Media, Events, Experiments
Glitch video experiment: datamoshing + poledance.
Jul 10th
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I used some footage from my friend Lu’s poledance show last year in Tokyo to experiment with datamoshing. I did it the hard way, by encoding each segment with only a first i-frame (keyframe), and then proceeded to remove them too with a different piece of software. I learned about some technicalities of encoding with h264 and avi file formats, which may end up being useful some time in the future.
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All the software for osx can be found (for free too) at: http://www.court13.com/datamoshkit.zip
Thanks to the datamosher tutorial vids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYytVzbPky8 Apparently there’s an easy way, an now that I ‘understand the principle, I’ll try it in AfterEffects.
Circuit Board Etching
Jul 2nd
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Revisiting an old project created in 2003…
Etching circuit boards as a form of creative expression? I made a series of resists by combining 19th century botanical illustrations scanned from antique hardcovers with circuit-like shapes created in Photoshop. The images were used as light resists in the creation of a photoresist, which was in turn used as an etching resist. The first part of the process is similar to traditional photography, performed in a dark room with developer and stop bath chemicals.
The series, titled ‘Circuitree’ was displayed at the Nickle Gallery in Calgary, Canada.
The relationships between the dualities of nature and technology; science and art; creative processes and analytical processes were investigated.
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Digital Drawings etched on circuit board.
Average size 6” x 6”, series of 8
2003
I would like to once again use this technique as a creative process, with a more technological final work in mind. I would like to see the circuits actually able to perform a task beyond a being a decorative and contemplative form.
Recycled Painting Project
Jul 2nd
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An ongoing project using waste cardboard from boxes and packaging as a painting surface to renew the refuse materials’ perceived value, and to raise awareness to the amount of waste which is created by western lifestyles. The pieces shown are two collared shirt packing boards and a piece of the packaging for a home storage unit, all of which would normally be disposed of and promptly forgotten. Not shown are cereal boxes, a cookie box and the stiffening board at the bottom of a paper pad.
The process of creation also plays a key role in the final rendering of the pieces. As gestural and random layers of paint are built up on top of each other, a composition emerges. Only after the first few painting sessions do I know the outcome of the painting. The decorative pseudo-ornamentals are references to Mucha’s illustration style.
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Mixed media on card stock paper and cardboard.
Varying Sizes – mostly small
2007- Present
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Blacklist Tokyo + TLC exclusive concert invitation
Jul 2nd
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Just a quick text animation from the video commercial for Blacklist Tokyo’s exclusive event featuring TLC. (Yes, that band you thought was gone forever.) Wish I could be at the event, but it didn’t work out that way. The total commercial is 30 seconds long, but I’ve decided only to show the first few seconds.
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Viterum logo design process report.
Jul 2nd
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I developed a logo and wordmark for a Tokyo based eco-consulting company last year. I created a design process report based on the workflow, read the Case Study PDF file, if you’re interested in seeing how this logo came to be.
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Shinagawa, Tokyo, 2007 品川、東京
Jun 24th
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A digitally manipulated image of the crowds of commuters in Shinagawa station was recently retrieved from my digital archives, readjusted and submitted to a photographic competition. Whether or not it wins, I still like the photo.
Japan is arguably the world’s most technologically driven society. Common assumptions of society in Japan are that salarymen are all the similar in thought and mind, yet this is not the case. My photograph depicts a man resisting the surge and heading upstream, possibly to forge ahead and conquer unknown goals. A part of a greater whole, yet as individual as anyone on earth.
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Dream Sequences
Jun 22nd
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It’s the end of term one at Vancouver Film School, and a short video project has been completed, titled Dream Sequences.
The subject matter is dreams and reality.
Here’s a little background story:
I was traveling in China a few years ago seeing some of the sights off the main tourist routes. My path merged with a wonderful lady from Australia, and we journeyed together for several days. We had interesting discussions about the sites we visited, and had non-stop laughter and emotional connection throughout our time together… and then I woke up. The entire experience was a dream. Does the fact that this chance encounter in Asia was not ‘real’ in this world make the experience any less valid? The lessons learned from the dream are the same as they would be if it were real. I wonder if one day, I’ll meet the lady, perhaps somewhere else in the world, and she’ll have a shared memory of the dream? Would we recognize each other?
The subject matter of the film asks questions about the relative meaning of being awake versus the meaning of being in a dream state. At what point are we fully awake? What are the intermediary states? Wikipedia might have factual answers, but at this moment, I prefer the questions.
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Returning to study for one year is turning out to be a positive experience, not only for technical skill development, but also for the open opportunities to produce more theoretically and conceptually based design and art work.
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Underwater Filming
Jun 22nd
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I shot some underwater video for a student project which will be released shortly.
Here are some pointers for filming underwater video more successfully for the unexperienced.
1. Weight your camera so it is neutrally buoyant when filming underwater. If the case makes the camera float, holding a steady shot underwater is much more difficult.
2. Wear swim fins for mobility. I didn’t do this the first time around. I’ll definitely do it next time.
3. Larger goggles are better than smaller goggles for visibility.
4. A weight belt would also be helpful, to keep your own body neutrally buoyant. Just make sure that you can swim well enough.
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