Projection experiment...

I have been working on the dreamscape film that I am hoping to use in the final show but I wanted to test the idea out using the model for piece of mind. I have bought a mini projector and used the timelapse film of my nights sleep. I am really pleased with how these photos turned out, they give a good indication of how the installation will look.

 

I do however still feel that black writing on white is too light and the words too clear. I will re paint the model and take more photos.

     

Time....

One of the most evident reasons for my anxiety during the last year has been time.... or lack of it! Is it me or however much time you have, when busy or 'on a roll' it always seems to run out, but nothing to do and it drags! When writing my thesis I felt such pressure from time, I felt it was always there in the back of my mind tick ticking away like a bomb waiting to explode.

I want to create an atmosphere in my space that gives the viewer the impression of time always ticking away, even in the back of your mind, highlight that pressure we feel when we have little time left.

The idea is to collect many wall clocks, to paint over them so they blend into the walls, leaving just the sound of tick ticking. I hope this will create the tension I'm seeking.

The Model...

Due to the distance I am from uni and to allow me to work at home, I decided to create a scale model of the space I have. This has allowed me to try out ideas without the time needed if done full scale. The models scale is 2": 1'.

Here are some images from my playing with the wall colours and the text colour....

  I'm not happy with how visible the text is. I want the text to be more subtle, to replicate an echo, as though being an imprint on the walls. I have been thinking that black may be a better choice for the walls.... maybe the text written in varnish.

The space

 

My space for the final show.... I chose a space the same dimensions (8ft x 8ft x 8ft) as that of the space I used last year in my previous end of year exhibition. I like the control I will have over an enclosed space, creating an environment for the viewer to enter and experience. It will have a ceiling and door. 

  

Final Show Ideas...

I have been playing with my dream text and ideas as to what I could do for my final show.

Dream text..... I want to use the dream text but in a new way, out of the frames. When I woke up the other day I realised that I stare at the ceiling and walls of my room.... can I somehow convey the idea that our dreams are in some way imprinted on the walls of our bedrooms?

Dreamscape.... Reflecting on the timelapse of myself sleeping I have had the idea of creating a film that has images from dreams I have had. To maybe overlay this with the timelapse film, creating a 'dreamlike' film. This showing my experiences.

Sandy Skoglund

Whilst researching I came across artist Sandy Skoglund. In her practice she explores photography’s power to redefine reality by fabricating compelling fantasies and illusions. This is known as tableux or directional photography. It requires a knack for storytelling, a sense of style and a repertoire of convincing technical skills. From her earliest major installations and photographic works to the more recent, Raining Popcorn (2001), Skoglund proves her mastery of these skills. She is a canny pop-culture showman, producing ultimately disturbing artworks that attract viewer attention.

 Fresh Hybrid (below) is an installation and photograph that explores the shifting boundaries between life and lifelike by fabricating an artificial landscape. Replacing blades of grass with pipecleaners and bark with wool fibers, the materials strive to transform nature into a cornucopia of human pleasure with ubiquitous soft and fluffy surfaces. As if on a spring day, the sculpted hybrid trees blossom with impossible bounty and cheer in the form of chenille chicks, mass-produced lucky charms that give us a fragile and unsettling glimpse into an imaginary lost innocence.

  

 Fresh Hybrid (2008)

Goldfish (1981)

     

 Raining popcorn (2001)

 

Picnic on wine (2003)

Just a thought...

I am just typing up more of my dream memories. I find it fascinating that when I read even just a snippet of a previous dream, whether from 2 days ago or 2 months, I can see vividly the dream as if a film I had watched.
If I don't write the dreams down before they are forgotten, they are lost forever, I can never remember them. Even just saying the dream out loud is enough to store it in memory.....
I hope I can find some scientific explanation or reason for this.

Phenomenology...

I cannot ignore the subject of phenomenology whilst delving into my dream world and consciousness. This is a subject that I am trying to get my head 'round'... it's heavy stuff!

This is the dictionary definition....
phenomenon |fəˈnäməˌnän; -nən|
noun ( pl. -na |-nə|)
1 a fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen, esp. one whose cause or explanation is in question : glaciers are unique and interesting natural phenomena.
• a remarkable person, thing, or event.
2 Philosophy the object of a person's perception; what the senses or the mind notice.
ORIGIN late 16th cent.: via late Latin from Greek phainomenon ‘thing appearing to view,’ based on phainein ‘to show.’
USAGE The word phenomenon comes from Greek, and its plural form is phenomena, as in : these phenomena are not fully understood. It is a mistake to treat phenomena as if it were a singular form, as in : this is a strange phenomena .

I came across this article that has helped me to understand more so the subject of phenomenology.... It is by American Philosopher Thomas Nagel, entitled, What is it like to be a Bat? He looks at the relationship between mind and body, why we have, at present, no conception of what an explanation of the physical nature of a mental phenomenon would be. Do read....

instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/nagel_nice.html