Completed Project

Further development

At this late stage in the production the project has become almost self-consuming, mimetic. There have been so many subtle links and and connections created it is hard to stay focused on an objective viewers possible interpretations. The project, the process I have been going through is so tangled up in fact and fiction and yet for the viewer, it is often just as it appears on the surface.

There are so many layers that only I and I guess, the fictional author are aware of because of the unique position a producer of the work holds. Handing over this responsibility of interpretation and imagination to the viewer is I guess, part of handing over authorship to a fictional character.

The project is now in a position to finish itself through the processes by which its been created, wether the projectors sync at any point or never; I quite like the possibility of it never happening or maybe only ever happening once. The point and enjoyment of using old technology is the unpredictable, temperamental nature of it, that is what helps give it nostalgic and emotive values. Modern technology works exactly as it should until it breaks long before it should.

The Build

Code & Circuit

Using an H bridge to reverse the polarity of DC motors is something I have never attempted before but will be really useful, not just in this project, but for major too. I've started adapting existing code from other users for my own needs, essentially all I need for the projectors to move is: 2 x 12v motors, 1 x arduino, 1 x H-bridge and 1 x 12v power supply.

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This H-Bridge diagram was extremely useful in helping me wire it up, this is a good reference point to come to in future projects. The +5v is supplied by the arduino while the +12v is from the adapter running from the mains which drives both left and right motors. The digital pins from the arduino either side of ground and motor pins can run from any of the digital pins and control the polarity of the electricity entering the motors.

// ————————————————————————— Motors
int motor_left[] = {2, 3};
int motor_right[] = {7, 8};
int ledPin = 13; // LED connected to digital pin 13

// ————————————————————————— Setup
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);

// Setup motors
int i;
for(i = 0; i < 2; i++){
pinMode(motor_left[i], OUTPUT);
pinMode(motor_right[i], OUTPUT);
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
}

}

// ————————————————————————— Loop
void loop() {

drive_forward();
delay(1000);
motor_stop();
Serial.println("1");

drive_backward();
delay(1000);
motor_stop();
Serial.println("2");

turn_left();
delay(1000);
motor_stop();
Serial.println("3");

turn_right();
delay(1000);
motor_stop();
Serial.println("4");

motor_stop();
delay(1000);
motor_stop();
Serial.println("5");

digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); // set the LED on
delay(1000); // wait for a second
digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); // set the LED off
delay(1000); // wait for a second

}

// ————————————————————————— Drive

void motor_stop(){
digitalWrite(motor_left[0], LOW);
digitalWrite(motor_left[1], LOW);

digitalWrite(motor_right[0], LOW);
digitalWrite(motor_right[1], LOW);
delay(25);
}

void drive_forward(){
digitalWrite(motor_left[0], HIGH);
digitalWrite(motor_left[1], LOW);

digitalWrite(motor_right[0], HIGH);
digitalWrite(motor_right[1], LOW);
}

void drive_backward(){
digitalWrite(motor_left[0], LOW);
digitalWrite(motor_left[1], HIGH);

digitalWrite(motor_right[0], LOW);
digitalWrite(motor_right[1], HIGH);
}

void turn_left(){
digitalWrite(motor_left[0], LOW);
digitalWrite(motor_left[1], HIGH);

digitalWrite(motor_right[0], HIGH);
digitalWrite(motor_right[1], LOW);
}

void turn_right(){
digitalWrite(motor_left[0], HIGH);
digitalWrite(motor_left[1], LOW);

digitalWrite(motor_right[0], LOW);
digitalWrite(motor_right[1], HIGH);
}

This basic test circuit with a 9v battery and test dc motors worked really well, I just had to source the windscreen wiper motors and connect the 12v power supply and I should have a working circuit I can use to complete the project.

I managed to get two good, identical Nissan micra front windscreen wiper motors, they are low geared so they should give me a smooth slow movement whilst giving me plenty of power to move the projects. Another advantage to these motors is the cheap price and availability of them, if I blow one up which I thought had happened a couple of times, I should easily be able to get hold of another one exactly the same.

I have soldered together the proper circuit board having worked well through testing, I had a few problems initially but this was just a wiring issue which was quite quickly resolved thankfully. The turntable is really nicely weighted so rotating the weight of the projector is easily achieved by the motor, for which an attachment has been precisely engineered courtesy of Dave in the 3D workshop (who helped us out last year too) with the rollers I scavenged out of an old printer. I need to replicate this on another turntable with another project and motor.

