Poster from event Invisible Cities in association with Osman Yousefzada, Selfridges and BCU
'Space is not visual.....no line separates earth from sky' (Deleuze and Guattari 1987, 494)
Photograph of my collaborative map piece for Invisible Cities (Front)
Photograph of my collaborative activity for Invisible Cities (Back), showing participants' postcard responses
Group activity with Osman Yousefzada
Photograph showing the workshop space within the Selfridges shopping mall
This unit of work is a development informed by my previous research on how people engaged with public green space during the pandemic. As a starting point, before I embarked on my studio practice, I wanted to gather more evidence of this phenomenology of time and space to gain a deeper understanding of the subject. I repeated my 'Place of Solace' art activity as part of Invisible Cities; a project in association with Selfridges and Usman Yousefzadar. It was important to me to build on some of the gaps of knowledge I felt the last research process had left; I felt gathering information in a school gave me a small, limited demographic. Participants were asked to write on a postcard the answer to the question "Where was a place of comfort to you during lockdown?" A map of Birmingham was used as a stimulus too. It was very interesting to contrast the different responses from participants; highly academic teenage girls during a school lunchtime, with the customer base of a high-end shopping mall on a Saturday morning. I found the latter, as participants, a lot more self-conscious, often writing responses to the stimulus with the person they were with, or reading other responses first before committing to theirs and it was surprising that the teenage demographic seemed more open-minded and self-expressive. Interestingly, green space, which had been very predominant in my first research study, was less so here. In fact, venues, bars and restaurants definitely featured more highly, despite the fact they had been closed for much of the lockdown. Other than the postcard findings themselves, what I discovered most from this exercise was the huge difference time and space had on the work produced. The venue had a huge impact on the outcome as the customers of Selfridges gave completely different answers to the school pupils; despite my knowledge that many of my students and their families shop in Selfridges (the school is an affluent one). There was also a marked difference in responses at Selfridges across the day. The project ran from 11 am until 5 pm, and the participants at the start of the day were very reluctant to engage. In the late afternoon, presumably, when all shopping had been accomplished, the audience was much more willing to stop and participate. Although I saw this activity as purely a research gathering one, it presented to me a very interesting debate about how and where work is displayed and interacted with. It would be interesting for my final major project to be tested in multiple places or across different times to see how this influences the audience response and engagement. I know I want to work in photography and film, so will now need to think further about what I chose as visual subject matter before returning to the concept of where I place my work.
'The imagination of space as a surface on which we are placed, the turning of space into time, the sharp separation of local place from the space out there: these are all ways of taming the challenge that the inherent spatiality of the world presents' (p.7) Doreen Massey, For Space.
On reflection of my findings from both research gathering processes, and after doing more reading, I now feel I am ready to create a more specific subject area of exploration on the concept of space: through the lens of Khora.
Vintage 35mm film photograph
KHORA RESEARCH
'In Timeaus, (Plato) invokes a mythological bridge between the intelligible and the sensible, mind and body, which he calls chora'. (p.47)
'Derrida insists (Chora) must be understood without any definite article, has an acknowledged role at its most literal level, notions of 'place', 'location', 'site', 'region', 'locale', 'country': but it also contains an irreducible, yet often overlooked, connection with the function of femininity, being associated with a series of gender aligned terms - 'mother', 'nurse', 'receptacle', and 'imprint-bearer'. (p.48)
'(Plato) sets up binary oppositions which henceforth mark the character of western thought: the distinctions between being and becoming, between the intelligible and the sensible, the ideal and the material.....Plato complicates and indeed problematizes and undoes this opposition by devising a third or intermediate category whose function is to explain the passage.... - chora.....She takes in without holding onto: she is unable to possess for she has no self-possession, no self-identity......she has neither being nor the possibilities of becoming...(chora) receives without giving, and that gives without receiving' (p49-51)
Taken from Women, Chora, Dwelling by Elizabeth Grosz. Chapter 4 Postmodern Cities & Spaces, edited by S. Watson & K. Gibson.
'Plato's concept of chora in the Timaeus is a similar device in an attempt to cross an unbridgeable chasm. The problem as ever lies in founding conceptualisation. And it is a founding binary conceptualisation which has done much to mould our imaginations of what is space and what is time and how they are (supposedly) opposed.'
(p.39), For Space by Doreen Massey.
Khōra - (chora) - The pre-linguistic or inchoate point of origin of the subject, for which the womb may stand as a figure, though the pre-biotic soup out of which all life is supposed to have emerged according to evolutionary theory might stand just as well...... Kristeva adapted the term from Plato's Timaeus, where it means quite simply a receptacle for meaning, to theorize a semiotic network or non-expressive totality out of which individual words and meanings are produced. It is for her the potentiality for meaning that must pre-exist meaning-making, but it has no meaning itself. It is in this respect neither sensible nor intelligible, although Kristeva insists it is nonetheless regulated and not anarchic as Jacques Derrida charges in his account of the concept. As the potential for meaning, the khōra is also the limit or disruption of meaning. It makes its appearance then wherever meaning-production is pushed to its limits, as in modern and postmodern art and literature. In *psychoanalytic terms, the khōra is the realm of the *drives, which are pre-symbolic, unrepresentable, yet motivating: they give the subject the energy they need to act.
A Dictionary of Critical Theory by Ian Buchanan
'(on Chora)...it is an ancient Greek word that was picked up by the Neo-Platonists to describe this liminal condition of the space between the living and the non-living...its where mortals meet immortals. This liminal space is used as an architectural conceptual model by the Neo-Platonists, which links text with the development of Byzantine architecture, which is modeling this liminal space. Chora is important because it somehow indicates the liminality itself - the space where you have to negotiate between one kind of universe and another universe.'
(9.50) Raoul Bunschoten in 103. Navigating the Skins of the Earth, Architecture Talk, Podcast.
'Khora is neither an intelligible form nor one more sensible thing, but, rather. that in which (in quo) sensible things are inscribed, a tabula rasa on which the Demiurge writes. This receptacle is like the forms inasmuch as it has a kind of eternity, it neither is born nor dies, it is always already there, and hence is beyond temporal coming-to-be and passing away; yet, it does not have the eternity of the intelligible paradigms but a certain a-chronistic a-temporality.....beyond or beneath (en deca) philosophy's grasp"
"For Khora is an 'abyss', a void of empty space; it is also an infinite play of reflections in which the paradigms produce their images, simply 'reflecting' sensible things like a mirror that is not altered by the image it reflects"
(p.84-86). Taken from Deconstruction in a Nutshell; a conversation with Jacques Derrida, Chapter 3, Khora: Being Serious with Plato, edited by J. Caputo.
'Khora hovers on the very edge of nothingness, never showing itself as itself, but only in conjunction with the presence of the elemental bodies, as a trace of “something,” which can never itself be made present'
Review of 'Chorology: On Beginning in Plato’s Timaeus by John Sallis', by Colin Anderson.
Having researched people's experiences of space during lockdown, in particular, outdoor space, I was interested in investigating unstructured time further, or how the two might interrelate. I felt that lockdown and the pandemic had changed me and my outlook on life and I wanted to see if others had experienced the same. Over lockdown, I had come to realise the importance of time outdoors and the need we all have for unstructured time and space to explore imaginatively; a type of 'khora'; a term which philosophers, psychogeographers and architects have explored over the centuries. 'Khora' has many interpretations, but I am using it to define my exploration on this project and how gaps and changes in time and space enable new possibilities and knowledge to emerge. I thought a word which is not fully defined would be an interesting starting point for my proposal. Having read 'On not knowing: How artists think' by Fisher and Fortnum, I have been previously interested in how words and meaning can be pushed and explored by artists.
'This operation constitutes....language as a separation from a presumed state of nature, of pleasure fused with nature so that the introduction of an articulated network of differences, which refers to objects henceforth and only in this way separated from a subject, may constitute meaning', p.198, The Kristeva Reader, edited by Toril Moi.
In other words, language has created a barrier in the raw experience of nature and the senses, as we label and structure society around symbolic meanings. This is a really interesting idea to me and I hope to explore this through my use of the word 'Khora' in my supporting descriptions of my work in the final documentation and presentation.
