APD_Week 10_Play and Stillness

Theme: Play and Stillness

Method: This exercise is to explore the ways stillness and play can be connected, contrasted and blended through our works. As I thought about play and stillness, the two words that came to my mind was Imagination, and Meditation. I am going to create a small animation where we can travel through space. It allows us to concentrate and relax our minds as we stare at this animation.

Firstly, I am going to download a space star image from google to start of my animation. I will create an animation travelling through space by animating the camera. I will create particles to get the effect of stars on space. For this exercise, I will use after effects. 

Context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p_yaNFSYao 

Mindfulness Meditation-guided 10 minutes: "In this guided mindfulness meditation you can learn to be completely present in the moment, letting go of your thoughts and achieving calmness. Playfulness and its accompanying sense of delight are vital qualities of the inner holding environment needed for meditation".

Edit/Update: In class, Matt showed an interactive piece called Bloom by Brian Eno. It is an interactive playful idea where you can touch any particular area on the screen and it would generate a note which can be echoed or manipulated over an electronic sound. Brian created elaborated patterns and unique melodies with simple gestures. Bloom is an open space that emphasized a sense of wonder, calm and community.

Response/Reflection: As I looked at references of mindful meditation, I was able to focus more. The stress of work was gone. I felt more relaxed then anything. As I created this animation, it became more playful. It actually felt like I was travelling through space. When I continuously stared at the video and listened to the calm music, It began to relax my mind, It allowed me to use visualization, meditation, and imagery to get in touch with my inner playfulness.