Tutorial with Jonathan on Tuesday July 6, 2011

1- Regarding the show, about the live performance:

I had 2 options:

- Option 1: To do the live performance in Beirut and show a showreel with the audience followed by 1 version of the edited clips

- Option 2: Ask for 2 spaces for the show (which is impossible) and do live show twice and show an edited version of the clip on a separate screen (this second option depends on whether there will be other people doing live shows as well, that way we can share the space and the equipments and so on)

Jonathan agreed that a live show in London would be much easier if there were 2 of us, there were last year for example and it worked well as they shared the equipment but not sure that will happen this year... He said that I may feel that showing it in Beirut and then showing a documentation video in London is not as good, but he thinks it would be better.

I thought that playing the live in Beirut places the clips in their context

Jonathan suggested that I show the documentation film and make it very clear that it is from a live performance in Beirut and that could actually be more interesting for people viewing it.

He then asked me where would I do a live performance in Beirut? I had a friend suggesting that I do a live in their collective space that is indoors, but I was thinking more on the street, which might require a lot of paper work: a permit from the municipality and a very good projector, and I will also need to ask surrounding places to turn off their lights during the projection…

Then Jonathan said he was hoping I would suggest outdoors and that he feels this could work really well... however, rather than having to plan a huge thing, I could do it on a very small scale, just a small projector, projected onto a street wall, not very big, even for just a few people...

I then thought of projecting in an outdoor café, located on the street and they have people coming in all the time, they should have a sound system, that way I could just plug my laptop on their system and a lot of the needed kit would be there already.

Jonathan suggested I could film at different cafés; film each one once, projecting onto their exterior walls onto tables from above…

Along the documentation video, I could have an edited version of the video as well running either on the same screen or on a different one for the London show.
Jonathan asked how would this change the work, the work has an intimate feel, a personal feel... he suggested that maybe the small scale is better. He asked about the film called "final bricks clip" on my blog, what would that look like projected even just A4 paper size onto a wall similar to the wall in the film?

For me the layering would work since I use a lot of backgrounds in the clips, the layers of the film and the layers of the projection surface.

Now I have to do my research on that and get approvals, this is also a good way not to ship so much to London. Jonathan suggested I bring a DVD or an HD media player if you I want an HD quality, or make both, as a back up
Jonathan suggested a hard drive media player, there are several like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-1080i-Media-Player/dp/B002KQ2JKQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1309873533&sr=8-2
Good quality and small and easy to carry in a bag to London. They have several different output connections, not a projector just a player to connect to a projector or a TV, the Western Digital one should do.

Size wise, I don't mind any size for this show, as a lot of people are showing and I don't mind a reasonable size, so this could depend on division of the space of the show.

Jonathan mentioned him curating a show about 18 months ago and we showed one film projected about A4 size and about only 90 cm up from the floor, very interesting and made people look more closely
Like Mona Hatoum's piece, the throat video, it was projected in a plate on a table
The sound is not going to be played live; I am using the recorded piece.

2- Regarding the clips:

Jonathan thinks I can start refining what I have then show it live in one or more spaces in Beirut.

I asked if the clips look too beginner-ish since it is the first time I animate.
Jonathan thinks the clips have a naivety, which is fitting to the subject matter... The only thing I would say is about the pace and direction of the movement, meaning that the times when the images fade into the background seem to work much better... for example in the bricks clip, when the drawing moves to fit next to the white paint on the walls, it looks like a powerpoint slide movement, but when the image fades into the background, it looks much more interesting, when the skyline moves and foreground move, that is much more effective, so maybe use less movement of single elements, maybe even try with the fading into the background, not go all the way to 100 opacity, what if the images stop at 90%, so you get feel of them actually on the wall, maybe this will look interesting.

Feedback on the clips - Friends

Yesterday, My friend mentioned that I probably should play the clips in a way, the more one looks at them, the more elements he/she discovers; as and example, he mentioned the cow scribble in one of the clips, how we can't really perceive it until it starts moving off the whole into the sky.

Today, another friend (tamara), looked at all the clips so far, and she had some interesting comments.

BUTTON CLIP:

- She liked the indoor/outdoor work.

- Found the paper in the background too graphical.

- Suggested to have the pony layered in front of the city.

- Found the edge of the indoor bed side counter too blurred. (maybe I should feather the edge?)

- Again, she would like the button to rotate.

