Blade Runner - Futuristic and downbeat crime fiction from director Ridley Scott.

Blade Runner (1982) was director Ridley Scott's follow-up to Alien and has proven to be one of the most popular and influential science-fiction films of all time, in the process it has become an enduring cult classic favourite. The film however, was originally a financial failure at the box-office after it received negative reviews from critics who described it as muddled and baffling.
Contextually, it was released in the same time period as Spielberg's E.T. (1982), an era in which the popularity of science fiction was closely tied to the original release of Lucas' Star Wars Trilogy

Based on the Philip K Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, the ambitious, enigmatic, visually-complex film is a futuristic, noir crime fiction detective thriller with references to all its classical influences apparent. The storyline delves into the implications of technology for the environment and society by reaching to the past, using literature, religious symbolism and classical dramatic themes.

In meeting the alienated hero of questionable morality, the viewer gains access to an emotional portal in to an otherwise bleak, sterile portrayal of the post-modern psyche. With the beautiful femme fatale, airborne police vehicles called "Spinners", dark sets and locations the film creates a dystopian vision of Los Angeles in 2019. This imagery, along with the downbeat tone of the narration together act as another character and a work as a sublime method for progressing the narrative and developing the theme.

This tension, between past, present, and future is mirrored in the retrofitted future of Blade Runner, in which the high-tech and gleaming is juxtaposed against the decayed ruined imagery of an archetypal dystopian future. Many of the themes explored are an early example of cyberpunk concepts expanding into film.

The main character, Rick Deckard is played by Harrison Ford in Blade Runner. Deckard is a world weary, former police officer who is reluctantly dispatched by the state to search for four androids, termed 'replicants' by Scott. The development of robotics and artificial intellgence has progressed in the world of Blade Runner to an extent that the androids are almost indistinguishable from humans and as such have been created with limited life spans, a built-in fail-safe mechanism to protect their human masters.

The genetically engineered renegades have escaped from the enslaving conditions on an Off-World outer planet. Driven by a need to understand emotion, the Nexus Models have come to Earth to locate their creator and have their questions answered.
‘It’s a not an easy thing, meeting ones maker.’
‘… and what can he do for you?’

Control over the environment is depicted as taking place on a vast scale, hand in hand with the absence of any natural life, extinct animals and species being replaced with their uncanny, synthetic counterparts. This oppressive backdrop explains the frequently referenced migration of humans to extra-terrestrial ("off-world") colonies.

Corporate power looms large, the police seem omnipresent, vehicle and warning lights probe into buildings and the consequences of huge biomedical power over the individual are explored - especially the consequences for replicants and their programming.

These thematic elements provide an atmosphere of uncertainty for Blade Runner's central theme of examining humanity. The replicants are juxtaposed with human characters that lack empathy, whilst the replicants appear to show compassion and concern for one another, at the same time the mass of humanity on the streets is cold and impersonal. The film goes so far as to put into doubt whether Deckard is a human and forces the audience to re-evaluate what it means to be human.

Set Design - For Archetypal monster

Evaluation....

Designing characters and using a pencil to bring still images to life is not a strong point of my creative techniques. Struggled to see the potential and benefit of undergoing this sort of a creative process as i have never had an interest in drawing.
The idea i feel would have benefited from being a little bit more ambiguous.
The images i would aspire to created would have far succeeded my drawing abilities and my patience for this medium.
My set also lacked as the threads through from designing the actual character were taken in the same light.
I did not enjoy this process and conceptualization in this 'genre' of illustration leaves me feeling like i have a simple lack of creativity,
If there is a similar project in the future i would consider delegating tasks that i cannot compete to people with the correct intellectual asset.

Set Design Research - For Archetypal monster

In designing a layer for my monster, he needed to be hidden and disguised, away from modern day dystopia. A lonely character who observes his simple pleasures from the comfort of his own hole.
Taking inspiration from Where the wild things are, Stig of the dump, The animals of Farthing Wood and the Racoons.
These images are source images source for the context of 'Blobs' labyrinth.

Photography Investigation - Evaluation

Does abstraction of form and image influence the content and context of a photograph?


In selecting ‘Form’ as the concept to focus on I felt I created for myself an expansive area with access to a wide variety in the choice of subject matter. This focus has the added benefit that it could be conceptually linked to an interest in spatiality in composition and exhibited some of the different approaches available to a producer seeking to achieve a minimalist aesthetic in the finished product.

The processes involved in performing this investigation have provided a great insight into some of the issues that arise from the use of SLR cameras and photography in general. The format has introduced an element of chance or uncertainty that has needed to be incorporated within the creative processes that this investigation has required.

