Final Statement

At the beginning of this project I had absolutely no idea what to do. So far this year I had based all of my projects on photographs. Even during micro project 4, where we had to take videos that contained different sounds, in my final production of the project I extracted the sound from these videos and placed them into a still image of Park-Stradley. So for this project I decided early on that I wanted my final presentation to an actual video.  I decided then to partner up with one of my class mates John Silvestre, who lives right down the hall. After watching some videos on YouTube John had the idea to film things and then play them in reverse. I liked the idea of reversing the clips but I felt that there needed to be something that would make it unique but I couldn’t figure out what.

Without fully committing to a theme for our videos we started filming. One of the first clips we made was John catching a football. It was at this point that I brought up the idea of doing everything in reverse, but then playing it backwards so that everything looked (somewhat) normal. This way when people saw the video they wouldn’t thing anything of it. After this John and I started to come up with ideas of things that we normally do together such as, programming and Engineering homework, and walking to class. However, none of these events really had much to do with each other other than the fact that we did these things together.  

To be honest I was disappointed with the way this project turned out. I think that we were too specific when we were figuring out what we wanted to do for this project and didn’t leave space enough creativity or fortunate accidents. Furthermore, some of the videos I feel turned out really well but some of them were convincing. I think that we were trying too hard to increase this videos run time, and included clips that weren’t ready to be added. However, one think I did like about this project is that sort of shows the symmetry or cycle of my time here at college. The videos that stand out to me the most are the elevator chip, and the clip of the engineering project. Honestly I could not tell you how many times I’ve put together and taken apart that AEV. It seems like that’s all I’ve done this semester in engineering. Five years from now when I look back on that class I guarantee that all I remember is building and destroying that stupid thing. As for walking to the elevator, that is the one path I take that never changes. Once I’m out of that elevator and on the first floor I could go anywhere: left, right, to class, out to eat, or even to party. But that walk to the elevator has never changed.

Blog Post 10

50% Critique

When we started this project (John and I) we had no idea what we wanted to do. The first major decision we made was that we wanted to use a video camera and work in some sort of movie editor, rather than altering a picture or collage in Photoshop+, which was my most recent project.  After many failed ideas, we decided to film random events or daily rituals that pertained to both of us (after all it is a group project). However, we didn’t think that this would be enough to base a project on so we started to think about gimmicks. Finally we decided to create clip that only made sense when they were played in reverse.

The immediate idea that we came up with was the construction of our engineering AEV (advanced energy vehicle), as well as its subsequent destruction. Because the product look the same initially as it does once it’s been broken down, it really doesn’t matter which way to look at the video.

Failure Paper

I would have to say that my biggest failure this semester was my piece for micro-project 3. Out of everything I’ve made this semester that is the one piece that I still don’t fully understand myself. I mean I understand what each part of the piece signifies and what it says about me as a person. But I don’t think that this layout or design of these components contributes anything to the piece. I might as well have just put these pictures side-by-side in Photoshop and submitted that. As for how I would improve that project, I guess I would have to see what comes to me during the process.

However, from this failure I think I understand a little better how to create meaningful art pieces. I was trying to plan out my picture before I even had the components; I had a clear image of the picture and didn’t leave any room for spontaneous decisions. Having said that I think that what I learned since micro project 3 has lead to my greatest successes this semester. For these past two micro-projects I’ve started them with no plan, and no expectation for the piece. I found that when I stopped thinking about what I’m doing and just worked, everything somehow tied together in the end. The flow and harmony that I tried to create in my artwork by planning out every step only came through when I stopped trying to force it. More specifically, I think my greatest achievement this semester (in terms of micro-projects) was MP5. Maybe it’s because I found a way to tie it back to my favorite subject, physics, but I think that photo “speaks” to me more than my other work. From this success I think I have a greater appreciation for the process of constructing your piece, rather than just trying to skip ahead to the final presentation.

MP5

Write-Up MP5

MP5

Action Word: Flood

For my object I decided to use something small, therefore making it easy to submerge. I decided to use my Buck-ID for this not only because there is an actual picture of myself on the ID, but also because it really is the key to my life here at OSU. This piece of plastic has made it into the majority of my micro-projects, and is the only thing I will not leave my room without.

The word that I have decided to base my piece on (out of the two given) is flood. The immediate definition I got when I typed “flood definition” into Google was “Cover or submerge (a place or area) with water.” It was clear from the start that one limitation I would face was that my project should incorporate water. However, in using water I realized that I would be working with a different optical medium. I quickly decided that for my project I wanted to “play around” with some basic laws of optics. In my picture I submerged a portion of my Buck-ID into a glass cup of water, and then used my phone to take a picture of it at an angle. Without getting too much into the science, due to the change in the index of refraction from air (1.00) to water (1.33), the ID was distorted when looking at it through the water, as opposed to the portion that remained “un-flooded.”  Furthermore, due to the angle at which the picture was taken, the image appears twice; once as a slightly distorted view from above, and then again as a magnified image due to the concaved shape of the glass.

The main portion of this project was just the picture in itself. I decided not to alter the picture too much in Photoshop because I think that it would ruin the whole concept behind this piece. The image has already changed itself, adding on any filters would just be redundant and unnatural. In order to show that I have learned something this semester I decided to put it into Photoshop anyway, and to cut off some of the edges that were irrelevant to the piece. I also added a background that was more fitting to the theme of the project than the desk in the dorm room. Lastly I typed my action word into the piece (in blue) so that anyone that stumbles on it might have some clue as to what’s going on.

MP4 Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71G10wERrJs

MP4 Write-up

For this project I decided to use my dorm for all three videos. For the first clip I used my phone to take a video of the water hitting the floor in the showers of Park-Stradley. During my morning showers before class, all I really only notice is the sound of the water beating against the floor and how cold the air is when I get out. Above all, the thud of the water hitting the floor of the shower is the most distinguishing sound.

My second clip is of the door to my room being unlocked, dead-bolted open, and then swinging shut, bouncing off the door frame as it collides with the deadbolt. The main thing I notice about this action is the sound of the bang as the door smacks the frame, and the sinking feeling that I will have to pay for its replacement when it inevitably breaks. If I were to close my eyes the sound of this bang would immediately let me know where I was.

My last clip is of the blinds being opened in my room. This is a sound I hear almost every morning when I wake up, and typically the first thing I notice (besides the loud noise of the chain) is how bright it is outside as my eyes are starting to adjust to the increase in light. In all reality if I closed my eyes and heard this noise out of setting I might not recognize it; however, if anything were to familiarize me with this sound it would be the chain being pulled through the mechanism.