Object Lesson: Postcard of a Mental Hospital

 To begin the term we are doing a creative 'object lesson' exercise where we choose an object and then develop an idea.  I picked a postcard which is a photograph by Chris Steele-Perkins, The Courtyard of the mental hospital  run by the Edhi Foundation, Karachi, Pakistan, 1997

I picked this out at random from the box but I was drawn to it as I liked the 'windows' into the images - the image is obviously through a fence or wall and it gives these small insights into the place and through the windows you can see more of these little window squares on the opposite wall. Funnily enough, I was browsing Daniel Paul Schreber's 'Memoirs of My Nervous Illness' as I was thinking about the mental patients who stared into the sun, Bataille wrote about this and this idea that the mental patient is actually experiencing the sacred and the profane. In Visions of Excess, Bataille describes how a young embroider and painter in his spare time, 'stared at the sun, and, receiving its rays the imperative order to tear off his finger' (Bataille 1985:61) the man proceeded to rip his finger off with his teeth, apparently the man had consumed a large amount of rum and cognac the night before and was obsessed with the Van Gogh story that he cut off his ear and then sent it to a prostitute. I consider this and the work of performance artist Ron Athey who also played with the dichotomy of pain/pleasure, madness/sanity and perhaps thinking further that what looks like sanity is perhaps the ultimate madness.  

“Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear,” 1889, by Vincent Van Gogh

After reminding myself further of Schreber's madness where has created an entire system in which he has constructed an alternate reality; 'The complicated, mythic universe that Schreber in his captivity [the mental assylum] created - an affair of rays and miracles, upper and lower gods, souls and soul murder, voices of nerve language, struggles against the 'order of the world' - concerned itself with issues of reality and unreality, identity and fusion, power and passivity' (Schreber 2000:xix from the Introduction by Rosemary Dinnage).  Schreber anted to record his madness. his system and I like this idea of a diary.  Above, in the original image we see small windows into life, in the mental hospital, a face, a foot, a torso lying on the ground.  A diary is also like this, just small windows into days where the diarist feels like or feels compelled to write.

Therefore, when I was lying in the dark after work today, it came to me what I wanted to do to honour this object that has been bestowed upon me.  I will write a small diary, a novellette, an extract, this will be called: 'Geständnisse aus meinem inneren Bewusstsein' (Confessions from my inner consciousness)

Example/draft text:

8th January 2024

The year begins with a yawning, I don't mean a hole, I simply mean gähnende langeweile (yawning boredom).  I wake but always want to be awake, I want to not be consumed with the nonsense that takes up my time and does nothing to revive, refresh, excite, and enthrall me.  I look out onto the bitter cold and damp of the English day and imagine waking in France to maybe the same cold in January, but I will look out and there will be a crisp sky and sun whose light is so different in colour to the light of the sun here, there is a warmth the Charantaise sun, a beauty, as it lays its rays upon my bare thighs, I am enlivened, restored.

I will write the diary at the weekend and add this first small project to this post when I have completed it....

My little book is now complete and I have made this on Blurb..please find the link here: Confessions from my inner consciousness

References

Bataille G. (1985) Visions of Excess: Selected Writings 1927-1939, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis

Schreber D.P. (2000) Memoirs of My Nervous Illness, New York Review of Books, New York

Welcome to Spring Term 2024!

 Welcome to Spring Term 2024!  Another term begins and in my tenth year, I wonder what I would like to discuss to kick off the term.  I thought as it is January and this is a time for self-reflection.  I would look at the self-portraits of Kimiko Yoshida.  Yoshida states; 'Transformation is, it seems to me, the ultimate value of the work.  Art has become a space of shifting metamorphosis. My self-portraits, or what go by that name, provide only the place and formula for the mutation.' (Yoshida K from; Bright S. Autofocus: 2010:P137)

Yoshida began taking self-portraits and these are all of the artists as a bride, the bride images span space and time from the mythological Babylonian bride to the cyborg bride. Yoshida was born in 1963 in Japan but as she felt oppressed as a woman she moved to France in 1995.  In Yoshido's images here her own identity is invisible, like Cindy Sherman, Kimiko Yoshida is every woman, in every time, she is an archetype and through her images she states; “I am basically saying that there is no such thing as a self-portrait. Each of these photographs is actually a ceremony of disappearance. It is not an emphasis of identity, but the opposite—an erasure of identity.”(Luntz, 2023)

Kimiko Yoshida (2006) Sakura Bride: Self Portrait

I enjoy this idea about disappearance and erasure as I used to think that it was important that the photograph was a remembrance and through the image there is immortality, however now I often think my disappearance and my absence are preferable.  Interestingly as a woman becomes a bride, her identity is in mortal danger, she is swallowed up, her name taken and she becomes 'Mrs' and the name of the husband.  In images, as Berger states; 'Men act and woman appear, Men look at women.  Women watch themselves being looked at.  This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves' (Berger J. 1973: P47) In images women become objects but now in this new world not just women, but it could be argued, everyone has become a false image of themselves, some believe that image to be true, but what true self-portrait is there now? 

