The Context of the work.

The Context

Where the work goes:

This Work can go to a variety of places, but of course each place this work goes will change its meaning and its purpose. Work like mine cannot function in a gallery.

The reason for this is because a gallery destroys ambiguity of fact and fiction. For example when you enter a gallery as a viewer you yourself made the conscious decision to do so, and therefore have preconceptions as to what you might encounter when in the gallery. You know for certain you will encounter art in many forms (Sculpture, textile, painting, Audio, video and of course performance).

Most of this art will challenge your perception to various subjects.

Bizarre art and confusion is something IU often think about before I visit a gallery, you open yourself up to be immersed in the works placed in this environment.

My work has to relate through media discussion, photographic or text based narratives.

Why? Well let me break this down for you, my work is going to consist of various photographs of the devices (the video was not right for the piece, ill explain in more detail later) these photographs will reveal just enough about each device.

If I placed this in a newspaper I’d have to base the paper it’s shown in by the paper's integrity.

For example I'd be far more likely to believe something in the FT (Financial times) over something printed in the Daily star, because the FT has more creditability.

When you watch an advert on the TV you don't normally assume that what you see is fact, because most adverts try selling you something, or have unrealistic adverts.

But when you watch the news, you automatically assume what is said to be true, due to the shows credibility and through the basic assumption that what the news tells us is true.

It’s this method that makes my work sounder and realistic, I want the viewer to believe what they see to be real. If they believe the piece is real then my piece has achieved what it's designed to.

AI would ideally like to display my work on a website where, unlike a gallery, it can be viewed by thousands of people from all over the world, different countries, languages etc.

Of course displaying work this way is different from displaying in a gallery, a gallery does in fact have a special environment, and attracts people that will see and analyze your piece.

A gallery makes your work 3D even if it’s a video or 2D medium because the space it’s placed amplifies the locations feel. So just as my work works well in the media, others will blossom in the enhanced environment of the gallery

Who is this work for?

Well I am not entirely sure myself if I am honest, I feel this kind of work would attract conspiracy theorists or people interested in the bizarre and abnormal, the web will be a good medium to focus the wording and layout to capture these viewers.

I could display this work intimately, by making printouts of the photos and leaving them in places where the public will discover them.

Adding more ambiguity as to what the work is, mainly because there would be no clear indication that what they can see is in fact art, and that alone is art.

If web based this work could be for anyone with a passion for curiosity, the images might invoke discussion, or just rebellion to the idea of these fake devices.

It's important to know that when creating this work I focused very little on whom this work was for specified for. I believe that there is an audience for every type of possible art, and that finding out who finds and views the work to be as exciting as the creation of the work itself. 

What audience emerges from my chosen context?

Well this is a hard question to answer, because the context of narrative through art has existed since humans could draw on walls.

I would like to guess that anyone who is easily interested by intriguing work would appreciate this art, maybe through the attempt to understand the devices by using all the assumptions we make today, is it green, is that a lens etc.

If the audience could feel the work they would quickly lose all curiosity towards the piece because it would be far too explicit.

Which is the exact reason the video did not fork, too explicit and too factual, nothing was really left up to the imagination, and that’s really a key aspect.

How does the audience engage with the work?

Well the audience will be given the images alone, maybe some text but very little, the devices have been shot in interesting angles to help promote the design of the pieces.

The Actual images are rather amateurish and some are shot in night vision to create a good amount of sensory deprivation. This will aid to confusion and help strengthen the work.

Sensory deprivation will help shade the real colours and give an entirely different impression to the piece.

This will help create a better ambiguity.

A good piece will hopefully, create some sort of blurring between what is fact and fiction.

We look at things very carefully when not presented correctly, so if it were to be displayed on a web site then I'd have word everything very carefully indeed.

Take Phill Reeves (Student on this course) he had an idea to create a place that is not real in our world but have it displayed on Wikipedia by having it cleverly worded and self-referencing, so as to avoid suspicion.

It was a clever and well preformed project and really did fall into the same category as my work, but for Phills work to really exist it has to go undiscovered, strange when compared to mine that has to be discovered but not believed.

My images are obviously going to be more difficult to create ambiguity due to the fact that my images have little if no text explaining narrative, where as Phills relies on it.

What readings do they, the viewers, take?

Well its hard to say, it could be a spectrum of things from bombs to small sculptures with no purpose, But I guess the whole point of this is what the viewer discovers about the items, the theories the viewer might have and how they might be able to relate to the work itself.

I would probably myself, look at the pictures, try and make out some sort of pattern or try and guess what the item is used for.

But the next viewer might think I was building a city from pieces of old machinery.

All conclusions would be as true as they are fake, because the point is that anyone’s opinion would be as valid as the next, my work only exists to challenge what we think we already know about truth, nothing more.

Contextual Frame Work #003

My quest to discover various locations about information about Narrative in art and narrative artist's.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE1D61338F931A25757C0A963948260

http://artipedia.org/artsnews/exhibitions/2007/02/28/horn-please-the-narrative-in-contemporary-indian-art/

Kevin Reynolds, the Director of Water world 1995, Created what I still class today as my favourite movie of all time.

I'd like to add this film itself, to my list, because even if it’s not seen in galleries as such, cinema's attract a different but yet still viable audience.

A film itself unless a documentary, will be posing a fake fiction, but the peice will be placed in a formal, begining middle and end sequence.
This generic system is what makes me feel that moveis are disregarded by upper socitiy in the feild of art and then people slip it into the catogory of entertainment.
This is of course how I feel towards the subject, I can't say anything is fact or fiction as my opinion might be missing vital intel towards the standing on movies as art, but not art movies.

Water world features a fake fiction that could actually be a reality, the ice caps have melted causing most of the world to be underwater.
Plants are priceless and dirt is gold.

Films like the day after tomorrow also focus on the possibilitys of disaster through global warming.

In essence this kind of narritive thats not far fetched can also be related to my peice.

Contextual Framework #002

Sophie Calle 1953

"Sophie Calle is a French artist who works with photographs and performances, placing herself in situations almost as if she and the people she encounters were fictional. She also imposes elements of her own life onto public places creating a personal narrative where she is both author and character. She has been called a detective and a voyeur and her pieces involve serious investigations as well as natural curiousity."

Pulled this quote from this link below, purley because I could not describe her better.

http://www.iniva.org/dare/themes/space/calle.html

For my video, which I am possibly taking stills from, I did exactly what she does, Created a fake narrative and characters, even the location was a lie, I claimed it was the east hills in wells, but it was in fact filmed at an iron age settlement in Warham, about 3-4 miles away from the east hills.

