CPS Week 6: Folio 1 - A Developing Archive of Work and Corresponding Exegetical Responses

Observation

http://magistudio.net/work/cps-week-1-3

This theme by design pushed me to think outward. I was drawn to the aspects of the world around me that do not usually merit attention. Though I have worked in this style of photography before, it was a refreshing endeavour to do it in a new environment. I feel the motive behind my photographs were still aligned with my previous photography practice, and that tells me something about my inclination towards looking for beauty in everything – including the urban environment. I find this rather peculiar, as I have always felt intimately connected with the natural world much more-so than the urban one.

Having said this, I was trained and educated as a Designer in my undergraduate, and found myself frequently surrounded by friends and mentors with a Design or Architecture background. With this experience came the revelation that everything in our urban landscape is designed. There is something fascinating in that. Whether the driving force behind an object or building was economic, functional, aesthetic or otherwise, it was still considered before it was created. These considerations brought me an appreciation of the material itself, as well as the product.

What I enjoyed most about this exercise was the spontaneity. I simply ventured out into the city and allowed inspiration to find me, rather than hunting frantically for it. I think that more time spent in passive reflection and observation would be beneficial for my process in the future.

Tinkering as Method

http://magistudio.net/work/cps-week-2-tinkering-as-method

Creating without a plan! Play, in its ultimate form. This was a very difficult concept to get my head around, as I almost always work with an idea in mind before putting pen/pencil to paper. However, I relished the opportunity to move out of my comfort zone and let the work develop itself through the process of making. I think this is much easier done with mediums other than pen or marker, as they are rather structured tools. In contrast, something like a stick of charcoal lends itself directly to more flowing, impulsive creation. One can use the point if desired, or the length of the charcoal. Furthermore, the shape of the tool develops as you use it and wear away certain areas.

This is similar in my mind to clay, which can take almost limitless forms. I also have no experience using clay for animation. I thought these factors make clay eminently suitable for this task, as I would be forced to let the experience of exploring the material and medium guide the work. This freedom was refreshing, as I am in the (bad) habit of sticking to my comfort zone during most creative endeavours. More than anything, I think this theme showed me the value of embracing change in the production of a project, even during the course of creating it.

Found Objects

http://magistudio.net/work/cps-week-3-found-objects-1

The way I set about this exercise was rather similar to my response to Week One’s theme of Observation. At this point, I was considering ‘objects’ as being mostly designed. If they are designed, it follows that they were considered themselves before being constructed. Following their construction, they become a functional (or not, depending on the quality of the design) aspect of our society. In the same vein as Week One, I supposed that the materials used in an object’s construction might themselves be powerful instructional tools about society. After looking into the importance of objects as cultural artefacts, I realized the facets of designed objects that most fascinated me were their makeup and materiality. Thus, I went out into the city with little plan other than the observe the constructed environment around us, and let my response emerge naturally.

At this point in my reflection, it is becoming clear that a focus upon (or preference for)

beauty, quirks of materiality, design, and reflective observation is emerging from my work as a common thread. This is interesting, as my current animation project (in Illusion of Life) has reached a turning point where a re-evaluation of texture and material is proving necessary for further progress. This merits further consideration, so perhaps I shall look to ways of combining or collaging real-world objects and materials in my future practice.

Discussions of Place

http://magistudio.net/work/cps-week-4-discussions-of-place-2

I believe that our understanding of place is subject to change and evolution as the context in which we observe it changes. However, some aspects of place and its importance seem to persist over time and through culture. The initial focus for my work this week centres on sites of significance for First Nation Kulin peoples that are still being used for similar purposes today, albeit by white settlers and their descendants. I looked specifically at the MCG, which was a major Kulin Nation gathering place, and is still today used for gatherings of a sort. After some consideration on why this might be the case, I stumbled across the history of the Yarra River. The Yarra was central to the lifestyle and survival of the Kulin peoples, providing sustenance and a mode of transportation. It was again used prolifically by the European settlers, but with vastly different regard.

This concept diverged into a reflection upon the mindsets of different societies and cultures toward resources and place. Though I am still interested in the persistence of ideas of place over time, I felt much more emotionally stimulated by a reflection upon differing cultural response to that place.

Here, my reverent appreciation of the natural world becomes more apparent. Up until this point in the semester, I have been largely reflecting upon the constructed world in an attempt to find beauty. In this activity, I had opportunity to reflect upon the cost that this development has had upon our environment. I have not yet concluded what significance this activity has had to my overall project development, though it was sobering and instructive.

Objects Are Not Exhausted

http://magistudio.net/work/cps-week-5-objects-are-not-exhausted-10

This theme is closely aligned with Object-Oriented Ontology, which attempts to separate the consideration of an object from the context of human consumption My current practice is focused largely on sensory experience received through interactions with objects. Though this project is fixating upon human experience, I am attempting to make the object or experience of the object the focus of the animation to highlight, which coincidently is similar to the aim of Object-Oriented Ontology. However, in writing my response to the theme, I began to grasp what a difficult prospect it is to separate an object from our considerations of it. I was writing about how in OOO, changes in relationships between objects have the capacity to spurn the creation of an entirely new object.

My specific inquiry was into whether the relationship between the sun and a pencil created a new pencil when the pencil changed from hot to cold. However, I came to the realization that it would still be a human consideration of the object to make note of its temperature. Perhaps if the molecules of the pencil were heated to the point that they vibrated at a different frequency (a phenomenon not possible to experience by humans without tools) we could suppose that the pencil would be fundamentally changed by the relationship? Still, it seems ultimately paradoxical to be writing about the possibilities of OOO and making presumptuous suppositions from my human point of view.   

So, how does this relate to my ongoing project? Well, I realize now that it might be useful to consider objects before our relationship to them, but to properly convey narrative and help the audience relate to the story, some character or anthropomorphising may be necessary.

Or, if not necessary, unavoidable.