Project work and Easter eggs

Easter break

During the Easter break I continued to think about and work on my project "What happens when you turn on the light". I concretized my idea and came to the conclusion that I want to involve as less Photoshop as possible and take the pictures right away approximately like I want to have them. Therefore I ordered 200 little glow sticks and made a list with sentences that will be written through them in a really dark place. I also chose the suitable locations therefore. To express a bit more I had the idea to involve shoes / feet / legs to depict for example pain, aggression, disaffirmation etc. This enables me to put the sentences - written through the glow sticks - on the floor including those human gestures. For the following week I booked the camera Nikon D7000 and have two friends that will help me taking the pictures.

Let's make a movie

Week 7

The task for this week was to find a certain issue, take a camera and a microphone and record people around campus or town, also with the technique "doorstop". As it was "One world week" at Sussex, we decided to interview people concerning this topic, ask them what they know about it and how they were engaged so far. Back in class each person from our group edited the video individually to have different results. I uploaded mine on Youtube and it can also be seen here:

Interesting was that a lot of people really didn't want to talk to us, although it wasn't about a sensitive topic. But still we got some satisfying answers in the end.

Taking the project further

Week 6

Today everyone presented their practical projects and it was really interesting to see how everyone is engaged with certain issues and passionate about them. A short feedback round was also quite helpful. Before I presented my project "What happens when you turn on the light?" I decided not to depict people on my photo work as it would distract too much from the message my sentences shall carry. Two course mates of mine, Theresa and Fanny, also had the idea of using plastic glow sticks and / or holiday lights to make the photos more authentic - and then place them in really dark or dirty places in Brighton. I will definitely consider that!

Donald Trump and the aliens

Week 5

In the last workshop session we experimented with Photoshop. Although I already have some Photoshop skills it was fun and I created this nice collage with the help of paths, masks and layer effects.

The new nomads

Week 5

"The artist needs to learn how to operate as a nomadic sophist in a migrant polis." Krzystof Wodiczko

I just read "The ABC of Tactical Media" by David Garcia and Geert Lovink and Electronic Civil Disobedience by the Critical Art Ensemble which were both really interesting texts! What they both have in common is the statement that the new forms of activism have to be decentralized. In the first reading this happens through tactical media "jumps" which are possible through "the pace of technological change and regulatory uncertainty". The second one mainly states that resistance has to get away from the streets and find its new place in the cyberspace, where the organization is also decentralized - that means it consists of a micro structure containing a lot of organic cells, which have their own identities. These cells work together with the common goal to resist authoritarian power. Hereby the prevalent schism between knowledge and technical ability must be closed.