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8 May 05 - VJ Gigs A Plenty The usual team Ben Ruairi & myself have been giving it up at the union for the last few Saturday nights. Getting great reactions from the crowds all round for Ben's recycled old media, R's live video feed distortion & my spinning sets. We're performing with DJ Die from Full Cycle this Saturday & not forgetting the killer cave party on the 21st, I can't wait. Video |
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6 May 05 - Final Handin. |
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5 May 05 - Cineformation Invitation Received an unexpected email from an organiser of Cineformation, a monthly film event at the Watershed sponsored by the Bafta Awards asking me to exhibit and speak about my work. Really chuffed but had to decline due to my appalling public speaking skills as demonstrated at the Cultural Industries conference! Never again... Will be showing work at Submerge and the Barbican Theatre this summer though and entering a few competitions including Diesel-U-Music in the VJ category. |
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4 May 05 - Spinning Projection Screen Attempt 2. | |
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2 May 05 - Spin Show After what seemed like such meticulous planning the main projector failed and the automation stream went nuts (later I discovered the audio input was being interfered with by the heavy bass). So all in all not the smooth operation I had hoped for but I'm really grateful to everyone coming down esp. all the MLA final years who all seemed extremely anxious having dared to leave their computer in the run up to the final deadline. With the luxury of hindsight I would have setup the installation alongside an existing club night for a more realistic environment and focus. Event Publicity |
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29 Apr 05 - Dissertation Done :) Free Your Mind: A Right Brain Future. Research into the discovery and workings of the visual spatial mind. PDF (966kb) |
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26 Apr 05 - Installation Plans UPSU booked Monday 2nd May 4-7pm, spinning projection screen mostly built, I-Dat projector booked, DJ (switch) sorted, flyer done & emailed, badges made, what else? bit more coding & a dissertation to write, killer! Flyer Spinning Projction Screen Plan Union Set Up Plan |
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31 Mar 05 - We are in flight - yesssss!! Just spent the last 9 solid hours building and coding The Flying Machine, (stopped for Desparate Housewives tho-what a loser!) and i'm loving the poetic video sequences its started to generate. Seems to follow a creative journey (as intended) but faster and more efficiently than a human could manage. I've expanded the patch to incorporate 60 video clips and a mega external javascript file that creates pathways between them in a process of association, so for example on a change in the music a windmill style clip of Lala in Bristol will search for either another clip with the same spin star (Lala), location (Bristol common), shot style (windmill) or even a similar tempo or effect like a lensflare. On top of this base structure there is a simple interface for the user to create sequences and work alongside the machine process. I've tried to bury the technical side away from the audience and the overall effect is quite gentle. What I intend to do next is create a way for the machine to react to these inputs in a process simlar to 'call & response' in jazz, or a bboy battle, creating a spontaneous freestyling environment. Also I need to take some time to comb through every clip and trim down the slow starts so the whole piece has more momentum. Anyway heres a couple of starter outputs I've recorded: LK.mov flute.mov |
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16 Mar 05 - The Flying Machine. Finally got some time to battle with MaxMSP and get my head buried in a world of scripting, to produce version one of my major project. Its a self generating, live video mixing system responding to the music, using emotional relationships to direct intself around the spin library and incorporating human interaction over the top. The next step is to produce reactions to this input. |
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28 Feb 05 - Weeing at Wembury. Alongside Sam's wetsuit experiment in which six lucky volunteers jump in the sea to wee in their wetsuits and be tested for bacteria (sure takes the glamour out of surf science mate) I took advantage of a sunny day, a free lift, the wee volunteers and Hugo not turning up to our seminar to escape for a spin session. |
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22 Feb 05 - Process of Association. The basis of creativity is the ability to find patterns and new associations between pieces of information in order to form something new. I have created a spreadsheet documenting all my spin clips and I have assigned attributes to them such as the location, the person who is spinning, the style i.e. windmill or face shot etc. and I am looking at creating a piece of software that finds a pathway through the video clips by making associations between them in the same way a human might. Associations illustration |
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19 Feb 05 - VJing at the Union. Formed a little VJ group, Ben on retro creative commons clips, Ruairi on technical Max/MSP graphics and me of course spinning away. First gig at Plymouth Student Union for a night with Kid Lopez. Had a wicked night, so much fun and loads of positive feedback. We were also invited to be the first VJs to join the Plymouth DJ Society! Hopefully lots more nights to follow... Ben's video Ruairi's photos |
