Final Project Proposal

Well, I must say that for my final project, I'm still generally undecided.

This class is a lot about interfaces, making the invisible visible when it comes to web interactions, and conceptual thinking... And it's not for lack of subject matter that I'm struggling, it's just that there's too much to chew on.

Being of a more visual-arts background however, I decided I should focus on what strengths I do have, in other words, traditional, studio-based art making, while incorporating the web components. Below are a few tentative sketches of ideas I've been carrying with me since the semester started really.

It would be a sculptural project, because I find that sculpture has a real presence in a room, it leaves a lasting impact. The sort of sculpture I like to do is plaster molding, that is, molding human models, so it's a very intimate, humanistic process, which I think is a nice, meaningful contrast to the subject matter we're dealing with, ie: technology, the web, and such. Sculpture is something you can reach out and touch, something visual, tactile, and present on a 3D level, which is what I wanted to add to the digital component of this class.

The main idea behind these are interfaces. I'm diggin' the idea of interfaces... the dynamics of human and machine, user and web, user and user... and I'm sort of following what my last project was about, that very MacLuhan stream of thought which deals with the 5 senses, in relation to an increasinly digital world. I want to show a digitized human through the sculpture...

I wanted to sculpt a pregnant woman, with a computer screen in her womb, her eyes being digital cameras, and the screen projecting whatever she sees. It would sort of be the birth of a cyborg, if you will... I don't want the fact that there's a computer in there to be hidden, either. In fact, I'd want the mouse cord coming right out of her pubic area, to illustrate the very "umbilical cord" aspect of the mouse... about how we connect with the machine... So, the only way the user of this pc/mother could interact with the thing would be in an almost disturbingly intimate way, by grabbing the "lifecord", and basically becoming one with her. Ideally, had I the budget, the screen would show the webcam feed live, coming from her "eyes", but also have the option to check out other feeds from other sculptures around the room, which is something I'd love to do. A whole room-full of these silent cyborgs...
Anyway, there's SO much imagery in that alone that I'm having trouble deciding where next to explain, hehe.

Back up plan, since finding willing/able pregnant women to sculpt (which is tedious process) is VERY difficult, I've found, would be to sculpt a male figure, holding a sort of portable, web-enabled device with a screen. (PSP, most likely.) His eyes would be webcams as well, and he'd also be looking at his public, which would then be displayed on the screen. Though the PSP is wireless, I'd connect it to a charger hidden inside, having the cord connect through his belly-button, to sort of demonstrate a "closed circuit", and the strange :"feedback loop" you'd get. Like a never ending chain. The images on the PSP would be directed back at him of course, making it difficult for the viewer to see them, but that's the point. He aims at the viewer, the viewer, in essence, aims back at him, digitally. Voila, feedback loop, futility, awkward connections.

Anyway. Though I like these ideas, I realize they're somewhat flawed, in the sense that they might not adequately enough illustrate the whole "web component" of this class, although I would most definately create the webcam pages on flash, and they'd be interactive in the case of the pregnant lady/computer. I need some feedback, and to clarify my ideas more, but basically, I'm already looking forward to it. Some of my inspirations are as follows:

The feedback loop idea: I was inspired by Marie Ester's surveillance art project, called "Access". She creates a closed circuit using webcams, audio and visual equipment, which basically surveys and inexorably connects watchers and watched in a strange loop of interactivity, where neither party knows who is really in control:

http://www.accessproject.net/

David Rokeby: I was inspired by Rokeby's Essay, "Transforming Mirrors: Subjectivity and Control in Interactive media", who was also inspired by MacLuhan's ideas. In this essay, he basically talks about how we use interactive media as a way of not only extending our senses, like how MacLuhan describes, but we also use it to get a reflection of ourselves. Since the nature of interactive art dictates that the viewer is no longer a viewer, but a participant of sorts, the work of art becomes how we as "viewer/participants" interact with it. Therfore, the interaction the art, in some ways, becomes us, or a reflection of us. I sort of wanted to illustrate this through having a user interact with these sculpted figures in varying ways, but forcing them to get close and personal with the figures, IE umbilical cord, and see how people react. Would they flee, or like it a little too much?

MacLuhan: Well of course. The Medium is the Message, and I don't think it can get any clearer. Plaster is moldeable, tactile, human... digital technology is ambivalent, cold and random, though incredibly useful. Fusing the humanism, soul, sensorial aspects of the sculpture with the calculated, restrictive but powerful technology is really something I've wanted to explore. Strange hybrid it would be. Why do it in plaster at all, when I could just webcam without it altogether? What's the use? That's what I want people to ask... because that's the point. I want them to eventually maybe think about what the sculpture represents... it represents us, the human element... and really, what's the point of having humans involved at all, in the technological process? It's a subject that's very close to me, and that I find relevant in today's world. I think these works would explore it well through such a fusion of media.