My research revealed that most people enjoyed the unstructured time and space they experienced during lockdown (originally explored through the lens of the daily walk in their neighbourhood and Tourist Gaze). In this project, I want to critique our modern-day. patriarchal, capitalist philosophy of time and space, disorientating the viewer and reminding them social restraints can be questioned and challenged through walking, playing and using time and space non-productively or in non-marketable ways. I want to play with time and play with knowing, to ultimately make a 'khora' of my own.
I have also developed an interest in feminist philosophical approaches to phenomenology. In a post-imperialistic, patriarchal world, where the pursuit for ownership and knowledge have been a dominant way of being, can we unlearn these principles and rediscover the temporality of the nature of space and also knowledge? We can never know all things; we can never own all space. Even the knowledge we possess and teach, may be questionable in the future. A child is born as for 9 months of its life, resources and space have been borrowed from another. Instead of viewing the world from a perspective of what space and resources we can accrue in a lifetime, can we view the world as what can we gift back or share? How can we repay the accommodation, sharing and enabling of the possible we experienced from our mothers or from the earth? How can we make room for more 'khora'?
This also links nicely to my previous interest in children and childhood pre MA studies. This inspiration is partly due to watching my own children reach their formative years, but also because children represent the future or the unknown; possibility and reality yet to exist. Their DNA, their inner pysche, their generational context play out as they grow. Using my daughter as a symbol of 'Khora' for a starting point, how could this idea be utilised and explored further through studio practice?
3 digital layered manipulations of vintage film
I have begun by exploring vintage 35mm film and my daughter as a subject. I really liked a quote I read in 'Take Place' by Helen Westgeest, which described how photography is the 'paradox' 'of being present and absent at the same time'(p.123) and I was keen to use photography to help me play with the idea of displacing time and space. I layered my images digitally to create ghost like/multiple-moment shots. I like the way the 'uncanny' or ghosts, are evoked. Ghosts, like Khora, cannot really be confirmed or denied, they represent what is, or was, or could be, neither in the now nor the past, so this is an interesting format to play with. I have been looking at Tim McMillan's Timeslice technique, and researching about problems time-based media has, when trying to actively represent our phenomenology of time. Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher, argued we all have an innate perception of time as we can all count at a similar pace. 'Clock Time' is obviously a huge shared experience for us all as we structure our day around it, but it is very difficult to understand if we all experience time in a similar way. Westgeest argues that ''studies of cinema have contributed to a better understanding of concepts of time in photography" (p.3, Take Place), so moving onto to film may be more appropriate than still images. Is there a way to represent feminized time by deconstructing it through the film editing process? Borrowing it? Slowing it down or speeding it up? Or finding a way to show the multiplicity of experienced time?
Film trials using a waterproof Lumix DMC-FT5 camera, edited and manipulated on Rush
Although I liked the images of my daughter, I do not want to distract too much from creating a sense of green space or outdoor environment in my images. In the above video sketch, I wanted to play around with a type of 'Khora' represented by the fluid nature of time through water. Time and Space are elusive with mystical properties such as the effect water has on the light and sound. I played around with the speed and audio to create something familiar yet unknown; tapping into something on the edge of knowing. I liked the way the viewer is disorientated. I have been looking at the work of Michael Gondry and his exploration of time in his music videos. He has always fascinated me and I really like the simplicity of some of his earlier, low fi techniques, which could be achievable for me at home. I did think about creating a music video and managed to collaborate with a musician who was willing to give me his music, but I have had second thoughts as this may be a restrictive medium for the project as this genre tends to have a perceivable narrative which is at odds with what I want to explore. I also really liked making my own low-fi sound effects in the video editor and using someone else's music would prevent exploring the immersive qualities of sound. The birdsong in particular, as well as the mechanical whirrs of the camera, are particularly effective at deterritorializing the viewer. This trial is quite disturbing, as it has visual connotations of horror or the uncanny. This could be used to represent the negative manipulation of our time as a society; making time in space outside seem a burden or a chore, or even something to be afraid of, when in reality, it is often a positive experience. It might be interesting to explore and research agoraphobia as a lasting symptom of our time in lockdown.
Film trials using basic dolly systems for movement, edited on Rush
In my second trial, I considered playing around with colour as well as speed and audio. I really liked the idea of a natural environment seeming alien at the start, and then becoming quite comforting in the middle, before descending into digital noise at the end. I thought this made quite a good analogy of my pandemic experience and how Time and Space had been bent and reformed back into a negative, disconnected experience. This also may give my films some structure to the timeline without the distraction of a narrative.
Digital film layered on Premiere
The video above was made as part of a previous project but rejected, however, it could be an interesting technique to reshot and edit to show an intriguing portray of time and space. In the video the forest is layered and twisted to disorientate the viewer. It is familiar and yet alien as the trees grow both up and down, the sunlight comes from multiple directions.
Digital moodboard for project
Many ideas and artists I have touched on, or even scenes I've watched in movies are inspiring me at the moment as a visual inspiration, so I have condensed them down into a photomontage and a brief list below:
Tang ping - a Chinese counterculture which uses lying flat as a symbol of resistance to a Capitalist culture
#Goblinmode: a social media counterculture to productivity and self-improvement where social norms are rejected in favour of indulging base needs above all else.
The music video work of Michael Gondry and his playfulness with time, eg, Sugar Water Cibo Matto shows a dual screen with a narrative which plays forwards and backwards; the two protagonists meeting in the centre and affecting each other's lives.
Cinematography used in Nomadland which shows a slow, female gaze of the landscape and characters which immerse the audience into outdoor, seemingly infinite space.
Cinematography in The Lighthouse which uses vintage formats and Lovecraftian concepts; ideas of the uncanny and unknowing. Also merging vintage techniques with modern CGI.
The work of Bill Viola, in particular his use of parallel screens in Heaven and Earth to depict two separate worlds which can never meet; the dead and the living. I also really love his use of the sublime in his large installation pieces of water as well, where time is slowed down and played with, creating new perspectives of water movement.
Elizabeth Prise and her postmodern filmmaking process; the Deleuze and Guattari nature of film editing and the idea we can draw from many cultural references in film from the past century. Juxtaposing familiar and unfamiliar references together to create new meanings.
Carey Young and Cindy Sherman and their use and exploration of the female figure in male space.
La Jette's combination of still photography and audio to create narrative and imagined environments that play with depictions of time.
Martin Tighe's use of Chiarscurro and the uncanny story of and film depiction of Picnic at Hanging Rock. The legend is half based on truth and half on imagined mystery. The story and the truth are entangled over time and become inseparable.
Carl Jung's book Man and his Symbols, written by Jung after a dream he had communicating that he should write an accessible book for the masses before his death.
"One thing remains clear though, unless men can invent other ways to occupy space, unless space (as territorialized, as mappable or explorable) gives way to place (occupation, dwelling and being lived in), until space is conceived in terms other than according to the logic of penetration, colonization and domination, unless they can accord women their own space, negotiate the occupation of shared space, unless they no longer regard space as the provenance of their own self-expression and self-creation, unless they respect space and places which are not theirs, entering only when invited, and accepting this is a gift, they cannot share in the contributions that women may offer in reconceiving space and place." (p.57) Women, Chora, Dwelling by Elizabeth Grosz.
I am currently reading a collection of Essays called Postmodern Cities and Spaces. There is a particularly interesting essay in there on 'Chora' which links with my ideas opposing Capitalism and how we can feminise space/look at space from a more social, shared perspective.
"As the mind explores the symbol, it is led to ideas that lie beyond the grasp of reason.....(Man) never perceives anything fully or comprehends anything completely......because we cannot know the ultimate nature of matter itself" p.4-5, Man and His Symbols, Carl. G. Jung.
I am also delving into the world of Carl Jung. His development of psychology links well into my interest in the unknowing of making art and how that is interpreted by others. I have really enjoyed the philosophical and psychoanalytical elements of my MA research and will continue to read and explore in more depth Deleuze and Guattari's theories, as well as concepts of Space, Place and Time, as well as feminist and pluralist philosophy, as well as time-based theories on film.
