Posted on by saravipond

FIN 140 Unit 1

ASSEMBLAGE PROJECT

Found Objects #1
Found Object #2
Sunglasses glued to wire
From behind owl, looking at forest of sunglasses in front of monitor.
Same from oblique view. Platform seems to be the right proportion.
Glasses and platform.

Creating stop motion images for the monitor is very easy with any stop motion app. I’ll just have to ensure I can play it on the monitor. The paper glasses I have used here look meagre and flimsy, but the real sunglasses, especially with their arms, will have much more presence. I think the 7 pairs at varying heights and depths will work well. I will use wire coat hangers to insert them into the wooden platform, which I will build. The coat hanger wire will look stronger and will stand straight, also enhancing the look of the sunglasses.

Sunglasses with collaged logos of different media and information sources. I’ll just do the back side of the lenses as I’d prefer the sunglasses to be up close to the monitor. The front of the lenses really won’t be seen.
Rather than having the owl pivoting back and forth, it might be better perched on a tree limb of some sort, looking over the forest of sunglasses and down onto the monitor (or through a gap in the forest). The video will provide all sorts of motion and the owl moving isn’t going to add anything. The owl will be the wise one, trying to rise above all the information noise and clutter below it. As well, owls are known for perching in still poses, not for moving around. Having the owl moving back and forth would kill the wise effect and make it look cartoonish.
Maybe this “forest” idea could be worked to enhance the metaphor with the owl. Perhaps felt tree-like cutouts could be applied to the wire stems, creating a true forest. Just like Aganetha Dyck, maybe I could shrink them or weather them somehow to appear more organic.

ASSEMBLAGE VIDEO

This is 30 seconds as it appears here. Total of 60 images, but this could be sped up to any speed.
Platform built. This was the arrangement I was going to use but middle pair closest to camera was in way of owl post, so I had to do some rearranging.
Here are 5 pairs of glasses attached to the platform. Further to our class discussion today, I don’t like the look of the pair with the collage. It clutters the appearance and stops the eye from moving around this work. Seven pairs collaged would be far too much. I’m going to go with all the pairs undecorated. It is important to convey the idea of vision and being able to see what is happening, even if it is distorted or biased. The collaging will give exactly the opposite effect, acting as a barrier and impediment to the ability to see and visualize.
I tried putting a mirror in behind the monitor to help see the sunglasses and owl, but I thought it complicated the effect too much. It also made it hard to film without getting peripheral distractions in the shot, so I abandoned the idea. This wasn’t an easy project to photograph. It’s easier to appreciate when you can move around it.

ASSIGNMENT # 1 Presentation

“Do you see what I see? ”  October 2020, Stewart Lamon

A consideration of how different people view the same event through the lenses of their individual influences, opinions and biases. Hopefully wiser decisions prevail that will benefit the greater good.

 

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Assemblage afterthoughts:

If I were ever to display this publicly, I would put the mirror in behind the monitor. It would reflect the front aspects of the sunglasses and the owl (which are otherwise hard to see), and it would also reflect the viewer looking at the screen, adding an extra layer of depth of the screen images being viewed and considered.

 

ARTIST RESEARCH

Artist #1 – Geoffery Farmer

Artist #2 – Aganetha Dyck

Artist #3 – Kurt Schwitters