Communications Lab – Page 2 – Thoughts from the Underground

Comm Lab: Stop Motion Animation

This week I worked with two other students, Noah Waxman and Macaulay Campbell, to create a short stop motion, animated film. When we added the sounds, it definitely became pretty ridiculous. We used a whiteboard to create our animations; it was a lot easier to work with than physical objects. Plus, our illustrator stole my is a graphic designer job, so it turned out well.

What Should We Do for Comm Lab?

Check out my cameo!

Update: This is a fun animation I found on YouTube, about the death of some bubble wrap.

Fantaisie in Bubblewrap

Communications Lab – Sequential Images

This week I worked with another student to create story from a series of sequential images — see Understanding Comics, by Scott McCloud.

The story we created starts in a zoo and ends in a cemetery, but I won’t go into the details because the story is (hopefully) self-explanatory.

For the production, we first thought we’d try to use Photoshop, but my partner didn’t have much experience with the program. She also didn’t have much experience with using the Mac OX, so those were challenges for us to overcome. After one day where we failed to make any real progress, I suggested that we use the highest level tool possible, like Office, since our final product was going to be 8.5″ x 11″ anyway.

That seemed to work. We did use Photoshop here and there, such as using the Clone Stamp and Cropping tools to touch up our images. But most of the time we used OpenOffice in presentation mode. Although the photo editing tools are pretty primitive, the benefit of using such a high level tool was that my partner was able to follow what I was doing even though I went through much of my activities very quickly.

Communications Lab: Week 5 — Response to “Understanding Comics”

Chapters 1 and 2 were interesting summarizations of psychological patterns, as well as introducing the idea of simple, yet complex, design.

In Chapter 3, I found interesting the discussion on the Visual Iconography of comics. That is, visual iconography is used by comics as its “vocabulary”. Closure, as used in the “gutters”, or spaces between panels, is its grammar.

I also thought the breakdown of the types of closure – i.e., subject-to-subject, scene-to-scene, etc – and the analysis of the evolution of Japanese comics, as a reflection of the Japanese culture, was very interesting as well.

Chapter 4 was a discussion on the breakdown of the passage of time, which was compared to photographs and the way we typically experience time. My notes include: “Time in comics is different from photographs; we may see several moments in time arranged within the same panel. In photos, the action is all from a single moment….” and “[in comics] time breaks down into panel-to-panel closure[s].”

Chapters 5-8 discuss the impact of line, and mixing of words and pictures. Points I found interesting:

Expressionism and synaesthetics are distortive by nature and can obscure their subjects.
In a visual medium, the visual sense has the burden of taking in all the other senses.
Words have become more simple, while art became representational & specific.
New media have been misunderstood – first beginning as an imitation of the previous media
People find art in all aspects of human life, outside of the basic human instincts.
Most comics artists don’t use color, because it’s expensive and can take away from the meaning of the comic, or art, itself.

Points I found interesting in Chapter 9:

All media of communication are a by-product of our inability to communicate to others what it’s like to be ourselves
Each media converts thoughts into forms that can traverse the physical world and can be interpreted by another of our senses – taste, sound, sight, etc.
Mastery of a medium is the degree (percentage) that the artistic vision can survive the journey from artist’s thought to perception by others
Comics use cartoons to command viewer involvement and identification; and use realism to capture beauty and complexity of the visible world
Embedded in all pictures are the seeds of expressionism and synaesthetics.

Communications Lab: Week 4 — Response to “Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”

I’ll start off by saying that I’m not sure why in the Preface Walter Benjamin makes a reference to Fascism. The early political reference gets me thinking that this is a political essay, rather than an essay about the changing nature of the relationship between art and audience.

In part I, Benjamin writes about the reproduction of art and how this act is not new within history. “Since the eye perceives more swiftly than the hand can draw, the process of pictorial reproduction was accelerated so enormously that it could keep pace with speech.”

Film’s impact on art in this case may be that it’s much easier for a the public to relate to film in comparison with the other examples given, engraving, etchings, painting, and lithography, because it appears to be created at the speed that life is experienced. He doesn’t quite make this connection in this section but in retrospect, it seems to be a point that is reiterated throughout the essay.