CRANE CLIP:

- Problem with the scribbles (the red one and the grass bit), found them flimsy. (maybe I should try these more thick)

GEFINOR or MARBLE CLIP:

- She also wondered why the marble is not rolling.

HAND AND HEART CLIP:

I told her that there will be an extension between the body and the head so the head doesn't get suspended in the air, she suggested that it doesn't have to be a neck, could be another element that could work with the building.

- Later on, if this element doesn't work with the flower, I could remove the flower.

SLIDE FLOWER CLIP:

- She suggested to repeat either the flower color or any other element (maybe the heart from the hand and heart clip) in the pot on the side, it might create some sort of interesting visual.

WAVE CLIP:

- The top of the blue and white closet might be annoying, either extend the blue or do something else with the top part.

- When I reappear in the building, it's good to see me in more than one location.

WHITE HEELS CLIP:

- Work on the scribbles, how they disappear, maybe when they disappear, turn the lights on?

- The chandelier should disappear sooner around the middle.

- Maybe the chandelier at the end should be bigger and cropped?

- the white heels could just peak in and out, no need to have it go all the way down.

A General comment:

- I should watch the film: "Father and Son" by Alexander Sokurov

Feedback on the clips - Mike and Paul

I showed Mike and Paul the clips and I got their feedbacks, some general and others clips related:

- Modul8 the software is fine, I won't need something more specific at this point.

- The Midi is just there for practical reasons, I could manage to operate directly from the software itself, it's just the buttons on the midi are more comfortable.

- Mike suggested I gather all the clips on one big composition, on some form of a grid and I could move from one clip to another, moving up and down on every other clip while they are playing, probably could zoom in and out of the playing clips as well.

- Paul suggested I dissolve and do some layering work.

- Mike and Paul suggested I cut the clips even further, making every other movement a new clip, in other words, split the clios more.

- Mike suggested I take elements from clips and save them as separate layers as well to enrich the whole performance.

- They both are insisting on the importance of music.

- A VJ could be sitting behind the audience unless he is part of the performance, "you don't want people to look at you, you want them to look at the visuals".

- When you connect the controller or the midi to the computer, you have to map the midi, making the computer key detect the controller.

- Paul suggested I use the ease in and ease out buttons.

- Note to self: Consider projecting on a LED screen?

Meeting with Cineast Ghassan Salhab

I had the chance to sit briefly with Ghassan Salhab and show him the first clips a week ago to get feedback, and to see where I am standing at this point, here are the points that recap the meeting:
- He referred to Foucault's idea of "Le temps / Les temps", the plurality of the moment that could be seen from different points of view after having read briefly the paragraph about autobiography and stressing on "discontinuities", "fissures", ruptures" and so on...
- We discussed the idea of mixing elements in more than one clip, that is using the same element in different clips to create a rappel.
- He appreciated to relation to space in clips but found the clip with me and my sister on the huge building with the marble sliding too narrative for a beginning, but after I argued that it is not the beginning, that this clip could be placed anywhere in the sequence, he approved the use of this clip in another sequence.
- He remarked that the characters in the clips are mainly playing with tools that I am giving them (the objects) rather than playing around architecture, which he found more interesting.
- He concluded from the clips that they are not revolving about childhood but it is mainly childhood playing in the world of adult, which i find quite amusing, I haven't thought of that earlier.
- he suggested that I play around evocation, or keep evocation in the back of my mind when I am building up my clips, for instance the inflatable pony could make more than one appearance, it could be an element that travels all through the different clips.
- He approved that in the last clip I created: http://mayachamidigitalarts.blogspot.com/2011/05/developing-project-2.html I should get rid of the Arabic logo on the cement block and that it is too distracting.
- Ghassan also suggested that the pen clip could be more playful: http://mayachamidigitalarts.blogspot.com/2011/05/developing-project.html and that if I animate the pen buttons along with a color that appears on the black and white photograph, it could be of a greater impact.
- When I suggested placing all the clips (4x3) on different backgrounds, mainly shots from my grandmother's house (16x9), he approved and said that it could create a base to support the whole.
- Last before ending the meeting, he mentioned the idea of opening and finding stuff, childhood being all about objects that one finds after opening a box for instance "l'enfance c'est ouvrir et trouver quelquechose, faire sortir des objets..."

may 3 presentations feedback

Regarding the 5 loops I showed, the comments were the following:

