311mc ideas ( progression over xmas)

So for 311mc we need 10 ideas to develop. So far, from the 310mc module,  I have three ideas. I will keep adding more and researching more over the festive period ready for the presentations when we return.
These need to be researched and developed (obviously) , my ideas so far are;

1. Installation art- McDonalds idea- two opposing screens- handing out Mcdonald’s food?

I don’t know too much about the history or context surrounding installation art so I shall research ;

Installation art describes an artistic genre of site-specific, three-dimensional works designed to transform the perception of a space.

Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however the boundaries between these terms overlap. Installation art can be either temporary or permanent. Installation artworks have been constructed in exhibition spaces such as museums and galleries, as well as public- and private spaces. The genre incorporates a very broad range of everyday and natural materials, which are often chosen for their evocative qualities, as well as new media such as video, sound, performance, immersive virtual reality and the internet. Many installations are site-specific in that they are designed to only exist in the space for which they were created.

Examples of Installation Art ;

Olafur Eliasson
The Mediated Notion
© Olafur Eliasson. Photo: KUB/Markus Treffer
Installed at Kunsthaus Bregenz 2001

2. Life flashing before your eyes – a memory ( in the style of Tarkovsky’s Mirror)

3. Photo Essay- consumption/situationism

THINGS I NEED TO CONSIDER;

1. contextualisation.
2. style of my projects
3. storyboarding/scripting
4. similar bodies of work

4. Development of Cloud9.fm ( second year project. Comedy radio show with fictional characters,adverts,news bulletins and accompanying website. For development ; maybe create more than one station / show. Could make the website using dreamweaver, do photography for the promo shots etc..

5.Documentary – relates to a psychological study.

6.

Module Reflection

Looking back at this module I have mixed emotions about it. I feel that I couldn’t get to grips with the meaning behind each theme  to begin with but the summer work I completed did help me with this process. Initially I was dreading the spectacle piece the most as i had no clue where i wanted to go with it. It turns out that it was my favourite theme to work on.

Before the module started I wanted to identify what challenges me, and once we were set the obstruction for memory as ”no obstruction’ it was a great chance for me to just try something new.The spectacle and power obstructions did help me narrow down some ideas because some just werent feesable within those obstructions. After each obstruction and lecture I thought about what I had learnt from the lecture and what each theme meant to be. I then began researching each theme and the surrounding theoriests,similar work and media publications about it. Over the three themes I conducted the following research ( as a lead on from my summer work and workshop thoughts)….

PRIMARY RESEARCH

• Asking people what their memories meant to them.
• Reflecting on my own personal experiences.
• Speaking to my family about memories.
• Asking people their thoughts about the politicial charade that is currently going on in this country.
• Looking into forums and online discussions about famine/poverty.
• Analysing McDonald’s position within society.
• Creating a spectacle , seeing how people reacted to it.

SECONDARY RESEARCH

• Newspaper coverage of the expenses scandal.
• Online articles and interviews.
• Marxist theories
• Roland Barthes,Nick Couldry,Jean Baudrillard,Fredrick Jameson,Foucoult- Theorists
• Guy Debord- Society of the Spectacle
• Analysis and criticism of Society of the Spectacle
• Phil Rockstroh,David Bergman,Chris Jordan – Photographers
• Andrei Tarkovsky ,William Burroughs- Filmmakers
• Brass Eye,Satire.
• Loftus and Palmer- Psychologists
• Heather Brooke- freedom of information!
• Situationism/Naomi Klein

By conducting different types of research meant that I thought of things which I probably wouldn’t have thought of before. This module allowed me to develop ideas and to create them so they conveyed a meaning which I wanted them too.

CRITICIAL APRROACH

The first piece of work was the SPECTACLE piece. After researching, and hearing about the chicken let loose in KFC  my idea cogs started spinning! After I came up with initial idea of fusing the two big themes ( famine .vs. consumption), my research into situationism and compassion fatigue really helped me develop my idea. After I had created the final piece however,I had had so many more ideas about the direction I could see this piece heading towards.I wanted to do installation art with two big screens which would show opposing and contrasting images. After this idea I wanted to try and hand out free McDonald’s food whilst these images on screen to test peoples commitment and conformity to the ‘compassion fatigue’ which has swept the nation. This is a possible idea I could take forward to 311mc, so I will develop it even further!Society of the Spectacle didn’t really help me to begin with but after I had an idea I could see how parts of it related to my work. I think Guy Debord’s work is still relevant today, 40 years after it was written , but I do feel that it won’t be relevant forever. The more we consume and the more spectacles we create, the less we will see these spectacles as ‘ spectacles’;life will become less of a representation of a spectacle,and the term will loose all meaning.Nothing will seem ‘spectacular’ anymore as we won’t have an accurate and individual  interpretation of the ‘real’.

