Project 3 Proposal

1.) Our audience will include:
-People coming out of the gym
-Players on St. Mary's sports teams
-Pedestrians walking past the Arc and Monty
-The St. Mary's Basketball team
-Assorted friends

2.) Traffic:
Morning-Many people coming from and entering the Arc and nearby classrooms
Afternoon-Good amount of people still going about their business
Night-Close to five people every 10 minutes walking past the Arc

3.) Lights:
See map

4.) Social Conditions:
-Since the piece deals with sports it makes sense to have it closest to where the vast majority of people enjoy seeing sports recreationally.

5.) Scale:
See drawing

6.) Placement of Projector:
-Outlets located inside the gym
-Projector will be placed in grass area to prevent people from walking in front of it during the screening.

7.) Architectural Elements:
-Little to no interaction will occur due to distance and it being projected on a flat surface.

Map

Drawing

Wall

Visual Examples

Video Examples

Research Project 3

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer

This artist interested me because of his wide range of work. The first piece that I looked at of his was the Voice Tunnel project done in New York City where people could record themselves saying whatever and then it was projected into the tunnel. A light would also signal that their voice was being played. As each new person recorded a sound, their voice would start traveling to the end of the tunnel. I really like hearing the purpose behind this project, which was supposed to say something about freedom of speech. He also mentioned that this project was a way to show community and to bring people together, which I really enjoy because I feel like this is what we are trying to accomplish with our third project. If my project brings people on this campus together, if even just to look at it, then I have done something right.

I was also interested in Rafael's other project titled Open Air, which was very similar to the Voice Tunnel by attaching voices with lights but this was on a larger scale. In this project, Rafael set up a bunch of lights in Philadelphia that could be seen from 10 miles away. People could go into a website or on their phones and talk about anything they wanted for 30 seconds. Anyone could access the website but the people closest to the lights got priority for which stories would be projected. The lights also got brighter or dimmer depending on how loud the voice was. This project was also one that brought the community together and sent a message about freedom of speech. Once again, I really enjoy Rafael's ideas about bringing the community together and I hope to reflect that in my last project.

Jenny Holzer

Jenny Holzer also really interested me with her projections. She took an empty gallery and filled it with words, bodies, and light. This idea is similar to Rafael's idea in that she is using light and words to create a community and bring people together. Her words just happen to be made by the light instead of you hearing the words along with seeing the light. Jenny stated, " I show what I can with the words in light and motion in a chosen place, and when I envelop the time needed, the space around, the noise, smells, the people looking at one another and everything before them, I have given what I know." I really liked her idea of getting people in a space and getting them all to focus on one thing. I would like to use this idea of getting a community into a space.

Reading #4

Speaking Through Monuments & City Hall Tower Projection, Krakow

I thought this reading was very interesting because I have never really thought about what buildings and architecture say and mean to the people around it. I also never considered the possibility of making a piece of architecture say what you want it to say. I have seen lights and shapes projected onto a building and have heard added soundtracks with these lights but I have never seen something that was supposed to make the viewer think. What I saw was merely for entertainment, which is also interesting but I really like what the artist did in the City Hall Tower projections.

The stories chosen for the projections were ones that are usually not spoken about or people try to ignore so it is interesting that these stories were projected out onto a huge tower. Towers and large buildings definitely symbolize power and people literally have to look up at the tower so automatically anything projected onto it is going to seem important. I really like that these people stories were getting told but I was not as positive about how the images went along with the stories. I think it is interesting to try to think about and figure out.

Dough Aitken 

One thing I really liked about this piece of art is that there is no beginning or end to it, since it is a circle and you could not look at all of it at once. If you were able to see the video on one rectangle, it would definitely give it a different meaning. I like that this video forces you to see it at different points and angles and you will probably never see it in the same way twice. I thought this gave a new meaning to street graffiti and made it into something new, something that can change and move and make sound. This kind of reminds me what I have been trying to do with my last two projects which is that I take something that is usually still and make it come to life.

Research Project 2

Joan Logue

Joan Logue is said to be a pioneer when it comes to video portraits, she began in the 1960's as she realized the new medium's potential. Joan studied painting and photography as she grew up so it was odd that she chose to start making video portraits. The reason she chose to try video portraits is because she thought it "expanded painting and still photography, taking the 'instant' out of portraiture to give it a presence in real-time." It is said that she is recognized as the first video portrait originator and made her first video in 1971. She states that her video portraits allows the viewer to observe the subject in contemplation and silence because she uses real time and silence to expose the subject's presence. 

