User:Stonestone/HB-PP-Draft-0812

8 December 2016

iasnoB namuH 栽盆形人 : lasoporP tcejorP

Introduction

Project

My graduation project Human Bonsai will be a series of images and a video of bonsai trees which use the human body as a plant, using 3D technique and portrait. Aside to this project I’m thinking of producing a photobook. This project combines my interest in photography and my background in filmmaking.

Bonsai

"Bonsai tray planting is a Japanese art form, in which trees are grown in containers, the tradition dates back thousands of years. Similar practices exist in other cultures, the Chinese tradition of Penjing (盆景) is considered to have been the technique’s place of origin, as well as the miniature living landscapes of Vietnam. --wikipedia"

Bonsai, as a deformed plant is based on the aesthetic of its makers. The meaning of its natural life is no longer existing. With the development of aesthetic, technique, culture etc., the looks of Bonsai have been changing diversely, the types of Bonsai are also becoming more varied.

Somehow, the Thing is more like a bonsai less like a tree.

Human

The transformation of the Bonsai echoes the development of human society, which has changed and adapted in order to fit into our current world. The development of things like clothing, communication and technology are some of the skills that move us from yesterday into tomorrow, update the way we speak, the things we do, the feelings we feel, the dreams we dream and the way we see ourselves.
Therefore, I would like to make this project, as it speaks to how society changes people and how external powers influence the subject, in parallel with how people condition bonsai trees.

Powers

Here is a list of powers (principles skills) I have come up with till now, which make people deform in different ways and I would like to apply in my work but I am still unsure about them and keeping developing more: 


• Technology (internet, electronic devices)
• Pop Culture
• Popular Aesthetic（fashion - anything else?）
• Media Orientation
• Success (what is success? - financial? in career? fame?)
• Consumption (of food? or of stuff?)
• Emotional Demand
• Communication
• Stereotype (of what? people? racism? the general act of stereotyping?)
• More…

Overview

In my work I aspire to create soft textures, a sense of void, and also something ridiculous, verging on playful craziness. Other than these rules, the work will follow three formal tracks, which have been developed through my previous works.
The three formal tracks are described below:
(a) Color
(b) Human figuration
(c) The manipulation of form
I made a couple of samples to give you an initial expression of what I am talking about this project.

Photos

In the photos models will position themselves as a bonsai, each position is based on a specific power I have mentioned above. For each skill I will create 3 to 4 versions according to real Bonsai styles (see picture below), by which people become into a human bonsai. The background will be a vague and virtual space.

Videos

The video work will accompany the photos, showing the details of human bonsai with 2D/3D graphics showing the growth of ‘vines’, and the movement of ‘leaves’. I am developing ideas for a voice-over, but am still unsure of my best options, it is possible that all will be recorded and reviews during the stage of post-production.
(a) Human Bonsais tell fictional stories related to themselves (as bonsai);
(b) Tell a fictional story from a bystander's perspective;
(c) Human Bonsais hum a song.
For now I prefer (c) which could create a more ridiculous atmosphere that match my expectations of the work.

Photobook (unsure)

As a side project, a photobook could be a good form for a observation of the whole project besides prints. If I decide to make this, I would like to include except images I will show in our exhibition, also more images from different angles, scenes etc. and stills from video.

Plan

Timeline

Dec 2016 - Feb 2017 (where I am now): Technique Researching / Sample Making / Problem Solving(For instance, after I made the first test video, I found out the way I thought about tracking did not work so well, I need to find some other way to do it).
Mar 2017 : Pre-production, including photographing, filming, and 3D scan if needed.
Apr 2017 : First Post-production and fixing. (find problems, add details, re-shoot, re-edit...)
May 2017 : Second Post-production, "Debugging" and Perfecting. (More detail fixing works)
June 2017 : Third Post-production including pushing online(a web page), print, prepare projection.

Setup

A series of prints will be framed and hung on one wall, a projection will be displayed on another wall, in between the walls will be a bonsai.

Involved People

Teachers

The teachers of Piet Zwart, teaches from the AV station and the Interaction station at the WDKA will and are helping me with technique and concept development.

Helpers

Funda B.R : Ceramist, illustrator. She can help me with making tray and pot.
Adam P : 3D artist who keeps giving me advice and ideas on software and technique.
Xiaotong Gong : Motion graphic designer, illustrator. She can help me with 2D animation (design/draw/animate).
Fencha : New media artist who can give me advice on music and exhibition build-up.

Models

Friends and classmates are a good resource for models as they possess different features, e.g.: different skin tone, hair styles, body shapes, etc…

Related Previous Works

Touch(less)

The Bonsai piece is a development on previous projects, the series ‘touchless’ shows transparent people trying to touch each other. I started working with woman body since this work.

Dream machine

Sometimes people want to get out of their bodies and have intense and abnormal experiences. Last year I worked on a project titled ‘Space Out’, which investigated ‘technologies of self’, for example Burrough’s Gysin Dream Machine. My research looked at how the Dream Machine could influence people’s minds, which I referenced by applying the principles of producing mental illusion and ‘Space-Out’ experience in my project ‘Nosebleed’.

Nosebleed

The video work shows the perspective that a person might have when they get a nosebleed, the sky and tops of buildings as they walk down the street. In order to create the ‘space-out’ feeling for the viewer, the most efficient way is to create alpha wave and strobe effects, bringing people the same experience as ‘Flicker’ and ‘Dreamachine’.

Relation to a Larger Context

I have been interested in how artists play with 3D "beings".
One of my reference is from Johnathan Monaghan, his works give me endless thoughts and strong feelings. In his works, the combination of not-related objects, the symbolic details and the fluency of every movement are 3 key points which inspire me. The work Escape Pod (2015) which from my perspective is a "story" of consumption critique, in which the main character - a golden bull (a consumer goods) runs from consumer society to nature world silently and valiantly.

Artist Kate Cooper works on high-defination digital CG images and CGI woman body. Her works changed my opinion about realistic CGI works. Looking into her works, I can feel the subtle uncanny valley feeling, however, the feeling combined with unconscious， sympathy and void, which is the thing I want to achieve in my own work.

Ceramist Jess Riva Cooper and sculptor Yoshitoshi Kanemaki are two non-3D artists who works with bodies also. In Jess's work, blossom of "human" gives me a nice example of how to deal with body and plants at the same time in a beautiful and elegant way.

Yoshitoshi's weird and sweet deformed-girls sculptures impress me by how quite and graceful a fake human can be. The way he deforms "human" brings me many ideas of my own work.

There are also works from artists like Beeple, Blake Kathryn, kyttenjanae, Matt Crump etc keep giving me new ideas on color, composition and mischievous "craziness".

The reason why I started playing with 3D and decide to make this project is because of those people. They give me a enchanting and emotional perspective to work with nonexistent objects.

Bibliography

• http://animalnewyork.com/2014/kate-coopers-hyperreal-hypercapitalist-cgi-females/
• wikipedia
• Websites of artists I mentioned above
• Website : Bonsai Empire