final model for this project, instead of using just black thread that previously looked slightly dull, I decided to experiment and used different colored threads of which gave it a more attractive look and gives the artwork more “life” to it. At the same time, I realized that with the prototype model, the bottom piece would not have enough tension to keep the threads in place to create a plane. Thus, for the final model, I made some modifications and replaced it with just one piece that managed to create enough tension to hold the threads. Of which, the one piece that i have used to replace the bottom piece was inspired by the sails of a sailboat. I really enjoyed the process of trial and error as in the midst of trying different methods to replace the bottom piece, I learnt that some methods may not work as there is not enough tension but at the same time, it allowed me to figure out the best way to create a three dimensional artwork with the plastic sheets and planes made by various colored threads.

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Creation of planes using thread (Process- Prototype)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I started working on my prototype by using thick vanguard and black thread. Initially i started with just two pieces but added another two more pieces to the prototype as just two pieces caused the work to have a “back” thus it will not look fully three dimensional as required by this project. The  problem that I faced while working on the prototype is, the issue with the threads becoming loose as the vanguard sheet did not allow the threads to create a very strong tension. However, by creating this prototype, it has allowed me to have an idea on how i could create my final model as it acts as a template.

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Creation of planes using thread (Research)

While researching on the creation of planes using thread, I stumbled upon an artist who uses thread as the medium for his art installation. Of which, the artworks contained planes created just by the use of threads. The artist is Gabriel Dawe who is a Mexican-born artist living in Dallas, Texas. His work is based off the visible spectrum of light and has exhibited large-scale installations made of sewing thread. His installations gave me an idea on how it is possible to create planes just by using sewing thread. At the same time, I was inspired to use multiple colored sewing thread so as to make the work look more appealing.

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Project 2: Text and Image Final Artwork

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The food item that I have received from the exchange was Ritz Cheese Crackers. Before I started on this project, I first thought about the words that could be associated to the Ritz Cheese Crackers. The words that I managed to link to this product was Cheesy, Crispy, Tasty, Fun, Happy, Round. I decided to make the advertisement fun and funny, but at the same time I chose to focus on advertising the product as Tasty so as to make the advertisement more effective in drawing people’s attention. I also decided to choose a cartoon like style for my advertisement so as to gain people’s attention towards the product. The moonlight behind the zombies/skeletons and the brighter colors of the Ritz Cracker running away help draw the audiences focus toward the image. I created this image of 3 zombies rising from their graves to chase the Ritz Cracker to signify that the cracker is so tasty that people will graves just to have the Ritz cracker. The caption that I had placed was “So good that you can’t get enough”. The text helps reinforce the the intended meaning of the image.

The process that I took was:

  1. Brainstorming the key words associated to the Ritz Cheese Cracker
  2. Think about how i want to structure the shot
  3. Start on creating the shot and to always ensure that my intended message can be derived from the image on the advertisement

The challenges that I faced was thinking about which way I should choose to showcase the product on the advertisement as previously, I had other ideas like the use of the cracker as the wheels of the bicycle. However, I did enjoy the process of creating the advertisement and the time taken to think about the concept.

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Project 2: Brainstorms (Words and Images)

Task 1: Brainstorms (Words and Images)

The non-perishable food item that I have received from the the exchange was Ritz’s Cheese Cracker thus I thought about the words that reminded me of the cracker and found some images that represent those words. Thus, allowing me to further brainstorm for the project.

Cheesy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tasty

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crispy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Round


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Reading Assignment: Roland Barthes Rhetoric of the Image

What are some of the key questions Barthes aims to investigate in the article?

How does meaning get into the image?

Where does it end?

And if it ends, what is there beyond?

 

 

What are some of the key terms/ concepts introduced and discussed?

3 concepts/messages:

First message whose substance is linguistics

Its supports are the caption, which is marginal, and the labels, these being inserted into the natural disposition of the scene, ‘en abyme’.

The linguistic message is thus twofold: denotational and connotational.

 

Second message – Iconic Message

Signs for an image, which we will assume that they form a coherent whole (for they are all discontinuous). But this requires a general cultural knowledge and to refer back to signifieds each of which is global (for example, Italianicity), imbued with euphoric values.

 

Third message – Literal Message

Reading of an image to understand that it assembles in a common space.

A number of identifiable (namemable) objects, not merely shapes and colours.

The signifieds of this third message are constituted by the real objects photographed.

The sign of this message is not drawn from an institutional stock, is not coded and we are brought up against the paradox of a message without a code.

 

The two functions of the linguistic message with regard to the (twofold) iconic message: anchorage and relay.

All images are polysemous; they imply, underlying their signifiers, a ‘floating chain’ of signified, the reader able to choose some and ignore others.

 

The denoted image:

A new space-time category: spatial immediacy and temporal anteriority

The photograph being an illogical conjunction between the here-now and the there-then.

The photograph must be related to a pure spectorial consciousness and not to the more projective, more “magical” fictional consciousness on which film by and large depends.

Rhetoric of the image:

“The one lexia mobilizes different lexicons.”

Lexicon: A portion of the symbolic plane (of language) which corresponds to a body of practices and techniques. There is a plurality and a co-existence of lexicons in one and the same person, the number and identify of these lexicons forming in some sort a person’s idiolect. The language is composed of idiolects, lexicons and sub-codes.

 

 

Do you agree or disagree with his argument and point of view?

I agree with his argument and point of view. I do believe that, the three messages: a linguistic message, a coded iconic message and a non-coded iconic message can always be found in the photograph and that literal image is denoted and the symbolic image is connoted. I agree with his point of “all images are polysemous; they imply, underlying their signifiers, a ‘floating chain’ of signified, the reader able to choose some and ignore others.” As one image can often have more than one distinct meaning thus it can be implied differently depending on the individual who’s looking at the image.

 

 

Provide a brief analysis (200 words) on an advertisement of your choice by using the terms/ concepts proposed by Barthes and discuss the role of text and its relationship with the image in the advertisement. Please include an image the advertisement in your post.

The linguistic in this advertisement is the captions.

Denotative would be captions, “Big”, “Beefy”, the names of the burgers (Double Quarter Pounder with cheese, Big Mac, Angus Deluxe Third pounder)

Connotative would be the caption, “Bliss”

The caption, “ Bliss” Acts as an “anchor” as, when it mentions the word bliss, it remotely controls the viewer towards a meaning of “eating the burger would give you bliss”, of which this meaning was chosen in advance and permits the viewer to focus both visually and in terms of understanding about this advertisement.

The coded Iconic messages are, the images of the Burgers that look huge on the advertisement which is trying to relay the fact that their burgers will be big and that the fresh looking ingredients and beef patty on the burger is to show the large amount of beef on the burger.

The non-coded iconic message would be that, they used photographs of the burger, of which is an illogical conjunction between the here-now and the there-then. Of which the photographs are not the actual representation of the actual burgers as the photographs have most likely been altered to present the message intended.