The Extended Screen Folio

Final video

VIDEO

Sequence 01 from Amy Yan on Vimeo.

digital mirroring test @ site from Amy Yan on Vimeo.

MVI 1245 from Amy Yan on Vimeo.

Sequence 02 from Amy Yan on Vimeo.

Written document

final presentation booklet

Final Presentation Pannel

The presentation will be divided into 3 parts:

1) Elaborate showing of final idea
- final video
- talk about the whole setting (model, and diagram)
- keywords and main idea
5min

2) Go through all the working process
- the idea of sensor (brief)
- the idea of curtains (brief)
- the idea of digital mirroring (detailed)
- the idea of site mapping (detailed)
(all supported by drafts, pictures and videos)
10min

3) live demonstration of technique support
- live experiment (at site set-up)
- images about set-up at site
- potential / deluxe version of set-up
5min


Preparation:

a hand-out book (pages according to the sequence of presentation)
projected screen (extra visual support of the idea and book)
model (spatial idea of site)
web-cam set up for showing (create real experience)

Preparation at site:

2 laptops (1 borrowed)
3 projectors (2 borrowed)
2 web-cams (1 borrowed)
2 web-cam supporting poles
2 usb extension cables
2 participants
1 power board (for 2 laptops 3 projectors)
2 power extension cable (for 2 projectors)
1 DSLR
1 tripod
1 wide-angle lens (borrowed)
Good weather (gloomy or rainy)
shot script

"Surrealism has sometimes seemed to signify a rejection of the exterior world, insofar as automatic writing, automatic drawing, and automatic painting are frankly oriented toward the "interior model," in other words, toward the unconscious."

- José Pierre The Great Exterior Object

The Son of Man
René Magritte
1964
Oil on canvas

"At least it hides the face partly. Well, so you have the apparent face, the apple, hiding the visible but hidden, the face of the person. It's something that happens constantly. Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us. This interest can take the form of a quite intense feeling, a sort of conflict, one might say, between the visible that is hidden and the visible that is present." 

-René Magritte About the painting "The Son of Man"

Important facts about René Magritte:

"Resemblance - which can be made visible through painting - only deal with figures as they appear in the world: people, curtains, weapons, stars, solids, inscriptions, etc....spontaneously united in the order wherein the familiar and the strange are restored to mystery."

 -René Magritte Catalogue of the Magritte exhibition, Paris, Galerie Rive Droite, 1960

Easel

The Human Condition
René Magritte
1933
Oil on canvas

"The problem of the window gave rise to La condition humaine (The Human Condition). In front of a window seen from inside a room, I placed a painting representing exactly that portion of the landscape covered by the painting. Thus, the tree in the picture hid the tree behind it, outside the room. For the spectator, it was both inside the room within the painting and outside in the real landscape. This is how we see the world. We see it outside ourselves, and at the same time we only have a representation of it in ourselves. In the same way, we sometimes situate in the past that which is happening in the present. Time and space thus lose the vulgar meaning that only daily experience takes into account."  

-René Magritte La Ligne de Vie II, February 1940

A: the video of the sky has its real and unreal appearance - the opening to the outside world and a projection in the inside room.



The Human Condition

"Apropos the "invisible", I mean what is not visible: for example, heat, weight, pleasure, etc.There is the visible we see: the apple in front of the face in "La grande guerre" (The Great War), and the hidden visible: the face hidden by the visible apple. In Le banquet (The banquet) the sun hidden by the row of trees is invisible. It (like nothingness) is important not because it is invisible, but because it is absolutely necessary." 

-Letter from René Magritte to André Bosmans September 25, 1964

"At least it partially hides the face. Well then, here we have the apparent visible, the apple, hiding the hidden visible, the person's face. This process occurs endlessly. Each thing we see hides another, we always want to see what is been hidden by what we see. There is an interest in what is hidden and what the visible does not show us. This interest can take the form of a fairly intense feeling, a kind of contest, I could say, between the hidden visible and the apparent visible."
-From an interview by Sean Neyens, 1965 

A: In my work on the the ceiling, the hidden visible is yourself and the hiding subject is yourself.



Man and His Shadow

Decalcomania
René Magritte
1966
Oil on canvas

"As for the light, I think that if it has the power to make objects visible, its existence is manifest only if the objects receive it. Light is invisible as matter." 

-René Magritte La Ligne de Vie II, February 1940

The Empire of Lights

THe Empire of Lights
René Magritte
1950
Oil on canvas

"The landscape evokes night and the sky evokes the day. I find this evocation of night and day is endowed with the power to surprise and enchant us. I call this power: poetry.I believe this evocation has such poetic power, it is because, among other reasons, I have always felt the greatest interest in night and in day, yet without ever having preferred on or the other. This personal interest in night and day is a feeling of admiration and astonishment." 

