My project, an installation audio piece titled THE CLOCK, explores how people attempt to reclaim the past through an inanimate object, in this case a clock. I am interested in the contrast between mechanical precision and human frailty. My aim is to prompt reflection of the question: Is it possible to reconstruct the past and subvert the outcome? THE CLOCK audio is played through speakers over a box with a spread from an open book on clock repair (diagrams), dirt, and a childhood object. The audio is a sound collage of one woman's quest to find a clock reminiscant of her childhood, with added music, mechanics and elements. I am influenced by the assemblage art of Joseph Cornell, and the installation team Janet Cardiff and George Miller as well as the work of Alvin Lucier and Gavin Bryars. Click here for the current audio. Click here for the final powerpoint presentation Sunday May 10, 2009.
Here is today's storyboard reflecting clock footage and latest support still photos. My feeling is that if I make it too stylized it will conflict with the eccentricity of the subject and delivery. It was always my intention to play it straight and let her talk, but I would like to add music underneath, but more isn't always better. I think I have to be consistent with the style and tone in order for the piece to work.
Since I learned the clock was made by the Herman Miller Clock Co., (and photographed the actual childhood clock which resides in Oklahoma) I decided to do my research paper on this company. I'm interested in exploring the Herman Miller / Howard Miller design evolution and their connection to the furniture and iconic clock designs, popular today. I learned the childhood clock in the story pre-dates 1947, as its label clearly states it is a Herman Miller Clock Co, of Zeeland, MI. After 1947, Herman Miller's son, Howard C. Miller took it over and renamed it under his name. Several famous clocks came out of it - including several by George Nelson, the Design Director at the Herman Miller furniture company. Herman Miller / Hoard Miller designs we know and still love today.
Keep America Beautiful This Public Service Announcement is deeply embedded into my mind from my childhood. I doubt I've seen one as persuasive or poignant since. The message still holds up, maybe even more today.
Our social documentary began as a look into Dogs in American Urban Culture (NYC). But over the past couple days, it's evolved into one dog's day revealed through one dog's eyes. (Lucy) Her personality will drive the narrative. She is a slightly tragic dog (essentially abandoned by previous owner) who is more like a cat. We filmed her walking in her neighborhood and around her home (with owner) to illustrate her character. Here is a sample photo from our footage and an in-progress storyboard.
My final project is a short film features a woman from Muskogee Oklahoma which is an outgrowth of an archival documentary idea. For my paper I'd like to write about this area during circa 30s and 40s - specifically researching outlaws and lawmen. This area was known for the dust bowl -- many notorious and talented people came from here. This area gets an occasional cameo in films, but overall there is little exposure and I'd like to research as story.
A Dogumentary. Our group will take a look at the role dogs play in an urban environment, specifically New York City. Using traditional documentary styles - and the POV from a case study dog . We will explore its role as a social connector, status symbol, accessory and often baby substitute. WE will also research the cost having a dog in the city, the growing pet industry and some interviews with owners, vendors and vets.
The Clock (working title) 
Semiotics for Beginners by Daniel Chandler reminded me of my undergrad printmaking teacher's David Kahn's fine art pieces. He did a series of engravings based on hobo signs. Even though I grew up in the South it wasn't rural enough to see these firsthand. Hobos traveling around would mark fences with simplistic line drawings (The Signifier) as a way of passing along information (The Signified) to each other. These alerts (The Sign) communicated important items such as food/handouts, free medical attention or telephone, or warning against the presence of angry dogs or criminal activity. They resemble children's drawings, I suppose it would be considered outsider art.
Our group (Lily, Rita and I) presented our final non-figurative portrait abstract film today. We showed an earlier iteration (a foundation film) as well as the final version. Others felt each had visually compelling elements and the audio could almost be a standalone portrait itself. We may rework to push back the abstracted clouds and lower the wind chimes...but otherwise we were pleased with the outcome and enjoyed working together. Here is our Amelia presentation. Here is the final film.
I chose to write about the documentary Faster, Bigger Stronger by Chris Bell (2008). In it, he exposes the hypocrisy of anabolic steroid use by heroes and athletes. The film shows this on a personal level, from his brother's obsession with body-building to a National cover-up from Olympics to professional sports — even politics.
I've always liked narrators in my movies. One of my all-time favorite films, Raising Arizona by the Coen brothers, is from the point of view of H.I McDunnough. He's a sympathetic figure who has a checkered past but wants to build a life with his wife, Ed and newly kidnapped baby Nathan Jr. They didn't see the harm in stealing one baby from quintuplets, but trying to hold it all together proved impossible.
Our group (Reading Group 4) chose to make a memory (matching) game exploring flat and round characters in narrative — literature, TV and film. In most cases, the pairs were easy to tag, especially if there was a sidekick (Robin to Batman) or type (Mickey to Rocky). But interestingly enough, we hit a few snags. For example, Snoopy to Jennie and Lily is round and Charlie Brown is flat. In their culture, the cartoon is called "Snoopy" (not Peanuts). Another character that was hard to peg was Golum from Lord of the Rings. Some of us consider him flat since his overarching trait was obsessiveness (with getting the ring). Others see him as a more developed character with deeper motivations.
For our abstract film (non-figurative portrait of Amelia Erhart) our group story-boarded and made test files of the elements. By combining a collage of sounds (water, airplanes, wind chimes, opera, etc) with a collage of video / After Effects we hope to shape our portrait. Also key is the use of perspective to guide the viewer through water and sky. This ppt presentation contains direction, precedents and sample visuals and audio.
This week we looked at several experimental films, including several by Stan Brakhage. I learned that he worked with Joseph Cornell, one of my favorite artists, so I watched his 19 minute experimental film Rose Hobart (1936). He cut and edited an old silent movie set in Borneo with documentary footage of an eclipse. He replaced the soundtrack with a record found in a junk shop. When shown in a NYC gallery, it was projected through blue glass and slowed to the speed of a silent film. This piece appeals to me because he used found footage to make a new composition.
It was during a summer course called The History of French Cinema in Paris that I became aware of closure / lack of closure. Many New Wave films unfold to a shocking end, as in Agnes Varda's Vagabond where the character dies in a snow bank. Several had no specific outcome such as Francois Truffaut's 400 Blows where the runaway continues to run. In No Country For Old Men there was ambiguity, which I didn't mind either. If it's a well-woven story with rich characters and thoughtful cinematography, I prefer it.
I chose a Flannery O'Connor's short story Everything That Rises Must Converge (1956) for my story map project. It appealed to me because it is set in the South during segregation. The story, told through Julian, a recent graduate and typewriter salesman, begins when he picks his mother up to escort her to the Y for a weight reduction class on the city bus. The mother-son relationship is tested along the way as other passengers board and exit. Rich characters and the sequence of events provide strong content. I'm unsure of the format & execution at this time. Related topics include Rosa Parks, 1950s fashion (hats) and Southern aristocracy.