There is an immense amount of back work that goes into the planning and writing of the script and how the show might go in Sophie Calle's work, each piece carefully constructed to convey the appearance of her characters integrity and functionality. The degree of curiosity and the seriousness of her questions are nearly a comparable to the time spent in the preparation. Video work is very time consuming, and making sure the point of the piece is conveyed appropriately can be quite a challenge.

http://video.google.co.uk/videosearch?um=1&hl=en&q=Sophie%20Calle&ndsp=20&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv

Constructing Contextual Framework #001

Joan Fontcuberta

Well lets get this show on the road, to make a decent start I'll look at a well known artist in the field of narrative.
His name, Joan Fontcuberta, born in 1955, this Spanish artist is considered one of Spain's top artist's as well as being a very shrewd editor and writer.Galleries such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Art Institute of Chicago; Musee National d'Art Moderne, Centre George Pompidou, Paris; and Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany to name a few, most of his works are show in Europe and America.
It would appear that he prefers group shows as the list I dug up shows a great number of these types of show, maybe because its more planning to create a space dedicated to your work alone, and maybe there is a time and cost issue.
Last exibition he attended, opened 8th of October this year (2008)http://www.artfacts.net/index.php/pageType/instInfo/inst/10124/lang/1

His work's have featured a fake fiction comparable to my own work, by creating and manipulating images and story to allude the suspicions the audience might have about the works authenticity.

Costa Llobero Garden, Barcelona, de Joan Fontcuberta

This is an example of some fake flowers he created, I guess this piece is clever on quite a few levels. He is telling a story, trying to persuade your mind to believing this is real, while being a photographer, and sculptor.
http://www.amillionyearsoflight.com/site2/fotografia.html
This is his homepage, It has snakes with legs, super giant snails and appears very clever in the works execution.
My work is in essence the same, I am creating a fake fiction and trying to sell it to the audience. In my piece, I have machinery over organic substances, that’s about the only difference. But like him I too feel the best way to show this is in photographic form, because the video I created was to explicit in the uncovering of the objects, ill go into that in more detail later.

Critical Evaluation

Critical Evaluation

What was the project? 

Its a series of small sculptures, that will be filmed in the context of a armature discovery.

The various devices can be seen on this very blog, as well as an explanation of the actual story behind the devices.

What's the point of this project?

Well I have always wanted to try and merge creativity and reality into one.

I love the idea of changing the elements of normal life to make it seem a little more bearable, again hitting on the psychological aspects of hyper reality, and our desires to constantly change our surroundings and opinions to help influence a better mood.

With this in mind I wanted to start with a subject that's not too far fetched but weird enough to invoke interest.

So I took something that we see everyday, A tree, something we see see in our everyday lives, but in a strange and new concept. I have attached different devices to a tree that seem to be monitoring different aspects of the tree and it's environment.

So I guess the ability to try and create ambiguity and interest. This notion of self discovery is something we as children try to achieve through playing, we discover ways to interact with objects and even direct our own scenes using our toys as props.

How Did I Achieve My Goals?

I started by looking into making emotional attachment to work's and other factors that propel this emotion, this leaded through a multitude of ideas.

Originally, I wanted to have a Robot of sorts, as the discovery, I researched into the “uncanny valley” and discovered the boundary's that separate our assumption that something is real or not, and even if we believe what's alive.

Then I decided that the device's importance was really only going to be justified mainly by its location of discovery.

Then I decided that A robot was not necessary and that it's too far fetched for me to do well enough for that vital ambiguity.

I tried to find someone to relate this too, but I know nobody that is making fake videos using sculpture. So I looked up cybernetics, robot designs, and eventually just looked at PC's and how there appearance might be modified to custom for this ambiguity of something that exists for another reason.

But with no names to call from in my head, I found finding artist's, more so those on the web, to be very difficult.

All I can say is that I tried, maybe there needs to be a new movement of fake art's that try and create this ambiguity.

A friend of mine is also working in a similar field, he is creating a computer, but is re wiring and changing its interface, its not something that relies on the ambiguity that mine project needs as his computer will actually work, but just in an unorthodox manner.

What problems did I find in this project?

Well the biggest flaw, as always, for me was the technology side, I quickly discovered that a glue gun wont stick onto certain metal surfaces, so to get around that I placed strong tape down first, then glued the parts to the tape.

I had some considerable setbacks with the Sony handycam, I have posted this on the blog, I tried to use the blog as a diary for the project but with the acquisition of the ability to take still images towards the end of the project it was too late to show the stages of the design of each of the devices.

But I have learned a lot of good lesson's from this, mainly to do with my over reliance on technology to preform tasks.

The main problem was keeping the amount of realism (so as to not arouse suspicions of the video being a fake) while all the time creating the sense of wonder of the discovery.

I tried very hard to make the video as real as possible, so the frequent swearing and mucking around is a result of me trying to make this video seem as real as possible, I do plan to put it on youtube and gauge peoples responses based on there views i can see if there was any ambiguity.

This project was successful, in my opinion I created a fantasy fiction using devices I had set, the video seems pretty real and there is not enough detail to assume what is show is in fact fake.

I'd like to focus on creating successful ambiguity through fantasy works in the near future. I feel a certain fascination through creating a new reality through my own ideas.

About the location, I specifically chose the east hill's in wells as the focus point for the video, but it was actually shot elsewhere, but I tried to create another fiction by filming it in another place altogether, so even the location is fake, this way no one could go and look for the location of the device. I actually filmed it at an iron age settlement.

The location offered a better perspective of wonder and has an amazing tree all by itself, its surrounded by mounds and this gives the tree a unique feel that helps aid in the confusion between fact and fiction.

The line is hopefully blurred enough to create the atmosphere I wanted.

The discovery video is worded so that it would appear to be on the east hills, there are little bits, like the messing around, that try and make the video not focused on the device alone, as it would soon click that this is all staged. I just hope that no one has been to the iron age settlement in Warham, it is very hidden and very few people even know of its existence.

All in all this project was a good success, in its execution anyway, I just hope I can trick people that don't know about this project into believing the device.

We shall just have to see, I'll monitor the youtube video, which i should be uploading soon, ill post it and its results on the blog :) 

*EDIT*

The Video cannot work, and I will do my best to explain why. The video is too explicit in the devices uncovering and this completely shatters any ambiguity cast to the viewer. The main way to achieve this degree of deception I would need to withhold more information from the viewer.

The Video, is just wrong and it appears I made a big mistake thinking that the Video medium would be appropriate for this method of presenting this.

The public are not easily thrown by video either, mainly because it is possible to computer generate almost anything, same could be said about any form of digital works, but we for some reason don't associate this with photography, obviously there is a great deal of photo manipulation, but it's effect on the public rely solely in the method that it is shown to the viewer.

An example I used in my "Context" post was about the way we naturally assume that when we watch the news what we are watching is in fact true, when it would be just as easy to manipulate images and sound for a broadcast, its because we have been brought up to always believe what we see on these channels, I mean, Why lie to us right?

