Billboard #451

Inspired by Kelly Richardson's hyperrealistic landscapes often depicting the impossible, Billboard #451 takes viewers on a neverending journey down a highway while being fed video ads. The title is a direct reference to Fahrenheit 451, a novel by Ray Bradbury. In the story, the billboards that adorn the highways are stretched to 200 feet in order for dangerously fast drivers to view them without distortion.

For Billboard #451, I used video as a medium that could be manipulated in Adobe Premiere and After Effects. I selected contemporary commercials that would appeal to the characters in the novel: a Roku 4 ad for the obsession of binge-watching TV series on high-definition screens, and an Audi ad for those who enjoy high-speed joyrides as a form of entertainment. The third billboard frames a public book burning, the most prominent theme of the novel, but from a stationary position the video is incomprehensible to the point where only the fire can be made out. Individuals who do not partake in this sort of activity will see the distorted perspective of the collective.

This video is an exploration on variable form and the perception of space inside a virtually composed environment. According to Lev Manovich's Understanding Hybrid Media, "everything inside the frame keeps changing: visual elements, their transparency, the texture of the image, etc." (Manovich). In the nighttime portion, not only the primary frame contains a view from a moving vehicle, but the two billboards frame separate video tracks, resulting in an endless loop of dynamic imagery. In the daytime portion, the source footage's width and height is stretched to sit along the side of the road while the video plays. The cloud's shadows on the billboard are moving layers of solid colour with varying edge feathering and transparency, adhering to the variable form aspect while contributing to the realistic possibility of gargantuan billboards existing in our world.

I added an audio track to the film from the TV series Black Mirror with enough filters to simulate a radio playing - a speech against society's addiction to the glamour of television and buying intangible objects - drowned out by the noisy traffic. In the end, the speaker is cut off as though they were censored, not unlike the level of censorship that is inherent in Fahrenheit 451's world.


Works Cited:

Lev Manovich – Understanding Hybrid Media, Published in Betti-­Sue Hertz, ed., Animated Paintings (San Diego: San Diego Museum of Art, 2007)

Kelly Richardson's work is aspiring to me in so many different ways. Her specialty is manufacturing hyper-realistic landscapes with subtle changes, adding new meaning to her work.

Although I couldn't find an actual clip of Ferman Drive, the perspective of a moving vehicle and the focus on the surrounding landscape is something I took note of. Richardson had merged several neighborhoods into one so that it appears the car is moving through a single neighbourhood.

Richardson, Kelly. "Ferman Drive." Kelly Richardson. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

Spoiler alert for Black Mirror, Season 1 Episode 2:

I was absolutely overcome with emotion.

Bing's speech summarizes his frustrations at a world where we value digital possessions and televised entertainment over what is true and meaningful. Other topics mentioned are the augmented, packaged, filtered content that serves as entertainment, the uncertain destination of where the cyclists end up, and the screens that dominate their everyday lives. I find these correlate well with the ideas from Fahrenheit 451 and provide me ample inspiration.

The irony that I am binge-watching Black Mirror in order to analyze the impact of HD television and commercials is quite funny.

Black Mirror - Bing's Speech. YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHjIXCCHh3s>.

I read a book by Ray Bradbury a long time ago, Fahrenheit 451, and the futuristic American Midwest imagery still resonates strongly in my mind's eye. In particular, the enormous billboards adorning the roads where cars drive at dangerous speeds are what I want to focus on for my final project. Due to the high speeds, the drivers cannot view regular billboards, so in order for their ads to be consumed the billboards are extended to 200 feet so that the image is viewed correctly as the vehicles are in motion. For Project 4, I want to extend this idea to using video as the medium and experiment using Adobe Premiere and After Effects.

Additionally, I want to incorporate the modern ideas of fun and entertainment in relation to the world in Fahrenheit 451. The protagonist's wife indulges in wearing Seashells to listen to music and relaxing inside their living room where TV characters are literally larger than life on the TV walls. This is almost no different than how we enjoy wearing our earbuds and Bluetooth headsets and binge-watching TV series on the highest resolution possible.

I found a video from James Patterson which is reminiscent of the book burning that is a main topic of the novel, and could be remixed into my project.

#SaveOurbooks. YouTube. N.p., 22 Nov. 2014. Web. 25 Nov. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkkVPJBkvqA>.

I chose Sharon's lightbox piece to critique.

The image shows the artist, face off-camera, with a black swirling mass in her chest. This is a result of using Photoshop to edit a photo taken of the artist.

