Part II – Project proposal (20%)
MEDIA 2 // PITCH
Originally, I was overwhelmed with ‘noticing’ as a concept to explore. It is a task that is very broad and limitless, so narrowing down to a few questions that arose from an experiment seemed quite difficult.
Initially, my aim in these experiments was to return to the location from the previous project brief, and to experiment with video as a tool, rather than still photographs. However, I had a few different questions that also stemmed from task two, which I was more passionate to find out about. The qualitative information I gathered from the several experiments is enough to hopefully build the foundation for the final project: Task four.
Questions/Queries from task two
Can I notice similar patterns through movement (video rather than still images)?
– May have to revisit original location (Abbotsford Convent) to compare the two different types of media //or collect both video and still photo from new location.
Questions/ Queries from Task two
What do I notice in another persons noticing?
Ingredients
Ø Camera to record videos and photos
Ø Pen and paper
Ø Friend/ companion to accompany (must change with every experiment)
Experiment 1
I revisited the Convent in an attempt to pick up on things that I had failed to do in my initial visit. Ultimately, this was supposed to be the point in which I took videos to which I could compare patterns in movement with the patterns projected through the still photographs. However, I was with another person than I had ventured to the location with during the previous task. I found that the media I had collected varied drastically from what I had collected the fist time- yet this hadn’t been my intention. Originally, I had only put forward the idea of changing the medium in which the subject was captured with, not necessarily the subject itself. This led me to revisit my prompt, and to draw upon another question that had arisen from brainstorming, although it had not been the one I initially aimed to explore:
How can a persons noticing / recollection be shaped by others?
Experiment 2
Thus, experiment three was more so an observing experiment rather than collecting any more media of my own. I made a note of noting down the kinds of things that my younger sisters noticed in environments and whether or not these had any patterns. However, I based this experiment on what they told me they noticed, without having to be prompted beforehand. This may sound like I did not receive enough feedback, but they were very talkative and responsive in their environments, mostly discussing what was on their mind, what they had noticed.
Experiment 3
The last experiment was a similar take on the previous one; however, I had the girls tell me what they had noticed, rather than simply recording their unprompted responses like I had previously.
What I’ve found through the several experiments is that as much as we may think otherwise, our own version of a ‘subjective’ perspective in noticing is still somewhat swayed by those around us. Environmental factors impact our reality: the way in which we view and think about what is around us.
In my final project: task four, I want to explore more thoroughly, the idea of different perspectives of the same subject. Larger scale photographs are more objective in their subject matter rather than a close up, which forces its audience to notice what exactly the picture is of. Thus, going further into this project, what I’d like to do is play upon the idea of subjective interpretation with either larger photos/videos. I was also really influenced by the reading on James Benning’s films, and one quote in particular.
“Nature is merely a backdrop for human consciousness without any materiality of its own.”
In going forward to task 4, I would like to explore landscapes as a backdrop for more than one human consciousness.