World Building (w/ Chad, Julia, and Hailey)

This week’s world building assignment brought up a lot of questions. So many, in fact, it took a while to narrow our group’s focus to a centralized tone and idea for our new world. Our what-if question, the thing that started all our speculation, was this: “What if there was only one world continent?” This is a pretty specific concept, but it was surprising how many possibilities stemmed from such a simple question. We had to consider how such a world might come into being, whether what we built would take place in the past or the future, and we decided on a future idea, inspired by scientists’ predictions of continental drift. We found a really great source for this here. That provided all the geographical inspiration for Caitlin’s map. From there, we veered in a kind of dystopian direction influenced in some part by the tone of “Panem” in the Hunger Games. This thought, where we focused on the future and a kind of science fiction style of world, was further supported by the ideas from our reading of “Design Fiction” this week, which talked about where design fiction appeared most and was the most successful, particularly in the conclusion. It also discussed how design is the expression of an idea. We were able to integrate that into the world that we created. The idea is in the question, what if the modern world became one land mass?     World building is integral to science fiction, and therefore it was a great medium to take inspiration from. We felt that the world becoming smaller and closer together would have an opposite effect culturally--nations would feel more threatened by each other and would draw away, possibly scared of losing their own identity. That fear would encourage less cooperation and more paranoia. This was the tone and feeling behind our ideas about border control, found in Chad’s newspaper, which would be a huge concern in a world where all borders touched. It also contributed to Julia’s black propaganda posters demeaning mixed-race people. When cultures are colliding and mixing, as demonstrated in the map and in some the country changes therein, they would tend to feel fearful about losing that culture. Such concerns would not only be cultural, but also practical. Diseases and weapons would be much more serious, and much more difficult to escape. Hailey showed this in a really interestingly commercial way with her advertisement for fashionable medical masks, a wise idea in a society with no water separating outbreaks, an era with no buffers. In exploring a darker, more insular world, we found that fear and claustrophobia is a potential challenge to human development, a concern perhaps even relevant in today's world, as the world gets smaller and smaller, if not on a physical level, then in every other way.

Textual Poaching

Go to: California

Artist's Statement

This was one of the most fun and stimulating of our projects so far--some of that may be vanity, because it's fun to think about yourself and talk about yourself, figuratively, but I also think it's the joy of stealing. Huh. So maybe not a whole lot of morally straightforward fun behind it, but fun nonetheless.

I've already quoted this in a past artist's statement, but it fits too well this week to go underutilized: "Good artists borrow, great artists steal." We've been able to be pretty forthright about our stealing this week, but I would submit that everything we do draws on already existing sources. That's not a bad thing. As we saw in the Remix clip we watched, some of the best music can come from "stealing," or influences, and I've had the chance to hear a lot about that from my Dad, who is a musician and knows about a lot of the copyright battles that have been fought over the years. Even Isaac Newton said his work's significance only came because he was standing on the shoulders of giants, and T. S. Eliot, one of the greatest poets of all time and someone who had a lot to say about the creative process, said something similar. But I digress.

When I was deciding on what aspect of my identity to focus on, I didn't want to chose something obvious, like my religion or my gender, though those are both significant parts of me. At the same time, I didn't want to go so obscure that it wasn't actually something I strongly identified with. I got to two ideas from there: my left-handedness and my being from California. I really feel strongly about left-handed issues, but tellingly on the issue, there just weren't that many related texts I could draw on, let alone remix. California, however, erred in the opposite direction. There are more songs about California than any other place, I would venture to guess. That made it difficult to chose one thing to be my base, but I settled on "Take California," by the Propellerheads. I chose it because the song itself already had a remix vide that would go really well with what I was planning to do: shove as many California songs as I could into one celebratory mess. I didn't even fit a quarter, in case you were wondering, but I was able to include my favorites, ones I've been listening to my whole life, as well as a couple new ones I discovered happily this week. "Take California," for example, I've been listening to my whole life--my Dad loved that album, and I remember dancing weirdly to it with my sister in the living room. "California Girls" by the Beach Boys was on the very first album I ever bought, "Sounds of Summer," when I got it with a Target gift card at eight-years-old. I also included some samples from a conversation I originally recorded from last week, but never used, that was 15 minutes total of just my roommates and friends and I chatting. At one point, my roommate asked me what my favorite place was. My answer shouldn't be surprising, after hearing the beginning of the song, and I liked putting in this proof, and my own voice, as an expression that I truly do feel strongly positive to my geographical roots. That I was able to link this with music, one of the first art forms I ever enjoyed, made it even more special, and including so many songs that I've listened to further personalized it to me.

My favorite reading this week was the one about how texts become real. It made me want to read the whole book it came from, which in fact, I now have on hold at the library. I've read the Velveteen Rabbit and been touched before, but what Jenkins talked about is more far reaching even, because it touches on what we do everyday, not just once in a lifetime, when we consume. We are not mindless, not indifferent observers, but active participants in the creation of the impact of art. When I thought about using "Take California" in the framing of my own identity, I worried slightly about its perceived accuracy. I'm not really a hip hop or remix person, though that is to some degree relevant to me. However, it's what I've contributed to the power of that song in my own life that I think matters here, and I can trust the viewers to synthesize its attributes with other seemingly contrasting songs used in the piece. As I was researching this topic a little extra on the side, I came across a Ted Talk that was super relevant, and as interesting as it was a little extreme. It was called "Embrace the Remix," (link below) and talked about how everything was a remix. I really enjoyed it, and it inspired me to be more bold with the things  borrow or steal even when the assignment or goal isn't borrowing or stealing. So watch out, world, there's a new bandit on the street.

