reading week means we don’t have any IP classes, giving me more time to plan my personal project.
given i had more free time, i booked the project room for two days where the goal was to play around as much as i could with display, setup and just generally figure out where this project is going. i though as this is now around the middle of the semester its important to start showing a direction and get some more progress done towards a destination.
i started out recording some new sounds to get started, but quickly decided i wanted to see how performance can effect the project. i knew i wanted the objects to be the main focus, but somehow i feel like doing a performance, the objects became more like supporting actors rather then the lead role. ii played around with projector backgrounds and looked at how lighting would effect the scene. for the first few attempts i used a projection of a bonfire and placed it so the fire would stay directly on my face on symbolise anger, passion, stress and destruction, but i decided to play around with the act of creating sounds rather then plan a proper performance piece.
like i stated above, i didn’t want to take the spotlight away from the objects, something that i think performance will most likely do unless i somehow manage to make my hands the only visible part of me. i did however play around with performance a little longer as i thought it was a very meditative way of planning the project by just zoning out and release myself from everything. still being in a fairly tough space mentally, it was a very nice way of calming myself down by just letting my body move to the sounds whilst also creating sounds myself. for this second video i used stars for the projector to make myself less visible, but keep my movements and the objects more interesting. it also worked as a symbol for space as i was working on giving myself some space to just think and reflect. i am not intending for any of these perfomances to become anything more then what they are (a place for me to sit and think without overworking myself).
after having had some time to reflect on the objects, getting to know them better and learning more about what they are, what they were and what they have gone through i decided to shine the spotlight back on them by creating an installation with the objects hanging from the ceiling. during my meditative performances i realised that all of these objects have had their voice heard individually through recordings, with a few having had a conversation with eachother(mixing the audio files). i thought, what would happen if i mix a lot of the recordings of the objects basically speaking up about their feelings of rejection, feelings of being used, disposed, forgotten and broken, into one or even two long audio files?
after collecting a few more objects (collected about 50 new objects), i hung everything i had up on the ceiling using fishing wire, some cello tape and white tack. i tied the fishing wire around each object, using cello tape on some of the objects that needed the extra support. for the heavier objects i tied the other end of the fishing wire to parts of the ceiling that had hooks or tubing already there. for the lighter objects i was a lot more free with my placement as i could use the white tack to hold the objects suspended. i even got to test the durability of the white tack as i left the installation up during the weekend with none of the objects having fallen down by Monday. i did however ask Phil for better options for hanging and got permission to put screws up in any location i wanted, something that might be useful the student show in January.
i was also playing around with different lights and placements of the light to see what worked the best. i tested out the spotlight in different locations as well as a few different desk lamps, eventually landing on having one desk lamp hooked to the upper edges of the wall so the light is cast from above the objects. having this lighting setup helped make the room feel more full as the shadows covered the blank walls, essentially representing the many unheard voices of objects (people) in pain.
lighting setup 1 with spotlight. this was too bright for what i was trying to achieve and the shadows cast were too high on the wall, i also didnt have much control over the angle of the light.
lighting setup i eventually decided on.
as for next week and potentially the week after, i wont be able to record more sounds as someone booked the Podcaster mic i have been using to record everything. this means that the next few weeks will be more research based and some editing of the existing audio. i have put inn a request to get the mic back as soon as possible, and will eventually manage to have recordings of most of the suspended objects by week 9, giving me 2 weeks to edit the audio files fully and create the installation. i will also start looking at where in the art centre this installation would fit the best.
group project pitch:
for the group project i was thinking about connecting it to my personal project using audio and binned objects. i was thinking about how i could get the rest of the class to empathise as much as i do for these objects and how i could make it interesting. i thought about making people bring some binned objects and recording the sounds of the individual objects and adding that to Soundcloud with an image of the object, eventually making a small playlist on their own phones. after this we could hang the phones up in the project room and have everyone play their audio at the same time essentially becoming a smaller and different version of my installation.
its a simple idea but i think its doable. the only issue i have is how its going to last the full three hours. de we take some time in the beginning to understand the objects? lean about its past and its hardships. do we record the sounds that represent their past?
i made this as a quick example of a single object. after we get multiple recordings, they will automatically play after one another on the individual phones creating a long somewhat long audiofile.
here is the presentation i was going to do, but due to a migraine i have not been able to present it or refine the presentation.
i have written a lt about the idea in the powerpoint, but please send me any messages if there is any questions. i am feeling really inspired by my binned objects so i would love to explain more. the link just takes you to the soundcloud audio i have aded above.