You Are Here: Final Animation

Train Strike

Authors own

This is my 30 second animation that explores the evolution of the name of the street that we today call Cannon Street. It is a visual piece, with no narrative, just experimentation of transitions, sound, insinuated actions and style. 

I find the most successful components of this animation to be the switch between two styles to give the viewer some indication of the environment they are being introduced to. Also, the insinuation of movement in the arches that pass the flame as it flickers out to make way for the incoming train. I do wish I could have done more with the sound, creating a mix that explored all of the interesting audible recordings I made. I also feel as though the flame could have been developed more, but because of my very basic knowledge of After Effects I was not able to create anything more elaborate in the time I had to complete this project. For future projects, I will make sure I put some time aside to explore software I haven't tried out yet that may come in handy in the production stage. 

You Are Here: Storyboard Development

Storyboard development (left) and visual research (right)

Authors own

Through developing my storyboard I was able to concentrate on what was to be visually important within my final animation. I want it to run smoothly against the eyes, so therefore I concerned myself with clever transitions and subtle changes that insinuate things rather that embodied them. I was working with the name of the old street 'candlewick', packing the storyboard full of visual puns. Half way through making the storyboard, I came up with the idea of creating the first half, where we are leaving Candlewick Street, by hand, giving it an antique feel to reflect its historical nature. Therefore, the second half would look much more digital and modern, using simple aesthetics or perhaps even photographic collage.

You Are Here: Storyboarding

Storyboarding my ideas

Photo is authors own

1) Objects in the underground that are attached to the walls come alive and are calling out for help.

2) A visual idea, without narrative, that responds to the secondary research I did on Cannon Street and plays with the idea of the trains candle-like glow as it travels through the tunnel. The area used to be called Candlewick Street.

3) Playing with scale. The aspects of the space that I noticed the most are enlarged e.g. a huge pigeon stands next to a small man.

4) They are watching. This idea was based on the amount of CCTV equipment/cameras I saw situated in the station, together with one abandoned glove. The cameras come alive and create a mega robot that controls the people within the station.

It was relieving to finally come up with a few storyboarded ideas as there was so much information to work with. I find myself most drawn to the second idea, as I feel it will be interesting to work on a non-narrative piece and explore visual metaphors. However, I don't know how well received it would be by an audience, because effectively it is an educational piece on the history of the area. Moving forward with this idea I will return to the station and record more videos and sound, which could potentially be used in the final piece.

You Are Here: Visiting Cannon Street Station

Photos I took whilst at Cannon Street

Sketches and recordings made at Cannon Street Station

All photos are authors own

Going to Cannon Street and taking time to get in touch with the area, study it, delving into its finest details was a really fascinating experience and it provoked many potential ideas. I found this way of working to be really successful in generating ideas. A great way to become inspired. As I sat just watching, listening and experiencing the ambiance my brain was already working up potential narratives. It was also a really good opportunity just to do some drawing and study mundane life. However, I did find the whole experience rather exhausting and I barely left the station as I wanted to explore it before going out on the street. Although, I think it would be quite interesting just to concentrate on the station. More specifically, the underground.

You Are Here: Drawing Trip Around Greenwich

Examples of drawings I did on the trip around Greenwich

These are literally just scribbles, but that document some interesting stages of the trip. Relating back to strange social encounters, pleasant emotions and narrative ideas.

'You Are Here' Project

Photos of my surroundings on a walk along the Thames, in Greenwich

Authors own

Screen shot of Ed Barrnett's Man Up 

 Screen shot of Sally Arthur's A to Z 

The aim of this project is to produce a 30 second animation that says something about a certain area within London. This area was picked randomly, using a map, a pin and blindfold. I was blindfolded and asked to place the pin anywhere on the map after being spun round multiple times. My pinned area was Cannon Street.

In preparation for this project we watched a few short animations based on the notion of the city. They all had a very strong sense of style and something different to communicate about the city. Man Up looked into the life of a builder working on a crane, it was highly comical, but ending in tragedy. A to Z looked into the busy life of woman that lived in the city and her habit of collecting and gathering. These short films opened my eyes to the possible avenues I could go down, but also urged me to think more outside the box and concern myself with ideas that have not yet been explored.
I also went on a drawing trip around Greenwich and made some interesting sketches, took photos and wrote down thoughts, feelings etc. This was a great way to practice gathering primary research and try out a new way of work (being on the move). This experience will make my first visit to Cannon Street a lot more productive.