*

Next up was POWER.This theme was one which I had most ideas about over the summer.I really wanted to create something about politics because it had recieved so much media coverage that it had became quite a phenomenon.Obviously politics have a direct link with power, so I wanted to find another theme to link in. After thinking about having them as politicians I originally wanted to create a photo essay.I was particularly interested in Chris Jordan’s work- how an image can evoke so many emotions. However, within the time constraints I didn’t feel I could create something that was feesable and would have the impact that I wanted it too.It is something that I am considering for my final project though. Anyway, this then lead me to stop motion. As I wanted to create a magic trick, short of me becoming Debbie McGee,I needed a way to create the trick without actually doing it! As a piece I am not happy with it at all. It could be a LOT better , but I feel the basis for it ; the satire,relevance to todays media,societys lack of trust , I feel this is strong.My biggest influence for this piece was definaltey Satire pieces and the media coverage of the expenses scandal. My main cricisim of this is it all became one sided ,even steve mentioned it seemed obvious to paint them all as ‘bad’ politicians, but it is how the media is portraying them . As mainstream media has its alliances to certain political parties my piece would fall at the ‘ethical’ hurdle…

*

Finally it was time for MEMORY . This is the theme that I feel I created the best artefact for. After delving into my own memory archive I chose my favourite memory and developed my idea. My final piece is audio and photograph ; I don’t think I used the audio as a safety blanket, I think they reinforce my memory and give a whole new meaning to memory distortion. When it came to researching ,I had already done lots of research about memory distortion and how we interpret our memories so to develop the final piece was enjoyable and well thought out( if I do say so myself). My main problem was finding photographers to contextualise my work to. I really struggled finding similar work so I just thought about what my photo represented and that’s how I came across gigapixel photographs.To improve it I was thinking about using poetry for the piece after studying the cut up pieces- this is something I may develop into 311mc. I was interested in using poetry as it gave the memory another dimension ; relating your memories to works of art , which would then relate in many different levels to peoples individual memories. My main influence for this  piece was Tarkovsky. I loves all of his films, particularly Mirror and Solaris. His work, particularly mirror has made me think more about how memories can be portrayed ; so you really question what you are seeing. This did help me develop my piece and certainly was a reference when I was editing the photograph.

On the whole, I am glad the module is complete as we can now get our teeth stuck into final project! Now I just need to develop my ideas towards the 311mc finish line.

Recording my audio and taking my photograph..

Today I finalised  my piece for memory. I recorded the audio with my script ( I looked over my first draft and spoke to my cousin and my mum and they both felt it was an accurate account.)

I then recorded my audio and edited it so it became a collective memory from individual memories.

Next up I took a few photographs before I chose which one.

I tried my man in the garden in a few different positions and used a few different methods and settings on the camera, just to have a little explore and consider all my options.

I have looked into photography where the images are misleading or could be a misrepresentation of itself.

GIGAPIXEL PHOTOGRAPHY

Gigapixel Photography

Gigapixel photographs are images that are over a Gigabite of data, usually a composite image produced from a number of images stitched together. The images are extremely detailed and there is much to see when you zoom into it as you can see with the images on this page. People can spend a lot of time viewing them which will add much value to your website as these images will keep visitors on your site for a longer period of time.

These images can be very time consuming to photograph and edit and much skill is required to make sure there are no imperfections within the image.

http://gigapan.org/viewGigapanFullscreen.php?auth=033ef14483ee899496648c2b4b06233c

This Photograph is a great example of gigapixel photography. It is taken by David Bergman. It is amazing that there is so much detail, but upon first glance it doesn’t show that at all. I really like that his picture has hidden detail within it ; something that I aimed to create in my piece.

Another example is this one ;

http://onemansblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/San-Francisco-in-Ruins-1906.jpg

This is more of a function photograph as it is a map but it still h as elements of misrepresentation and hidden images within it!

Three views of a 1.5 Gigapixel Image

COMPOSITION

I looked at my garden and thought about where a man could have been standing. Obviously as there are three different accounts of the memory I wanted it to be misleading. I didn’t want it to be too obvious someone was there as this would discard one of the individual memories.Instead I wanted my audience to decide for themselves , and see who could see what within the photograph. After situating the man to the left at the back, I noticed that the hedge to the right of the shot was taking up a large majority of the frame.However, I liked that this was a distraction from the man and also made the audience have to study the photograph in more detail.Then at the back of the garden is a white wall, again a welcome distraction. I then edited the photograph using different contrast and brightness settings until the man was hardly visable.

CONTENT

• A man within the garden.
• Night time.
• The image to seem unclear and misleading.

The final two can be seen below ;

Listen to the audio and examine the photograph ; you are then in our collective memory.

