Well, we all had a lot of fun.
Heres a quick timelapse of the cleanup.
See you all next year, this time with 8 foot walls, plexiglass and ....
Hmm, I guess you'll just have to wait.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Monday, April 9, 2007
OLD PHOTOS / STANDING WALLS
Why are we such nerds?
Some photographs of our walls standing high after we finished building them! These are from quite some time ago, around St.Patty's day, but our photographer* just uploaded them today!*thanks to Will Roman for the photos!
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
VIDEO IDEAS
These are some of the ideas we came up with when brainstorming the imagery for the video portions. All footage will be shot facing the subject directly, only exposing the subjects head and shoulders, at all times. The camera will always follow his exact movements of his shoulders.
Sacred Time: a white room with subject sitting in all white and white hood, adjusting the contrast to make him blend with the walls and overlay to create slight opacity.
Profane Time: The subject standing in front of a transit schedule that is changing while waiting for the train.
Micro Time: Split screen (show half of subjects face on each side of screen). One side of screen shows him as a person in Western culture, and on the other side as a person in Eastern Culture.
Sync Time: Split screen of him doing the exact same things as before but on different days, to show that he follows a rhythm.
Personal Time: In a car with traffic. As the traffic goes faster, so does time/the video. As traffic gets heavier and slows, so does time/the video.
Biological Time: On the beach, showing the subjects face and the waves and tides in the background, going back and forth on the beach.
Physical Time: shadow on face rises/consumes the subject, then recedes back down, very slowly.
Metaphysical Time: Subject tossing and turning in a bed, blurs out of focus, focuses back on subject in a different setting tossing and turning. Very dreamlike.
NOTE: Video concepts are always changing, these are just initial ideas.
Sacred Time: a white room with subject sitting in all white and white hood, adjusting the contrast to make him blend with the walls and overlay to create slight opacity.
Profane Time: The subject standing in front of a transit schedule that is changing while waiting for the train.
Micro Time: Split screen (show half of subjects face on each side of screen). One side of screen shows him as a person in Western culture, and on the other side as a person in Eastern Culture.
Sync Time: Split screen of him doing the exact same things as before but on different days, to show that he follows a rhythm.
Personal Time: In a car with traffic. As the traffic goes faster, so does time/the video. As traffic gets heavier and slows, so does time/the video.
Biological Time: On the beach, showing the subjects face and the waves and tides in the background, going back and forth on the beach.
Physical Time: shadow on face rises/consumes the subject, then recedes back down, very slowly.
Metaphysical Time: Subject tossing and turning in a bed, blurs out of focus, focuses back on subject in a different setting tossing and turning. Very dreamlike.
NOTE: Video concepts are always changing, these are just initial ideas.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
ALIVE AND WELL TO OUR SURPRISE
Devin died.... almost.
We went on a shopping spree to purchase lights and switches for the physical computing portion of our project. In total we bought 8 light fixtures, a dimmer switch, some male and female plug adapters, and 8 m of SPT1 wires. We talked to some "skilled professionals", who advised us to keep their web identities secret, on how to construct a series circuit of 8 incandescent bulbs to a dimmer switch. We basically had to build a dimmer switch from scratch, and attach the fixtures to it. We were told by Steve Daniels to "Never mess with AC current. You could die and it would all be my fault." But since it wasn't going to be our fault but Steve's instead, we went ahead anyways, because Devin is stupid and apparently not afraid of imminent death. So we built the thing, Devin connected it, John crapped his pants, and we didn't die. In fact, we created a masterpiece. It is so beautiful that Devin's silly girlie roommates want to keep it and put it in their bedrooms. We want to marry it.
Above is John putting together our dimmer switch and creating our own extension cords
This is Devin, really excited because it worked, and he didnt die.
This is John really excited because Devin didnt die, and he doesn't know how he could ever go on without him.
Our beautiful, custom made dimmer switch.
4 of the 8 beautiful lights...... so beautiful.
We went on a shopping spree to purchase lights and switches for the physical computing portion of our project. In total we bought 8 light fixtures, a dimmer switch, some male and female plug adapters, and 8 m of SPT1 wires. We talked to some "skilled professionals", who advised us to keep their web identities secret, on how to construct a series circuit of 8 incandescent bulbs to a dimmer switch. We basically had to build a dimmer switch from scratch, and attach the fixtures to it. We were told by Steve Daniels to "Never mess with AC current. You could die and it would all be my fault." But since it wasn't going to be our fault but Steve's instead, we went ahead anyways, because Devin is stupid and apparently not afraid of imminent death. So we built the thing, Devin connected it, John crapped his pants, and we didn't die. In fact, we created a masterpiece. It is so beautiful that Devin's silly girlie roommates want to keep it and put it in their bedrooms. We want to marry it.
