Monthly Archives: July 2015

Project Brief 1 | Media 2

My home is in a state of transition. I believe that one’s home is where one feels at most comfort, for me that would be house. My family is in the process of packing up one home and unloading another, and therefore, I’ve aimed to portray the juxtaposition between these two houses. Although, they contrast in physical form, the importance is that both houses bring shelter, warmth and happiness to my family and I as that is what I considered to be my true home, a place where I can relax and share amongst my loved ones.

My photographs and videos depict the obvious contrast between the two houses, which are coincidently directly next to each other, separated by a large fence. These mediums explore the texture in the vintage bricks compared to the rendered walls of our modern home, the clutter, darkness and dirt in contrast to the large spacing, light and emptiness. The images from the new house don’t evoke as much emotion and narrative as the images from the old place.

Furthermore, as our rental house is so small, I went from spending most my life in my own room to sharing it with one of my siblings. It’s hard to find your “own” space in such a crowded environment and that’s why I wanted to employ clutter and mess in the photographs and videos of the rental home. In contrast, the renovated home was neat, pure and open. It’s almost as if the new house expressed freedom as my personal environment had been put on pause whilst living in this temporary household.

It is scary saying goodbye to one house but it’s even scarier going back to my original home that has been completely transformed. It’s difficult to regain that sense of nostalgia from a place that has been upgraded, the markings and imperfections that were created by us have been knocked down and painted over. Although we have lived in our rental house for a year, due to the six of us being forced to share such a smaller environment, it developed a new level of closeness between us. That is why I’ve focused my audio recordings on my family and the sounds that remind me of home as no matter which infrastructure we live in, it still sounds the same.

It wasn’t hard leaving my own home as I moved next door, I still felt as though I was apart of the same environment. I would hear the aeroplanes fly over our house, the cars on the main road zoom pass, the wind in the winter swing fast by our windows. The laughter, arguments and footsteps of my family surrounded me, as the walls are just as thin in this home as it was in my last. As I mentioned before, it’s hard to discuss and describe my home environment when I’m shifting between a household that marked 18 years of memories in which was refurnished and a house that contained only a year of my life, and that is why contrasting the two would depict the changes in light and darkness but the similarity in social dynamics.

Image 1

Image 1

Image 2

Image 2

Image 3

Image 3

Image 4

Image 4

Image 5

Image 5

Image 6

Image 6

Image 7

Image 7

Image 8

Image 8

Image 9

Image 9

Image 10

Image 10

Image 11

Image 11

image 13 image 15 image 16 image 17 image 19 image 18image 20image 21

Media Studio 2 | Thurs Wk. 2

Today’s class was an excursion to the Grainger Museum Melbourne located at Melbourne University. This exhibition displayed the life, career, music, instruments and photographs of the Australian-born composer, Percy Grainger. The curator designed the room to share with visitors the creative, innovative and freedom Grainger portrayed within his work. Percy Grainger assisted in the beginning of the museum and posted his work free of charge and helped with the construction of the project. The tour guide shared from his life and major achievements with us and all his personal interests and hobbies. There was a hallway dedicated to his instrument, such as percussion mallets made by Grainger himself and a fiddle and organ chimes created by other makers.

The walls were filled with plaques of text discussing his work and instruments as well as photographers he had taken. There was also a corner dedicated to his involvement with sexuality including naked self-portraits and props that he made and owned. To behave as Grainger did in his time would had seen very inappropriate and unheard of, however, in our present time where something out of the ordinary isn’t seen as a shock to one anymore. Nonetheless, Grainger was confident enough in himself to have delivered these items and the museum put them on display. The most interesting part of the museum was the the two metre high instrument placed at the end of a hallway, the Cross-Grainger Kangaroo Pouch Tone Tool, created by his wife, Ella, and himself. This instrument produces a sound through a series of oscillators and rolls of paper and was made in 1952.

 

 

 

Museum-exterior-2010b 11872684_10204905487421394_1916001436_n 11868746_10204905487461395_292063066_n  11853887_10204905487621399_1225162480_n

Media Studio 2 | Wed Wk. 2

Today was the first class with our tutor, Robbie, for Specific to Site. We had a in-depth discussion on what our home means to us and it was interesting to see such a wide variation of homes and how many of the students in my class weren’t living with their families. Hearing everyone’s depictions of their house, and the tiny little pieces that make up their home helped shape the idea of what they considered important for their own sense of home. One mentioned the array of broken and decayed infrastructure of his household, however, he would rather a damaged house than a damaged relationship with his housemate. Robbie was very understanding and helpful with uncovering ideas and creating an open discussion when we shared about our particular home, which also helped me spark ideas for our Project Brief 1.

At the moment I am torn between old and new living arrangements for me and my family, living in a 30 year old, ancient rental house whilst our modern home is built next door, with only a large fence separating the two houses. Robbie suggested to compare the two, contrast the old and new home structurally, however the warmth of our current house, and the isolation of the new house, as we are forced to connect in such a confined space although in our new house we have all our own room and spaces to live in. I think exploring the notion of juxtaposition could really convey the transitioning of my house and where home truly is for me and what it means to me.