Film Edit

I've got the rushes back and they do look really nice, I don't particularly like what I have shot for some of it but it all looks nice, considering how dark and miserable the weather was when shooting it has come out really well. Editing is proving a nightmare though, it is so fiddly with only a bed, a splicer and a light bulb to help. I have separated up all the shots and labeled them, I've now got to try and start splicing them together into the two different loops. I need the corresponding points in each film loop that relate to each other to be the same distance in the loops if I am to stand any chance of them syncing at any time. I am doing this by starting from the shot where the two strangers make con tact at the edge of the frame and working from there, tacking the film as I go to judge the correct measurements. The edit sequence is being decided as I work through the films together, some shots will correspond to each other from different points of view, others will be unrelated in reality to the narratives but seemingly related in the films.

Edit pants.

Props and Materials

I want a kind of schizophrenic aesthetic, rooted in the past whilst still set in the present, representative of my main character (author). It is quite hard finding and being able to afford the materials working by myself, the record players and projectors are the key components, these are mostly borrowed. However to build up a more engaging environment, everything has to be carefully considered and other props and visual cues need to be added.

I am planning on a glass of whisky, a fat cigar (smoked), and some other signifiers to point towards the presence of a third character in the space. I also need an appropriate table on which to stage everything and a semi-circular screen on which to project. A cohesive aesthetic is always important but I really need it to drive the narratives involved.

**UPDATE**

I have a second turntable, it is a little more modern than I would lik e but it will still work I think, also been bootfairing and got my hands on a nice whiskey glass, ash tray and some fantastic old french cigarettes that will really fit well; hopefully pointing out some connections between the man, the strangers and the french woman. I still don't have a table, this is a real concern.

**UPDATE**

I have been really worrying about getting a cheap table that will look right with the piece and I have finally got my hands on one, me and Faysal had to carry it on the tube back from Earls Court but it will be great for what I need and can hopefully be sold on. Now I essentially have all the physical pieces to try and complete the project.

Construction

In this last week before the crit I've got all the materials and props so I can start mounting and finally putting together the the pieces. I haven't really been able to do any extensive testing until this point, the final product could well be determined by this period of experimentation. This is both exciting and terrifying.

Sound
I have finally recorded my sound piece to go with the visual experience, I really wanted to use an english speaking french girl to record some phone conversations with some classical music in different channels. I put together a short script:

Phone convo no.1:

Look, I’m sorry I left… I had to get out. I’m back in Europe now… I don’t think you’ll see me again. Don’t come looking.

Take care of yourself Henry *hangs up*

Phone convo no.2:

*all in French*

Bonjour? Bonjour? Hello(English)? Who is this?

Phone convo no.3:

Allo?

*Louder and away turned away from mic*

HEYEYEY, sei still, ich kann nichts hoeren (saaiii stiell ich kann nichts hoaeren)

*back to normal*

Hello? I’m sorry I can’t hear anything, you’ll have to call back

I am using this to hopefully lead the narrative away from the two strangers in the film loops, and reinforce the voyeuristic, eccentric and slightly obsessive nature of the main character, also filling in some back story while still remaining ambiguous and open to interpretation, the multiple languages used by the girl are supposed to insinuate the passing of time and relocation through space; a characteristic that she seems well accustomed to. For the music I have selected

Beethoven - Cello Sonata Op.5 No.2 - 1.Adagio - perhaps classical music is a bit obvious but it seemed fitting in nature and tone.

I have decided to use headphones to encourage the viewer to sit down in place of the character absent and hopefully stimulate more acute reflections on their relationship to the environment.

**UPDATE**

I found a French girl who, conveniently was half German. The recording sounds okay, she had problems with the third phone line, it sounded way too wooden so I have cut it off prematurely. I feel indifferent about the sound, I don't know if it works yet with the visuals but time will tell. I wanted it very dramatic and a bit over the top, I like to think that as someone sits in the chair watching the films with the projectors moving, the loops running, listening to the girls voice and the classical music, looking around at the table top, they will get a sense of what and who I have in mind.