Books I have read previously which have been a useful base: On not knowing how artists think and Plan and play, play and plan.
Print, perspex and digital photograph
Original 35mm vintage film image
I had read about various low-fi techniques used in cinema and one, in particular, that spiked my interest, is known as Matt painting. It involves taking a scene and painting on glass around the image and then refilming the original take within the space left on the glass to create a half real, half created world. Taking one of the original images of my daughter, instead of painting, I printed the image and mounted it onto perspex. I then retook the image but I very much wanted it to look layered. It reminded me of the famous Cottingly Fairies hoax of 1917. Two cousins convinced the world they had encountered and photographed real fairies. It was only in the 1980s that they admitted the photographs were not genuine. I liked the idea of playing around with perspection and imagination. I also really liked the way the image has 3 layers; a paper image, a reflected image and a 'real' image. The final image on screen above could be seen as a 4th image as it is a digital recording of the layering. It produces an uncanny, ghost like atmosphere which is unsettling and disorientating. It also is a nice progression to my photography. 'Birmingham Beermats' which was displayed at the Invisible Cities exhibition at Selfridges, which depicts photographs within photographs.
'Birmingham Beermats', photographic work exhibited at Selfridges as part of Invisible Cities.
I have begun to play around with projection at home with various images and short films I have to explore moving film. Footage includes the films above, as well as new footage of walking through fields of dead flowers. I also shot some close-up images of my daughter watching social media as I felt this contrasts directly with idea of open outdoor space; showing a gaze totally absorbed in the virtual. We all experienced a lot of online socialising and working over lockdown; a trend set to continue as working from home becomes normalised. I wanted to trial these images as a straightforward projection, as well as on angles, slants, different planes and also on the floor to get an idea where I want to explore further. These are my notes on the effects.
Projection trials onto a variety of surfaces and angles.
Eyes - when projected on the floor make the viewer feel authoritative
Sound - Water noises and birdsong particularly immersive
Water vibrations and ripples - particularly effective at reminding us the projection is not real. When on the floor they evoke puddles, could they be projected in organic puddle shapes?
Dirt in the water; the floating works on computer or TV, when projected less effective as it looks like interference/not intentional
Sunflowers - interesting as evoke traditional gallery images but through movement, creating a new perspective.
Mobile format on the wall (portrait) is interesting as it evokes social media content, not cinematography (landscape).
Water projections are unpleasant as they feel like drowning. Could be useful for exploring as a metaphor.
The presence of the hand on the wall evokes an 'artist's' presence within the frame without the need for a narrative.
Slanted projection evokes daylight coming in a window. Eyes work well on a slant too as do trees as they look like daylight or shadows that could be real.
Projecting onto multiple canvases creates tension when looking as you feel you do not know where to look. Could be interesting. Many images collide, becoming singular in the end? Could I isolate canvases one by one on the projection before a visual crescendo? Black and white tree branches work well.
On the floor; deterritorializes as the viewer is unsure whether work should be viewed portrait or landscape. Shots of the field, dirt in water and lake reflections are quite disorientating.
Grass images imply movement/travel or what Margaret street may have been like in the past (linking to my Growth work)
Sky images evoke puddles on the ground bringing the outside in quite effectively.
Steam films, layered over various other shots using Premiere.
I have begun to explore filming steam and light. I thought this might make a natural progression from my water trials. I love the raw beauty of Bill Viola's water videos but obviously accessing this type of facilities for film work would be very expensive and problematic. I like the way steam could be manipulated and visually reminds us of clouds. Clouds have a 'khora' to them as they are constantly changing/morphing, impossible to pin down, so I thought this was a good visual representation of this concept. It is likely everyone played the game as a child of interpreting the clouds into subjects, creating connotations of play and imagination.
Photograph of work from Night School 1: TV screen, bench and participatory question on the wall hanging.
TELL ME HOW YOUR USE OF TIME/SPACE HAS CHANGED IN A POST PANDEMIC WORLD?
I used to love being at home, finally I can do it without guilt after lockdown. I tried to go to sleep early and wake up early since there is no work needs to be done.
in the 18 years living there, the house/gardens unique quirks gave me inspiration for my artistic practises, as well as reminding me to be grateful for what I have.
during the first lockdown, I was with my family in my childhood home we would soon be moving out of. I used this time to connect to the space even more deeply than I have.
I spend more time in my own space with friends and family, I have more time to value myself and actually breathe also more time with the dogs.
when in the lockdown it was such a chill world. I'd love for a silent world to be back, the silence came with its own productivity.
I miss being like a nocturnal koala
I use Microsoft Teams
when lockdown is history and I see layers in rock, I will remind myself that each one represents a new era.
I used to paint in my room without space, I would tape my canvas on the wall and stand for hours. since the pandemic I've built and changed my room into a proper artist studio, I couldn't stand anymore, energy disappeared with space
I don't think we are post-pandemic yet, but I have been using my time by learning who I am both historically and physically.
it's made me realise that doing nothing is really important
I gained some independence during the first lockdown because I was allowed to go on a walk by myself for the first time. I walked everyday, now I couldn't imagine having the energy and time to go for a walk.
I live on my sofa it's a safe, comfy place.
I missed the furlough pay.
I missed the furlough pay too.
I have mostly lost track of time, not knowing dates, days, etc. it is freeing
ever felt that lockdown just a dream?
I enjoy my own company but feel the need to be connected to others more.
I enjoy my own company more now, don't feel guilty for saying no to going out.
I feel during lockdown, I had time and space to explore the outdoors, we have now returned to normal and can't, plus working longer and harder hours.
space is a much cleaner environment, everything needs a place. time; I work all night and sleep all day.
the comfort of my lounge is now a negative space because it encourages lack of productivity. I now find the world very overwhelming.
For the first time in 10 years I was able to spend 24/7 with my family and in my hometown, it was a blessing but also scary.
the more time I spend working at home, the more expensive the furniture gets.
Video documentation of G20 for Night School 1.
On February 22nd the Night School, BCU's monthly event, returned to Margaret Street campus. I used this opportunity to begin to test some of my early video trials and also gather further data with a 3rd venue/audience. Viewers were asked to write on a Post-it note how their use of TIME/SPACE had changed since the pandemic. I knew people had used outdoor space for their mental health over lockdown from my previous research, but I was now interested in knowing if they had made changes to their lives because of this. I tried to phrase the question so as to not lead the answers (which I had in my previous 2 events) by not specifically mentioning the outdoors or Birmingham as a city. There were lots of responses, and I was interested to learn that people's phenomenology of lockdown and beyond fell generally into 1 of 2 categories. Around half the respondents felt similar to myself; in that they had enjoyed exploring and discovering new spaces, hobbies, and relationships with their new found time/space and had continued with these changes or really wanted to in their 'new normal'. The other half found they had grown to love and invest in their home indoor environment and felt it was now difficult to leave to go back to work/university or a place of 'clock-time'. This gave me an interesting contrast as my previous events for Invisible cities and Place of Solace had not really revealed this love for the domestic/home environment. It did seem to resonate with news articles I had read regarding the difficulty employees were having engaging staff back physically to the workplace. This research reveals the limitations of making art from a single perspective; as a teacher, I cannot work from home. And as a mother, my children can and should return to school, no question, but for others, work has changed for good/bad depending on the individual. When making work we must always be aware of different groups experiencing different phenomenologies. It is reassuring that workers are resisting the return to the grindstone but there is a danger of work/clock/time interfering with Khora/space/free play. This idea of a kind of agoraphobia, links well to Plato's Cave too, which is the allegory in which 'Khora' is first mentioned. This may be where I can tap into common ground across both types of respondent in my audience and this new knowledge has given me a new direction to explore; the friction between indoors/outdoors and work/play.
Word cloud of participants' responses to the question on the wall hanging.