FMP: Dream Logging Project Proposal

Screen shot of my project proposal power point

Photo is authors own 

After mind mapping the ideas that I currently have surrounding the idea of Dream Logging and deciding what research is necessary for the development of this concept, I composed a power point presentation, in order to pitch my idea to a group of my peers and my tutors. Through doing this I was able to grasp the direction I was heading in with more clarity and allowed others to give me fed back that will enrich my research process and in turn, my ideas to come. For the next stage of my FMP I will use this project proposal to guide my research into the Surrealist and Dada art movements, as well as films/animations that have explored a similar concept to mine, most obviously the Walt Disney animation  Alice in Wonderland (1951).

Tine Bech Lecture: Playful Interaction (26.09.13)

 ("Catch Me Now by Tine Bech, Kinetica Art Fair, 2011" - found on http://www.leoalmanac.org)

I attended a lecture by Tine Bech where she spoke about the nature of her work, in further preparation for my essay. She is a dutch, freelance artist that is particularly interested in technology in art, creating interactive installations, such as, Catch Me Now, Tracking You and Light Pot. Bech brought up an interesting point about how interactive arts concept can be shaped by its receiver. For example, in Catch Me Now children ended up making games around the installation. It was basically an empty space with a spotlight in it and once someone entered it it would expand, change colour and then move to another area of the room. It acted as an invitation to play. 

During the course of this lecture an interesting quote was introduced to me:

"People tend to forget that play is serious." - David Hockney (1999:133) 

The Kemistry Galley Visit: Comment

The work of Milton Glaser and Seymour Chwast was shown today (24.09.13) in the Kemistry Gallery as their first exhibition in London in 40 years. Their work, although coming from the commercial world of NYC, Push Pin Studios, seemed to carry an air of hippy mentality with comical vibrations, using text such as, "WAR IS MADNESS", " End Bad Breath" and "WE ARE ALL AFRICAN". They all lean towards the very hippy philosophy of peace and love.
Another admirable thing I noticed about Glaser and Chwast's work was it's strong visual communication and it's amiable, pull-you-in graphic style.

When looking at their more personal work, e.g. sketches and notes, I was able to see aspects of their process and, as an artist, use this to perfect mine. For instance, certain doodles or sketches that I do which may have no significance at the time can be used for endless ideas in the future. Nothing is superfluous.

The Queen's Gallery Visit (Summer, 2013)

(Authors own photo, 2013. Unknown artist, Anne of Denmark, cropped version)

This summer I went to The Queen’s Gallery where a Tudor Fashion exhibition was going on. Whilst there I learnt some interesting thing about trends around in that time and what they said about the class of a person, for instant, certain colours could only be worn by royals, gold and red being two of them. These colours – no surprises here – were called royal colours. Also, only certain fabrics could be worn if you were royal. Fashion, similar to today, said a lot about the wealth and class of a person, for instant, gold loop stitching, where a thin thread of gold was stitched into the clothing leaving loops of gold that adorn the garment. The common appearance of ruffs in the Tudor times inspired the ankle ruff idea seen in my shoe design. 

Fashion and Textiles: My Final Piece

    

 

         

  
 

This is a fashion shoot I done in order to show off the design of the shoe I made, by manipulating paper. The initial idea of the flat platform was, of course, inspired by Creepers and the ankle ruff is just an extremely glorified buckle. There were a lot of heavy weight design concepts going onto this shoe, so the idea of the curls placed on top of the laces not only emphasised the presence of the laces, but also add a softer edge to the design. However, because everything was rather oversized I don't think that intention is apparent and the shoe generally just looks clumpy. Although, I have to say, personally I like that quality, being a fan of shoes like, DM's, Creepers and platform boots.

I was shocked to have received mostly positive feed back from my peers concerning the shoe. They found it to be very inventive, more of a construction or sculpture than a garment. In relation to the project, I suppose I achieved what I was asked of because I made a, debatably, outrageous, wearable garment. Although, not a very durable one. If I were to repeat this project, I would definitely have made the shoe a little more stable and durable. By the end of the day it was falling to pieces.  