Episode 9

Sarah Bygrave’s Podcast

REFLECTION

After looking at my piece I think I have achieved what I wanted to. In the workshop Steve suggested I was using the audio as a safety blanket for the photograph but I really don’t think I was. I felt that the image just wasnt as descriptive without the audio. I think that hearing the audio makes you question the photograph more ; it plants the idea that there is a man in the garden, but then as soon as you hear the contradictory account of the memory you begin to question what you can actually see. If it was just the audio by itself then it would not have had the same impact. It would have just been accounts of a memory, but having the photograph to accompany it it brings the memory  life and allows the audience to create their own version of my memory. The photograph itself I am very pleased with. I played around with a few different edits of it but I chose the one which seemed most like my memory of it, that was coherant with my audio and was the best quality.Inspiration for this piece came from my own memories,SCOTT MCQUIRE-visions of moderninity and the fact there was no obstruction! Scott’s book really made me think about my memories, and if they really existed. This was then relayed in my work through the misleading photograph.The discussions in seminars were really good too, they also made me question what I could believe about my memories. I loved the freedom we were given for this theme and I think it benefited lots of peoples work .

CONTEXTUALISATION/RELATION

After researching and taking influence from Guy Debord,Scott McGuire,Karl Marx and Roland Barthes I wanted to find some media artefacts which I could relate my piece too.

TARKOVSKY

His visionary approach to cinematic time and space, as well as his commitment to cinema as poetry, mark his oeuvre as one of the defining moments in the development of the modern art film. Although he never tackled politics directly, the metaphysical preoccupations of films such as Andrei Rublev (1966), Mirror (1974) and Stalker (1979) provoked ongoing hostility from the Soviet authorities. Like many other artists in the Soviet Union, his career was marked by constant struggles with the authorities to realise his vision. Although this meant he completed only seven features in his 27 years as a director, each one is strikingly uncompromising in its thematic ambition and formal boldness. Whether or not he would have fared better under the capitalist film industry in the West is open to debate – Bresson and Dreyer, for example, both suffered frequent frustrations in creating their formally radical investigations into human spirituality. His parents divorced while he was still a child. His father’s poetry features in Mirror, Stalker and Nostalgia (1983) and his mother appears in Mirror.

What I like about these scenes from ‘Mirror’ are that they are not clearly a memory.The audio gives it a sense of realism and makes me question if it is based upon memory or is an actual memory.When the woman lifts her head out of the water, it becomes very dream like and surreal. This reinforced my confusion about the piece in relation to memory.
In relation to my piece I feel that my photograph has that sense of confusion; can you see a man in the garden, or are you creating the figure because the audio has entertained the idea someone is there. I would hope my audience were interested and their attention was held by the photograph and that they were curious about if there was a man in the garden within the photograph.

What I LOVE about  this piece Tarkovsky piece is it’s so beautiful.It has such strong transitions from each sub-theme and situation within the piece and it’s gentle pace completley hypnotised me. Even seeing the huge fire burning at the end didn’t raise any shock or emotion as I felt I had been numbed.I particularly like the shot of the two children standing at the door. The sunlight, for me, highlighted their innocence and made it look very cinematic. This short has given me an idea for my final project; to see your life flashing before your eyes,using one transition shot,creating a narrative from the audio…

THE CUT UP TECHNIQUE

‘The cut up technique is a way of re making your experience of the world around you of taking bits of it and reordering them to produce chance and unusual juxtapositions.’

What I really liked about this piece was the audio and the contrasts within the piece.The poetry, the music, the changing pace of the visuals. To be honest it made me feel a bit intoxicated.I like the confusion,the meanings within it and how it could be interpretated in so many different ways. To use poetry for audio is something which really interests me. Upon reflection, maybe I could have used some poetry for my memory piece…

Idea development..

Things i need to consider for my piece;

• Who is in the pictures?
• Who is telling the story?
• What is the memory?
• What is in the image?

I have decided to do photography accompanied by as I have never done it before and the obstruction is to do something new!

I’ve been thinking more about how we can’t trust our memories and our the most common memories,childhood,are built up from our memory,images we are shown and stories from our family without us knowing.I think the audio should be someone recalling a memory where they are seen  in the image.

• I could then have a clip or a photograph shown and someone else recalling the memory.
• Then go back to the persons memory and see how that has distorted it. I also like the idea of the people in the memory switching/changing.

I have continued with my idea of looking at my own memories for inspiration…

MY MEMORIES

- Someone in the garden.

I remember when i was about 5 my cousin being convinced there was a man in our garden.We went and told our mum and she looked out the window but couldnt see anything. My cousin was adamant so my mum being home alone with two under 7′s got our next door neighbour took take a look. There was no one there. This memory stays with me because I vividly remember my mums fear , but my excitement about something happening and the prospect of my cousin being told off after we discovered no one was there.