Night school also gave me the chance to present my films. My initial intention was to project, but after some discussion, it was decided that the TV screen would make an interesting alternative, which I had not used before, so might add a layer of 'digitalisation' to the work. I was pleased with the result and it was good to test visuals on multiple viewers. I particularly liked the addition of the bench which enabled the audience to 'take time' to engage with the work and linked to my research into 'tang ping', or resting as resistance. I hope to push this idea further next night school by possibly encouraging spectators to lie down. The sound was an issue as other films were also playing in the gallery space, so this is something to be considered with future installations. The sounds of nature, used in my short films, were lost, unfortunately, but the screen did provide a brightness that made the work very noticeable in the space. Audience members asked me how the films were shot, which tells me I am going in the right direction, as I hoped to disorientate the viewer. I think on reflection I would like to return to projection over using a screen as I like its ethereal quality. As Gunning states in The Long and Short of it: Centuries of Projecting Shadows, from Natural Magic to the Avant-Garde, projection has a rich history of playing around with a dual role of 'formation and disorientation, of belief and confusion, of certainty and play', so I think it would make the best media for depicting Khora.
River trials using waterproof camera and Rush in editing
Developing my film work further, the sequence above involved using a local stream in the park; a spot which has become really significant to me since lockdown as my own place of solace. The shots were taken using the natural current of the river to control the movement; I devised a floating vessel for the waterproof camera and experimented with shooting under the water, on the water and through the water. I think it gives a new, interesting perspective to quite an ordinary park location. The experience of filming using fishing line and my vessel was quite a relaxing one, so it was quite surprising to watch the shoot back, in particular, the shots where the vessel was bashed about on the rocks; the spinning makes the film extremely disorientating and disturbing despite being such a tranquil experience when it was filmed.
Photograph of the process of river filming; showing camera vessel on fishing line.
I am considering adding another element to my films to give them more structure and explore my ideas of time/space in a post-pandemic world in a more literal way. Having used my daughter previously, I am unsure I want a figure as I feel they then become burdened with active questions on the viewer's part of who they are and what they are doing and I want my films to have an omnipresence. I thought about the idea of a ghostly figure. I had considered the work of Grace Williams, whose work has also been interested in the occult, or supernatural. Her installation 'Escamotage', explores the imagery of a figure we know to be there but cannot see. She also uses old technologies in her work, as I did in Growth. Not only are ghosts something that could represent the past being present in the now, but they could also bring a sense of humour or horror which are ways in which I have worked previously; tapping into the visual language of film the audience will be familiar with. I began to experiment with a green screen and projecting a traditional 'sheet' ghost into a piece of footage I had of a decaying sunflower field. The footage has an artistic, painted quality to it that I liked and this could be well utilised to draw attention to the materiality of the film, as flowers are usually painted in galleries on canvas or paper. I feel the sheet over the figure also helps eliminate the problem of the burden of Gaze on the figure; it could represent any one of us, none of us or everyone.
'Ghost' layered video, using green screen technology and motion tracking in Premiere.
After experimenting with several effects of layering and movement on Premiere, this trial was the most effective, using a tree in the distance as a reference point. I tracked the camera movement to the object manually. I like the humourous effect it has as it is clearly a manufactured image and the dead flowers add to the general woefulness of the piece, but I am not sure the ghost will be the right additional element I am looking for to help viewers relate to clock-time/space.
Time trial piece using Premiere editing
I recently discovered the work of Yuge Zhou. I love her use of splicing space together in the frame in new timelines to highlight how we spend our time in a capitalist society, making us more conscious of time and space. Is there a way I could play with composition and layering to make the films more beautiful and abstract? Having looked at Yuge Zhou and Michael Gondry's video for Sugar Water, I experimented with video timelines. Above are 2 trials exploring this notion. The first clip was a compilation of simultaneous journeys through a field overlapped and layered. The second clip is of two timelines layered with opacity which meet in the middle for one frame. The frame was completely unnoticeable on my first edit, so I slowed the timeline up to, and after, right down to emphasise the moment. I also freeze framed the still image too. This exposes what is known as 'film time' (as opposed to 'cinema time') as it shows the moment the image was created, which is normally concealed in cinema through narrative and continual movement. The 'then-ness' is revealed through the 'now-ness' (p. 31, Death 24x a second). The exposure of one frame reveals one photograph, and reminds us that film, both still and moving 'marks a transition from animate to inanimate, from life to death' (p. 15). The now-ness created by the movement through frames is but an illusion; the moment is no more.
I plan to exhibit a showreel of all these clips and trials I have completed so far at the next film school to see audience reactions and get an idea of what best explores my original question.
Panoramic view of the studio space for night school 2.
Photographs of the curated work on display for Night school 2
The last 2 weeks have been preoccupied with leading the curation of the next night school exhibition at the School of Art with 2 of my colleagues. The experience was a fantastic one and I was really pleased with the show we managed to pull together in quite a tight space. I felt I learned a lot from the experience both as a curator and an artist. I felt my work was not as strong as it could have been, due to my role as a co-curator, so it would be advisable for me to step down for the next one. Time is always a difficult resource for me to find and I think the time I put into curation meant I had less time on my own work and therefore it was not as good as it could have been. Allocating space was difficult as we had last-minute additions, changes, and switches to coordinate. I was originally going to exhibit a small tent-like installation with a projection within the centre of the floor space, however, the space was not working at all as it was too small, so I made the difficult decision to abandon my plans to allow another student to show their work in full, and I relocated to the wall. In the end, the only place left to project was on a small section of wall (idea 3) as there just was not the space for the projection sculpture I had planned, and also many of the spaces I tried to project in did not work due to angles, power sourcing or space around other students.
Original diagram of gallery space use.
Alternative spaces for my work
Video of a maquette for my video/sculpture piece for Night school 2.
I didn't want to just project straight onto a wall, so with just a few hours to be inventive, I used an easel and canvas to add an element of materiality to the projection. I thought my shots of sunflowers had echoes of a traditional painting so this was the best object I could find with limited time. Using the canvas also taught me a lot about settings and the difficulties to do with projecting onto an object. In hindsight, I should have moved into a small booth we had in the space, where another student did not really make the most of the space. I learned a huge amount about space and curation that evening as where my work ended up felt a bit hidden and squashed between two other works. My overall conclusion was that film requires space in front of it to encourage the audience to stay and watch for a period of time. As Space is also an important subject to me, it is crucial I create it for the audience to experience. For this reason, I think F.08 may not be the right place for my final show if there might be a lot of work close together. I also discovered the room is too light to effectively show projection, and I do not really want to use a television, as I feel I like the non-materiality and ghost-like qualities of projection. As Stan Douglas testifies in The Art of Projection, art galleries are often very difficult places to exhibit this kind of work due to their light nature and echoing acoustics, 'even new museums built today, don't often take into account the fact this kind of work will be shown.....the ancient idea of a picture gallery is still the model for many architects' (p.18). So it seems the logistics of projection are problematic for many professionals working in this way. Exhibiting my work in a Victorian art school, designed well before the conception of video or art film, will be difficult, however, I have discovered BCU have made a good provision in the conversion of the basement rooms (B21/22/23) into large dark spaces which would probably be more appropriate for my work. I will look into securing a space in these rooms as soon as I can for the final show.
Video of my work for NIght school 2: canvas, projection and easel.
The morning of the night school show, I had discussions with my peers about what the eye shots could suggest. The idea of them being edited together with my deterritorialized images to imply the subject's thoughts and imaginings was suggested and used. As well as coming up with the 'canvas' projection, I edited my films together on the day to play around with that idea. I decided the ghost images and eye shots did not feel right as they seemed too conducive of a narrative once in the films. I am thinking of possibly experimenting with the audience's space or text to critique the phenomenology of clock/time, instead of anything within the film, as an alternative.
As my project developed, I felt I needed to return to making my imagery at the River Rea in the park. As I delve deeper into this project, I have come to realise this is a very significant place for me and I feel drawn back there. The space where I create the work gives me a sense of agency; away from the domestic home and away from the city/school and precarious study/work clock-time. In this environment, I am freed from clock-time, and I am freed from the burden of caring for others. I feel it is a creative space, a Khora of my own, which acts as a crucible for my ideas. Not only do I photograph here, but once a week I run here and I have found this to be a very empowering experience. During my runs, I often find my mind is able to wander and create ideas for the project. It seems important to create my artwork here rather than the imagery I used at the last night school.
