On Friday the 10th of July, we Met again with Tom Pope and the Team from the Jersey societe, We were asked to make a presentation showing our work from our ‘chance, change & Challenge’ project. This presentation had to include research, our idea’s, and our final out comes. Our group was a large group, therefor we split into two groups. In my group we had to meet the assessment criteria of;
uses a range of visual language skills
consistent command skills/technique
selection of final material is clear and consistent
skillful outcomes that show a consistent level of knowledge, skill and understanding
work that has a personal identity
final pieces are well constructed
Perceptive connections linking own work top sources
Flora, Meghan and I created a film which was running in the background which contained pictures from the trip to St Malo and the edited films. Whilst the slides were running behind us we were talking about our trip and about our idea’s. We decided to do this rather than a power point as we thought it took a more creative approach- also giving the audience something interesting to look at.
After every presentation we had to fill out a feedback sheet which was returned to the group. In the majority of our feed back we got either ‘confident’ or ‘competent’, however our group didn’t present enough research to support our work therefor we got some ‘basic’s’ and ‘not present’s’
Here is a picture of our feed back sheets;
This is the slide of pictures and movies that we had playing in the background whilst we spoke.
During our trip to St Malo, I experimented with the use of film. I have never used the record setting on my camera before so it was a new experience for me. I found it very different, filming something, rather than photographing it- which is what I am used to. I filmed several activities throughout the day and then edited the clips I had collected on iMovie. I have also never used IMovie before, so it was a first experience for me. In all of these clips I have manipulated the sound and the colouring to make it look and sound how I wanted it too.
My First clip was from the begging of the day, where five members of our group lined up on the steps and passed a blown up ball up the steps and rolled it back down the middle of the steps when it had reached the top.
I really like this footage, because it is very simple yet I find it very enjoyable to watch. I really like the setting of the footage, as it was in a picturesque lane and is rich in detail, because it is made up of a sandy coloured bricks. Another thing that I like about this film is that there is public interruption involved it. I very much like that members of the public walk past our perfomance as I think it gives the footage a life like feel and makes it very realistic. If i was to improve one thing about this film, it would be to put this clip on a loop- so it repeats its self. Once i have figured out how to do this on iMovie I will re edit the clip and add a loop onto it.
The second film that I recorded in St Malo was based on the same steps as my first video. I simply filmed the feet of the people in from of me’s feet as they climbed up the stairs.
I think that this film, is again very simple and focus’ on the visual side of the clip, as I have cut all of the sounds out of the footage. I did this too make the viewer pay closer attention to the detail of the people walking up the steps. I would like to experiment with this clip by adding some music to the footage.
My third piece of footage from the St Malo trip was of the ‘Flower Giving’. This was where Sian, gave out yellow roses to the public as she walked up the street. She gave these flowers out to people as a sign of friendship and happiness.
During this performance I was very interested in seeing how the public would react to the present of a flower from a random stranger. Some people accepted the flower with great appreciation however some people declined the present, and some people ignored Sian all together.
I really like this film as In comparison to my films 1 and 2, it has a lot of activity going on and is more exciting to watch. It also seems like a very good representative of St Malo’s town life as it includes things such as people walking in front of the camera and general noise from around the street.
My final film that I have edited from my St Malo trip is of the boy from the beach who was performing tricks on him tightrope.
I chose one short clip of the boy doing a backflip and duplicated the clip and reversed it. I think that is an interesting way of editing the clip and makes it more interesting to watch.
This week I have begun to select and review a number of outcomes which I have made over the course of this 6 week project. I have recently pieced together my manifesto of the type of work and am hoping to create. When reviewing images and video for potential final outcomes, I will compare them to the principles of my Manifesto, along with another forms of influence I have learned. I want all my outcomes to be diverse and varied, in order to highlight the many different themes which I have attempted to explore.
I want my work to reflect my developed awareness as a photographer and artist. The many political themes and ideas which I have learned over the course of this topic have interested me greatly, and therefore I want this work to be evidence of the progressive journey that I have undertaken. In order to achieve this, I will look at my outcomes in great depth and decide whether they are relative to any of the different artistic movements that I have learned about. The intent and meaning behind my work will therefore be critical in evaluating the success of my outcomes, due to the fact that this course primarily related to context and theme, instead of form and structure, which I covered in Units 1 and 2 of my AS Year. I will also consolidate my ideas with Mr Toft, and review the advice and suggestions that he gives.
Experiments: Any outcomes which show evidence of me thinking deeply about meaning and ideas, and/or attempts o display any recognition of the contextual aspects related to performance photography, but which do not however result in successful outcome, I will treat as an ‘experiment’. I few of my experiments I feel worthy of some form of recognition will be put onto the blog under ‘experiments’, and I will briefly describe and explain the meanings behind what I have done. I will do this in order to show evidence of my development of thought processes, as well as my ability to take risks.
