SEEING THE UNSEEN ‘Q1’ (W5 MEDIA 4)
Q1: When you walk in to a room do you react to what you hear first or what you see first or a compilation of both, which sense is more prominent and why?
Recipe: To ask students what they notice first when it comes to their senses, is it different to myself and if so why? Does the environment and stimulus make a major impact on what our senses detect or do we have dominant innate senses.
Ingredients: Two Students, Laptop for note taking, camera for documenting and recording data.
Method:
- Ask two student volunteers to enter a classroom space, after entering ask them what they noticed first and why. Also ask which of their senses were stimulated first (visual, auditory, touch e.g.).
- For the second part of the experiment; (to create a different and more diverse environment for the experiment) take the two students to an outdoor space. After a couple of minutes ask them the same questions and observe if they noticed with the same senses first or a different sense.
Results & Question Review: The results were as followed;
Student 1 (Classroom): “The first thing that I noticed was the space of the room; it was quite minimalistic so the visuals stood out instantly. Chairs, Tables, and television screens were my first thoughts, also how the renovations have yet to add character to the space.”
(Outside): “Traffic was definitely the first thing for outside, the tramlines being as loud as they are were quite distracting from hearing anything else, for outside i’d say it was a larger mixture of the senses compared to the classroom.”
Student 2 (Classroom): “The brightness of the lights and the chairs and tables were the first things I noticed, there isn’t much else so they stand out and the lighting is very bright for the rest of the dark spaces outside”
(Outside): “People and traffic; I think there is much more stimulus outside so it’s harder to cut it down to a single sense compared to the more still classroom.”
The findings from this experiment were as expected, individuals mainly focused in on the dominant aspects of noticing, their senses were only really aware of the things that were placed in front of them and directly impacted them.
Taking from this, for my second experiment I want to focus on in-depth awareness and seeing if technology alters the way we perceive as well as how it plays in the way we notice our environment.
“What do I notice when I am intentionally recording and what do I notice when I am not, does technology make a difference in the way I record data?”
To complete this question I will individually take on the task and place myself into two separate locations that have different types of stimulus. I will record the data using film to pre-plan for project four and help practice my skills of recording findings.
I am taking inspiration from John Masons, Forms of Noticing piece in which he sees“noticing as an intentional stance”, I’ll be doing this to help understand how to better control our senses on noticing.
Ultimately I believe my final goal will be to compare sensory overloading to controlled (through practices like meditation) sensory input.
SEEING THE UNSEEN ‘A2 Refining’ (W4 MEDIA 4)
I found that through this project, perspective will always be different when (and if) you have the intention of taking photographs (or collecting media). My way of collecting was also slightly different to artists such as Patrick Pound, because he didn’t create his media- rather purely collected it already in it’s format (photography and particular objects). When I was choosing to collect I really went with themes that connected to values that I held. As one of my series of photographs centers on rubbish I think internally it does reflect a little bit about my lifestyle and how I wish for a more sustainable world. I think in projects like this its hard to ‘not’ incorporate your views and values and I would encourage individuals to do so. What we notice and noticing itself says a lot about us as an individual.
When you walk in to a room do you react to what you hear first or what you see first or a compilation of both? What is the normal response for most people? How does it differ for someone impaired (deaf, vision impairment, ect).?
This task has shown me that there can be similarities between different individuals, In my case Sarah took photographs that were close ups- a similar perspective to how I took mine. I think what I’d like to explore further is noticing on a harder scale, for example rooms that are minimalist. I think challenging ourselves is a good way to improve out skills in noticing. It is also a good way to help us reflect on what we have noticed.
In future projects I would like to do further reading and reference more artists, photographers and journalists who have written about noticing. Both their personal accounts and studies.
Another question I want to ask myself and ponder upon is whether noticing is always a good trait or if someone who notices their environment too much is suffering from anxiety or another issue. It would be fascinating to compare someone who overthinks or ‘notices too much’ to someone who uses noticing in a more skillful way like meditation.
Overall I’d like to grow my ability to take in my environment but also eliminate the elements that distract me.