The Shoot

For the filming I borrowed a good Nikon Super8 camera (which I knew worked) from a friend with Ektachrome 64 film, I was limited in terms of film stock, there was only one real colour reversal option available for processing at the Widescreen centre in baker street; the Ektachrome does give nice vibrant colours so it wasn't bad, it just wasn't much of an experiment.

The film takes two weeks to process so I was on an extremely tight deadline with the filming. I had two days in Germany to shoot most of the footage I needed, as I was moving around, my ideas were processing and shifting and the first day was spent contemplating the task at hand. This, although productive meant the second day was a real push. The weather was bad and things just weren't as easy as they would have been on day one, there were some serious language and cultural difficulties that made trying to negotiate the use of a stranger for one of the characters in the film impossible in such a hurry. I did however shoot most of what I wanted for the content non character based.

The two strangers were shot back in London the next day, one in a park and one in the city. The man was french and ironically, language still got in the way of direction but I kind of liked this. He inscribed a message on the paper aeroplane for the stranger, who he would probably never meet, this read (a rough translation, it was in french): "This message is for you so you never forget me". I like this for several reasons, the fact they never meet gives the message a nice sense of irony, she didn't speak french so she never found out what the message said anyway and it resonates with the central character of the piece.

The girl I met in the street and agreed to play along, this was not the ideal scenario, given more time I would ideally have liked to have formed some kind of relationship, no matter how temporary between me and the subjects. I met the perfect person to fulfill this criteria who put me up for the night in Germany but there was absolutely no time which was disappointing. I always knew, right from the start of this project I wanted loads more time to film, over longer periods in two very different locations across europe but this was unrealistic so compromises were made.

I tryed to invoke a sense the third character through the filming, the 'characters' informally, talking and looking at the camera etc, showing moments like footsteps and personal voyeurisms and a home movie aesthetic.

Project Development

As I was on move thinking about what I was doing and what I wanted to achieve, the project evolved into something a little different from what was first pitched.

The Rhine region of Germany I was in at the time is very industrial, not much spoken English and the sheer speed of constant relocation made for an interesting experience. Initially the project was started in relation to the spaces between people and the relationships between them; being alienated by not being able to communicate well whilst constantly on the move meant not being able to form any real relationships to landscape or people, this really helped the thought process along. A character started to develop through me, what I was doing there and my interpretation of surroundings.

What was always going to hold the environments and the unknown acquaintances together in my project was a central character in the author, the relationship to me and the camera but displayed in a different context; I started emphasising this element rather than hiding it away and created a new author.

I like to think of him as a middle aged Daniel Johnston / Werner Herzogesque character, creating new reflections, new fictions with a bizarre enthusiasm as he ages, which relate back to a personal experience as a young man; harmless, endearing whilst a also a little disconcerting with potentially dark undertones.

The photograph in the blog title that I found relates quite nicely and will perhaps give you some kind of visual reference point.

Key Contextual Research

Sophie CalleHer recent work installed in the Whitechapel gallery is of particular relevance to this project, her methods for creating work with real processes and personal experiences are a good model. She also deals with emotional trauma in her latest piece 'Take Care of Yourself. Take Care of Yourself', exploring the complex personal relationships between people and the problems comprehending separation. These problems are things my characters current state can be seen to have developed out from.

Werner Herzog
Werner is an absolute hero, his approach to film making is one rooted in adventure. He actively treads on the fine line between fact and fiction, playing them off each other for the best outcome. Fitzcarraldo is a prime example of this, it was a necessity that they actually pulled the boat over the hill to make the film; it is his methods and personality that influence me most rather than visual style.

It is his type of eccentricity, personality and drive that interests me, the character imagined into my 'situation' has his roots in Werner Herzog. Daniel Johnson is another artist who fits into this category of influence, brilliant and fascinating in his own troubled way but with dark rogue element which gives a sense of the uncontrollable. There are of course half-mad eccentrics all over the world and I see this project as a small and subtle tribute.

Janet Cardiff
Her work is such a driving influence these day that its hard not to reference Janet Cardiff, I thought I would concentrate mainly on a piece I recently saw for the first time, Playhouse, rather than her whole range of work that has been referenced many times already.

The use of binaural recordings mixed with the scene layed out infront of you made for an amazing experience. It really brings the voice into the space and therefore totally immerses you. I like the idea of headphones in Installation, they kind of seal off your senses from the world around you and let you slip more easily into a state of wonder. They also let you deal with the work on a more individual basis, although different, I like the idea of dealing with individuals rather than groups or mass audiences; even if others miss out for the sake of someone who does get the full experience. Headphones are definitely something I would consider in this project in particular if there is to be an accompanying sound piece.


