User:Garvan

Garvan's Research 'n' Methods

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Methods

1. What
2. How
3. why

Reading List

1. Uncreative Writing - Kevin Goldsmith
2. Camera Lucida (finish reading)
3. Nightboat to Tangier (finish reading) 3
4. Ways of Seeing
5. The Invisible City

Million Dollar Ideas

• Under The Palms(working title)

There is a man who lives in a city on a Mediterranean island. The city is filled with decaying villas and casinos that were built with the wealth of the once prosperous port. years ago the city was full of diplomats from the Boshporus, Adriatic bankers and even coffee merchants from as far as Ethiopia. Now the port has fallen into obsolescence as bridges and railways began to circumvent the island. Now the stucco peels from the facades of grand hotels and the colourful ensigns of merchant navies no longer fly along the pier. the stevedores sit in the cafes by the water waiting for work to trickle in from the last remaining ships. The last bastion of the city's former opulence is the Museum or Fine Art where tourists still come to see the famous painting under the palms. The painting depicts a young stevedore sitting at a cafe in a piazza that is shaded by palm trees, the man is smoking a cigarette and seems to have forlorned expression. The painting is very famous and now is found on cheap postcards at every souvenir shop, it is reproduced onto textiles and ceramics and tourists can often be seen wearing ill fitting shirts depicting this wok of art. This story is about the man in the painting, who everyday sees his own image worn by strangers or hung in the windows of bars. and everyday his sense of self is eroded by the mass production and saturation of his own face. He no longer feels as if he lives in the same city anymore because the city has turned to revolve completely around himself.

After time spent trying to adjust to living in a city he once knew, our protagonist finally emigrates. Leaving the small island behind. He finds his way to the wet and wintry cities of northern europe. Here is a colder world of glass and steel. Of weird smells that rise up from the metro air vents. In his old home there was only one lazy tram line, that crawled through the avenues and boulevards. He begins to notice, however, that he has not completely escaped the tropes of the mediterranean. One night, in autumn, as he walks through the quickly darkening streets, he sees a familiar face staring through the window of a kebab shop. a large portrait of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk hangs on the otherwise bare wall of the restaurant. He remembers eating with turkish oil traders at Cafe Anatolia, the same portrait of Ataturk hung behind the counter. In that moment he again tastes the bitter coffee and the sweet baklava.



Image References

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• Stinging Nettles


I used to think that nettles were only found in Ireland and Britain but in fact these plants can be found all over Europe and parts of Asia, Africa and The Americas. Being stung by nettles on a bare calf seems a rite of passage for a child. I am interested in the ceremonial connotations of this plant.Urtication, or flogging with nettles is the process of deliberately applying stinging nettles to the skin to provoke inflammation. An agent thus used was considered to be a rubefacient (something that causes redness), used as a folk remedy for treating rheumatism - wikipedia. In Ireland and Britain there is a common belief that Dock Leafs, a plant that often grows near nettles can cure the pain from a nettle's sting. As kids, if we had been stung, we would begin the ceremony of searching for Dock Leafs to alleviate the pain from the nettle sting. I would also like to explore the wider uses for nettles, I want to try make nettle tea and soup, the plant can also be used to make textiles I would like to experiment with the materiality of the plant, I'm curious to see if it can be made into paper.

This is the project I am considering developing for the Eye Research Lab. I would like to write my own nettle Stinging Ceremony and record myself being stung by the plant. I have imagined a time-lapse of the nettle rash erupting across my bare skin. I associate the nettle with Ireland. The concept of a weed is interesting too. A weed is but an unloved flower! - Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Together, me on my racer and Dec on his ma’s martello, we leave his gaff. Declan follows me mutely. What spot will it be tonight, our bikes clang and skid down by the pungent canal and through paths guarded by stinging nettles. We head towards the infinitely dark Phoenix Park. - This is an extract from an unfinished short story I wrote last year. for more unfinished stories see: Short Stories

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• Clown Palace Phone Call

A short video work. A young man sits in his bedroom alone, preparing himself to call his mother. he wears the make up of a clown and a silly hat that is a cheap imitation of the hats that jesters wear in movies. He eventually calls his mother. The conversation starts with him telling his mother that we works in the office of an embassy and that he has a very cushy job and is successful and fulfilled . The conversation then turns to the subject of the Man's housemate/friend. The man tells his mother that his friend works in a tacky restaurant called Clown Palace. A restaurant the mostly caters to birthday parties of young children. The man proceeds to list all the degrading things his friend has had to endure at the clown palace. the joke is that he is the one who works in Clown Palace

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• The Motzart of Podcast Music/Pod Life

A mocumentary about a musician who is regarded as the Motzart of podcast music. the doc is a parody of documentaries about famous musicians. we see talking heads of other players from the podcast music scene, they describe the 'motzart' with all the usual tropes of music genius. This idea came from an idea I had for a music festival where all performers are people who make music for podcasts.

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Experiments

Dodgy Box


1. Design for homemade camera
2. Used a in browser CAD programe for kids
3. Might try to learn blender




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Camcorders, Tapes, Found Footage & Induced Nostalgia






 Induced Nostalgia

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Low Tech Trichrome Process