Month: August 2017

Going on from what I mentioned in my previous post about actively noticing affecting the subject matter, I thought it might be interesting to return to the simple form of noticing that I remember being tested as a kid in primary school as an exercise on noticing.
We would be asked to go out into a space and upon our return, we would have to write down all of the things we noticed – which reminds me of a class activity that we did in our first week or two of this studio.
– I would like to create more comparative work to see how my abilities to notice, how my interests are possibly changed and my awareness heightened through visiting the same area over the course of a few weeks.
I watched a video by Jim Carrey on his artwork and he made an interesting point about how what we create (and notice) is a reflection of what our insides are trying to communicate to us.
‘Something inside you is always trying to tell a story’.

All my queries are in reference to the above; wondering why I focus on the things that I do; ripped and dripping paint, faces (art, murals and physical), particular angles and classical architecture – what is it that I attach to these things in every place, even outside of this project.
My interests lay dormant but when they’re called upon, they manifest in similar ways – so I’d not only like to spend more time in the same place but I think actively seeing new places and collecting media outside of class will aid in finding more pieces to the puzzle.

I found these activities to have come at a really great time for me. Actively noticing is a deeply personal experience, even if you’re in someone else’s area of choice. We still attach meaning to different things and we find moments of interest within our frame.

Prompt: I find that there is always an aspect of grouping within my media.
I realise that I notice things that compliment one another.
Buildings, lines and curves – forming narratives of place, so I would like to continue to notice things collectively in contrasting environments.
As we began the project through working in pairs in unfamiliar places, I would like to continue that idea of noticing the unfamiliar.
I wonder if I can find poetics in the space through the collecting of sounds and videos.
I would like to continue creating a sense of space through the use of video and sound and finding patterns and rhythms to these collections in specific spaces.
In particular, I would like to divide the experiment in both a country setting and an urban one.
I would like to work on the similarities of both and find the narratives embedded within.

I guess I expected there to be more people traffic and more noises from the street.
The people were lightly scattered and cars took priority driving up and down the tram tracks.
I spent a good hour in the street with 8-10 trams passing by both ways, their bells sending echoes through the air.

Remembering the discussions in class while I was out in the streets helped me focus on the poetics of the place.
I sat in my car for a while, using the comfort of the indoors to cast my net across the street, looking up and noticing reflections on the windows of buildings opposite one another.
Tram lines and street wires intercepted one another, all expected of Smith Street.

Oscar and I collected our media similarly, opting to stand still and allow external stimuli to enter the frame, initially positioning it in a complimentary setting.
Our way in collecting the media was essentally the same.
Setting out to try and find collections was harder than was expected because once you head out into the space, it’s really up to the surrounds and anything that enters the space to create that collection.
That being said, I believe that our minds play the primary role in selection of subjects and things of interest.

Oscar collected images of of a lot of flowers on grave sites that constrasted with the man made stone graves – softness vs hardness.
Through these videos, he focused on the beauty of decay, life after death.

I collected videos of classical architecture with poorly written tags in bright to neutral textas and paints – old vs new.
The writing and street are exhibited the underlying aggression of the neighbourhood, as people took to the public streets to voice their opinions on any surface they could find at eye level.

Going to our places was an eye-opener. I know we both felt that because we were actively noticed, we focused on things that we may not have noticed otherwise.
So, it increased our awareness for one and allowed us both to read into things a little deeper.
Crossing the street became a composition, rather than just a simple task of getting from one side to the other.
Trees blowing in the wind were now a time to stop, think and recalibrate – allowing us to slow down.
Another aspect worth noting was the tempo at which this project was undertaken; slow and calculated.
My eyes moved slowly, grazing over the landscape, noticing movements like I was some sort of predator.

Overall I feel we did really well with collecting media with similar undertones.

The discpline of noticing…

Our environments may have been vastly different by comparison; Smith st and Carlton Cemetery but the collection of videos we captured were actually quite similar.
We looked over the content and found that we both found interest in decay, movement, inertia and symmetry.
Upon closer inspection, I realised that not only had Oscar and I collected similar findings but we had also framed our work similarly – creating compositions that complimented the surroundings.
As our media was collected in high traffic zones, we collected similar atmos; vehicles, wind, people, bells, horns, birds etc..

