Final piece

Please view here:
http://vimeo.com/32439409

Final Statement

Jenny Hall

http://jenny2809.blogspot.com/

I began by examining our human relationship with nature. Using video in an observational way, I chose to film that which could be argued as Romantic landscapes with aesthetic qualities similar to that of Turner or John Martin. One of the ideas of the Romantic is its overwhelming power of nature. The camera was set up like that of those in nature programs, hidden and camouflaged so as not to disturb the natural flow of the environment.

Video worked well for my piece as my aim was to capture the subtle things in landscape we wouldn’t usually notice, eg a bird flying past or an autumn leaf falling to earth. This relates to Graham Gussin’s “the Fall” in which an object makes impact with a lake on a wide panned out shot of a landscape.

However, I deliberately kept a clue of human presence in the shot, relating to Casper David Friedrich’s paintings. These clues were some stones in the foreground, which at first appear natural, but studying them reveals where they have been shaped by human intervention.  I did not make them the focal point of the shot though; I kept the focus on Nature. The ambiguity of the stone natural or human presence blended the two worlds together, rather than segregating them as the placement of the stones suggest. This hints at the idea that nature and humans share this planet.

The surface of the water being disturbed by rain, or something landing in it, encourages the viewer to look and take the time to notice things. My work aims to make the viewers aware of their own viewing.

Statement Attempt 1

From an observational viewpoint, I chose to use video on what could be argued as Romantic landscapes with aesthetic qualities similar to that of Turner or JohnMartin. One of the ideas of the Romantic is its focal point on what is complex in the world such as the overwhelming power of nature. (Brown,2001) The camera was set up like that of those in nature programs, hidden and camouflaged so as not to disturb the natural flow of the environment

Video worked well for my piece as my aim was to capture the subtle things in landscape we wouldn’t usually notice, eg a bird flying past or an autumn leaf falling to earth. This relates to Graham Gussin’s “the Fall” in which an object makes impact with a lake on a wide panned out shot of a landscape.

However, I deliberately kept a clue of human presence in the shot, relating to Casper David Friedrich’s paintings. These clues included a metal railing, a wooden bridge and a ruined chapel. I did not make them to focal point of the shot though; I kept the focus on natural.  This was done by the surface of the water being disturbed by, rain or something landing in it distorting the image of the human. However, the image of the natural was also distorted, blending the two worlds rather than setting them off against each other. Hinting at the idea that nature and humans share this planet

 Bibliography

Brown, D.B (2001) Romanticism, Phaidon Press

Final ideas for shooting

Being going to Church Stretton to shoot a lake i know of in the mountains. I did this to get a surface area to reflect off of. And cause i know their are details of human presence their that don't take over the landscape like a wooden bridge and some chapel ruins
With it being high up, their was a certain quality to the light as the air was thin. On day of shooting the mist was low so it added to the that quality
I was aiming to blend the two worlds of the natural and human together with the focal point on nature and the power given to nature. I did this by allowing the presence of humans to only be visable reflected on the waters surface. As the water was disturbed the image was distorted. However the image also contained reflections of the surrounding trees, so i a way the two worlds were blended, hinting at the idea that the natural and the human world are all part of the same Earth

Second Tutorial with Michael Day

Summary of Tutorial

More going on in the river shots.Demanding image

Shot of placeswhere not a lot happens

Sun shot too contrasted.not working

Close up of river-reflections on surfaces- reflections of things off screen. Its more like my work.

Reshoot on misty morning? Visuall complicated/ Painterly.

Complex visual image.The undergrowth is all in focus

First river shoot had a bit of railing at the side- hint of the urban which dont dominate the image

film for minimum of 10 mins. 30 is good better to have too much footage than not enough. 30 mins if you want to catch the sun changing angles

Video in real time. Important part is finding the right section in editing

Course of Action Agreed

Keep it subtle. Think about the start and end. As a gallery piece loop it but as a piece of work dont

Footage I have could be complete through editing but be good to keep my approach now ive found it and try shooting different locations

Technically good just need a stable tripod

Get rid of bits that judder, needs to be solid.

