Our final project embraces the key concern of the studio, which is to create media through non-traditional forms of storytelling. In this studio, we explored media forms such as essay film, live action, desktop, and the chosen concept for our final project: the sculpture installation video. These concepts allow us to “create art in non-traditional photographic techniques by using these live performance spaces” (Hobbs. Y.R and Ross. M, 1997) and evoke deeper thinking and complex narratives. The concept behind our final sculpture installation video was to dive into identity in photographic memories. The sculpture invites “a role of art to blend imagery in distinct meaning” (Hobbs. Y.R and Ross. M, 1997) using the canvas quarters that expose different chapters of life and the evolution of colour.
The experience in this studio exhibition shows the complex personification of digital media art with unique approaches from fellow student groups. This excited me about the ‘Memory Screen’ studio. We explored the complexity and purpose of media creation via physical form or performance in software, live action, or desktop environments compared to a typical film set. The studio challenged me to think outside traditional narrative-making and discover artists who inspire me with more complicated media forms. During the exhibition, I hoped audiences would understand how we wanted to communicate time within a physical ‘scrapbook’ style art piece, followed by an interview of the person who we created the photo collage of. I hope my work embraces the studio’s concern in how we created a mosaic sculpture combined with projection of digital media, formulating the two different art forms of traditional print-based media and digital technology.
In creating our final work, the most successful aspect was the production of the interview and sculpture installation with the projector. The projector screen was perfect in producing a clear visual image above the canvas. The overlay was not confusing in distinguishing between the canvas and my sister’s portrait. It was time-efficient; we finished filming within an hour and filmed multiple takes to capture different perspectives. The filming of the actual interview, while the space was not ideal, was similarly efficient. With pre-production assisting us, we formulated our questions in an organised list of chapters from different eras of my sister’s life.
The most problematic aspect was changing our idea of the mosaic almost entirely. Due to cost and resources, our original idea of 30 frames collated into one square was impossible to create. The photo size being accurate, the exterior of the frame complicated things, and we brainstormed other avenues to convey our concept. We thought of a pin board, glittery paper backdrops, or op-shopping to find frames. However, we ended with the idea of combining four canvases with some photo frames and the remaining 30 photos scattered to create a memory board, like a scrapbook. I realised I had unused canvases, which made a perfect solution to our problem. We quickly began to create boards. I asked my sister for memento items to lay across the canvas, adding to the flatter spaces due to the lack of photo frames. With glue, double-sided tape, pins, and blu-tak, we created a beautiful collage of my sister’s photographic memories. We are pleased with the alternative presentation as this allowed us to add more personality. Through the problems and successes, we grew stronger as problem solvers and as a team.
As explored in the ‘Understanding New Media Art’ educational journal, “sculpture art creates social spaces designed to encourage interaction and engagement” (Bilyeu. E, et al, 2022). In the future, if we extend the media sculpture, I would love to let audiences engage with the mementos and the video playback of the installation. As the interview is long, some audiences may only be interested in certain photographic memories my sister talks about. It would be aspiring if, in an alternative world, the photos could be tapped, and the video would skip to the exact moment where my sister mentions her connection to the item or experience. I would also love to display the installation with the projector on a larger scale with a larger canvas. As students, it would be complicated to have a larger sculpture due to transportation and storage possibilities. We would also love to improve on the quality of the video installation as part of the sculpture. The reason for these improvements is for our sculpture to develop emotional and artistic expression within the physical setting (Pan. Y, 2021). Since audiences are not connected to the memories and items, it would be a core improvement to allow for interactivity of the sculpture and personal interest in the stories portrayed in the images.
During my time in this studio, I have learnt a lot about removing my expectations of what media is meant to be. With previous disliking of experimental films, the studio allows me to keep an open mind and to look deeper than what is at face value. During this studio, I was new to desktop performance and live action media. Creating works in these forms was challenging and uncomfortable. I felt exposed or lacking skills. With these discomforts, I gained appreciation for the artists involved in these non-traditional media art forms.
This year, I have had experience working with strangers with complex ideas different from my own. This has been a blessing, as through collaboration we create a narrative or idea that embarks on the same premise yet is conveyed through different perspectives. Collaboration has allowed me to discover new topics and ideas and to understand what others know. For instance, my studio partner this semester is Zahra Kader, who has grown to be one of my friends. She introduced me to many forms of media that inspired our project concepts. The inspiration for the interview for this sculpture installation was from the “Soft White Underbelly” interviews, which Zahra introduced me to. These videos document the lives of those who are less fortunate and exposed to violent societies. Without this inspiration, we would have lacked background references and style for our interview approach. Working collaboratively also allows us to work independently. While following the same project, each of us focuses on different roles. I was the director, Zahra was the editor, and we shared roles in crew, set design, writing, and cinematography. This allows me to focus on preparation for production as Zahra works to complete the two videos needed for our sculpture installation video. Collaboration shows how we can take responsibility for our actions and allows us to discover what we enjoy about creating a media installation or production.
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REFERENCES
Bilyeu. E, et al, 2022, “Understanding New Media Art” [website] Open Oregon Educational Resources, Accessed 23 October 2024 URL: https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/understandingnewmediaarts/
Hobbs. Y.R, Ross. M, April 1997, “Vol, 30, Number 2, Video, Sculpture and Collaborative Image Processing” [website] The MIT Press, Accessed 23 October 2024, URL: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/6/article/607439/pdf
Pan. Y, July 2021, “Application of Computer Visual Art in Digital Media Art” [website], Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol 1991, no 1, Accessed 23 October 2024, URL: https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/application-computer-visual-art-digital-media/docview/2548803698/se-2?accountid=13552