The full film shown for Night school 2.
As an alternative to figures, I began to think about adding text to my trials. I could deterritorialise words and text into nature, away from documents or screens associated with clock-time. The following experiments are just with random words or short words I thought of, but the principle could be explored with longer words and sentences from emails or phrases from a classic workday to represent 'clock-time' and capitalist use of space/time. I also trialed acetate photography as a still layer towards the end, which I quite like the effect of, but I feel it is not right for this project as it is too similar to my AP2 module. These shots also explore the site of my work more too and I have been back several times to trial filming in different conditions with different water levels and clarity in the river. The beginning shots are the most effective I think as the river weeds create really interesting shapes. I also really like the idea of the water being upside down as a deterritorialising experience for the viewer.
Video sketches showing river bed journeys, text trials and acetate image trials.
I have begun to look at new contextual information regarding the history of projection. Shadow puppets and stories have a long history dating back at least 2,000 years, and this could be argued is the earliest form of projection. Plato speaks of shadows and illusions in the allegory of 'the Cave', where Khora, as a term, is first used, providing an interesting parallel. There is evidence of the Romans being aware of camera obscura techniques as well as China as far back as the 5th century AD, where they used highly polished mirrors to project images of Buddha. The earliest mention of a 'Magic Lantern' type of projection was in 1420 when Giovanni de Fontana mentions witnessing lanterns made to project images of the devil and the audience finding these images 'terrifying'. Several developments in the 16th century during the age of science and Enlightenment refined methods and the genre became more and more popular; by the 1880s the Magic Lantern, or picture plays, had become commonplace in churches and village halls. They were used for educational purposes as well as for entertainment and were often accompanied by music and/or narration. The projections also incorporated simple moving parts as well as layers that dissolve into each other, or moving appendages. I can see the interlinking history of the Magic Lantern with previous research; La Jette is almost an avant-garde version of this medium and Terry Gilliam must have encountered Magic Lanterns as a source of inspiration for his animations. The age of cinema resulted in the Magic Lantern's demise but I think this rich history could give a layer of meaningfulness to my work if I can incorporate it. Funnily enough, I learned of the Magic Lantern when I began to explore space around Margaret Street on module 2. I discovered the BMI next door to the art school and curiosity led me to investigate this beautiful building. The Birmingham Midland Institute houses a theatre and library and hosts many societies. One of the societies is the Magic Lantern Society and so through exploring local space, I discovered this wonderful art and moving image history. I have joined the Magic Lantern Society, who meet twice a year, and I am looking forward to going to their international annual event in May to gather more research, have discussions, and hopefully spark some ideas for progression. The link below gives a brief history of Magic Lanterns.
'The phantasmagoria not only conceals the human agent and the technical process involved, but directly affects human perception. Within this critical tradition, the phantasmagoria manifests not only as a visual phenomenon, but has powerful spectatorial impact. The consumer under capitalism pre-eminently becomes part of an audience at a spectacle - a spectator.' Tom Gunning on Karl Marx's Capital: A Critique of Political Economy in The Art of Projection (p.32).
The quote from Gunning shows an interesting link Carl Marx saw between capitalism/consumerism and the power of illusion to disempower an audience. Again, this makes projection, and the possible use of optical illusion, a very interesting tool I could use to critique consumerism and capitalist society.
Puppet trials with different video effects to change lighting.
I began to look back further into the work of Plato and The Allegory of the Cave. The 3rd night school was fast approaching so I decided to secure the booth I did not use last time and try to creat an installation with projection, this time exploring the audience laying down if I could. The booth itself had a cave-like quality to it, especially after I sealed the top off to make it a darker space. I thought about using toys (linking to khora and childhood) to recreate the allegory of the cave, which fittingly, is all about shadows and projections, and their affect on man. I filmed the allegory, acted out with toys, with the idea I would either narrate the story live or add narration over the top.
The Allegory of the Cave has been scrutinised by many philosophers over the years and I was particularly interested to read Irigaray's feminist reading as represented by M. Whitford in 'Luce Irigaray: Philosophy in the Feminine'. 'It is obvious, even banal, that the cavern represents the womb......in the Platonic dialogues themselves Socrates is describe as a midwife...his role to assist the birth into knowledge of the truth' (p.106). Irigaray goes on to explain that the journey out of the cavern is disregarded as not important, as is the time in the cavern itself, as is the mortal reality that the prisoners are still 'seeing' with their eyes when they look upon daylight and the Sun. The materiality of their experience; the images produced by the Sun on their eyes are somehow more 'real' than the images in the cavern produced by fire. Truth comes from leaving behind 'the Mother'. 'The mother-matter gives birth only to images, the Father-God only to the real'. 'Obliteration of the passage between outside and inside, up and down, intelligible and sensible...the "father" and the "mother "' is severed by Plato (p.112). Woman 'bears the weight of men's castration fears and, by extension, the refusal to face mortality and death' (p.113). This idea of a third element or bridge between the intelligible and sensible, the Real and unreal, is a very interesting concept that I feel fits well with my ideas of indoors/outdoors, the virtual/digital and the natural.
I began to refine the space in the booth. I didn't want to just project onto the walls so thought about using my original plan from night school 2 (the sheet structure) to cover the walls and take us inside a created 'space'. I wanted to possibly evoke feelings of making a den as a child and having a bedtime story read to you. This could be comforting to represent our 'nesting' post lockdown, but also have undertones of this being regressive and therefore dangerous; to refuse to leave the coziness of the home/ignorance for the harshness of the daylight and knowledge (as argued by Plato in the allegory).
Photographs of puppet trials projected into the space for Night school 3.
I refined the shadow toy allegory, trialled different filters and colours as well as adding robotic narration. I rewrote the allegory in my own words and used a female protagonist to critique the very patriachial language and thinking of Plato, but also to play around with connotations of Barbie and dolls; historically quite unintellectual role models for girls.
Edited, layered film of Allegory of the cave, using shadow puppets and auto narration.
Originally, I trialed making the floor of the booth cozy with bedding and white sheets, however, I felt concerned the audience would not want to de-shoe to come in or would worry about getting dirt on the white; it was important for me to make the space as welcoming as possible, so I had to rethink. Also, it may be that many people would feel uncomfortable laying down, socially and physically, so I decided to develop the space to be a bit more flexible. I thought if people chose to recline, rather than not come in because they had to lie down, that was preferable. I decided to keep the floor empty with a few large scatter cushions and stools. I also used Pinterest to see how other galleries had encouraged 'tang ping' in an audience and this was generally the approach; scatter cushions or lounger pads spread out on the regular floor of the gallery.
Once the flooring was sorted, I also lowered the ceiling and experimented with how to project upwards. A lower roof helped the space seem more cozy, but the projector would have to go on the floor in order to make the image big enough for the space, not on the plinth as planned. I managed to project onto the ceiling by propping a mirror in front of the projector. This did mean there was some distortion to the image, so if I was to do it again, I would probably design and make a proper mount for the projector hanging from the ceiling behind the sheet. I also made the walls more irregular, to evoke a childhood den; something built by a naive hand, rather than a regular box shape. I achieved this through using fishing line, staples and pegs hidden from view. I was also inspired by Tord Boontje's Fabric Room, an installation the designer and maker had made at his studio to try to change the experience of meetings and working to be more exciting and feminine.
Mirror set up to achieve ceiling projection
Round composition for ceiling projection with kaleidoscopic effect and whispered narration.
