Exteriors From A Living Room

Exteriors From A Livng Room from AndyZ on Vimeo.

I suppose I ended up doing a hybrid of both ideas, which I spoke of in the previous "Places" transmission. I added exterior sounds to the interior shots, from the various windows of a living room, by shooting them while the radio was on. Then layered in a track with sounds from the exterior of the house.

Places

I'm interested in exploring the subject of "Places" through sound and the different sounds that particular places have. I've thought about two approaches for gathering content but haven't quite put my finger on the over all concept yet.

I'm thinking of doing a piece juxtaposing the outside experience, the visuals and sounds, at several locations around lake merit in Oakland with the inside visuals and sounds of the interiors of surrounding businesses. Maybe understanding something about how people live and experience their environment. It might be better to do a noisier place like Jack London Square, where trains pass and noise reduction is part of adaptation? Visually I will try and line up the shots so the framing of the visual will be the same for both the outside and inside contexts. And maybe doing a shot of the area from a bird's eye view, then alternating the two visual components while interchanging the interior and exterior sounds.

Another approach is to shoot a visual exploration of an area guided by the sounds that are heard. As an example, I would shoot a starting location focusing in on one sound from an array. I would then search out the source of the sound and shoot that location, listening again for a different sound to search out and so on. I'm thinking about interjecting sounds from the area that are unseen, like local radio and/or conversations with people.

I'm leaning towards the second idea. I'm going to work out some ideas around both and shoot it this weekend.

On Nuclear Testing and Surfing 2

On Nuclear Testing and Surfing from AndyZ on Vimeo.

Viral Video

My plan for viral video making is to first post my video on sites like vimeo, blogger, facebook and youtube. These are sites I have a small presence on and might reach others through friends and so on.

I’m curious as to how many people would go and check out a video if you simply talk with them about it face to face. That said, I’m only going to tell people about it when I see them, at first. Not the best “viral” strategy perhaps, but given the separation of individuals online into private groups based on interest, popularity and other factors, it might get out to more people.

I’m also going to try posting something that contrasts the video somehow first. A primer as sorts, then post the video.

Tags:

archive footage, nuclear testing, surfing, soldiers, choice, palm trees, mixed drinks, disasters, radiation, protective glasses

On Nuclear Testing and Surfing

Another Thing

"The map is not the territory..." I heard that today on public radio...a recurrence from a class no doubt. Again, here's Chris Burden with a motorcycle and a giant wheel. Strange guy. Like much of conceptual art it's pretty boring for me at face value. Having watched this video of a performance done (somewhere) I'm intrigued by the contraption, the size of the wheel and the bike. Disaster and then the counter motion of the wheel as it reaches greater speeds keeps me interested. But then the bike pulls away and the sound that is left is great! A simulated motorcycle ride at reckless speeds? No! Chris Burden on a motorbike, giving a performance which was video taped and shown on YouTube. What a great soaring sound he's made!

Something About Chris Burden

Last Spring I wrote a blog on Chris Burden's piece "Through The Night Softly" for Art 410. At the time I wasn't even sure who he was. But the phrase conceptual artist triggered a memory of this piece and subsequently a search which lead me to finding out a bit about the artist and the piece itself.

The piece also belongs here, in a digital video class since it IS video and its content deals with television which is essentially the assemblage of video clips.

This clip begins with an edited down version and then shows an even further edited clip in context with a voice over by the artist (also sounds like a clip....from an interview maybe).

The clip in its entirety is pretty brutal, minutes of a man on his belly inching his way through shards of broken glass wearing nothing but a speedo and the rope which binds his hands behind his back! The edited broadcast version of course is much, much shorter. However, shown consecutively with TV adverts designed to create desire the piece must have provoked a double take for those paying attention. For me, I had to smile since it came off as a kind of confirmation; a visual actualization of the dread I feel for the pervasive medium of advertisement. Dramatic, yes. And funny. Similar to watching too much TV, which gives a me slight feeling of guilt (for having just wasted that much of my life), I feel a slight annoyance for the persistent boasting done by the faceless thing that advertisement represents.