The Whitworth Andy Warhol Exhibit

Today I went to The Whitworth Art Museum to see the Andy Warhol exhibit they had there. It was interesting to see his work in real scale as you often overlook how large the pieces are. Up-close you can see the print screen process which I found to be quite fun. I was mostly interested in seeing his 'Electric Chair' pieces as I found the concept behind them to be quite interesting.

After exploring the gallery I branched into the local area in search of interesting architecture, type and art.

What makes something authentic?

In a time where it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish what is real from imitations, it is important to often question what we consider to be true or false about what we are shown. It is important to keep everything open to suspicion and scrutiny.

Art forgery is considered a crime. The idea of a 'real painting' and a 'fake painting' is questionable as a pair of identical paintings, one copied from the other, could on the surface be the totally the same, but one would would be considered "authentic" while the other would not. I find this concept interesting that an artist who forges replica paintings requires the same level of skill, if not higher, than the skill set required to create the original (i.e. creating artificial ageing and other marks of provenance). In the video above the artist is proud of his work knowing it isn't the original work. The ability to being able to fool someone, to this creator, is its own art. He sees his work as a craft, something he has perfected through time and practice. The skills that he uses are authentic, just not the imagery held within the paintings he sells.

The fact that he has created a replica of a pre-existing painting can dilute the experience of the original. The social and cultural context of the painting is what gives the art its richness, If there was no original painting to compare it to, then would it gain the same level of appreciation as a stand-alone piece? 

With this concept then thrown into a technological, consumer driven society, there is a sense of irony in knowing that the experience of seeing the original paintings can be diluted further as the vast majority of famous and well regarded artworks may be mostly seen digitally as a representation on a computer screen. 

As these artworks can be viewed online, it therefore follows that this digital media will follow the trend of being re-appropriated or post-produced, thus resulting in a situation whereby a £100,000 painting can be put on a £10 t-shirt and cheap hat.

The overwhelming majority of media and consumption in our current society promotes a rise in a philistine mindset. As materialism becomes more common and popular, people become detached from the original context and meaning of works. Luxury logos and role models inspire and propel the creation of counterfeit goods because of this. Consumers are often aware that the item they are buying is not "authentic", but the desire to own these inaccessible or expensive items fuels and creates a market of its own. The items are cheap and have the much of the same visual impact, but it begs the question, does the meaning and 'specialness' of the item become lesser? This is open to questioning on a case-by-case basis, as it also questions if the satisfaction we gain from an item is more important than the legitimacy of the art/product origin.

There is a counter to this consumer culture and the rise in popularity in "quality" and "authentic" goods which is now becoming much more popular. Craft beers and traditional barbers are now being promoted, and the proliferation of independent business over corporate entities is increasing. Alongside this movement there is a correlation of nostalgia and the idea of "things used to be better". Born from this mindset, there is now a new generation of consumers such as Vinyl collectors and lovers of shabby chic, who find satisfaction and personal pride in the workmanship and quality of products from a less consumerist age. 

"In an age of impersonal digital media, building social connectedness through nostalgia is an easy way for companies to leverage the optimistic feelings that often accompany walks down memory lane. Associating brand messaging with positive references from the 90s, 80s — and even the 70s — humanizes brands, forging meaningful connections between the past and present." - Friedman, L. (2016). Why Nostalgia Marketing Works So Well With Millennials, And How Your Brand Can Benefit. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com.

Is the reason we are drawn to these "quality and "authentic" outlooks just good marketing strategies based on boosting self worth and emotional bonds with the past, or are people sick of the abundance of "fake" imagery and counterfeit goods in the consumer world?

Leaving this open to interpretation and questioning would you consider authenticity to be a feeling? A style of production or an experience? Perhaps its none or all of these. I personally feel there is no strict definition as it all comes down to cultural and social development.

Cinema 4D

Todays lecture we learnt about the fundamentals of 3D modelling on a program called Cinema 4D. The basics of this program is to create a 3D object within a virtual 3D space. To get realistic renders you have to create a set for the object to sit in. Every film set will have lighting and cameras and it is the same within 3D software. These are the core for what will set the object into a 3D environment and give it depth.

Here is a basic shape on the standard field of the software. You are able to scale, warp, reshape and alter these to whatever you wish to create.

This is showing the shape with a solid floor layer. This gives grounding to the objects opposed to the objects being in a groundless enviroment.

This image portrays where the camera angles within the set are and the lighting source. This will determine what the final images look like.