I remember being excited; my mum remembers being scared.

-”broke my arm”

A classic. When i was about 4 i remember screaming and telling my mum i had broken my arm.I wouldnt even let her touch my arm. So we had to go over to my brother’s school, take him out, get in a taxi to go to the hospital.All the way there i was screaming and crying in ‘pain’ still not letting my mother touch my arm. We then sat in A&E for about 3 hours. Once we saw the nurse i made a miraculous recovery.

I remember crying and screaming ; my mum remembers waiting for hours and then it all turning out to be  a big charade.

DEVELOPMENTS

I am thinking about developing the ‘man in the garden’ idea. I have chosen this one because it has two very different emotions attatched to it. Excitement and fear. These are very contrasting and demonstrate how different people interpret the memory.

I am thinking about having three images ;

1. how my mother remembers it- with a man in the garden
   
2. how i remember it- a man in the garden but my mum and cousin standing by the window
   
3. what was actually there- no one in the garden.

This will then be accompanied by the two different accounts of the memory as audio.

I am now thinking about guided imagination. What if I was to show someone a memory; what impact would that have on your memories? Could it trigger an emotion?

To test this out I described my ‘man in the garden ‘memory to a few people. The responses were mixed;

1. A ghost story.
2. Child was making it up for attention.
3. My mother was pretending to be afraid to prevent us from misbehaving.

I then spoke to my mum ( the star of the memory) to get her account of it. She said she genuinley was afraid as it was just her ,me and my cousin in. My cousin was adamant that someone was out there so my mum started to believe her.

MY THOUGHTS

I really like how three different accounts of a memory can make it seem distorted.Before I wanted to just focus on having the distortion on screen, but I think if I have the audio accounts all different and from different people you won’t know what to believe. For my photograph I am still wanting it to be misleading.To tie in with my memory it is going to be a shot of a man in a garden at night. I am thinking that the image shouldnt be very clear and with a few distractions it, so as the audio is played the audience can take in three different accounts of the memory and then look directly at the memory. If the image is misleading it will be all down to the audiences interpretation of it. I feel this will be a new look on memory distortion.

Development -memory

So my ideas didn’t go down to well in the workshop. I don’t really know where  I was going with it but I really liked the notion of desires overpowering memory.

I thought this was me avoiding the ‘bleeding obvious’ , but apparently its miles off the brief.So now im just thinking maybe I should stick to my original research that I did over summer and focus on memory distortion.

MEMORY DISTORTION

A woman accused memory expert Dr. Donald Thompson of having raped her. Thompson was doing a live interview for a television program just before the rape occurred. The woman had seen the program and “apparently confused her memory of him from the television screen with her memory of the rapist” (Schacter, 1996, 114).

Jean Piaget, the great child psychologist, claimed that his earliest memory was of nearly being kidnapped at the age of 2. He remembered details such as sitting in his baby carriage, watching the nurse defend herself against the kidnapper, scratches on the nurse’s face, and a police officer with a short cloak and a white baton chasing the kidnapper away. The story was reinforced by the nurse and the family and others who had heard the story. Piaget was convinced that he remembered the event. However, it never happened. Thirteen years after the alleged kidnapping attempt, Piaget’s former nurse wrote to his parents to confess that she had made up the entire story. Piaget later wrote: “I therefore must have heard, as a child, the account of this story…and projected it into the past in the form of a visual memory, which was a memory of a memory, but false” (Tavris).

In the workshop i was thinking about ;

• Physicality of memory- when we speak about certain memories do our bodies make a certain movement.Do we speak with our hands more?
• What triggers memory the most – smell,image,taste,touch?
• When you see a memory is it in first or third person?
• Memories provoke emotion in yourself
• Collective memory- peoples memories overlapping to create one between the two of you.
• Fragmented memory/linear memory
• Can we trust our memories? Did it really happen or have we make it from exterior factors?

The idea I am thinking most about is the idea that we can’t really trust our memories and how they can easily be manipulated and intercepted.

false memory

A false memory is a memory which is a distortion of an actual experience, or a confabulation of an imagined one. Many false memories involve confusing or mixing fragments of memory events, some of which may have happened at different times but which are remembered as occurring together. Many false memories involve an error in source memory. Some involve treating dreams as if they were playbacks of real experiences. Still other false memories are believed to be the result of the prodding, leading, and suggestions of therapists and counselors. Finally, Dr. Elizabeth Loftus has shown not only that it is possible to implant false memories, but that it is relatively easy to do so (Loftus, 1994).

A memory of your mother throwing a glass of milk on your father when in fact it was your father who threw the milk is a false memory based upon an actual experience. You may remember the event vividly and be able to “see” the action clearly, but only corroboration by those present can determine whether your memory of the event is accurate. Distortions such as switching the roles of people in one’s memory are quite common. Some distortions are quite dramatic, such as the following examples of false memories due to confusion about the source of the memory.

