Erik Parr
DXARTS 202
4/17/06
Concept Architecture
¬Project Objecives
-Engage viewers in the dialogue on the Holocaust, media, and memory
-Bring into question the idea of non-image, politics of photography, the role of the viewer in art
-Allow participants to reexamine issues of representation, memory, and surveillance
Cultural / Historical Influences
Guilles Deleuze
Maurice Blanchot
Susan Sontag
Art Spiegelman
Technical Foundations
Processing.org
SuperCollider
stateoftheunion.onetwothree.net/
Equipment
- MacBook Pro -- $0
- Projector -- $0
- Installation space -- $0
- Speakers -- $0
- Mk II sound interface & cables -- $0
Total: $0
Budget
$0
Timeline
Week 4 –
Complete text-based graphical interface rough draft in Processing
Week 5 –
-Work on image display and make display aesthetically pleasing
-Integrate text-based graphical interface with image display
Week 6 –
-Create interface between Processing language and SuperCollider for sound recording and playback
-Fix bugs, technical problems, etc.
Week 7 –
-Integrate text-based interface, image display, sound
-Refine implementation ideas, etc.
Week 8 –
-Prepare logistics for installation (installation space, equipment reservation, etc.)
-Refine integration, fix bugs
Week 9 –
-Fix any loose ends, bugs, implementation issues
- Test final product
- Finish
Personal Objectives:
-Gain technical skills in integration with Processing language and SuperCollider
-Artistic exploration and risk taking in conceptual / subject matter of installation
- Learn to incorporate research into a fully realized artwork
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
some technical progress...
(Disclaimer: This probably will only be interesting for anyone looking into the Processing environment, specifically if anyone wants to do any integration with the web for a project...)
Since this is largely a project which integrates with other multimedia environments, I have been doing most of the work within the Processing environment ( www.processing.org ) and it has been working nicely so far. I currently am able to take textual input from a user and use that to gather and display images and other keywords that pertain to that text. For this I used Switchboard, a library created by Jeffery Crouse (check out all the specs at: http://www.realtimeart.com/thesis/jcrouse_thesis041606.pdf ). Mr. Course was generous enough to send me a slightly altered version of his library, because I was having problems displaying multiple images from the web.
What's next on the list is to make the interface look more visually pleasing and to populate a list of terms relating to the holocaust and display the list so that the participant can begin navigating it.
Since this is largely a project which integrates with other multimedia environments, I have been doing most of the work within the Processing environment ( www.processing.org ) and it has been working nicely so far. I currently am able to take textual input from a user and use that to gather and display images and other keywords that pertain to that text. For this I used Switchboard, a library created by Jeffery Crouse (check out all the specs at: http://www.realtimeart.com/thesis/jcrouse_thesis041606.pdf ). Mr. Course was generous enough to send me a slightly altered version of his library, because I was having problems displaying multiple images from the web.
What's next on the list is to make the interface look more visually pleasing and to populate a list of terms relating to the holocaust and display the list so that the participant can begin navigating it.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Proposal
In many parts of the world, particularly in the United States and Germany, there has been a significant rise in the number of representations of the Holocaust over the past twenty years. As we get farther away from the time of the event and as survivors pass away, there becomes an increasing need and desire to represent the past, so that future generations will never forget. In the United States and Germany, the Holocaust has become an important part of national memory, and throughout the world, it has become an iconic representation of human pain and suffering. However, this increase in representations may be leading to a greater level of collective forgetting in the Western World. If overexposure may lead to desensitization, how can we re-engage people?
The non-image of photography may be one way of understanding and approaching this issue. The non-image is the virtual photograph; it is that which has not been taken. The non-image of photography is one model of memorialization that allows room for reflection and engagement. The virtual photograph calls attention to the images that already exist and the effects that our picture taking may have in the future. Shedding light on the politics of photography and viewer-ship, the non-image reminds us of how photography may be used for a spectrum of different purposes and how we affect the world both as photographers and viewers. The non-image also reminds us that photographs are catalysts for remembering and that the act of remembering is always highly personal. This model of memorialization may be used to understand other mediums of representation and may also be effective for understanding how we may memorialize other tragic events.