I was unsure if I liked the allegory toy story as I felt I had become too far removed from my images of nature and too distracted by Plato's story of the cave. Although I did incorporate them into my storytelling in the last edit, I felt the toys were taking me in a very different direction. I felt it was important to prioritise images of nature. As Urry says in Tourist Gaze 3.0, 'this current obsession with the countryside.....derives in part from the disillusionment with the modern' (p109), so it makes sense to push this imagery further than anything else, and also for me to not wander too far from my original interests in green spaces. I developed a 'kaleidoscope' image of one of my tree/water videos where I also exaggerated colours and saturation. I had been thinking about the work of Yuge Zhou and kaleidoscopes; a childhood gadget that captures the imagination. I had experimented with layered time slices of my own on the sunflower videos, so tried this layering in a more structured, geometric way. I had a mini tutorial with my peers as I was unsure which direction to pursue as my work had reached a crossroads; allegory or kaleidoscope imagery. Unfortunately, when I asked which they thought was more effective, the group were split between the allegory toy show and the kaleidoscope image so I went home and looked into developing some more kaleidoscope images (as I had just the one). I really liked the trials I came up with subsequently, so decided to pursue this visual line of enquiry. I had been editing them into circle images to evoke the looking down a 'scope' but the day before the exhibition I decided to go full screen to create a bigger immersion for the audience. I also really liked the visual bleeding of the image onto the folds in the sheets around the projection in the booth.
Further kaleidoscopic trails with 'fire' sound effects.
As well as these installation design elements, I had to consider sound if I was no longer using the allegory film with its narration. I spent a lot of time researching sound effects, playing with my original sounds, and experimenting with using something more cinematic, such as a sci-fi soundtrack. I had recently discovered royalty-free music on YouTube Studio so trialed the films in the space using cave sounds, fire sounds (to evoke connotations of Plato's cave), and various types of music. I also recorded myself whispering the allegory story, as I had been looking into ASMR as a sound relaxation technique. I lay in the space and trialed all the sound options with the visuals to see what fitted most with the booth. In the end, I settled on quite slow, simple, ambient music as I felt this encouraged the audience to stay, feel comfortable, and relax; pausing in a mediative way, in the space, breaking their normative routine. I used speakers for the first time and this is definitely something I want to use in my final installation as they gave me such control over the sound; the quality and ambiance were much better than previously from the projector.
Final arrangement for Night school 3: bedsheets, ceiling projection, floor cushions and immersive, ambient sound.
'There is a space in front of a screen that seems to be cancelled out by darkness, the 'throw' of the beam of projection. If darkness cancels out this space, the screen or projection surface opens up another space, a space of illusion perhaps or representation, or simply of the play of light.' Gunning, The Art of Projection.
InDesign labelling for exhibition
I had some really positive feedback on the night and on Instagram, people even direct messaged me to say how beautiful they thought the work was. The sheets did need tweaking on the night; I observed some audience members not seeing the space, so I pinned the sheets slightly open and then people did go in and stay. One person said the space had made them feel a bit uncanny/weird, which I thought was an interesting idea to play around with; the line between comfort and discomfort/agoraphobia and claustrophobia. Others mentioned feeling disorientated as they left, which was good too as I had been investigating disorientation and deterritorialization. Viewers did not necessarily lie down on the night, but many did recline or lean, so I felt it was not essential to lie for the experience; participants still came and stayed and were stationary for a long period of time. Overall, I have learned I will need darkness and space in order to develop this work further as it was very tight in the booth, it would have been nice to have a few feet more to play with. I think reflecting on my experiences with all 3 night schools and 2 art events, which have in invaluable for me, I feel it is essential to design the work around a given space, rather than trying to shoe-horn something into somewhere new that the work does not have a relationship with, so my plan is to secure where I will be working as soon as possible, rather than designing something which is then 'placed'. I feel the space and the art should be planned together and interact, to create a new conversation for the viewer and a new experience of the space. Here is the final video I used on the night as well as a virtual 360 photo I have pinned on Google Maps.
On the weekend of 30th April/1st May, I attended the Magic Lantern Society annual meeting at the BMI on Margaret Street. The event had a wide-ranging showcase of talks and shows using vintage magic lantern slides as well as new shadow and paper puppetry art. Below is a compilation of sounds, clips, and images I collected at the event. The shows were often accompanied by live music, singing, and/or actors using narration, to recreate how they would have been performed in the 1800s. It was really fascinating to learn more about the history of projection and I particularly enjoyed the talk on Phantasmagoria, which I am hoping to research further into, to help inform and inspire how I could present my work using historical theatrical effects. My favourite show, The Musician by Jeremy Brooker, can be viewed at 39 minutes in on the recorded livestream below.
Video and sound montage of Magic Lantern Society Spring meeting, 2022.
I began to return to audio and thought about how to refine my immersive sounds. I had been researching this field of artwork and having looked at the work of Toshiya Tsunoda and Jez Riley, I was really interested in adding this layer to the space I was going to use. I was eager to record natural sounds, as opposed to music or narration, especially if I could record it from my original, personal, place of solace; Cannon hill park and the River Rea. I attended audio training and borrowed an LS100 Olympus recorder to do some field recording. Using 2 Rode lavalier microphones as well as headphones, I recorded stereo sounds from locations around the park during 2 visits on different days. Having the 2 microphones enables the sound to become 3 dimensional and I hope to replay it back into the gallery space to create an immersive experience that surrounds the viewer.
Screenshot of Reaper editing.
I also attended Reaper training after my recordings were downloaded. Reaper is a specialist sound editing package that enables you to layer, create effects and edit the sound in a more refined way than through Premiere alone. I really enjoyed playing with effects including tweaking the levels, gain, and adding refurb to recreate outdoor sounds as though they were taking place inside a cave. It felt logical to digitalise and play around with the sounds to echo the visuals I had been developing in a similar way. Below is a video showing the differences between the stereo audio sounds before and after Reaper filters and edits. I particularly liked the dripping sounds and the birdsong after adding refurb, as it creates the impression these sounds are trapped in a space and are particularly cave-like. The wind in the trees did not work so well, as the sound became almost like interference once it was put through the same process. Hopefully, the finished sounds will be disorientating but familiar to the audience, helping to create the experience of being in a different place from the gallery. I have learned from experience at the night schools that galleries have other sounds taking place which are sometimes loud, so it will be quite important to specify that the area for the work should be fairly quiet and tranquil.
As mentioned previously, it was important to me to have a play and design within a known space at Margaret Street. As soon as the BA shows had finished and I could access the basements, I went into the school of art and begin at play around with projection in different spaces. I was really interested in the large alcove in B21 as it had a natural cave-like quality to the space. The alcove has a grand, curved arch leading into a nice-sized area where people could potentially rest and watch a film.
Diagram of proposed space for MA show.
I began to experiment with the space and different textures for projection including thin plastic dust sheets, cotton bed sheets, emergency blankets and cling film. I really liked the corner and there was something very moving about shifting the image into this darkest of places, and also this is a place in a gallery which is usually empty and ignored. I also felt it naturally echoed the kaleidoscopic nature of my images and I found myself aligning the lines of symmetry in my images with the lines of the building.
Initial projection trials in the space.
First kaleidoscopic projections in the space.
Aligning kaleidoscope angles with corner space
There was also something very beautiful about the emergency blankets under my projections. The colours twinkled and reflected around the space much like water reflections on the ceiling of a cave. This is definitely something I would like to bring out more in the work and use to my advantage to create an even more immersive experience.
Different material trials with lighting in the space (right: space foil, left: dust sheet plastic)
I also really liked the ethereal effect of the dust sheet. It has a light, airy slightly ghostly quality to it and I am wondering if it could be hung over the entrance almost suggestive of a thin veil of water or to create an air of intrigue as the space is entered. A barrier there, but barely, closing off the space but offering a glimpse of what maybe inside, would be an interesting addition. After looking into Phantasmagoria and Pepper's ghost effect, I had ordered and experimented with projecting onto Inviscreen at home (rear projection perspex used in theatre to create hologram effects), but it was costly for any amount bigger than A4. The dust sheet, although not as effective (see video below of Inviscreen), would be a cheap alternative as it comes in packs measuring 50m x 2m.
Projection using Inviscreen plastic
I began to think about how I could manipulate the angles to create a more cubic image on the wall using one projection. After much trial and error, and guidance from the Video tutor, it became clear the image would be unfocused in some places as it traveled over the surface, and it could only be on two sides of the walls, not the floor too, due to the nature of projection. Below are tests shots and techniques I used to try to create a 'net' version of the projection on screen, which then became 'straight' on the walls.