Kimiko Yoshida (2004) Bride: Self Portrait

This is a question to contemplate and consider, as I embark on artistic work for this term...

References

Bright S. (2010) Autofocus: The Self-Portrait in Contemporary Photography, Thames and Hudson, London

Berger J. (1973) Ways of Seeing, Penguin Books, London

Luntz, H. (2023) Kimiko Yoshida archives, Holden Luntz Gallery. Available at: https://www.holdenluntz.com/artists/kimiko-yoshida/ (Accessed: 07 January 2024). 

Reflection

 

Uncertain Times (2023) Film Still By Zoe Van-de-Velde

This term I began by talking about Persian Art however as I started to consider ideas for what I would like to create this term, more and more I felt that the weight of life is heavy in these times.  Therefore, I chose to create a video that would reflect that feeling of Uncertain Times.  

To create the video I used copyright-free footage, originally I wanted to use some of my own footage but I felt after the software practice that the footage I was using worked really well with the music I had chosen from the free music archive. I had more of a vision of the final film after that and did feel that I could make something that really did reflect that feeling of weltschmerz that I was after.  I changed all the footage to black and white and I used a pale filter over this so that it worked together.  I was pleased with the edits I used in this film and it was smooth and easy to watch.  I do think it does have an impact.  Overall I was happy with my final piece and the message that I believe I had conveyed well.  This was also my first new piece for my new website.

My old website had become unwieldy with too much work and buttons and things going on.  So I did start from scratch and I felt the new look and the new work really made this work.  The navigation is good on the site however I do still think that the About page image needs improving and I am looking forward to adding some photographic work but I want to take more time to consider what I would like to include here. 

I was also quite pleased about my organisation of time and completing all work before the deadlines so that I had this ready for classes, this also meant that the work was not rushed and I did spend time on it and I could take more care to ensure that I could find any errors.  For instance, when I first rendered the final edit of the video I discovered that one of the clips had reverted back to color and there was a slight jump in the music halfway through.  I went back and corrected these mistakes and rendered the video again.  

I am looking forward to the next term now as I can create new photographs and there will be some creative writing work that I am looking forward to showcasing on my website.

Website Feedback and UX Testing

 To test my website I created a Google Form with questions regarding my website and how it worked. I then embedded the form into the navigation bar.  I then published my website.  My address was shared with group so that they could test my website and answer questions on my feedback form.  In this post I am going to analyse the feedback and explain how I responded to this. I got 5 responses to my questions here is the feedback and my response to each. 

All of the respondents thought my homepage was excellent or good.  I think that the homepage works for the moment however I do think I would like to change the image to a sliding gallery in the future so that the front image changes and shows more of a range of work.  

The navigation on my website I was pleased with and did think it worked well, I do think that it is important to keep checking everything works particularly on the mobile view.

Most people liked my About Page however some did not enjoy this page and only thought it was okay.  I think the image needs adjusting on this page as my head is slightly cut off and so I changed the image and republished

I also checked the mobile view - I am not sure whether I like this yet but I will check this again later and reflect on this. 

My contact page was successful  as can be seen here and this page I do think is good with some different work.

My social links all work well, I am going to test these again just to ensure that they are working on the mobile and desktop views.

My portfolio pages were quite successful, I was quite pleased with these as there was past work in different formats and the present work which was my new film, which I thought the final outcome showed some good editing skills.  I was also pleased with the buttons and navigation here and I think this works quite smoothly.

I am glad people enjoyed the overall design, I do think it is consistent in font and colours and that the images and work match well to the design of the site.

It was very important to get the mobile view right and I did spend more time on this as I really wanted this to work well as this is where most people will view my work initially.  Overall I am happy with the feedback and thought that this was a useful exercise. 

The comments were good and I am also looking forward to adding more work and making a few tweaks to improve the site in the future.  

Website Updates & Evaluation

 In this post I will add my final website updates that I have been working on.  I will begin with my homepage - this remains unchanged and I think I will be keeping this as it is for now.

My contact and About page I already added the updates to previous posts.  I want to concentrate here on the portfolio section as these are the updates where I have added previous work and my finalised project for this term. 

As can be seen, I now have three sections film/Performance, Writing & Photography.  I have added additional pages to all of these and added button links by clicking on the 'add' button and choosing button and then customising each button design using Palantino Linotype as this was the font of my website.  I then added links to each page that I added. 

My final project 'Uncertain Times' I adjusted the introduction as my completed film had evolved from the original idea and then I uploaded my film to YouTube so that it can be easily inserted here. 

