Thursday, 17 February 2011
Dance and Death
saw this in the library it is about a theatre group in the thirties however they did one piece called
"The Dance of Death"
"The Dance of Death is a one-act play in verse and prose by W. H. Auden, published in 1933.
The Dance of Death is a satiric musical extravaganza that portrays the "death inside" the middle classes as a silent dancer. The dancer first attempts to keep himself alive through escapism at a resort hotel, then through nationalistic enthusiasm, then through idealism, then through a New Year's party at a brothel, before he finally dies. Karl Marx appears on stage and pronounces the dancer dead. "The instruments of production have been too much for him."
The play was published by Faber & Faber in 1933, with a dedication to Robert Medley and Rupert Doone. It was performed by the Group Theatre (London), in 1934 and 1935."
Don't know if it is relevant but just looked interesting.
x
Eat your heart out
A theatrical three course banquet set to a music score.
Experience and theatre.
Kindle theatre
"literally eat the story"
Saw it in the evening standard today.
Tips and concerns about presentation
Suggestions:
- Embellish with your speaking what is in the screen
- Humor is good but is difficult.
- If it's interesting for us, it will also be for the others.
- Divide picture and audio. How can one complement another?
- Time yourself: time all the parts of the presentation and practice that, so you can enjoy the performance.
- Being clear about what you want to say: practice and perform
- Reading from notes: it’s a barrier from audience
- Learn the bullet points
- You don’t have to have a power point if what you are doing is more powerful.
- You can use anything – the purpose of the presentation is to get the idea across.
- Make it work for you (Patrick)
What are our concerns about the VIVA?
- Technology won’t work.
- Speaking and explain what we want. Sometimes we can’t find the right words and we realise when speaking and became more nervous. Language is an issue.
> practice
> don’t rely just on words: gestures, images, sound…
- Maybe outcome is not so relevant: it’s a developing process. We don’t want to spoil it.
> at least, indicate your way
- Afraid of questions. Afraid of not being able to answer questions.
> don’t be afraid of saying that you should do more research.
> take note of interesting questions that might help project.
> if you don’t understand the question ask to repeat
> solidarity in the group
- Be boring
> listen to nice lecturers
> check pitch lecture from first term.
> we can’t expect everyone to be interested…
> eat carbohydrates in the morning and drink water.
> think about the dress: confortable.
- Not being clear
> be really critical next week
- How to synthesize – we don’t want to keep it too simple
> practice with people outside the course, people that
- Timing
> practice, practice, practice!
- How much research should we include?
> the enough to communicate the idea, to support what you’re saying.
Thursday Meeting - Rita
Rita:
Try to make it as visual as possible.
Include statistics and figures relating to coping with Alzheimers ie. Costs for the family
Suggestions:
Present the statistics in an interesting visual manner, different to existing websites, which are very dry and impersonal
Be aware of keeping ethical, but don’t be afraid to experimentThursday Meeting - James
James:
Using illustrations to explain my ideas.
Maybe use some past examples.
Use illustrations to question heritage.
Possiblily a collection/book.
Suggestions:
Primary research amongst your peers.
Test reactions.
Why you have chosen those drawings?
How do you express identity and heritage in illustration?
Use illustration and film responses in class.
Intention to shock and surprise: “you shouldn’t do that!”
Be clear about what you think you’re showing.
Thursday Meeting - Martha
Martha:
Is the strive for perfection a barrier for creativity?
Imperfection is human – experiments with circles.
Symmetry – mirrored faces – even the human body is imperfect.
Type – imperfection and beauty in type.
Imperfection is the real perfection.
Target group: person working in the creative field that are perfectionist and have afraid of risk taking.
Collection of interesting imperfections – outcome (print).
Experiments with contrasts/opposites.
It might be boring?
Suggestions:
Sequence of circles - feeling of how different people have done it. Get the feeling of the movement.
Try technology – video in pdf?
How you can involve the audience if you want to? Does this looks strange?
We don’t think is boring!
Future: work can help your professional work.
Thursday Meeting - Anna
Anna:
Performance is not going to work.
Something to introduce the point of eating performance: chocolate “with small paper with message” – but without chocolate. People will fill disappointed > speaking about dinner without food > and then give a chocolate “with chocolate”.
Audience is not well defined.
Suggestion:
Think in the most important things to get across the message.
You can speak the minimum.
Show coloured dinner – self initiated project.
Care about the audience that you are talking with (us): entertain us and show experiments. Share responses.
Accept what you still don’t know about your project. Make what you don’t know something positive.
The form of experiments help you to target audience.
You have to say something more that “I haven’t decided yet”.