Trialing angle manipulation (top left, skewed image to work out proportions, top right: angles on screen versus on corners, bottom left: inverse skew to create cube illusion, bottom right: accurate lines achieved mapping the corner)
I began to realise that the kaleidoscope effect need not be made in editing; if I was able to create a simple projection near highly reflective surfaces, the room itself could be made to recreate a kaleidoscope for real in the space. Below is a simple maquette of the effect I could recreate using 2 small mirror tiles and my computer screen. Theortecially, the same effect could be created using one straight projection on a wall with 2 very reflective surfaces on the other wall and the floor.
Maquette of kaleidoscope effect using mirrored corners.
I had previously ruled out using mirrors for the installation as they were very expensive to buy large, so I thought about using water to reflect the image I wanted on the floor, so I would only need to budget for one large mirror. I thought this could even be water from the River Rea to add another level of nature being deterritorialized to the artwork. Having experimented with water and a mirror, on a much smaller scale as home, it was clear which was more effective, as the water was a lot less reflective than I thought it might be.
Maquettes showing using water as a surface (left) versus a mirror (right).
With the success of the mirror maquettes, I think it is clear purchasing two mirrors will be expensive, but it will be a much more effective way to construct the installation.
I then began to think about how I could incorporate seating and encouraging rest into the space. Having gone to London to do research, I was interested to see the film 'The Unfinished Conversation' by John Akomfrah exhibited in Tate Britain. Interestingly, I had seen the film 2 weeks previously at the MAC in Birmingham. I was interested to see that my local gallery had made the viewer experience much more 'restful'. In the Tate, the film was projected and audiences had a long corridor to walk down, before being presented with hard benches against the back wall. In the MAC, the film was played in a darkened room with 3 big, comfy beanbags placed in the centre of the room. The film is an uncomfortable watch; 3 screens play simultaneously, visually with little coordination or relation to each other. As a viewer, it feels overwhelming and claustrophobic; you do not settle, as you are unsure which screen to watch or where to look at, as the images compete. I found myself sitting into the beanbag in the MAC quite easily whereas the benches in London did not appeal. I would very much like to use this type of casual seating in my work, especially as at night school 3, I realised the audience are very happy to recline but less happy to lie down completely.
Photograph of The Unfinished Conversation at the MAC
When I did experimentation in the gallery space, I really liked the emergency blanket material, or space foil, as it is also known. I thought about covering beanbags in this material for my seating. Having googled how to sew it, it was clear there would be problems, as it is very prone to tearing once pierced. I then decided to experiment with duck tape seams on the inside. This worked quite well but did mean there was a little overhang seam along the edges. I used regular sellotape to secure this down and it was completely invisible. I then made a trial beanbag and got my family to test run it for damage/comfort. The trial one was a real success. I think on bare skin the beanbag is a little uncomfortable, but I think most visitors to the gallery will have their legs covered so should be able to get comfortable. I do need to consider fire safety with all materials, as there will be a hot projector in the area and the bulbs have been known to explode. Having researched space foil, it is not particularly flammable but does catch light at temperatures of over 500 celsius. I think as it is so thin the underneath materials are probably more important to be fireproof. Fortunately, beanbags comply with Fire Safety regulations since 1988 by law. I checked all beanbags/cushions that I used had this safety label. A couple of the covers I am planning to use do not have this label, so after checking with tutors for health and safety measures, I have sprayed them with a treatment used at University called MSL Fire Check, which makes flammable materials fire retardant. I really like the way the foil-like nature of the material creates an effect similar to a meteor or a rock. I think this will help my space appear unworldly and echo connotations of science fiction, nature and the future, again, changing the experience of time and place.
Space foil bean bag trial, using duck tape and sellotape double seams.
I wanted to reshoot the red steam trials I used in the night school installation but create a similar effect with clouds from my own place of solace. Having attended a tutorial on cloud filming, I knew I needed my DSLR to be adjusted to a shutter speed of 1/50 and also that I would need to use a neutral density camera filter over the lens. This filter allows you to film in bright conditions without bleaching out the colours, and many photographers use them when photographing scenes outside in sunlight or bright conditions. I had to wait for the best day to film as I needed regular cumulonimbus clouds with a wind speed that would create enough movement when time-lapsed. Unfortunately, my camera had an automatic turn-off after 14 minutes of filming, but I realised if I set a timer for myself to restart the camera as soon as it shut down, the join would probably be lost in editing post-production as it would only be for a second. I achieved a good sequence by selecting my strongest neutral filter (16) and speeding the film up by 800%. I was really pleased to see the film of clouds create a similar effect to that of the steam I had used previously. The extreme colours were achieved in editing in Premiere by selecting a vintage film effect and turning the temperature, tint, and saturation up.
Time-lapse photography of the sky using colour filters and Premiere
Whilst refining my final ideas, I have continued to explore artists who are working in similar ways. I researched into the work of Ed Atkins, who makes virtual artwork pieces using CGI and the latest technologies to explore the tensions between the virtual and the embodied. In an interview with Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, he explained that galleries and museums, during lockdown, had pushed artists and curators into creating online content and how this impacts the experience of the work. In his piece, 'The Worm', Atkins depicts a lone figure in a recording studio, dressed for business, in lip sync to a conversation with his mother over the phone during lockdown. The visual depiction, created through motion capture, emphasises the awkward loneliness of this encounter; contrasting a capitalist. masculine world, with one of genuine connection and vulnerability. Despite Atkins work being very shareable online, Atkins explains that, to him as an artist, it is important viewers still see the work in the flesh, in a gallery, and are not drawn in by a 'poor version of things online'. His work, when viewed in a gallery, has an important layer of effect on the audience which would be missing when viewed through a screen at home or on a phone. The projections are curated to feel close and overwhelming, the sound is deliberately unpredictable and cinematic. His interests, like mine, lie in the relationship between the embodied and immaterial, and so during lockdown, when all content was moving towards the virtual, it lost that interrelationship. To Atkins, an embodied experience informs the work as much as the virtual; he is interested in the friction between the two. Interestingly, he mentions the fact there is no seating for his videos to be viewed from. This is a conscious decision to create a discomfort in the material experience of the work, and in contrast to my designs; to create comfort and rest for the viewer.
I also recently visited Garden State, an installation/event artwork at the MAC by Work of Act. This innovative event, produced Be Festival, invited residents of Birmingham to donate house plants to a theatre space to create a large indoor garden. The pots were of all different sizes and shapes, and some were mounted onto rolling platforms. Visitors were invited to rearrange the garden, if they wished, and also to use the space to attend events or just drop in for picnics or relaxing. The space also had an area on the floor with rugs and cushions to create a homely feel. I really liked this initiative, and the most wonderful experience was walking around the space. I may have been imagining it, but the very air in the space felt different, probably due to the plants breathing and affecting the environment inside. I also really liked the idea of creating a community space inside a theatre, as theatres can feel somewhat elitist and only accessible to those with the time and money to attend them. This event did make me think about possibilities of hosting events within my installation, once finished. I will have to see how the project develops within the time frame, but it is exciting to think about possible collaborations with facilitators or using my space for events too.
Photography from a lecture on seeds in the Garden State space created at the MAC for Be Festival.
Paul Ramirez Jonas's Key to the City, is another project concerned with public and private space that I was able to attend over the summer. This project involved attending a 'key giving' ceremony at New Street Station, before being handed a Yale key which could access sites across the city, which are normally private. I was only able to visit 2 or 3 sites involved with the project but it was interesting to consider the way space is divided and owned in a city and actually how little of it is public. I felt the project had interesting parallels with my work, as there was a large collaborative map at the ceremony that residents were asked to mark with their home addresses, as I had done previously with people's walks or places of solace. Using a corner in a gallery is almost a smaller scale version of Jonas's work; highlighting a previously unoccupied space that may have been unnoticed before by the audience.
Close up from the map installation at the Key to the City ceremony venue at New Street Station.
