Entry #032
Object of meditation #003
FLOW OF GLITCHES
For the best experience, please use headphones!
This piece of work was created for an exhibition, which never happened as a consequence of the COVID lockdown.
Philosophically, my goal was to stimulate, challenge or alter people’s perceptions. Conceptually, my primary goal was to engage the viewer into observational mode preferably self-observation – and to specifically do so by breaking the dominance of how we are influenced through the visual intake and promoting the use of other senses too such as touch and sound. Technically, my goal was to experiment with how to connect different devices, frameworks, controllers and programs to work together as a whole system.
But the pandemic meant that I no longer had access or the ability to put this artwork in a public space and let people play with it. I could no longer work in the context I had intended. I was limited in two ways compared to my original goals: space and people. During my process of re-imagining what I could do, I remembered my inspirations during my research and critical studies. Within my artistic practice, I have specific curiosities and fears about performance.
The context for the artwork became my flat and within this, the bathroom. It was a challenging and weird choice but this was the best space for a reflective experience. The reality is that many people meditate, relax and contemplate in the bathroom. Since I was alone in my flat with my wife, she became my only audience and I was the sole artist. I decided to transform the work into a performance. Between the two of us, I was delivering the performance and she was experiencing the art, but also part of the performance. None of my goals changed only the form of execution.
I liked how this installation became an artless art, which acted as a vehicle and a space, rather than an object.
This audiovisual exploration in the form of an intimate live performance, helped me to gain insight into a various application of art that meets the space without overpowering or intruding.
The images above are screenshots from the code running.
Entry #031
THE FIRE
Hello world,
Here is my participation in Catford Trails – an art trail.
Many visitors, many stories around a fire. Fire as a facilitator, as a transmutation, as an energy, as the healer, as the vehicle, as an object of meditation, as a memory, as a place, as a passing on – and so on.
One story particularly stands out, as it made a lasting impression on me.
One lady came in and as with the rest of the visitors, I welcomed her and invited her to connect with the art on her own terms, before she got the chance to ask what it was.
I gave her time to explore before I provided her a few clues about the work and how she could connect to it with motion, as it has motion sensors connected to the sound and visuals.
She immediately started playing with the work and visibly enjoyed herself.
I said that this work represents a fire, a space where stories are shared, things can transmute or let go, and a place where our countless ancestry talked about their visions, hopes, dreams and fears.
She looked deeper into the work in contemplation and connected to the sound through her body movement. Then she closed her eyes and started moving about in a wave-like motion, embodying something she was feeling. She reminded me of an Indigenous, a wise tribal woman who tapped into her ‘inner’ world. She looked so raw, so natural, so connected.
I stayed silent observing her interaction with something so human and natural, through digital art in a machine.
Her flow went on for roughly 5 minutes before her tears started flowing down her cheeks with a peaceful smile on her face. Her movement slowed down and she stopped.
I was speechless as much as curious about what just happened.
She turned to me shortly telling me with a calm serene voice, that her mother just died recently, and she was grieving, but she didn’t know how to process it or connect to that feeling; what to expect of it or how to express it.
She said when she connected to the sound with her motion and when felt the feedback responding to her, she could attach that sound to her feelings and move it, shape it, feel it and let it out of her body. Let it go.
Needless to say, I felt so much compassion for her and was honoured by the opportunity to witness such an intimate moment.
This encounter changed how I perceived my art practice in a matter of moments. Nothing could prepare me for this experience.
Was humbled by how a person could open up to the art with such honesty.
Around the fire
Entry #030
TRANSMUTATION>
Transmutation -a flow of cycles
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Flow
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Text, no text yet!
Entry#022
FINAL RELEASE
Hello world,
the video below is the final piece for this project. I will share my experience and additional technical details along with documentation in the following post.
Here I’m sharing the artist statement and the video itself. I hope you will enjoy it.