Further reading suggested/ Artists referenced

MikeMarshall-photographs of brambles with only one bit in focus

George Shaw-focus on paths that lead to woods. Psychological effect. Woods put there to make urban space nicer. Reality of it is woods near urban space arent nice and are dodgy places

Aesthetically like Turner, John Martin and the textures similar to Monet

Graham Gussin- “The Fall” and his dry ice works

Trying things out

Tried shooting similar stuff "from and observing approach" at different times of day in different locations
One was at night using nightshooting of the entrance to an underground cavern beneath a tree that is supposedly haunted with priests from the days Catholics were persecuted by law in England, from the beginning of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in 1558.These are known as Priestholes. It was uncomfortable to film and uneasy to watch in play back so i think has more of a prescence than my first shoot. Got some recordings of the rain from this location too

View this here:
http://vimeo.com/32439972


Also shot over a misty river at dawn with birdsong. Got a few different angles of this but not sure about what impact they have

View this here:
http://vimeo.com/32439786

illustration of potential idea

Not what i want to do

felt filming through documentation was ok but now i feel film is becoming the work.I wanted to focus on sound
Feel like it isnt my work,and im producing things cause ive been asked to,dont feel its MY work and im enjoying it
.Short of filming the same stuff but in a different location i dont what else i can do.Thought about making a circle of sound that resonates off each other that maybe the viewer could stand inthe center of.doubt i have time to completly change what ive done though
tutorial at 2 next monday...

seminar and reviewing my work

After viewing my work in post roduction, although id captured some examples of people being affected by my sound, i wasnt happy. I didnt feel it related to my studio work, the proposal or the work i wanted to focus on.
Notes from seminar

Summary of Session

Screening to see where work is at the moment

subject matter- bit spooky with secret filming (covert)

Before figures in the screen its similar to birdwatching, waiting and observer

Concentrates on observing space

Human interest (antropological

Apply to different spaces – bus stop?

Course of Action Agreed

Dont judge work so shortly after making it take time to reflect, look at artists

Further reading suggested/ Artists referenced

roslin nashishibi -still it looks at things

Tacita dean – eclipse that dont happen

 I really dont want to make my work about people. I cant see where i am going from here but at the moment it appears im moving more into video than sound whic is what i originally wanted to do

Problems in Post production

Got to post production later that i hoped due to unforseen circumstances. Then the harddrive couldnt be detected on the mac so had to try and get hold of another one
After managed to sort this, i couldnt get Final cut pro to detect the dv deck so had touse two different cameras and 3 firewire cables to get my footage up on to the screen
Editing mainly involed me laying the audio track id played in the corridor space on the top of the video tracks.
The harddrive i was given was booke dout by another student so i had to go a long way round saving and exporting my work by saving it through the memory on the tower. This took up even more time and i ended up with a fine and lte for my seminar

Filming

Set up in the coridor spaces, using the bird calls on a hidden mp3 player played out of mini speakers.
I set the camera up in a nearby door way and filmed people walking through a door in the corridor, hoping they may notice the subtle sounds

View this here:
http://vimeo.com/32439665

Rebooked out Marantz

Managed to rebook the marantz out and get some recordings of birds, mainly songbirds,geese and a close recording of a pigeon, by enticing it closer to the microphone with food
These recordings im using for my test piece

Marantz

Booked a marantz out to start recording sound and it didnt work. took it back to the stores and explained and managed to get a new one
Only this time the battery was dead and the charger was broken. Then it was too late to go back to stores cause it had closed
Wont have any of my own recordings ready for this work in progress screening so had to nab some samples of net in accordance to what was discussed previously with Michael
Im going to try and get hold of a cheap mp3 player aand play the sound and record peoples reactions on monday morning.hopefully get some done i time

reflecting and plan of action.

From last tutorial, i will be recording my own sounds using amarantz,listening through headphones and picking up on sounds normaly my brain would filterout.
This sound i will play at next seminar, unknown to other students, and record their responses to film or their response to the disjointed sound

Tutorial with Michael Day

Summary of Tutorial

Looking at where I am with sound work. Explained David Blandy suggestion of disjointed sound and place.

Can record a sound based on a space but disjointed ie outside noise inside.

Use the corridor space?think about the corridor space, confined and narrow. Cave? woodland eg owl noises?

