CFC Final Project

This is one of a number of sketches I did whilst brainstorming for the final "mapping" Project.
I decided to return to the image of my first project, (the beard), but approach it on a 2-dimensional surface, and in a more abstract fashion.

The body-extension project, and my response to it, basically embody my confusions and doubts about CFC, and the art-program here in general. It was one of those assignments that I really didn't understand, I worked hard on, and got a B- on.

Which is like, whatever, that's fine, but I can't really gather what I learned from the experience, or understand what I was supposed to take away from it.

and so,

I am returning to the image of the cardboard tube beard, as a metaphor for my experience in CFC: Disorienting, confusing, and occasionally enlightening.

Metamorphosis

Here is the final product for my metamorphosis project. I received a lot of great feedback at the in-progress critique: about music, timing, linearity, etc. In the end it became clear that the movie didn't come across how I wanted it to.

Unfortunately, the movie as you see it now, is much the same as it was. Many of the suggestions I received concerning timing (among other things) were completely valid, but it wasn't feasible for me at that point to be able to change much of that. (If I try to slow things down for instance, by lengthening clip time, the animations loses the illusion, and becomes jumpy, and I didn't have the time to go back, and create more frames to stick in between the ones already there) But I will take the classes' comments into future projects I do.

The movie is, however, now a completed product. The two parts now line up, and a basically uninterrupted transformation takes place. The music is different now as well, which I think changes the mood of the piece dramatically. (For better or worse? What do you think?)

I spoke to Endi today about my project and got a much better understanding of his comments during critique, as well as a good context to look at my film in. It is clear to me now that if the viewer is aware of the assignment, after about 6 seconds into the film it is quite obvious where it is going, and how it will end. It lacks any form of unpredictability, it proceeds in a very linear fashion.

It also lacks . . . Intention? Perhaps? There isn't an explanation for why this transformation has taken place, or even a hint that there might be one. (This is probably because there isn't, or at least I can't think of one)

In the end, this project was a long experiment. Painful though it may have been, I did learn a lot from it though, and I still get some enjoyment from the final piece. (Even though, it is not the piece it could have been)

Five Obstructions

In this documentary, influential movie director Jorgen Leth submits himself to a bizarre sort of therapy where he is forced to remake his 1967 short The Perfect Human, Many times. In each remake a set of obstructions are put into place by film maker and friend, Lars von Trier. In each instance, Lars creates a set of guidelines that are intended to trip Jorgen up, but in each instance Jorgen finds a way to use these obstructions to create a better film.

What is the purpose of this therapy? To me, this is unclear. Perhaps it is not a form of therapy at all, but rather just an interesting premise for another documentary (though I believe Lars calls it therapy in the film). Throughout the film, lars says that he is trying to get Jorgen to make crap. I think perhaps he wanted jorgen to let go of his urge to make everything perfect, and in doing so he may discover something about himself.

Regardless, Lars' attempts fail, and Jorgen uses every obstacle thrown at him to create a better, more dynamic film. The obstacles ranged from being required to film in the most miserable place on earth (as determined by Jorgen himself) to having each edit be no longer than 12 frames, to having no restrictions at all (an obstruction that, for some reason, Jorgen found most challenging).

The final challenge was for Jorgen to read a script that Lars had written, and take directoral credit for a film Lars had directed. In the film Jorgen is speaking to lars, telling him that he (Jorgen) was the perfect human, that Lars knew it all along, and each attempt to figure him out, or to trip him up had failed, because he was, after all, the perfect human. The film is a monolouge with clips of jorgen playing whilst he speaks, and serves as a confusing conclusion to an already somewhat perplexing film.

The film, in its entirety, was quite good. It was interesting to see how Jorgen would handle each challenge, and then to see the films he created in the end. If though, there was some sort of meaning, or point to the movie (not that there needs to be, but with the way it was created, especially the last film, leads me to believe that there was suposed to be), it still eludes me.

Paul McCarthy

http://www.ubu.com/film/mccarthy_painter.html

Face Morphing

This is a little video sketch of a method I might use to transform my face into the face of a faculty member at A&D. It's done using the liquid filter on photoshop, saving the image between each transformation, then stringing them together in imovie. I may choose to use a different method, but it will likely be similar. The final result will be longer, and less choppy/ lame. I was also hoping to transform my face into Danielle Abram's, but I just heard that she's out of town, so I may need to choose someone else.

(P.S The video uploaded strange, and the last frame is supposed to be Jan-Henrik's full-non-deformed face. Sorry about that)

2 lies and a truth

This is a response to a TMP project called "2 lies and a truth". The object was to create three images of ourselves, each representing a different story of something that had happened in our lives, and then write a short caption for each. Two of these stories (and thus, images) would be lies, the other would be true.

As is becoming normal for me, I decided not to follow the assignment directly. Instead of telling stories about myself, I came up with three different ideas of creation/religion/spirituality, and projected them on three different paintings I made of myself. The idea then, was not that one of these three ideas was true for everyone, and the others were lies, but that each person brought there own ideas and biases to the table as they viewed the work, so which was true (if any) was different for each person.

On the works (from top to bottom) it reads "Emerson was created by God, in God's own image", "Emerson is made of the same dust as all things. He is to you, as the cells of his body are to each other, he is an incomprehensibly insignificant part of something much larger", and "Emerson exists only because he thinks he exists. As soon as he stops believing in the illusion, he will stop being".

The works are each 24"x30" on canvas. They incorporate acrylic and oil paint, as well as pencil and charcoal.

Cardboard tube Beard Extension final product

Here is the final result of the body extension product. It changed a bit from the initial sketches . . . It now holds your food and serves as a portable lunch tray. And also makes you feel very manly (because of the thick masculine golden locks).

The purpose evolved from the process and, in my opinion, is secondary to the visuals.