This project has evoked an observation of self; through this observation it is has shown me that I can struggle from taking in too much of my environment which can overwhelm me. I’ve noticed traffic, air conditioners and other elements of repetition that I have intentionally zoned in for the project on are hard to dismiss even when i’m not focusing upon them. In future for me it would be very useful to practice noticing in a meditative way. Regardless this task has given me a lot of insight into what I need to practice upon before the next project.
SEEING THE UNSEEN ‘A2 REFLECTING’ (W3 MEDIA 4)
Firstly I want to note the similarities, before I went to the location I expected a busy atmosphere with traffic due to the central location. This expectation ended up becoming reality, there was quite a lot of traffic with a heavy flow of noises that seemed to linger throughout the park despite its size. I’d say the quietest spot in the park was actually the center of the oval (of course this is because there were no matches or practices on at the time). Differences would be that I expected a few more trees then what there were but It was still a nice location in such a central part of Melbourne.
I think in terms of recording data there are obvious similarities like both of us using photography, a difference between the way we recorded would be the shape of the photographs and camera. I used a Panasonic Lumix GH4 and Sarah used an IPhone5s (both of these have pros and cons a main one being convenience and size vs image quality). My photographs were rectangular and Sarah’s were square which also creates a difference perspective when viewing the photographs. Finally in terms of collecting, I also recorded some environmental sounds with a Zoom microphone. It was interesting to note that it wasn’t a main part of Sarah’s observations as it was to mine.
FAR RIGHT: A photograph I took of the flora in Princes Park.
RIGHT: Sarah’s photograph of flora. Very similar macro perspectives.
I think Sarah used a more convenient method (using an iPhone) which is an object that is easy to carry around and pull out when needed- where as I like to shoot most of my university projects with my Panasonic LUMIX GH4 camera. I think this is a personal preference, I know I like to use my camera as the more I practice with it the better I become with it (and there is never enough practice).
In terms of observing the media captured I think we had similar thoughts as stated previously we both had macro (close up) perspectives of the place and we both took images of things that stood out to us.
I think working on this project has given me an understand on the ways of collecting media; finding commonplace was an important part of my collection. I wanted to find patterns and themes that related as well as contrasts. Of course my themes included rubbish in which I collected various forms of rubbish left within the park.
Again as stated in the ‘prompt’ post my inspiration was from Patrick Pounds exhibition and the way he collected media and the interconnecting relationships between those sets of media. Viewing the collecting as a whole creates a whole different meaning than an individual image. In my case viewing all the images of rubbish shows a completely different situation than just a single image. I like that an image verses the collection as a whole can create and change the way we view the media.
SEEING THE UNSEEN ‘A2 NOTICING’ (W3 MEDIA 4)
PRINCESS PARK, CARLTON
‘Marco Garbage’
(Hundreds of shredded pieces of rubbish lying in the surrounding park areas)
‘Marco Flora’
(A collection of patterns and shapes from the trees and plants located in the park)
Sarah’s perspective of Princess Park was intriguing, she noted that when she visits she plays sports and sees the location as a whole rather than “honing in on things individually”. She notes she almost takes the park for granted never spending time to really ‘view’ it and rather just engulfs herself in the more open spaces and observes with a wide gaze. This contrasted the way I viewed the park with a ‘Marco lens’ rather than as a whole picture. I usually zone in on things often as I’m always interested in patterns, shapes and objects. My gaze through the camera captured a lot of attention to detail- there was always something to ‘collect’ when observing. I found that there were two contrasting elements when observing, again taking inspiration from Patrick Pound i decided to turn these two elements into categories.
Firstly was the amount of rubbish in the area. I knew there was going to be some rubbish but when I viewed the area carefully and slowly I noticed there were hundreds of small pieces of rubbish that an individual might not even notice if they didn’t have a gaze towards the ground. When talking to Sarah she confirmed that when she visited the place the rubbish wasn’t as easily noticed, again I would assume this could be due to keeping eyes leveled and viewing the park with a wider perspective.
