Group Critique

Overall Feedback:Brian Catling (performance artist and poet) mentioned that I could add a layer of virtual shadows to the video installation, in addition to the real shadows thrown by the audience. He also mentioned that since the user's action is central to viewing the work, it's almost as if the user is causing the resulting violence/action, in this case the image of a burning building that becomes visible only in the user's shadow. In answer to my question about the kind of space I should use for the installation, he said that using a clean, "constructed" white room would work best with the concept. There was a brief discussion on the lack of sound used, and he thought that sound was not required at all.

Several artists and films that could help develop my practice were mentioned: such at Kit Wise, Rope by Hitchcock and "London" and "Robinson in Space" by Patrick Keiller. I was also directed to Foucault's theories of Heterotopia, Dystopia and Utopia; "Non Places - Introduction and an Anthropology of Super Modernity" by Mare Ange and the History of the Shadow by V. Strichita.

Reflection: The use or lack of sound is an important issue which I still have to properly integrate into the concept of the bipolar, constructed realities. However I agree with Brian in that the sound itself is not very important to the installation. It is a concern to me that the sound or music could dominate the visuals. The result should be dream-like, since dreams have a tendency to have faded or muted sounds when remembered. Examples of appropriate sounds are: muted voices, very low volume music, or something subtle such as crackling of fire and gunshots in the distance. During the presentation I also realized that a subtle difference between the "here" and the "elsewhere" is better than an overly dramatic and "literal" difference. The space itself is still an issue which I need to work on to some extent. A large part of phase 2 will be building on the space, experimenting with the use of objects along with projectors, and trying the 360 degree panorama. Overall, creating the presentation helped me organize my thoughts in terms of the kind of framework and process I followed, looking at the gaps in my reasoning and further steps I needed to take in my research.

Notes: Topics to read further: Para-Feminism, Invisible artwork, Family photographs as imposed memories, Leonard Talmy: Force Dynamic in language: "door is closed" vs the "door cannot be opened." Uses of Enchantment by Bruno: interesting book about fairy tales, Costume vs. Fashion is the folk (narrative, story) vs. elite (market, consumer); Physiology of taste by Brillat Savarin; Dutch golden age (objects with meaning, symbols) - using a room or a window to project against or using meaningful objects in the installation; Shadows: Using shadows in different tones, different light sources. Also interesting is the book Praise the Shadow; Constructed Reality: creating from photographs, memory, or not even that, but just found photographs is one step down. Films: Many Moons (2008) b Janelle Monae; Coraline (animation); Eraserhead by David Lynch