Labelled ‘a place of rest’, the noisy backdrop intervenes with the serenity of the gravesites.
‘Slowing down’ is difficult.
I sent Oscar  to the Lygon st boundary line where large cyprus trees once shielded the street from the tombstones, creating a sound buffer.
Now, it lay open and bare, exposed to the streets opposite.
Cars went by in droves, going about their daily routines – oblivious and focused on their paths.
Residential houses occupied the spaces opposite the graves – life as usual.
Trucks created a moving backdrop to the motionless gravestones in the foreground.
Flowers were laid on graves, looking more lifeless than broken grey stone, withered and weathered.
Graves that looked to have burst open, unprooted by trees nearby over the years passed – grotesque and haunting; it was easy to see why my mother would bring me here as a child to tell em ghost stories. They practically wrote themselves!
Trees that appeared forest-like, off in the background created a Tarkovsky-esque eeriness that rang truer to the themes of a graveyard in one of Oscar’s captures.
The natural backdrop almost appeared unnatural.

In Smith St, cyclists peppered the streets in bright colours as cars drove up and the intersection of Gertrude and Peel St.
Paint was in abundance, marking all surfaces, each and every one a new canvas.
Tags and graffiti; good and bad screamed abuse at passers by in bold, bright lettering – ‘SLUT’. No one seemed to notice.
Memes and pop culture references, motivational and inspirational quotes tagged blue stone curbs, rainbow painted walkways, all going unnoticed by passers by.
Textures and materials, paper paste-ups, large-scale murals, stripped paint and cracks in the architecture grabbed my attention.
It interested me the way in which street art differs from art we see in a gallery.
We attach meanings to artworks in galleries because they’re a) in a gallery and b) because they’re framed (most anyway).
It intrigued me how colourful this part of Smith street was and just how it all goes unnoticed.

As I already spend a great deal of time in this space already, usually dining out at Bowl Bowl for dumplings, or haunting Angelucci 20th Century, I had my habits and had overlooked almost all of the things that I had collected in my videos.
I had noticed however, the large murals and various tags on the record store and kebab shop.
Reflections were heightened and water movements in puddles in the ditches were overlooked.
Usually noticing people and their movements, I was drawn to people less in this exercise, looking at things instead.
Powerlines and the tops of buildings that I had seen but not really looked at filled the frame of my camera, creating shapes where there had not previously been any.

All the while I was noticing, I also noticed others noticing me.
I paused for long periods of time, capturing things of interest.
One gentleman interrupted one of my recordings to ask me what I was doing.

‘I’m just looking.’

Links to media:
Oscar: here
Lana: here

After having seen the Patrick Pound exhibition, Oscar and I took note of the collections that were created.
The large scale of work acquired, in contrast to such a select subject pool was fascinating and led Oscar and I to explore our own collection for this second noticing task.

Our aim for this exercise is to head to each other’s chosen places and let the space and it’s rhythms evolve. Oscar had predominantly been to a street in Fitzroy during the evenings, saying it was the hustle and bustle of people and restaurants, bars and clubs that overwhelmed his senses. As he was always there with purpose, he couldn’t reflect on the place and recall anything else but the events he attended and his friends around him.

I sent Oscar to the Carlton Cemetery. Having gone there many times as a child with my mother, who told me ghost stories as we rode through on our bikes, the place was etched in my mind. Mostly there at night, the place held a certain appeal to me, whereas the day was associated with a purpose – attending a funeral procession.
The positioning of the cemetery intrigued me as well. Located on a busy road, the once large cyprus trees shielded the old and cracked graves from the passers by; now removed and open to the foot traffic and cars alike.

We decided that we would take approximately 10 videos each, breaking them down to 5 long videos (approx 15-30 seconds) and 5 short (1-3 mins) each.

Living in the area, I was accustomed to the rituals of passing through, day and night.
I knew the footpaths, the artwork, businesses and people – the fact that this place could open itself up to me further was a stretch.
The Fitzroy I knew some 10-15 years ago was an escape from the plain grey backdrop of metropolitan Melbourne.
I still remember my mother telling me  something and I must’ve mentioned something as a kid about someone’s fashion sense, “anything goes”.
It held a lot more weight back then and clearly enough to have resonated for me to have quoted her this far down the track.
What you see in Fitzroy has become ubiquitous with the rest of Melbourne. One large bleeding canvas of paint and grit.
I expected to hear tram bells, horns and general traffic chatter against the low murmurs of cafe life and whatever native species of bird was flittering about the streets, fighting over crusts and crumbs.

I didn’t expect to see too much that I hadn’t seen before.

Ezra and Rowden suggest that Transnational cinema “comprises both globalization…and the counter hegemonic responses of filmmakers from former colonial and third world countries” (2006, p.1). They suggest further that “the Transnational can be understood as the global forces that link people or institutions across nations” (2006, p.1).