I also added a 'Back to Portfolio' Button at the top to ensure easy navigation back and forth through the site.  I then added my new page which included two previous films - as you can see I also added a Back to Portfolio button here too and introductions to each film.

On the Writing I added Writing Links these are links to content writing online about Photography - this page still needs a back button added 

The final page was a photography book project which I completed previously - I wanted to add this as it was a good example of a Digital Flipbook - however, I also have this in hard copy and it is available on Blurb which I need to add here. 

 I also checked my mobile view and as I expected I have to rearrange the front portfolio page so i did this so now it should scroll and everything is in the correct position 

I also changed the page with my book on as this did not work well, I still think this may need further work 

I will now add the questions that we will all be considering in class today so that we can evaluate our own site

Website Evaluation 

Planning stage:

What were your initial ideas for creating a website? style / name / template

I wanted to create a website that represented my photography and performance/film work.  Therefore I wanted to ensure that I included on my homepage my own work and I envisioned the site being mostly in black and white so I picked a photography template that I thought I could work with.  I was using my own name and I wanted it to be really clear what the site was for so that I would attract the right visitors

Do you have a tagline on your website? 

No I am not marketing anything as such so have not included this.

Research:

Which designers / artists (relevant to your continuation route) websites did you look for inspiration? 

I looked at the websites of Katy Grannan and Corrine Day, I looked at these websites as they are both women photographers whom I admire and both create images that have a style that is similar in some ways to my own so seeing these sites assisted me in considering how to set up the pages and navigation of my own sites and assisted me in understanding what works for the end user. 

How many pages did you want to make on your website and why? 

I created four main pages that are on the navigation bar these were Home, About, Contact and the Front Portfolio page.  I then created four more pages that were part of my portfolio and linked to the front portfolio page.  This keeps the navigation bar simple and clean and then users can access additional pages through the front portfolio page and the drop down sub menu under portfolio. 

 Did that change as you progressed onto the research / designing stage?

The additional portfolio pages were added after research and looking at other websites as stated above. I wanted to show a range of presentation techniques.  I will add a photo gallery once I have created a new collection for this in later stages this year. 

Content:

What is the purpose of your website?

My website is mainly so that end users can enjoy my work and view the content at leisure.  However I can also use this website to sell work and I will be adding a link to Blurb as I already have this book for sale on this site.  So, at present if I am selling I am directing users to other sites where my work is for sale. 

Who are your potential website users?

My potential users are probably more likely to be Generation X, probably more women than men as I have a tendency to create feminist photography/film piece, I am hoping though that some of the film piece might also attract the older male viewer.  people who view this site are hopefully interested in photography and digital film as performance work.  

Why do you think it is important to have a digital portfolio website?

It is very important in this day and age to have a website as this is how most end users look at artwork, design, images, news events etc.  It is incredibly important that the site works exceptionally well on the mobile phone and all work is easy to navigate and is accessible.  Also your digital portfolio is part of your resume/CV, social media liked Linkedin (for jobs/professionals) and if I was going to apply to anything at an academic institution I would need a website portfolio. 

Design:

Which design elements / tools did you use? (e.g.: infographics, fixed header, static background image, navigation menu design, text boxes, image galleries, social media feed) and why? 

On my website I used in Wix a fixed header and footer.  I did this so that the header and footer would appear consistently on each page.  On my homepage I have used a static background with an image that fills the page.  I could change this to a slider later but to begin with I will keep the homepage simple.  The navigation menu I changed to the same font Palantino Linotype as my header.  In the footer I added social media icons - these were Linkedin, Twitter/X, Blogger and YouTube.  I also added the copyright ensuring I used the correct copyright symbol that also appears on each page.  I then added using the add button , button and links to move between pages, blank pages that I then could add galleries.  I also added an embedded site so that end users could use a flipbook.  I added a contact form that links to my email so that users can easily contact me and additional static image to design the site. 

Navigation:

Does your website have working social media icon links?

Yes as stated above

Are your pages connected / interlinked?

Yes as stated above I used buttons and subpages to ensure that there are many ways to move around my site.  I ensured I had back buttons so you are never stuck on a page. 

Is it easy to navigate?

Yes it is very easy to navigate but I will also UX test this in week nine to get user response. 

Does the “Contact” page / email link work?

Yes I have tested this and this works well 

Uncertain Times: Editing Decisions & Research

 When I began this project I was going to create something in the manner of Chris Marker's San Soliel with clips and narrative, using a story.  My final video did not quite end up like this.  I had the idea and feeling of my original idea which was about Weltschmerz and the mass feeling of anxiety in uncertain times but the edit itself was more like a music video as it features goth rock music, a woman dancing and, world crisis through the eyes of those experiencing it.  It reminded me more of the beginning of Sense 8.

