APD Week 10 - Play and Nature

Theme: 

In response to the theme of Play and Nature,Zipei and I collaborated on a game and record a video about the game.

Context:

This game was inspired from Dear Data by Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec,who reside on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean. (http://www.dear-data.com/theproject)They draw and send data via postcards. This kind of communication and connection amongst people is invigorating. The convergence of ideas and inspiration between people frequently stimulates new creative works. 

Many students are unable to return to offline classes in Australia for various reasons. Zipei and I have been trying to find a way to collaborate cross country,and this week is a great opportunity. We chose to compare and contrast the natural environments of Melbourne and Guangzhou. The nature writers of the 20th century emphasised the "feeling of nature" disproportionately. The distinctiveness and irreplaceability of geographical regions,without which their spirits could not find a home. One of the representative works is "Staying Put: Making a Home in a Restless World" (1993)by Scott Russell Sanders. However,even different natural environments share connections,just as we in different nations are working on the same project with the same concept,but our video are unique but identical in some way.

The natural environment is characteristic,and it's fun to see how comparable surroundings may be spliced together in different places. We began our game by photographing comparable objects. Despite the fact that the scenes of the environment are unique,however we still can observe that they have some similarities and each has its own unique features. Later on,we continued to explore whether some human-made sculptures and natural elements could be combined to create a more interesting outcome.

Method:

1. Zipei and I discussed over the phone which nature scenes we would record for 20 seconds,and we each chose a few different themes. 
2. We sketched the outlines of our recorded scenes. 
3. Followed Zipei's drawings to seek similar nature sceneries.
4. Edited together the video we recorded.

Reflection:

We considered whether the final outcome would be an image or a video. After trying both ways,we decided to keep the video with the original sound. There is a sense of merging across geographic borders when the sounds of the two places mix. 

What I enjoy most is that we went from a simple combination of objects grew to something more complex and creative,such as steel and a waterfall,with the waterfall's shape constituting the other half of the steel giant's body. Prior to this,although I was aware of the overall shape,I was unaware that this was a steel giant. Therefore,the outcome made Zipei and I felt quite special.

When the nature in which a person resides and the nature in which others reside are united in different manifestations,a sense of conflicting beauty is created. For instance,the concept of our collaboration is different seasons,autumn and spring. This beauty is not simply about aesthetic,but also has a sense of amalgamation over time and space. The experience of working together and discovering nature made Play and Nature an even more memorable and meaningful experience.

References:

Dear Data[online],Available at <http://www.dear-data.com/theproject>

Sander,S. R. (1993),Staying Put : Making A Home In A Restless World,Boston: Beacon Press

Outcome: https://youtu.be/ccCLMOJBebk