Two types of audience that you might like to work: 1. People who would like to attend a performance; 2. Performance with a “terapeutic” purpose, for example: young woman with eating disorders.Thursday Meeting - Carol
Carol:
Research about performance and design – interactive technology.
How motion design can help dance to communicate better.
Trying to create narratives in order to add something to dance: collaboration.
Does design reveal meanings in dance?
3 elements involved: dance, music, moving image. How they interact, collaborate? How each one can take over the other.
Dancer: “design is nothing to do with dance”.
Video can ruin or save the dance in the end.
How can design support dance? How can moving image support dance?
Suggestions:
What you want people to see?
Discussion about dance, music, design and technology.
Have a dancer talking about the issues you want to explore. Film an interview with dancer and with sound designer.
Mix of video and speaking. Don’t need to edit video, just cut.
Do a story board and script for the presentation. (start with the dancer talking – that point the challenges. Responses from her that can help you to know what you looking for)
Do your own definition of “moving image”: clarify it. Define your parameters.
Could “your” dancer come?Thursday Meeting - John
John
Far from the final piece. Lost in research. Research on reports of kids reading (Marie Clay).
What causes kids (aged 8-11) stop reading?
Approach stories in a way in order to make it accessible to read and interested.
Kids like to read stuff about things that can talk about together. However, reading is a solitaire activity – kids at that age start to be more socially active.
Technology – kids are receptive to modern technology – iPad.
Outline of what might happen in a story.
Suggestions:
Look at research book – key book: Computer games.
Personal research: get feedback from 11-year old cousin.
Interview kids: How children think? How kids, readers and non-readers, think? What they like and don’t like? Ask for books they don’t like and why. Children responding to John’s illustration.
Talking with librarians that work with kids.
Questionnaire about feedback from kids books from publisher (Planeta Tangerina – Rita).
Be aware of ethical issues involved. What is appropriated in order to obtain collaboration.
List ideas that you have: interactions with iPad. 2D or 3D? Research on app building. Challenge of software – time prototyping and testing.
Involve hacker kids?
Go to exhibition on the House of Fairy Tales.
Presentation:
Presentation must include ideas of areas you are think to work on.
Use the interesting facts of the research.
Draw info for the presentation! Give example of the story. Complement illustration with speaking. Indicate: “I could do this interaction here…”
Have the main points you want to cover. And give the taste of the story.
Thursday Meeting - Amaya
Amaya:
Global graphic design. Repetition. Standards.
It’s about globalization and graphic design vs. idea of originality.
Representing ideas by graphics. Play with statistics.
Infographics about design by country on google.
Aim for the end of MA: learn information design.
Suggestions:
General ideas: need to understand that make the process clear – focus on something. Show it with an example.
Something to make it more entertaining: music?
Check books about design by countries: libraries.
How internet (globalization) influences graphic design?
Write the script and see what you can do until the presentation.
What if you did a very typical survey in the class and ask them the highest references of graphic design by country.Thursday Meeting - Paula
Paula:
Alarming people, show the reality of school meals, what children say and think about food. What parents give to children to eat. Facts and numbers about obesity.
Show figures and numbers to grab attention.
Maybe use some images: striking. School meals? Maybe use parts of film?
Suggestions:
Primary research: Children talking about food. Interview children. Kids would be very interesting to talk with. Childhood museum. Discussion between kids.
Contrast of statistics and sound. Just pictures and you talking is a bit flat.
How do you manage if you use video and talking. Practicing.Thursday Meeting - Pablo
Pablo:
Different ways to look at the time
See the time on a different way
Speak about objects looking at the memories. How an object is important in my life.
Obsession with cars since child: pictures from childhood to show time through objects. Photos are good to represent our connection with objects. Durability, memories…
Humor. Engaging.
And then explain the project.
Keynotes and speaking.
Suggestions:
Maybe you can choose some music that complement photos.
Be careful about time.
Pictures in the beginning? In the middle? In the end? Test with some people outside the course.
You’re talking about everybody – relation with objects – find a way to catch attention.Planeta Tangerina
Tuesday, 15 February 2011
-
Andrew Watson, in his quality of photographer, developped his lecture around the notions of research, prospection and experimentation. Along his various projects remains the idea of playing with his medium and investigate new ways of using it. One of his main project have been, at a starting point, self-initiate. However, he has been able to take advantage of technical issues to develop and achieve it brillantly. Watson was looking for a new interpretation of the White Horse of Segsbury. That Iron age sculpture have been already shoot many time, but he had the feeling that his black and white photographies could emulate it a bit more. Though he couldn't expected that archeologists were actually doing some important excavations there in the same time. Frustrated for a while, he nevertheless decided to take on that opportunity. That led him to a three month cooperation and a successful final exhibition. By working in pair with them, Watson learnt another kind of process clinked to the archeologists one. He finaly decide to photograph the excavations they were creating, following their scientifical rigour and high achieving technique.