Photo by Kathy Brew 2010

Joan has made hundreds of video portraits mostly for installations since 1971 and also created a new kind of video portrait called 30 second portraits. Her subjects in her videos are other artists, her lovers, family, fisherman, writers, poets, philosophers, composers, street people, and auto portraits. She has done video portraits of many famous people (including Rosa Parks and Cesar Chavez), a lot like Robert Wilson but not as contemporary. Joan originally grew up and worked in Los Angeles until 1977 but then traveled all around the world doing her artwork and her video portraits. She became a professor to teach her work and now resides in New York. 

Portrait Video if Noam Chomsky

Her video portraits seem to be staged, but in a more relaxed environment like the subject is in their own workplace or home. There are only a couple I have seen that look like she set up some sort of black background or maybe had them come into a studio. With how many video's she has done, I would assume she would go to that person and make their video wherever they are. There are some video portraits where she even has another smaller video of the person doing whatever they were famous for on top of the video portrait. For Noam Chomsky's video that I have posted above, she went to his MIT office and asked him to just sit in silence while she videotaped him for 23 minutes at his desk. The length of her videos also vary and there does not seem to be one set way that she makes them.

Joan's video portraits were made before there were more advanced technologies in video's so her portraits are obviously not as high quality as other video portrait artists that I have seen. I think it is really interesting to research her since she is said to be one of the first people to ever make a video portrait. I had not even heard of video portrait's until this year so it is hard to imagine that someone was making these over 40 years ago. Joan stated that "for her, video portraits have a life of their own, it's always in the present." This was very interesting to me because other portrait artists that I have studied have not let the subject do whatever they want, they are usually heavily staged. Joan wants the subjects to be themselves, which I find very inspiring. 

Joan Logue Website

Clayton Cubitt

Clayton Cubitt is an American award winning photographer, filmmaker, and writer who is from New Orleans but is based in New York City. He has done many international exhibitions and has worked with a lot of famous people throughout the world. Clayton mixes art and fashion with technology and is known for applying an "arrestingly controlled and sleek sense of style" to art, portrait, erotic and fashion photography. Clayton has been described as "one of a new breed of photographers no longer content to draw a distinction between the worlds of fashion, art, and porn." Clayton was inspired to study photography from seeing the photograph "Susie Smoking" by Nick Knight and also the photograph "Green Room Murder" by Helmut Newton.

Clatyon has worked with artists like Kanye West, and Die Antwoord, and is the guy who did the Hysterical Literature videos that circulated the internet. He also stated that his long portraits inspired a Superbowl commercial and he worked and did portraits of many hurricane Katrina victims. Clayton's website shows a lot of his different forms of artwork like his portraits, his fashion photography, his videos that include music videos and long portraits, and his different projects. Clayton is very interesting in that he has a wide variety of different subjects and interests. Die Antwoord on one hand is probably one of the weirdest music groups I've ever seen and is very sexual and all around strange. He also has his long portraits which are quiet and still and serious. And then he has his Hysterical Literature videos that he says were inspired by his long portraits where he has a girl reading her favorite book while being teased under the table with a vibrator. And then he goes on to work with hurricane Katrina victims, which is obviously very serious and not sexual or weird in any way. He also did a series called Man Vs. Man where he took images of men boxing.

Clayton describes his long portraits as "The experience of a portrait, extended into minutes. Breathing in and out with the subject." His long portraits are always a closer shot of the subject's face and are always silent. He either takes the video of the subject in his studio or in theirs, with not much background unless the person shows a little of their studio in the background. They are all just about 5 minutes in length and there is no music or any sound, except for if the person makes any sort of sound. In an interview conducted with Clayton he talked about how in todays world, everyone has a well-practiced pose for "selfies" and social media, and he was interested to see if he could make a portrait that made it impossible for the sitter to maintain this pose. This was his inspiration for his long portraits project but he then stated that this way of making portraits was too anonymous for him. 

Long Portrait of Graciella Longoria

Clayton then went on to do his Hysterical Literature project because he thought the long portraits did not say enough about the sitter. He used the term "interesting but mute" when describing his projects. He also stated that the long portraits were a conceptual ground that was already explored by Andy Warhol's "Screen Tests." He then decided to make a video where he interviewed a woman who was being distracted by a vibrator but then decided he wanted to be removed from the process as much as possible, which is where he got his idea for Hysterical Literature. I have actually seen his work all around the internet and Reddit but never knew who the artist was behind the work. I am shocked and pleasantly surprised to find out all of these cool art projects that I have liked were all done by this one guy. 

