CldtlGRS2023
THESIS WRITING
INTRO/OUTRO STUDIO DIARY / ANNOTATIONS A CATALOG/COMPENDIUM OF CONCEPTS
before 17/11/2023
SESSION1 14-09-2023
PMOMM VERSION1
PROJECT 1 What? (two sentences)
This Project that may or may not be made is a(n)
ongoing, open, cumulative, fragmented, speculative, recursive, obsessive, endless
gathering, collection, contemplation, exploration, compilation, editing, reflection / speculation
of / on
visual materials/artifacts/outcomes (such as: short video works, appropriated-and-re-edited imagery, drawings, graphic works, short texts)
resulting from the most instinctual/intuitive side of my artistic practice that has always been present alongside my - until now - “main” work, yet never fully embraced, explored, understood.
In this b-side practice of “constant sketching” I recognize some obviously recurring elements, features and attitudes that I would like to further develop, investigate, understand.
Some of these - to be expanded - are:
black and white / monochrome / grayscales structural elements and devices of (mostly digital) images and image-making (pixel grids, screens) seeing and not seeing
minimalism reduction abstraction
loop structures
[…]
Why?
I feel that alongside my “main” practice - which has consisted until now in making self-enclosed, mostly found-footage-and research- based, essayistic video works - I constantly produce a raw, instinctual body of work, which I would define as a constant practice of sketching-and-editing in various forms - (analog and digital) drawings, appropriating imagery through screenshots, making short video fragments mostly in the form of loops, graphic photoshop works - and which until now I have put aside - literally, as a pile of paper on my desk or neglected files on my desktop - as byproducts that are not worth too much attention and less valuable than my “safer” intellectual research-and-theory based work.
I now want to focus more on this b-side of my work, embrace it, and understand its reasons, as I feel it is possibly my most honest, personal and fertile artistic approach and that, also, could turn out out be the most effective one in exploring and delving into the core topics and interests of my artistic practice - that my more intellectual/rational approach often struggles with.
How? (two sentences)
Embracing things - and ways of making them - that I’ve always done, fully unlocking a “make-things-first” approach, trusting the making process and the direction it shows.
It’s likely to be a tough and challenging project for me as it will mean to let go of structures and ways of working that I am used to and that I feel safe and acknowledging and adopting new ones.
Of course I am also interested in situating all of this into a larger context of artistic and theoretical references - which however will come as a consequence rather than a starting point. This could be my thesis (?)
Workflow (two or three sentences)
A step by step workflow - being led by making rather than thinking - making one thing leads to making another and so on A constant practice of sketching, editing, gathering, observing, in loop
What form all of this could take? I don’t know. A multimedia installation? Some kind of artist’s book?
Timetable (Sept 23-July 24)
[…]
Relation to previous practice (two sentences, draw on Text on Practice)
All of this has always been present in my work, some (scribbling and sketching) even way before even thinking of being an artist of some sorts, yet it has always been left out because - probably - not enough based on theory.
Choices made (two sentences)
Work with an intentionally limited set of “tools” - black and white, short video loops, still images, digital drawings, text, editing softwares.
Let the making and forms guide my research and not vice versa.
RAPID PROTOTYPES
Select existing materials from this practice or produce new ones, upload them on the wiki, catalogue them using at least 3 keywords, write a short description trying to understand what's at stake in them.
1
2
(homework)
3
4
5
PROJECT 2
..........
SESSION2 21-09-2023
PMOMM VERSION2
Project that may or may not be made 1
What do you want to make?
This PMOMM is intended to be a somewhat reasoned account of the
ongoing, open, fragmented, speculative
gathering, collection, compilation, editing
of
visual materials/outputs
such as: short video works, appropriated-and-re-edited imagery, drawings, graphic works, short texts
that, together, as an unstable, cumulative body of work give form and explore the core themes/topics that my practice has been mostly concerned with during the first year of this program.
In short, the focus of this PMOMM - and my overall work as an artist - can be summed up as the theory and practice of image-making, and, conversely, of the experience of images, considered in their complex, layered implications - technological/technical, material, semiotic (?), affective/existential (?) - with particular regard to to the digital realm - but not exclusively.
I am aware that, at this early stage, it is a rather wide and loose field of research, that I will need to narrow down and define in a more precise way.