Within the same software is a timeline that allows you to create animations. Using the same effects and more used to alter the shape initially if clocked with keyframes can create animations.

small planet big ideas from Sophie Wales on Vimeo.

Taking the skills I was taught and following along with a online tutorial I created this simple moving water animation on a low poly planet. The planet I made was inspired by this :

http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/371450/ss_63152f1815e6b4e651a51f5d20d0018ce72d6e9f.1920x1080.jpg?t=1490956339

This style is very popular at the moment and I drew inspiration from a indie game called "AWE". This god-game is about creating small planet ecosystems.so I wanted to try to emulate it in visual styles and queues. I wish to continue this project of planets to try out different materials and styles within the software.

final year animation

To finish off the year of After Effects workshops my class and I worked on a collaborative piece. We each created a ten second video where each individual person was to create an object or scene which would move from right to left across a sky setting. The background stays consistent with each individual video to give a linear and continuous feeling from one piece to the next.

With the theme being broad and open I decided to create a sky ship. I wished to replicate the style of historical maps and adventurers. This theme is increasingly popular with the Sci -Fi sub genre 'Steampunk'.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/54/93/b1/5493b14127e0668d725a79ad1da58e04.jpg

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5832/23670651801_2cc3ff42db_o.jpg

The main charm of this style is the hand drawn aspect and etching technique. To achieve this I made hand drawn sketches of each of the individual components I wished to use in my composition to scan and create digitally. Once opened into Illustrator I convert the lines into vector based lines. These are versatile and allow me to adjust any sizing and shape without pixelation. From there I adjusted with colour as the composition would have a blank background till in post.

When making my animation I ensured that the clouds would overlap the ship so that I could give a visual representation of 3D without creating a 3D model. To create the flag I made the flag move on a 3D plane to show a sign of it flickering in the wind.

power of flight from Sophie Wales on Vimeo.

This is the full colaborative piece we created:
Group C Finale - Flight of the Valkyries from Motion-go on Vimeo.

Neon Test

Working with the idea of documenting a retro arcade I followed a tutorial to test a glowing animation style that I could implement into my work.It isn't an overly animated but gives an atmospheric feeling to it.

Flicker Light Test from Sophie Wales on Vimeo.

Variophones

There are not many examples of early visual representations of animation however I became fascinated with Russian Variophones. Evgeny Sholpo developed the variophone in 1930. His work revolved around ornamental, artificial and visually synthetic sound. The variophone utilised soundwaves which he visualised onto cardboard disks which moved to a 35mm film reel to create a looping visual film. The filmstrip is then amplified using speakers and photocell methods to create synthesied audio.

Though successful so far his variophone was destroyed during the seige of Leiningrad, the place of his work, in 1941. His work along others around this time became revolutionary for visual audio and landed Sholpo's a place as director of the new Scientific‐Research Labratory for Graphical Sound after World War two ended.

The Importance of Sketches

Our sketchbooks are personal and can often hold our subcontious inside. Doodling is a freeflowing practice that allows creativity without the need to think too seriously of what we put inside. When in lectures it can be worth jotting notes down in doodle form as the information can often feel more engrained. These were my doodles related to this lecture:

Doodling taps into an uncontious of being aware you are drawing while not having a knowledge of what or how you do it. The outcome isn't always important so you enter a dream like state some could consider to be hinterland an area lying beyond what is visible or known. 

This lecture we were introduced to Jay Paynes work and process. First an foremost an illustrator Jay wishes to be a man of many traits and stated the first thing he would do when thinking of an idea would be to look through his previous sketch books. His most recent work revolves around exploring the edges of reality and a hypnogogic state. The conscious and the subcontious visually represented.

To continue this work I wished to elaborate on the idea of Hinterland and did a sketch series based on things that we see that are not necessarily there. I initially upon hearing the world felt unsettled by the idea of a fairytale-esque setting. This drew me towards the feeling of being alone in a forest and feeling watched. The thought of birch trees and how their wood has the likeness to having eyes showed emphasise to the feeling of being watched. The feeling itself is a psychological reaction of fear that can relate to facial recognition in others or fear of danger with fight or flight.

I played around with shadows and reflections aswell as they are both things i associate with feelings of fear. Jumping at my own reflections in the dark before I turn on a light or the idea that i can always see a shadowy figure in the doorway of a coat cupboard.

As these are just drawings relating to my work i would like to expand and refine these even more in the future. perhaps into a digital illustrative piece or a short story.