This theory I have came to acquire questions the authenticity of everything we do, almost immersing ourselves in a hyper reality, much like the film "The Matrix" where a chosen few inhabitants of earth realize their entire lives are nothing more than a lie.

This could be true about our media networks, showing images to control the mass's, this is not a new subject, many believe that the whole purpose of religion is to do the same, control over fear, with a fear of death many religions offer a "better place" for those that obey and follow a set of rules.

So now I have a new idea, and I feel this is the best way to create the ambiguity and wonder my work hopes to achieve. Through still's of the device, and the best ones seem to be the orignal images I took to show you the process and design of the objects.

The shots taken in night vision are perfect as they, deprive the viewer of true colour, making parts more unrecognizable, much like the main evil character in the film "Sunshine" who is almost constantly blurry from camera manipulation and CG. This helps mask what's not necessary, you only need to know he is evil, not what skin tone he is or if he has any birthmarks, but at the same time makes us, the viewer attempt to put the peices of the puzzle (his apperance) together out of curiosity.

So I will be using the initial shots, they are the most effective. I will print these out and they will represent the piece's no other information will be needed, this creates more curiosity, being withheld information is itself a form of sensory deprivation. And this will prove vital for creating the confusion and ambiguity. Maybe the only information given might be a lie to grab the viewer and strengthen the believe that this piece is in fact real, something like "Photo's of a weird device" Or play some audio(if it was web based) of strange sounds that sound machine like. 

The process was interesting, never before have I reverted to initial work as a finished product, There was the making of the devices, which took some considerable time to create the necessary ascetic feel I desired. Then it was the initial photo's of the devices, followed up by the research into different types of human behavior, followed by the contextual framework then the planning and filming, editing and production of the video(which I thought was the final piece) Only then to discover that the execution of the piece had been ruined by being to explicit and holding no information from the viewer. So now I have discovered that my final piece was created in the initial photographic stages of the development.

So now reverting back to those images.

This has been a truly interesting process, Where I have at every corner discovered how wrong my previous assumptions had been, evolving and changing the project into what it is now, very successful in my opinion.

Who is this for?

Well, it is most defiantly for those with imagination, some people that might view this work might think it's just junk laying around, even though I have tried very hard to create a device that inspires and creates imagination.

For me as a kid, well actually even now I do this, but most of my childhood (from what I still remember) I always pretended I was not in our world, I guess this brings me back to hyper reality.
Actually, gonna find a good paper on it.

Ok, a quick search gave no good papers.
But an explanation

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-hyperreality.htm (<---Actually a good description)

Anyway as a kid I'd imagine that the locations I was in were related to those of films or games, or just a fusion of things I liked at the time, as for why? well there are a bunch of psychological factors involved.
mostly with a desire to lose your attachment yourself from your current world, and I'd guess if you are unhappy with something you'd want to change it.
If you were happy with your existence you would not have the desire to remove yourself from our present reality to engulf yourself in another.

I'd often pretend I was a lab worker creating weird machines to help me with my bigger experiments, so I guess this device was just an extension of my fascination of hyper reality.

People evolve over the years and lose there sense of adventure and imagination because life, as we all know, throws restraints on us.
Our jobs, social life, love life, money issues and not to mention the growing responsibility's we all face hinder our progress to great imaginations and the natural thirst for exploration.
People often, more so these days, hope for a holiday or events so that they themselves can break away form reality.
A music festival, golf match, sport on television and of course the most popular of all, video games, can all be considered as methods of breaking away and sub versing from reality.
I guess most of us would rather connect to a new reality and enjoy something a little less than our mundane lives.
For most of us its, wake up, get ready for work(usually a job you hate), a little interaction with friends then home (see wife if applicable) eat, sleep and repeat.
It's no wonder why humans seek alternate reality's and live a little excitement.
It's probably why fantasy films do so well in the box office, when watching a film you become attached to that enviroment and almost feel in place there.
An audience with no imagination or curiosity will get no pleasure from this piece, but for those that like to believe and those that like disconnecting from reality should hopefully find this appealing.

A piece by Eric Dodson, is relevant.

http://www.westga.edu/~psydept/dodson/nonlectu.html

Busy, busy, busy day.

Today Was horrendously busy.

After little more than 3 hours sleep (been the average a day for the last week) I woke up and headed to my friends to gather resources.

I basically had to set up, film, drive to Norwich 35miles then edit the footage, all before 5pm.

Was very difficult as editing alone takes up a huge chunk, luckily i have good knowledge in editing.

Pulled it off anyway, only problem was, I forgot to film an item for the video, quite inportant in my opinion.
The camera that takes images of the sky, I set it up, but because it had to be away from the tree and the stress of getting all this done in a day, i forgot to film it, and even forgot to pick it up after the shoot, I just hope it's there tomorrow :(

Some links I have been looking at...#2

Well this is an image not a link.. but hey it is relevant.
This is really accurate, science of systems (my device), created and studied by observers (myself) who construct models that increase understanding, and loop.

Some links I have been looking at...#1

http://www.pangaro.com/published/cyber-macmillan.html

I like this quote:

"The term itself began its rise to popularity in 1947 when Norbert Wiener used it to name a discipline apart from, but touching upon, such established disciplines as electrical engineering, mathematics, biology, neurophysiology, anthropology, and psychology"

I especially agree with the psychological aspect that cybernetics implements.
Creating an appearance will determine the effect and response from its viewer, I originally wanted to have a humanoid figure as the device, but after many different debates with myself I came to the conclusion that the enviroment was going to be a key aspect in this devices appeal.
So I focused on the objects design provoking curiosity.
Anyway, its a good read, the link that is.





Next link:
http://www.ibiblio.org/nmediac/summer2003/simone.htm
The Simone Controversy:
The End of Reality?
- Thomas Cooper, Ph.D., Emerson College

Basically a paper on hyper reality, covered this subject in games design and I actually think it is totally relevant in my project, because this fantasy device is itself in its own hyper reality created by me, and only those that know everything I know about the project will become part of its reality, thats kinda cool when you think about it, creating your own reality.

The story behind the "not so handy handycam"

The last three days I have been stressing (more so than a normal) over the camera, If you can remember a post I put up earlier, I had borrowed a camcorder from university, a Sony handycam.
turned out not to be so handy, oh the irony.
When I borrowed it I was asked if I wanted one that was SD, obviousley I heard wrong, as its "DV" that was probably actually said as thats what the camera is, I thought oh yeah, I got loads of SD cards at home, mega.