Ed (livestream): I thought that it is very slow, I don’t know if that’s intentional, that’s my impression of this work, that it’s almost incredibly slow, if that’s intentional that’s fine, and that there are moments of disappointment, where I feel cheated, because of my expectations, but It doesn’t matter, in particular, when the marble slides down but doesn’t roll, now I expect it to roll down the building. There are certain things, this could be a matter of taste until the marble appears, like you expect the marble to roll, unless the artist intended not to roll it, but if it’s a gravity active upon this marble and the marble is sliding down the building then it has to roll and it has to be speed up and it has maybe to bounce when it hits the bottom, I think those details are really important, up until it’s all is very surreal, and because I have an expectation and it’s not fulfilled then I started to question the process which makes the audience member somebody who is no longer engaged with the art but somehow became critical in a negative way.

One of the face-to-face students asked the question (livestream): are they called loop because they will be repeated?

Jonathan (online):

Ed, associate lecturer, likes the surreal feel but not sure why the marble does not roll, it just slides.

Gabriele is asking whether they will loop continually.

Me: not really, will try to keep the elements separate so that I could mix the marble in another clip

Another question/suggestion from a face-to-face student: Depends if there are multiple screens employed? Is it going to be a multiple screen presentation?

Matt’s feedback: I like the visual style of Maya's work - the combination of photographs, textures and drawn images. I also like how she is fragmenting space and past/present. I think she may need to work more on the movement of these layers in After Effects, which at the moment feel quite mechanical and move at a similar pace. Having said that I am not sure how important that is as I know that this will be remixed further.

I really liked how the figures come up from the bottom in the fourth clip which had an element of revealing and surprise.

A face-to-face student (livestream) suggested I use another character?

(Livestream) hearing that quite interesting use of the space of the ladder scene.

Andrew: the people, there’s this kind of interesting structure and architecture, and then there are these characters that were introduced in an effort to populate the space, the images of people are almost dehumanizing, they’re kind of lifeless, they make the piece more lifeless somehow, because they don’t move and because they’re inanimate, the people make the piece feel more lifeless.

Suggesting a software, Markerless 2? You mask the character and it could track the character’s motion effortless, video cut out of people, in after effects.

Jonathan (online):

Multiple screens?

Movement issue like Matt said

The image on the wall with the ladder very good, almost real, as in real paint on the wall, several comments really liking this element.

Jonathan (online): observation - from Andrew - sometimes the people make it feel more lifeless because they don't move - but I think he is expecting video - rather than still images

A face-to-face student (livestream): But this is based on photographs.

Ed: My expectations are defeated because children should be walking.

A face-to-face student (livestream): I’m not sure whether these are stock footage or authentic image of Maya?

Same face-to-face student (livestream): I have the same problem, that is the lack of footage problem childhood, suggesting to film walking children and cut and paste my face on the material.

Jonathan (livestream) answers: it depends if you’re doing about childhood or your childhood.

A face-to-face student (livestream): The building and the 2 kids on it reminded her of Morris Mitchell's work, the use of upside down material and perspectives.

A face-to-face person, I guess Jonathan (livestream): It’s important that the artist creates his own footage.

A face-to-face student (livestream): It’s hard to animate from still images instead from videos.

Jonathan (livestream) clears the issue: Transitional digital objects: A fluidity in compositing an autobiography or a failure to create the portrait of the whole?

Suggests that’s a very good title, and that all the discussion is embedded in the title.

Christalla’s online:

Is it not always the case with art created with the artist personal meaning to it, if you don’t have reference to that person who is creating it then you really can’t understand the context of the work, so in this case maybe a bit of background material should be presented first.

