Janis - combination of description

Human Stock: idea description

The project Human Stock is a video presentation about a fake media company which actually does not exist. In the video actors are describing the utopian plans about the platform and how it is going to change visual media industry. The platform is offering an online stock library of 3D photorealistic visuals of real human beings. Customers from the industry can browse an online store, purchase and download any of the 3D model stock visuals. It has a potential to create wholly new markets and employment opportunities, and change the visual language of perceiving images.

Conversely, the Human Stock is offering to anyone the opportunity to have their body digitized for the 3D stock library, using the automated, easy-to-use 3D full body scanner booth. Each model/supplier can earn a fixed percentage of the revenue generated with each download and use.

The video advertisement consists of interviews in which the founders explain how it works and the users are giving feedback of their experiences. It is a trailer which gives a short description about what Human stock is and how it works.

The fake company has been created as an inspiration from Apple and other powerful companies and service platforms, admiring their aims and products. Sometimes they are producing utopian things, which are on the edge, revolutionary as they say. It is interesting to see how people are reacting to these kind of revolutionary services and products. What kind of questions are raised after seeing Human Stock and do people believe wether it is a real proposal, already a functional production or just a fiction?

On the way

Practically the work consists of a large format print, a portrait of a partly naked man who is performing a motion and a 1 minute video clip which can be seen on a smart phone screen in front of the print. The video is the hidden augmented world of the work, it can be revealed when the smartphone is directed at the photograph. On the digital screen the hidden reality unfolds engaging the spectator and resulting in a strong connection with the work. The video is a continuation of the printed portrait. The video piece in the gadget displays the abstract, computer generated movement of a human body. The work it self discuss the promise, the strength and ability of the human body and visually reviles another way how it can be interpreted.

Visual material consists from a lot of still images, that have been reassembled and processed by using after effects software. The result of it is a fast moving image sequence producing a digitized movement. The image sequence is corrupted by software, in a way representing time and deforming the body movement. It is yet another way of manipulating reality, another way of experiencing reality by using these contemporary tools.

The project research explores boundaries of lens based medium, looking for manipulation possibilities and finding related connections from history. It is interesting to see how software is generating visual information in between, knowing two coordinates and creating the third one. It explores the boundaries of lens based medium and unfolds another way of a visual interpretation and raises a question why the post-photographical qualities are interesting in nowadays?

Slothful dreams

"Slothful dreams" is a visualization of a dream what reflects to the sloth sin. A tired man with a big bushy beard stands in the bathroom and looks at himself in a mirror. He feels ugly. He wants to shave the beard but he is too shiftless and lazy to do it. He takes off his shirt looks around and suddenly instead of taking a razor he has an idea to try to shave the beard off with his nails and finger tips. In the same moment he is realizing that by touching his face the finger tips are becoming raiser blade sharp as well as the nails.

He puts them towards his face and it works. He can do everything, he starts with cutting his bush on chin, trimming cheeks and finishing with the mustache in the final. In a certain point when the job is almost done he becomes more and more passionate about the possibility to get rid of the beard. He admires him self, touches his freshly shaved cheeks and all around the face, almost forgetting about the raiser sharp nails and finger tips. He starts to touch his head. He freezes in front of the mirror from a shocking thought that he has almost shaved off all his hair. In the same moment he awakes from a sleep in a different space. He understands that his beard and also the hair is still there and he had a bad dream. And still he needs to shave.

"Slothful dreams" is a one minute video sequence that has been made of around one and a half thousand photographs captured with a digital photo camera. Photographs are shot in a small room, in low light conditions. Frames are captured in a row, one after another by creating a stop motion sequence. Combination of all necessary frames for the outcome result were selected in the editing part. The story line became more clear during the process and when it was actually done. Photos are converted to black and white because color is not important tool for the story.

The video sequence was created in an experimental process as a playful visualization about a recent dream. Dreams are our subconsciousness, that plays a big role in our daily life, sometimes when we dream, we might remember the last bits of it in the next morning. And sometimes we have the will to think about our dreams and maybe try to translate them. The concept of the short video is not based on anything else than just the dream it self. In a certain point of the realization process the idea started to develop in another stage from a form of photo series to a short moving image sequence. The surreal and absurd situation contrasts with a dash of humor within the story line where our reality goes hand by hand with our dreams. The dream translated it self during the editing process and the short storyline established towards laziness and unreal wish theme what reflects to the slothful sin about avoidance of work. Sloth is one of the Seven Deadly Sins from The Bible. Apathetic person do not care about doing their duties that are supposed to be done. Actually can be more accurately translated as apathy.