Today we had a drawing workshop led by Kyung Hwa and also Gary. It was a great session in opening my perspective onto different methods of what ‘drawing’ could be made from.

We started the morning by closing our eyes with a cloth and touched materials to draw and to be drawn upon. It’s interesting on how I observe my thought is trying to compete with my senses (no sight included). I feel like when you can’t imagine what’s in front of you when you touch, you feel more free, curious and less judgemental in the act of drawing rather than when you know (or you think you know) what is there you are touching.

Gary also shared his amazing sketchbooks which he said he would draw on daily basis. His drawing is like an ‘activity of thinking’. And, to not just draw but ‘translate into your drawing’. There is a balance between observe and construct and respond and introduce in this drawings which I find really fascinating in how we could switch our thinking and making process back and forth.

On the next task we were assigned to draw with other parts of the body that wasn’t just our hands. I tried to experiment with lots of different ways in order to break away from the familiarity. I found it is much liberating and fun to think less and fail more.

We also collaborated together on the table and found an interesting way of mark making by using a ping-pong ball and threw or hit it back and forth.

On past tuesday, I continued my experiment of the sound experience with my character but this time with drawing onto a piece of paper and then take a photograph of each frame via Dragonframe program at our campus’s animation suite.

Since the experience we had when we encounter with each element within a park is different, also the time and space we perceive the information, I find working with changing materials and method of visualising could also be an option to experiment.

For this sequence, I listened to the recording of the sound near the fountain inside Burgess Park. For this visualisation, it is quite literal since it represents what we see as what we hear which in this case, the fountain.

Below are some behind the scene photos. As you might notice, I also experimented with showing the previous frames onto the work. I feel I would make it a little longer for the future sequences.

Today I had a personal tutorial with Gary and I showed him my latest progress. My latest personal respond towards London would be “How sound affects my experience within Parks.” Below are interesting ideas I got from our conversation.

• We can respond to the greenery within London in a ‘celebratory’ manner since it is a city with so many green spaces.
• We can also respond to the city more critically.
• Think about speed and intensity.
• Think about organic shape and inorganic shape. Maybe the transformation could be between the two (so as to bring up some contrasting experience?)
• Try other pen techniques, the change could be subtle as well.
• Think more as an author than just a narrator of the story. Try record sounds more specifically of the subjects I’m interested in and try mixing them up rather than just using the recordings I have.
• He mentioned this word ‘Cacophony’ which is interesting which means ‘an unpleasant mixture of loud sounds’

So the big idea I got is treating each movement as life itself and to experiment more with the transitions of the visuals.

He also suggested a handsome of artists to explore further as follows,

Jan Svankmajer

Since I might want to use clay to visualise my experience, I should check this work.

William Kentridge

It’s interesting how the canvas of the work is used to make the animation by drawing onto it and take a photo for each step.

Oscar Fischinger and Fantasia

The pioneer of experimental animation which I found really exciting. I’ve searched on the internet and found this article interesting to read further. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/jan/09/oskar-fischinger-animation-disney-nazis

Len Lye

I also read briefly about him from the Experimental Animation book. I need to explore more about him.

Here I tried another shot with the same sequence by adding adjust fps from 1 to 2.

I feel it goes smoother with the sound though.

I experimented with 25 seconds of animation with Yinglek, another of my plan character experiencing via listening to the Park around her.

I feel like I should add more frames within 1 second since actually sound does change very quickly than the visual right now. I’m good with the form of the work done from Adobe Photoshop.

We just had a group tutorial with Lee, one of our amazing tutors, and it turned out we worried too much with the fixed outcome at the end and also in trying to be perfect (gosh I fell into the trap again!). So I think we should be more open, more embracing the differences and the failures too. (allowing ourselves to fcuk up more)

So, “do something!”.

