The Begining

"Man Passes through life blindfolded it is only afterwards, once the blind fold has been removed that he can realize what he has experienced and what meaning it has had" Milan Kundera
I am in recovery from the year in CSIS completing my MA in interactive media. It was a roller coaster and should come with a mental health warning, but it was a great journey. And slowly I am uncovering what I have taken in, in very weird snippets , today I was able to disable the alarm in my car that went mad when the battery died (simbiotic electronics) by overriding the circuit board ( I am still in the in-between world, but I think the knowledge of how to do this went in by osmosis in term 2 arduino !!! For my final the oh so brief DAWN down before it was fully up, I created an interactive Art installation in sound and vision based on the aesthetic of derelict houses called if these walls could talk , details will follow as soon as I plug my head back in right now sleep and surf are the doctors orders so me and my boy are off to the coast. S

Thesis Proposal

Hi guys I am back, I didn't jump in the lake just had a wobbly swim but am flying it now. I followed some wonderful advice to do something I love and so I finally I get around to putting this up on the blogg. I must admit I have had a lot of resistance as I have a huge fear of commitment but sure tis done now and there is no going back. I can finally say after an awful lot of deliberation and sleepless nights that, My project will be an interactive art installation that explores the sensation and story of Derelict spaces. Here are some of my starting points.
o Derelict Spaces and artifacts
o To create a collective imagined story started from these spaces
o Recreating a narrative around them using research
o Images, video, sound.
o Bringing a room to life
o Tactile interaction with the objects
o Evoking an aesthetic sense of the space
Here is my presentation to hopefully give you a sense of what I am doing.

Creative Learning 16/02/09

I just made a typo there while writing the title and I wrote creativ elearning, The Elearning now being the operative that I need to take into account and should embrace fully. I have been inspired by the positivity of the lectures which have opened up the connectivity and possibilities of technological learning , the world more so than ever is your oyster it is up to ourselves to shine the pearl to our own advantage.
Reflecting on the question about a positive learning experience I had, I remembered the joy and excitement when I received a gig juicy brown envelop containing a letter and valuable information from Tibor Kalman ( Graphic Design and designer for Bennetton Magazine Colors) during research for my dissertation in my diploma year. I had taken the chance to personally write to a key member of my chosen research and it paid off. In relation to now, I now feel this type of feedback from core people will be even more possible through online resources such as blogging and sites, a fact I had never really considered . It may not be as aesthetically pleasing ( nothing beats the tangibility of a letter) but it may be on a larger scale and more resourceful as the world is becoming smaller through the web. We need to exploit this interactivity with the world to broaden our learning experience, its time to get out the sea sponges and start polishing those pearls gathered from the worlds seas.

Revision of Thesis Idea

Over the break I have debated wondered and had many sleepless nights about my proposals and still I just don't know ( I am so indecisive) but there are just too many ideas that I really want to explore and too many fields I have an interest in. So I have went back to the drawing board and have taken inspiration from an old adage "do something you love". I am an artist and my main area of interest is photography and mixed media, I love peeling paint, rusty metal and forgotten memorabilia. I believe every picture tells a story or has the possibility to create one and that rooms and objects hold memories and invoke feelings. This is the starting point for my project still involving the two previously proposed ideas of creating a happy artistic installation and using video and video tracking . I want to create an interactive art installation based around a derelict room whereby the forgotten objects hold memory and tell a story of the room. I wish it to be a visual, aural and tactile experience also to try and blend the users experience of the installation into a new memory of the room.

Thesis Proposal 02

The Second idea that I propose is to create an interactive art installation. The space will be a visual and auditory experience for the user, with the aim of giving them a relaxing calming space to switch off from the pressures and worries of the world around. The installation idea is losely based around the the princible of Shavasana (śavāsana). This is a relaxing yoga posture used to help people to relax reducing stress and tension. It is intended to rejuvenate mind body and spirit. In yoga practice, one is usually guided into the relaxation by the teacher, through a series of narrative mediation and visualisations aimed at helping the body to relieve tension. My objective is to create a space that promotes the feeling experienced in Shavasana. A version of the happy safe space found in this pose, to allow the user to relax and breathe for a short time and leaving them feel refreshed and rejuvinated. I propose to do this by having a touch screen installation with the choice for the user to pick, then a room with a relaxing chair with a video piece projected onto three screens with surround sound. The user will view a short visual piece made up of images and or typography, and the user is guided through the video with a spoken visualisation and or a piece of music. There will be four options for the user to choose for example the four elements earth air wind and fire , the user will be able to choose the voice they wish to hear, if they want typography on screen and if they want music. These will all be interchangable so that the user has some influence over the type of experience they will have. Once these are choosen, they will enter the room sit down relax and enjoy their visual experience hopefully feeliing relaxed and refreshed afterward. I propose to build the images and narrative from research of yoga students and teachers and their experience and a wider audience to build a generic view of a peaceful calming space. I propose to do this through questionaires interviews and possibly cultural probes and then to test my prototype images throught the use of biodynamic feed back. Please see the sketches below. During my research I found this link for the swiss artist Piplotti reist who is in the process of creating an art installation for the moma. http://moma.org/exhibitions/exhibitions.php?id=9760

Thesis Proposals 01

Thesis Proposal 01: For my thesis I have been researching and looking into two different projects as am not sure which idea is most viable ( if any) . The First idea that I propose, is to create screen graphic for a live musical peformence that is generated from the music and also from the audience participation at the gig. I have always felt a certain electric energy from a crowd at concerts be it in a small venue or a large arena and I feel it would be wonderful to try and capture some of this energy and generate it back to the audience via visuals that can be displayed on screen. To do this I would created an initial background template of images generated from the music being performed on stage to do this I would patch the music in a similar way as itunes visualiser. While the concert is on I would
track the audience movement through video and take the live feedback manipulate it using isadore program and generate it into visual graphic that can be displayed on the existing background on stage or around the room. The images generated would be directly related to the audience experience of the concert mixed with images generated from the music. Please see sketches below.