Monday, 28 March 2011

Typeface Project/2011


Final piece for the 'typeface' project. Several snapshots of carved wood typing inside water.
What I wanted to do was to create a poster referring to the recent tsunami strike since 2004, and it's devastating results to many countries. This is a message to all the people who feel influenced by the strike as well as a reminder, that it truly does create an "SOS" situation. The wooden lettering was meant to look as if it's falling apart, just like the destroyed buildings when observed from a 'bird view'.

The material used for this poster could also be used as a stop motion video. Hopefully I will be able to create and post it very soon.

Tuesday, 22 March 2011

Zine Project/2011

Zine Workshop/ Sequential Narrative

" The characters in my novel, are my own unrealised possibilities. This is why I'm equally fond and equally horrified by them. Each one has crossed a border that I myself have circumvented. [...] For beyond that border lies the secret the novel asks about." 
"Unbearable Lightness of being" by Milan Kundera






This is one of my favourite phrases from the book on which i decided to base my narrative. This is a purely personal confession of the writer's ambition for this novel. I decided to interpret this in my point of view since i consider zines to be more of a personal object. We all have our "borders" but it's when we don't realise them that we actually make it and cross over. It's an inspiring phrase from a well written book that I strongly recommend for those interested in a deeper meaning of life.

Tuesday, 15 February 2011



Diesel Project/ Captured through Dragon/ Edited through Final Cut Pro
This is the final video clip I've done as an illustrated response to the band Magnetic Man on their song song "Getting Nowhere".  Since this is a dub step  band that uses a variety of sounds mixed with a touch of  electronic style, I wanted to create the feeling of strong beat and sequence within their music. Shapes, Colours and Light are the three elements which I tried to manipulate in this video in order to represent rhythm, bass and the drums of the song.
My hope is to actually put this video indoors, in a place where there's loud music and dark lighting, and see how people respond to it.



These are three of the samples I've made for the members of the band "Magnetic Man". I tried to give each member a touch of their own personal style, inspired by the electronic style of music and the role that each one of them has in the band.




I've tried to portray both band members and style of music using different ways.



Some of the sound waves samples I found quite interesting for this project. I'm trying to portray the sonic wave sounds of a song using colour and shapes combined in a moving image.

I've experimented with stop motion to make small videos of the band members as well as sound waves. I've tried to capture the movement of different sounds within the band. 








These are two of the ink and water stop motion experiments I've done to visualise sound waves. I wanted to capture the flowing movement of the ink when it's combined with water and later use it as a contrast to the bass line of bands music.
I've tried to capture the sounds of a particular song of Magnetic Man called "Getting Nowhere" ft John Legend.




I've experimented with pins and light change to represent the drum line of the song "Getting Nowhere". The reflection of light on the smooth material of the pins makes a rough contrast of light and darkness, which almost looks as if the sounds waves of the song are synchronised with the movement of the light.
I've also experimented with water colour and some facial movements to play a bit with the sound of the song and see how it works.

This is the most recent stop motion video clip I've done for this project. It's a representation of the song "Getting Nowhere" by Magnetic Man.

Monday, 31 January 2011

"Magnetic Man"/ Visual interpretation of Music




This is a Brittish band I've recently discovered and that I'm very much interested in, on how it introduces an entirely new era of sound.

Its an electronic music project, with dubstep influences created by Benga, Skream and Artwork; the three of them are DJ's who perform using three computers. One plays drums samples, the other one basses and the third one leads and samples. They basically combine pitch, rhythm and melody using electronic musical instruments.

What I love about this band is the fact that they combine different genres of sounds, like techno, pop, opera, and they mix them with electronic elements of modern music. They take unusual electronic sounds to suggest the beat, that is mainly presented as a 2-Step Beat. This ultimately creates an overwhelming Bass line that is reinforced with occasional vocals and manipulated instrumental sounds.

In my opinion, it's an innovative new band that represents perfectly the roughness and the darkness of city life in a modern society.



Inspired by Brian Eno's Constellations (77 million paintings), I've considered taking the sonic pieces of the a band's songs and divid them into individual parts of sound. Each part could be differently presented as a visual canvas of colours and shapes. I t will not relate so much to the lyrics of the sound but the more into the pitch, rhythm and melody of that specific song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_06fTFFMoi0




* A quite interesting experiment of a foundation student in his project on how to visually interpret the sound of an analog radio being tuned.
http://vimeo.com/11746359

* Another interesting example on Audio Visual Interpretation of a song by Eminem.
http://thedesignatedsketcher.com/progress/audiovisual-interpretation




DOUG AITKEN


A very inspiring work of Doug Aitken- "Sleepwalkers"(2007) at MoMa, New York. It consists of five  short interconnected film that tells the story of one night in the life of 5 New Yorkers. The fact that it is so gracefully placed and presented around the city buildings, makes it even more realistic. This sort of projects as well the music of Magnetic Man, are very much representing a new, interactive era of the 21 century. Audience is given the chance of experiencing sound and image in an entirely new way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVRds0rTILM


Monica Bonvicini



" Destroy she said"/ two-channel video installation onto drywall screens (1998). An inspiring artist, who's video installations and general concepts on art and life are quite interesting.  


Olafur Eliasson




















San Francisco/ Museum of modern arts. This is a tunnel of colour and light illusions that you experience while walking through it and gradually observing it from different angles.
The artist makes the piece so spectacular because he manages to manipulate the light, the shapes, the colours and the angles in order to create a beautiful synthesis of colours.

Jenny Holzer


I love Jenny Holzer's series of work, called "Projections". She focuses on applying words and ideas in public spaces. Through her work you can clearly see that she's very well aware of the art of text and uses her knowledge to draw the attention. 
Considering this, I've thought about using the lyrics of my chosen song and use different style, size and boldness of lettering to emphasise the music. 


Nam June Paik
" Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S" 
Paik was committed to finding ways in which he could develop video and the moving image as an art medium. He discovered innovative ways of using the TV as an art installation medium. He also used laser as a new form of sculptural art and installation. In his other works "Exposition of Music-Electronic Television" and "TV Cello" he uses magnets to distort the images on the TV screen.









I've recently found this work by illustrator Wayne Horse. I really like the idea of having a big screen outdoors somewhere easy for public to access and just show great animations with the affordance of sitting while watching. I'm very interested in this kind of approach towards music, something free and public for everyone to see and hear.




My First Crush

A wonderful work from Julia that combines both text and image. The music and the voices make the video even more realistic and appealing. Truly beautiful!

Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass


A truly rebellious artist that creates similar impressions throughout his video clips!
In his website, you can see great illustrations, videos, concepts and ideas around the modern hip hop and Rn'B industry and lifestyle.
http://www.fecalface.com/SF/index.php/blogs-mainmenu-63/116-music/213-aesop-rock-interview

subtle - deathful