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13 Feb 05 - Mind and Machine My dissertation has taken on a new level; fundamentally looking at the creative right brain talents that make us unique from machines and the synergy of humans and computers as computers automate a large amount of our left brain tasks. In response to this new development I have been re-evaluating my major project and amongst the right brain liberating spin graphics being produced, i would like to contrast footage of mechanical, logical sequential systems i.e. factory production lines. I am aiming to make the following contrasts: Right Brain vs Left Brain Creativity vs Logic Emotion vs Reason - Ancient Greeks Subconscious (id) vs Conscious (ego) - Freud Intellect vs Instinct - Bergson Art vs Science |
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12 Feb 05 - Earwax Part of Animated Exeter. VJ night with Meek.tv at The Pheonix. Impressed by the effort they had gone to to create a complete environment. They used stretched fabric and layers to give projections an extra dimension, and bring the visuals out around the room from the main projection screen. Very inspiring for approaching VJ sets in the Union and Bac Bar. Dates TBC. earwax photos earwax.mov |
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07 Feb 05 - Wind Through Your Hair Minisite Launched a minisite for the public version of my major project; Lost in Spin. i.e. This is the website address for packaging purposes, Wind Through Your Hair Productions is going to be the brand of events and Lost in Spin is the name of the current project. http://www.emmablackburn.co.uk/windthroughyourhair/ |
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31 Jan 05 - Spin library update. The score so far... 20 spin stars and over 50 clips Credits: Lala Caveley Sophie Stephens Steven Williamson Richard Cooke Andy Bunce Hannah Weston Graham Downer Charlotte Bown Aussie Chris Russell James Ben Hanbury Alex Dupree Steven Diffey The Blackburn Massive |
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09 Dec 04 - 4D audio bed. version1 |
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08 Dec 04 - Source old media. Reuse old media in the traditional of scratch and create new meaning. Short loops of spinning. Make them all move together across genres. Ideas: Sound of Music - hills are alive moment Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - trully scrumptious on the musicbox The Doors - stoned dancing in the desert |
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29 Nov 04 - The Hoe afternoon spin
session. Cheers Charlie & Chris xxx Anymore willing volunteers let me know... clips |
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29 Nov 04 - Dartmoor sunrise spinning. Up at 6 to be on the top of Dartmoor for sunrise. Freezing cold and the camera battery died at the crucial moment but the light was beautiful and spinning was an excellent way to keep warm! Thanks Russ, Ben & Steve, appreciated :) clips ben's photos |
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26 Nov 04 - Video Jazz As an extension of our 4D project Ben, Charlotte and myself are considering performing an extra VJ set at Marlows Jazz Club when I do my final project. We are currently interviewing people about their experiences of highs and studying the expression of the indescribable. We are going to represent each sound bite visually in occordance to the spontaneous impression created from the description, building a library of clips to edit into our final piece. Building on the traditions of improvisation and live expression traditional in Jazz performances we plan to perform a reactive VJ set jamming with video. "jazz musicians, for example, have a term called "soul," which represents tha complete elimination of intellectualism in favor of feeling. Intellectual training does, infact, tend to destroy the quality of the "soul." (Blakeslee: 1980, pg 44) |
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24 Nov 04 - Whirling Meditation Hugo prompted me to look at the religion of Sufism and the Whirling Dervishes who spin to free their souls from their egos in the quest for enlightenment. Taken from PhatNavs Encyclopedia: "Sufi Whirling - The no-nonsense way to divinity. The ancient Indian Sufis (and modern Turkish Dervishes), practice the Whirling meditation. Sufi whirling is said to be one of the most ancient techniques, and one of the most forceful, synchronizing people with the raw primordial sources of existence. It is said to be so deep that even a single experience can make one totally different. To practice, spin around with eyes open, as if your inner being has become a centre and your whole body has become like a top." Taken from interview with Arkin Allen in The Montreal Mirror: "Physically speaking, everything turns--the world, the galaxies, the electrons of the atoms we're made of. So spinning means being in harmony with the whole physical environment. But it's a thing that, unless you've experienced, you can't really get what it's about. Almost like a dream--you know how sometimes you remember a dream, but the moment you try to tell it to someone else, it sounds flat and two-dimensional? Or like a drug experience--when you're stoned, everything is three-dimensional and you're the center of everything. But again, try to tell someone else later ... When you whirl, you are at first at the centre of everything, but then eventually everything starts to melt away, physically. The colours of the room, for instance, turn to cream and then white. And sound also changes. After a certain time, you don't really remember who you are, or remember anything, but right in that moment, you really get that sense of how we are simply a part of what you can call the universe." |