- René Magritte Late April 1956

the hidden visible - the shadow
the cloud - the day light


the interior and the exterior - the outside world and the inside representation - the conscious and the automatic unconscious

Week11 Tues

This week of computer mapping testing is a further development of building structure exploration from last week. As Sean pointed out at class that the on and off of lights is not quite site-specific, I went back to the site and did few more experiments. And by projecting the sky from the outside on the an inside surface came out as an interesting result.

Bruce Nauman

Bruce Nauman
Green Light Corridor, 1970-71

"Nauman has the viewer right where he wants the viewer to be - on an uncomfortable edge between profundity and corniness."
-Jan Butterfield, "The Art of Light and Sapce"

"He didn't put it there and it's in my head; He put it there and nobody knows it but me; He didn't put it there and it's there anyway.
-Peter Plagens, "Bruce Nauman: Mapping the Studio"

"I think in terms of psychological aspects, how we locate ourselves in a room, how we fill a space and are comfortable in it. I am also interested in how we control a space......You do try to make yourself comfortable in a space. You try and know the space in some sense."
- Bruce Nauman

"Real obstacles don't take you in circles. They can be overcome. Invented ones are like a maze." 

-Barbara Sher 

“Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.”

- Gautama Siddharta

Week 10 Friday

Just a fleet idea that it might be interesting to have the light flickering as threshold between real & illusion. So the screen can be a normal mirror and a back-side-front digital mirror. 

Week 10 Tuesday

Idea development from week 9

Problems occurred in terms of facilities, for example low definition of web-cams, limit length of camera cables, the angle of the camera. As the idea of digital mirroring has been settled, I'll try my best to complete the whole composition. Here are several thing need preparing: a structure to hold 2 cameras on the ceiling (there is an iron wire on site); cables long enough to connect computers with cameras (two of them, look into fire wire camera or 5m USB cable wire); two monitors out of Resolume (Matrox Triple Head to Go card and its software); the projector distance and the screen size (big mirrors/ short throw lens/ www.projectorcentral.com). Another issue is to find 2 people to give a hand setting up, that might take a whole day to do the documentary and that also requires at least 3 days mock-up with all the devices and loan the Matrox Triple Head to Go card from Sean, it will probably happen in week 12 or the SWOT-VAC week (Oct.15-21).

So here's a rough schedule for what's happening for the next couple of weeks:

week10:
Sort out the cables, projectors and cameras that can be used, design and make the structure of camera holding system (wood? steel? http://www.bunnings.com.au/), drawing grids as digital mapping at site and script of the design

week11:
Go on building the structure of holding system; decide what animation's used in digital mapping and test in the model, readings and documentations of the project

week12:
Testing @ home, documenting @ site

SWOT-VAC:
Video editing, prepare on presentation

As the problem of not relating to technology and building structure came from last presentation, I need to add a playful video about the site as mapping the ceiling rafters maybe, more explorations have to be done asap. and in the end it can be edited into a movie with narrative happens in a real site.

This is getting rather fun and haaaaaaaard...
Finger-crossed...

Digital mirroring test @ site

Technique problems:

- outcome image too pixelated
- angle pf camera, distance of web-cam
- background too messy


2 options:
1st: structure of camera like a scafford
2nd: find a corner with white walls and symitrial structure

Week 9 Tuesday

Distillation from project 2:

Fig. 1 Through mini project, the SCALE of human and how it respond to the space was interesting and need exploring.
Fig. 2 Through model making, the DISTORTION of the projected space creates illusion.
Fig. 3 The technique of DIGITAL MIRRORING can get a reflection of both of points above and creates a good combination.

Whiteboard from Week 9 Tuesday

 

 

Working document for mid semester

Written document for mid-sem

 

Week 8 Presentation

Process:

Upper Law Theatre
1:20

Material: Cotton
Size: 27mm x 32mm

Working condition

Devices: projector, laptop, model

Material: Cotton
Image projected: model front view

Material: Cotton

Image projected: model front view

Material: Linen

Image projected: real site front view

Material: cotton

Footage projected: video from former week 

Model making was completely finished by adding rafters into ceiling.

These wooden rafters were made from cardboard; roof and wall facade made from  white heavy poster board; and inner walls made from white core 5mm foam board.
Different types of cloths, composition of the screens, effect of the projection were tested in the model.
Linen cloth tend to create a drawing-like texture but rather opaque while cotton cloth creates a translucent effect and a mysterious atmosphere.
The model was put close to the window to create the light condition similar to the site.
Still images were first tested in the model. Images of real site same angle, model same angle, model different angle created different effects such as doubled space, distorted space or real/unreal space.
The footage from previous week was put to test the effects by moving images. The vivid movement add to the contract to the space and has a better walking experience in the site.