This is a little like Sans Soleil on speed, the world can be seen through the people, things, places, event, nature, people laughing, dancing. Sense 8 itself was the story of; 'eight strangers from different parts of the world who suddenly become mentally and emotionally linked due to an unknown evolutionary leap. It explores subjects that its writers felt sci-fi shows tend to ignore such as politics, identity, sexuality, gender, and religion.' (Fandom Sense 8, 2023).  I enjoyed the ideas in Sense 8 about connection, the universialty of experience and that it what I wanted to bring through in my own short piece, the universal feeling of anxiety, this collective unrest within us. In Sense 8, the cast expressed that the series; 'Sense8 is an artistic construct built on ‘celebration’, ‘connection’, ‘diversity’ and ‘difference’.' (Gerasopoulos, 2018).  Looking at anxiety levels across the world Deloitte states that there is a 'polycrisis', this means; 'Collectively, the world has confronted a lot over the last few years. Pandemic. Inflation. War. Global recession warnings. Energy crisis. Climate change. Some observers are referring to this unique moment in time as “polycrisis”—the convergence of many disparate social, economic, geopolitical, environmental, and technological stressors, whose combined impact surpasses the sum of their parts.' (Rogers & Pieters, 2023) However, in this piece, the argument is that anxiety is actually falling across the world but there are differences depending upon the 'stressors' applied to each country.  The report here states that the easing of financial pressure very slightly has made people feel less stressed. The pandemic anxiety is moving away and previously people had shown more anxiety about climate change but with the polycrisis it seems that people are showing less concern about this probably as they have too many other concerns. There is evidence that people today feel much more anxious than in the 1950s.  Squires states that today; 'Social support and connectedness have decreased significantly, due in part to rising divorce rates, lower participation in community activities and an increased number of people living alone. Reported trust in others also has declined significantly from the 1950s to the 1990s.' (Squires, 2000) Again we arrive back at that feeling of connectedness and people now crave this connectedness but with the rise in technology this is becoming a more distant communion and this in itself has made people feel loneliness yet at the same time they argue, they are more connected.  

We live in strange and daunting times of serious upheaval and change and that is why I chose the clips that I chose for my film, there are wars, protests, unrest, in Britain strikes, financial crisis, NHS crisis, food supply, Brexit, climate change, the list does go on.  Times are difficult and they may get harder, the future seems close and not for the greater good.

References

Rogers, S. and Pieters, L. (2023) A world less anxious, Deloitte Insights. Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/retail-distribution/consumer-behavior-trends-state-of-the-consumer-tracker/global-anxiety-levels-polycrisis.html (Accessed: 19 November 2023). 

Fandom: Sense8 (no date), Sense8 Wiki. Available at: https://sense8.fandom.com/wiki/Sense8 (Accessed: 19 November 2023). 

Gerasopoulos, V. (2018) Sense8: Aspiring for ‘a different story about difference’ - mai: Feminism & visual culture, MAI. Available at: https://maifeminism.com/sense8-aspiring-for-a-different-story-about-difference/ (Accessed: 19 November 2023). 

Squires, S. (2000) The age of anxiety, The Washington Post. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/wellness/2000/12/19/the-age-of-anxiety/300b209d-d217-4dbe-98cf-7a9d3b822420/ (Accessed: 19 November 2023). 

The Final Edit: Uncertain Times

 I have collected most of my stock videos and now I want to put this together for the final edit. I will again use Clipchamp and I am sticking with my theme of Uncertain Times.  

I chose my final clips which were two clips of a girl dancing in a nightclub, a boy with a gas mask, grey smoke, an explosion and a man with human rights on his back.  

I began by uploading my clips by clicking on 'import media'.  

I then added the videos to the timeline.  I just clicked on the 'add' button on the clip and then move the clips into place. 

I then because cutting videos into the correct edits, I did this using the cutting tool

I then began adding transitions.  I used the cross fade throughout, I just dragged this to the timeline and clicked where I wanted to add these.

I then added a muted black and white filter to each clip to get the look I wanted for the film. I did this by clicking on Filters in the right hand menu and then the chosen filter. 

I also added the titles and credits I clicked on the Text icon on the lefthand menu and chose typewriter.  I chose crimson text font and then added the correct credits for the film clips and music I had chosen.  I also used the fade in and out function in the left hand menu for the end credits and the end of the film.  

I also added the music to the timeline, this was from the music archive and it was the same music from my practice as I believe it worked really well. This was an MP4 file.

Once I had checked and rechecked the video and ensured there were no gaps or cuts that were too long, I went to export video.  I changed the title and exported this in high quality HD.

Once it was downloaded to my computer I uploaded this to my YouTube channel - this was going to take a while so I left this to complete and did something more interesting!

When this is completed I will be uploading to my website.  I will reflect on the complete film in my next post.

Please find my completed film here: Uncertain Times