Some keywords - most already featured in my Text on practice - that further outline the field of this PMOMM:
seeing/not seeing
showing/hiding
seeing watching staring gazing
Blindness
Human eye structures
visibility/invisibility
transparency/opacity
representation
black/white
0/1
on/off
being/not being
making images
materiality of images
lenses, sensors, screens
software/hardware, digital/analog, virtual/physical
dispositif / device / apparatus -(e)s
technology/the technical
experiencing images
human eye structures
blindness
affective (?) effects of (digital) images
existentialism
nihilism
lostness
loneliness
displacement
disconnectedness
sadness
struggle
description - tautology - self-reflection
edges/borders/thresholds/margins/limits/interfaces
appropriation, recycling, reusing, sampling, remixing, copying, stealing ownership/authorship
visual cultures, media theory
errors-glitches-failures
Why do you want to make it?
During the first year, my practice has revolved quite consistently around topics related to (contemporary, digital) image-making and experiencing, which I now acknowledge as the main focus of my work and I therefore want to further develop and delve in.
In the past year, I challenged myself in operating more as a film-maker - making short essayistic pieces as outputs of a rather structured, research and text-based workflow, but I realized it is a way of working that I do not feel fully connected to.
With the guidance of one of my LB tutors, I recently realized that the most fertile and possibly honest and personal part of my work is a constant, initially intuitive, practice of sketching - in a variety of forms - short video fragments, drawings, re-edited screenshots … - which I have always put aside - literally, as a pile of paper on my desk or neglected files on my desktop - as byproducts that are not worth too much attention and less valuable than my “safer” intellectual research-and-theory based pieces.
I now want to focus more on this instinctual, raw, B-side, undercover part of my work and embrace it - make it the A-side, as I feel it could turn out out be the most effective one in exploring and delving into the core topics and interests of my artistic practice - that my more intellectual/rational approach often struggles with.
How do you plan to make it?
In this b-side practice of “constant sketching” I recognize some obviously recurring topics, elements, features and attitudes that come to me naturally and that I would like to retain and embrace as tools to develop this practice.
Some of these are:
use of a simple, reduced, minimal language
short video fragments, still images (often screenshots from somewhere else)
editing / post production techniques as ways of layering new meaning on appropriated imagery
lo-fi, DIY attitude
black and white / monochrome / grayscales
structural elements and devices of (mostly digital) images and image-making (pixel grids, screens)
(video) loop form.
minimalism
reduction
abstraction
[…]
While keeping on making new work in the way that I described, I plan to go back to previous outcomes of my practice, reconsider them trying to understand what they mean to me and my research and finding (a) way(s) to gather them in a coherent body of work.
Of course I am also interested in situating all of this into a larger context of artistic and theoretical references - which however will come as a consequence rather than a starting point. This could be (part of?) my thesis. Look for theoretical/artistic references that might help me in understanding and situating better my practice.
What form all of this could take in the end? I don’t know yet.
A multimedia installation in an exhibition space?
Some kind of artist’s book?
An open-form, interactive website/archive?
Workflow (two or three sentences)
In making new work:
a step by step workflow led by making rather than thinking - making one thing leads to making another and so on. A constant practice of sketching, editing, gathering, observing, classifying, archiving, in loop.
using a limited set of techniques-tools - which are the ones that I use more naturally - as an intentional, self-imposed limit to make my practice more rigorous and straightforward:
(Yet to be defined)
Black and white only
Short video, in loop form
Text used only as a visual/graphic element - as an image
Editing softwares
[…] ?
In reflecting about work made:
write short notes about it, trying to be as specific as possible. Keep record of the process of making and of the thoughts/ideas/observations that arise from it.
Always try, while making, possible ways of bringing these sketches to an audience: display on screens, project on walls, print them out….
Timetable
- further define this project, also with the guidance of LB2 Mentor groups and tutorials - if I realize it’s not the right way to go, change direction to PMOMM 2
- reconsider previous work made, select pieces that are already there and feel relevant to this PMOMM, while keeping on making new work
- classify/index the outputs of sketching, keep/build some sort of organised, easily accessible archive (ask Steve, had interesting advice on this
- experiment with pairing them, putting them together, building a whole, a system, a coherent body of work. What form will it take?
Short term goal: give a clear overview of the project at December assessment.
Long term goal:
Relation to previous practice
This PMOMM is meant to embrace a side of my work that has always been present yet never fully developed as a practice in its own terms.
In a way, the practice - previous, ongoing and future, the theoretical reflection on it and the search for the right form/framework to present it is the PMOMM itself.
Relation to a larger context
Books
[…]
Artists and works
[…]
Others
[…]
Choices made (two sentences)
- Embrace a side of my practice that, until now, I have not been confident enough to consider and bring to the front of my work.
