My latest experimentation is a mash-up of what I’m interested in working with both technically and intellectually. Drawing inspiration from my own life in particular on Social Media activities, I observed my own desire in seeking attention to myself with my ‘self-image’ which could be consisted of my appearance and my proud skill such as singing.

The repetitive patterns of presenting my own images made me question whether there is any reasons behind and if possibly could that be something that can be related to the audiences as well. Also, I question whether the idea of self-obsession links to the issue of feeling ‘disconnected’ to people around me.

Thinking about the idea of executing the idea, I look into two aspects within animation making to investigate how it works which is about sound making and the presentation of the work for the viewer to encounter.

For the sound, in also keeping the concept of the work around myself, I used my own singing voice incorporating into the moving images singing the words “me, me, me, me” with variations of tones to signify how the idea of myself can be presented in various forms.

For the presentation, I explore working with works shown from a projector, in particular, from a BenQ TH671ST Projector which also produces sound, onto different kind of screens. I tested the moving images on the wall, still and moving, onto my hand, on the ceiling, on the mirror and also onto the water in a bathtub.

I found by doing so, the environment of where I shot the works became a part of the experience into the work. For example when it was shown on a moving hand, it became playful and reminded me of puppeteer, when it’s shown in a bathtub, the work became more secretive and eerie and when it’s shown on surfaces that are perpendicular to each other, the image became distorted and then the portrait became less representational and therefore showing less exact self-image and then lessen the concept message.

From various experiments, I found the one projected onto the ceiling most satisfactory since it first of all, the size is big and impactful and my portraits were clearly shown from one big plane area. Secondly, the light from the video that is reflected onto the room create an immersive environment that found difficult not to be attentive to the video which then goes in align with my concept of me calling for attention.

For the next step, I would like to also play with more alternatives in sound and also in the transitions between each image. Also, so far the work might be considered perhaps as a video art rather than an animation which made me want to investigate further into both how I could define an animation and also, how could I incorporate other elements such as drawing or movement into the work in order to create some familiar elements I found in animated films.

Before my blog becomes haunted, here is my latest update!

Yesterday we had a Friday Lecture on the topic of Epic Failure which was a discussion around failure, what was it, how we gave meaning to it and how could we derive anything from it into our methods of creative works.

The fun part was when we were given a task to revisit our past works and attempt to ‘make it fail’, together with the process, document and think about challenges, contradictions and complexities.

I picked the animated film I made in Project 1 Manifesto to play with since I want to know how my decisions in the making changed through some period of time.

When it comes to failure, I thought of things that I hate or fear or feel stupid of doing which all of these takes much courage in applying into the work. Also, somehow I feel it is contradictory in order to ‘control’ the failing condition since when you achieve in failing as you intended, it feels as if it becomes successful. In the first attempt, I used a photo of a bird which has a copyrighted mark on it to replace the drawn bird in one scene to see what would happen. Also, I tried switching the sound and the action in the plant-watering scene and the book-reading scene. I still felt it was logical somehow and decided to ‘play’ even more in the next attempt by being more ‘random’ and ‘intuitive’ in decision making.

For the second attempt, I let go more with restrictions and conventions I used to direct myself in the process of making. I played with transitional effects and image filters in iMovie program which I didn’t find aesthetically pleasing. I also randomly changed the position of each scene to various angles and positions. I inserted photos of myself into the nightmare scene just ‘to see what would happen’. And, I also put in sound that contradicted with my concept, the voice of people saying hello while actually the film is intended to create a lonely ambience. Lastly, I messed up with the title to find out how failing in the use of language affect the work.

What I learned is somehow, it gave more complexities into the work, since it could not be interpreted as straightforward as before this failing adjustment. I could use this technique in making the audience feel curious and bewildered for an intended ambiguous message. Also, the juxtaposition in placing two different things together such as the use of noisy electronic sound with the scene that the character fell into asleep created a sense of an unexpected scenario which could make the work become more interesting.

Since failure in my definition means something that happens by accident, I think it is more about testing and trying as much as possible in order to create more possibilities that hopefully any interesting ‘failure’ could appear from the process of making.

Today I want to share my latest ‘play’ ( a new attitude I would like to keep remind myself towards this experiment-led project ) with the adaptation from the Surrealist game, the Exquisite Corpse.

As I might have mentioned in earlier posts, this game was invented back in the 1925 by a group of surrealist artists which are Andre Breton, Yves Tanguy, Jacques Prevert and Marcel Duchamp. As Alexxa Gotthardt has mentioned in an article on Artsy.net, the game is about free play, unpredictability, and collaboration. I believe it is about ‘unpredictability’ that I found interesting in terms of a way to discover ‘unexpected’ results.

