Final Performance Set Up And Plan

For the summative assessment as part of second year, I took a look back at all my work and picked out the strongest elements. I quickly found that my work was based around three practices and concepts; performance, multi-layered video and sound.

Within Guitar Performance, I managed to introduce an uncomfortable and unsettling feeling for those who were in the room with me, as no only did I not care about my own singing and guitar playing, but I also made all of those in the audience, join in. I enjoyed manipulating this element, and want to bring this into my final piece. This is much like the work of Tino Sehgal, where the performers break the 4th wall. The controlling of uncomfortable sensations was also found in Untitled [Singing Film], as those who were in the video were then forced to watch themselves. Inspired by Matthew Barney, Vanessa Beecroft and Sylvie Fleury, I utilised more space, which allowed the performances to become stronger, as I felt more comfortable with the movement. The use of this movement is particularly highlighted within Pole Performance, as I am able to encompass a whole room, creating a new environment within the space, inspired by Pepón Osorio. This is an element I want to continue, as the environment ultimately could make or break the piece.

Both at the beginning of the year, and as my work progressed, I found that I enjoyed working with complex pieces, especially those with multiple elements. This stems from The Summer Project, and the work of Wolfgang Tillmans. I very quickly transferred this to video, and layered several images in Moonlight Cord, where the message of Chinese Opera was easier to convey compared to earlier trials.The uniqueness of the videos is also something that I wish to continue, specifically the difference of the camera shot in Untitled [A Pole GoPro Film], Untitled [Pole] and Untitled [Mixed Pole], displayed in the style of John Akomfrah. The use of the GoPro gave a completely new perspective to the use of the pole, and again, were mixed with multiple elements. A new perspective was also seen in UV DSCN Merge Pole, and is a key element that I wish to take forward, perhaps both with light and camera angle.

I also considered the use of sound, as this is an element I subconsciously worked with throughout the Chinese Opera videos. I quickly found that editing sound in The Start Project: The Forgotten War and The Start Project: The Forgotten War [Little Yemen] was a strong element in my work, as it gave an interesting twist to what could have been plain spoken word. Although I found this to be a strong element of this video, the physical embodiment that was created in Feminist Poem [Extended] Audio and Feminist Poem 3 Audio, 4 Speakers through the use of 4 speakers, was something that I would rather play around with. At the same time, I do not want to overwhelm those in the environment that I create, so the element of sound is something I have to play around with.

I decided to therefore take all of these elements forward to create a performance on the pole, in a blacked out room with two projectors and four speakers. This will make the room very warm very quickly, however I do not anticipate the performance to last longer than 5 minutes, which will ensure that I will be protected from exhaustion.

Due to the set up of the performance, and the use of the projectors on the two plain walls within the room, there is little room for other work. This does upset me that I am unable to display with other members of my year group, however it does also mean that I do not compromise anyone’s work, and visa versa. This is also the reason why I have chosen to do my performance earlier than the intended deadline, so that the room is available for the rest of the year group to use.

Displaying Light Pole Videos

I was still unsure as to what I wanted to do as part of my summative piece, and I still had the choice between a video and a performance. I particularly enjoyed working and manipulating the new element of light in Silent Light Pole Videos [UV] and Silent Light Pole Videos [Strobe]. I played around with the display of these, using corners, walls, and TVs to determine whether I could further manipulate the space that this is in, or whether they are works that belong on a flat screen.

I firstly looked at the use of an LCD TV screen, and found that the use of the screen with the lights on reflected much of the surrounding room. When turning the lights off, this made a large impact to the screen, and meant that you could not see the surroundings. I did find, however, that the TV did ‘dull down’ the brightness of the piece, and you were able to concentrate more on the light behind in the video, especially compared to a computer screen.

This led me onto using a projector in multiple places, manipulating the images in corners of rooms, and on different walls. There was an installation in a corner of the room, whereupon I placed the projection – this caused a zigzag bend, and had contorted the image. This contortion was also seen in another corner of the room, and where it was also projected over a shelving area. Although these manipulation of the projection were very fun, and interesting to look at and watch, there was also an element of unnecessary confusion. It is because of this unnecessary confusion and complexity of displaying the video in the corner of the room, that I wish to display them on a flat, and plain wall for a possible final performance.