Next Step:

Cloth hanging detail
Video making and editing
Life size experiment

The process of setting up included several problem solving matters.
By only projecting live video on the wall, audiences are likely to block the projector, while putting the projector close to the wall might not produce the right size.
By reflecting video projection on the wall using a mirror, and adjusting it to the right angle, the distance of projector was no longer a problem.
However, the shape became distorted from reflection, and resulted from the location of the camera, the video on the wall was horizontally flipped.
Within the help of mapping, and video transformation in Resolume, a small set was finally created.













































Problem indication and site set-up plan

Video Testing

Normal movements
The disappearing and re-apearing
Live video delay

Idea Developing Process (Week 7-8)

During mid semester the project was mainly focusing on the preparation of basic information about site such as site pictures, tech drawings and model making.

The design was more a process of exploration and testing. Within the help of a 1:20 model, the ideas are easy to be tested and the decisions can be more considerably made.

Several ideas were listed and drew out as drafts for testing. So far the "screen" of the site has been moved away from the read facade of the wall to added cloth hanging on the chapel wooden beams, resulted from the need of reducing interior lighting, and considering the crowded and messy condition of the site, a simple and plain screen is more proper in the visual aspect.

In terms of comments from class, the shape, size, composition and material, layout of the screen should be carefully considered, and the ideas should be tested collectively and final decision should be made asap. from that. Moreover, the location of the devices and should be tested in real size and hopefully in the end of the semester the whole installation can be set and performed in real site.

Additionally the permission of access to the theatre and the renting of ladder should be done asap. too.

Week 7 Presentation

Week 7 presentation

Site Visit:

Ideas:

Model:

Class from Week 6

Work for Week 6

Idea Process:

Test 1

Test 2



The reading "the Acoustic Space"


Site visit

Starfield - The Installation

Starfield is an installation where a swing is used to create a large interactive starry sky.

With a Kinect installed behind the swing and a video projector, the software creates a galaxy of stars in which the user wanders with the rhythm of his swing.
Created with openFrameworks, the application allows to configure almost any type of swing.
With anaglyph glasses, a 3D mode gives an even more immerse experience.
Music :
Chapelier Fou - Postlude
chapelierfou.com/
An installation by lab212 - lab212.org

TEDxSummit intro: The power of X - The Video

The exploration of materiality and its effet:

Mini Project for Week 5

Photography by Akos Major

"Every thing existing on the physical plane is an exteriorization of thought, which must be balanced through the one who issued the thought, and in accordance with that one’s responsibility, at the conjunction of time, condition, and place" - Harold W. Percival

http://butdoesitfloat.com/Every-thing-existing-on-the-physical-plane-is-an-exteriorization-of

Presentation Panel

written component for assignment 1 project 1

Work in Progress week 3

According to the feedback from previous class. A more dramatic and contracting out-come was asked and hoped to be shown. We came out with the idea of creating two different scale of the same object by making a large cover and locating lighting from the back and projection in the front.

Here's the edited out-put of the scinario:

Work in Progress Week 2

Since we've made up our mind to "make daily objects alive", we narrowed down the objects into a lamp, a beaker and a piece of curtain. And the animation was focus on vital science, such as breath, pulse, blood impulse, etc.

Here's a little test about how to use photoshop animation to creat on-off effect on lamp by photography and mapping.

Reading - Expanded Cinema

Chinese Firedrill

Will Hindle

1968

Expanded Cinema
Gene Youngblood




Part Two: Synaethetic cinema




Synaesthetic Cinema: The End of Drama


What is Synaesthetic Cinema?
It's the cinema form that evocate people's emotions and let them feel the thoughts within the combination of a various of means such as syncretism, montage, evocation, metamorphosis, etc.


P75
"The record subject, however, is not the objective external human condition but the filmmakers consciousness, his perception and its process." which indicated that the film was generated by the process of awareness, perception(interpret) and recreate.


P76
"Through synaesthetic cinema man attempts to express a total phenomenon - his own consciousness." Modern artists realized that 'the supreme order lie in nature' and acknowledged that 'chaos is another level of order'. In contemporary life, we are aware of the consciousness and the recognition of the process of perception.And that's what's significant in human experience.


P77
The remind that TV became a universal language correspond to 'Buckminster Fuller's observations on natural synergetics and consequently is negentropic' in the article attracted my interest to look up meaning in "negentropy". Within the help of dear friend William Green, here's a short definition of "negentropy":
Entropy is the scientific law that in a system disorder is always increasing. So negative entropy should be order increasing, which is physically unnatural.
TV, so called "the third eye", as a 70-year old media at that time, became the core of community federation and information synchronization, and that eventually lead into the nowadays meaning culture. And that's what synaesthetic cinema was trying to surpass.