This morning I got a personal tutorial with Clare Humphries, our tutor to talk about my progress so far within Project 2. These are some key points I got from the conversation,

• She mentioned about the work of Hiraki Sawa, a Japanese artist. In the exploration of the unfamiliar within the familiar.
• She mentioned I could try a very short animation alongside our group work in order to also research further onto my personal connection to the subject. I could even do 5-sec shorts which act as sketches.
• Action is also a part of the research.
• Time is also a material in itself, like how I would experience time while making the artwork. That might in turn tells me about something.
• She mentioned about each of us challenge each other so we might come up with different kind of works.
• She mentioned about taking leaps and getting out of comfort zone.
• In talking about ideas in the collaboration. I asked her about maybe someone does a work and then pass it around and others do something on it additionally. She likes that and thought of this game developed by the Surrealists called the ‘Exquisite Corpse’

So I research further into Hiraki Sawa and found these interesting videos about his work and the interview with him. The surrealistic imagery draws my attention to the film and onto thinking what’s happening. Somehow the absurdity or the making no sense of the story resonate with our everyday lives. The way he keeps repeat the same subject, an airplane, over and over but with various settings, direction and scale causes nuances in the experience which slows us down to become more attentive to the present.

Here is the interview of him talking about his process and inspiration in the making of his works. One thing interesting is how he doesn’t think much about his work being categorised as Japanese or not which kind of like when I’m doing my work, I just forget completely whether I’m Thai or I’m 30 years old for example.

I also researched onto Exquisite Corpse and found some inspiring message about working in collaboration from the Chapman brothers from tate.org.uk website. (https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/chapman-exquisite-corpse-p78465)

“With two people, the work always originates from the point of view of conversation – not necessarily egalitarian dialectic, but at least it is some kind of an ego battle of one-upmanship and game playing … the Exquisite Corpses [sic] suggest that in another possible way: that we can produce work without us having to bend and reduce it … One of the things that we would be interested in … is to inject ideas of the artist’s mark of creativity, of drawing … It’s not about compromise … It’s a constant battle between [my brother’s] desires and my desires … And that makes a friction that you make something out of. (Quoted in fig-1: 50 projects, 50 weeks.)”

So today we had a discussion in our group about our collaborative project and we tried scoping down our interesting in ‘Nature in the City’ to possibly ‘Hyde Park & the City’ instead, to make it even more specific.

It is still unclear on how should we assign our roles into the work so that it would produce a ‘one thing’ final product while also be able to point out which part is done by whom.

Here is the sketch of what I think might be some solutions of the collaboration.

For method A, the top picture, it is like we could divide the area in the park and then give responses to it. For method B, it could be we explore the path together but then we choose to divide it into segments that makes up the whole journey. And, method c, we use the same park but then respond differently depends on the target of the relationship with the park.

However, we also researched onto some videos we think is interesting in terms of the mix of different media from live footage video to illustration.

Today we learned about the sound and how we perceive it within any given spaces. One thing I realised much is about how should we try to find something in sound that visuals can’t do.

I like the abstract nature of sound that sometimes it could even trick our brains into imagining something that isn’t even there in front of us.

Below is some experiment mixing sound I recorded together with my friend’s as well. The panning effect in the middle part of the traffic light beeping sound made me want to try more experimentation with the dimension in sound for the Navigator project.

There is also this composition, Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet, which is a 1971 composition by Gavin Bryars. It really moved me and showed how musical sound can ‘enhance'(our tutor’s word) the man’s voice.

On past Sunday, I went to see the Stanley Kubrick Exhibition at the Design Museum

This is the notes I took during the study of the exhibition. What I inspired most from the famous director is his deep research and his interest in various genre of film-making.

Below are various notes of his thoughts I found fascinating as how the process matters in any work of art.

Here is how he used photos as a reference for his film.

In the process of Editing, he said his concerned was only with the questions of “Is it good or bad?”, “Is it necessary?”, “Can I get rid of it?”, “Does it work?”. He said that when you are shooting, you wants to make sure nothing is missed out and cover it as fully as time and budget allow. And, when you’re editing, you want to get rid of everything that isn’t essential.

Below is a research for the movie, Eyes Wide Shut which even though the story was set in New York, it was filmed in London. It is inspiring in terms of how could we really create a world out of references.

Below is also another sample of how the director made use of real site as an inspiration for a set in his film from The Shining.

In 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), it is worth mentioning about his method in combining aspects of experimental and narrative film-making which is what I’m trying to figuring out with my own practice in making animated film.

His collaboration in screenplay with Arthur C Clarke could be studied further in how they collaborated together for my current collaborative project.

Also, his aim in the authenticity of the production also taught me a lesson in getting in touch with the expert of the field or subject we’re interested in. Here is a sample of his letter to Roger A Caras to ask for a mad computer expert form IBM that can advise on dialogue and jargon to use in computer scenes.

Below shows how he references drawings and paintings of 18th-century Europe in Barry Lyndon.