Last Fridays Crit At the LAB

Well after a lengthy exhibition group meeting last week my crit group met up with Gerry to discuss our work. There was only a few people but i feel that we accomplished some headway towards our thesis projects.

Naqeeb was the first to present his thesis work which consisted of an interactive keypad video piece that let the viewer push keys on the keyboard that would then pop up an individual video clip in different parts of a grid in the video screen. The videos ranged from Rodney king getting beaten from the cops, to sesame street and professional wrestling. I really liked this idea of juxtaposition these different video elements and the interactiveness of the piece. He then went about telling us how he wants to display this in the gallery. With four projections on four separate walls that are all connected to a keypad that will consist of 4 keys that you could step on. Im very much interested in how he works more on the randomness of stepping on the four keys and how stepping on two at the same time will project different videos than just stepping on the one.

We also talked about my work and i think really helped me fine tune what i wanted to achieve with my thesis. I was limited myself to certain rules that i thought i had to abide by, but Gerry and the group convinced me that, because i was dealing with dreams, i could do pretty much whatever i wanted in terms of what i was going to show. So i stopped thinking that everything had to be abstract and started to broaden my mind to more simpler things and actually recreate the dreams i had. As well as include the audio of me recalling my dreams after they happened.

I really feel like Naqeeb and I really got some good feedback about our thesis' and am looking forward to this weeks crits.

JJM

1st Thesis Group Crit 1C

... And so it begins, my last semester at Rutgers, my last semester at Mason Gross, and it's only taken 5 years to do it. All that matters is that i'm here now and nothing is getting in my way.

The first crit went well i think overall with everyones. Great feedback was generated all around which was very helpful.

In the case of my critique, i think it went very well. It gave me confidence that i'm on the right track, but it also gave me stress about how little time i have to create this and how my initial idea may be too much for me to chew. My thesis project, as i said in my crit, mainly depends on what space i get in the gallery. In the likely hood that i don't get my first choice i need to have a plan b to figure out how to achieve my goal. They liked my idea of re-creating dreams through the use of still images and video, but they were unclear as to some of the other factors in my work. The big question that i must ask myself is WHY am i doing this? Whats the meaning of all this chaos i am creating with my work. I can't just throw a bunch of random crazy images and videos together added with some creepy sound and hand it in for my thesis without any meaning backing it up. I want this to mean something, to have a backstory or whatever. So what i got from my crit was that they liked the imagery and the idea of the recreation of dreams, but they were unsure about how i was going to present it and what is the reasoning and purpose behind these recreations.

The other thing that the crit helped me with was that it reminded me of one of my flaws that has plagued me since freshman year. Trying to do a million different ideas all in one project. Every teacher i have had has told me that my one problem is that i try to put together multiply meanings and ideas into one EPIC project that just ends up too convoluted or just completely falls apart from trying to hard at being art. One thing that Gerry said that i will be taking into mind is that i just need to focus on one idea and stick with it. He said that he really liked the idea of recreating dreams and said that i should focus on that aspect and work more on making it a more concrete idea rather than just a bunch of jumble images. Since the crit i have already gotten rid of any other random ideas that i had for my thesis and am just focusing on one simple idea and then branching off from that.

In all i just need to really spend more time on figuring out the logistics of my thesis and working hard on recreating the dreams...

So let the games begin.

Thesis Proposal Redux

Jeffrey John Masino Thesis Proposal 2/3/10

With my thesis I want to capture the essence of what goes on in my messed up mind, transform that essence into two frames of imagery, with a sound piece that accompanies it, and some kind of an interactive booth or space that will create an out-of-body experience with the viewer that somehow resembles what I feel when I am in a state of dreaming.

First I would like to talk about the initial technical aspect of my thesis.