He talked to us with the maturity of a professional photographer, in term of budget, partnership and perfectionism, but also with the freedom of an artist, discernable along his carrier, by the choices of his investments as well as in the grand quality of his pictures.
Alzheimers
A book (online pdf) written for Alzheimers patients by three people with Alzheimers.
The design is horrible but liked some things in it.
TUTORIAL 10/02
SOO-YOUNG
-
Line / space / dots / Korean typography
Korean traditional patterns > Omnipresence of lines. Reuse that lines to use them in typography.
Patterns provides grids > grids which will be the basis of a new type, based on Korean alphabet.
Who : Korean designers. Because Korean typefaces are very old fashion. Revisiting and renewing an ancestral tradition of writing.
Against globalization, a come-back to Korean culture.
Check Tom Foley, Stephanie Schwartz, Phil Baines
Show more example of Korean typography.
Present a draft of typography.
PAULA
-
Can we improve peoples eating habits and change the future of food?
Practice / Presentation report / Schedule
Jamie Oliver, nutritionists, doctors, questionnaires
Self-initiated project: Graphic system explaining the problems, translate nutritional table using analogies, visualization of food systems.
The self-initiated project which help finding the final idea.
Target: Children or parents? Who educates?
JAMES
-
The concept of heritage and patriotism.
Ideology and beliefs, which have been passed out today.
Stage of development: Type of heritage, understanding people devotion.
Outcomes > A book.
Cynical or not approach to the patriotism.
The Wave, Il Divo, Steve Bell,
CHLOE
-
Vanitas > invented by Dutch painters. Is art the ultimate solution to cope with the taboo of death?
Thanatophobia.
Methods: Transfer, drawing on papers.
Coming with her own vanita’s lexical.
Collecting testimonies. Last Dance (book about death) / Damien Hirst, Great Ormond Street Hospital
A book including 3 parts : Children adults and elderly person
>Art therapy
MARTHA
-
Mistake and perfection
Take picture of imperfection of human bodies, nature, types
Interviews, Amelie Bonhome > Collected drafts
Questionnaire > For people of our course.
Focus group, qualitative analysis.
Outcomes > Collection of all the imperfection in the world.
Daniel Eatock, theory of relativity, golden section, Bruce More, Paul Adam,
ANNA
-
Food, the medium. Meaning of emptiness > The reason why we eat.
Food exhibition, childhood museum.
Develop what happen when you eat.
Audience > Children and parents
Teenagers
Questionnaire, cultural probes, interview (later on), workshop.
Eating behaviour (book)
Think about the presentation > performance ?
Ferran Adria
PABLO
-
Walkman. Sony.
Relate objects with time and people.
No precise focus right now.
Outcomes > Chris Heathcote,
Do a story / compare-combine two objects /
Old shoes
RITA
-
How? History of medical illustration, information design, dvp of outcomes.
What communication design around Dementia already exists?
Who’s ? 3 different targets.
Final outcomes ? a personalize object, genealogic tree (stickers)
CAROL
-
Can communication design reveal messages in contemporary dance?
Research in dance audience shows.
Emotions in dance. Music / dance / visuals.
Pete Brooks.
How music videos enhance music.
Maybe change question?
AMAYA
-
Break down the mecanism of repetition.
Between inspiration and plagiarism, where does our influences comes from, and how much they alienate us.
Mapping some recurrent cliches in graphic design.
Question people (through interviews) about how close they feels / how much distance they take with a global graphic design
Examinate how the local become international via a mecanism of repetition
> Paul Rennie / Mac Candless / Otho Neurath / Edward Tufte / David Boyle
Monday, 14 February 2011
chloe
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Sunday, 13 February 2011
edit personal information
Saturday, 12 February 2011
Thursday...and other things
Mupimup follow-up
Friday, 11 February 2011
Mupimup
Mupimup is a design studio focused on recycling and reusing materials. They are based in a small village (300 habitants) in the East cost of Iceland, which makes also their lives more sustainable.
Often designers think that they must be in big cities in the middle of the creative people. Well, not just designers. That’s why we assist everyday to the desertification of small villages (at least in Portugal). Young people don’t want to be there anymore. I believe that they don’t see future there. And, in a way, I agree with that. But if we look at Mupimup’s work that don’t have to be necessarily true.