In part II, what I took to be a discussion on the provenance of a piece of art, I now think is more of a discussion on the significance of originality within art and how this significance affects the perception of art by the public. Furthermore, Benjamin gives examples of this significance of location by introducing the concept of “aura”, which I took to mean ‘uniqueness’. But, “aura” is also described as “the moment of awe seizing the first-time beholder of a singular work of art” (www.artintheage.com/about). I didn’t get that from the essay which compares the Greek perception of a statue of Venus as an object of veneration with the clerical interpretation of the same statue as an object of idolatry, at the point where “aura”, as a recurring concept, is introduced.

Shortly after aura is introduced, Benjamin discusses how mechanical reproduction, and I assume that at this point this reference is to mechanical reproduction on a mass scale, has transformed art production so it exists not for ritualistic purposes, but now exists for political functions. while it can exist for its own sake and

Throughout this essay, ritual and cult are used to refer to what have essentially been religious productions of art. If this were a less sophisticated piece of writing, I perhaps wouldn’t be so offended by the connotation he’s making, which seems to be that art for the sake of religion and worship is a bit of a fool’s pursuit. I’m not an entirely religious person. I just believe in tolerance. Cult is not lightly used term. I don’t think it’s changed much since 1936.

Anyway, Benjamin does semi-redeem himself by making the connection between “cult value” or “exhibition value” as stated in section V. In this case he’s relating the fact that works of art at an exhibition value, or works that have less of a unique cultural significance because they are reproductions, are more accessible. Works that have a cult value are less accessible, and he gives the example of a statue in a temple that is only viewed a few times a year, or viewers must make be within the temple itself in order to actually view the statue. While I’m not sure I would agree with the choice of terms, or perhaps I’m just disappointed because there’s no clarifying explanation, I do see his point. Yes, there are works of art that we place a higher level of sentimental significance to, and which are only seen at a special occasions. I’m not sure if the art of baking would count for Benjamin, but it is true that there are certain foods, like birthday cakes, that I only see a few times a year, particularly if I’m lucky enough to have a birthday party (with cake) on a particular year.

Benjamin also discusses cult in section X, where he relates the fact that the “cult” is now related to personality, which I also take to mean image. He also made a connection that being on camera for non-actors is like experience that same aura as the art itself, or the actors’ personality. I can see that this is true, and perhaps it explains why people go crazy to walk into the field of view in news reports.

In part VII, Benjamin makes the connection between film and hieroglyphs, as an example of pictorial language. I thought this was quite clever. I don’t know if film would be considered a pictorial language, but perhaps with so many films we are accustomed to moving pictures? I’m not sure….

In part VIII, I’m not sure that I followed the argument that because the film audience takes the perspective of the camera, then it also takes the perspective of a critic. Maybe, but there are still critics of plays, which is the alternative art (performance) form. I guess I didn’t see the strength of this argument.

In part IX, I think that Benjamin is making the connection that prior to film, or perhaps mechanical reproduction in general, art could could only take place in the setting in which it was created. Film is demonstrating that this is no longer the case, in that the audience and art are now separated, and time and place are no longer constraints. After this, the next few parts of the essay move fairly quickly. I’m not entirely sure of Benjamin’s point in part IX because he mentions “simultaneous collective experience” later in XII, where he discusses how a collection of people can experience a work of art differently for a painting than for a building. And, previously, part XI, Benjamin states that the painter and painting are more superficial to the experience of real life versus film which, like a surgeon, enters into the experience of life. He also mentions in part XIII that film allows us to experience familiar objects and movements in new perspectives.

Actually, I agree with his statements. Film (recording) does separate the ability for time and place to be constraints to a work of art. Further, it is true that the collective experience of a piece of art, such as that experienced by a movie audience, is different from that experienced by individuals at an art gallery. It is also true that film is a more realistic depiction of life. However, in part XV, Benjamin makes a distinction between architecture as a distraction, vs a piece of art that requires concentration. Again, maybe it’s just a word choice, but it seems that in this section, Benjamin is making the point that architecture is less significant than art that requires more concentration? It seems as if he’s saying that only if art requires concentration, and doesn’t include a specific part for distraction, then it’s not so important.