Here is a link to more details about the origin and the story of the game. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-explaining-exquisite-corpse-surrealist-drawing-game-die

I like the idea of an image came from different context combined together so I adapted it further to use with my animation experiment. For the subject of the film, since the idea happened at the same time of my father’s birthday, which is on 18 November 1953, I used that as a kind of ‘impromptu’ starter for my development. I thought of his favourite cartoon, Mickey Mouse, which coincidentally had a same birthday on 18 November 1928.

So, I planned of creating a stop frame animation in 3 different frames that shows a moving image of Mickey Mouse in order to see how what kind of visual result it produces when animating images are placed next to each other by chance and also to gain more understanding of creating works with multiple screens. Since all of the images will be drawn by myself and of the same subject matter, Mickey Mouse, it differs from the original game of the Exquisite Corpse. I might later ask my friends or people to involve in producing the image to embrace more uncontrollability.

Continuing also from Project 3, I kept working in an ‘improvisational’ manner. I found a foam board by accident from the recycled bucket in my studio room and used it to form one of moving image idea. By using material that I have never used before, I assume it could give a result that I might not be expecting hence create any new discoveries.

Here is the result combining each frame together in Premiere Pro. I used 25 FPS frame rate on 5’s which means I used 5 images, each stayed for 5 frames in a second.

Since the board was placed on a light pad, the lines become brighter which gave more values in the colors. I like how the carved lines are not straight which made it look organic and natural.

The next part was produced by erasing charcoal-drawn image on a 45 GSM newsprint paper. I like how the paper color and texture give a feeling of unfinished piece which support my process of experimenting rather than producing a final piece.

I have researched into the story of ‘charcoal’ here https://www.britannica.com/art/charcoal-drawing and found out about it mentioning about the quality of ‘impermanence’ of the material interesting. I agreed with such notion for example if you notice in my video above at 00:07 second, there are some ‘erroneous’ white spots appeared during the process of making, this little details of ‘imperfection’ again, created an organic and natural result that for me go in align with what I normally encounter in real life.

For the last animation piece, I used a free newspaper as a background for my drawing. Using a newspaper is also a part of me playing with found objects. Also, it was about reusing objects that are to be disposed and gave it another value. I intended to choose the page with a picture of a car since my father passionates around the subject and hence made the work more relatable to him. However, should this additional information be transferred to the audience as well and if so, how?

For the drawing tool, I used a correction tape roller, Tipp-Ex pocket mouse, which I found by accident from a navigation around my apartment in a supermarket. Since this tool was bought new and was not a used product, it made me think about how can an artist work in regards of environmental issue even in experimentation phase.

Lastly, I combined three clips together in Premiere Pro using the masking tool to cover a part of each clip so as to imitate the method of the exquisite corpse. I could have had black space in between but chose to create all of them fully connected to learn about how boundaries in moving images work.

The result created a visual that was quite interesting since even the background and the outlines of the subject were different, I can still recognise the character. However, I wonder what would happen if the character starts to move and possibly from one frame into another.

For the next step, I would like to add sound into the work, create variations of works in accordance with audiences and think about modes of delivery using this work as a test for such consideration.

I continued my experiment with drawings of my friend at Tate modern cafe on past Wednesday. I chose to do so since I found working with analogue materials open more room for mistakes and unexpected accidents that could make the work become more interesting and also authentic. Actually, the use of grey-toned papers for my drawing had also such same reasons.

Applying and adapting further the exquisite corpse idea, the combination of fragments of drawings creating an unexpected result, I separated each frame into foreground and background and then figured out ways to present them together in a way that created unusual connections.

The thickness and character of each line also reflects what it represent according to its movement which also was inspired from the movement drawing class. I would like to also convey an idea about ‘attention’ or ‘focus’ of a visual I see.

I tested with different modes of blending the pictures on top of each other in Adobe Premiere Pro to find a combination that could show the two images at the same time.

I tried to find combination that could show both point of focus together at the same time and then created small clips of moving images shown below. This experimentation led to an idea about the mix of perception of subjects at any given time. I could also play further about our attention by blackening or softening a subject according to our focus on it. However, I still question on how should a transition between my friend’s shot be.

For the first try, I found the crash in presenting different subjects wasn’t much enough so I enlarged the size of the frames of my friend movement as shown below. I think this could also suggest an unequal attention of subjects at any given time.

For the second try, I found that the image was too hard to read, so I changed the blending mode from Linear Light to Darken as shown below.

