at scanz there was a paper called "Complexity and Cybernetics Redux" by Nina Czegledy and it mentioned Magic Squares. these cover topics such as mysticism, philosophy, mathematics. could the game/puzzle be to solve the magic square. the game leaders send out clues which reflect the numbers& people go out and find the item that has been uploaded to represent each square. eg, so people could film clues like numbers from different places, a quantity of subjects (eg if the number was 10, then film collections of 10 things in a single clip), or even make a video about a saying/piece of writing that might represent the numbers. whatever people can think of
I'm heading to New Plymouth this evening for SCANZ 2009 - Symposium being held over the weekend. so I've been reading about some of the participating artists and their projects. the intro for Brett Stalbaum gave me a few ideas for a * very simple * gps video project. below is the paragraph that triggered my thoughts - especially the phrase "letting voluminous GIS data and some algorithms we wrote tell us where to go"
steps
- in your local area, or a place where you can go to easily more than once (eg probably best to do in your own country not whilst overseas unless it's somewhere you can visit again)
- walk around the space once and collect the gps data
- then use (write first) a program - perhaps web based so you could use your mobile phone??? - that randomizes the data co-ordinates and selects a position for you to go to
I've been reading about Rothko's paintings this weekend and wanted to make a video painting similar to his works. it didn't quite work out as I expected (or like a Rothko painting). but I took videos around Auckland yesterday of different colours with the plan of using them as overlayed panels of colours. instead I ended up using a slit screen and shifting the entry points + having horizontal & vertical panels + changing between the different clips.
I don't think it turned out like the later Rothko paintings though. his paintings has large blocks of colour yet they weren't really about the colour. they were about the emotions - and the paintings showed emotions through the colours & induced emotions in the viewer. there were also glimpses of spirituality in the paintings - some had an inner light which shone through the works. also the size & scale of the paintings - often wall sized - caused the viewer to be enveloped in the emotions. the video I've made doesn't have the same emotions. it's more about the colours - the colours of Auckland city. the edges in the video work are too crisp and sharp. and there's no inner light. the motion relates more to Len Lye's use of motion in images & experimental films and sculptures. I've been reading about his work and his papers prior to making the video - in the book "Figures of Motion - Len Lye - Selected Writings". so I will have to try again - & maybe filter out or soften all the edges, or only keep the lines , like brush strokes, then build them up to panels of colour. many options to think about!
podcasts that are available for download - start with the lectures titled "Light of the New Millenium - Chicago/Austin"...both are quite different and cover a good spectrum of his "take" on things.
news slices in the snow (85sec version) : I made this last feb, 06/02/2008 after I'd heard about the terrorist attack in Israel. I'd read many of the online stories about it, so in this video some screenshots of the news stories / websites are cut-up and sliced and rotated in 3D (to represent the multiple levels and perspectives wrt the region & it's problems) on the screen whilst in the background, snow is falling to cool things down whilst steam is rising. the soundtrack has the sample 'over & over' as I was wondering when it (conflict in this region) would ever end. part way through the news slices started looking like a folded paper bird - let's hope it's a bird that brings peace to da middle east!! (as my friend Angus used to say)
it seems it might be apt for this year too. I've been following the recent stories regarding Israel & Gaza listed @ www.aliak.com/content/summer-holidays
this isn't the original version - it's a new version of the first 1min 25sec so it'll play here on flickr (since they have a 90sec video limit)
By the time of the Emperor Constantine's conversion, when Christianity became an officially approved religion in the fourth century, Christian bishops, previously victimized by the police, now commanded them. Possession of books denounced as heretical was made a criminal offense. Copies of such books were burned and destroyed. But in Upper Egypt, someone, possibly a monk from a 19 nearby monastery of St. Pachomius, took the banned books and hid them from destruction‚Äö in the jar where they remained buried for almost 1,600 years.
Gnosticism is one of the most potent, complex, and misunderstood elements of western esoteric spirituality. Rooted in the apocalyptic era of early Christianity, gnostic mysticism animates hermeticism, alchemy, and magick, and has profoundly influenced modern pop culture as well (Philip K. Dick, The Matrix, even Scientology). Because gnosticism is rooted in direct experience of the divine, it remains open to many different interpretations; scholars bicker about it constantly.
This class proposes to study a few of the most accessible and transformative gnostic texts, both ancient and modern, and to bring their tricky wisdom to bear on the state of consciousness today. In addition to online discussion threads, the course will feature weekly podcasts from Erik Davis, a celebrated speaker, as well as a few group voice-over-IP chats. Modestly-sized texts will include ancient gnostic gospels as well as accessible scholarly interpretations and modern short stories.
had a very relaxing Christmas / summer holiday in Brisbane - mostly spent sleeping, catching up with friends, eating and visiting the amazing north coast beaches at Caloundra & Noosa, driving along the coast between them. we drove up, cat on lap at times - the rain this year has done wonders for the land as everything was a lush, vibrant green colour and the sky was so clear & blue - the light this year was incredible - things seemed to sparkle.
I haven't been paying much attention to the news though whilst away, and arriving home last night I caught the late news which was talking about the problems in Israel and Palestine / Gaza strip. I'm a little worried about my friends there - some who've spent time in their bomb shelters (which are in all buildings) as the rockets from Gaza have reached further than before. I wonder if these new range rockets came in when the wall came down earlier this year and people came across from Egypt. I hope everyone is safe.
these have the effect for a short time - though I think I'd need a tripod to capture it properly. I had this visual effect yesterday when the clouds were moving faster than today (but I didn't have my camera - it was a very windy day yesterday). the clouds stopped moving & the buildings started to move. it was sort of like looking at a stereogram picture and seeing the hidden image within the noise come into focus. once you see it you can't not see it any more