Prompt 3: Experiments in making and attuning

My first experiment in making is a potential direction of the sound scape within my work. I wanted to trial using the sounds of home videos to create a composition containing moments of quiet and moments with many layers of sound. I used sounds recorded on site accompanied by refined audio from archival footage in the form of home videos. I had the intention of creating a nostalgic aesthetic quality that also connected to the site.

First Experiment:

My second and third experiments are that of filming within the garden. I wanted to trial filming in a manner inspired by the kinetic nature of Daniel Crooks work An Embroidery of Voids. This second experiment had the intention of a walk through the garden in one take. The third experiment tries a different take in the form of still shots edited together to see the aesthetic differences these two effects possess.

Second Experiment:

Third Experiment:

My fourth experiment is trialling creating a silhouette of a body. My intention within this experiment was to see how a silhouette communicates meaning and the aesthetic qualities this possess. I tried using a white Perspex sheet back lit to obtain this effect.  

Fourth Experiment:

References

An Embroidery of Voids. 2013. by D. Crooks. 19.23 min <https://vimeo.com/119904435>

Prompt 2: Analysis of site-responsive media works

Nakano, K., 2022. Port de Bras. Available at: <https://www.nowness.com/picks/koki-nakano-port-de-bras>  

The work Port de Bras by Koki Nakano is set within the site of ‘The Villa Carmignac; a Provençal farmhouse-turned-gallery’. The work depicts an aquatic dance performance which makes use of the site to create a sense of intimacy. I love the use of light and movement within this work. I think the flickering light combined with the visual distortion of the body as a result of water movement is a technique, I would like to use to inform my approach to my major project. The water acts as a devise to change body and I can almost feel the experience of the body through this visual effect. The water is a layer between the camera and the subject which has an active role. It allows for moments of confusion to exist when the body transforms from a recognisable figure to a distorted blur of movement. I am inspired by this effect and think it invites curiosity and intrigue into the work, aligning with my aims.  

D. Crooks. 2013 An Embroidery of Voids.  19.23 min<https://vimeo.com/119904435> 

An Embroidery of Voids by Daniel Crooks uses layered video to create a laneway walk which blends together. My favourite parts about this work include the moments of confusion I felt when the layers overlap and become one laneway and then move apart once more, in combination with the editing techniques used. Overlaying footage to see multiple scenes simultaneously creates and invites the viewer to move their attention across the screen with multiple layers creating interest and movement. The sense of curiosity invites attention and listening to take place. This is an aspect I would like to use to inform my approach in making my major project through attempting to create or invite this feeling.  

References

Nakano, K., 2022. Port de Bras. Available at: <https://www.nowness.com/picks/koki-nakano-port-de-bras>  

D. Crooks. 2013 An Embroidery of Voids.  19.23 min<https://vimeo.com/119904435> 

Prompt 1: Literature review

LaBelle, Brandon. (2010) ‘Introduction: Your Sound is My Sound is Your Sound’. Acoustic Territories : Sound Culture and Everyday Life, Bloomsbury Academic & Professional, New York: xv-xxvi  

I am intrigued with the link between memory and sound. Within LaBelle’s piece they explain how the sound we hear moves ‘from its source and toward a listener, without forgetting all the surfaces, bodies, and other sounds it brushes against, is a story imparting a great deal of information’ (2010, p. xvi). The concept that the history of a person, or myself can be heard or found within a sound holds immense power. A sound that may be so familiar, intimate and meaningful to me may sound so foreign to a listener but the story within it still exists. This is relevant to my project though my desire to use home videos within the audio aspect of my final. LaBelle’s explanation of the link between sound and story directly relates to my wish for the stories of memories to be told in an implicit manner. I want to encourage the viewer to experience a slippery memory through the stories sound hold.  

Ellingson, L. L. (2012). Embodied knowledge. In L. M. Given (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods (p. 245).  

 Ellingson writes ‘knowledge grounded in bodily experience encompasses uncertainty, ambiguity, and messiness in everyday life, eschewing sanitized detached measurement of discrete variables’ (2008, p.2). This idea of embodied knowledge is whole and exists in a manner where it is okay to be unsure and messy about specific meaning of seemingly unexplainable things is comforting. I have been struggling to pinpoint the language to describe the aesthetic qualities and feelings I wish to express within my work. Aiming to produce a more embodied experience within my work will assist in communicating my ideas of listening to the body and about the connections to my site. I contextualised Ellingson’s writing to the idea that one can be in their bedroom in the pitch black and know where they are or how to move around the space. This relates to my work through the feeling I want to capture within how a body moves within the site of my childhood garden. I know every blade of grass off by heart and can locate my way in the pitch black to each section. This connection to site and body is one I aim to capture within my work.  

References

LaBelle, Brandon. (2010) ‘Introduction: Your Sound is My Sound is Your Sound’. Acoustic Territories : Sound Culture and Everyday Life, Bloomsbury Academic & Professional, New York: xv-xxvi  

Ellingson, L. L. (2012). Embodied knowledge. In L. M. Given (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods (p. 245).