Well I got it home and then realized its pro duo cards, I thought this was a blessing as I had larger capacity versions of those cards, so I grabbed my 2GB one and inserted it, life went downhill from there on.
It was saying, "movie recording on memory stick is not supported" GAH! So I thought maybe i need to reformat it, reformatted it a thousand times and still nothing, so I thought ill see if I can take pictures on it.
WOW presto it did, now I was confused, it will take pictures, and for some reason won't record, I phoned a friend and asked him about his, well turns out, to his knowledge all the Sony cams he has used recently have inbuilt hard drive, and I assumed that this camera might be a little older (what do I know) anyway.
still nothing, So I phoned, emailed etc to Shaun.

at this point I am in panic mode, only a few days left and need to film this, so I try a multitude of useless methods to maybe get this to work.


So I get an idea, download the PDF of the camera and read it, sounds simple, but ended up causing more confusion.

here is the confusion.
This means, from what I could make of it, that it CAN record, says so itself.
But meant i needed a different card maybe?
This is all getting very confusing very quickly.

Today, I decided enoughs enough, and headed into Norwich, which was a last resort as it will use £10 fuel, £5 parking, eating £5-10 anyway works out very bad for keeping up with rent if I make more trips than need be and with the looming tuition charges around the corner I rarely make this decision to go to Norwich on "hunches" .
First stop "WHERE IN THE WORLD PC WORLD" More like WHERE IN THE WORLD IS A PRO DUO THATS NOT A MAGICGATE TYPE?!?!" I'll tell you, it can't exist, they sent me next door to Curry's, who told me to try Maplins, who told me they don't exist (but the user manual thinks they do) but don't worry, they sent me to the SONY center in Chapelfeild shopping center, I parked, and headed into the mall, the SONY center was amazing, they too could not work this out, I told them to check the user guide, and after about a hour of them talking rubbish they came to the conclusion that there might be a chance that a smaller card, put in an adapter thats not magicgate might work. anyway, this was unless, so I phoned Phil, my backup, and asked if he could txt Shaun's number, maybe I was ringing the wrong one?
well he sent me the text and i had the right number, so I figured if anyone could help he's the man.
I rung it 3-4 times, nothing, I was alone, So I went to see Phil in person, the other side of the main shopping section of the city, found him, borrowed his swipe card and hoped I could find either Shaun or Marcus, went to see Shaun first, gate is closed, crap I forgot the University was closed today, but maybe the DV suite is open? no its not.
So one last ring, before I head home broken and defeated, and he picked up, turns out, regardless of disorientating manuals they just can't record onto memorysticks, i'd have to buy DV tapes £12 more cost -_- and then have to go home and film it, oh wait, did I mention i can't edit it at home now, because the tapes are HD and it would be a slow process, which means another load of expense as I have to go in tomorrow, the same day of filming, and edit it, then travelle in thursday again to hand everything in, I will be officially poor by the end of this, anyway, wanted to get my point across.



The link to the Page for the User manual for the "HDR-HC3 HDV1080i/miniDV" which Is the camcorder in question.

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-documents.pl?mdl=HDRHC3

The Story Of The Device.

*WARNING, UNLESS YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE DEVICE WAS, DON'T READ AHEAD*



*IF YOU HAVE WATCHED THE VIDEO THEN YOU CAN READ AHEAD*















"The Device"

A Long time back a young scientist traveled the world in search of a specific set of conditions.
After years of long and tedious research the aging man discovered such conditions, they were only found in north Norfolk, more specifically a single tree situated near the coast.
This tree, in the scientist's opinion, commanded a strange relationship with the earth and the sky. He believed that this single tree was responsible for a lot of natures forces.
He also believed that this tree's relationship with the enviroment also can directly effect peoples moods and even dreams!

Of course, with little evidence to prove this, he was laughed out of the scientific community.

Bitter and twisted, the man conducted various experiments to try and unlock the powers of this tree, after many years the man descended into a complete obsessive over the tree, he protected it from being cut down many times and tried his hardest to save this tree.

Then, about 20 years later,100 years ago, he realized that the trees ability's can only work when certain weather conditions are met, and the sign of the tree working was in fact the frequent figures and monster's he would see in the clouds, these clouds were a product of the trees imagination and these figures would often be the factor to influence peoples dreams.
With this knowledge he could now go about researching the effects needed to operate the tree, but another problem had arisen, a local development planned to make a whole new section of wells next the sea, that would itself build over where the tree stood.
Furious the man worked tirelessly to recreate the conditions.
But luck was again not with him, he feel ill and spent his last few days trying to recreate the conditions.
The irony, he died the day worked out the conditions, but his hatred somehow managed to effect the tree, and the next day, the land in every direction for a mile, turned slick and wet.
By the end of the week all that land was reduced to rotten marshland, this marshland cut the tree off from the town and destroyed any possibility of building near it.
This marsh is still there today, effected by the tide a quay is now formed.
Since this incident, a buzzword has evolved out of the fallout from the situation, "global warming" scientist's like to believe that there theory on our human pollution may be the key factor but it is not, yes its not helping but since the old man died, the tree has been feeding off his bitterness.

Kikichumonji, A young professor has recently been going over his grandfathers paperwork, he has also decided to study the tree, but with todays technology he hopes to be able to recreate each aspect of the conditions needed.
Last thing anyone heard is that he had created a multitude of devices to help together, to recreate the conditions, and then somehow influence the trees effect.

The discovery video is the device that kikichumonji had been using, but did it work?



Thats the gist of it.

SONY Handycam, and why the lord hates me...

The dude upstairs is really unhappy with me.

I borrowed a camcorder from uni, I was asked if I wanted an SD card one, I said "yeah!" (I have like 4-5 SD cards at home from 32MB to 2GB, so it made perfect sense to get that cam)

BUT WAIT!!

for some reason I can only take still images with it!

After finally getting internet access (taking my PC to my friends) I downloaded the instruction manual PDF as a last resort. (I emailed shaun, phoned his mobile, left a message on his office phone, but he must have been busy for a good 3 days...)


Turns out none of my cards will work for recording because of two words "Magic gate", this is basically a term givin to new SD cards and it means they store data and encrypt it. So thus rendering the "Sony" SD magic gate cards unusable for the "Sony" handy cam, its ridiculous, what else will be thrown in my way?
Getting irritated with things always going wrong for me.

WAIT!!! STOP WHAT YOUR DOING!

Before you read onwards, click on the right hand side, The Device in it's RAW form, the topic immediately above the "slight of hand" one, and read them in order upwards, otherwise you will be looking at the devices in the WRONG order, thank you.

: )























Spacer.

PART 5 (#6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11) Mini Devices.

#6 Mini Device A (The AF chip)Positioned above where the plug initial enters the tree, this device has little use, it's just there to Add more interest, and because it is next to the power source, it becomes more valid then just being plugged into a tree. I liked the chips shape, I really like the metal sprouting from the bottom, its just visually appealing for me, and in this mini device, thats all I wanted.