The composition falls nicely in the rule of thirds as the subject is set to the right and her right arm is extended on the bottom horizontal line, with the hole close to the bottom right intersection. There is enough negative space on the left to give the piece room to breathe. The hole is framed by her hands, enforcing natural framing that helps guide the eye to it; it is also not a hard-edged hole, which suggests constant movement.

Painting the lightbox white and using a warm colour as a backdrop brings a comforting feeling, however this is offset by the obscured face, the rigid formation of the fingers, and the dark space where her heart is meant to be. The solemn facial expression suggests a sense of detachment, while the hands look posed and ready to take action to control the hole. I am reminded of the nihilistic themes of Nietzche's work, in which he describes humanity's struggle with meaning in life and existence.

Sharon's piece works as a constructive narrative and as an exploration of identity. The camera angle and composition is cinematic and can easily be inserted into a narrative film. The audience is left with questions as to why a hole exists in the character: is it figurative, or literal? What has caused this person to possess a hole, and what will happen next? As for identity, the emphasis on the internal struggle and the hidden face allows the viewer to see themselves as the subject.

What makes this work succeed is its minimalism, and the posture of the illuminated hands contrasts very well with the blurry but dark hole. The work could be improved by limiting the position of the hole to the heart, as the black covers almost the entire chest, but the idea is conveyed clearly regardless.

Lai, Sharon. "The Minimalist." The Minimalist. N.p., 7 Nov. 2016. Web. 27 Nov. 2016. <http://sharonlai22.tumblr.com/post/152877709351>.

Deep remixability

The process of inserting an old operation into a new digital environment.

Variable form

Form or shape of a subject that is not constant, always changing and/or does not have a static state.

Continuity turn

The point in culture when temporal visual forms converge with spatial architectural forms and begin the exploration of change and transformation.

Metamedium

Newly formed relationships between form and content in various technologies and mediums.

"Eye Catching" by Jennifer Steinkamp

Deep remixability is portrayed through the depiction of natural organic imagery projected inside man-made environments, that is, the image of trees inside the Yerebaten Cistern in Istanbul, Turkey. The trees are constantly swaying with a variable form. Steinkamp's video projections transform the architectural landscape within the cistern, resulting in a continuity turn. Using a combination of computer-generated imagery and video projection, the convergence of different technologies provides a distinct metamedium.

Steinkamp, Jennifer. "Steinkamp_Eye Catching." Steinkamp_Eye Catching. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2016. <http://jsteinkamp.com/html/body_turkey.htm>.

work | play is a piece which explores duality in my identity as a worker and a recreationist. My approach is partly inspired by Sophie Calle's In Character: Self-Portrait of the Artist as Another installation, where the motivation is to display my physical possessions which represent both sides of my identity. Referencing a line from Themes of Contemporary Art - Identity, "identity is expressed by other means as well, including by words, symbols, objects, and settings" (Robertson, McDaniel). The way Rodney Graham stages the scenes he want to photograph also influenced the importance of setting up the display in my work. A few of his photos omit himself as the subject which expresses his identity as an artist, such as Potatoes Blocking My Studio Door.

In this context, the hanging lightbox installation acts as a framing device for the shelf that holds my video game collection, particularly the games that I have yet to complete. The arrangement of game boxes seem unstable, uncertain if they will hold up. Obscured in the shadows is my laptop, open with a computer programming environment and a public list of my projects, many unfinished. Barely visible is my hand reaching out to the keyboard to continue working. Both the games and the laptop are physical manifestations of burdens that help uphold my identity: the type of player I am derived from the games I buy and display, and the type of programmer I am based on the projects I have worked on. It is a show of my struggle against material obsession, the pursuit of a balance between owning so many games but not playing them due to my studies and work, and so many unfinished projects due to making time for playing video games. Behind, the light peeking through the crevices is eerie with an unknown source, invoking an ambiguous emotion, reflecting my conflicting views.

The title work | play is a reference to computer programming logic where the two operands work and play are evaluated as work OR play and if one of these is true, then the statement is true, further expressing the dual presence of the two parts of my identity.


Works Cited:

Graham, Rodney. Potatoes Blocking My Studio Door. Digital image. Rodney Graham | Artists | 303 Gallery. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2016. <http://www.303gallery.com/artists/rodney-graham?view=slider#29>.

