Filed under: Research from memory 2
I have learnt from reading the text that primary research is much more effective then secondary reasearch. Primary research consists of going out into the world and talking to people, conducting surveys etc. Secondary research consists of works already done by people in the past e.g. books, internet readings.
I have been told along with my classmates a number of times not to do the bleeding obvious. This means when coming up with an idea to think of doing something different to keep people interesting in your work.
I have done some research and found two artists that do work that is experimental and avoids the obvious. I can take inspiration from these pieces to develop my own thoughts when thinking of an idea that avoids the obvious.
Micheal Landy
He is an artist and the example I have chosen to look at is his work ‘Break down’ 2001, where he destroys all of his belongings in public view. He wanted to destroy all that he had so decided to destroy them in order for him to move on with his life. This is his most famous piece of work and it is completly opposite to the obvious. I am not saying that I personally would consider destroying all my belongings but it was interesting to see how far people will go to make their work stand out from the rest. I can definatly take inspiration from this piece because it is different and original. Landy even said in the clip that people do not even remember his name, they know him for the guy who destroyed all of his belongings. The idea was very extreme but it worked because remember the idea very clearly, they do not remember his name but his work so this makes this piece of work a major success thus being Landy’s most famous piece of work to date.
Michael Landy – Talking about his work ‘Break Down’ 2001
Derek Jarman
He was a film director, stage designer, artist and writer. He combined the use of super 8 with 35mm to produce both personal movies about his own memories or reactions to the world around him and movies that combined the look of the school play with little known actors to comment on the recent events of the past. I have chosen to look at a scene from Jarman’s film ‘Jubilee’ (1977). The film is about a girl Elizabeth I who is transported forward in time and moves through the social and physical decay of the city observing the activities of a group of sporadic nihilists. This is a personal movie with Jarmans reations to punk rockers at the time. I can again take inspiration from this film because I can take the route down using a personal theme with my own thoughts and displaying them in a piece of work. This is out of the ordinary and it will keep people interested in my work. This is because it is from my point of view so it will differ to other peoples opinions and beliefs so they will keep watching.
Derek Jarman ‘Jubilee Film Scene’ (1977)
Filed under: Memory Artifact Analysis
The whole purpose of this artifact was to show memory from my point of view. I took still and moving images to show the what I remember when I see a specific item. My first picture is a petrol station and that immediatly makes me remember putting petrol into my car so I took a picture of a petrol nozzle. I follow on from this linking items from my own memory.
I am very proud of this piece of work because I feel I have meet all of the criteria that was set. This idea came about after a chat with my seminar lecturer. I had an idea before this one but my seminar teacher said he liked the fact that I have linked an item with my own memory. This was the foundation for how this idea came about. This piece meets that requirement because I am linking items with my own memories.
Filed under: Memory Artifact
Feedback
I showed my artifact in class and everyone really liked it. They liked the fact that I have used personal memory in order to express my artifact. I was very happy with the response I recieved for this piece of work.
Filed under: test pictures that I may use in my memory artifact
I have taken a number of different pictures to use in my artifact. I will upload two of them and evaluate if they are any good to use and also the reason why I am using them
Picture 1
I really like this picture because I feel it is well shot and clear. My artifact is linking memories with each other from my point of view. I needed a picture of a car engine to show after the moving image of me driving the car. This is because when I am driving I remember when I had to check the engine oil before I drove the car in many occasions. This is why this picture is needed and I really like it. I will be using this still image in my memory artifact.
Picture 2
I also really like this picture that I took of a pub. This picture comes after the moving image of me remembering working in the alcohol section at sainsburys when I was at college. This picture is needed because when I was working in the alcohol section at sainsburys, it made me remember coming to the pub with friends and having a drink. I will also be using this picture in my memory artifact.
Filed under: Memory Artifact - coming up with my idea
Obstruction for Memory Artifact – Do something very different that you have not tried before.
I have taken this into account and will start to think of my idea with this obstruction in mind. Before I start to think of an idea I will list the different types of memory I can think of to give myself a starting point.
List of different type of memories
< Human memory, computer memory, technological memory including phone, camera etc, alarm clock
From this list I found that I wanted to do a piece revolving around human memory. I feel I have much more creative freedom with this type of memory. I will began to research around human memory to come up with an idea for my artifact.
I want an idea that has a sense of amnesia and nostalgia. I searched around for material relevent to these issues for my idea.
My first idea was heavily influenced by the Bourne identity because Jason Bourne has amnesia. I watched this film and thought the amnesia concept would work extremely well. nostalgia also works well in this film because Jason Bourne is told about his past and he gets a sense of nostalgia.