Think about timing when editing, need time for the what was that….pause….listen again moment

2 different outcomes, defined sound in a context

Or headphone piece with unrecognizable sound

Looking at time and space

Course of Action Agreed

Try both

Record sound, use cheap mp3 player and record people’s reactions. Use the seminar group as guinea pigs to test it out

Set up before seminar

Further reading suggested/ Artists referenced

Chris Watson – sound recorder for bbc nature programmes

BJ Nielson – sound composer

From my last tutorial

I began by gathering sample sounds downloaded of the web to demonstrate my idea for the sound in terms of tone. Also been  reading around the subject
 From Edmund Burkes Philosophical enquiry into the origin of the sublime and the beautiful
"A low tremelous intermitting sound seems in some respects ...a product of the sublime" p153

"by sole strngth of the sound, so amuses and confounds the imagination, that this is a thing of the mind, the best establishes tempersare scarcly being born down and joining the common resolution of the crowd"p151
The second quote is about perception and the viewer experiancing the sound

Tutorial with David Blandy

Summary of Tutorial

Looking at making a sound piece for Movement image sound module

2elements to it: 1) the sound

2)the kit used to play the sound

I want a very heavy atmospheric sound,in gallery situation be better if I has surround sound with a sub woofer. The speakers etc can be hidden

Be interesting to create a sense of dislocation between the sound and space. Set up a contemporary office space for example with this “earthy” sound

To take the sounds from nature and dislocating them with environment also dislocates the sound. Making it otherworldly

To do with the self/animal/spirit (Marcus Coates/ Joseph Bueys)

Course of Action Agreed

To watch documentaries about the natural world, take scenes and disregard the video aspect, keep the sound, e.g will have the sound or erupting volcano but not visuals to clarify what it actually is, so left with the roaring sound.

Sound needs to be at least 15 secs or loop becomes noticeable

aim for 5 alternatives

experiment then by going out in the public realm, playing this sound discreetly and filming peoples reactions

Further reading suggested/ Artists referenced

marcus coates

joseph bueys

Music for Inspiration from bands

Omnia - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aktHRL-BWVI

Wardruna - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CranDHlMA1E&feature=related

Artists

Peter Appleton
http://www.axisweb.org/seCVFU.aspx?ARTISTID=4942


http://www.forestofdean-sculpture.org.uk/artists/sculptors/peter-appleton/
Natural forces to make sound

M W Burns- plays pre recorded sounds into a space to play on peoples space and reality

Kyle Bobby Dunn drone music

Augustine Leudar is a sonic artist, known for unorthodox and anarchic soundscapes and ambient music. Leudar frequently cites the natural world as an important source of inspiration.

Annea Lockwood thousand year dreaming, 4 dideridoos

Audium is a unique sound art phenomenon that has been presented weekly in San Francisco since 1967. Audium is a creation of composer Stan Shaff that is performed on original equipment designed by Doug McEachern. It is played in a completely dark theater designed to heighten the spatial effects of sound and for "choreographing sound in space." [1] Compositions are developed from acoustic and electronic instruments and from sounds of the natural world used as metaphors.

Yoshi wada drone

Mark Peter Wrightan "audio exploration of site, time, perception and landscape" focused upon the monastic abbeys in North Yorkshire

Carl Michael von Hausswolff is a composer, visual artist and curator based in Stockholm, Sweden. His main tools are recording devices (camera, tape deck, radar, sonar) used in an ongoing investigation of electricity, frequency, architectural space and paranormal electronic interference. He is an expert in the work of Friedrich Jürgenson, electronic voice phenomena (EVP) a researcher who claimed to have detected voices of the dead hidden in radio static. Hausswolff's own sound works are pure, intuitive studies of electricity, frequency and tone.

Decision

I am going to focus on making a sound piece
I am interested in low droning sounds such as Mongolian Throat singing and didgeridoo
Also interested in sounds made by natural sources, like wooden windchimes in the wind
I want to make very primal sounds, that sound like they could be vibrations of the earth, deep and natural sounds
also find drumming to be near to what i want to do 

Presentation Pt 2

Time is at the center of metaphysics - Bergson  

Rush, M (1999) p 12

Art that has been born from art and technology is perhaps the most ephemeral art of all - the art of time. A photographs captures its presence a moment in time.an image set inside a computer, then montaged,erased,edited or scrambled. Rush, m(1999) p 8

Rush, M (1999) New Media In Art, Thames & Hudson; World of Art

Metaphysics is a philosophy of questioning what is being, what it is to exist. To say time is at the center of metaphysics, which is part of what i am exploring, and that time is also non existant inside a computer, then makes it interesting to creating metaphysical art inside a thing that is timeless.

