The Hoff

So we are almost at the end of our re-enactment project, which i have really enjoyed. Maybe it was because my group was amazing, or it was because we are using this

I say a little prayer

Sound Projects and Group work are a difficult thing to combine, but having got passed the first few decisions, we have now settled on looking at Churches as our location. This idea then consisted of me going to a morning prayer service at 9.30 am, only to be greeted by 1 woman, the priest and Mary from across the road. I confessed to having never been to a service before, then took my seat between the priest and Mary and began to repeat the bold text in the prayer book. I must say, in a way I feel like a phoney, as I don't really have much intention on going back, but, I will say that it was an interesting experience that was nice to take half an hour out to take time to think about other people and send them your thoughts. When I got home I took all the sounds and tried to compose them into a narrative, which soon started to sound like some strange mystical chanting from a cult rather than a church service. When we showed it on Friday to Kieron and Ben, We got really positive feedback so I feel a lot like we are moving forward.

And then they make soup

Cage

So after talking to my group, we decided to focus on the kitchen, as our sound location. I want to use this as a starting place to explore what we use our kitchens for apart from just cooking, and what noises we are unaware of in this space. After looking at Alvin Lucier i want to focus on how we can abstract the sounds into something unfamiliar, and unrelated to the kitchen.

Racket

Biographies Crit

Get Messy

Don't be so precious

Be Ambitious

Thats how you grow

It just dawned on me

I should be recording traces of human life, via the imprints that we leave on the surface of the earth...Why didn't I think of this before, Like Albert Kahn, Like Lee Miller, Like I should be!

Berlin Wall

I can't get my head around this, and the more photos I look at the more I realise, Just how insane it was. When we were talking about re-enacting the Berlin Wall event, our interest lay in the space between the two sides. Sarah described it as a sort of 'no man's land' where they later, they discovered new species of wildlife, which nobody had come across before.

I found a small section of an article at good old Wikipedia

' The Sperrgebiet has a diverse range of flora and fauna, due to little human intervention in the area for 100 years. Forty percent of the landscape is desert, thirty percent is grassland, and twenty-eight percent is rocky. The highest point of the Sperrgebiet is 1488m. There are around 776 types of plants in the Sperrgebiet with 234 being endemic to south-west Namibia, despite the Orange River being the only permanent water supply in the area. A study has shown that climate change will affect the plant-life in the area, specifically the Succulent Karoo. Drier winters may lead to the extinction of these plants, as they are endemic to the Sperrgebiet. According to Morgan Hauptfleisch, a scientist who works at theSouthern African Institute for Environmental Assessment, the Sperrgebiet "is the only arid biodiversity hotspot and this makes it a very special area." Animals such as the gemsbok, springbok and brown hyena can be found in the area, and the Sperrgebiet has more biodiversity than anywhere else in Namibia. Bird species resident in the Sperrgebiet include the African Oystercatcher, the Black-headed Canary and the Dune Lark. '

I like the idea of looking at boundaries, reclaiming and territory...as starting points at least.

Archive

After chatting with Kieron about my project, we came to two conclusions

1. I always seem to get stuck in the same place, which is usually after I've got all my research and a great idea, I struggle to use the right 'vehicle' to carry on the communication. Although I have always known this, I think it is something I tend to sidestep.....But I will sidestep no more!

2. My idea needed a personal narrative and to be more specific and focused down

I have now decided to focus on one aspect of my daily life, my laptop. As obvious as it is, when i looked at all the items i had, most of them were something that i would connect to my computer, and retain, images, music, files etc from these devices and on to my Mac. The idea, as it stands, at the moment, is to archive the selective content of my Laptop, but using the external Items as a starting point for this.

I will be looking at the music, history, bookmarks and photos that I have stored, as I feel that these are probably the most personal and less boring features.

Kahn Continued

After looking further into Kahn's philosophy of his work, I wanted to focus my project towards the idea of archiving our possessions of everyday life, as this was an aspect that he recorded photographically. With that in mind I headed for the photography studios with a bag full of items that I use everyday or carry with me. Here are the results.......

However, we later had a crit about what we wanted to do, and Kieron had said that i need to develop a personal narrative and go all out on using that to the power of 10 video to refine my idea down, which i understood and have been trying to do ever since.

Just when you thought you could relax....

