Performance

Tommy and I filmed our performance on the 4th of June.

We gathered 12 volunteers outside in the ‘circle garden’ and asked them to position themselves in a circle. Tommy and I gave them clear instructions on how to participate in the experiment as explained in previous blog entries. Joseph our friend who is experience in film and photography filmed the performance for us. We were able to complete 4 sets of drawings in half and hour which gave us a total of 48 drawing with 4 originals, and an hour of footage which Tommy and I edited into a 4 minute video.  

The video was created using Windows Live Movie Maker by cutting between a handheld camera and a still shot which was positioned on a tripod nearby. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrCBX6WXvdY

Stop motion

Today in Teo’s workshop I worked in a group with 5 of my peers to create a stop-motion film.

We collaborated in cutting out black and white images and creating a demon-like figure who formed from an explosion. The stop-motion is 138 frames at 0.1x speed resulting in a 22 second video with sound. Working in a large group on a small project allowed us to all take on minor roles, everyone listened to each others ideas enthusiastically and considerately and the final video was the product of a shared vision. 

Five Times A Week

Tommy and I worked collaboratively on Wednesday to create a mini zine using mono-printing in Agnieszka’s (Bonni’s) workshop.

We both experimented separately with different styles of mono-printing. Tommy helped me with how much ink to use and showed my different techniques because he has experience with printing.

 We discussed how we could turn our images into a zine, and I suggested we use a computer to write some text and then put the text over the mono-prints using a photo copier. Tommy agreed but we didn’t have any ideas on what to actually write until Tommy stumbled across a funny picture on a friends Facebook.

 I jokingly said ‘Hey let’s use that for our zine!’ and to my surprise Tommy was on board. We decided to use ‘gentlemen’ as a character and ‘science’ as a character and construct a short conversation about ejaculating to reduce your risk of cancer. We typed the text out on Word and used a type writer font. We then printed and cut the words out and layer them over our mono-prints in an A5 8-page booklet.

After class I photocopied the booklet to it would be flush and shrunk it down to A6 and made several copies to give to friends.

*Note to self*

SAVE MONEY FOR PRINTING TASK 3B

Collaborating. You’re doing it wrong

Tommy and I worked together on Tuesday to design an irrigation system for Kim’s workshop.

Tommy and I both had different ideas and tried to explain them to each other but we couldn’t come to an agreement on how to approach the task. We were both stubborn and became frustrated and we both lost enthusiasm quickly. We went round and round in circles and wasted time throwing ideas about but neither of use were willing to change our minds. Eventually we left the studio and went and sat in the garden at the space. We scrunched up the paper we had been writing on and agreed we’d try something completely different and came up with the idea of a giant shower-like mechanism. Tommy took charge of drawing a diagram while I constructed a model from paper.

When we presented the idea to our group we realised how inappropriate our irrigation system would be, but we had fun constructing it together and we agreed not to be so stubborn when working on future projects collaboratively. When Tommy and I have the same goal or have the same image in our heads we are very capable and enthusiastic about it – but it can take some time to come to a ‘shared vision’.

 

 

It is silent

Tommy and I discussed how we would turn this two person experiment into a 10 or more person performance.

And this is what we imagine:

10 people sitting in a line on stools, all facing the same direction.

Each person holds a clip board, a sheet of A4 paper and a texta.

It is silent and the instructions are clear:

The first person will be given a simple picture. They will tap the person in front of them on the shoulder to indicate they will be starting. They will use their finger and slowly draw the picture in on the person in front of them on their back.

The person being drawn on will close their eyes and feel the drawing. When the person drawing has finished, they will tap the persons shoulder they are drawing on to indicate they have finished. The person who has been drawn on will open their eyes and they will draw what they felt on paper with texta. They will then tap the person in front of them on the shoulder and draw what they drew on their paper.

This will be repeated for each person in the line.

In the end we will have 10 drawings, which may or may not resemble each other.

Trial and error

Tommy and I developed a simple colour coding system to help keep track of our experiments.

We tried some more abstract pictures with the goal of discovering the single best method for transcribing on large-scale (with 10 people). Here are some of our experiments.

 It is visible that Tommy struggled to transcribe the image ‘during’ (whilst I was drawing), but after’ waiting once’  he was able to transcribe it accurately. It is also evident in the above experiment that ‘waiting twice’ was unnecessary.

Lets look at some more examples.

 In the second example Tommy again struggled to accurately transcribe the image until he ‘waited once’, and ‘waiting twice’ was again unnecessary. The first attempt of transcribing ‘during’  (blue) is pretty horrible but on analysing it you can see all the key elements are present, they are just spaced inaccurately.

Here’s another example with similar findings.

