Project 2: Documentation

My project was intended to represent the faces and lives of the victims of the tragic high school shooting in Parkland a year ago.  Using a lot of symbolism, I believe that my installation was successful as it was effective at allowing the audience to understand the piece and make their own conclusions on it, despite its ambiguity. I didn't want it to come off as 'too easy/straight-forward' where the audience understands everything they see right away; however, I wanted it to be clear enough, but have the audience still put some thought into it. From showing respect and commemorating the victims, to promoting the call for gun control, I believe that my project speaks a lot and in an efficient way. 

This installation, although I would've liked to incorporate a bit more complexity/animation to it, was still very effective as its simplicity is less distracting to the viewer and allows them to focus and think more about what it's really saying.  

Project 2: Progress Post 3

Using gaff tape to post each of the stop signs to the wall, I placed them all in the space I created to project on the wall. I then used the MadMapper software to arrange and adjust the shape/sizes of all of the victims' faces to fit the spaces of the stop signs to project on. I then was the active performer in the presentation of my installation as I took away the faces of the victims one by one. I think the installation was a success and the message/symbolism that I was intending delivered for the audience.

Project 2: Progress Post 2

I have further added to my plan, that in the background of everything else going on, the setting will be heaven. My project plan was to already express the consequences of guns as well as show the remembrance of each victim, but I feel that it would add more imagery, respect, and honor to those whose lives were tragically taken by symbolizing them all in heaven and resting peacefully. I will most likely put all of the stop signs and faces on a wall and have them all up in the clouds of heaven, which I will begin illustrating/animating today. At the end of the exhibition, the faces will disappear one by one, as the stop-signs remain there. This symbolizing that although the victims are physically gone and were taken away from this world one by one, they are resting easy, won't be forgotten. Also that although each of them are gone, each of their lives made an impact on society and on the future as the debate for gun control has gotten much more serious and awareness.

Artist Research 2

I explored several artists for this assignment, but the artist I chose and researched in more depth was Camille Utterback, because her art really fascinated me in many ways. Utterback is an extremely successful American digital and installation artist, who works primarily with interactive exhibits/art. She earned her Masters degree from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU, and currently teaches art and Graduate Design at Stanford University. Her work creatively incorporates visually aesthetic animations with motion sensors to take interactive art to a new level. I really like her because she uses different forms of interactivity to her works, such as Kinect-like motion sensors to track one's body movements, and a touchscreen kiosk that the viewer can directly touch and interact with to alter the projection or make things appear or disappear. This shows that she doesn't just stick with one certain style for all of her works; which, although is still truly incredible art, may get old or boring after a while. Her use of variety in interactivity makes all her work different and fresh. 

I am a huge fan of interactive art, not only because of the incredible capabilities it may have to offer, the complexity the artist went through to make it possible, and the utter beauty of it. But I love installation art because I believe that the best art is art that gets the audience involved. Most art galleries you just walk through and admire the works, but the interactive element gets the audience way more involved, creating a more fun, thought-provoking, and memorable experience. Camille Utterback is truly excellent as she achieves all of these goals in her work and continues to create amazing groundbreaking works throughout her long career.

http://camilleutterback.com/

Project 2: Progress Post 1

After long and thoughtful deliberation, I decided it most appropriate and practical to go with stop signs as the medium to project my installations of the Parkland victims' faces on for my project. I feel that this would be very powerful and supportive of the message that I am trying to portray. Obviously using real stop signs would be impractical, as they are too heavy and large to carry and fit all 17 into the limited workspace I have, but it would also be illegal/dangerous to steal them! Therefore I have decided that it is much more feasible to print out all of the stop signs onto sheets of paper.

Project 2: Proposal

Idea #1-
A bunch of balloons/plates/shields/stop-signs/round surfaces arranged around the room, and the face of a Parkland victim is on each one, and an anti-gun speech/song or experimental audio playing in the background.



Materials:
-balloon/plate/round surface for each victim
-string/tape to hang or hold in place
-phone for audio
-camera to film the final documentation


Timeline:
-get all materials by Feb 15
-have plan for positions of all objects in black box by Feb 19
-have mapping complete/set by Feb 25
-have audio set by Feb 27
















Idea #2-
Either square or rectangular boxes set up in a 3d depth-pyramid that will light up/change colors/designs to the tune or beat of a copyright-free song.

Idea #3:
Place objects around, use height as a form/means of depth, the objects transfer water/liquid from object to object.

Project 1: Documentation

My project is a very abstract/experimental depiction of one of the uneasy feelings people experience sometimes. I chose to make it about the feeling of waking up in the middle of the night parched, confused, and uneasy. I experience this somewhat frequently, and wanted to show exactly how it feels, without using dialogue and being too direct or upfront about the message.
I know that I'm not the only person who has experienced this, so I wanted to create a sort of "memory" or "deja vu" for the audience who has ever felt this, creating a sense of relatability. I chose to go in a slightly different direction from the original directions to have six videos organized evenly on the screen, but felt that in regards to the message of my video and stylistically, to do so differently.