#7 Mini Device B (The Relay box)

Just Takes information from various mini devices and converts the data into readable data for the main device (#4) to pick up and store. Hangs off a branch of the tree.



#8 Mini Device C (Tree Port)

This device is fixed to the tree's trunk at about head height, it has a port for taking information from the tree.

#9 Mini Device D (SCD Unit or Solar Capture Device)
Unlike the previous mini devices, I edited the SCD unit for the purpose of its use, where as the other two were bi-products from various devices destructions that met the criteria for there uses. This one however was changed by adding this data plate onto its back, the other side is actually the display of a VCR, but the back suggests it might be a more complex solar device. so thats what I made it for, to capture and store solar data and transmit its information to the relay device.

#10 Mini Device E (CORE or Computer Orienting Relay Equipment )

This device ensures that the signals from all the devices operate at different times in there data sending, this device, attached to the main unit, keeps everything in order and is the Core of the systems operating, it has its own heatsink due to its work level generating a lot of heat.
It basically keeps everything in sync.
I used a processor heatsink and was going to use a processor, but the small chip i found had a better visual appeal and looked a little more important, which is strange but I always go with my gut feelings.



#11 Mini Device F (Octopus)
The final mini device is called octopus, mainly because how it hangs with cables spread out under it, it looks like a digital octopus of sorts.
The cables spread out under the device and it is hung from a branch of the tree, the device monitors air flow, each cable registers the elements in the air, the speed of the wind and the general quality of the air, these results are compared to the other devices results to see how airflow effects the projects main objectives.
The cylindrical Object is that of a VCR player, the drum runs the movement mechanisms.
This piece alone has probably got the most character out of all the devices, and this is down to a psychological connection to what it appears to be, and octopus, or wind chime etc.
Connection of this piece to something we can relate to almost gives this piece a soul.

The Device and its various components, in their RAW state...PART 4 (#5)

#5

This Device would, for me, cause the most curiosity. It is placed in position on the ground, looking to the sky, it has a camera and a cable with a click button that would be apparent for operating the device, so basically, from a normal person's perspective, this would appear to be a digital camera of sorts, it's aerial would be maybe for remote access or to send data, well I can tell you it would send data AND could be used for remote access. but it was designed the way it was meant to be used, flat and not used by hand, this is where it gets more interesting, it is set in a position facing the sky with no obstructions.
so pictures taken by this device could only be for photographs of the sky.
When creating this device, I came up with a keyword that I could use and referre to as the projects name, this gives me some direction in which the device could be for.
Here is the logo for the device and this project.The Idea behind the sky camera is for the devices attachment.
All the devices relate to something in particular, A tree, sounds weird but run with it a minuite, this all came about when Kira (on the MA course) mentioned that I would be interesting if the device was plugged into a tree, well she was right but I did explore the relationship this device could have with a tree.
The theory behind it is interesting and has good contrast, for example, a tree is the complete opposite to a mechanical device, a tree is natural and at the same time a device in its own, natures device, it consumes carbon dioxide and creates oxygen through the power of the sun, it has very small electrical signals running through it, like a machine, but because its organic, it can repair itself and requires little maintenance.
The full story behind the device I will reveal in a later post.
but for now the device you just saw takes photo's of the sky, and transmits data via the antenna.
You also might have noticed the direct output to TV ports on the side of the device, to also help describe the object, it was all very well thought out.

*Two images of a previous design for this device*
like all aspects of the device, they went through various forms to come out where they are now, this is due to my specifications of design and functionality without looking too familiar.

The Device and its various components, in their RAW state...PART 3 (#4)

#4


Central data collection point for all the devices and mini devices, they all, when working together act as a whole device.
This is a collaboration of machines to create one successful device, and a lot of technology has evolved this way, for example, your Sky Television, it rely s on several factors, a television, a Dish to receive signals from a orbiting Sattalite, which could not have got there without a device to get it in orbit, which was no doubt created by a machine and so on.
this part of the device as a large fan, suggesting that it gets hot, huge transformer and a weird glass tube dome that contains a figure of an angel in blue water, it seems to have some sort of relevance to the device, as to why? well thats for the viewer to formulate an opinion on.
this device is only a little bit smaller than the one that is a receiver for the keyboard operations.

The Device and its various components, in their RAW state...PART 2 (#3)

#3


Visual / Audio Receiver, This device records visual and audio data it is attached to various units and it records various data and then feeds it into a source.
When designing this, I had quite a hard time, because the design had to be a little less vague to give the viewer an idea, the orb like piece in the center looks just like an eye from the sort of robots you see in sci-fi films, and hopefully the viewer can make this conclusion, I figured it would be more apparent if there were 2 of these in the same format as we are use to see eyes, but for the device it would not need two, and as you might know, a device is designed to work at it's optimum level without waste and unnecessary components.

The Device and its various components, in their RAW state...

Well, here comes the project.

-The device-

The Device itself comes in many sections to create a "whole" when attached to its said purpose.

#1.
Input device, only real recognizable aspect is its keyboard which as we all can relate to as a device that is used primarily for input of information and control.
It was designed to look visually pleasing while retaining its possible functionality and is different enough to create that important ambiguity and design.
This part of the device is connected to another section of the device using a cable, that part is #2.

#2
This part acts as a receiver for the data inputted into the keyboard, it has no real recognizable aspects other than the danger of high voltage bit on what i gather is a transformer on the bottom left of the image, this suggest that it has a lot of power stored inside.
the data from the keyboard is the only information passed into this device, all other devices send information to another piece of the device. which i shall disclosed later. as for appearance, I only intended for this piece to be large, in scale to everything else, giving it some sort of importance, and since it is not a factor of the other parts of the device it creates a confusion as to what it actually does. I know, but its for the audience to form their own opinion of.

next is #3, ill do it in another post, in case of power failure or something, my luck is bad enough as it is.

"Slight of hand"

I am currently working on my device project, which is almost completed in the build stage.
Now all I have to do is film the device in a convincing way so that the viewer might question if this device is in fact real, that sense of ambuguity is inportant in showing this device in the right light.

any suggestions as to refferences for "fake" videos that are convincing will be really appreciated.

CRITICAL EVALUATION

Critical Evaluation

What is the project?