IDEAS

• Make the memory distorted by switching the people in the image
  so have one image with the memory audio playing
  then the picture changes so the people have same clothes,same positions etc
  but the memory is a different account,… or maybe the same account?
• Photographs , not a video.. ( something different for me to do)
• Photos of people then someone describing someone who they saw at an event
  Then get someone else to describe and as the description changes so does the photo ( move along the room-or have the photographs as a moving piece?)

IDEA!

• Base my idea on one of my own memories.
• Create something misleading/distorting
• Create something different!!
• A visual memory- come and look at my memories, you can experience them too.

I’ve’ been thinking about who i want in my visual memory- who could  I have distorting the other memory.
Maybe it could just be factors which alter the memory.
I could have the recollection of the memory ; then a clip or photograph / audio to accompany/ then show how the memory has been distorted- have a new account of it and a new , altered image…

10 memories

Ten memories…

in NO order.

1. Choosing my a-levels.

This was obviously such a huge decision and would shape my future career. I remember so clearly really struggling about whether to take English.My teachers and parents urged me to and i did study it, but i hated every second of it.It was such a large transition from GCSE to A-Level that i wasnt prepared for it or the work load. I was also studying drama and psychology, both of which are both heavy on paperwork and written exams.Obviously drama wasnt all theory but a larger majority of it is than most people think. I was thinking about doing dramatherapy for years, all throughout secondary school that was my main ambition. But then i did a media GCSE during my A-Levels and i just knew that was the way to go! After making our own short film, editing scripts and doing some writing my passion began to spark, and the rest is history.

2.Getting a job at the BBC

Obviously this has been the highlight of my University career. I was surprised i even got the interview to be a music reporter for 8 weeks. Obviously there was stiff competition, 1500 applicants nationwide for 26 places. There was only one position for a music reporter at BBC Coventry and Warwickshire,and after a rigorous interview i was lucky enough to get the job! I was then sent off to bristol to be trained in regards to the BBC guidelines and i then went on to produce content,interview bands, write for the website, cover Global Gathering festival and even host on the BBC Introducing show. This was so amazing for me, and it has just made me more than 100% sure that im in the correct profession and that radio and music researching are my future.

 

3.Going to University.

I wasnt nervous at all.The main thing i was worried about was if my housemates in my accommodation were horrible ( luckily they were a lovely bunch).It was such a big move , and i had only just turned 18 a few  weeks before i moved out.I did feel that i was ready to fly the nest and move away. I was excited for new opportunities and to see where my three years could take me. I was lucky to have two friends from home also choose Coventry, one even doing the same course , so it wasnt like i was completely on my own, i had my little safety blanket of friends around me.

4. Our Radio show in 2^nd year.

What a success this was!After having a year and a half dominated by television production and short films it was great to be given a brief we could just run with. It was great to get into the radio studios too , which i had been waiting to do for ages! We wrote,produced and edited the whole thing and got a really high first for it. At last, recognition for how funny sonia and i are. In all seriousness though, i think we impressed ourselves with the final product.Even Shelley, the module leader, thought we should send it into BBC Radio4 comedy! The only down side to this module was it made me question if i should have done radio production, but i feel that i get more and give more to offer to employers if i have experience in more than one media field,which is what media production can give me.

 

5.My Nanna B passing away.

 

Obviously this is probably the worst memory.I have a huge family on my dads side so the funeral was absolutely phenomenal. Hundreds of people, endless flower displays and tributes.It really was amazing.One of the hymns i have never forgotten, and that song stays with me always. It’s imprinted in my mind. 01/2001

 

6.Being chased by a horse.

Horrific. Absolutely the scariest moment of my life.I don’t even want to re live it.

 

7. Seeing a girl hit by a car.

This one has actually scared me for life.I have a developed fear about crossing roads now. It was on the way to school in year 9, on a Tuesday morning ( i remember so much). It was just across the road, there were schoolkids running about everywhere, crossing the road, going to the bus stop etc. Then i just happened to look left and saw a car come into contact with a girl. Her leg was left trapped under the wheel and we were all then moved on very quickly by the teaching staff. Terrible terrible day.

 

8. Getting a splinter across my windpipe.

Another bad memory. When i was 11 i was eating a chip off a chip fork.Next thing you know ive got a 1 inch splinter digging in either side of my throat across my windpipe.Off to A&E i went. The doctors were all baffled as they couldnt really see it, but i was adamant it was there. In the end a ENT supervisor came down with some forceps and removed it. One thing i remember is that i wouldnt go to A&E without me doing my hair and putting on my new coat with a fur trim and silk lining! Ha!

 

9.My first pet.