Above is John putting together our dimmer switch and creating our own extension cords
This is Devin, really excited because it worked, and he didnt die.
This is John really excited because Devin didnt die, and he doesn't know how he could ever go on without him.
Our beautiful, custom made dimmer switch.
4 of the 8 beautiful lights...... so beautiful.Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Podium Changes
Over the weekend we met to finish up the walls and discuss our plan for the podiums. After realizing that we had cut well into out budget had decided that wooden podiums were no longer an option. The brainstorming session began (without the handy help of junk food and pop) and finally after an hour we had an agreement. We are going to use fabric to drape over the monitors. Fabric is much more affordable and can easily be cut to accommodate the project. The monitors will be held up by a special* base.
Our next session is on Saturday where we will be brainstorming and filming for the creation of the eight videos.
*special: the products used for our base will not be disclosed as they will be hidden beneath the fabric. Due to the fact they are very simple / tacky when revealed; we hope you never find out.
Monday, March 26, 2007
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION...
Well we have almost finalized the location we will be installing our piece in, and it would appear that the optimum place can be scheduled on the days we will need. Initially we were planning on having the piece in the photo studio on the ground floor, but that soon fell apart so we talked to Steve and fandango'd the New Media Studio but had worries of spatial restrictions. We then thought it possible to get the Sound Stage if we were to put our piece in Max Ex (The Ryerson Image Arts Gallery Showcase) but planners of Max Ex had designated the Sound Stage to film screenings, but the set-up date was not until the 22nd of April. So I went down to the cage to investigate further and discovered that no students can book the sound stage from the 13th of April onward as that is deemed the end of the "production period". Although professors can book that Sound Stage if they would like for the students, I inquired as to the availability of the Sound Stage during the dates we would require and they reply that it was wide open. So I dashed up to find Wieslaw, and politely asked him to shoot an email off the to cage, he happily agreed and suggested we share the space with other projects.
It all seems to be falling into place...
...surprisingly.
It all seems to be falling into place...
...surprisingly.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
This is how we do it
This is how we spent our weekend doing our installation construction. I added a really sexy picture of Geoff so you can all go "OH WOW".
Have fun!!
Have fun!!
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
WIESLAW MEETING #2
In our second meeting with Wieslaw we discussed the materials and construction plans for the piece. His feedback was positive, but he brought to our attention that the piece was as much a sculptural piece as it was a New Media piece, and that choice of materials could make or break our the entire installation. He seemed disappointed but unsurprised that we had decided not to construct the piece out of plexiglass, but suggested that we maintain a similar feel if possible to the plexiglass, as it had the appearance of weight as well as a light air about it.
We have planned a weekend of construction and materials are already being acquired. We hope to iron out any problems that may arise then by throwing mass amounts of consecutive time at it so we can being concentrating on the remote sensing aspect of the piece, and of course the videos.
We have planned a weekend of construction and materials are already being acquired. We hope to iron out any problems that may arise then by throwing mass amounts of consecutive time at it so we can being concentrating on the remote sensing aspect of the piece, and of course the videos.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
WALL WORKING DRAWINGS
Above is the working drawings for a wall section. Please note the colour scheme is for labelling purposes to show materials. The walls will actually be painted white, and the weed barrier will be grey.
PLANS FOR THE WALLS
Devin, Geoff and Rob met to discuss the building of the walls. We decided we needed to finalize the plans, to get this thing off the ground.
After doing some planning, Devin and Rob went to Home Depot to scope out some prices to get an idea of the cost and materials.
After looking we finalized all materials for walls and changed the design of our walls a little bit based on materials. The materials and prices are listed below:
PAINT
1 unit - Semi Gloss White $20.97
1 unit - Primer $18.97
BUILDING MATERIALS
4 units - 5/8 Premium MDF (4x8) $99.88
80 units- Millstead Spruce (1x2x8) $78.40
WEED BARRIER
3 Rolls @ an estimated $90.00
FOR AN ESTIMATED TOTAL OF: $ 308.22
Please note: these estimates are for the 16 walls only. Podium materials and prices are not yet decided upon.
After doing some planning, Devin and Rob went to Home Depot to scope out some prices to get an idea of the cost and materials.
