Zuzana Kubisova
This studio has focused on exploring hidden meanings in ordinary objects and environments around us. In the first project, students investigated an apparatus (defined as a physical object with a complex structure) that can act and be acted upon. After studying the apparatus and finding a verbal language to give meaning to it, students were asked to identify its function and activate the apparatus (the machine) through a GIF. The use of operations such as rendering and mapping helped them express the character of the apparatus even more and define its character. The second assignment, score, was a study of diagrammatic mapping that allowed students to experiment with visualizations of existing relationships and organizations to orchestrate a whole from parts seen and unseen. Students ended with an open field that suggested the intensity of activity, relationships between elements, and a felt sense of the whole. The third assignment focused on turning the previously created translations of notational drawings into video expressions. Students strived to find abstract meaning and non-linear narratives. The primary purpose of this assignment was not technical perfection but to achieve a visual expression that challenges the viewer's perceptions. Through further manipulation, students were asked to create a collage/montage from the video footage of a class peer. Their goal was to construct a compelling and meaningful composition of isolated layers through various operations such as overlapping, subtracting, layering, and others to express their own understanding of the video.
William Mcafee Witherspoon
Machine, Maps, Collage
For my first project, I used Viktor Shklovsky’s Art as Device as inspiration. He discussed how objects are overlooked and their beauty is not appreciated. I chose a lighter as my apparatus/object. My gif, Ignited Beauty, visually narrates the function and beauty of a lighter. The functions are dramatized using different textures, materials, shapes, and vibrant colors. The beginning of my gif expresses the unpredictability of igniting a flame. As the lighter is able to ignite a flame, the flame dramatically expands eventually engulfing the entire frame. Although fire can be destructive, the beauty in different shapes and vibrant colors from a flame could captivate anyone’s eyes. The body of the lighter was manipulated to represent the danger of holding a lighter. We are taught at a young age to be cautious when handling a lighter so I included jagged edges and sharp areas on the body to represent what a person may feel holding a lighter as they ignite a flame.
For my second project, I created a cinematic journey through a car wash. I captured the immersive experience you get within a carwash by spotlighting the water effects and machine operations that go on throughout it. I created 6 different layers to highlight what I believed represented the car wash the best. The layers are Track, texture, sounds, function, lighting, and smell.
For my final project, I created a collage based off of my classmate’s video. Black and white often symbolize simplicity and purity so I included black and white in my collage to represent the pure essence of organic forms in nature. The other colors I chose represent the raw beauty of nature. With all these colors together, I captured the essence of organic forms in their most elemental state.
Katie Harper
Representation of Change and Detail
Throughout the semester we explored different ways of representing everyday objects and places. I abstracted a can opener into a gif to show its functions and the motions involved in using it. I represented the uses and experiences of the senses at Mogadore Reservoir through patterns, color, light, and lines. I also made this project into a video. Lastly I made a quilt like pattern to represent the detail and elegance of a classmate's design.