At this moment in time I felt that an efficient method of achieving a result that is minimal in its final appearance was to operate through a process of reduction, rather than seeking to construct and enact a minimal aesthetic from conception. This attempt to use reduction to move toward a minimal aesthetic highlighted the problems and in future projects any minimal concept should be present from the start.

In refining the content of the pieces I chose to use images that showed elements of solid, bold shapes in contrast with either open spaces or regimented structures. These images make use of the flattening effect of photography to alter the viewer’s perception of depth and also density as in these images the sky appears as solid and tangible as the imposing edifice and is achieved through the placement of highly contrasted colours, a result of which is that the basic forms have become more defined.

With further experimentation I believe other processes could have similar effects in altering the perception of, or modifying the composition of form and structure within an image. These effects have been accentuated through experimentation with the processes made available in the photographic medium, including the ability to adjust the various settings and lenses on the camera itself and is also possible through the use of software applications such as Photoshop using both digital and scanned film images as source materials.

It was unfortunate that the weather conditions made getting the ideal purity in the tone of the skies that would aid emphasising the tangible form. This meant that only two sessions of getting useable source material arose leading to limitations in my selection. Fortunately, suitable images could be processed, although with relatively limited options it narrowed the chances of producing ideal examples, however these still serve to provide valid examples of the nature of form in photography and how abstraction allows for further modification of content.

In future endeavours I would like to explore the potential of 35mm film and SLR cameras in order to refine my knowledge of the differences in final image between the digital and analogue processes, taking more care over detail and the pursuit of a ‘pure tone,’ clinical photograph. I would also like to explore the use of Photoshop and its more advanced integration with Illustrator and other software as this will allow me to work across a greater range of outputs, from print to digital applications.

Photography Investigation - Final Images - Pencil reduction

These are the line drawings abstracted from the photographs taken.
Trying to emphasize that everything is form and light. The shapes are visible in everything if they are looked for.
The photos were printed, aligned on a light box and the fundemental information extracted using a ruler and pencil, trying to add further humanism into the results.
In eradicating influential colour, i feel the abstraction has an even greater effect on transforming and transporting the images to a different place.
The refinement is sloppy but the essence of the motif is still present hopefully.

Photography Investigation - Images for Reducing

These are the images i chose for reduction.
The images have a lot of negative space that can be seen a a playground for geometrics and projected patterns.
I was really looking for flow through the images. Everything down to taking the shots was done in one session to keep immediacy and continuity within concept.
The Photoshop and digital manipulation side was used to increase contrast and crop images to the correct composition. High contrast brings out definition and information that may otherwise be lost in the raw files, and make it easier to see symmetry, shapes and flow through which i can then pick out.

Photography Investigation - Reduction

Reduction

Theoretical reduction is the reduction of one explanation or theory to another—that is, it is the absorption of one of our ideas about a particular thing into another idea.

Methodological reductionism, therefore, is the position that all scientific theories either can or should be reduced to a single super-theory through the process of theoretical reduction.

Ontological reductionism is the belief that reality is composed of a minimum number of kinds of entities or substances. This claim is usually metaphysical, and is most commonly a form of monism, in effect claiming that all objects, properties and events are reducible to a single substance.

(A dualist who is an ontological reductionist would presumably believe that everything is reducible to one of two substances.)

The concept of downward causation poses an alternative to reductionism. This explore ways in which one can talk about phenomena at a larger-scale level of organization exerting causal influence on a smaller-scale level, and find that some, but not all proposed types of downward causation are compatible with science. In particular, that constraint is a way in which downward causation can operate.

Photography Investigation - Forward

Having had some time to think this next process through, i feel i would like to introduce the idea of reduction vs minimalism.
The original concept still the 'umbrella' focus,
(How abstraction can influence meaning and content of a photograph), i want to abstract the images further. Through using and 'reducing' the shapes and lines within the photos, a more purer, cleaner, clearer image should become apparent.

Then a further process of reduction will be applied. These lines and shapes will be abstracted to a single form of colour on a pure back ground. Hopefully giving the images a minimalist aesthetic. The colour based of the feel of the reduced image. Photographs of these results will then become the final images. This will hopefully remove more of the contextual influence from the images leaving its abstracted essence.

I would like to create an illusion with these images. I want a minimalist aesthetic disguising the mechanical form of reductionism the images will actually portray. This comes round circle to the dislocation between the artist - context - the product - the product - context - the observer. This will be covered in more detail at a later date.