Finals: After I have selected and edited my final outcomes – both photos and video – I will then create a new blog post for each outcome and explain my reasoning behind why I have chosen it, what I like about it, and how it relates to the overall theme of ‘Performance and Photography’. I will then evaluate the effectiveness of my outcomes and compare it to a few examples of my own influences behind what I have done.
I am looking forward to putting together my final outcomes as a way of reviewing how well I have responded to this challenging but extremely interesting topic.
Following the research that I have done Manifestos and Artistic Movements, I decided to start to think on a deeper level about my own viewpoints and political ideas, and how these views effect the basis of my own photography. Over the course of the last few weeks I have subsequently started to brainstorm and jot down my own ideas for a potential artistic movement, based on what I have learned over the series of this project. From the basis of these ideas I have decided to piece together a Manifesto of my own hypothetical art movement. This movement I have named ‘Maxism’, a satirical play on my own name with Marxism. ‘Maxism’ is an artistic movement which involves the use of metaphors, writing and symbols as a means of satirically challenging issues within society. In this movement I have combined the political ideas of the Situation Movement, with the aesthetic principles of Formalism. My artwork, if I was to develop this movement would be a subjective and subtle form of protest. My artwork would have a sense of intrigue and mystery that would invite the audience to come up with their own perspectives as the its meanings. Also, my work work be light-hearted, deliberately not meant to be taken seriously.
Here is the set of rules that form the basis of my Movement
The Maxist Manifesto
1. All members must produce work of good quality. The time spent on the artwork reflects how effectively the message intended is delivered.
2. The meaning of the work mustn’t be obvious. The audience must have a chance to interpret the intended meaning.
3. The artwork shouldn’t be too serious. It should instead be satirical and fun.
4. Symbolism should be used at all times.
5. All work must be credited as work of the Maxist movement, indicated with the Maxist signature at the bottom right.
6. Anyone can join, as long as they do their best to follow, honor and respect all rules.
7. Artwork can be of all formats; film, sketches, painting, graffiti etc.
8. Maxist Art is all about interpretation, as long a symbolism is used to some degree then the art will count as Maxist work.
9. All aspect of society are open to be explored. interrogated and criticized though the work.
Definition – “a public declaration of intentions, opinions, objectives, or motives, as one issued by a government, sovereign, or organization”
“We the founders of the Dada movement try to give time its own reflection in the mirror”
Dadist Artists preparing to write a manifesto in Paris 1921, Artist Incude Julius Evola and Tristan Tzara
Throughout the history of civilization, human beings have always felt a need to establish social groups and communities. In these groups the has always been official or unofficial rules (manifesto’s) which unify members of the group together. This may be through kinship (family), social status, interests, appearance, beliefs, objectives and goals. Morally right or wrong, certain boundaries, conditions and limitations for members to join groups and establish their memberships has been an integral means of developing solidarity and honor; primitively between different communities and tribes; and more recently between religious groups, political organisations, societies, governments and developing nations.
In the early 19th Century as artists began to become more politically and philosophically aware, they began to establish certain artistic movements which like minded artists would join. As a means of establishing these groups into serious, official organisations, artists subsequently began developing a certain structure for their new found movements. The boundaries to this structure was established through a collection of written documents, which outlined the main rules and objectives which the artists wishing to join the organisation must follow. These documents were known as Manifesto’s, and all the artists in the organisation were required to follow the rules strictly. For example, if the organisation demanded that no artist should use colour in their paintings, then the artists would be unable to do so.
However, in contrast to the prior example, Manifesto’s are more concerned in the philosophical and political direction of the art, not necessarily limited purely to aesthetic value. Artistic movements and the development of Manifesto’s began to become prevalent in the mid 19th to early 20th Century as a reactionary occurrence to the vast sways of political, economic and social changes that occurred, such as the political revolutions of France (1846) and Russia (1917), the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the Americas, as well as World War One (1914-1918). The changing trends of society, especially during the collapse of the great European Empires in these periods led people to question many previously suppressed issues of the last 1000 years, such as religion, conformity, class and political leadership. Art itself at the beginning of the 20th Century was very much a reflection of the ‘old world’, which prized formalism, objectivity and a straight-forward approach to the definition of art. These new sways of revolutionary and to some extent reactionary artistic movements such as the Dadaist Movement (1916) and Cubism (1881), sought to challenge these ideas in a visual format easily accessible to public attention. Through the use of Manifesto’s these movements were able to present the basis of their objectives in a credited, documented manner.