What and How?
Sound piece
Sets an atmosphere
imagery is wrapped in its own connotations
New Area
Marantz and Pro tools

I want to create a sound piece, as its sound and music that sets an atmosphere. Like when you are watching a film; there is more emotion conveyed when you can hear the music rather than watching it in silence. It is also a new area for me as i have use video before, but they have been silent pieces. I am also using film in my studio work so i want to focus on something different in this module. Imagery comes with its own connotations which is usually different for each person depending on their experiances. Music is universal. Id use the Marantz and pro tool as possible tools

Video
Animation – Flash

I do have a few ideas where i could push my ideas into the realms of video

Presentation Pt 1

"Past Work
Reconnect people back with nature
Nature can be powerful and “reclaim the earth”,

  


My past work was to do with people's relationship with nature and exploring how differently we are with the earth to our ancestors.
But also, how nature was powerful and not as fragile and delicate as people think. It grows over buildings and cracks brick work.

"Preservation methods and the themes of process and decay.
Abstract photographs: material of plant life and its ephemeral state
The photograph as an object will last longer and exceeds the mortality of the subject itself"

This led to my investigation into process and decay, and how something can be fixed within the state of decaying; neither living or dead. One of these methods was casting the plants in resin. Due to the nitrogen in the soil, it reacted in the resin causing a chemical reaction. This created air pockets, in which the enviroment the piece was in was reflected. The piece as a whole appeared as an alien world with remnants of the familiar still visable.

Through this form of investigating process in decay as photograph, it erased its own context as the photograph captured the decaying substance, and the piece itself decayed. So the work wasnt ephemeral, but the photograph as an object exceeded the mrtality of the subject matter. 

"Research
Different states of mentality and physicality;
Barriers between fantasy and reality.
bioluminescent life forms.
Literature, and modern culture. -Book IX of John Milton's Paradise Lost
-Samuel Coleridge's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"

  In turn, the decay work influenced me to look at states of mentality and physicality. Ive broadened this to humans as wel as plant life. I statrted my research into this by looking at hallucinagenic drugs; focusing on barriers of reality and fantasy and where they lie. This lead into looking at a hallucenagen called foxfire which is bioluminescent. Discovering the folklore around these glowing fungi encouraged me to move my work into the realms of wanting to replicate an emotion or a state of mind.

The folklore surrounding these plants include will o' the wisps, which were thought to be souls who lead wanderers astray and even to their demise. References to these will o the wisps include Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Paradise Lost, Franz Liszts "fuexfollet" even some shakespheare. 

Arguably, the spheres of light, as they have been described, appear on photograph as "orbs". There have been scientific explanantions for this but some still believe they are supernatural. 

I want to replicate the the emotions of a person meeting these "beings". Taking on a phenomenomolgical point of view in exploring the conscious experiance.

[...] He, leading, swiftly rolled In tangles, and made intricate seem straight, To mischief swift. Hope elevates, and joy Brightens his crest; as when a wandering fire, Compact of unctuous vapour, which the night Condenses, and the cold environs round, Kindled through agitation to a flame, Which oft, they say, some evil Spirit attends, Hovering and blazing with delusive light, Misleads the amazed night-wanderer from his way To bogs and mires, and oft through pond or pool; There swallowed up and lost, from succour far.
—9.631-642

Snippet from John Miltons Paradise Lost featuring Will o The Wisps

Appropriation

I have read a few of the books and noted that some artist have used music and inernet in their work.
Through looking into will o' the wisps in my studio work i discovered that Franz Liszt's song "feux Follets" is about will o the wisps.
as is "Cancion del fuego fatuo" in Manuel de Fallas ballet " El amor brujo. I could edit these songs to save making my own up, which would be time consuming. This was, appropriation may be covered

Research update and idea....