Here is my most recent assignment: The video for small devices.

www.hybrid.concordia.ca/~lizlee/a2/dialyourextensions.html

My thinking behind this was again very much MacLuhan inspired. (What can I say, my Art and Technology classes are getting to me, heh) I kept in mind the theory "The Medium is the Message", and how MacLuhan stated that technology is basically just a means for man to extend his senses. However, by doing so in such an artificial way, he mentions that man also alienates his senses, sacrificing one for the other. The net, for example, is almost a fully visual experience, with a touch of audio. We focus all our energies on visual and aural media, and hence lose touch with touch, smell and taste... TV is visual, and pretty much stops us from moving, from feeling, from seeing, some might argue. We are occularcentric mostly, as a culture, depending mostly on our eyes; what we see.
MacLuhan suggests that this came about firstly with the advent of writing, where traditionally aural cultures experienced the world in much more "sensitive" way, using all 5 senses to tell a story, for example. Around the fire, dancing, singing, touching, eating... storytelling was a full-blown, sensual experience. With the advent writing, and notably of Guttenberg's printing press, the propagation of written material and consequently, the need to understand writing by reading caused us to generally lose touch with other senses, and devote ourselves almost entirely to sight to experience the world.

Technology, one might argue, is slowly changing this, by making interactivity part of the visual experience, but by default, we are still very limited.

So for this video project, I chose to show seperate pieces of facial features coming from a variety of people, in a sort of uneven, flowing stream of senses, though there is a certain emphasis on the eye to underline our occularcentricity. We isolate and disconnect our senses nowadays, to experience the world... and so I thought showing a jumble of confused, solitary features would be reminiscent of that. For the audio component, I thought it would be appropriate to create and mix a series of conversations, and to then jumble them up, to give the whole thing an awkward, confusing and honestly uncomfortable feeling. We should feel uncomfortable, seperating our senses like we do, which should otherwise be working all together to truly understand the world.

Since this was a project for small screens, I pictured somewhat of an ironic scene, perhaps in the not too distant future, of someone referring to this video on their cell phone to remind themself of what their senses are, or how they were. I found it ironic that the only way we might even connect with our other senses is visually these days, so through the medium of video, I exposed all of them except of course, taste.

I guess the most generalized point of this video though, was simply to make the viewer uncomfortable, or simply "aware". I chose strange sounds, distorted images of things we take for granted. I just wanted the viewer to "feel". Feel anything, except the cold reliance on technology, feel for a moment, that awkwardness when faced with distorted features that are only vaguely recognizable, that reminds us we are indeed human.

Flash Assignment

Well.. since I'm generally a "n00b" at putting up flash documents in a website, here's where my flash project is hosted: http://hybrid.concordia.ca/~lizlee/a1/assignment1.html

I'll try to figure out how to post it here for future reference.

Anyway, this project was very difficult for me, since I have basically NO flash skills whatsoever, despite having a general knowledge of its capacities and possibilities. So what I did was basically an outline of the project, including all its components (what I wanted to move, what buttons did what, etc..) and asked a saavy friend for some help. (Thanks Victor!) He explained to me how to construct what it is I wanted, and laid the groundwork for me to get my paws wet, all on my own.

This project has consequently taught me a lot, so it was really rewarding to see the thing work, especially since particular attention had been paid to the conceptual aspects. I'll be picking up a copy of Flash for Dummies soonish, and start learning about this cool program.. there are endless possibilities, apparently!

Anyway, on to the more conceptual bit...
My thinking behind this was sort of a critique of media, since we seem to be touching on these issues a lot in class. (Well not necessarily critiquing all the time, but definately questionning the validity of mass media, and how to use art to see past its brainwashing effects, and keep our objectivity, basically.) Contrarily to what it might look like, a lot of thougt was put into pretty much every aspect of this TV...

Firstly, I chose the oldest looking television possible, to make it look sort of iconic, in an empty white background. I wanted it laid out like that to illustrate the isolationist nature of watching television... when you watch it, there's nothing out, and you gobble up the images... in essence, your mind becomes as blank as the background.

The videos: They are all videos I shot myself, mostly on my recent trip to Japan. The reasoning behind this is just basically to add a personal touch, but also because what I did shoot was sort of symbolic of mediatic culture: The busiest intersection in the world (Shibuya section, Tokyo, alight with adds, neons and hyper stimulation on all sensual levels...), A bullet train, a crowning acheivement of technological development, automatic, revolving sushi.. so that you don't even need to interact with a person to get your food. Japan is really the prime example of a media-drowned culture. The footage of a man talking I found relevant just because you can't hear what he's saying... I think that says a lot about communication these days, on a person-to-person basis. It's all pretty symbolic I guess.

As far as the music: I chose the Benny Hill and Twilight Zone themes, not only because they relate to the age of the old-looking television I chose, as far as the era they're from, but also because they're instantly-recognizable television classics. Icons of media, if you will. Benny Hill because it's so ridiculous, and the Twilight Zone because it's so creepy... both atmospheres that relate well to television in general, if left to its own devices, hehe.

The controls: I decided not to give the viewer control of the channels themselves, because I think that's exactly how it is, in reality... Most of the time, you have no control over what images you're innondated with... all you can control really, is your perception of said images. If you're lucky, you're conscious of their effects, and can hence chose your opinion, illustrated by the music. Either it's Twilight-Zone creepy to you, how TV mass-hypnotizes millions, or you find televised media just plain ridiculous, like the parodying melody of Benny Hill. (I mean, "Who wants to marry a millionaire"... need I say more?) Or you can just tune out entirely, and watch the images blankly, like many do.

The second knob: Quite simply, when you try to turn it off... it turns you off.

Anyway, I realize this is pretty-much hand-feeding the meaning out to whoever sees this, but still, I just wanted to show what my thought-process was behind all this, despite it being a relatively simplistic project. I think you can still extract more messages behind the messages, and really, make it what you want it to be. As long as the person is thinking about the gratuitous nature of the televised image... then that's fine with me.