This project, called “who am I” is neither a game, film, installation or any other conventional piece. It is however, a interactive film game. It contains basic rules and constraints found in a game but house’s a live action film overlay. This works in a few ways, for example the main character can be in a location and something happens to him the changes the context of what he is doing, a dog chases the character and the player must tap various buttons to jump obstacles and avoid the dog, in failing to do so will equal another section of video to be called up showing the consequence of their failed action. So in essence this project is a series of videos with the action and reaction to different circumstances. In this version, the amount of interactivity is somewhat limited, and that’s mainly due to the issue of actual knowledge of how to actually execute the techniques to perform various other types of interactivity.So since this is neither a game or a film, that makes this project a hybrid and that means that finding examples of this type of work to be a little more “exclusive”.The film is going to be in 3 chapters and each of the locations that will be used for the filming will be places I had often visited as a child to play. So I expect the film to be quite imaginative in its proceedings.Also there will be a video diary “making of” to accompany it and hopefully explain some of the other points raised by the actors and me.Another point that needs to be raised is the fact that the acting is not planned, I have no control over what the visual outcome will really be, and the reason behind this is that I love spontaneous acting, we will arrive on location, the actors will discuss with themselves as to what’s going to happen and I will help them execute their ideas as well as possible.

Since it is a hybrid, what elements have I chosen?

I have chosen film, and game.Film has a theatrical diligence and has often been considered by myself to be a little too linier, there is no real control given to the viewer. Then there are games; they have too much control and not enough theatrical influence. So I took the idea of a film but gave key moments of the film to be under the control of the viewer. There is no real compromise, I only lost elements that I intended to anyway, film lost its lack of control, and games lost its ability to control too much.

What do I want to achieve with this project?

This project was a real test of my ability to achieve many things in a different way.Firstly was to let go and allow the actors to have a full control over what was going to be my project, if they messed up their actions would have in fact rolled onto me as I would have failed the project. Allowing them the freedom to act as hey will would be the same kind of freedom the viewer would receive from being able to not only watch the movie but to participate in it, so to speak.Next was the idea of making something interactive that was not a simple game, the fusion of the ideas for this made this more unique. Sound played a part in the film, all the sound was recorded on my drum, for a tribal rhythm, that in scenes of action would beat faster and faster but in other scenes just set the mood. I had never played my drum in public, normally I would travel to the local woodland and sit in there and just play, for me it is something very personal and the sounds and styles I adapted myself were primarily used to calm my soul. So for me to make the decision to record this is like deciding to record my soul, if that makes any sense.I have never dealt with sound or programming, so for these two areas it was vital I got in support from various people. Phil archer, the guy in charge of this unit, is also a bit of a dab hand when it comes to sound, so it made perfect sense to call him in for reinforcement, Phil helped me record the audio track and then pass it through the various channels to change and edit is sound to fit the film’s feel.For programming I called in a friend of mine, Kriss cox, who is doing a ND in programming, he was going to make this film, interactive. But failed to.I never really edited any footage longer than a few minutes long, so doing this project and realising how much editing I would have to do made me make another call, this time to a friend of mine called John Astel, a pro when it comes to video software and editing. So this aspect of the project was aimed at the realising of hidden skills I might have in these various areas and apply them to a new area of work that I’d previously not explored. The next aspect was that of the narrative, I had a little amount of say in this area, and there was a strong reason for this. I applied a new reversal on the classic set up of the director and the actors. Normally the relationship they share is that of command and follow, the director commands and the actors perform the directors wish. But in mine there is a bit of a role reversal, the director gives the actors the powers to direct how they see fit. So a typical scene in my production would be me and the team arriving at the location for the scene and at that point I would let the actors sit and discuss what they plan to do. What they want to do is discussed and eventually there is some sort of idea. From that point the actors tell me what they are doing. I then tell them the best possible way to execute this while using the camera and its positions to their greatest strength.
We film a scene and they then inform me where we might be going next, all this time I don’t challenge there reason for the scene, in this method I believe that the narrative they give is one that might be present in the video and thus remove the ideal of me knowing the story or why this or that is happing to whomever. This creates, almost, the sense of actually being a viewer to the film but in the same sense and reality of a theatre per say. The finished product seems almost monochrome in comparison to the original experience of filming on location.
With these merits gained the project was bound to have some pitfalls, but no amount of preparation could have been available to avoid the technical difficulties I faced, mainly with codec’s and there strange behaviour they have in Sony Vegas.
A film into a game has a few main constraints, one it could never be possible for complete control of a character (the ability to manipulate and move the characters actual movements) because film has to be film, so you can’t edit a pre shot film. So this means, like in a film, the character has to deal with his experiences in scenes or important convocations. Either way the limitations on this become quickly apparent. When, like my film game, you have multiple decisions, you need multiple answers for each decision and just like coding you need to declare your variables by then filming outcomes. For example a character throws a chair at the main player and a decision pops on the screen to either dodge or take the hit and counter, you would have to do the following:

1. Take the hit: you take the hit of the chair(film that) then the character lunges forward and strikes the foe(film this too)the foe falls to the floor and lands on a spike or whatever, that too would need filming and because this has happened a different response would come from the character that might affect the story later so this all then needs to be filmed.
2. Dodge the hit: the player dodges the hit and attacks the foe knocking him out(but not killing him as in the previous choice outcome) this means the character is completely different in posture, mindset and of course there is another character existing in this story because he did not die. Each thing needs filming. Every choice, outcome and trying to keep this as simple as possible is really not easy.


So, as you see the player and his/her decisions effect their world and those effects then follow onto the other characters and environments, helping cause and evolve the story and narrative of the work.
What other works relate to this?
There are a handful of interactive films, there are however a good few games shot and played like a film role reversing from what I tried to achieve. Most of the good examples I know are from old videogame systems, mainly because film games have never been very popular. There are a few reasons for the failed implication of film games; the main one is the inability to detach.
I will try and explain when we as humans play a game, we as humans want a control or a means to create and cause effect within the games environment. And while we are playing and interacting with a game we again want this feeling of existing in this game and that our effects are being made because of us, when really the one in control is the computer, playing us as the puppets.
When something on a PC or a game happens that we as people were not prepared for, or, not aware was going to happen, we get confused, panic and get aggression toward the game, PC, whatever. This is because our control was temporarily lost and this makes us feel uneasy and cheated, normally these problems are actually ones we create ourselves while not realising.
In contrast, when we watch a film, we want nothing to do with the film, we want to go to the cinema, home or wherever and just detach ourselves from our reality and immerse ourselves in hyper reality. Fall into a place where we can’t exist or change but just sit and enjoy a variation of senses and cerebral stimuli.
During a film we sit in a hypnotised state and just relax and absorb the film.
A film game has to find a balance, between two things that should not really be able to co-exist.
On the one hand, games require us to have participation and we desire to control an aspect of this world created by the game.
Where as in the film we want nothing more than to detach and relax during the films lifespan.
To then take something that wants us to relax and detach to then have some sort of input and attachment creates a lot of subconscious stress and confusion.
And it’s this reason film games have a very hard time getting anyone to like them.
So do you create a balance or do you just decide that just because it’s taboo that it can’t mean that it’s impossible.
That’s what I said, bad choice.
It is not impossible to make it enjoyable but it is just not enough detachment to be a film worthy of enjoyment, so instead you’d think the interactivity would out weight the merits of this little downfall?
You’d be wrong, there is no way, more so in today’s gaming world, that you could achieve anything that could have film elements and still be interactive enough to make you want to attach.
So bearing this in mind, there are a few good examples, but they don’t use film footage, and the interactivity section is lax but it was successful due to the age in which it was created, when the interactivity side could not stretch out further then clicking a mouse of typing primitive phrases.