Aww, bugsy. The most anti social rabbit to ever grace the planet. As a child, like everyone else i wanted a hamster.But no, they were too noisy ( upon reflection thank god my mum didnt let me get one, they are extremely loud), so i settled for a cute,cuddly bunny rabbit. Kind of. My parents returned from the pet shop with a beautiful black rabbit, who did not let you stroke her, cuddle her or even look at her a certain way. Bad times.

10. Trips to london with my best friend

Good times all round! These are the memories i look back on with such fondness. My best friend knows me more than anyone else, knows all my secrets and we have too much fun together, it should be illegal. We go to london, shopping, lunching , going to the west end to see Wicked. One particular memory was when a preacher came up to us and Nik was just so hilarious with her responses. Fabulous times J

 

What ive noticed is that all my good memories came first, then the bad memories filtered through after.

Memory.

Initial thoughts about memory ( from summer research and own ideas)

• Psychological research into memory
• What makes things memorable and what triggers them?
• Photography- memories which are irreplaceable
• Memory distortion
• Personal memories

RESEARCH

SCOTT MCQUIRE-visions of moderninity ,1998

• From Guy Debord,who declared the spectacle to be ”the paralysis of history and memory” and the imposition of ”false conciousness of time”,to Baudrillard’s vision of technological acpocalypse,history seems destined to become the ”lost dimension”.
• In every remembering something is always forgotten.But perhaps what is most actively forgotten is precisely the irreductibilty of forgetting.

I really like the idea of a false conciousness.That whole ‘ do I remember it or did I dream it’, ‘ do I remember it or is it because someone has told me about it’. Can we actually trust our memories?

I’m thinking about how memories can be replaced or reinvented by new desires.This can be related back to commodity fetishism and false consciousness. I like the idea of how our memories can be erased of the ‘needs’ and replaced with the ‘wants’.

In Marxist theory, commodity fetishism is a state of social relations, said to arise in capitalist market based societies, in which social relationships are transformed into apparently objective relationships between commodities or money. The term is introduced in the opening chapter of Karl Marx’s main work of political economy, Capital, of 1867.

As it relates to commodities specifically, commodity fetishism is the belief that value inheres in commodities instead of being added to them through labor. This is the root of Marx’s critique relating to conditions surrounding fetishism—that capitalists “fetishize” commodities, believing that they contain value, and the effects of labor are misunderstood.

Marx’s use of the term fetish can be interpreted as an ironic comment on the “rational”, “scientific” mindset of industrial capitalist societies. In Marx’s day, the word was primarily used in the study of primitive religions; Marx’s “fetishism of commodities” might be seen as proposing that just such primitive belief systems exist at the heart of modern society. In most subsequent Marxist thought, commodity fetishism is defined as an illusion arising from the central role that private property plays in capitalism’s social processes. It is a central component of the dominant ideology in capitalist societies

According to Marx, people value objects that they can use (i.e. objects that have “use-value”), and before the rise of a division of labor and the class-structured society based on it, most things people can use were produced through isolated human labor.

False consciousness is the Marxist thesis that material and institutional processes in capitalist society are misleading to the proletariat, and to other classes.

Memory interpretation and missattribution

False Memories May Affect Behavior

Do you know someone who claims to remember their first day of kindergarten? Or a trip they took as a toddler? While some people may be able to recall trivial details from the past, laboratory research shows that the human memory can be remarkably fragile and even inventive.

In fact, people can easily create false memories of their past and a new study shows that such memories can have long-term effects on our behavior.

Psychologists Elke Geraerts of the University of St. Andrews and Maastricht University, Daniel Bernstein of Kwantlen Polytechnic University and the University of Washington, Harald Merckelbach, Christel Linders, and Linsey Raymaekers of Maastricht University, and Elizabeth F. Loftus of University of California, Irvine, found that it is possible to change long-term behaviors using a simple suggestive technique.

I am really interested how we can place triggers and then someone can subconciously create a false memory.This makes me wonder if I could imprint a false memory in my audience?Not sure how I could find out if the memory had been placed though, maybe if I had  more time. Final project perhaps?

The obstruction is;

there is no obstruction!Do something very different something that you haven’t tried before. This could be moving image, stills, audio, drawing, animation.So i’m thinking about what is different. I have never done stills for a project or drawing?

1. Human scrapbook – a video piece with different photos and clips from someones memory? Include audio,images and visuals. Maybe with a story running through it.
2. Love for something new- how our memories are cleared by the better / the new.
3. Memory distortion- how things can influence and change our memories.