Tate Modern, Energy and Process: Review

(Emin, Hate and Power can be a Terrible Thing, 2005. Author's own photo, 2013) 

Tracey Emin’s piece, ‘Hate and Power can be a Terrible Thing’ (2004) illuminated the room, casting the other works in shadow at the Tate Modern’s Energy and Process exhibition. Situated in the room entitled ‘Homeworkers’, curated by Ann Coxon and Valentina Ravaglia, was a series of textile-based works all produced by female artists, playing on the outdated idea of female domestic work and gender stereotypes.

Originally, Margaret Harrison’s piece, ‘Homeworker’ (1977) was supposed to be the main attraction of the room, commenting on the exploitation of female labour in resent pasts. However, Emin’s piece completely overpowered the room, grabbing everyone’s attention. What first drew me in was the ironic juxtaposition of unnerving words such as, “THERES NO ONE IN THIS ROOM WHO HAS NOT THOUGHT OF KILLING” (Emin, 2005, Hate and Power can be a terrible thing), which were stitched onto a pink quilt, an object usually used to comfort it’s user. Emin’s angered lines stitched over floral patterns, which usually stimulate tender thoughts, further employed this contrast in mood.

As viewers we can pick up on this passionate fury through error in grammar, for example, “GUESS WHAT THE WORSE I COULD DO IS BETRAYE” (Emin, 2005, Hate and Power can be a terrible thing). Here there is a lack of punctuation and a spelling mistake, “BETRAYE”, which makes it hard for us to comprehend what Emin is trying to communicate. These two points could signify that in her blind rage Emin was completely consumed by her emotions and unaware or careless of any grammatical issues.  

The heavy use of text was present in both Emin and Harrison’s work, a compelling attribute that connects visually art with other art forms, something that I am very keen to work with in my own practise. Interestingly, Harrison opted for more handwritten text, perhaps to further install the idea of hard work, harmonising well with her repeated illustrations of hands – a “hands on” approach. Alternatively, Emin stitched each letter into the quilt. You can just imaging Emin sitting there with a needle, thread and murderous look in her eyes as she stabbed wound upon wound into the quilt in an attempt to exert all of her negative energy. ‘Hate and Power can be a Terrible Thing’ certainly sparkled up a multitude of thoughts within me, especially when compared to ‘Homeworker’ as a more recent, contemporary piece. The works are similar in medium and content, as both are trying to express negative feelings towards certain injustices, but with separate moods. Whilst Harrison uses hand-scripted text, browns and reds I feel a sense of militant, political purpose, perhaps relating to feminist posters, and Emin uses softer, gentler aesthetics, producing an uncomfortable, ambiguity due to all of her piece’s clashing attributes. Perhaps, it relates to the stories that inspired the piece, posing as something safe and inviting, but when the viewer acquaints themselves with it, it becomes something monstrous; ”A mother who Reiked [sic] of Power CRAZY Hate and Fear”(Emin, 2005, Hate and Power can be a terrible thing).

Bibliography

Exhibition Visit

Emin, Tracey. Hate and Power can be a Terrible Thing, 2005, Tate Modern, Energy and Process. 

Fashion and Textiles: Outfit Design

The first 4 images are modifications I made to magazine photos in order to create totally new looks for each model. I made each outfit based on the 5 samples I made previously. The last image is of everyones work hung on a board at the front of the room.

Fashion and Textiles: Paper Garment Exercise

The following paper garments my group and I made were based on specific words, using different peoples enlarged samples. The words were (in order of appearance): shoulder, sexy, gothic, romantic, hips and bird.

Crush

Sad

Fall

This image is supposed to display the idea of falling, from a first person perspective.

Jump

Currently trying my hand out at photography. This image is supposed to insinuate the act of jumping, using feet as the focus point, accompanied by a lot of negative space beneath them.

Time Line: Idea development

This image is of my developed idea, using location as a tool to make each piece more visually engaging. I have used a cardboard structure to insinuate Ravensbourne, turning the windows into eyes that stare down at my. In the corner a very minimalist mound suggest the presence of O2.

Time Line: Initial Idea

These are two examples of my initial idea. The first image is supposed to represent feelings of confusion and moderate feelings of solitude. However, I left a lot of negative space predominantly to comment on the open space I found myself located in when entering Ravensbourne.
The second image demonstrates a day full of movement, travelling and a variety of emotional levels. I feel as though these two pieces are only vaguely effective, maybe because they are very minimalist and I would prefer to create something with more to look at. In my final timeline I have made references to the location of each emotion felt.