There are usually a guidance of 10-15 rules as a summary of the Manifesto – for example, these were the main rules summarized in the Dadaist Movement Manifesto of 1915
and we are perfectly capable of an intelligent discussion.
Be we, DADA, don’t agree with them, for art isn’t serious, I assure you, and if we reveal the crime so as to show that we are learned denunciators, it’s to please you, dear audience, I assure you, and I adore you.
Here is the link to the presentation myself, Sammi, Dylan and Alex made. I enjoyed collaborating as a group and sharing my ideas in this communicative manner.
Film was a major artistic direction of the Dadaist movement. During the 1920s, Cinematography had first started to develop as a major form of public entertainment. The earliest artist associated with the Dadist Movement started to see the major advantages of using film as a means of delivery their artistic message. After doing a bit of research, I came across one of the earliest Dadaist films from 1928. I was impressed by the quality of film and editing considering that the video was created very early on in the history of film technology. The philosophies of the Dadaist movement are clearly apparent through this video, and it is very interesting to see an earky account of the movement, before it had really taken off as a major art movement.
I like how there seems to be no direction or meaning towards any theme in particular. Almost as if the subconscious mind of the film maker has played an unfiltered part, not allowing the constraints of the conscious mind to affect the outcome of the piece. The lack of narrative progression or story line, immediately draws me to the concept of subversion through the sense of structural disorder that is established. The lack of structural process contrasts greatly against themes of order and efficiently, which in context hints at the idea that a protest of this theme relates to war and military, a classic symbolization of structure and conformity. Considering that the film was made in 1928, this may therefore be a subtle hint of the film-makers protest towards the events of WWI (1914-1918). The lack of clear intent is in itself a theme of the Dadaist movement. The lack of meaning behind the film relates to the Dadaist concept that art has no direct meaning or relevance in society.
Comedy of this piece is created from the sense of subversion and confusion established by the absurdity of the performance. The filmmaker uses the comical technique known as farce, through the use of visual effects to create crude characterizations, such as the man’s loose head turning; and improbable, surreal situations; such as the flying hats. Farce works in the genre of silent film because the absence of verbal communication allows for communication and expression to be greatly exaggerated in order to make up for the silence. In the context of comedy, this is known a physical comedy. These visual effects help to add an already established sense of chaos and disorder.Therefore the confusion of such effects is what enhances the Dadaist principles of the video.
In this performance, Gaillard dresses up as a member of the French National Volleyball team. As soon as the French team line up for the national anthem, Gaillard sneaks his way form the crowd, into the French line up. This performacne is an extremely hilarious and satirical video in which Gaillard attempts to make mockery of the intense, serious nature of the situation. The contrast between the focus of the players and Gaillard michevous, exagarated personality is very conflicting and interesting to compare. For example, during the national anthem, the French Teamm remain silent, whereas their ‘newest member’ Gaillard sings loudly and passionately.
In this performance much of the comedy arises from the atmosphere of confusion and absurdity created by Gaillard. He establishes a sense of complete chaos in which many players either seem unaware or simply perplexed by his sudden appearance. What is very interesting concerning the performance is the amount of time it took for Gaillard to be noticed and removed from the court. This in turn drew me to consider the idea of how people in society react to subversion. It was clear that when Gaillard went to shake the hands of his oppenant, that some people seemed surprised by this new players appearance who had not appeared earlier on, however they did seem to openly challenge this. This is an idea which I find fascinating about performace/performacne photography, the fact that an artist/performer is about to get away with acting subversly directly unchallenged, simply because people do not know how to respond to such an unusual form of behaviour.
The subtely of this performance I believe works very well. Gaillard’s objective is not to draw attention to himself as such, but instead it is to try to blend into a situation that he does not fit into. This means therefore that Gaillard is conducting his performacne from an ‘outsider’ perspective. An element of comedy that irises from the fact Gaillard has thrusted himself into a ridiculous and in many cases inappropriate situation. It is exciting to watch and there is a constant anticipation for Gallard to be caught out. This idea relates very effectively to the idea of chance, because the crowds reaction is completely uncertain and the length of the performances depends directly on factors outside of Gaillards control.
This performance has inspired me to explore the concept of an ‘outsider’ in performacne. By acting subversly in situations that you have no connections to, makes the performance even more exciting and on edge, because their is no way of interpreting how strangers will react. Also there is something more risky about it, due to the facto hat acting subservy in public is prehaps uncomfortable and more difficult than it would be to act subservy in front of people you know well. Such a performacne enables the performer to view the situation objectively. I felt that this was the case during our trip to St Malo, because we had no prior experience of then place, and we were complete outsiders, forced to react and adapt (change) to the various situations that we were presented with.