ROLAND BARTHES- The new citroen

The Changing Culture of the Working Class

For me, cultural studies really begins with the debate about the nature of social and cultural change in postwar Britain. An attempt to address the manifest break-up of traditional culture, especially traditional class cultures, it set about registering the impact of the new forms of affluence and consumer society on the very hierarchical and pyramidal structure of British society. Trying to come to terms with the fluidity and the undermining impact of the mass media and of an emerging mass society on this old European class society, it registered the long-delayed entry of the United Kingdom into the modern world. (Hall: 1990 p.12)

This has made me think about real image and an ideal image. What is it in our memories that we can recall instantly- and why is that?Why would my life be better if i had the latest iPod ? Have i forgotten how fine my life was without it?I’ll discuss this in the workshop and see how it goes down.

Power-Final.

Production..

Today i took the photographs for my piece and edited my audio. I wrote the messages I wanted to convey through my piece. These included ;

• Trust
• £100 ( which then increased  throughout the piece)
• Watch me vanish
• Joker Card
• Blank Cards

I then took my audio of an MP speaking about the expenses row with Jon Snow and edited it down . After i took the photographs i edited them together in  stop motion to tell the story and show the trick. The trick was then that picture cards were shown at the start, then placed on the table.As they were then turned over one by one you saw that there was a written message on the cards.Then at the end the cards all change to blank with no one moving them; making the money for the expenses, the joker and ‘TRUST’ all disappear.This was to co-incide with the audio where the interview speaks of how the government tried to prevent us from ever knowing about the expenses scandal.The fact noone turned the cards over was to highlight the fact the MP’s want to remain independant and absent from the whole situation.

WHAT INFLUENCED MY IDEA

1. My research into stop motion. I wanted to do something different and watching many stop motion movies and reading up about it really helped.Although I need a lot more practice and developement of my stop-motion skills I really like the effects that can be produced using this production format.
   
2. Politics- the media coverage of it. If it wasnt for all the media coverage about the expenses scandal and all the various interviews,articles and bulletins about it then I wouldn’t have had any foundations for my idea.As this was a subject which had personally interested me I was glad I could develop it.
   
3. Politicians- how they all dealt with the expenses scandal throughout various interviews! It was good to stumble across a few ‘ good’ politicians during my research. After trawling through a lot of ‘brown bashing’ and various other disgruntled opinions from people I did find that there were some good. Obviously they aren’t all ‘bad’, but it is just how they are being portrayed.This is why my idea worked for me, it became a representation of a representation.
   
4. Heather Brooke-Clearly if Heather had not made that information go public we wouldn’t have a clue what was going on. We probably wouldn’t have even heard of  ‘floating duck houses’.
5. Satire- Brass Eye, Political Satire

”Political satire is a significant part of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where such arguments are expressly forbidden. Historically, the public opinion in the Athenian democracy was remarkably influenced by the political satire performed by the comic poets at the theaters.

Political satire is usually distinguished from political protest or political dissent, as it does not necessarily carry an agenda nor seek to influence the political process. While occasionally it may, it more commonly aims simply to provide entertainment. By its very nature, it rarely offers a constructive view in itself; when it is used as part of protest or dissent, it tends to simply establish the error of matters rather than provide solutions.”

This relates to my concept very well. It is so simple but the contrast to the truth and the strength of the satire make it highly amusing. I don’t like the canned laughter, I feel that detracts away from the irony of the piece.

This Brass Eye clip is a great example of satire within govermental power. What I liked about this is the strength of the comedy.It is consistantly funny with clever wit and clear jibes at the current power in the country; painting a portrait of them as laughable characters.

REFLECTION

The piece is only about 40 seconds but i feel the message is conveyed .I don’t think my stop motion skills are quite up to scratch  but it was good to give it a go and research all about it. I particularly think the 0’s on the £1000 expenses card work really well as they increase, it really drums home the issue. Upon reflection however, i think this looks a bit repetitive, so maybe i could have sped that section up a bit more to make it even more intense and comical.I’m 50% happy with the final product. I think that it isn’t clear as to why no one is turning the blank cards over, and obviously my stop motion skills are average.Within the time constraints, keeping within the obstruction and for my first attempt , I think it is okay,but could be developed much further to create a more established artefact,possibly a photo essay?

Development

After fiddling about with my props for my piece i’ve decided against the white gloves for my magician.I know i said that that is what people would relate to , but i think that if its meant to represent the politicans then normal hands will make it seem more realistic to todays society and could create the illusion it is a politican conducting the trick?

I am going to look a bit more into stop motion now, just to see if it would be a good route to go down for my format !

STOP MOTION..

The internet is also home to hundreds, and possibly thousands, of short digital films known as Brickfilms. Brickfilms films are, for the most part, object animation stop motion films featuring Lego minifigures as a vital component. The limited flexibility of Lego minifigs make for both ease of use and less than realistic action, which might be said to constitute a vital part of their appeal.