Coming up with my idea
First Idea – Man (me) sitting down in front of a psychologist, the man is suffering from amnesia and does not remember anything about his past. The psychologist will be showing the man different objects to see if the man can link them back to anything in his past. The objects include a pen, driving licence and football. The pen and driving license will be shown to the man and the man would not recognise these at all. He is then shown a football and this time he is able to link it back to his past when he went and watched Arsenal play at Highbury. The man gets a sense of nostalgia because the football memory was always in his head but he needed to see an object (football) to trigger the memory off.
Seminar feedback and change of idea
I told my seminar teacher about my idea. He liked the fact I was linking an object to another e.g. football to the past. He did not like the amnesia part because he felt I was contradicted myself because one minute I do not know anything thing and then suddenly I do. I agreed that my idea could be better and started to think how I could change it. I knew I had to think of something that linked a memory to another. This is because that was the strong point of my first idea and I had to lay that as a foundation to make this artifact the best it could be.
Final Idea – I am going to mix still image with moving image, All of my images are from my point of view and what they remind me off. I am going to link items with what they remind me of with past experiences influencing my decisions. For example my first shot is going to be of a petrol station, when I see a petrol station it reminds me of cars so I will then film cars, cars remind me of engines so I will film a car engine etc. This idea allows me to link items together with my memory choosing the next item I film. I really like this idea and look forward to shooting it.
Here is a list of what I am going to film and in the order I am going to film in
Petrol station, car, car engine, a heater, a warm top, snow, christmas tree, watching t.v., beer and chocolate, Sainsburys, beer being put on shelf, the aardvark (pub), football fixture (Arsenal vs Chelsea 29/11/09), football being kicked in a park
That is the full list of what my artifact will include. All of these items come from my memory and is what I think of when I see these items. The last item (Beer being put on shelf) may not make sense but it does for me because I used to work in a supermarket on the alcohol section where I packed alcohol onto the shelfs.
Producing my idea
23/11/09 – I planned all the shots that I wanted, I come up with my narrative structure. I wrote both of these down and memorised them for the first day of shooting tommorow.
24/11/09 – I shot most of my still images, The weather was overcast and that helped a lot in the quality of my photos. I did not have to worry about any sunlight ruining my images. I was very happy with the images I got, I am going to film the moving image shots tomorrow as I need someone else filming for me.
25/11/09 – My friend agreed to help me out and I filmed the remaining moving image footage, I was again very happy with the final outcome of my footage.
26/11/09 – I went and filmed one last shot that I forgot to get on the 24/11/09. I then edited my piece and added my music. I am extremly happy with my final piece as I feel it fully meets the criteria that my seminar lecturer told me to base my artifact around. I also added the music to completly finish my artifact and uploaded it onto my blog.
The Music
I wanted a calming song for this piece because it is all about memory. I am showing the journey I went through by remembering things when I see a image and linking them to what I remember. The music I have decided to use is called ‘Time to pretend’ by a band called MGMT. I felt this music goes well with all of the images I have included and feel this is the best song choice I could have chosen.
Filed under: Further Power Research
Power can be used in so many forms including Economical power, Political Power etc. I have researched around and found a video on youtube of Barack Obama talking about the ecomony and what he will do to fix it if he was elected president. I like this video because it covers both Political power and Economical power. Obama is the political power and the economy is the economical power.
I think this is a very good example to show power because Obama has the world (specifically american citizens listening). This gives him power because he has a say and is brainwashing people into believing and agreeing with his thoughts. But although it seems like Barack has all the power over the public in fact the public have power over him to. It is up to them to vote him president and if more people vote for someone else he does not get elected. So although it seems he has all the pwer he in fact has the same amount of power as the public.
The point I am trying to get across in this example is although it seems that Barack Obama has all the power he in fact does not. If you look deeper into the clip we see that the public has power over Obama because they decide his fate.
Filed under: Power Artifact
I showed my finished artifact to the class and module lecturer on 16/11/09. the lecturer gave me feedback and I learnt a lot from this because I was told what worked well and what did not. I found this very useful because I will include the good stuff of this artifact in my next one and also will not include the bad stuff in my next one that was bad in this artifact.
Fellow peers said that they found this artifact very interesting and they really enjoyed watching it.
Here is the lectures feedback
Good Points
< Liked that I used an image more than once
< Liked the money coming out of my pocket
Bad Points
< Did not like the text that I included, I will not used text next time, I will leave the connotations to the audience to decide how they want to percieve my next artifact,
Filed under: Top Ten Experiences
In lecture we were told to come up with the top 10 experiences of our life. I have made a list of my own top ten experiences.
1. progressing with my degree: I am now in my final year of study and I am getting nearer to achieving my ambition of obtaining a degree. A degree will open up so much doors for me in terms of a job then if I did not get a degree. For this I am extremely happy to have nearly finished my degree.
2. Holidays: They are always special because I got to see other parts of the world. Also going to Canada especially stands out for me because I get to see my family who live over there.