- Work with an intentionally limited set of “tools” - black and white, short video loops, still images, digital drawings, text, editing softwares.
- Let the making guide my research and not vice versa.
PROTOTYPING
A) Sample existing pieces of work/sketches that I consider as part of this practice. Write short notes about each of them: where they come from, how they were made, why I think they are relevant, how I think they could possibly be shown/exhibited […]
Try to associate a set of 3-5 keywords.
B) Identify and list tools I am using. Write reflections about why I am drawn to using them, what do they mean in my practice
e.g. B/W
——————————-
A)
1)
An image found online, on an Italian news website.
On the site of a car accident, two (police)men hold a white blanket, hiding what is behind to the viewer of the image.
I downloaded the image, turned it in black and white, zoomed in and cropped so that the blanket fills up most of the frame. I made a second, complementary/opposite version, by applying an Invert effect.
The subject of this image is blanket is a screen. The blown-up blanket becomes a screen. A screen, on another screen (the one that holds the image - a digital screen, a piece of paper framed)
A screen shows and hides at the same time.
The screen is held in place - is set - by the two men. It’s a construction, a device that is put in place.
A screen is material, is an object, a device.
I am also interested in showing the borders of the blanket/screen in the image. To see its limits, dimensions.
Reminds me the materiality of every image.
Why the double version - white screen - black screen? I am still figuring it out. I guess it has to do with the range of possibility of images and seeing - full black, full white - full darkness, full light - no image, image. Also, it refers to the binary nature/structure of every digital image - 0s and 1s.
It reminds me of Louis Marin’s essay “On opacity and transparency in pictorial representation”. The pitch black background of a baroque (?) painting makes the materiality of the painting visible - its material support, the framed canvas, the paint, the brushtrokes. It represents itself and nothing else.
Screen
Showing/Not showing
Seeing/Not seeing
Materiality of (digital) imagery
2)
A video piece made with a (simple) digital animation technique. The screen is full white - or shows a random video loop. The aspect ratio of the video is constantly slowly shifting from one ratio to another, using the most common video aspect ratios listed on wikipedia (?). The image/white surface is constantly stretched and compressed. The order in which the aspect ratios are repeated appears to be random.
The subject of the piece is the limits/framing of the moving image. Again, its field of existence within the screen.
The inspiration for this image comes to that subtle moment in which, in the darkness of the room, at the beginning of every film screening in a cinema, the projector adjusts its standard aspect ratio to the aspect ratio of the movie that is about to project, making a slight mechanical sound, and you see projected black bars seamlessly shifting on the black-because-non-projected-on screen
Make that - technical, material - moment/event the subject of the piece.
A maybe better idea would be to have a proper cinema projector constantly adjust aspect ratio - not a digital animation then, but a real, mechanical performance by a cinema projector. Should talk with a pro projectionist to see if it’s possible.
[screenshots of the most common aspect ratios from wiki]
Screen
Materiality of digital imagery
Structural elements
3) PAVE
An image found online - a 24-hour story of someone I follow on Instagram - that I saved as a screenshot on my iPhone, then slightly cropped and turned in black and white in Photoshop.
It depicts a half-built stone-tiled pavement/road. The square stones are already in place on the left side of the image, in a somewhat regular, square grid, while on the right you can still see the sandy surface underneath. A single stone, not yet inserted in the grid, lays on the sand in the lower right corner of the image.
I find this image interesting when considering that, as a digital image, it is itself made of square blocks - pixels - laid out in a grid.
It’s a fractal image. The construction of the surface of the road doubles the construction of the surface of the image. Also, I see an analogy between the gesture/act of laying square stones in a grid onto the grainy/sandy bare ground and the act/gesture of encasing the raw/grainy world in the grids of pixels of digital imageries. A metaphor for the act of (digital) image making. Encasing the formlessness, the grain of the world in a structure, in a grid.
This can be made more evident if the resolution of the image is lowered so that the square grid of pixels is more evident.
Another layer can be added to this fractal structure, by splitting and showing the image on a grid of screens/sheets of paper, placed on the ground.
I also tried to make an animation on Touchdesigner. Zooming in and out in this fractal structure. The stones become pixels, and pixels become stones. But failed for now.
4) [...]
5) digital drawing tool - in progress - reference Rachel Rose? Blackworks
6) (random)
In spatial statistics a blue noise pattern refers to an isotropic yet unstructured distribution of points - randomly placed dots yet roughly evenly spaced.
The distribution of photoreceptors - the light-sensing cells - in the human retina can be modeled as a blue noise pattern.
It is the best arrangement for maximum visual resolution.
7)