The lecture made me reflect on that. I believe that if we would like to live in a smaller place we just have to be creative enough to do it. It could really improve the quality of our everyday life. Creative people could be really important for the development small villages.
Mupimup is now working in a project of reusing the building of a disabled fish factory in the village. This factory is part of the identity of the village. So they wanted to “keep the spirit of the house” and turn it to something valuable both for locals, tourists and artists looking for getting out of the city for a while. Their proposal is a creative centre based on sustainable principles in order to improve the local economy. The place would comprise fish market and restaurant, market of local products, café and creative spaces/workshops, joining in the same space arts, crafts and design.
To conclude, they believe that this project could save the village from collapse and they stressed how a creative person can have real power to be used in benefit of the community. We just have to be responsible and put our skills and energy in the right place.
Thursday, 10 February 2011
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
Find your audience
This website really helped me you can type in the area you are looking into and various info you need.
It then pulls up papers and statistics about the various audiences that exist or that have the potential to be reached.
Landscapes obsessions
Lecture by Andrew Watson
Working as Photographer an teacher at UAL
Andrew’s special interest for British landscapes has been driving his photographic production for many years. Thus, he is quite familiar with research protocols, outcomes, and methods.
He presented to us the photographic research he did on the iconic White Horse Hill
He worked alongside passion driven archaeologists and was there with Simon Callery as “in house artists”.
It appears that anyone working on this prehistorical icon, becomes obsessed unravelling its mystery:
“The mystery of why the horse was created still remains. It can only be seen fully from the air, so perhaps it was a sign to the ancient gods, or a mark of territorial ownership.”
More at :
He then moved to another area of interest, and is currently working on this issue he formulated as « how do modern windmills affect British landscapes? »
He explained that, one reason why this new « green energy » was highly controversial was because it generates “sound pollution”.
As a result, it is impossible to live near them.
In order to understand that matter, Andrew is currently doing windmill’s sound recording.
This shows that, even in photography practise, there is a whole meaningful process of data collecting, and analysis, preceding and predetermining a final work of art.
.
Chloe Belloin
MACD
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
Digital Animation Wed/02/02/2011
Kimo started by giving us a brief overview of the animation software that is available to us as students of Central Saint Martins.
3D applications were investigated and explained to us. A more in depth discussion and investigation into Maya the 3D application ensued. The talk was finished by an in depth discussion into Isaacs previous work as a toy designer and the parallels that can be made between the toy and animation industries.
Isaac presented us with examples of his work from the time he spent at Brio.
Brio is a Swedish toy company and is recognized for it’s wooden toys. Having started out producing handcrafted toys it is a natural progression that Brio’s toys have kept the same traditional aesthetic but introduced wooden milled pieces so they can mass produce.
Isaac used the brand Lego as an example and case study of how the toy industry can influence 3D animation.Investigating the toy industry from an economic perspective he explained how the animation industry has complemented the toy industry and vice versa.
Lego had been close to bankruptcy but signed a deal with Star Wars producing Star Wars themed Lego sets. Star Wars Lego became extremely popular. Video games were produced featuring the Lego characters.
Isaac felt that animation was influencing the toy industry however I feel it to be brands influencing people first.
Which may lead to influence within the design industry.
Big enterprises have the monopoly over the market place and subsequently they influence a larger audience.
Modern British Posters | Paul Rennie
Academic Practice, 2nd February 2011
Paul Rennie is a collector who uses his posters to describe the history of British society from the beginning of twentieth century.
Posters first appeared in the end of the nineteenth century in Paris, which was at that time a culturally vibrant centre of Europe. The new urban planning of the city as well as some developments in printing processes contributed to the popularization of billboards and posters.
London also assisted to the development of this communication support at about the same time.
Besides presenting his finished work and sharing some views on the historical and social context of posters, Paul Rennie also presented part of his process.
In a very simple approach he showed how research is an iterative process, where new knowledge does not stack in layers but rather complements the existing one and helps clarifying the subject in study.
The several writings (films, experiments, etc) on a specific field establish an ever-growing “conversation” with each other. Digging into a subject discloses connections and influences between different authors and epochs apparently remote at the first sight.
Each work relates with the existing ones by opposing, reinforcing, adding points of view or presenting new perspectives that broaden the subject.
In this sense, our own work will lately be a small contribution to an ongoing conversation.
A research report is then a presentation of this dialog in a structured way. We should introduce our evidences and make it clear how they relate with each other and contribute to the subject. With this support, we should then make it tangible to others what our case is, what resources we have collected, where we are going from there and how we position ourselves and our work in the wider picture.
Rennie’s passion and continuous research is a contribution to the ongoing conversation of the history of design.