“Divertissement” in ballet is basically a short dance interlude that is included for no other reason than enjoyment and doesn’t really add to the plot. It literally translates to diversion in English, which seems in principle like distraction. Maybe it’s similar, but I think that Benjamin was pretty set on making a point here to worry much about exceptions to his essay, so ‘ll go on.

The last point I’ll make is Benjamin’s example of Dadaism as an example of art that is used to collectively shock the public. Yet another example of “simultaneous collective experience”. I think that he’s sort of using this to segue into his later paragraphs on the artistic beauty of war. I found those descriptions humorous, but bordering on inappropriate, unless he’s making a reference that war is a cult, and the many associations we make with war are also art.

If that’s true, I guess I can see his point. But, it’s a stretch.

Comm Lab: Week 2 – Reaction to “Orality and Literacy” (Ch. 1-2)

(Note: in starting the class late, I haven’t had time to finish week 1’s readings, but they will be posted in due time.)

In reading the first two chapters of Orality and Literacy, I can’t help but think of a time in which I’ve come across the topic of oral and written language. The first was to read Sundiata, which is a story from Mali about Sundiata, the first king of Mali, during an African history class. In the class we learned about griots, who are essentially living historians, and from whom the story has been recorded. My summary, is that they pass the history of a people or person to others by means of an oral tradition, which as I learned in the class, is or was relatively common in this part of Africa, if not in significantly many other parts of Africa.

After this story, I then learned much about the use of information, its preservation and use in our culture. I remember one discussion in particular, in which another student, who was African, had given an example of how he was able to recite the history of his family for several generations. I can’t remember now, but it was definitely impressive and represented the example of oral recitation demonstrated by griots of West Africa. I (stupidly) said something to the effect of how that skill was common to many Africans (because, of course, I was now an expert in African history).

Well anyway, I did enjoy reading the first two chapters. I don’t know if I’ve thought much about how the lyrical patterns in epic poetry can be used as memory aids, but I did find it surprising that anyone would be so shocked. In retrospect it seems obvious that someone attempting to recite the entirety of The Iliad would need some type of memory aid. But, then again, I also suspect that with practice, as is the case with griots, recitation could come relatively easily with practice.

I also found the discussion of how difficult it is for people with written literature to divorce themselves of words, such as with the example given of how to explain a horse to someone who has never seen a horse, or how ‘secondary oral literates’ will see the word “nevertheless” in their mind – I do – when they spell it or say it aloud. Along these lines, the first chapter seemed very concerned with explicating some of the negative impacts of written literature, while also explaining the difference between oral performance art and written literature that is simply read aloud.

Eventually, however, the second chapter has begun to discuss some of the benefits of the written language, particularly the ability of the written language to record the oral, of which, as stated on the second page, many have disappeared or become subsumed by other languages. I didn’t quite understand “bicamerality”, which is discussed at the end of this chapter, but I took it as describing the feeling I have when writing, when I feel as though I’m speaking to myself, and the introduction of the phenomenon of noting bicamerality as unusual occuring in the period of humanity immediately preceding the written language.

Comm Lab: Week 2 (and week 1) – Reaction to Xacti camera, in-class assignment

I just so happened to come across the video of another Comm Lab student, Alexandra Kuechenberg et al, which is posted on her elegant blog. The video here is basically a loop of four people participating in leap frog.

Well, I’m not sure how I’m supposed to comment, but it does seem interesting that it took 40 minutes to film and edit a clip that, when filmed, was probably all of 20-30 seconds. But, with this comment, I admit that I’m simply suspending my knowledge of working with a timeline in order to essentially make a naive comment, because in my experience, it seems like working with anything with a timeline takes forever to produce even the most basic material.

In any case, what I don’t see is that the final clip accurately captures a narrative arc…but maybe that might be my naive comment. Perhaps I’m thinking too literally about what makes a narrative arc, or simply projecting examples that are overly complex. As a narrative with a beginning, middle and end, each loop did accomplish that format. People leap frogged on, the leaped over each other, and they leaped off. So, I guess there is a narrative there that follows my self-imposed restriction on narrative arc. But, I do think the looping is throwing me, because with the start of each loop I’m expecting something to happen that doesn’t. So I feel disappointed in the story that more isn’t happening. Oh well. Maybe next time….