Additionally, due to introducing TV with its sufficiency and accuracy in no time in modern life, people (especially western) always focus on the "past" and "future", and become non-capable for "present".




Global Closed Circuit: The Earth as Software


P79
"Cubism and other means of abstracting the realistic image were born with the photographic plate because painting no longer provided the most realistic images. The plastic arts abandoned exterior reality for interior reality. The same has happened to cinema as a result of television: movies no longer provide the most realistic images so they've turned inward." The idea was interesting because I once held a big "argument" with my friend about the true value of paintings and the tendency of contemporary art. My friend insisted the value in realistic paintings and couldn't approve the new-born art genre such as Australia-based artist Ian Burns. According to the opinion extracted from the paragraph, the continuous renewal of technology (movie-TV-Internet) brings that superficial imitations, mimic and documentation can no longer satisfy people's visual curious and gallery, a place brings imagination and thinking, has to move from capturing the happening moment into offering the happening moment, emphasising the present.




Synaesthetic Synthesis: Simultaneous Perception of Harmonic Opposites


P81
What is Synaesthetic Harmony?
"Synaesthetic and psychedelic mean approximately the same thing. Synaesthesis is the harmony of different or opposing impulses produced by a work of art.It means the simultaneous perception of harmonic opposites."


The notion of "either/or logic" and its equivalence of 'bistable logic" in physics; "both/and cybernetic logic" and its equivalence of "triadic logic" in physics were mentioned in the chapter talking about the new order differ from dualistic harmonic opposites.


"By reality we mean relations","and that is why it has come to the point of expressing nothing but relations." In terms of the example of phenomenon of light, the sensation and conceptualization of people's perception can be discerned in macroscopic and microscopic means, while both exist.




Syncretism and Metamorphosis: Montage as Collage


P84
"The specialized vision" is the method of guiding our eyes in picture plane used by conventional narative cinema. And it tends to decay our capacity to "comprehend the more complex and diffuse visual field of living reality." Despite the footages, image has the same 2D quality as a media. As a dominant presentation form, image is taken granted that people acknowledge the reality by only seeing one angle of the theme. And it decays our tention and ability to form a 3D modal mentally, which ironically move us further away from the living reality.


P85
The "Endotopic" and "Exotopic" 
”Endotopic” are forms treated from within. 
“Exotopic” are forms treated from without.
“Synaesthetic cinema, primarily through superimposition, fuses the endotopic and exotopic by reducing depth-of-field to a total field of non focused multiplicity." The cinema replaces montage with collage to create a plane complex in its graphic nature instead of a dramatic analysis of action.


P87
"Metamorphosis"
"In traditional cinema, superimposition usually gives the impression of two movies occurring at once in the same frame with their attendant  psychological and physiological connotations coexisting separately. In synaesthetic cinema they are one total image in metamorphosis." "In fact, the conflict-juxtaposition of intellectual effects is increase when they occur within the same image."


P88
"Superimposition is not used as an economical substitute for 'parallel montage' - indicating simultaneous but spatially separate events - for spatio-temperal dimensions do not exist in the consciousness." In compare with the idea of various time scale in same place, the overlapping of space in the same time imply the insignificancy of spatial and temporal sense in our conscious, so that the cinema presents a close impression.




Evocation and Exposition: Toward Oceanic Consciousness


What is Evocation and Exposition?
Exposition is to explain in narrative or story.
Evocation is to show within the syncretism of sensation.
"In expositional narrative, a story is being told, in evocative synaesthesia an experience is being created."
Take travel for example, when you go to a place, it's not only the story behind the historical buildings and memory of fine scenery, but also the atmosphere that you immerse in and grew habit on.


P92
"Oceanic Effect"
"Freud spole of oceanic consciousness as that in which we feel our individual existence lost in mystic union with the universe."
"The oceanic effect of synaesthetic cinema is similar to the mystical allure of the natural elements: we stare in mindless wonder at the ocean or a lake or river,......,not thinking anything in particular but somehow feeling secure and content."


P95
The theatrical and the cinematic
"The different is that Hindle used the images not for their symbolic or theatrical content but as ingredients of an almost iconographic nature, to be compounded and manipulated through the process of the medium."
"Every effort is made to distance the viewer, to keep us aware of our perceptions, to emphasise the purely cinematic as opposed to the theatrical."
The movie always rise emotional impact without a recognisable content. The unattainable and unreachable elements in the movie keep us aware of our perception while stirring with the inarticulate conscious. It's the metaphysical substance that evocates, but not the plot that tells.