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.