My second main observation was the patterns of nature. I found it really interesting how much the images of rubbish contrasted the images of trees, leaves and sunlight. Both sets of images gave off different vibes yet in reality the images weren’t taken that far apart.
Finally I’d also like to note the sounds that were heard in and around the park. I definitely took note of how loud the surrounding traffic was and how hard it was to block it out- this happened in various areas of the park and was hard to escape. After talking to Sarah and letting her know of my experiences it was interesting to note that how when she visited the Park the traffic was ‘blocked out’ and not particularly noticed. She noted this is potentially due to living near a main road and having more of a selective hearing. She also noted that when she normally visits the park, most of the time shes wearing headphones- which of course blocks out the chugging sounds of city traffic.
AUDIO FROM INSIDE PARK
After getting Sarah’s opinions and experiences from my footage it was time to flip the switch and for me to examine her media. I chose Abbotsford Convent for a location that I have a connection to. I’m not a fan of the city but Abbotsford sets a completely different atmosphere, it’s much more lush and green than most areas and the convent itself is up kept to a pristine condition. I enjoyed seeing Sarah use a ‘macro’ perspective when collecting media, I feel that it’s similar to how I view the place. As a whole the convent is beautiful but it isn’t until you look up close do you see things of wonder and interest- I also find it interesting that with her extreme close-up photographs I can still place and note where they were taken (an ode to my love and frequent visits to the convent). I find it interesting that there’s a little contrast between the natural elements and man made structures (that is similar to my own media with rubbish and nature). Finally I also enjoyed Sarah’s take on the geometrical patterns and shapes that can be found around the convent, it reflects the artistic nature of the place and I think captures the essence well.
Above: Photographs of Sarahs Media including close ups of flora, geometrical patterns and structures.
SEEING THE UNSEEN ‘A2 PROMPT’ (W3 MEDIA 4)
My inspiration has been taken from Patrick Pounds collective showcase ‘The Great Exhibition‘ in which he “poetically explores the art of collecting”. As Pound states “to collect is to gather your thoughts through things”. When we start to observe we notice patterns, this can be unintentional or intentionally; I think in regards to Pound- when he started his collections he went with what was most prominent, the photographs that were reoccurring and then after noticing there were patterns the level of ‘intentional’ searching (for those that fitted the themes) became the dominant task. What captures our focus and drives us to collect, for Pound it isn’t about the quality of the photo itself but purely it’s theme.
Taking from the last quote I will be collecting various media in relation to my own thoughts. Whether it be specific flora and fauna, individuals or objects that grab my attention. My aim is to observe but in a relaxed state, I want to note everything as though I am a visitor enjoying rather than a student studying.
I think the above is important to note as this location was chosen by someone who visits to relax and would observe differently to someone intentionally observing with the idea to capture as much information and detail as possible.
My respective partner for this project was Sarah Reddick who chose Princes Park in Carlton for a location that makes her feel content and at ease. I don’t have much prior knowledge of the location except the fact that it is behind the Melbourne Cemetery.
My first thoughts are that it is a very central location, I wonder if there will be too much going on and I wont be able to reflect easily or if It will be calmer then expected. I also know that Princes Park is close to or the home for the Carlton Football Club, I expect that if there is a practice or game on when I visit that it will create a lot of noise and a busy atmosphere. In knowing this I expect to hear a lot of traffic due to the central area of the location, and potentially numerous individuals talking or interacting. I also expect to hear relaxing sounds whether it be from nature or man-made objects (such as running water from fountains) or birds, and the noise of leaves bustling if windy.
The way I’ll be collecting media is by observation (both visually and auditory).
Firstly I will observe visually. I’m interested in what will jump out at me, whether it will be similar things like the types of individuals in the park or more precise observations like insects trailing into their nests. I’ll aim to collect these observations through photographs and potentially video.
My second form of observation will be listening, closing my eyes and really taking in the sounds that engulf me- how they affect me and how I feel in general. I’ll be taking these notes for collection through a microphone– whether the microphone picks up on the same sounds (or the volume of the sounds) will be interesting as what we observe auditory can be dependent on selective hearing.