I want to create an experience that will affect all five senses hopefully at once. The viewer will then always assimilate and associate with that same experience afterwards. I’m hoping to create an environment that will resonate with the viewer both during and after the initial experience of my piece. This will then cause them to create a memory that could be used in shaping the way that they dream. This “experience” will consist of many forms of stimulation that correlate with the five senses. First would be the visual stimulation that will consist of two-frame imagery that will be made up of still images and videos placed next to each other in a diptych form. Next would be a sound piece that I will create based off of the visual imagery that will either calm or soothe the viewer or make them feel uncomfortable and uneasy. Next I would like to experiment with the use of fans or heaters to create a warm or cool environment. The use of a heater may not follow the fire safety code so that is something I can definitely do without. But the fans would help with creating an interaction with the sense of feel. Lastly I would tackle with the sense of touch. In the last dream sequence, which will be displayed in the “booth”, will have speakers surrounding the viewer. The sound will create vibrations coming from the speakers that the viewer will in turn feel as they are sitting in the booth. To extend this to the sense of touch I want to try and include some small objects on top of the speakers that the viewer could place their hands in while viewing the imagery. This would consist of an assortment of things such as metal or plastic beads and sunflower seeds. The last sense I would like to experiment with is the sense of smell. Certain dream sequences will include its on scent or fragrance that will be based upon what imagery is being presented. This will enhance the viewers experience with the overall piece and causing them to feel more enthralled in the environment being created. The sense of taste is something i'm not sure how I could use in my thesis. Possible ideas would be to include some kind of candy or mint that the viewer could eat with each sequence, but this is something that may not be beneficial or important to the overall experience.

Now that I have gotten the technical things out of the way, I want to describe the actual imagery that will be presented in the work. I have referred to the imagery as the “dream sequence”. These are the separate stations that will be placed around the area of the gallery that I will have. Basically it will be 4 to 5 projections or small LCD screens presenting recreations of my dreams. The structure of the projections will consist of two frames or channels placed right next to each other like a diptych. The left frame will be an assortment of still images that will consist of static, or comforting images or absurd and unsettling images, depending on the tone of the dream. The images will mostly consist of abstract shapes and objects that will be very hard to decipher what they actual are and will sometimes look more like a painting than a photograph. These images will try and capture the mood of the recreated dream through the use of the colors and abstract shapes in hopes to create an emotion from the image. The image will change to the next depending on movement in the sound piece and other frame. Accompanying the still image will be moving images, more commonly referred to as video. The video will consist of the actual loose plot that is the re-created dream. The contents will vary depending on the type of dream that is being recreated. It will be a mixture of scenes from the recreated dream being presented in a narrative form or will be abstract and absurd representations of the emotions that were brought forth from the dream. For example if it was a recreation of a nightmare the imagery would be very fast paced cuts and edits that will include unsettling imagery and black or red tones. But if it was just a normal somewhat upbeat dream it will be more slowly moving through time and be very bright and soothing imagery. This visual diptych will be the basis and inspiration for the creation of the sound, smells, and feelings that will accompany the imagery.

Lastly I want to just briefly describe how I would like this to be presented in the gallery space. IT would have to be in either of the two back closed off rooms usually used for videos and large performance pieces. Either way I would like to try and create a kind of spiral maze that will wrap around in a spiral shape in either a corner of the room or the entire space of the room. It would be either made from creating walls that will form the spiral, or some kind of structure separating it from the other works. IT will consist of 4 or 5 stations that will include the visual imagery as well as the other stimulations of the senses. Some will be presented on a small LCD screen that you will have to peek your head in revealing a small screen with the diptych and possibly having headphones to go with that. Also I would use the sense of smell with this small Screen resembling a viewfinder. The next two will consist of two separate projections onto either the two corners of the room I would be able to have or just on the walls adjacent to each other. These would somehow relate or compliment each other either thru visuals or sound. The last sequence will be the aforementioned Booth station that will be at the end of the spiral. This will consist of some kind of booth seating area that will cause the viewer to be somewhat fully emerged into the final piece. There will be a projection right in front of them as well as speakers surrounding them. This is also where I will try and experiment with the senses of feeling and smell through the use of fans and/or fragrances’. The actual setup of this booth is still in the process phase and may change depending on how much space I get and whether or not its actually doable.