We discovered that the way in which the person drawing on the other persons back is very important. connecting lines are easier to transcribe than separate lines.

 In conclusion we both agree that the most effective way of transcribing is ‘waiting once’, without transcribing ‘during’, here is an example:

We scanned these images onto the computer and we would like to experiment with ways of overlapping the images in the future.

Here is a 5 minute process video in which I draw a picture on paper, then onto Tommy’s back and then Tommy draws the picture onto paper.

Initial Experimenting

Tommy and I experimented with the idea of drawing images on each others backs and recording the images on paper with texta so we could see the differences and similarities between the ‘original’ and the ‘transcribe’ (copy).

I started by drawing a simple picture on paper. We called this ‘the original’.

Tommy sat with his back to me and I drew the picture on his back with my finger.

Tommy drew the picture he felt on his back onto paper simultaneously as I was drawing it on his back. We called this method of transcribing ‘during’ (because he was drawing during my drawing).

Tommy then experimented with closing his eyes while I drew on his back and concentrating on what he was feeling. Tommy then draw the picture he felt onto paper. We called this method of transcribing ‘wait once’ (because Tommy waited and felt the picture once before he started transcribing).

Tommy then experimented with closing his eyes while I drew on his back (the same picture as the ‘wait once’ picture). Tommy would then draw the picture he felt onto paper. We called this final method of transcribing ‘wait twice’ (because Tommy waited and felt the picture twice before he starting to transcribing).  

We repeated this processes 10 times, then switched roles so that Tommy would draw the originals and I would transcribe.

What were the issues?

• Speed – I had to draw the picture slowly for Tommy to feel it accurately
• Guessing the picture – I had to draw abstract pictures so that Tommy wouldn’t guess the image eg. I draw a flower and Tommy knew it was a flower and could draw it without relying on feeling the picture.
• Documentation – how to document if the transcriber was transcribing during, wait once, or wait twice. We wrote on the back of each picture if it was the original, during, wait once or wait twice which was time-consuming.      

What did we discover?

• This is FUN!
• Tommy much prefers being the transcriber and I much prefer drawing the originals
• Pictures drawn have to be abstract
• A better system of documenting needs to be identified.
• This experiment is simple with two people but requires more refining before it can be tested on 5, 10 or 15 people.

We also discussed the idea of coping the pictures (originals and transcribes) onto projector paper so we could lay them over each other and see the differences and similarities that way. Another idea we is to colour code the pictures to identify if they are originals or transcribes.

The human Fax Machine

Lucas’s work shop The Human Fax Machine required my peers and I so divide into small groups and transmit an image using simple sounds.Instructions for The Human Fax Machine can be found HERE.

My group was fairly successful in sending several images. We used a grid system with an X and Y axis, and tapping planks of wood together to indicate where lines would be drawn. 

 

 

 

 

This idea of transferring information in such a rudimentary way was interesting to Tommy and I and we discussed other ways of transferring images. We both identified with a game from our childhoods where one person would draw a simple picture on someone elses back and that person would then guess what the image is. Tommy and I hypothesised about what would happen if we tried this game on a large-scale, what would happen if we had 10 or even 50 people all draw on one another’s backs and decipher an image. How would the image travel and change? Would the image resemble the original in any way? We made a connection between this idea and the game chinese whispers, and the concept of information being changed because each participant might hear, or feel, it differently.

Assessment 2B Hannah Truloff

The video shows my process of experimenting with eggs filled with paint. The process starts with me emptying out the eggs by pricking small holes in both ends of the eggs with a screw driver and blowing the insides out. Next I experimented with dropping an egg onto paper, but I discovered the egg wouldn’t splatter so I tried again and threw it with some force. I also discovered I am a pretty bad aim, even from a close distance. The video then shows me filling eggs with paint using a plastic syringe. I did this to 20 eggs successfully with a few casualties early on when I was picking the holes. Lastly my peers, tutors and I throw the paint filled eggs at a wall, this being part of my presentation. I instructed my peers and tutors to throw the eggs at a designated space which we all found entertaining. The sounds of laugher, surprise, cracking eggs and splattering paint makes for a composition equally as thrilling as the paint coated wall.

 

 

I had some technical difficulties with the video being corrupt when I uploaded it to Youtube and there are a few glitches which I apologise for.

 

5 Reflection

I researched into different maps and found qualities I liked and explored these further through simple experiments and incorporated them into my final map. I mainly focused on exploring the concept of mapping from memory. I communicated my research process and findings in this blog clearly and sequentially.

My final map represents my close relationship with a place that I lived for 17 years, and the relationships that developed over that period of time. My map included significant questions, which relate to lessons I learnt whilst living in Leeton.