TIME ART: Three Ideas

Three Rough Ideas 

Past, Present, Future

This Idea came across when researching into SpaceTime. I like the whole concept, and that over a period of time your past, present and future can be affected by what you do. Also Einsteins SpaceTime theory also inspired me with the whole concept. 

I have been doing research, and brainstorming, into many ways I could approach this idea. One idea that come to mind was using the three portrait screens as each feature. For example: The first screen will loop footage of a mans past. The second screen, will loop footage of that mans present moment, and the third screen will loop footage of the mans future. 

There is a twist to the footage being looped, and in relation to SpaceTime, the actions taken in rather the past, present or future screen will effect each screen.  For example: The man featured in the future screen might take a gun out at one point and decide to shoot a family member, now this will effect what will feature on the past screen, and the past screen will show the man as a child with a dysfunctional family. 

This is just a rough idea of something I could look more into and produce for this assignment.

Things over time

Another idea that come into mind was using the screens to represent the idea of things over time, and how things change over time. I was looking at ways to try and approach this and one way that I had looked into was producing a time lapse. 

I started to look into time lapse, and different ways to produce a time lapse, and I found this article that really helped me. "How To Make Time Lapse Video Ultimate Guide." (http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/how-to-make-time-lapse-video-ultimate-guide/)

Time Lapse of what? This is what come into mind after reading the article. So I started to look at a few time lapse videos on youtube to get some inspiration. 

Above are just a couple of videos I had found interesting. I also started look into tutorials on how to edit time lapse videos using after effects, and color correction before the time lapse edit. 

Not Enough Time

My last idea that I found interesting was the whole idea of not having enough time in life. This idea was inspired by an article I read on thinksimplenow (http://thinksimplenow.com/clarity/not-enough-time/).  

The idea will consist of one man walking through screen to screen, when time freezes, and the surroundings around him stop moving. As he notices what has happened he starts to run through the screens continuously. 

In some perspective the idea was also inspired by Einstein's theory on the fabric of time. The idea defeats the purpose of not having enough time because time has froze, and that gives him time, but he still continues to rush (run) throughout the screens continuously.

I looked more in depth on how this idea could work in terms of freezing time. I found this tutorial on videocopilot (http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/time_freeze/) which had helped a lot. I think a few test shots, and practice, would help achieve this effect. 

TIME ART: Research And Brainstorm

WHAT IS TIME? 

The concept of time is self-evident. An hour consists of a certain number of minutes, a day of hours and a year of days. but we rarely think about the fundamental nature of time. 

Time is passing non-stop, and we follow it with clocks and calendars. Yet we cannot study it with a microscope or experiment with it. And it still keeps passing. We just cannot say what exactly happens when time passes.

Time is represented through change, such as the circular motion of the moon around Earth. The passing of time is indeed closely connected to the concept of space.

(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/04/050415115227.htm) 

ALBERT EINSTEIN AND THE FABRIC OF TIME 

Albert Einstein concluded in his later years that the past, present, and future all exist simultaneously. 

"Most everyone knows that Einstein proved that time is relative, not absolute as Newton claimed. With the proper technology, such as a very fast spaceship, one person is able to experience several days while another person simultaneously experiences only a few hours or minutes. The same two people can meet up again, one having experienced days or even years while the other has only experienced minutes. The person in the spaceship only needs to travel near to the speed of light. The faster they travel, the slower their time will pass relative to someone planted firmly on the Earth. If they were able to travel at the speed of light, their time would cease completely and they would only exist trapped in timelessness. Einstein could hardly believe there were physicists who didn’t believe in timelessness, and yet the wisdom of Einstein's convictions had very little impact on cosmology or science in general. The majority of physicists have been slow to give up the ordinary assumptions we make about time."

(http://everythingforever.com/einstein.htm)

TIME TRAVEL: EINSTEIN'S THEORY OF RELATIVITY 

"If Something is fast enough through space it can alter its passage through time."

We all know should know that time is connected to space and all started through what most scientists believe, the big bang theory. 

I have been researching into time and stumbled upon how space and time relate. So I thought that using spacetime, and researching more into the concept could help me sketch an idea out. 

Einstein believed that space and time cannot be thought of as separate things, and instead space and time are fussed together to be called spacetime. 

NOT ENOUGH TIME. HOW TO STOP THE ILLUSION. 

After more researching on time, while coming off the subject of space time, I had found a website that offers help on the subject of not having enough time. 

here is the website:  http://thinksimplenow.com/clarity/not-enough-time

It mentions seven different strategies that the writer thought helped him in better controlling his time.

