Fortunately before this project started, in the last year I was able to see Chris Cunningham in Manchester, and both Rioji Ikeda and Quayola at Sonar Festival live. These experiences helped contextualize what sort of artists are out in the field today and the level of skill required to make industry standard pieces of work. (As well as many local artists and design houses that will be discussed at a later date) Whilst Cunningham was an hour’s sensory bamboozlement, his aesthetic style is not as refined and really appeared to lack narrative or have any semblance of cause and effect. Just lots of good glitched live action shots, juxtaposed unfortunately by a gimmiky lazer.
Ikeda is primarily known as electronic sound artist, although his performances are always constructed around some sort of visualization of the sound elements he’s working with. His work examines the relationships found in data structures, and he uses patterns found in various types of computer data to generate both sound and image. Ikeda’s work extends from the idea that data itself, the actual patterns of ones and zeros, can be perceived as sound and visual elements in an artistic presentation. When asked about his influences in a 2008 Japan Times interview, Ikeda lists not musicians or visual artists, but mathematicians, and in examining raw data, he uses mathematical relationships to create form and structure.
His performance at sonar really pushed the limits of my mental dexterity as I tried to fathom how he had manufactured the sensations I was feeling. How could a video of black and white lines moving together with audio have produced such results?
Studying Ikeda, it is predominantly the aesthetic that is intriguing for research purposes. Clean, strict, minimally constructed and beautifully arranged compositions. This is what I have taken away from his work for research, as well as his originality and raw continuity within his concepts; the experience itself however was something else. The audio was also incredible, however the focus has been in aesthetics.
Quayola is a visual artist based in London. His work simultaneously focuses on multiple forms exploring the space between video, audio, photography, installation, live performance and print. Quayola creates worlds where real substance, such as natural or architectural matter, constantly mutates into ephemeral objects, enabling the real and the artificial to coexist harmoniously. Integrating computer-generated material with recorded sources, he explores the ambiguity of realism in the digital realm.
Working in both the artistic and the commercial field, Quayola intelligently experiment with mediums traditionally perceived as separate. Currently active as Visual Artist, Graphic Designer and Director, he constantly collaborates with a diverse range of musicians, animators, computer programmers and architects. Quayola creates hybrid works blurring the boundaries between art, design and filmmaking.
For research, Quayola was my main point of inquiry. Especially his ‘PTA’ series, the execution of which is mesmeric. In conjunction with : Autobam, Audion, My My, Peter Spiess, Oliver Hacke, RunStopRestore, JPLS and Hearthrob, who constructed the audio, Quaola has made an impressively compelling A/V. The semiotic use of simple shapes, and dynamic colour really sets his work apart from anything else I have seen. Quaola uses max msp, a piece of software I wish I could get my hands on. The facilities are there within college and must be taken advantage of.
The audio is also special. Cleverly constructed minimal techno comprised of really ‘dry’ sounds that almost give this work an organic feel.
Live the experience transformed and a combination of multimedia outputs interfere with normal everyday perceptual habits, the large screens and sheer scale of the work captivated me. This has been my main source of inspiration for the current self-directed project. A contemporary practitioner I thoroughly respect. In an interview with Quayola he states:
“I am definitely more a designer than a programmer, but I am fascinated and inspired by the aesthetics of coding and digital art in general. I try to bring together these two languages to create some sort of hybrid work in between.”
Pfadfinderei is an internationally renowned design collective. From the development of motion design productions to the conceptualization of events, Pfadfinderei offers a broad spectrum of solutions that crosses borders between required function and contemporary design, all through the lens of advanced visual art & multimedia.
Their most recent product has come in conjunction with Moderat, an amalgamation of Modeselektor and Apparat.
Loads of high-speed camera shots of fabric floating in wind, clever lighting and great use of tried and tested film and camera techniques.
As a collective they span a wide veriety of mediums, reaching and collaborating internationally producing a high standard of creative, visual design.
AntiVJ is a visual label initiated by European-based artists whose work is focused on the use of projected light and its influence on our perception.
Artists and designers of the moment clearly stepping away from standard setups & techniques, AntiVJ presents live performances and installations where projections on volume, visual mapping, tracking and augmented reality, stereoscopy and holographic illusions are challenging the audience's senses.
AntiVJ have been there as a reference across all the video projects I have done. Mainly as an example of what can be achieved with video mapping, projections on volume, stereoscopy, augmented reality and tracking.
These 5 practitioners have inspired and informed the direction of my self directed study in many ways and have provided me with a foundation, particularly in aesthetics, but also in sound design, from which my ideas can take form. At this point in the project, this research has been the catalyst for looking at minimalism - conceptually and aesthetically, symbolism, form, shape and semiotic intent inherent within visual art and the manipulation of it.
Primary research and looking at people in industry dynamically changed my perception of it. Actually having the experience of seeing what and how, in a live scenario has been hugely beneficial in as much that it has made me think a lot harder about the execution of a piece and the environment it is set in. Looking at local V/A enterprises could potentially give me direction for this. i.e. someone local such as ‘Test Space’ who actively seek out new and upcoming artists and aid them with studio space or simply a space to exhibit, then this could provide a framework and point of reference from which to discuss my A/Vs execution. This should be the next move I make.
……‘Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features……’
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