Left: Key to the City key box as presented at the ceremony to participants. Right: photograph of the overall layout of the venue, showing maps and key giving ceremony table centrally.
Below is a recording of water reflections which I hope to use on the ceiling in my installation. I made them by setting up a paddling pool in a room in my house when the sunlight was in the correct place during the day to make reflections on the ceiling. My plan is to make a looped short film of the movement so it looks 'real' in the gallery, but obviously, the viewer knows it can't be. I like the idea of layering effects to suggest a cave, so this should work well together with the refurb sound effects and 'water' curtain to suggest a new experience/place in the gallery.
Film footage of ceiling reflections, created using a paddling pool and sunlight.
Projection of the footage in situ for the exhibition.
I also visited the Reel Store in Coventry to further my research as this is the UK's first fully immersive gallery. The main gallery room is an L shaped space which contains one end with 3 walls of projection, plus the floor. The other end has 3 walls of mirrors plus floor projection, as shown below. The work currently showing is Refik Anadol's Machine Memoirs: Space. The work was produced using a combination of images from the artist, artificial intelligence and NASA. Anadol uses the A.I. to reimagine two million images taken by satellites and telescopes. The end result is a mesmerizing immersive experience. At moments, as a viewer, the work made me feel nausea from the rapid, disorientating movements. The fast drumming and synth noises add to this effect. However, this is interspersed with moments of calm as shapes like waves, sand and bubbles seem to emerge and splash alongside a calmer more ambient sound of choral singing. The two are looped together to create an undulating experience. In places, the work is very similar to mine. The joins of the projections create kaleidoscopic sections. This is obviously what you can create with a large budget and all the equipment you need. Obviously, I have a small budget and equipment restraints, but it was very inspiring to see the possibilities and that even a professional-level production of this kind has small flaws. I noticed the projections did not fully align at times, and also that the mirrors created distortion. These are some of the problems I have had trouble resolving but it is reassuring to know, generally speaking, an audience does not notice them, when they are observing the work; they are not scrutinising the small technical processes.
Selection of films and photographs of Machine Memoirs: Space at the Reel Store, Coventry.
Other projection research I have done by observing work in person includes an installation at the Beatrix Potter exhibition at the V&A and McLauchlan and Watkins installation 'Expressive Deviant Phonolgy', which features at the Birmingham Museum and Art gallery's exhibition Found Cities, Lost Objects: Women in the City.
Installation for the Beatrix Potter exhibition at the V&A Museum, London.
The V&A piece was interesting as it had been made to wrap around a corner to recreate the home environment of Potter in the gallery space (rather romantic shots of the Lake District landscape had been chosen). I did think it was a shame the seating was not facing the projection though, so it would not have been very comfortable to relax and look at it immersively. It is very possible this was done deliberately to encourage audiences to move on through and not stay for long, as the exhibition had timed entries.
Photographs from 'Expressive Deviant Phonolgy' at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
I really liked the gradual reveal of the BMAG projection by McLauchlan and Watkins. It was interesting to see pictures and projections aligned and working together to create an immersive 360-degree experience as the audience were encouraged to sit in a room in the middle with projection on all sides. The projections showed the demolition of the Birmingham Old Library, alongside artwork of the designs which featured on the external walls. It was a very clever way to create or recreate something which was/is no more. Again, the projections were aligned very well along the corners of the room. Unfortunately, this is not a technique I can use at the Art school as it does not have the facility to sync multiple projectors at the same time, but it gives me a sense of how projection artists can work professionally.
Health and Safety diagram and proposal for the curators of the MA show.
Visualisation of Khora for the MA show curators.
Above shows a preliminary diagram and visualiation of the design for my installation, along with a visualisation video of what sort of effect would be created with the mirrors. Before I began to place the installation in the space, I needed to consider the scale of the projection before purchasing mirrors. I borrowed a projector from BCU and used it to measure the scale of projection I would be able to achieve across the room (picture below). The scale was approximately 180cm tall. This meant, if I was to create a cube-like 3 sided image, I would need mirrors measuring approximately 1.8m wide and long. After much negotiating and searching on marketplace-type websites, I was lucky enough to purchase four 1.1m x 2m mirrors. I just needed to hire a van to transport them to university as they would never have fitted in a car. I also had decided to use perspex mirror as opposed to glass mirror as I thought the health and safety risks would be far less. Installing the mirrors would be one thing, but removing shards of glass from a wall afterwards would have been much more dangerous. Although perspex mirror was harder to source I was lucky and managed to buy what I needed within budget and time.
Test projection from the new corner to measure the height needed for mirrors.
My next issue was realising that my film editing was being done in a 16:9 format when I should have been developing square formats. Below is the area for projection I originally intended (taped out on the wall). I thought about sticking to 16:9 but using 180cms for the length, but the height meant the dimensions were definitely going to be too small for the space (see white card below). Originally, I planned to use a mask filter on the film to project onto a grey square on the wall, but that also was going to cause problems. After a video tutorial, I was informed even the black mask filter would show up as the room would be dark and the projectors are so bright. I decided to paint the whole back wall grey (the professional colour for projection) and I would play around with the composition using my original final edit once I had the official projector. Although I did trial reducing my final edit down to a square format, it meant I lost some of the visual elements I really liked, for example, details in the corners. To combat that problem I watched the film back in all 4 orientations within a square crop (original, vertical flip, horizontal flip, vertical &horizonital flip) to see which corner of the film edits would be most effective.
Rough estimate of the size if the film is shown at original 16:9 ratio (white card) versus size of a square film (tape)
Using Premiere I have begun to also work on the final cut of my video. I reshot the grass videos using a make-shift dolly but stuck with the original riverbed video as the ecology had changed a lot since my first outing and a very dry period had meant much of the greenery underwater was looking less aesthetic. I had spent quite a few days shooting a video through the trees on my bike, looking upwards, but I could not get the quality I needed. On my mobile the original images were good, but they were quite blurry as I was too fast. When I went back to shoot with my SLR at a slower speed, they became too unstable. I went back to my phone camera again but could not resolve the speed with the smoothness so this shot was abandoned. Below gives a sense of how good the images looked but unfortunately I could not resolve the blurring or stability enough for it be used. This is definitely something I would like to try and film again when I have more time to resolve the issues, maybe using an electronic scooter or using a boat or paddleboard on a river or canal.
Final elements of the installation build included refining the dust sheet curtain and positioning the projectors to create the best angles for the experience. The speaker across from the projector only just fitted as the plan was to wire it across the top of the exhibition boards. It actually ran under the mirrors in the end and around the corners using tape and paint as the maximum audio cable was 10 metres, so there was not enough slack for wiring at the top. I also spent time refining my website to include a 'backstage' area for my blog and a front-facing area for my portfolio. I also refined my other projects to be much more resolved for viewing by the public. The space for the installation was very dark, so I made the decision to use of a lightbox for my description (below). The light box also provided extra lighting which meant the curtain trailing on the floor was safer for audiences. There were discussions about trimming the curtain's bottom edge to prevent falls and trips, but I felt it was an important design decision to keep the curtain excess on the floor, as it was much more aesthetically pleasing and evocative of a waterfall/cave-like entrance.
KHORA Inspired by Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and the dark history of Victorian Phantasmagoria, Khora, invites you in. As we emerge from our lockdown caves, debating the physical boundaries of work and life, this installation invites participants to stop and gaze at the wonder of nature, or an apparition of it. The work raises questions about how the beauty and healing power of green space can compete in the ever-dominating gaze of a technological and virtual world. Does the power of the digital gaze ultimately reduce our agency and presence within our real, local, environments; threatening their very existence? Where does the outdoors fit into our new normal?
You are invited to use the seating provided to relax and watch the film for as long as you wish. The film runs for 7.40 minutes and was shot at Cannon Hill Park, the River Rea and surrounding green areas.
Lightbox labeling outside the installation.
Video stimulation of the final film (to be played on loop and best experienced through headphones)
The final, edited documentation of the finished work can be found in KHORA, on the main navigation bar, or by clicking here.