Project Proposal V1.0:
Abstract/ Summary (100 words)
An overview of your ideas and approaches which tell a story of your intent.
Throughout my time at Art School I have had a fascination with representation and reproduction of reality and the intangible. This has been done through alternate methods both digital and physical. I have explored how things can be reproduced and reshaped into something much more fantastical. This comes from constantly seeing this in the world around me as we use computers to simplify every day tasks, and the drive to further use them to replicate the world around us. I want to focus on the idea of reproduction and how digital manifestation of physical and metaphysical objects or concepts can subvert their purpose or comment on their existence.
References (100 words)
Who/What has influenced the idea? References to artists, designers, thinkers whom you find of particular significance
Artists who influenced my thoughts and outputs are…
Daniel Rozin, Artist and Professor, Interactive Telecommunications Program, NYU, makes mechanical “mirrors” out of uncommon objects that mimic the viewer’s movements and form:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV8v2GKC8WA
Nam June Paik – Korean American Artist. Considered founder of video art, electronic and computing pioneer in an artistic sense.
Critical Positioning (200 words)
What is the key theory, concept or principle of your research- both practical and theoretical that underpins your ideas?
Everything within our world is part of reproduction and the re-making of itself. Evolution is the definition of this very process. Revolution also fits within this process, with ideas and physical things being reformed constantly and improved to fit the needs of our environment. Animals are a natural example of this with the entire history of life being a slow evolution of organisms. However evolution also happens rapidly in the way we create things in a man made manner for use within our modern society. Many of the constructed objects we created over the history of human kind have been reworked rapidly into the digital realm. I think this evolution is what fascinates me the most.
I want to focus on this digital replication and how it has shaped us. Looking at recent things which have been digital replicated such as image and video generation, text processing and location mapping just to name a few. I want to explore digital reproductions which fit within our lives and consider if these are essential or not to modern living. I may potentially parody concepts within a digital environment playing upon the idea of unification of all things in our lives into digital form.
Methods (100 words)
What technical and practical methods might you research to support your critical positioning?
What computer-related processes/directions might you explore?
How do you foresee your work’s direction and who might the directed audience be?
I want to explore a variety of methods of replication mainly focusing around digital ones. Processes such as casting, scanning, photogrammetry and 3D printing seem focal to the idea of replication in both physical and digital forms.
Looking at recordings of sound and object and subverting or manipulating the way they are replicated or replayed is of extreme interest to me. I feel the work will be artistic in style aimed at a conceptually minded audience who want to question their own understanding of reproduction. I will try to uncover new methods using computers which I have not yet explored potentially developing my own completely original processes from the ground up.
Research Beginning
Moving through fourth year, as outlined within my project proposal, I want to focus on reproduction of concepts or ideas into digital formats. Previously within my work I have looked at how emotions, amongst other ideas could be expressed within a digital format. I believe that looking back at these previous attempts will start my idea flow in the right way.
Looking back upon my first three years of interaction design, at the projects which meant most to be, but also resonated most with others I can see a clear pattern. They all fit heavily within the category of digital repurposing, where I have taken a huge variety of subject matter and commented on it in a digital sense.
The best instances of these were where I took an every day idea and attempted to reconstitute it into a digital environment. Not only does this highlight any subjects flaws, but it allows for its most desirable aspects to be exaggerated and manipulated to create an even more intriguing experience or concept.
A prime example and metaphor for this would be my augmented reality chess set where once it was brought into a digital realm and the pieces were no longer physical, other rules could have been added and animated characters brought in to enrich the experience.
The way in which Daniel Rozin digitally subverts mirrors also proves this concept. In his instance reflection is still the main purpose of the mirrors, however people who view themselves regard every moment more deeply because of the newfound fascination with their own image.
Nam June Paik is another example of an artist who created works which progress old concepts into something modern and electronic. Although he often had to work with analogue formats due to the era he worked in, his installations were highly progressive at the time. The electronic superhighway is an example of work which recreates something which already existed in a progressive and subversive way.
Everything we use on computers is shaped from physical objects, then unified into the screen environment we use every day. They mimic their tactile counterparts to make themselves more understandable but eventually overwrite them as they become universally used. Examples of this range from concepts as simple as word documents and emails to the way we visually snip in digital video editing as analogue editors once manually cut.
I think generally with my experimentation and research I want to look at how digital evolution of concept can bring new life to it and how I can subvert concepts I chose into new, more intriguing forms. I think to start I want to look deeper into existing examples and then create my own satirical versions as I have previously in smaller projects.
Visualising loss of control through drugs and expressing this to a sober mind.
Showing a zoetrope skateboard wheel, and making something so simple extremely focal.
Kevin McGloughlin’s work really interests me due to the way in which he considers his message. Many of his pieces are simply promoting products or music videos for simple electronic music, however the detail which he puts into every concept makes them extremely immersive. Commenting on the titles of the works and then creating visuals which reinforce the music really engages me. The way in which he crisply brought forward zoetropes into a digital environment while improving upon their purpose really resonates with what I want to explore. All his pieces take a simple concept or feeling and use digital manipulation to evoke that state of mind visually.
Famous portraits given smiles using FaceApp. Controversially FaceApp images were traced to russian owners in some aspect and it is believed the images may have been used for other purposes breaching people’s privacy wellbeing. Using this app to alter famous historical art plays upon their original purpose in humorous ways, drastically changing the mood of the pieces. This links to my practice as it is subversion through digital means.
Experimenting visually in text based form trying to demonstrate what digital subversion looks like I came up with these. They are using isometric cube drawings, extending this into a font which creates impossible joinings in a similar way to the penrose triangle. Visually approaching the area I want to explore is always helpful to me. I want to further this exploration with drawing in abstract forms and seeing what my mind conceives. The way this text uses a digital environment to create imagery which subverts what is possible within a physical one is exactly the effect I am wanting to express through my research.
oogbrain.com 