Embrace the Remix

Walking Home in the Slant of the Day (Medium Specificity)

Walking Home in the Slant of the Day (Medium Specificity) from Caitlin J. Brady on Vimeo.

Artist's Statement

My process for this week's project was very scattered, and I was all over the place as I brainstormed different mediums and directions I could go. I even got in some concrete work on multiple other ideas, in multiple other mediums. The hectic arrival, though, only serves to highlight its simplicity and serenity for me, personally, and I suspect I will enjoy this project more lastingly than any other I've made so far. This video is very simple, with no cuts, minimal work done in post-production, and not even a soundtrack, but that is intentional, and works towards the focus that I meant to examine: the relationships between the camera, the filmmaker, and the viewer. Primarily, the form of this short emphasizes the power the filmmaker has over their work, and the relationship between the camera and the camera person, which is nearly direct. The camera can't go anywhere that the camera operator does not, and it is restricted in that way, for good or bad. The tight frame that I kept on an unchanging subject really highlights that restriction, I think, and the viewer may at first become bored or impatient, especially hearing the sounds out of frame and not seeing their sources. Sound was important to me in creating aural depth and perspective, and I love the fade-in fade-out things that happened as I passed different noises. Then, though, another power comes into play: that of the viewer. I wanted this work to embody the long walks home that we all take, and invite the viewer to relax into the simple patterns and lack of obligation that represents, and go off from that into thinking about--well, whatever they wanted, just like on real walks home. To that end, I kept the great length and the simple frame, encouraging a relaxation of expectation, and an acceptance of meditation. Interestingly enough, and to my frank delight, just a day after I shot this footage a friend of mine spoke unprompted about how much she enjoys being able to think about whatever she wants while commuting home, and that same freedom is open here, to the viewer. It is not influenced at all by the filmmaker, and is uninfluenced by the story, manipulations, and connotations that are so much heavier in most other films. I enjoy those things, but this work focuses on the freedom from them, and the viewer's ability to think about what they want regardless of outside stimuli. In the process of editing and proof-watching, I've watched this four times just straight through, and long and monotonous though it may seem, I've enjoyed it--there is something hypnotic about the constant movement and the rhythmic sound of footsteps. I also purposely filmed this during golden hour, or what is called in French "the slant of the day," which lays a golden tinge on things and heightens shadow. I wanted this for the visual interest, especially of the shadows of the filmmaker and surrounding objects, and also for the feel of evening and closing and coming home that I feel gives this otherwise somewhat structure-less piece a very complete-feeling end.

When this project started out, I was taken in by all the possibilities, and a little seduced by complexity and combinations. When I looked back at the examples from class, however, I was more struck by their simplicity. For Jackson Pollack, Andy Warhol, John Cage, and Stan Brakhage, the complex possibility of the meanings and inspiration that can come from their texts does not result from an intense or contrived intention or construction. The opposite is true: the simplicity and ambiguity of their work, focusing more on process than product typically, allows the audience to come to its own conclusions and find meaning for themselves, which can be much more meaningful than picking up a meaning someone else manufactured. This thought was a comfort to me whenever I worried about getting too simple, as I worked on this project--at the time, one of multiple possibilities for my final piece. I also worried about whether it was actually watchable, when it is so long and repetitive. Recently, though, in 114, we watched a short art film called "Everything is Everything," linked to below, which is just made up of clips of faceless hands manipulating objects, and I was surprised by how much I and the rest of the class enjoyed it. That, too, gave me confidence and inspiration this week. In the end, the form of this video seemed analogous to the process I went through in creating it--a bit of a long journey and a lot of thought, before simply coming home.

"Everything is Everything" by Koki Tanaka

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym0LaSAn5n8&feature=share

Historical Script: "The Potato Guard"

Artists' Statement

This project was fun, to take a historical event and put a unique spin on it. It’s been said that “good artists borrow, but great artists steal.” Using a historical event as inspiration is handy because stealing from it is more socially acceptable than most alternatives, and you can take a lot of liberties. Also, it is an almost endless source of fascinating stories about true human behavior, which as we know, can often be stranger than fiction. The historical story we drew on and interpreted had kind of a ridiculousness about it, as it’s not often we hear about national, royal decrees involving potatoes, that most unshapely tuber. We chose to run with that, emphasizing the cartoonish aspects rather than the realistic aspects of the story. Originally, I heard about it from my Dad, who is an expert collector of mental lint and told it emphasizing the potato’s role as the solution to marching soldiers over the crop fields, and talking humorously about the great lengths Frederick the Great went to take advantage of them. I fixated on just one aspect of the process, this potato field, partially because it was crazy, partly because it worked, mostly because it was crazy that it worked. As I wrote it, I did some more research, and learned that Frederick the Great still has potatoes placed on his grave. And Austria, of course, still grows potatoes. I love that plans that seem crazy, both at the time and decades afterwards, can turn out to be a good thing. Our script celebrates that craziness while trying to maintain the spirit of its success.

We were really glad in class when we watched “My Grandmother Ironed the King’s Shirts.” Most other examples we enjoyed were much more serious, and dealt with harsh issues in a strong, humanist light. That was good, but not super compatible with the spirit of our scripts’ premise. Granted, we could have focused on the famine and stubborn resistance to change that preceded the potato, but we think that always would have been undermined by the way Frederick the Great went about solving this admittedly grave issue. Instead of taking that route, we went the way of gentle exaggeration also utilized in “My Grandmother.” We felt like we had more confidence in our approach after watching that. We also felt like it reminded me to focus more on characters, not just events, because it’s that characters that ground the events.