I also added sound which was a recording of our conversation on the day at the cafe with my friend as shown below. I found the her voice was a bit too quiet. I also thought about introducing only the image of the table first with an ambience sound, and then switch to my friend’s voice when I introduce my friend into the sequences.

For this post, I would like to share my experimentation that were inspired from the figure drawing sessions I attended at Kensington.

For the first one, it was a drawing based on the Surrealist and the Dadaist game, the exquisite corpse, which divide figures into sections and each part is filled up with different person creating a surreal kind of image at the end.

I like the idea of producing ‘unexpected’ image since in the assignment above, the drawing were produced from top to bottom by gradually uncover a covering sheet section by section so that the drawer of each part would not be able to see what had been created before.

The process of applying what I learned here to animation didn’t happen right away, I spent some time to think upon it and sketch it out when some idea was formed.

The idea also progressed onto ‘how to make use of frames’ in animation. Then, what if the frames are not ordered in linear but on top of each other or overlapping in layers? These are also developed questions and ideas that have been explored afterwards.

I also attended another drawing session with a theme of drawing ‘movement’. The model would gradually move and we were tasked to ‘describe’ but not define those movements we observed.

From this session, I feel inspired by the ‘unfinished’ and ‘uncontrolled’ structure of the lines and tried to transferred this onto a frame by frame animation to see whether what kind of movement it could produce. I also merged this idea with the previous idea of the split screens by dividing the scenes into different settings: a scene of my friend doing her work, a scene of two friends studying, a scene of two friends chatting and also a still image. I would like to experiment with how we focus with the visual and also the sound of any given situation. I would do the option of placing all scenes together and also shifting between each scene according to what the camera is focusing on as well.

I experimented with two analogue frame-by-frame animation as shown here. (I will share again when the GIF is ready.) I chose to do it with drawing materials to see how textures could affect the aesthetics of the film. For the first three, they were placed on a lightpad as if to emphasise the analogue process behind the film. The next three were placed on the wall where the lines are easier to read.

Lastly, this idea could also stem from the movement drawing I had which led me to think about how can we make a still image move? For this sketch, I saw a chair in the tube and question whether actually do I see people moving in and out from the seats or just a chair?

Today was the launch into a new project, investigate which is primarily about experimenting. I found it is really exciting since my focus within animation currently is on experimental animation which is about pushing the boundaries of moving image making. I will further experiment with physical materials like collaging and also with digital approach through online classes on Skillshare.com

I started the journey of the project by revisiting the British Museum for the drawing exhibition. However, what I tend to learn from today’s trip mainly came from my sketching of people which I did in a more experimental way.

Rough plans on what to do going forward,

• investigate around “experimental animation” and also “mindfulness” as my key idea in works, explore the ‘definition’ of both terms, what constitute it? can it be pushed further? can it be interpreted differently? also, as a communication student, keep in mind for the audience and also the delivery of the message.
• start with gathering visuals by visiting the library, then experiment with lots of approaches, with materials (physical and digital with various softwares), processes, environment, then reflect back on it, what you discovered? how it was compared to what was intended?
• also, visit galleries and exhibition of interest and make creative sketches
• research into precedents around experimental animation and also those who have their work themes around mindfulness.
• incorporate advice notes from tutors from Stage1 as well.

Inspired by the trip to Brighton and a visit to the beach, I have been experimenting a personal project with a roughly planned story around the ocean waves. Below is the waves produced by torn papers from free Timeout magazine. My initial idea was from observing the repetitive creeping in and out of the wave to and from the pebble beach. It reminds me of ‘change’ in nature. How things appear and disappear.

For this project, concept and material began separately since I have been thinking about using collage with papers for some while, I just incorporated this idea together with the project concept. Now, I would like to further make use of the context given from this visual aesthetic presented for the next step. Could the use of these papers represent the media or the society?

On past Monday, I visited the British Museum and was particularly interested in this exhibition called Pushing Paper Contemporary Drawing from 1970 to Now.

My interest when I saw the poster led me to question myself on what do I find fascinating about drawing. Also, what is drawing? comparing it to painting for example. So, I research some more into the difference and found out from this online discussion, https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/7533/paint-vs-draw-difference-in-meaning, that actually drawing is work done using ‘lines’ while paining is work done using ‘smudges’ or ‘stains’.

This reminds me to this work that was from David Hockney which has its subtlety in the different approach in line making. He drew his friend with organic line but the chair with a straight one. I could apply this realisation into my animation that might use drawing as a visual form since so far I have mostly drawn in one type of line.