3. Watching football games at Highbury/Emirates: I am an avid fan of football and Arsenal, going to Arsenals is one of my highlights. It is an absolute spectacular event for me and watching my team live was amazing.
4. Passing my driving test: This gave me complete independence and made my life so much easier. I used to have to get on a bus which was unreliable because it made me late for places. I can now just jump in my car and go straight to where I want to go. Having a car is an easy commute from university to home and back.
5. Moving to university: This was a big step in my life. It was the first time that I lived away from home and it has really improved my independence. I had to adjust to university life and also being in a new city and not knowing anyone. I really enjoyed making new friends and getting to know the city.
6. First pay packet: This was the first time I ever got paid from work. I was extremely happy and spent all of my money on stuff I wanted. It was the first time I had money and it felt all the good because I knew I earnt it.
7. Work experience at Saatchi & Saatchi X: This gave my an opportunity to go and see what working in advertisement is all about. I sat in on interviews and was shown the ropes of everything that they do. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I learnt so much. It is going to look very good on my CV when going for a job.
8. Passing exams: This ensured I got myself to university to work for a degree. passing my GCSE’s gave me the opportunity to go to college and study media moving image. I was introduced to loads of different equipment e.g. camera, lighting, editing software. This allowed me to build up my knowledge of all different media software.
9. Meeting my girlfriend: This has made me very happy and opened up a whole new world for me.
10. Going out with friends: I really enjoy going out with them and socialising.
Filed under: Michel Foucault
Foucault’s work on power and the relationships among power, knowledge and discourse has been widely discussed. He is best known for his work on medicine, psychiatry, human sciences and the prison system. Foucault helped find the prison information group, this was a way for prisioners to voice their concerns. This lead Foucault to study the disciplinary instiututions with a book called ‘Discipline and Punish’ which is based upon the micro power structures that devolped in western societies since the eighteenth century, specifically on a focus on prisons and schools.
Discipline and Punish
This book opens with a graphic description of the brutal public execusion in 1757 of Robert – Francois Damiens who attempted to kill the king of France at the time. This book also shows colourless prison timetable from just over 80 years later. Foucault then goes on to say how such a change in French society’s punishment of convicts could have developed in such a short time. There are two snapshots of two constrasting types of Foucault’s ‘Technologies. The first type ‘Monarchical Punishment’, involves the repression of the populace through brutal public displays of executions and toture. The second ‘Disciplinary Punishment’ is what Foucault says is practiced in the modern era. Disciplinary punishment gives ‘professionals’ power over the prisoner, especially the prisoners length of stay depends on the professionals judgement. Foucault compares modern society with ‘Panopticon’ where a single guard can watch over many prisoners while the guard remains unseen. The dark times have been replaced with the bright modern prison but Foucault argues that that visibility is a trap. Foucault says it is through this visibility that the modern society exercises its controlling systems of power and knowledge. Foucault also says that increasing visibility leads to power located on an increasingly individualised level, shown by the possibility for institutions to track individuals throughout their lives.
I have learnt so much from researching Michel Foucault. I have clearer understand of his views on the prison system. Foucaults views on the prison system has been talked about in lectures but I fell from doing my own research I have a much more clearer understanding of his theories.
Filed under: Power Artifact
The whole purpose of this artifact was to potray purshasing power meaning the more money you have the more you can buy. I chose to use an example with the pair of jeans on sale in Topman. The jeans are £20 and I show how if you do not have enough money you do not have any power over the jeans because you cannot afford it. I then go onto to having the correct amount of money by being able to buy the jeans and this means power has been restored because I can buy the jeans and own them.
I had my plot, now I needed to think how to exacuate it so people would understand it. I decided to include a number of shots of myself opening my hand with a different amount of money in it each time with the money increasing everytime. I had a 1p the 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1, £2, £5, £10 and finally £20. The whole point of working up through all the money validations shows the slight increase in power everytime the money increases because I am getting nearer to the £20 asking price for the pair jeans. After each shot of me holding up each amount of money I am alterantiong back to a still image of the pair of jeans and the £20 sign. This is to give people more of an idea what the point of this work is.
the last shots show me taking the jeans of the rail because I have enough money to buy them and the final shot shows me handing the money over to the cashier. This is so I show how power has been restored by being able to buy the jeans.
I used a track called ‘for thelove of money’ by the O’Jays. I felt that this track fitted perfectly with the whole concept of this video. The whole video is about the power of money and this song is also about money, it was the perfect match.
I really enjoyed producing and editing this pice of work. It allowed me to come up with my own idea and I am happy I chose to do my video on this topic. I have never done any work on a type of Economical power before so this was a new field of work I was taken on. I have learnt a lot from this experience and also I am thinking of new creative ideas now much more then I was before this module began.