George Bures-Miller
One of the pieces that really triggered off the idea for this project was Bures-Millers - Jump. A monitor hangs from the ceiling held by two thin wires with a close-up of the artist's feet jumping continually into the air on screen. As the feet land two solenoids jolt the monitor, giving the impression that the weight of the landing feet somehow effect the erratic swinging motion of the television. It was again this idea of images being brought into the physical space by movement that helped form the basis for my project. An image takes on whole new qualities when movement is applied to it.

Ilya KabakovKabakov, although traditionally a painter, has contributed to the field of Installation art work immensely, including his 'On the total Installation' book which helps understand a totally immersive space. His work, 'The man that flew into space from his apartment', revolves around a fictitious hero; a lonely dreamer. Kabakov himself, hands off his Installations to other fictitious artists, which questions notions of authorship. Rather than setting up an artwork to be viewed in the context of the artist, the gallery and the work, he creates large-scales site specific environments to explore, a scene, documentation of an event that has just passed you by. What then becomes important is the viewer, not the artist; this is an approach that seems to be completely natural when dealing with Installation. Allowing the author to become a character could be seen to take away some of the associations and prohibitions, that art usually instills in the viewer by its very nature, to create an environment more suited to the work.

Freize Art Fair One of the main attractions at Freize is to see how ambitious or bold the Galleries from all around the world are with their selections, what they think they will sell and what they feel they need to sell. Interestingly there was atleast half a dozen film loops this year all running in a standard loop format, the work itself wasn't that great but it did seem surprising the amount of film loop work there was. It is a shame the film loop is seen as a means to an end (or a beginning as the case is), in this project underway, the film loop will be an ephemeral object in its own right that will scratch, age and deteriorate over time. There is no reason works of art should have to exist within a structure of timelessness, for instance, if the film in this project got so badly worn down it was unrecognisable; a whole new sequence with new strangers and environments could be reproduced to replace it with new narratives unfolding.


Above is the standard film loop method followed by a slightly more interesting application of a three projector installation with film loops running by Alexandra Leykauf.

Most of the little kinetic stuff there was didn't really offer much but some of the best work was hidden away in the far corner of Resonance FM, including some super8 films, a tape loop and some live video feeds, aesthetically, the tape loop ticks all the boxes and is a good visual reference for this project.

Harmony KorineKorine shows a great awareness of an anti-aesthetic in his films through his use of super8, vhs and other low-fi technology to create a visually distinctive and powerful style of image-making. His character development and obsession with the absurd also make him a key reference. Although I am aiming to be a lot more subtle, the same emotive responses can be gained through the use of super8 which has, instinctively, a nostalgia attached to it; a history. This I would argue, is further enhanced by the presence of the film and the running projector.

Minor Project Schedule 2009

OCTOBER

Friday 23rd
Statement of intent deadline.

Thursday 29th
Spend day testing projectors with test film, mock up temporary screen (AM) and finalise production details i.e. subjects, locations, shot narrative. (PM)
Contact airports re: scanners and film.

Friday 30th (day) / Saturday 31st (day)
Get SUPER8 camera off Aaron Kay, book space for the crit. Work on dissertation to offset Tuesday and Wednesday in Germany.

NOVEMBER

Tuesday 3rd & Wednesday 4th
Germany trip, shoot first narrative and footage while on the move.

Thursday 5th
Finish both narratives and rap shooting

Friday 6th
Submit film for processing in the morning *MUST BE BEFORE 2PM*
(Contingency plan: 1 week processing

Weekend of 7th & 8th
Buying / collecting all materials needed for constructing installation

Thursday 12th / Friday 13th / Saturday 14th
Solid building / Code / Testing for moving projectors with screen (use test film)

Thursday 19th
Solid building, finalising code

Friday 20th
Get film back from Windscreen Centre, create loop and test to find timings.

Saturday 21st / Sunday 22nd
Alter build and code according to findings from testing, possibly add in 2 x servos to regulate sync of film

Wednesday PM / Thursday
Complete testing and build, fully set up and allow to run. Make adjustments.

Friday 27th - 2PM (CONFIRM):
FINAL DEADLINE