As an animator, I might want to think about how each kind of line would affect the decision in creating ‘movement’ and also what kind of ‘sound’ to go with each lines. I could have some experiments on this!

This also reminded me of animation below, The Postman from Tom Kariv, which I found enjoyable to watch. It could be because the minimalistic of the visual. I feel less distracted with only monotonic colours perhaps. I believe it is also about the ‘organic’ line that reminds me of ‘physical’ drawing rather than ‘digital’ drawing which somehow evoke a more humane sensibility to me (rather than robotic one)

I’m also interested in how the works are divided into themes such as ‘systems and process’ and ‘time and memory’ which are themes that I found related to my practice towards experimental animation. By focusing on systems and process of working, I could invite the audience to become aware of the action or idea that is hidden behind the final image or judgement that is formed after, this could support my key idea of mindfulness in my animation.

I’m at the halfway from Stage 1 moving to Stage 2, so I believe it is a good time to reflect back to what I have produced so far and to also plan for my next move going forward. Below are key tasks that either is a new thing to practice or what I have been doing but could have become better.

Overall

• Criticality To become more critical in my own work and also in the reflecting process, in this blog for instance. I plan to use the EAP document to practice with their set of questions. Also, I found also this website worths checking. https://collegeinfogeek.com/improve-critical-thinking-skills/ I also need to become more analytical with works from my contextual sources in order to understand why I look into the works and how could I learn from them.
• Key Idea I would like to become more clearer and focused with the key idea or theme in my work which is currently circling around mindfulness. Since also this terms feels a bit overused, how to talk about it in a engaging and refreshing way is challenging.

Research Skills

• Interviewing People (or could be just a talk) Since it opens me up to new ideas and perspectives. Those ideas could support my theory or even challenge it back so that I get to think deeper.
• Observational Sketch I plan to revisit the practice of observational sketch of people and places on daily basis. The sketch could be done in order to ‘think through drawing’ and also to widen my ‘visual databank’ for my animation resources as well.
• Animation Precedents I know I still lack a ‘deep research’ into these artists which are relevant to my specialism. I plan to look more into ‘experimental animation’ artists such as Oskar Fischinger and Norman McLaren and also filmmakers which I also have been neglected while they are also valuable resources to learn about storytelling such as Christopher Nolan , Alejandro González Iñárritu and Hirokazu Kure-eda. Also, animation classics from Disney, Pixar and Studio Ghibli. Although consider myself as an audience, I enjoy these films, still as a creator I find creating long narrative story quite unexciting. I wish to understand the structure behind the storytelling in order to twist it and push it further. Also, contemporary artists such as Manshen Lo and Julian Gallese, an RCA MA student, whose works I recently discovered for its quirkiness and light-hearted ambience.

Technical Skills

• Sound Production I’m going for animation and this is a must! I need to utilise more with the ‘language of animation’ namely, “moving images and sound”. From project 3, I discovered that sound could help create engagement with the viewers. Many people gave quite positive about the use of sound for my project, so I intend to do more with it, it could be about my own voice-over narration as well. Artists to look to are for example Ryuichi Sakamoto who does kind of meditative music. Also, the relationship between the sound and moving image. How I generate sound and how could that be connected to my work for instance.
• Filmmaking Techniques Technique I started to incorporate in project 3 such as zooming and panning that could make the film become more interesting visually and timely.
• Materials Get more messy!!! I want to keep explore materials I have not used before and this time, also research into the material itself, how its historical, cultural or any relevant aspects discovered could become infused into my work. The lesson I learned I did not do well enough with research into ‘banana’ in project 3.
• Exposure to Audiences To think more into how my work could be ‘encountered’ with audiences in the real world, could it be in art galleries? or public space? or instagram? and to research further whether how these modes of delivery can influence my ideas I communicate.

A lot to learn, a lot to have fun!

Yesterday I went to Liverpool and got a chance to visit Keith Haring (1958-90) exhibition held at the Tate Liverpool. I had seen his work before in merchandises for example but not much beyond that.

I was fascinated to discover that only a short period of his lifetime but he could contribute so much to the public especially for his activism activities especially regarding HIV/AIDS.

Below are works that are related to the celebration of Homosexuality. Even homophobia was still common during his lifetime, I admired how courageous he was in doing what he believed in. The work on the left reminded me of the three wise monkeys and realised the potential in reaching the audiences with iconic symbols. I also realised how working in simple shapes and colours could make the message clear and easily accessible.

I’m also interested in his abstract shapes and symbolic language like how he uses dolphins or dogs often in his works.