1. Treasure your time 

2. Stop getting things done

3. Leave your job at work 

4. Simplify your commitments 

5. Discover who you are 

6. Simplify your information streams 

7. Gift yourself a day

"The illusion that there is not enough time is just that: an illusion" 

TIME WITHIN PHOTOGRAPHY 

I stumbled upon this article when researching more into the concept of time, and I saw this photography series called "Steve Pyke's Jack and Duncan series"

 

I found this intriguing because it can easily relate to both time and memory. When I think of time memory tends to pop into mind, and this is because i believe memories are produced over a period of time. I find this specific piece of work to be quite personal to him as it is work related to both his sons Jack and Duncan. in some perspective you could consider this as a memorial piece. 

He also mentions in the article, link below, about photographing things over a time and that David Attenborough did it first with a dead mouse that eventually had maggots in it. 

Reading the article and seeing some of Steve Pyke's work inspired me in some way to experiment with the whole concept of life after death and things over time.   

(http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/interactive/2013/may/19/power-photography-time-mortality-memory#blake-morrison)

When brainstorming a variety of ways I could approach this assignment I found a few concepts that I could look more into. 

Sketch Book. Time Art Brainstorm.

One concept that really intrigued me was the past, present and future. When researching into Albert Einsteins SpaceTime theory, the past, present and future was mentioned, and how in some perspective the future of a persons action could be seen by analysing there every possible path they could take. 

Another idea that struck to mind was the concept of things over time, and how things can change over a period of time. 

REFLECTIONS: One Minute Appropriation Film

I had produced my appropriation film from a variety of adverts. At first I really didn't know what theme I would go for. Whether it would be something serious or something humorous. I had used RealPlayer to browse and download a variety of random videos, and a lot of videos I had watched where humorous, I found that a lot of the videos where also animal related.

Through all the videos I had downloaded I chose all my favorite adverts, taken small chunks out of each advert, and tried to give it a small narrative through a talking dog advert.

You can see the video I had randomly put together above.

REFLECTIONS: Five Stills Research

Research

A Mirrored Memory By Tom Hussey

Tom Hussey is a Texas based photographer. He had produced a series of 8 images for a pharmaceutical company for their "Reflections" campaign.

http://www.tomhussey.com/#/SERIES%20%20/Reflections/3

Objects In Memory By Xu Neixiang 

Xu Neixiang is a Suzhou based photographer. She had created "Objects In Memory" to memorialize her late grandmother's life. Xu Neixiang's work consists of her grandmother's belongings being frozen, and then photographed.

When explaining the piece she stated “Memories don’t have a permanent form. Remembering my grandmother’s face, I try to think about which one of her belongings contained the essence of her life. After she passed away, her room was still kept in the same tidy manner, the only difference being that that her fingers would no longer grace her belongings. Perhaps some of her memories are contained within the items…” 
“Memories don’t have a permanent form. Remembering my grandmother’s face, I try to think about which one of her belongings contained the essence of her life. After she passed away, her room was still kept in the same tidy manner, the only difference being that that her fingers would no longer grace her belongings. Perhaps some of her memories are contained within the items…”

http://edge.neocha.com/photography/some-impressive-installation-works-from-suzhou-based-photographer-xu-neixiang/

Déjà Vu: Why Do We Have Memories From Nowhere?

"The French term deja vu can be translated as 'already seen.' However, even if we are insistently trying to recall exactly when we saw it, it is impossible. Deja vu is linked to several concepts: deja vecu - already experienced, deja entendu - already heard, and jamais vu - never seen. The last term refers to the opposite phenomenon of deja vu - when a person does not recognise familiar objects." 

- A paragraph from an article I had read on www.learning-mind.com. You can find the full article here: http://www.learning-mind.com/deja-vu-why-do-we-have-memories-coming-from-nowhere/

The article talks about several forms of deja vu theories, and hypothesis, based on memories as well as your past life. 

The Photography and Memory Experiment 

After doing some secondary research on Photograph, and how it can relate to our memory, I had found an article titles "Taking photographs ruins the memory"  Below is a short piece taken from the article. You can also find the full article with this link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/10507146/Taking-photographs-ruins-the-memory-research-finds.html 

(Taking photographs at a birthday or a wedding has become as natural as blowing out candles or cutting the cake.

But our obsession with recording every detail of our happiest moments could be damaging our ability to remember them, according to new research.

A study has shown that taking pictures rather than concentrating fully on the events in front of us prevents memories taking hold.

Dr Linda Henkel, from Fairfield University, Connecticut, described it as the "photo-taking impairment effect".