feedback on research question and abstract version 4

Tuesday's session was a tutorial, I got feedback and approval on the last version of the research question and abstract.
So to recap, it sounds very good and Andy's advice is simple: keep the boundaries as defined in the abstract and just write
expand definitions etc. 'fluidity' should be defined early on for example.
me: I did include a little paragraph about objects and museum
"The ‘physical’ object in the creative industry was criticized in the museum environment. Museum and objects is a vast topic, the paper’s restriction will not allow giving it justice. However, within the context approached here, and to back up Mark Leckey’s vision of the physicality dissolving, Theodore W. Adorno in his ‘Valéry Proust Museum’ declares the death of the object in the museum when he brings in the German word ‘museal’ and connects it to the word ‘museum’."
so mainly just one example and am skipping the rest of the topic to stay focused
feedback: it sounds like I have worked hard over the past week to really get your idea defined and this is a huge transformation
me: I think i started the whole paper in reverse, that is I read a lot before coming up with the question, should have been the other way around, I would have saved a lot of time
feedback: there is no right way to be honest - sometimes you need to read alot to get inspiration / focus
it offers you poosibilities beyond the immediate imagination
me: is it normal to feel that it's actually combining material to fit the main question? i am barely writing, it's more collecting the notes in a logical way, like introducing what is going to be cited and then leading the way to the next point
feedback: thats the way to do it then you re-write ensuring there is a flow
just make sure your collection of data is following a pattern that will allow for the development fo the argument and discourse
me: I had hard time figuring who worked on the "wholistic" idea, then one day i was able to chase 3 good references that I have read earlier but didn't spot them since i was focusing on the bigger topic. I am happy with this finally
feedback: you sound in good spirits on this, my advice is keep writing while it lasts and enjoy the process, the other issue is really to suggets you just get this going, get it finished asap so you can focus on your practice
do you think this essay will inform your practice much?
me: sure it will, i even have 'notes to self' file on the side
every other note is generating visuals for the practice
like the idea of filming my grandmother's library, with books in the background and all the frames of the whole family (like 3 generations) in the foreground
and the idea of having the show (maybe, if it does fit within the budget), mapped on a building
like a live show on a building, but this requires huge budget for the projector and the structure
so am not thinking about these logistics, but it's definitely paper generated ideas
feedback: ok yes that could be complex and expensive - however a digital recreration of a space could be a very interesting development
it would allow you to be inventive with the recording and recreation of the space
me: but things are making sense out of this, autobiography was not coined earlier, and the idea of trying to get a whole narrative is now rejected in my head, but with a back up argument

tutorial - feedback on abstract

For the research paper, the abstract was followed by a tutorial session with andy, i need to reconsider and clarify many points, to recap:
- I am aiming to look at different artistic practices that shifted the object from its physical state to a narrative dimension, viewing artworks (in history, but stressing more on contemporary digital art related practicionners) who have worked on the object theme in narration and what are the implications?
- key example would be:
- the video lemon by Hollis Frampton: "Hollis Frampton worked on a video entitled "Lemon" where "a light moves slowly around the fruit describing it as defiantly three dimensional, touchable almost, until the light is entirely behind it, the fruit made into a perfect silhouette, three dimensions irreducibly made two, a flat shape that is nothing but a shadow of itself, a space of no light on the screen."
- and "The Cult of Less" who would sell everything they own except for anything that could store data and be used to digitally interact
- and the Tsunami collective who work on physicality of the connectivity
The relevance:
- Kelly Sutton from from "The Cult of Less" "cherishes online services" while Sherry Tuckle "cherishes objects" and describes them as "philosophy down to earth"
- My first attempt for this research paper is trying to understand or build a certain relationship between inanimate physical objects and objects that become data
- Andy suggests that this needs to be more prominant in the title
- is it about the dematerialisation of objects
- and how this process extends out knowledge of the the object
- and how narrative is affected by that
- seeing a physical object could generate narrative, seeing the same object as a photograph on facebook would generate different type of narrative
- I should define narrative in this context
- narrative for an object is about the relationship between it and its context: if you see a lemon on chopping board you can assume what the narrative is
- if the narrative is something from a individuals past it will not work as a straight narrative
- because the memories that trigger it are specific to you
- Function of the paper - its to discuss a specific issue within my practice
- as a paper it needs clarity and there is no room of interpretation
- I need to be specific and use citations to support my assertions
- I should read journaled articles, a good idea to familiarize myself with some as they are very different form books, they have a specific format, not just to emulate a style, but in the way information is ordered and imparted, it would help focus my idea
- Check out book called "Public Intimacy" by Guiliana Bruno, it discusses how museums build a narrative around objects
- Search for journaled articles within the terms used in my paper
- I need to understand them as this is what I need to produce
- The content of these papers is current and [assuming they are written now]
- In general, it's a nice idea you have a nice idea but it needs alot more ework to make this a objective assesment of the object and narrative
- stick with it - but make it objective - its an explanation/observation of a current state of affairs.

MPR Conclusions and recap on Tutorial Session

MPR feedback

Here are my colleagues feedback on my MPR.

I will be reflecting on the below information and post my comments soon.

Maya Chami: My research question ‚ 'foot kicking a ball: Narrative falling apart in the V.J.ing playground'‚ portrays the project I am developing: V.J.ing as an eye candy challenged into a narrative form.