ARTIST STATEMENT:
This artwork is an exploration of the machine and human interaction, and the properties of the space that, this kind of relationship creates. It examines aspects of this connection, what can be conveyed through art, what is lost through this, and what is unique to this collaboration. This multimedia performance is the result of the continual synthesis between artist, machine and dancer. The result can be understood as co-creation between human and machine – an inimitable, distinctive artwork which is the consequence of mingling of human expression and machine programming, complete with glitches. This investigation through mimetic process invites questions such as whether the machine is a separate entity, or an extension of our humanity; and how what is gathered and formed through the creative process of re-encoding ambiguity and authenticity becomes real, beyond physicality.
Notes:
The work is displayed on the website, dedicated to host the final project along with students from year 1 to 3 from the Digital Arts and Computing module at Goldsmiths University.
The direct link to this work is here.
FLOW OF GLITCHES
For the best experience, please use headphones!
Entry #021
End of the year final project for Digital Arts and Computing show.
Hello world,
the video below is the recording of a live event the DAC organised for the show’s opening night. Some of the students gave a brief showcase of their work, which they prepared for the DAC Final Year Project in Computational Arts.
This image on the left is a poster for the exhibition.
To get to the launch of the show, the whole process of organisation required a great deal of collective effort to achieve a successful outcome. In these unprecedented times, it was a constant challenge to keep the momentum and stay within the projected timeline.
The entire process was conducted online, so it was essential to identify and use web-based platforms like Discord, Google Drive, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Notion (creative collaboration space), Miro (creative collaboration space), WhatsUp and Messenger groups to coordinate consistently and efficiency.
We set up various channels and focus groups to perform specific tasks for specific elements, e.g. #design team led on the design of a poster with a collective effort from the members of that team as well as the design material for the #social-media team, who in return promoted the show. The website styling was a collaborative effort from the #design and #web team, who made a few mockups to choose from; then it was put forward in larger group meetings to vote on the direction and taking decisions in consensus. Each DAC student who participated had a say and could vote if desired on any part during decision making.
Approximately 30 per cent of the students from the entire cohort participated actively, with occasional withdrawals, and more than 50 per cent presented their finished works or work in progress in the exhibition.
It has to be taken into account that this show was supposed to be a physical one, and not every student could equally adjust to these circumstances, as well as the change to fully online organising. Some students worked part/full time while chipping in with their time to prepare for and build this event, on top of their responsibility to create their own final project. Each student had to negotiate how much time or skills they could offer towards this collective effort.
The image below is a screenshot of the exhibition preparation timeline and the team responsible for doing it. Communication within and between the teams was a crucial part of managing progress. From organising meetings or workshops to coding and designing, all of this needed to be coordinated in a transparent and accessible way.
The image below is a screenshot of our ideation board, on which we were sketching out ideas and flashing out concepts for the exhibition. This was a great way of collaborating in real-time in a creative way and inclusive manner. 
How we collaborated and adapted our process of working together evolved naturally and the group regulated itself, in the sense that we managed conflict, resolved problems and progressed our work. However, the tutors from the course were overseeing the process and intervened if needed at key points.
We designed the website to be somewhat minimalistic both in colour palette and form, so it would accommodate all the student’s artworks. This inclusivity is reflected in the very way the theme of the exhibition itself was set; our focus was that the theme was relatable to all participants.
Considering all the odds, I think this exhibition and launch event managed to exceed my expectation. The feedback from the tutors, students and external audience was consistent;y positive.
It was truly a pleasure and a fun adventure to be part of, with such a talented group of students and to create cool stuff together.