UV DSCN Merge Pole

I decided to merge and edit in a different way after Strobe Merge Pole, by using the three videos of UV DSCN. These were all filmed with the same camera in the same position, and it was therefore very quick to ensure each of the videos somewhat ‘lined up’ with each other to create a coherent video. I enjoyed this edit much more compared to cutting between different cameras, as at all points you are able to see all three of performers, but they all come in and out of the primary, brighter position. The constant movement of all three bodies keeps the viewer completely occupied, without being too overwhelming. The use of one of the videos containing the extra fabric on the limbs gives the added sense of movement within the space, again without being too heavy on the viewer. With this being in UV, it almost adds a mysterious aspect to the piece.

When adding the audio Feminist Poem 3 Audio, 4 Speakers to the piece, it was found that it matched the visuals here better, compared to other, earlier merging edits. There was still no link to the pole within the audio, however this was because of the nature of the audio, rather than the completed video as a whole.

If this piece were to be created again, I would have ensured that I was in an entirely dark space, with the UV light moved so that there is no blue or purple hue in the corner of the video. I would also have chosen a different audio, perhaps the original audio used in Pole Performance; Spoken Poem, as this was more fitting with the pole theme and feminism.

 

UV 00 Merge Pole

I wanted to create something that was more layered than originally planned, and took inspiration from the earlier work of Pole GoPro Experiments. I also looked at the editing I did with UV [1, 2 and 3] Pole Merge to determine how I wished to go about this edit. With the camera used for this footage, it struggled to focus on the performer within the centre, so often comes across as blurry and out of focus. This unintended aspect of the video adds an extra hue and glow around the performers, giving a mystical and perhaps supernatural glow. This was added on top of the garish glow that you would occassionally see, because of the UV light which was positioned just to the side of the camera. On the other hand, all of the clips fitted well together and showed the full use of the space and manipulation of movement, specially within the camera frame.

The breathing within the audio matched well with the video, and surprisingly kept in time with it. The spoken word, however, came in suddenly and I felt that it almost ruined the tranquillity and serene moment that was being shown. To take the spoken word out and to leave the breathing and extra movement within the audio, would be an idea for another edit.

UV [1, 2 and 3] Pole Merge

I decided to take the UV 1, 2 & 3 series and edit them in three different ways, to determine what works best withe the Silent Light Pole Videos [UV] that was captured, which will later influence other editing techniques, especially when working with this, or similar footage.

Within UV 1, I used a slow merge between the clips, which gives the viewer a second perspective for some significant time throughout the video. This gradual transition allows you get used to the next clip, before the other disappears. It also allows the better parts of the videos to be shown, especially when the camera comes in and out of focus. One of the cameras also shows the UV might brighter, so this transition allows the white to calm down, and for people to have a break before moving on. I enjoyed the smooth transition of the video, as it kept it very calming, rather than rushing onto the next move, or the next piece of information.

Within the second set of videos, I decided to cut between the clips. I found that this was not as successful as the first as primarily the clips were of different qualities, but they were also at different heights, angles and distances to the pole, which made them difficult to work with and match. With the UV being brighter in one clip than the other, there is a large difference in brightness between the two, making the video vary garish, then very dark. From this editing experience, I can confirm that I preferred the slow transition between the two different camera angles.

Within the last of the UV series I decided to do a faster merge, to determine the middle ground between the two above edits. I found it was to be more successful than Merge UV 2, and contained many of the transition aspects that I preferred in Merge UV 1. I did find, however, that this was more ‘showcase’ than ‘art piece’, as the moves were clear and defined within the video, but the shorter transitions took away the smoothness, the juxtaposition of the camera angles, and the strange effects that were created.

Overall, I found this small exercise to be very useful and can confirm that I have a preference for the slower, more calming transitions within Merge UV 1. The quicker transitions lost the magical and intriguing layering that this video created, and almost rushed the viewer through the video.

Strobe Merge Pole

I decided to take some inspiration from Pole GoPro Experiments, and edit some of the videos together. Here I took Strobe DSCN and Strobe 00, which had the same routine, and cut the clips together to make a long stream of the two clips. The planning of this worked well, however the two cameras were at different angles, one camera was out of focus much of the time, and the other camera was facing two doorways and at a different angle to the first. In theory, it would have worked, but the execution of footage would need to be dramatically improved.

