Lake Discussion and Wavefield

A concept for combining interviews about personal subject matter and abstract video performance. University of Michigan Art & Design 2010

Modeling Space Carrying Over

My professor suggested I take Cynthia Pachikara's Modeling Space, Marking Time course. This week we learned advanced editing techniques in Final Cut Pro. Although I had considered myself an expert of the program, I hadn't ever used the cropping and distortion techniques that are possible with the program. Here, I'm cleaning up an image I shot in room 2006, the photo documentation lab. I cropped the image and distorted it slightly to compensate for the light reflective board I was using. The image represents a figure seemingly in motion, but blinded and stationary.

I've wanted to add more documentation photos to the blog, and here is an image of the present state of my studio. Today, I'm working on generating ideas through drawing and brainstorming. The purpose of the work is to prepare for creating the "final" images that will be exhibited in April. I've done some good searching and experimenting last semester, and in the next month I will use those ideas to create more refined video pieces.

Also, I'm brainstorming the latest round of interviews for my project. My professors may remember that I had planned to combine my visual/metaphorical images with spoken interviews. I still plan to do this, but my biggest concern is putting these two very different types of artistic video together. So far, I'm planning to interview my past mentors in an effort to explore general teaching practices that can be related to the act of critiquing one's past. I apologize if this seems hazy now, but I'll post a sample video of my desired effect later this week.

Studio art, but on a bus

Today during our morning session of IP I decided to travel to downtown Ypsilanti to shoot footage that is a continuation of my experiments last semester, but is off UM campus, and with more thought put into the appearance of myself in the videos. I'd considered introducing a costume into my video work, but there would be an obvious disconnect between my footage shot last semester, and I think there is something effective about a totally unconsidered physical appearance - only street clothes, the garb of a college student. I did, however, cover the labels of my jacket with black masking tape, and I think I was able to make my clothes more generic, and therefore considered.

New Work and The Power of a Written Thesis

Moving into Integrative Project II is a totally unique experience from anything else in the art school. Not only is it an intensive experience, but it's one that continues through the winter recess and into the winter semester. Unlike the normal advanced studios, a student can't outrun the IP experience simply by surviving through a single semester.

Thankfully, our professors assigned a thesis over the recess, and I've recently experienced the wisdom of this. When the project gets hard, like when it's hard to see how the final work will come together, it's tempting to move in a new direction. This is dangerous, and I found myself wanting to move away from the documentary and into shorter, more narrative videos. I was into storyboarding my second piece when I grabbed my thesis paper that I had stuck onto my studio wall. Reading over my ideas and reflections, I was reminded of the original intention of the project, and the work that I still needed to do. I was reminded what my IP is all about. Capturing first hand accounts of instances of self-critique, and depicting them through performative video. This deeper understanding also facilitated a new series taken in and around a frozen pond. A "Snow Walk" represents the narrator's feelings of vulnerability.

Thesis: Semester 2.0

I'm in the midst of brainstorming for my written thesis. I'm excited about building on my project into the next semester, and I'm so glad that I decided stick with the artdes BFA. It's more challenging - I admit that I feel a bit of dread whenever I think about continuing the project. But being able to stick with it, and making it exciting despite feeling burned out, is a good experience.