Clayton Cubitt Website

http://hystericalliterature.com/

My Project

I really enjoy both of these artists work work and for my project I would like to think about how I as the artist am interacting with my subject. An artist is always giving their lens when creating a work, and no matter how much they try to separate themselves from the work they will always be a part of it. Video portraits are interesting because they are very obviously about the subject and not the artist, but an artist can decide to put themselves in the work by making it completely their own (for example Robert Wilson) or they can try to separate themselves from the work and make it completely about the subject (for example Joan Logue). For my project I need to decide how I would like to present my subject and if I want to make it completely mine, or if I would like to make it about the subject. Or maybe both? I could I could do one video where I try to take myself out of the video as much as I can and then make another video where I completely create it myself, and make the subject not herself at all. 

Project 2 Proposal

For my second project I would like to use my same video portrait that I did for my first project. I'm thinking for this one I will do what Robert Wilson did with his other video portraits and not base it off a famous painting but just do a portrait. I will have to get more creative with this one but I think this will make it more fun for me because I will not be only focusing on one painting, I will be able to create something based on whatever I like. Robert Wilson still took into account everything like lighting, costume, makeup, choreography, gesture, set design, and narrative. I will be able to come up with these ideas completely on my own, or maybe even try to copy one of his.

For this project I would also like fix some of the issues I had with the last one like the shadow, and also how I portray time. This project will be different because it will not only have to be one minute in length and I can decide how I would like to show people that time is passing. I am still happy with using photoshop and final cut pro so I think I will stick with those unless I see any other possibilities of how I could make the project better. I think that will have to come once I figure out what my portrait is going to be.

Another thing I need to consider is how I am going to make this project interactive. At first all I could think about was putting my video on youtube, because I am very familiar with youtube and I could do something with linking the video to another portrait or something. Then as I was procrastinating on Reddit trying to think of ideas, I thought to myself, why wouldn't I post it on Reddit? Reddit is a social networking service and news website where anyone who signs up can submit content like text posts or direct links. You can comment on each post and can either "up vote" it or "down vote" it based on if you like the post or not. Reddit consumes probably around 4 hours of my life every day and I can't think of a better place to put my project to see how other redditers react to it.

Another idea would be that I could create an image based on what I think people on Reddit would like. For example Reddit has certain characteristics such as liking cats, bacon, and girls and people will sometimes create images with everything redditers like just to get up votes. I could base it off the idea of "break the internet" but it would be "break Reddit." But that is just an idea... that might be hard to do. There are also many other things to take into account when posting to Reddit like the title of the post (which is huge) and also the time of day when you post it and also which subreddit you post it to.

Reading #3 - Dispersion

For this reading, we were assigned to peruse the syllabus for a course at RISD on experimental publishing. In the syllabus there were five categories: substrate, versions, dispersion, transduction, and balconism. At first looking through these categories on the syllabus I was very confused because it is general in describing what each category meant. Im assuming that each one was a different project the student's had to create and do based on the category and below were examples of some of the projects. The one that caught my eye the most was the third category, which was dispersion. This one caught my attention because the first thing under that category was a quote that stated, "In what sense is posting - to Facebook, for example - publishing or making public?" It then goes on to say that students must distribute a series to a network/channel that could include any message, image, data, or anything the students wanted. They were told that it must be exposed for the first time and it also must interrupt, complicate, or somehow alter the conventions/expectations/algorithms of the network by circulating the project.

I looked through some of the links provided with this prompt and honestly did not understand most of them but one of the projects really stuck out to me. In 2014 a girl named Amelia Ulman decided she wanted to become an Instagram celebrity and researched the cosmetic gaze and the beauty myth and then went on to prepare a script and timeline that she felt followed the rhythm of social media. This was her narrative:

"The provincial girl moves to the big city, wants to be a model, wants money, splits up with her high-school boyfriend, wants to change her lifestyle, enjoys singledom, runs out of money because she doesn’t have a job, because she is too self-absorbed in her narcissism, she starts going on seeking-arrangement dates, gets a sugar daddy, gets depressed, starts doing more drugs, gets a boob job because her sugar daddy makes her feel insecure about her body, and also he pays for it, she goes through a breakdown, redemption takes place, the crazy bitch apologizes, the dumb blonde turns brunette and goes back home. Probably goes to rehab, then she is grounded at her family house."