When adding audio, it was found that the audio did not match with the visual, and the difference in quality between clips and between the visual and audio was very distracting.

Although this was not entirely successful, I wanted to try to merge clips together from two different perspectives by using a different technique, and to try to find a merged or edited clip that would match with the audio better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sound Manipulation Light Pole

I felt that Silent Light Pole Videos [UV] and Silent Light Pole Videos [Strobe] both clearly and cleverly highlighted the aspect of manipulation of space and movement, however I wanted to see if they would continue to fit in with the theme on Feminism and Pole Performance. I therefore decided to take Feminist Poem 3 Audio, 4 Speakers, and manipulate this within the video.

I initially placed the audio within the video without editing, and found that it did not make sense with the strobe lighting. There was no link between the two and I found that I somewhat became bored of the clip quite quickly. It was also because you were unable to view the performance as a whole, leaving you clueless for much of the time. I did enjoy the aspect of the audio moving, crawling and running around, to be very energetic, and the juxtaposition with the smooth, calm and controlled movements on the pole.

I decided to add in the original speech for a second time, but with a UV clip instead. I thought that this may change my mind and may be a better fit with each other. Once again, there was no direct link between the two, however I found that it was a better accompaniment than above. Like above, there was a juxtaposition with the speed of the movement in the audio, versus the speed of the movement in the video. Although there was this difference, both the audio and the video were calm and parallel with each other. After looking further at the video, however, I believe that a further exaggeration of the moves, and holding some of them for a couple of seconds longer will emphasise both the juxtaposition and marriage of visual and audio.

For the third video, I decided to have a greater influence on the audio of this track. As you listen, there is a significant change to the speed of the audio, creating a larger juxtaposition between the visual and the audio. When watching the video, you also get the sense of a slowing in the performance. Especially when listening to the faster sections, after listening to the 50% speed parts, you gain the sensation that this is almost faster, even though the strobe and the performance is playing at the same speed. Some of the audio is edited in such a way that you struggle to hear what they are saying. If I were to manipulate the audio in this way again, I would ensure that you would be able to hear each component without a struggle with the visual aspect of the video.

Lastly, I added the breathing that can be heard at the beginning of the clip, into several locations of the audio, and altered its speed throughout. This is put in so that you would not notice it unless you had heard Feminist Poem 3 Audio, 4 Speakers many times, and knew what you were listening for. This does add an extra step of depth within the piece and manipulates the viewer into believing that there is perhaps another person, even though there is only one within the performance. This manipulation of the audio, gives a different outtake on the manipulation of movement and the space.

I enjoyed manipulating and altering the audio, which in itself changed the way that you see the video. Although for much of the time the audio did not match up with the visuals, especially when given no context or mention of myself on the pole, I found it to be a useful experiment to try and determine my next steps.

 

Silent Light Pole Videos [Strobe]

I wanted to manipulate the original Strobe Light videos that were displayed in Sound to Light. All of these had a backing of Feminist Poem 3 Audio, 4 Speakers, which I used for timings on the pole, and also partial set up of each performance. I cut the clips in order for them to only show the performance. I also deleted the sound within the video, which gives an eerie silence to each of them.

Within Strobe 00 and Phone Strobe 00, the camera struggled to focus with the constant strobe lighting, much like it struggled within Silent Light Pole Videos [UV]. As the majority of the footage is blurry, it makes it even more difficult to determine the figure in the videos. I am unsure as to whether it makes these specific clips more successful or not, but I do know that this is not what I envisioned for the piece to look like.

In Strobe DSCN, there was a pillar and two doorways in the background. Although I did not realise this when filming, it was interesting to see the effect of the strobe light on the opposite side of my body. In the other ‘DSCN’ videos, there is a clearer definition when you are able to see the performance compared to the ’00’ footage. This is what I wanted to achieve within the clips of the performance. The use of the black top and shorts also clearly defined the body against both the white and the black backgrounds. Within these videos, however, you can still see that the camera struggles with the strobe light, which made the videos less successful in terms of a full flash. The use of the part flash, on the other hand, gives another perspective of the work, and a certain dash of unpredictability, as you are never sure what you will be able to see next, and when. This highlights the manipulation of space within the work.