She said: "People so often whip out their cameras almost mindlessly to capture a moment, to the point that they are missing what is happening right in front of them. When people rely on technology to remember for them - counting on the camera to record the event and thus not needing to attend to it fully themselves - it can have a negative impact on how well they remember their experiences.")

THE EXPERIMENT

After reading more into photography, and how it can affect the memory, I have decided to try conduct some primary research into the subject. 

The experiment will need two participants to take place. Participant A and Participant B, and for two days I will get Participant A to constantly take pictures of their day. Participant B will not be allowed to take any pictures at all, and that includes social websites such as Snapchat, Instagram etc. 

After each day I will test both Participants separately on their memory. I will find out how much of their day, conversations, things they have eaten and more that they can remember. 

After the second day I will calculate my results to see which Participant remembers the most.

RESULTS

At the end of each day I spoke with both participants to evaluate their memory on what went on that day, and to be very specific with explaining each day. This is what they both had to say; https://soundcloud.com/dowan-barak/tracks

After speaking to both participants I had found that participant A wasn't as specific as participants B. Although participant A did remember a majority of her day well she still had to think twice about each moment, and compared to participant B who was very specific with what went on and didn't have to think twice, participant A was affected slightly by photography.

Although this experiment showed some result in photography decreasing memory it was 100% accurate, and the researched gained from it was purely for inspiration for this unit. 

http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/

When researching about the theme of memory I had stumbled upon a tumblr blog called "Dictionary Of Obscure Sorrows", and when browsing through the blog the definition of Sonder had stood out the most. After more research I was inspired to create a series of images related to the theme of memory, and project those memories through sonder.

Each Image shall project a past and present memory of each random passerby, whether it is one passerby or many, I will experiment with different techniques to get a variety of photos for my series.

An example of one technique that I will be experimenting with, and expired by Tom Hussey's "A Mirrored Memory", is the use of reflection to project a past memory of some one as shown above. I liked the whole concept of using mirrors to project a specific memory, and time in life, so I will be transforming that concept. I will use digital manipulation to create a ghostly presence, and past memory, of multiply people featured in the image.

I have been examining a series of photos in connection to reflections. Here is a site where I have found some inspiration for my series: http://photography.tutsplus.com/articles/100-creative-examples-of-reflections-in-photography--photo-6722

Inspiration

Inspiration

Another Idea that shot into mind was to over lay 2 images together through photoshop. The first image would be a subject such as a family member, close friend or even a stranger who has a story to tell. The second image will over lay the first image, and that will represent his memory. The second image could be anything related to the subjects memory. I'm looking more into this idea.


I managed to get the idea from helping a friend who studies photography. I helped her with a ego and alter ego project where she produced a long exposure images by having a long shutter speed.

 This was just a practice image that I have as I cannot get my hands on the finished image yet.

I like the idea of having a long exposure image, but, I knew this wouldn't work well with producing the subjects memory. So the idea of over laying two images will work better, and create a similar effect as the long exposure image.

In some way I could make a long exposure image work, but we wouldn't see the subject in s/he present. The image would be an image based on s/he past memory.

He is some experimenting with long exposure images I took a while back that I liked, and gave me some inspiration.

Long exposure images.

Both images are a part of my memory. 

Steve Pyke (Acts of Memory) 

I was researching into my Time Art unit when I found out about this photographer called Steve Pyke. He had produced this photography piece, and that I found would be quite personal to him, based on his two sons. 

Jack and Duncan Series

In some perspective I see this as a memorial for himself for both his sons. Something that would bring back memories when seen. 

On his website I had found a section based on "Acts of Memory". I noticed that all the pictures shown are collages of a variety of images. I've also noticed dates within the caption. I am assuming that these are acts of memory produced within those years presented, and shown all in one photo. 

Acts of Memory 7, 1996 - 1999.

Acts of Memory 8, 1999 - 2001.

(http://pyke-eye.com/Acts-of-Memory/7/caption/)

REFLECTIONS: Flash Photography Workshop

One of the first workshops that I had attended since getting back was a flash photography workshop hosted by Paul Corcoran.

During this workshop I had gained knowledge on a variety of lighting equipment, how they work and operate.

Beauty Dish

The Beauty dish was one of the last but most interesting talked about lighting equipment in the studio. It uses a parabolic reflector to distribute light towards a focal point. The beauty dish can give the image a dramatic effect, and the light created is between a direct flash and a Softbox.

After the workshop I wanted to know more on how the beauty dish worked, and to get a better understanding on it. After researching the beauty dish I had found this video on YouTube that broadened my knowledge on the equipment. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-cQyJWNvLY

Beauty Dish

Soft Box 

Another well known lighting equipment we had talked about was a Softbox. A Soft box is used to help light a subject more evenly. It creates a diffused lighting effect, producing a softer yet more natural lighting condition. Soft boxed play an important role for fill, separation and edge lighting. 