1. Beneath a steel sky: (Amiga 500+/ upwards)

A point and click game set in a futuristic environment. The angels the scenes were positioned in had a cinematic edge and because there was little action on screen the game played like a story film.

2. Dragons lair: (first lazer disk game)
This is the closest example to my work, it use’s pre animated shots to play out a film (just like mine) each conciquense is animated and this must have created a lot of work for the ex-dysney animator whom created this masterpeice. It is a perfect film game, the same could have been done with live footage instead of animated but the effects would have been the same, a lot of people (when I was a kid) hated this game because there was not enough control or explanition as to what to do or when to do it(this was largley due to the player watching the film sections and because the line between game and film had been blurred, players had no idea as to when to do things.

Why did I choose the collaborative partners I chose?

One reason really, if I am honest it was down to their personalities, each member of the team is easy going and has little or no acting experience.
This meant there would be no complications in the other actors getting their ideas out into the film.
No disagreements, no problems and no reason to choose anyone else.
There lack of acting was useful as they would then not be following any styles or methods from previous acting experiences.
I know each member personally and this made the ability for them to relax easier and made shooting the film not only easy, but a little enjoyable.
So there was no comparison made to artistic judgement or ability, just personality.
I hope this evaluation has been a useful insight as to the proceedings of this project.

-Critical Evaluation-

The starting point for this blog of reaserch was Paola Anziche, her work consisted on more artistic merits than mine, she especially looked into form and the way an environment changes body extension.
Her methodology put my own work into a new light considering what might be a viable existence to a location for my work.
The environment also creates many other aspects to the piece, the feeling and the structure seems to change depending on location.
This notion for me was a new aspect to looking and critically making decisions about the work's context and how others might perceive my work to be.
If I had done this piece of reaserch before the final photo had been taken I would have taken great care as to the environment I was displaying the work and how this might eventually effect my work.

The next piece was of work I discovered was a series of photographs I dug up on Google, that were, from what I could tell, a university's or college's show.
The pieces accentuated parts of the body in a creative and yet viable form of body extension, again, this was not so far from my own work but almost an extension of it.
The key differences between my work and the artist's in reference is the lack of functionality and durability. The pieces I viewed were frail and in some case's very crude, as A piece of amour my work had to have some functionality and this brings us to the next guy, Stelarc.

Stelarc used technology and its functions to create performances by giving the audience the control over the show by using buttons to stimulate his muscles in different ways, creating this unique performance each time.

Rebecca Horn and her work spans back decades but what’s really nice to see is strong structures "Pencil Iron mask" and the famous "finger gloves" her experimentation with body extension is that through the sense's.
Her work often involves creating a unique experience for the user of her objects by creating an extension of the senses. This is not something that apparent in my work, or so I thought, but I remembered how the glove's of my amour feel, it's like nothing before, you have a good inch or two extensions of the fingertips and this creates pressure on the part just under the nail, creating a very sensual experience indeed.
Her work has been a key factor since then, looking into what feels like what and what advantages a piece can gain from incorporating them.

Next thing, I tried to dig up internet based reference to destructive creatisim, this in my attempts left me with very little.
It's a shame really as this section really hits into a key aspect of my work, breaking something down to re-create it again in a better and sometimes more suited form.
It's an old notion but the ideal's of recycling are very important to many cultures and the way we as humans lived in the past.
As it stands at the moment recycling has its many advantages and is currently a big buzz word for today’s culture.

My piece worked and was successful in its own right, I created (not finished) a piece of work that had sensory extension, was decorative (also tied in with the styles that I had researched on other 2D artist's) but on top of that it met its function in durability.
I am very pleased to say that even if it was unfinished, the work itself met all the requirements that I had hoped and would fit into a post apocalyptic setting.

Why?! A question about my work.

Why even create a piece?
Well this question there is no real main reason, i'd guess it's because I can never be doing "nothing" and with this I have to do things, and the only things I enjoy are usually creative. I love creating stuff, from models to doing web design to making music I love it all, I like the notion of saying "yeah, that was me, I left me mark".
Since I was a kid I'd build tree houses and draw comics. This was my way of letting off steam and dealing with my reality at that time, which was not always good. But this release gave me an opportunity to discover the arts of creation further, I would go one make board games, video games and yes, draw more comics.
So for me creating pieces of art is a release of stress and negative energy and use it to create something positive.

Why amour?
I have always had an obsession with amour since I was a kid. mainly because I'd have to make some to defend my many forts and tree house's.
Armour, up until now i thought of as being cool, but never questioning the reasons as to what is and why i like it. I like body extension and enhancement, from film characters to comic's I have always admired those that had implemented it in there character design and thus making the ordinary extraordinary.
Why it's made the way it is?
I made the piece from bits of spare junk around the house, I figured that the piece should be spontaneous and built from materials ready to me.
the materials have little value in the form they were in so I just decompiled them and transformed components into useful ones, nothing new on that front
What does this piece mean to me?
The piece was made to substitute an urge to create amour since my last tree house, so a good 6-7 years go, so this urge has been growing and growing until I just had to give it a shot. The artist's I referenced had similar plate based designs for their amour and I really wanted to implement them in my work.
The piece, to me, is a representation of what I'd fantasies about as a kid, exploring fantasy landscapes fighting hordes of undead and your average fantasy's that follow.
I would often dream of situations I could face with my friends and in this little world I created a mythology around it for my local area, bending and twisting folk stories until they were orignal and viable reason's for area's and the cultures that I would create.
Well's is a stranger area, it's got a lot of weird and explorable sections that offer interest and desire to manifest little sub plots and fit into the greater story.
an example is the "fog of change" a strange and interesting feature to the location of the town.
The fog rolls in and legend has it, in my world, that the fog is an omen of change, people's behavior change. This event happens in the spring and winter season's and is due to temperature change.
I have a video of the freezing fog that gripped the area a few days back, I will upload them soon.
Little things like this helped create a world in my head based on actually things in my reality but just, twisted into a more interesting factor.
So it's meaning for me, is one of nostalgia and a reminder of some happy days.

Creative destruction002

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_destruction

The notion of creation through destruction.

http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/bakunin/works/1842/reaction-germany.htm

"the passion for destruction is a creative passion"

I am really struggling to find anything other than books on this :S

?!? What and Why?!?