I am interested in using the old habit of intermittent communication or my inability to tell a story in a shortcut way as a form in the narrative.

I am working now on narratives' 'leftovers' or the stories that come out and revolve around a theme, but not specifically portray it.

done

Jonathan Kearney (jkearney): several comments here about how this is a similar project to Jean's, good idea to creae a dialogue between you 2

Jonathan Kearney (jkearney): Jean asks, how is sound incorporated into this?

Jonathan Kearney (jkearney): or is the plan to include sound at al

Jonathan Kearney (jkearney): VJing is also repsonsive, reponding to the sound - like a DJ responds to the crowd....

Jonathan Kearney (jkearney): so is VJing actually the right word to use at all

Jonathan Kearney (jkearney): is there another term that can be used

Satbinder Kooner (skooner): can anyone explain VJing - sorry not familar with the term

Jonathan Kearney (jkearney): what about looking at the history of hip hop to give a context

David Tatnell (davidtatnell): I like the autobiographical sense of a vj set - not entirely documentary but hinting more to memory flash backs

Jonathan Kearney (jkearney): hip hop is also responsive, often to local issues, verbalizing what is going on

Jonathan Kearney (jkearney): Jean - VJing is manipulating video in real time

Jonathan Kearney (jkearney): but Jean also points out that VJing (VJ = video jockey) can be different in clubbing type setting rather than a cinema type setting

Jonathan Kearney (jkearney): there is a feel of improvisation - influenced by what is going on around the VJ

Jonathan Kearney (jkearney): the concept of 'input/output' is important to VJing, along with manipulation the footage you are working with

David Tatnell (davidtatnell): by taking it out of the clubs and into the gallery, how/will its context change?

Melanie Menard (m_menard): Do VJs normally work with D?J/musician (they agree beforehand on type of visual that match music) or usually completely separate ? If so, would you work with specific musician Maya ?

Jonathan Kearney (jkearney): also Jean points out the differences between simply 'live editing' footage just creating a sequence, and manipulating for example by adding effects

Melanie Menard (m_menard): I thought Maya wanted to perform in clubs, but maybe I misunderstood

Satbinder Kooner (skooner): What will the content of the video be - what is it's focus?

Andrew Stiff (astiff): if thisnk this is an interesting dialogue that we are having here - the response mechanism within vjing - input and output and feedback

Andrew Stiff (astiff): how does this work within a narrative

Melanie Menard (m_menard): I think it's childhood memories but sort of abstracted + external images she relates to them for some reason ?

Satbinder Kooner (skooner): ok that sounds good

Melanie Menard (m_menard): (was answer to sat)

Satbinder Kooner (skooner): thanks Melanie

Jonathan Kearney (jkearney): do you want this to be a performance in a club or a gallery or both - does this raise stylistic issues, what are people expecting in the different settings?

Jonathan Kearney (jkearney): Chan, suggests the visuals in a club setting might not be the best setting if you wnat people to focus and give atention to your images

Jonathan Kearney (jkearney): but maybe it is possible to make a club setting the right space, by thinking differently about how a visual narrative is constructed

Andrew Stiff (astiff): ok time .....

Andrew Stiff (astiff): thanks Maya - again many more questions

Andrew Stiff (astiff): definitely strike up a conversation with Jean

Maya Chami: thank you, i will!

Melanie Menard (m_menard): personal experience only, why not experimental music concerts? there's nothing much going on on stage (guy fiddling with machines) so they always look for VJs. SO you keep the not-art-world/festive setting, but people usually pay attention to the visuals and appreciate more, and are not so, hum, drunk or other :)

on another note, Matt emailed me his feedback, here it is:

Hey Maya these were my thoughts on your project...

- What is it that makes this medium eyecandy? This seems to be an easy trap
to fall into - how can this be avoided?
- Can there be certain sections of the narrative that are ‘corner stones' or
repetitions through which the non-linear parts happen?

- Maybe look more into the idea of memories and how these can be visualized.
How memories distort/ mix/ fade/ abstract/ fragment over time.
- Maybe look more into the concept of time in relation to memory and also
film theory.
- Play with time and pace - Run shorter clips alongside/ over the top of
longer clips? Check out...
- Vertov – Man with a movie camera (sequences layered on top of each other)
Able Gance - Napoleon (running narratives Simultaneously alongside each
other/ triptic)