Starting to look into Fluxus music videos. There is a piece by La Monte Young "Piano piece for David Tudor No2 (1960) There was instructions to open the cover of a piano keyboard without making a sound audible to you. Try as many times as you like" (Rush, M (1990) New Media in Art, Thomas and Hudson; World of Art- 24-25)
This confirmed to me that music can be used.
A first idea that come to me was to making a soundtrack to the work i am making in studio practise. Convert it into a MIDI file and use free software to change it into notation.
From this stage i had two ideas;   

•   to print the music and keep photocopying it until it fades like the Wisps my work is about

or

• to upload it onto a popular music notation site and film someone trying to learn it

Research

Currently got these out of the library and gradually reading through them. Hoping ill find some artist or theory to help me spark a solid idea, and a better understanding of Appropriation. (Left the catalog numbers in as a future reference for myself)
	Internet art. Greene, Rachel.	776
	Fresh moves :	778.590941
	New media in art. Rush, Michael.	709.04
	At the edge of art / Blais, Joline.	709.05
	Skulpturen und objekte / Beuys, Joseph.
	Internet art : Stallabrass, Julian.	004.678
	Cybernetic serendipity :	700.285

First thoughts

Appropriation
What is it really?
How and do i have to use it in my work?

-Cant recycle my old work unless its being shown in a completly new way
-Can poems/music be used as appropriation? What if the music exists as sheet music?

Im tempted to do a sound piece, as sound, sets an atmosphere ( for eg in movies) that imagery cannot do on its own or as successfully. Also imagery is wrapped in its own connotations, and each peron reading of an image is different. This i found out in past projects which were mainly photographs. Upon feedback, i found they weren't read as i would've hoped.
Using sound will also enable me to experiment in an area i havent really looked much into. Past video installations i have made have mostly been silent

This module has to link in with what i am doing in my studio work.
I am interested in different states of mentality and physicality; such as where do things exist and barriers between fantasy and reality.
I started this by first looking at hallucinagenic plants and their effects on the mental state. From researching into how some of these plants work, i became interested with bioluminscent life forms.
This lead into looking at some of the folklore around biolumicsent lifeforms.
Currently i am looking at so called "Will o' the wisps" or orbs. I have found they make alot of apperances in literature, and modern culture.

• Book IX of John Miltons Paradise Lost
• Samuel Coleridge's poem The Rime of teh Ancient Mariner
• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's fairy tale The Green snake and the beautiful Lily
• "Mother Carey"s poem "Will O' the wisp"
• Bram Stokers Dracula
• JRR Tolkiens Lord of the rings
• Holly Blackand Tony DiTerlizzi's The spiderwick Chronicles
• Michael Ende's Neverending Story

In music:

• Franz liszts "the transcendental etude No5 aka Feux Follet
• In Manuel de Fallas ballet el amor brujo called Cancion del fuego fatuo
• was referred to in the song Maria in the sound of music
• Appeared in aretha Franklins "skylark"

This mysterious orbs appear on photographs and have connotations of the spirit world
They also appear in programmes such as Most haunted and on cctv footage people have captured and uploaded to youtube.
I want to investigate the history, credabilty and lore behind these phenomenom

How can i do thisin sound?

Intro

Got two projects for this module:

• presentation
• produce a piece in digital media (image, sound or video) with the aid of tutorials

Two Intro modules

• 13/10/2011 - video training
• 20/10/2011 - audio training

Support work
Independant project  based loosly on a proposal. Allowed to make production teams if necessary, but need to make our own piece. In production teams, make sure everyone gets credited fairly.
If 3Dwork made to assist the project, good quality documentation is required.
Final piece is set at a maximum of 3mins in length

presentation- 10 mins in length. Keep broad but not so as it becomes meaningless.

• what posistion do you want to put your audience in?
• What position is it in compared to other artists? 
• Map a course of progress
• Suggest a list of questions you think will be raised

• outline your past work briefly
• relate briefly to any research, respond to the reading.
• Describe what you plan and how to go about it
• What software do you hope to use?
• What do you hope to acheive by the next seminar
• Questions

New languages for new media
Words such as fade, zoom, cut introduced into film. Was just a stand still camera

Appropriation 
 Using pre-made work and adjusting it for your own use in your own work

The digital impacting on the work
How the format the piece is captured in adjusts to different processes

Shifts emphasis from artists to text to audience
Art was classed as art if the artist had played a part in its production. This shifted to what the work was about and the work had to read. With new media, the area of interest is how the audience reacts