After looking we finalized all materials for walls and changed the design of our walls a little bit based on materials. The materials and prices are listed below:
PAINT
1 unit - Semi Gloss White $20.97
1 unit - Primer $18.97
BUILDING MATERIALS
4 units - 5/8 Premium MDF (4x8) $99.88
80 units- Millstead Spruce (1x2x8) $78.40
WEED BARRIER
3 Rolls @ an estimated $90.00
FOR AN ESTIMATED TOTAL OF: $ 308.22
Please note: these estimates are for the 16 walls only. Podium materials and prices are not yet decided upon.
PHYSICAL COMPUTING
Before the meeting for the 4th year exhibition, we all met to discuss what we would be doing for the physical computing part, as we are combining a project for Steve Daniels/Norm Whites class with this project for Wieslaw Michalak. After much discussion, nothing has been formalized. We have many ideas, but need to check with Steve to see if our ideas can be made a reality. Check back soon for a plan for this. What we do know so far is that we want to use interactive lighting elements to immerse the viewer fully.
BUDGET
Knowing that this is going to become a very expensive project for us, we decided to set a limit for our costs. We decided upon the figure of $1000, or $250 each. Obviously, we are going to try to stay less than $1000, but since we are using so much lumber, and also physical computing supplies, we dont think that this figure is unrealistic.
To massively cut down on costs, all computers and monitors have been donated. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO GAVE US THEIR OLD COMPUTERS AND MONITORS!
To massively cut down on costs, all computers and monitors have been donated. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO GAVE US THEIR OLD COMPUTERS AND MONITORS!
WIESLAW MEETING #1
After meeting with Wieslaw for the first time since the proposal about our project, we decided to search out materials that are more cost realistic, and scaled back our designs a bit. He voiced his concern over the construction, and how we are going to make the walls stand. He asked us to find our exact materials without buying them, get estimates, and build a model so we could visualize how we are actually going to construct it.
Following the meeting, we went to Canadian Tire to search for some materials that we could use. There we found an excellent subsitute for the plexiglass walls. Instead of using a heavy glass, we found a grey weedbarrier. It is a pourous material, and lets light through without seeing through it. Since it is so extremely light and durable, and alot cheaper than plexiglass, we decided on using this product.
Following the Canadian Tire search, we set out to start building our model, and figured out how exactly we were going to get the walls to stand.
Following the meeting, we went to Canadian Tire to search for some materials that we could use. There we found an excellent subsitute for the plexiglass walls. Instead of using a heavy glass, we found a grey weedbarrier. It is a pourous material, and lets light through without seeing through it. Since it is so extremely light and durable, and alot cheaper than plexiglass, we decided on using this product.
Following the Canadian Tire search, we set out to start building our model, and figured out how exactly we were going to get the walls to stand.
PROJECT PROPOSAL
CONCEPT:
“What people see is very much a function of what they have been trained or have learned to see in the course of growing up. Each person sees a slightly different world than everyone else, and if the people are from different cultures, the worlds can become very, very different.” (Hall p158). Edward T Hall introduces the concept of "Meta Time-and related elements. These elements can be grouped into four additional groupings of time and even further those four themes of time into eight constructs of time. By deconstructing time we first reach the two large groupings of time, Group/Individual and Cultural/Physical, which can be classified as the two major social constructs of time. The four grouping residing on the next tier down in the hierarchy of time are more focused on the philosophical aspects of time and are titled: Philosophical and Conscious, Situational Culture (High Content), Unconscious Emergent, and Existential (Low Content) Time. The last and most specific tier of time (and the tier we plan on focusing on the most in our installation) is the eight kinds of time: Biological, Personal, Sync, Micro, Profane, Sacred, Metaphysical, and Physical (for a better understanding of the alignments of time see fig. 3).
We acknowledge that time and space are irrefutably intertwined and that we as 'observers' create that space though our perception of the objects that reside within it. Therefore we can hypothesize that by altering our perception or reception of space we actually change the contents of that space allowing us to manifest, deconstruct or alter reality. By furthuring this hypothesis we can envision that we also possess the ability to control and manipulate time, as time is once again a series of collective perceptions. For example a galaxy two million light years away may no longer exist but we can percieve it to exist as we can still see it, even though the imagery we absorb is two million years old, and in this instant we are actively looking into the past.