I had researched more into Soft boxes through a variety of sites such as: 

http://www.photoflex.com/pls/understanding-how-soft-boxes-work and http://www.steves-digicams.com/knowledge-center/how-tos/photo-accessories/how-a-softbox-works.html#b  

Soft Box

Lighting Umbrella

The lighting umbrella was another equipment we had talked about. The light is bounced off the umbrella which naturally diffuses it. The lighting is much less subtle than a direct flash. 

I had researched more into lighting umbrella's and how they work: http://www.steves-digicams.com/knowledge-center/how-tos/photo-accessories/how-a-lighting-umbrella-works.html#b 

Lighting Umbrella

At the end of the workshop we had to produce a photo that resembles the photo of Steve Jobs below. 

Steve Jobs 

We had used primary, and secondary lighting, and with our subject placed in the center of the back drop. We had worked within a team, and communicated efficiently, and with the help of Paul Corcoran we had successfully learnt how to use each lighting equipment properly.

TIME ART: After Effects Workshop

To be honest I have never had the chance to play around with After Effects. I had my first introduction on After Effects CS6 on Friday 10th January 2014.

During the workshop I had learnt some basic skills within After Effects. Some of those included was to complete a composite of live action footage, color filters, blending color solids, and basic animation movement. 

Chicago footage

Chicago footage sunset

I will be looking at two different sites that offer tutorials on After Effects to broaden my knowledge even more. http://www.lynda.com/ and http://www.videocopilot.net/.

REFLECTIONS Assignment Preparation (Christmas Task)

"Posted on: Thursday, 19 December 2013
Over the Christmas break and as self directed study on 6th January we want you to think of something that you want to remember in the future and memoralise it in several different ways.This could be by Facebook, Twitter, email, photograph,sculpture, painting, film, Youtube, novel/short story, letter, text, message sent to outerspace, theatre, dance, biography, phone call, mural, demonstration, costume, song, sketch, poem, rap, code, postcard, blog, book, album. Just a few ideas. The materials could be found as well as (re)constructed and we would like you to try to experiment with at least 6 different forms, methods or systems. Please bring your work in its different forms to class with you on Monday January 13^th. This is a task that will form part of the folio for the unit.You should also look at the reading list for Reflections and try to read as many of the books as possible.Have a fantastic break and see you in 2014."

After reading our first task for the reflections unit I was stuck for a second on what I would like to remember, and that's when it hit me. What means most to me in life? 

So that's when the journey to create 6 different forms of family, and friends, memorials started. 

MAP OF IDEA'S 

Sculpture, Collage, Letter, Quote 

The first idea that shot into my head was creating a sculpture. Creating a sculpture would be something that would really memorialize my family for me, especially my mum. She use to create facial sculptures and molds all the time. So creating this would be something more personal to me. After speaking to my mum she explained to me the process of creating a facial sculpture using alginate and plaster. I had also researched different techniques I could use to approach this sculpture, and I found a video on YouTube that uses the same approach as I took when creating my final piece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB2QHIVaahw 

Facial Sculpture

 Another form I had created to memorialize family, and friends, was a photo collage. There is nothing better then going through a ton of old photos, ton of good memories. Reminiscing!

I had put aside all my favorite as well as meaningful photos, and started to organize them onto a pin board.

I didn't want to ruin the photos by gluing or pinning them to the board. So I had used a small dot of bluetac on each photo which kept them secure to the board, and damage free.

Family Collage

My family consists of 5 generations who are all alive today, touch wood, and I wanted to try and memorialize everyone. One idea that came across was to create a family tree, and I have never really created a family tree before, so I knew it would be a good idea to try approach it as one of my forms. Plus, I've always wanted to know a rough number of people involved within the family. Over 80! 

I have added a link below for you to explore. 

http://www.familyecho.com/?p=START&c=3jifsln8rs&f=668485720937168672 

Love Letter

Another idea that I had stumbled upon while looking at a series of quotes was a love letter. The letter stated, from a guy called Alexandre (Alexander), that he wanted to be apart of this women's family. He had fallen in love with her. " You are very close to your family, which is good. I've realized during my time away that to have family is important. I'm crazy about you. Consider me as part of your family. forget my Mr. know it all demeanor. under it all, I love you." Reading this instantly made me think of family. I didn't know anything else about who Alexandre wrote this to or when he had written it. I thought it would be a great idea to really play around with the letter, and back date to 1942. I used wet teabags to give the letter that old ancient look, and burned the edges to make it even more rough.