What is my work:

Its a basic extension of the body for protection and the setting of the pieces environment is a post apocalyptic setting, much like that of the recent film "I am legend".

The amour I made was comprised from several different objects I collected from my apartment, tins and fabric even an old long sleeved top.
It represents the true nature of adapting and the survival methods we as humans evolved to.
Creating objects into new fabricated ones using the base properties is no new feature but the way I adapted and reformed the ideals of recycling were somewhat different

As time goes on mankind will continue to adapt to its surroundings and conceptually speaking we shall evolve our understanding of our environment and how to use it better.

A first step to becoming a successful race is that of which can adapt quickly and change with its enviroment before problems end it's very existence.

There was another side to my work, its the decorative side I researched from different eastern culture artist's, looking at slightly more impractical amour thats also decorative, something well achieved by the Victorians. The fusion of decoration and high quality workmanship into the form of protective amour and weapons spawned a lot of styles for our videogames, the biggest example is final fantasy and its series of games.

DESTRUCTIVE CREATIVISM

I just realized that my work also reflects on the base morals of destructive creativity and the base idea of taking mundane objects and breaking down there components to create another piece, this, in essence is what i was doing.
Taking mundane objects that might be readily available to a post apocalyptic community and transform its components into the sections of amour that became my finished piece.


Trying to find some links to destructive creativism artisi's.

Rebecca Horn

http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=999999961&workid=37&searchid=9468

This is her piece is titled "Arm Extension"(1968) And uses fabric wood and metal to keep the form.


http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=999999961&workid=25&searchid=9468

Finger Gloves 1972
Fingerhandschuhe

Wood, fabric and metal
sculpture

"Ideas of touch and sensory awareness are explored in this work. Horn has described how wearing these gloves altered her relationship with her surroundings, so that distant objects came within her reach: ‘the finger gloves are light. I can move them without any effort. Feel, touch, grasp anything, but keeping a certain distance from the objects. The lever-action of the lengthened fingers intensifies the various sense-data of the hand; ...I feel me touching, I see me grasping, I control the distance between me and the objects.’ Implicit in the work is the idea that touching makes possible an intimacy between our own body and those of others."

This notion of creating extra senses is something that fascinates me, not only does it enhance the appearance, but due to its location it enhances the senses connected to the device... in this case, the fingertips. This device brings the distance closer, while all the time these items are out of reach as the practicality of the device is almost unusable.
This side not really that relevant to my side of body extension as mine was more practical based, well it had to be to fit into context of my work. Rebecca Horn has been in the field of sculpture for over 40 years and has had a few dabbles in body extension. But the pieces are to be based on their artistic merit over ability to successfully implement a body extension.
I guess when you think about it there is a lot of body extension going about today.
Getting fake nails to hair extensions all the way to piercings, these are a form of bod yextension and each comes with extra sensory action, sometimes sensitivity to an area and other times an extension of touch or weight.
The environment in which pieces are used also have detrimental effects on the piece and the experience for the user.
I think that the clever use of extra sensory can be heightened by countering with the removal of another, for example the finger gloves could


http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/berlin-uebungen/video/1/

This video is the finger gloves in use and scraping two walls at one time. Interesting, sound is as weird as it probably felt on your fingertips.

The notion of extra sensory body extension frightens me a little, because it can also be created to give the user negative sensory damage, and this could be implemented in pain. But I guess my argument is flawed because anything could be adapted in this way.

Rebecca Horn

"Rebecca Horn: Bodylandscapes: Zeichnungen, Skulpturen, Installations 1964-2004" By Armin Zweite, Rebecca Horn, Hayward Gallery

Published in English on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name at the Hayward Gallery, London, 26 May-11 September 2005. - Also at K20 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, D̀eusseldorf, 2 October 2004-2 January 2005 ; Fundaðĉaao Centro Cultural de Bel̂aem, Lisbon, 4 February-17 April 2005 ; Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, in co-operation with the Berliner Festspiele, September-December 2006.



its the supporting book to a collection of Rebbecca horn's work.


Official Website http://www.rebecca-horn.de/pages/biography.html


The official website has no information about the body extension concept.
Going to dig a lot deeper.

Stelarc and body extension using technology

http://www.stelarc.va.com.au/

---

"At the November 1995 Telepolis 'Fractal Flesh' event, Paris (the Pompidou Centre), Helsinki (The Media Lab) and Amsterdam (for the Doors of Perception Conference) were electronically linked through a performance website allowing the audience to remotely access, view and actuate Stelarc's body via a computer-interfaced muscle-stimulation system based at the main performance site in Luxembourg.

Although the body's movements were involuntary, it could respond by activating its robotic Third Hand and also trigger the upload of images to a website so that the performance could be monitored live on the Net. Web server statistics indicated the live event was watched worldwide.

During the Ping Body performances, what is being considered is a body moving not to the promptings of another body in another place, but rather to Internet activity itself - the body's proprioception and musculature stimulated not by its internal nervous system but by the external ebb and flow of data.

By random pinging (or measuring the echo times) to Internet domains it is possible to map spatial distance and transmission time to body motion. Ping values from 0-2000 milliseconds (indicative of both distance and density levels of Internet activity) are used to activate a multiple muscle stimulator directing 0-60 volts to the body. Thus ping values that indicate spatial and time parameters of the Internet choreograph and compose the performances. A graphical interface of limb motions simulates and initiates the physical body's movements. This, in turn, generates sounds mapped to proximity, positioning and bending of the arms and legs.

The Ping Body performances produce a powerful inversion of the usual interface of the body to the Net. Instead of collective bodies determining the operation of the Internet, collective Internet activity moves the body. The Internet becomes not merely a mode of information transmission, but also a transducer, effecting physical action.

The performance was carried out with the assistance of Gary Zebington (programming and graphics), Rainer Linz (sound design), Dmitri Aronov (Unix ping software), Mic Gruchy (video) and the Merlin crew in general. The artist has also consulted Adam Burns (Pegasus), Andrew Garton (Toy Satellite) and Andrew Pam (State Film Centre). Thanks also to the Digital Aesthetics Conference organisers and Artspace."

The short of this is a visual performance using the aid of cybernetic like technology to help create a piece controlled by it's audience.

Various muscle stimulating machines move the user "Stelarc" from controls that the viewers control.

impractical when the user has no control but the visual output created must be very interesting indeed.

Technology has come a long way since two way radios but principles of body extension have existed since the day man decided that a club was better than beating their food to death with fist's. even if simple it is still an extension of one's self and a step further for mankind to use this self improvement.

for my work its not something i have explored, this lack of control, I find it a little frightening and uneasy to deal with. But on my quest for knowledge one must know every aspect of body extension.

Also, we just had an earthquake. wile writing this I almost got the impression that my destiny to defend the earth from hell spawn zombies had begun... still 4.7, not bad eh.