In Character - Self Portrait of the Artist as Another (Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival Catalogue 2014)

Robertson, Jean, and Craig McDaniel. Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art after 1980. New York: Oxford UP, 2005. Print.

How to Fix Your Family was created in Adobe Premiere Pro from footage of the show Maury, a Fallsview Casino commercial, and a Cash Money commercial.

The intention behind Maury is to bring parents and children together in an attempt to reconcile their conflicts often through the results of DNA tests; in this particular case, the father has not been with his daughter for 31 years and wants to be a paternal figure to her for the remainder of her life. After she asks what his definition of a father is, Fallsview Casino cuts in as an interruption of his thoughts. This is done by overlaying the ad footage over a time-stretched clip of the father. The Cash Money commercial enters as a way to advertise that the way to remedy this problem is not to spend an extensive amount of time together as a family, but to borrow money as a quick fix, by use of the ad voice-over with the repeated clip of the audience clapping and cheering, ending the video with the Cash Money jingle and contact information.

The meaning is altered from a family moment meant to be poignant and forgiving to a dark depiction of falling to the capitalist trap of gambling, greed, and addiction as a way of coping with domestic issues.

Constructed Narrative

Shonibare, Yinka. FAKE DEATH PICTURE (THE DEATH OF LEONARDO DA VINCI IN THE ARMS OF FRANCIS I - FRANCOIS-GUILLAUME MÉNAGEOT) 2011. Digital image. Yinka Shonibare, MBE (RA). N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2016. <http://www.yinkashonibarembe.com/artwork/photography/?image_id=121>.

A constructed narrative is a creation intended to tell a story through its tableau-like composition and the use of narrative elements such as allegorical/allusional references and a visual representation of a subject's or subjects' characterization. From certain pieces of Yinka Shonibare's work, the narrative is told through a familiar piece of work depicting a famous person but with the insertion of Shonibare's visage to recreate the narrative and add a different perspective to the reactions of the painting's subjects to the death.

Hyper-real

Monroy, Bert. Times Square. Digital image. Times Square. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2016. <http://www.bertmonroy.com/timessquare/timessquare.html>.

A level of extreme realism demonstrated in a painting or photograph.

Pictorial Space

Broughton, Mark. Till The Morning Sun. Digital image. Hyperfocal Distance and Photography. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2016. <http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/digital-slr-cameras-hyperfocal-distance-focus/>.

The depth and space that recedes to the distance inside a two-dimensional image.

Symbolism

Santora, Ade. Blind with Anger. Digital image. The Photo Argus. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2016. <Walker, Richard T. Us through This. Digital image. E-flux. N.p., 11 Feb. 2014. Web. 15 Nov. 2016. .>.

The usage of symbols to create references and representations of ideas and qualities.

Subjectivity

Walker, Richard T. Us through This. Digital image. E-flux. N.p., 11 Feb. 2014. Web. 15 Nov. 2016. <http://www.e-flux.com/announcements/31560/i-chronicle-narrative-history-and-subjectivity/>.

The effectiveness of how an interpretation can be different depending on the individual.

While looking for inspiration for my identity piece, I discovered this photo by Stuart Harvey from a BC photo contest. It takes the representation of the subject - the digital avatars - and overlays them over his head, all while holding a laptop and pasting a mouse cursor over it all. One of the avatars depicted is a Mii, a user-created avatar for the Nintendo platform, and it brought me the idea of portraying myself somehow with my video games, as I identify a lot with the ones I own.


Harvey, Stuart. Ctrl. Digital image. Culture 365. N.p., 29 July 2013. Web. 31 Oct. 2016. <http://i2.wp.com/culturedays.ca/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/photography-3.jpg?w=451>.

Identity

How is identity constructed? Is it fixed or fluid? Does it mean where you are “from”?
How do we affect the reading of our identity?

Historical references

Rembrandt van Rijn - gallery of self portraits

Frida Kahlo - various self portraits involving gender and major life events

Stuart Harvey - winner of photography contest

Critique

Sébastien Del Grosso

This photographic portrait gives the viewer a strong impression of the artist emerging from within. The way the subject is viewing his hand with intense focus and concentration displays a sense of care in creating his work. The presence of two mediums - photography and hand-drawn sketching - is a great display of hybridity, and how one merges into the other is fluid and doesn't distract. The lighting is fairly dramatic and highlights the hand with a gentle spotlight, and it shows through the omitted parts of the model.