Think of standing in a body of water and throwing a rock into the water infront of you. Ripples eminate from the entry point of the stone and crash upon your body. Let us consider that without water the ripples could not exist and put a name to this wave conductive medium, "the ether" (Hawking p31) and ether for sound being air. As sound, and light have ethers so does time, the ether being the mind. "According to the ether theory... If you move toward it [the source of the wave] through the ether, the speed at which you approach the [wave] will be the sum of the speed of [the wave] through the ether and your speed through the ether. The [the wave] will approach you faster than if, say, you didn't move, or you moved in some other direction" (Hawking, p31). So in theory you would be able to stop your perception time by moving away from an object at a speed equal to that of light or reverse time by moving at a speed faster than light (or more importantly than light the speed of perception). If you accept this then you also must consider the antithesis, that if looking at an object a light year away and approaching it you are entering the future. This same hypothesis can be applied to microlevel movements, that by moving through space you can expand and compress time (much like the Doppler effect) although these variations of time go unnoticed as they are so minute.
In this study we explore on 'Relativity', one of the most post-modern concepts of science in which events are not fixed but infact flexible and fluid, and only appear to be fixed when applied to absolute standards which are a creation of man and in reality nonexistant. The mind allows the experience of time to be something individual and controllable, if not consciously at least sub or unconsciously as our mind is the conductive material for time to flow through.
Looking back on Hall's kinds of time we can describe each time as an "ether" of time, possessing different conductive qualities for time, causing the ebb and flow of time to be in a constant state of flux sparking different perceptions of time. Hall's map of time is a visualization of all of these theories into a clear and maneuvarable space, giving a user a way to experience everything these theories present.
PROPOSAL:
To create an interactive, immersive environment based upon the eight concepts of time. We will construct, in a physical manner, the mandala of time. In doing so we also hope to create mental, spiritual, virtual and physical spaces as representations of those times. (see figure 3)
The installation will take place in a single room, which will be loosely divided into eight sections and a centerpiece. Each section will ultimately lead to the centre where our artist statement will be painted on a circular piece of wood. From the center, the viewer will be able to look into mirrors reflecting each “zone” of time listed in the concept section. The center represents “Meta Time”, which is essentially the all-seeing time. So when standing in Meta Time and you are facing one section, you can still see all of the other sections because of the reflections in the mirror.
Within each section will be a pedestal, which represents the section of time presented in the area. Each pedestal will have a different item; some with video screens, some with physical pieces or something visual to represent the time. For example, one pedestal may have a video screen playing a loop of imagery.
Our objective is to allow the viewer to experience a new understanding of the concepts of times and the relationships between times. In our culture, we are only aware of a limited scope of time.
“Most of us who live in the industrialized world are using and distinguishing between 6 to 8 (of the 9) kinds of time that is possible to identify.” (Hall p14)
MATERIALS:
1. Frames / Material to make walls
2. Pedestals (8)
3. TV/monitors for certain pedestals
4. DVD Players
5. Computers
6. Tall Mirrors (8)
7. Center wood piece
8. Paints
9. Software (Photoshop, Illustrator, Final Cut Pro, After Effects, Flash)
WORKS CITED
Cassels, J. M. Basic Quantum Mechanics. New York: McGraw-Hill ;|aLondon, 1970.
Hall, Edward Twitchell. The Dance of Life: The Other Dimension of Time. New York: Anchor Books, 1984.
---. The Hidden Dimension. New York: Anchor Books, 1990.
---. The Silent Language. Toronto: Anchor Books, 1990, 1981.
Hawking, S. W. A Briefer History of Time. Ed. Leonard Mlodinow. New York: Bantam Books, 2005.
Parker, Barry. Albert Einstein's Vision: Remarkable Discoveries that Shaped Modern Science. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 2004.
“What people see is very much a function of what they have been trained or have learned to see in the course of growing up. Each person sees a slightly different world than everyone else, and if the people are from different cultures, the worlds can become very, very different.” (Hall p158). Edward T Hall introduces the concept of "Meta Time-and related elements. These elements can be grouped into four additional groupings of time and even further those four themes of time into eight constructs of time. By deconstructing time we first reach the two large groupings of time, Group/Individual and Cultural/Physical, which can be classified as the two major social constructs of time. The four grouping residing on the next tier down in the hierarchy of time are more focused on the philosophical aspects of time and are titled: Philosophical and Conscious, Situational Culture (High Content), Unconscious Emergent, and Existential (Low Content) Time. The last and most specific tier of time (and the tier we plan on focusing on the most in our installation) is the eight kinds of time: Biological, Personal, Sync, Micro, Profane, Sacred, Metaphysical, and Physical (for a better understanding of the alignments of time see fig. 3).