Another craze on the internet are youths purely animating with clay figures on public video sites such as YouTube and Google Video. They are often extremely simple, bordering on “freeform”, but effective. Some barely have a face, but the comedic or violence proportions exceeding those of conventional clay puppets, with grisly crime scenes riddled by clay gunfire and hapless victims falling in a sniper’s cross hairs. The comedy helps the viewer enjoy the animation without noticing the simpleness of the clay puppet. Many younger people begin their experiments in movie making with stop motion. Many new stop motion shorts combine brickfilming and clay animation into a new form.

STOP MOTION MAGIC..

I decided to look for work which is very similar to my idea to see if it ignited any further ideas!

I really like this video.It’s very diverse and very well made. I like the trick too, it is exactly the kind of thing I am looking to create.

This is bang on the money! I love cards in stop motion! It makes it seem quite dream like and humurous. It gives it  life to the cards. As much as I like this effect I don’t think I will use it. I want to see the hands which deal the cards and the hand which chooses the cards to be turned over , which will hopefully keep it relevant ( it’s the people who are suffering so they will want to see the politician’s cards) and understandable.

FINAL IDEA FOR PIECE-DEVELOPMENT

• Playing cards being dealt by someone.
• Card trick based upon disappearance is performed.
• Cards to all have different things written on the back of them-relevant to the expenses scandal and my audio.

CHOOSING THE AUDIO

I looked into many different radio,television and internet interviews about politicians and found many pieces of audio to be very similar . I struggled to select a piece which would be coherant to a dissapearance card trick. I then found this on YouTube

What was different about this was someone was defending the Politicians. Everyone else had blamed it on the system and hadn’t really directly spoke about the actual expenses.But here Harriet Harman says that it was right for the expenses to increase for the politicians. This can work very well with my idea because I could have the amount of money on the playing card increase every time it is turned over- which when created will look like magic!(hopefully)

SELECTING WHAT IS WRITTEN ON THE CARDS

I read newspapers,particularly The Independant, to see what was going on with the expenses scandal.After doing all my research for Power I found that it was mostly the fact the trust had gone, the fact these people had power over our country was a joke and the expenses ( the amount they get and the fact they abused it).I then chose these phrases to be written on the cards.As I am making them vanish I had to incorporate that into the cards;

• Trust
• £100 ( which then increased  throughout the piece)
• Watch me vanish
• Joker Card
• Blank Cards

THE SET UP/PROPS

I have decided to use playing cards as this was the best way to incorporate the issues I wanted to convey in the clearest manner.Having them written on a glove just didn’t work, and didn’t look right on camera.I’m thinking about having the hand dealing the cards throughout the piece and then the cards making themselves blank at the end.This is to act as an example of the MP’s diverting taking the blame and trying to remain independant and detatched from what is going on. It is the ‘system’ not them. I have looked into what background  I want to use for the piece and the obvious choices for magicians are a green dealing table, on a street ( street magician) or on just a normal table.

I have selected a red table as it is a good contrast to the cards,looks quite plush ( did the politician claim for it !) and looks great on camera.

I just need to finalise my red table,make my cards and begin taking photographs!

Research into magic tricks/Representation

I love how this is confusing and misleading- exactly how I feel a majority of people feel about the current Political crisises.There is so much coverage about politics in many media platforms, and as newspapers back a political party you can never be too sure what to believe; is it true or are they just bad mouthing the opposing party? I love the element of confusion here!

I really enjoyed this.This is a good example of twisted power ; using your power to make someone else question their beliefs and believe something about themselves.

IDEAS..

I’m thinking now about maybe have a trick on screen and then audio clips of politicans speaking about troubled policies?

I’ve decided to focus on what represents magic and how I can incorporate that in my piece.

1. Playing cards.
2. Magicians white gloves.
3. Misleading you / leading up to a reveal.
4. Make this disappear/ appear

I’m just thinking how I can convey the fact politicans / the goverment can make things dissapear and conceal things from us.Maybe the trick could go wrong, have a ‘before  the Heather Brooke Freedom of Information campaign’ and an
‘after the Heather Brooke campaign’.They cant make things disappear as well anymore..

I’m thinking to either have the issues written on the playing cards or on his white gloves.. which he could then make disappear.This would clearly encorporate both aspects of my idea and would hopefully seem quite novel. I will try both out and see which looks better.

I found this on YouTube which is pretty much my idea, but not in as greater detail as I would like mine to be.I certainly do not like the text on screen, so that is an option I will be avoiding when it comes to portraying my message in my piece.

FORMAT

After thinking about how I want the text of the current issues to disappear ( either off playing cards or his hands) I think a photo essay definatley wouldnt work as well . I am thinking about using stop motion.. (as I’m not actually a magician) I can’t actually make what is written on the cards/gloves disappear.

…

Final thought…

MPs can claim £400 per month for food without receipts.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5331900/MPs-expenses-there-are-honest-politicians-after-all.html

Scandalous!