The gaze

A view or perspective that is implied in a piece, offering the audience a voyeuristic opportunity to involve themselves as a participant of the piece. Jean-Paul Sartre is acclaimed to have been the first to address the concept of the gaze, whereas the concept of the "male gaze" is attributed to Laura Mulvey, a film theorist.

Post-colonial identity

The combination of experiences, beliefs, and perspectives that form an individual which follow a social event or events involving imperialism, colonialism, or similar societal oppression in order to create a resistant front against the colonizing party or parties. Identities may involve qualities of segregation, discrimination, and isolation. Frantz Fanon, a psychiatrist and philosopher, gave an analysis of the destructive nature of colonialism and how it negatively affected the colonized.

Hybridity

A mixture or cross between two entities. Hybridity can be applied in various topics, such as an individual's identity involving nature vs. nurture, the meeting of two separate races or cultures, and the conflict in postcolonialism. Theorists that are primarily attributed to discussing hybridity are Homi Bhabha, Néstor García Canclini, Stuart Hall, Gayatri Spivak, and Paul Gilroy.


By Using Himself as the Model for These and Other Studies, Rembrandt Was Making Himself into a Recognizable Celebrity at the Same Time That He Gave the Public Strikingly Original and Expressive Tronies. The Wide Dissemination of These and Other Prin. "Rembrandt Van Rijn: Selected Self-Portraits." Rembrandt Van Rijn: Self-Portraits. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016. <http://www.rembrandtpainting.net/rembrandt_self_portraits.htm>.

"Frida Kahlo - The Complete Works." Frida Kahlo - The Complete Works. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016. <http://www.frida-kahlo-foundation.org/>.

Hart, By Sydney. "Photography as a Method of Identity Formation - Culture365." Culture365. N.p., 30 July 2013. Web. 26 Oct. 2016. <http://culturedays.ca/blog/2013/07/29/photography/>.

@Propelsteps. "Amazing Arts & Artists : Sketch Photography by Sébastien Del Grosso." PROPEL STEPS. N.p., 12 Dec. 2014. Web. 26 Oct. 2016. <https://propelsteps.wordpress.com/2014/12/12/amazing-arts-artists-sketch-photography-by-sebastien-del-grosso/>.

mind in a jam

Glitch Art

My main intention for mind in a jam is to capture the essence of being stuck in traffic. At times like this, my psychological state is in disarray, a conglomerate of impatience, frustration, anger, regret, apathy, and everything in-between, even the unexpected instances of relief and relaxation of not having to keep my foot to the pedal. Bits of vehicles are visible, even a distinct license plate can be seen, reminiscent of being behind the same car for long periods of time.

Takeshi Murata is my primary source of inspiration for this piece. His videos that are a result of corrupted data is create an ethereal world where one frame blends into the next. At times, some of his works have a "smeared paint" effect from multiple datamoshed frames, reminiscent of Monica Tapp's paintings depicting motion-blurred landscapes.

mind in a jam's process involves taking footage from a dash cam and converting it from .MP4 to uncompressed .AVI using Avidemux. Next, the video is opened in Frhed, a hex editor, where I replaced all occurrences of "no" to "go" and saved the video. Finally, I opened the video in Windows Media Player rather than my usual go-to PotPlayer, where I take a screenshot of a corrupted frame.

The reading GlitchCodecTutorial by Nick Briz mentions the following: "If you take this same file . . . save it on a memory stick and open it on another computer through various media players you'll notice that you often get very different results" (Briz). This is crucial in the process of creating mind in a jam. In this time and age, videos are meant to be universal files that are easily shared and viewed, however some media players have different sets of video codecs - methods of compression using computer algorithms - and so the hex-edited video can look entirely different. This lends to my choice of using Windows Media Player's interpretation over PotPlayer's. As Adrian Mackenzie says in the reading: "Codecs catalyze new relations between people, things, spaces, and times in events and forms" (Briz). The focus of mind in a jam is not how representational is it, but rather how the viewer wants to interpret it; through their unique set of experiences, relationships, and behaviour, new meaning can be instilled into the work - this is the codec of the real world.

I wanted the name of the work to be ambiguous as well. This is a representation of a mind in a traffic jam, but it has the potential to extend to the portrayal of a mind jam if it were to manifest itself.

Reading:

Nick Briz. "GLITCH CODEC TUTORIAL." GLITCH CODEC TUTORIAL. N.p., 2010. Web. 24 Oct. 2016. <http://nickbriz.com/glitchcodectutorial>.