My contribution to our collaborative efforts, working towards both the exhibition and the launch event varied from time to time. I was in the design and web team, providing sketches and ideas for the poster and the website. Every person assumed responsibility in this process according to their skills and availability. For example, we ended up using a website building “language” which I’m not too familiar with, so I ended up doing more UX testing, and attended almost every meeting, contributing to discussions where we took decisions on design, functionality, accessibility and integration. I organised a short workshop on Git, inviting a Masters student to present in order to share knowledge which we needed to develop the website, as well as for use in our final projects. Regular participation in smaller work-stream meetings as well as the larger collective, as well as actively engaging in online dialogue helped me to understand the bigger picture and meant that I could communicate information between the various workstreams to help address interdependencies in activities, connecting tasks and articulating needs and requirements in ways that helped us improve different elements. Paying such close attention to the breadth of activities, and the dialogue across channels helped inform my decision making when it came to collective choices about what to do and how to do it. Sometimes my participation meant leading by example in showcasing my own work or sharing an idea, in order to encourage wider engagement within the group of students and at times, I directly encouraged others to join the process. When we got closer to the launch event, I provided promotional material for use by the #social-media team. I chose to participate in the opening night showcase, which meant a lot of detailed planning from contributing to the event running order through to pre-prepared talking points across the panel, to ensure that the #event-programming team had what they needed to organise us overall. Lastly, promoting the event on social media and inviting friends and family was an important part of spreading the word for achieving bigger exposure for this event. Overall, I made sure that I was actively contributing, in some form, to each element of the plan to get us through to the exhibition and launch. I learned that it is incredibly important to play a number of roles – in some cases leading, in other situations contributing, and sometimes supporting or enabling others to lead at what they excel at too.
The screenshot above is showing some of the teams and roles in this process. The #documentation team did an excellent job compiling all the info into a professional format, which really helps demonstrate just how collective our effort really has been.
Opening Night Showcase for the Digital Arts Computing Students end of the year show.
Entry #020
FINAL RELEASE
Hello world,
the video below is the final piece for this project. I will share my experience and additional technical details along with documentation in the following post.
Here I’m sharing the artist statement and the video itself. I hope you will enjoy it.
ARTIST STATEMENT:
This artwork is an exploration of the machine and human interaction, and the properties of the space that, this kind of relationship creates. It examines aspects of this connection, what can be conveyed through art, what is lost through this, and what is unique to this collaboration. This multimedia performance is the result of the continual synthesis between artist, machine and dancer. The result can be understood as co-creation between human and machine – an inimitable, distinctive artwork which is the consequence of mingling of human expression and machine programming, complete with glitches. This investigation through mimetic process invites questions such as whether the machine is a separate entity, or an extension of our humanity; and how what is gathered and formed through the creative process of re-encoding ambiguity and authenticity becomes real, beyond physicality.
Notes:
The work is displayed on the website, dedicated to host the final project along with students from year 1 to 3 from the Digital Arts and Computing module at Goldsmiths University.
The direct link to this work is here.
FLOW OF GLITCHES
For the best experience, please use headphones!
Entry #019
Visual alternatives
Hello world,
As I promised in a previous post, I’m showing you experimentation with the aesthetic at the finishing phase of the project.
This styling will most probably not make it to the finals, so for that reason, I’m sharing it here and now.
I love the idea of these forms and colours and will likely explore this direction further for another project.
This effect is achieved in MAX MSP through playing with the blending mode during merging two media.
Entry #018
ACT #3 Sneek peak.
Hello world,
the video below is the 3rd and the last in this series. The video is edited by now, and with that, I can now proceed to finish the last layers of the artwork.
This part of the performance is about self-realisation, self-expression and phasing out into a decay. The final pose of the dancer(the starting position in Act#1 – child-pose) suggests, that another cycle is on its way, but in a different form.
The next stage in the process is finishing the artwork by feeding it through my p5.js sketch, before the final post-processing can take place.
ACT #3 sneak peek.
Entry #017
ACT #2 Sneek peak.
Hello world,
the video below is the second in the series of three. The footage is still a bit raw, and no effect applied, but this is where it is going. I tried some colour accents(which I will post you to see in the next post), however, I’m still in favour of the black and white styling.
This part of the performance is about self-inquiry, self-exploration and reaching some threshold after the awakening from one state to another.
The following ACT(Act3) will narrate the cycle of self-realisation and self-expression.
ACT #2 sneak peek.
Entry #016
ACT #1 Sneek peak.
Hello world,
the video below is the first in the series of three. The footage is still a bit raw, and the effect is not the final one, however, the direction of the style is set for this ACT(the division of the parts of the performance borrowed from the theatre).
This part of the performance is about awakening from one state to another -the coming from the deep within.
The following ACT will look a bit different in comparison to the last one, as it is meant to narrate the next cycle in the process of transformation.
ACT #1 sneak peek.