We acknowledge that time and space are irrefutably intertwined and that we as 'observers' create that space though our perception of the objects that reside within it. Therefore we can hypothesize that by altering our perception or reception of space we actually change the contents of that space allowing us to manifest, deconstruct or alter reality. By furthuring this hypothesis we can envision that we also possess the ability to control and manipulate time, as time is once again a series of collective perceptions. For example a galaxy two million light years away may no longer exist but we can percieve it to exist as we can still see it, even though the imagery we absorb is two million years old, and in this instant we are actively looking into the past.
Think of standing in a body of water and throwing a rock into the water infront of you. Ripples eminate from the entry point of the stone and crash upon your body. Let us consider that without water the ripples could not exist and put a name to this wave conductive medium, "the ether" (Hawking p31) and ether for sound being air. As sound, and light have ethers so does time, the ether being the mind. "According to the ether theory... If you move toward it [the source of the wave] through the ether, the speed at which you approach the [wave] will be the sum of the speed of [the wave] through the ether and your speed through the ether. The [the wave] will approach you faster than if, say, you didn't move, or you moved in some other direction" (Hawking, p31). So in theory you would be able to stop your perception time by moving away from an object at a speed equal to that of light or reverse time by moving at a speed faster than light (or more importantly than light the speed of perception). If you accept this then you also must consider the antithesis, that if looking at an object a light year away and approaching it you are entering the future. This same hypothesis can be applied to microlevel movements, that by moving through space you can expand and compress time (much like the Doppler effect) although these variations of time go unnoticed as they are so minute.
In this study we explore on 'Relativity', one of the most post-modern concepts of science in which events are not fixed but infact flexible and fluid, and only appear to be fixed when applied to absolute standards which are a creation of man and in reality nonexistant. The mind allows the experience of time to be something individual and controllable, if not consciously at least sub or unconsciously as our mind is the conductive material for time to flow through.
Looking back on Hall's kinds of time we can describe each time as an "ether" of time, possessing different conductive qualities for time, causing the ebb and flow of time to be in a constant state of flux sparking different perceptions of time. Hall's map of time is a visualization of all of these theories into a clear and maneuvarable space, giving a user a way to experience everything these theories present.
PROPOSAL:
To create an interactive, immersive environment based upon the eight concepts of time. We will construct, in a physical manner, the mandala of time. In doing so we also hope to create mental, spiritual, virtual and physical spaces as representations of those times. (see figure 3)
The installation will take place in a single room, which will be loosely divided into eight sections and a centerpiece. Each section will ultimately lead to the centre where our artist statement will be painted on a circular piece of wood. From the center, the viewer will be able to look into mirrors reflecting each “zone” of time listed in the concept section. The center represents “Meta Time”, which is essentially the all-seeing time. So when standing in Meta Time and you are facing one section, you can still see all of the other sections because of the reflections in the mirror.
Within each section will be a pedestal, which represents the section of time presented in the area. Each pedestal will have a different item; some with video screens, some with physical pieces or something visual to represent the time. For example, one pedestal may have a video screen playing a loop of imagery.
Our objective is to allow the viewer to experience a new understanding of the concepts of times and the relationships between times. In our culture, we are only aware of a limited scope of time.
“Most of us who live in the industrialized world are using and distinguishing between 6 to 8 (of the 9) kinds of time that is possible to identify.” (Hall p14)
MATERIALS:
1. Frames / Material to make walls
2. Pedestals (8)
3. TV/monitors for certain pedestals
4. DVD Players
5. Computers
6. Tall Mirrors (8)
7. Center wood piece
8. Paints
9. Software (Photoshop, Illustrator, Final Cut Pro, After Effects, Flash)
WORKS CITED
Cassels, J. M. Basic Quantum Mechanics. New York: McGraw-Hill ;|aLondon, 1970.
Hall, Edward Twitchell. The Dance of Life: The Other Dimension of Time. New York: Anchor Books, 1984.
---. The Hidden Dimension. New York: Anchor Books, 1990.
---. The Silent Language. Toronto: Anchor Books, 1990, 1981.
Hawking, S. W. A Briefer History of Time. Ed. Leonard Mlodinow. New York: Bantam Books, 2005.
Parker, Barry. Albert Einstein's Vision: Remarkable Discoveries that Shaped Modern Science. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 2004.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
WELCOME
Welcome to Red Baron. We are a group of art students attending Ryerson University, majoring in New Media. We will be regularly updating this site with the progress of our projects, so check back regularly!
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