She was interested in pop culture's obsession with Instagram celebrities that she wanted to see if she could get people to believe her made up story. She even stated in an interview that she told some of her friends that this was fake and was just a type of social experiment but even they started to believe the made up story. This story reminded me of another girl who set up pictures all taken in New York City to make it look like she took a trip to China. She did this by going to China Town in New York and by checking herself into a hotel and taking pictures of exotic food and other stuff like that. Everyone actually believed she was on this trip, which proved her point that people will believe almost anything that they see on the internet. I thought Amelia's experiment was well thought out and very clever and I am very interested in looking into this project more.

http://www.vulture.com/2014/12/how-amalia-ulman-became-an-instagram-celebrity.html

Research

Robert Wilson

Robert Wilson, born in 1941, is an American experimental theatre stage director and playwright. He also worked as a choreographer, performer, painter, sculptor, video artist, and sound and light designer. Robert Wilson seems to be most concerned with theatre and is known for his unique use of light on the stage. He likes to study simple movements and also is interested in furniture design and prides himself on the originality of his work. Robert Wilson has some very close ties with famous musicians, actors, and writers, which apparently fascinates a lot of people.

The reason I liked Robert Wilson is because he is basically why I chose the project I chose. He is the artist who took Lady GaGa and had her standing still for ten minutes while she posed portrait style to make a video portrait. I had never seen someone do this before and I had never even thought of anything like this but I found it very interesting. I have always worked with photography so working with video will definitely be something new for me but I am excited to try it.

Robert Wilson has done many video portraits with famous actors. He uses many creative elements for the videos like lighting, costume, makeup, choreography, gesture, text, voice, set design, and narrative. It states on his bio that "The video portraits act as a complete synthesis of all the media in the realm of Wilson's art making." It also states that the video portrait form blurs time-based cinematography with the frozen moment of still photography. The video portrait was a way for Wilson to use a multitude of creative processes found in painting, sculpture, design, architecture, dance, theatre, photography, television, film, and contemporary culture.

I really enjoy Wilson's pieces because at first glance you think you are looking at a photograph but then in closer inspection you realize that it is actually a high definition video. I really enjoy how much thought and effort he puts into setting up and staging each video. I also enjoy all of the creative lighting and staging. It is also very interesting how many famous actors and musicians who he got to pose for his videos, some of the people I could never imagine doing something like that. When I first saw that Lady Gaga did it I was not surprised but then looking through his other videos I was very shocked to see faces like Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt.

http://www.dissidentusa.com/robert-wilson/subjects/

Adam Magyar

Another artist I really enjoy that uses the video portraits is Adam Magyar. He is a Hungarian artist that likes to travel a lot to do his artwork. He spent a good amount of time in cities like Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Kolkata, and New York. Adam is very interested in made-made structures and finds human's scientific achievements an important part of human evolution. In his artist statement he mentions "...to me the city is not less of a natural environment than the rainforest." He thinks that as humans we are constantly trying to move further while leaving a trace behind in the fraction of time we are given.

Adam Magyar uses photography and also video to show time and flow of life. It said in his artist statement that he is really interesting in time, which is very interesting to me because I feel that photography shows the death of a certain time but by adding the video element he is giving life to that certain moment. His art works with my idea because I am focusing on a moment in time and I do not want to show something already gone but something constantly in motion. He is similar but different from Robert Wilson because he did not take a video of just one person standing still, he used the Subway as his setting and used very slow motion camera so that it would look like still image but really everything is moving.

This subway image is from his project called STAINLESS where he scanned rushing subway trains arriving in stations. This is a large image but when you zoom in you can see a number of tiny details from the moment. You can also see the looks on people's faces in the train, which he thought they were "scrutinizing the uncertain future." He also states that every person in the train has something in common because all of their main motivation is the arrival. He also talks about how the darkness surrounding the trains in the tunnels deep below the city turns these images into fossils of our time.

Most of the work done for his project STAINLESS are photographs but what I was most interested in was the three videos that go along with the photos. Similar to Robert Wilson, I really enjoy how he has staged these people in such a way that is so theatrical with the lighting and everything that goes into staging. He creates this feeling of time but also a feeling that time is stopped. Once again, at first glance you might assume it is just a photograph but then you realize people are slowly moving. I love this idea and it is evident he put a lot of thought and time into this project. I also really enjoy the still images because at first it looks like nothing but being able to zoom in on specific faces gives it a more personal story.

Link to Adam's website and videos:
http://www.magyaradam.com/