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23 Nov 04 - Max/MSP Jitter Video Mixer Made a test video mixing desk in Max/MSP, just exploring what the program (I!) can do. Next I plan to add a slider that will let me scrub the footage forwards and back so it can be scratched and qued up easily. I am also now concentrating on building up a library of clips to work with. maxmix.mov videomixer.jpg |
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16 Nov 04 - Spinning Recorded this little movie messing about at the beach one day and fancy collecting a whole library of spinning clips with different people and unique locations. They'd be wicked to mix together, scratch back and fourth, speed up etc in the context of a VJ set and i could categorise them on an energy scale so they react to the energy of the room. spin.mov |
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16 Nov 04 - Highs For 4D we are aiming to study the moment, and how it is difficult to describe it. We are planning this week to encourage people to speak about their experiences of highs, the best instants of their lifes, their favourite moment. We plan to collect these sound recordings and mix them with quotes from films, speeches and passages in literature to create an audio bed montaging lots of different interpretations of experiences of life. |
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15 Nov 04 - noWax Marlows have agreed to let me use their venue. Also I have just returned from NoWax and i like the opportunity that it offers as an event space because then the audience are controlling the music as well as the visuals and there will be a diverse range of styles of sound to react to. Adam says i can get involved and set up some visuals alongside on an upcoming night. www.coolelectronique.com www.nowax.co.uk |
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15 Nov 04 - Walk-O-Meter Been discussing the possibility of circuit bending my walk-o-meter so perhaps the number of steps danced generates or controls the visuals. I like the idea of taking a simple object out of its intended context (i.e. to show a weight conscious person how active their life is) and use it differently (i.e. how active is the dancefloor and therefore an expression of how involved the audience are with the music.) Available free from walkers.co.uk Also see walk-o-meter autopsy |
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10 Nov 04 - Visual Language Major project idea. Collaborate with music event (heightened environment), VJ-style installation, design a system that lets the subconscious drive the visuals i.e. heart rate sensors that control the speed of the images. Illustrate the experience of the moment, by capturing the workings of the mind of a raver. Expression of our understanding and perception of our environment, bypassing words and articulated in a visual language. Ask if possible to present at Marlows (Bristol jazz club). |
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08 Nov 04 - Freedom "Our testers assume that uniform and continuous habits are a sign of intelligence" (Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media, pg 17). To be truly free is not to be rational, continuous, sequential but spontaneous and expressive. Freud's subconscious primitive urges. Importance of freestyling and scratching as cultural techniques (DJ/VJ) to escape repetitive mechanical methods of our technological forming society. |
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07 Nov 04 - Visual Consciousness Theoretically in the future of networks is it possible to have mind to mind connection, link consciousness to consciousness, plug into each others mindspaces and share experiences and visions otherwise indescribable Literally free your mind otherwise limited by language, signs, systems of communication from person to person. con·scious·ness n. 1. The state or condition of being conscious. 2. A sense of one's personal or collective identity, including the attitudes, beliefs, and sensitivities held by or considered characteristic of an individual or group: Love of freedom runs deep in the national consciousness. 3. Special awareness or sensitivity: class consciousness; race consciousness. Alertness to or concern for a particular issue or situation: a movement aimed at raising the general public's consciousness of social injustice. 4. In psychoanalysis, the conscious. |
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22 Oct 04 - Articulate Describe the indescribable. Our 4D film project is going to be a comment on the inefficiency of language and the system of the image i.e. photos, video, to document a memory or convey an experience. We will be investigating the process of translation and interpretation and we intend to experiment with the exploration into the abstract workings of the imagination. "The way we see things is affected by what we know and what we believe" (John Berger - Ways of Seeing) |
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Oct 04 - Visual Spatial Processing Right brained visual spatial processing, holistic top down problem solving approach typical to dyslexics, ADD people, asbergers, autism. Timothy Leary's 'cyberpunk' visionaries who can advance our culture. ("Think for yourself, question authority") VS processing is faster and more creative than Auditory Sequential Processing, so as a model can we enhance (or even bypass as Marshall McLuhan suggests pg 80) the spoken language and communicate through images, i.e. picture messages and VJ-ing? |
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Oct 04 - Inadequacies of words The spoken word is reliant on articulation and interpretation of the speaker and the listener respectively. Encoding and decoding of our minds thoughts. Is, in the future of cybernetics, networks and video, a better model for communication based on visuals. "Seeing comes before words" John Berger A picture can speak a thousand words. | |