Weather has been a major factor in this project. It has required clear sky to achieve the raw data required, and there hasn't been a lot of that. But having to compromise this fact has allowed an element of chance to an otherwise mechanical experiment.

ReacTogon - Self Explanitory

More Antivj

Principles of Geometry and AntiVJ - New formats

AntiVJ has been working on a new format for French retro-futurist electronic producers Principles of Geometry. Using stereoscopy (technology used in IMAX cinemas to watch visuals with 3D glasses) they produced a 50min long real-time journey through space. An exciting experience and a real visual counterpart to the band’s space/epic soundtrack.

Obviously you can’t see the 3D effect on a regular computer screen, but we’re touring with a special screen, so come and see the show to experience the Depth of 3D stereoscopic visuals.

This is just a really short preview of the show, more will be coming soon…

Principles of geometry + AntiVJ: a stereoscopic show from AntiVJ on Vimeo.

Transhumanism / virtual reality / Psychedelics

The original -- and much more colorful -- version of this article can be found at H+ Magazine.

http://www.realitysandwich.com/psychedelic_transhumanists

Photography Investigation - Initial shots

These are from the first session.
Some basic photoshop work done to add vibrancy.
Unsharp Mask
Levels - Any missing information in the histogram is removed
Hue + Saturation - balence
Curves - minor aesthetic improvements
There are alot of things wrong with these shots, however it has given me an insight into locations for the second shoot and what type of shot i need to confirm the abstraction of an object can completely change the meaning and content of a photograph.

I would also like to shoot some black and white shots, again to assess any variation and how this can influence shots. A roll of both black and white film and colour film will be shot, this will provide further evidence and justification for the investigation.

Photography Investigation - Research and context.

John Cage






John Cage (1912-1992) was a singularly inventive and much beloved American composer, writer, philosopher, and visual artist, whose influence, already profound, has yet to be fully felt. Beginning around 1950, and throughout the passing years, he departed from the pragmatism of precise musical notation and circumscribed ways of performance. His principal contribution to the history of music is his systematic establishment of the principle of indeterminacy: by adapting Zen Buddhist practices to composition and performance, Cage succeeded in bringing both authentic spiritual ideas and a liberating attitude of play to the enterprise of Western art. His aesthetic of chance produced a unique body of what might be called "once-only" works, any two performances of which can never be quite the same. In an effort to reduce the subjective element in composition, he developed methods of selecting the components of his pieces by chance, early on through the tossing of coins or dice and later through the use of random number generators on the computer, and especially IC(1984), designed and written in the C language by Cage's then programmer-assistant, Andrew Culver, to simulate the coin oracle of the I Ching. Cage's use of the computer was less creative than constructive, and resulted in a system of what can easily be seen as total serialism, in which all elements pertaining to pitch, noise, duration, relative loudness, tempi, harmony, etc., could be determined by referring to previously drawn correlated charts. Thus, Cage's mature works did not originate in psychology, motive, drama, or literature, but, rather, were just sounds, free of judgments about whether they are musical or not, free of fixed relations, free of memory and taste. His most enduring, indeed notorious, composition, influenced by Robert Rauschenberg's all-black and all-white paintings, is the radically tacet 4'33" (1952). Encouraging the ultimate freedom in musical expression, the three movements of 4'33" are indicated by the pianist's closing and reopening of the piano key cover, during which no sounds are intentionally produced. It was first performed by the gifted pianist and Cage's long-time associate, David Tudor, in Woodstock, N.Y., on Aug. 29, 1952. A decade later Cage would create a second "silent" piece, 0'00", "to be played in any way by anyone," presented for the first time in Tokyo on Oct. 24, 1962.

Photography Investigation - Research and context BLOG TASK 2

Dave Beckerman






"I shot with black and white film and did my work in the traditional darkroom for many years. I began to experiment with digital photography and inkjet printers a long time ago, but I didn’t begin to offer digital prints until I was convinced they were the equal of my darkroom work. My current digital workflow incorporates Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop (less and less), two Epson Printers (4800 and 7800) and two digital cameras: Canon 40D and a Canon 450D which has been modified for infrared work. A lot of the photography on the site was done with this infrared camera. I live and work in a small studio apartment on the upper east side, which is fine for individual experimentation."

There is an innate pure-tone quality to Beckermans work. His skylines magically composed to create a resonance of the sublime.
In some cases over and under exposed images seemlessly stitched together, creating the all too familiar effect of the uncanny. His point of reference appears to be picking out ordinary compositions making features of obscure objects or shapes.