So with Biographies almost done and dusted, or should I say, filed away. I was liking the prospect of having a bit of free time....and then, this happened

1. Re-enactment - In groups of 5/6 we must re create in some form a past event that people are familiar with. It does not have to be a direct copy of an event, but perhaps through a new view point, or the idea of 'if' a camera had been there when it happened type scenario. My group consists of Dave, Sarah B, Daniel and Steph. After the brief handout, and brainstorming sessions, which seeing as there was 1 free computer in the whole uni, we all sat down together and tried to think of memorable events, that we would be interested in re-enacting. We started with myths and legends, cases of dead dogs in suitcases....finally falling on The Berlin Wall, as the day we were given the brief, was the same day as the Berlin Wall anniversary. Watch this space, as of yet, we don't quite know what we are going to do.

2. We also have been given a sound project, to explore an area through this medium. I still can't find the brief on Blackboard, so If your reading this GDC2 team, could you please post it up there, or direct me to where it may already be...thanks

3. Finally - Belonging and Belongings - STBY A study of technology/socio-technological trends through a range of ages/ethnicities and areas. It has the potential to get published along with your chosen format, so all good things really......basically - http://www.stby.eu/category/publications/

Farewell Peckham, well almost

This is our film, mostly done and dusted! Just a few small tweeks to make and then its all done!

Inspiration

http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc48.2006/KahnAtlas/index.html

Looking closer...

After the presentation about Kahn, i realised that the outcome to this project could perhaps end up being extremely derivative of Kahn's previous works. So, i tried to sum up Kahn's main points within his practise, and was left with

1. cultural traditions/ trends (fashions)

2. Different items of value - varying from each country

3. Depictions of general life

Kahn's principal point of this photographic 'atlas' was as Teresa Castro put it, to document

the "surface of the globe as inhabited and developed by Man,"

and Kahn's desire...

“to put into effect a sort of photographic inventory of the surface of the globe as inhabited and developed by Man at the beginning of the twentieth century.”

I though this was a really interesting point, as it looks at the imprint man has made on the planet, and the evidence of human beings around the world.

In order to make this a personal reflection on the Bio of Albert Kahn, I have decided to look at the possessions that i own, and for each, find out their origin. I will be able to build an archive of human existence and relationships between each country between material items, which reflect my everyday life, with links to many countries.

The wonderful world of Albert Kahn

Tonight I watched the BBC series 'The wonderful world of Albert Kahn'. It touches of Kahn's philosophy and reasons for sending the Photographers around the world. But also gives a more in depth insight to the changes that were happening, in particular, in the Balkands at the times of Kahn's Photographic records.

Biographies - Albert Kahn

So I was given Albert Kahn to research and it turns out, he is amazing! Kahn was a wealthy French Banker and Philantropist who wanted to create an archive of the planet, and the different Countries customs and traditions. Armed with an Autochrome camera (the first colour camera), Albert sent photographers all over the world and, in some cases created the first colour depictions of countries such as Mongolia. Often the Images, that now form some of the 72,000 photographs in the Albert Kahn archive in Paris, have recorded customs and traditions which no longer exist. They are historical references to the past and allow us to gain a better understanding of the world as it once was. Kahn wanted to 'promote cross cultural peace and understanding', and many of the photos that were taken were during a turning point in the individual countries. For example, the fall of the Austro-hungarian and Ottoman empires.

Peckham revisited

So we showed our 3 min edit, which had terrible sound, so we have decided to go back and shoot it again with a better mic and get more shots of all the bits and bobs inside the shop as this was something that they felt our film lacked. We also need to focus on the narrative of the film to make sure that we can communicate the idea of the regeneration and changes that are happening in Peckham. In a way, Julie's shop is a metaphor for what is happening in this area, as there is talk of regeneration and gentrification in the nearby streets (bellenden road).

Peckham...from the top

After walking around Peckham, we stumbled across a small shop, with no name brimming with books, pictures, ceramics and other bits and bobs. It was an emporium of nick nacks from peoples houses and unwanted furniture. We went inside and spoke to the owner Julie, who told us about her shop, Peckham as an area and where all of her stuff came from. The more we spoke to her, the more we learnt about the business side of Peckham, from which Julie told us that her shop was due to be turned into and Art Gallery, towards the end of the year. This was in conjunction with a local gallery called MOCA, owned by the same person. While it seemed like a good idea, Julie worries that if it becomes a 'invite only' space, it will cut the rest of the community off from using and or benefitting from this new venture.