Group Critique
During the group critique I spoke about projecting the filmed cityscape outdoors, and the importance of capturing the essence of the city. Leigh Clarke reacted with a wide range of comments about the work. His main point was that the sound was more powerful than the time-lapse video since it allowed the audience to imagine a larger, more ambiguous space.
He also mentioned that my background as a privileged member of society, and the subsequent "god-like" perspective referred to the panopticon and I should be cautious about the meanings inferred from such choices. Tracey Emin's Folkstone work was mentioned in relation to illustrating a place by using one powerful symbolic object. Leigh Clarke felt that I should focus on a particular object or section of the city instead of trying to describe the entire "forest." He commented that I needed to have an original view of the city rather than something which has been seen before. Ai Weiwei's work Sunflower Seeds 2010 was also mentioned, however I am of the opinion that the work has little relation to mine since I'm looking at sharing the darker, hidden city. In terms of capturing essence however the work is relevant due to the clever play on porcelain versus sunflower seeds, and the issue of handcrafted versus mass-industrialization.
Overall the critique was motivating and provocative because he challenged my project at every level. I explored whether I could go ahead without the visual aspect altogether and looked at various installation concepts that would center around sound as a medium. Another important conclusion was that giving the audience too much information reduced the impact of the work. Overall I realized much more experimentation and research is needed before I can confidently defend my work.
Reference:
Bentham, J (1791). Panopticon Or the Inspection House Vol1 [ebook]. University of Lausanne. Available from: http://books.google.com/ebooks [Accessed 23rd April].
Calvino, I (1997). Invisible Cities. New Edition. London: Minerva.
Emin, T (2008) Baby Things [online] Available from http://www.folkestonetriennial.org.uk/2011-event/artists/2008-tracey-emin/ [Accessed 23rd April 2011].
Foucault, M (1977). Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison [online] Translated from French by Alan Sheridan. Available online from http://www.cartome.org/foucault.htm [Accessed 23rd April 2011].
Kennedy, M (Jan 2011). Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds to go on sale at Sotheby's [online] Available from http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/jan/26/ai-weiwei-sunflower-seeds-sothebys?INTCMP=SRCH [Accessed 23rd April 2011].
Tate Modern (2010). The Unilevel Series: Ai Weiwei [online] Available from http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/unileverseries2010/default.shtm [Accessed 23rd April 2011].
Peer Critique
We organized a peer critique for the 14th of December to discuss our work. At this point most people are midway through their projects. About 12-15 part-time and full-time MA students attended the workshop. I presented a video and photographs from a recent installation test. Here are some points of reaction to my work: > Simple, yet effective
> Interactive without the use of very complex technology. Since the user is essential to viewing the artwork.
> Use of technology is secondary to the concept.
> Prefer to see it projected on walls, instead of floor since it's more natural.
> Want to see more animation: people, events, day changing to night.
> Want to see a more dramatic difference between the two skylines.
> One person interpreted the "real" city as a doomsday city since it contains images of poverty and burning buildings.
> Important to note how most people who view the work generalize it to any city rather that Mumbai, unless specifically told.
> Prefer the rough sketchy version of the city.
> Almost a film.
Overall, I realized how different each person's work and philosophy was, from Fine Art to Animation finding common ground is not easy since its like each person is from different planets. At the same time it was useful to see how a fine artist or animator would react to my work. Additionally, various topics such as self-reflexive films, and the "axiomatic" were discussed. I also discovered a piece of work which later became vital to my understanding of my practice. It is called Circle of Confusion by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, 1997. See my notes on this work here.