We would like to create an installation that embodies the non-image and the politics of photography. Our installation will be an interactive piece seeking to engage viewers in the dialogue on the Holocaust, media, and memory. The installation will involve one computer, one or more projectors, one video camera, and four speakers. The spectator will enter the installation and be presented with the sights, sounds and text generated by previous spectators. This multimedia environment will engage the spectator to take part in the installation by interacting with the computer, which will have a user interface to further engage the user and encourage participation. Outside of the room be an artist statement, informing the spectator a brief statement of intent and instructions on navigating the installation.
While interacting with the computer, participant will be presented with a number of words accessed through the internet from various holocaust-related websites. These words will first be generated by Melissa and I to provide some artistic constructs for the spectator, however, they will then add to the list of terms based on their navigation of the content. Through this interaction, the user will essentially be in control of what is being represented, although the content will still be artistically mediated. Based on the words that the user will choose from the interface, text and images will then be projected on the wall based on their choice.
Drawing attention to issues of viewership and voyeurism, a live video feed will also be projected of the participant's interaction within the installation. This projection will be in juxtaposition to the other media elements already present in the installation. The live video feed should ideally be placed in a way so that it will be inconspicuous to the viewer upon entry. Adding to this issue of surveillance, a microphone within the computer will record the participant's interactions in real-time to be processed and played back through the speakers placed throughout the room. This element of the installation will make itself apparent only after the user has had enough time to react to what they are experiencing.
The non-image of photography may be one way of understanding and approaching this issue. The non-image is the virtual photograph; it is that which has not been taken. The non-image of photography is one model of memorialization that allows room for reflection and engagement. The virtual photograph calls attention to the images that already exist and the effects that our picture taking may have in the future. Shedding light on the politics of photography and viewer-ship, the non-image reminds us of how photography may be used for a spectrum of different purposes and how we affect the world both as photographers and viewers. The non-image also reminds us that photographs are catalysts for remembering and that the act of remembering is always highly personal. This model of memorialization may be used to understand other mediums of representation and may also be effective for understanding how we may memorialize other tragic events.
We would like to create an installation that embodies the non-image and the politics of photography. Our installation will be an interactive piece seeking to engage viewers in the dialogue on the Holocaust, media, and memory. The installation will involve one computer, one or more projectors, one video camera, and four speakers. The spectator will enter the installation and be presented with the sights, sounds and text generated by previous spectators. This multimedia environment will engage the spectator to take part in the installation by interacting with the computer, which will have a user interface to further engage the user and encourage participation. Outside of the room be an artist statement, informing the spectator a brief statement of intent and instructions on navigating the installation.
While interacting with the computer, participant will be presented with a number of words accessed through the internet from various holocaust-related websites. These words will first be generated by Melissa and I to provide some artistic constructs for the spectator, however, they will then add to the list of terms based on their navigation of the content. Through this interaction, the user will essentially be in control of what is being represented, although the content will still be artistically mediated. Based on the words that the user will choose from the interface, text and images will then be projected on the wall based on their choice.
Drawing attention to issues of viewership and voyeurism, a live video feed will also be projected of the participant's interaction within the installation. This projection will be in juxtaposition to the other media elements already present in the installation. The live video feed should ideally be placed in a way so that it will be inconspicuous to the viewer upon entry. Adding to this issue of surveillance, a microphone within the computer will record the participant's interactions in real-time to be processed and played back through the speakers placed throughout the room. This element of the installation will make itself apparent only after the user has had enough time to react to what they are experiencing.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Work so far...
Since this is the first post for the project I thought I'd give a quick introduction. This project is a collaborative effort between Melissa Andrada and myself, Erik Parr. The project really began last quarter during our CHID research seminar / senior thesis which was loosely based concepts of memory. The research from which this art project emerged was done by Melissa and after several discussions within our group, she decided that this research needed an artistic outlet to express what words alone could not. Since then we have been collaborating on how to realize this art work, which is decidedly a real-time, multimedia installation. Tomorrow I plan to meet up with Melissa and provide some more info on the conceptual ideas concerning this work, what has already been accomplished, and what will be accomplished in the future. Cheers!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