Ang Lee, the director of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Broke Back Mountain, Hulk, Lust, Caution and Gemini Man; is known for his emotionally charged work that explores conflicts and relationships between tradition and modernity, in both Eastern and Western contexts.
It is because of his stories dealing with many hidden and repressed emotions that lee is known for his emotionally charged work, which critics believe is responsible for his success in off-setting cultural barriers and achieving international recognition.

The themes present within Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon have allowed it to be an international success due to its stylistic approach to framing, composition, lighting, photography, direction and performance.

Deeply rooted in Chinese tradition and history, the use of mise-en-scene allows for an intimate or “real” perspective, allowing Western audiences to empathize with its characters.
Costumes allow the audience to understand the different roles and hierarchy within the film.
Martial Artists, Li Mu bai and Yu Shu lien are clothed in single-wrap fighting robes, whereas Jen clothed in royal gowns and a dark wrap for her and Jade Fox as the villains/thieves.
The lighting is not deliberate throughout the film, in that it is said that Ang Lee wished to disguise the personalities of the characters without high-key or under-lighting; making it difficult to tell who is good and who is bad.
As we can see in the below example, it’s difficult to decipher who represents which side:

After watching Hero and familiarizing myself with its inception, I found it interesting to note that because Zhang Yimou was committed to making his films in China and aspiring to reproduce the formulas that gave Ang lee’s film’s international popularity, he also misread the reasons behind the making of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

To appeal to a wider Western audience, the use of special effects was implemented to create a seamless air throughout, teamed with wind machines to enhance the characters fluidity within the space and their grace.

Zhang worked hard in creating relationships with the Chinese Government and authorities and once restrictions eased because they realized the importance of foreign film distribution to their economy, Zhang came under fire following the release of Hero due to his choice of Emperor, it’s lack of resolve and its unknown agenda.

As briefly discussed in class, Hero is clearly a nationalist film and Zhang’s close relationship with government authorities led many to believe that it was a propaganda film.

Both film fall under the Wuxia film genre.
‘Wuxia‘- which literally means “martial heroes”, is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China.
Uncommon to Western society is the dominant female roles and action heroes that have deep roots in Chinese history.
One can imagine how shocking and inspiring it would be as a Western Audience to view.

Without doubt, Hero is a film undoubtedly rooted in patriarchy.
The king is read as a positive authoritative figure, no doubt confusing to the Chinese populus who knew of his history.
He has the gift of wisdom, deciphering the meaning behind the Calligraphy and reading his assassins “murderous intent” most notably possessed by father figures.

As opposed to the themes present in Ang Lee’s, Crouching Tiger, the women’s roles are personalized through subjective camera angles and an engaging love story.

By comparison, Zhang attempts to capitalize on the love story, making it a focal point, whereas Ang Lee chose to give women freedom through expression, shown in their ability to seamlessly move in and out of the fighting realm.What I found interesting about Hero was the interplay between love and violence and how both are presented to be on an even playing field.Shown through White Snow’s under-handed wounding blow to broken Sword and the forgiveness of China’s most treacherous emperor’s; who goes on to kill hundreds of thousands more because of the love and conflict felt by Nameless and Broken sword before him.
Hero takes us through these conflicts and emotional trials and tribulations through his implementation of color in costume, lighting and setting.

Red, Blue, White and Green play out, painting the films narrative with a not so clear description of their meanings.
As was stated in a class discussion, Asian cinema, most notably Chinese cinema, does not shy from the use of bright colors.
In Western cinema, the use of color is often seen as tacky and distasteful.
Quoting Naya, ‘the more successful a superhero movie, the less colorful it is.’
The purpose behind the obvious coloring of each of the scenes was to possibly help reach a broader audience, playing on the basics of color psychology;

Red – anger, passion, vengeance, jealousy
Blue – calm, tranquil, cold, understanding
White – neutral, defeat and traditionally the color worn when someone dies (not generally known by Westerners
Green – hope, natural, compromise, jade (strength)

Not only do the colors make it easier to decipher the onscreen unfolding’s but the actor’s gestures, movements and expressions help feed the narrative too.
Overall, the movies both share and weave traditional and modern themes throughout their story lines, executing their stylistic approach with a grace that serves to conflict, surprise and unite a global audience.
As the characters glide through the air in heated battle, they exhibit the poetics and artistry behind violence, love and conflict, serving as a foreign concept to a global audience that knows only of the rigid confines of good and bad, with a single patriarchal victor.

References:

Chen Xihe. ” On the Father Figures in Zhang Yimou’s Films: From Red Sorghum to Hero” Asian Cinema. Vol. 15, No 2 (Fall/ Winter 2004) pp. 133-140