Week 10 & 11/Final Project

By the end of the critique session for Assignment 3: Urban Fantasy, we were split into groups to work on our final project, where we had to create an interactive collage that brings out a message, concept or issue. The skills and techniques we have learnt so far have been preparing us for the final project, where the message, issue or concept of the collage is to be conveyed through its interactivity. Having little skills in even Photoshop, the idea of incorporating moving images, sound and text in a collage scared me. Fortunately, Jing had a lecture on using Flash Catalyst, a software we could use for incorporating interactivity to our collages. The videos shown during the lecture were comprehensive, and a class exercise was given out during the lecture to let us have some hands-on experience with the basics of Flash Catalyst. Buttons, adding interactions, as well as state transitions, were not so scary after all.

Brainstorming: In the meantime, my group spent some time brainstorming on the concept behind our final project. There wasn't a theme set for this project, so we could do anything we want. After throwing around some ideas and searching online for interactive art montages, we decided to have collage after collage present themselves to the user in a first-person perspective with a "zooming-in effect", as though the user is traveling into a world of collages. This idea was inspired by the fact that my group found an example of such interactivity in the module forum, as shown below:

Abandoning the idea of allowing the user to click anywhere in the picture to enable the zoom-in, we went decided on including a portal in every of our collages. A click at a specific area would transport the user through the portal and into the next collage scene.

Deciding on a theme for our project was the next step. We initially decided to opt for a surrealistic approach, rather than a realistic one, because we felt that with surrealism, the collages would be more intriguing and allow more surprising and unpredictable interactions. However, after much consideration, we agreed to merge realism and surrealism together, where fairytale and fantasy elements were to be incorporated within scenes of Singapore's history. The Singapore context was added because the sense of familiarity would heighten the experience of using this interactive collage, and so Kris, one of my groupmates, suggested using "nostalgia" as the main concept of this interactive collage. Through the navigation of our collage, users would feel nostalgic as they see images of past Singapore, including the kampongs and Samsui women. This can even result in users feeling a sense of emotional attachment to this piece of interactive collage piece.

For navigation through the collages, we felt that users needed a sort of "guide", and therefore a main character was suggested to be the one leading and walking users through all the collages. We decided on using Alice from Alice in Wonderland, because to us she was to most recognisable fairytale character. We also agreed to have interactions within each collages, so it wouldn't be just traveling through the different collages. For example, the mushrooms would glow with each mouse-over within a particular collage, and clicking on it would result in more mushrooms appearing:

At the end of our brainstorming session, we decided on ten collages, each depicting the following: a Jungle from the myth of Sang Nila Utama, Singapore Kampongs, Singapore's HDB flats, the Samsui Women, the Merlion, Sentosa, the Esplanade, the Singapore Flyer, as well as the Early Settlement period of Singapore. We purposely put them in a non-linear arrangement in terms of time period, so users wouldn't feel like this is an educational trial instead of an interactive collage piece.

Finally, because this interactive collage is some sort of a reminder of Singapore's past history, my group decided to name our project "Singapore Revisited".

Feedback: In the next tutorial session (28th October), my group presented our project concept to the class. We showed some basic collages we did, as well as the main character design that was done by Kris.

The class was fine with our idea of juxtaposing fantasy elements with historical and modern aspects of Singapore, but were concerned with the zooming-in effect we intend to include in our collage. They expressed that by zooming-in, the perspectives of each collage would have to change with the movement of Alice, or the zooming-in effect would just make the interactive collage flat. We took in their suggestions and feedback and arranged for another meeting the following week.

Assignment 3/Tutorial 6

Assignment 3, Urban Fantasy, was particularly tricky because it tested our skills for manipulating images and assembling them together in a creative manner. The collage, to my interpretation, must be set within an urban area, and must contain a message, concept, or issue, which cannot be interpreted at face-value. In other words, the collage won't tell viewers its message at the first glance. The requirement of the putting images that altered one's imagination and perception proved challenging to me because, though, abstraction is something I liked, creating something surreal was another thing altogether. How to transfer my imagination into reality? Will I be able to manipulate images to how I see it in my head, given the limited Photoshop skills I have?

I started out by sourcing for images of buildings and skyscrapers online, specifically Google Images. Urban Fantasy means fantasy within an urban area, and hence, buildings must be part of my collage because they are such symbols of progress and urbanisation. As I browsed through the images, one by one, I had an idea for the collage. Some of the buildings really looked like weapons of destruction, so why not imply that with urbanisation, society, nature and the world are steadily - and stealthily - coming to an end? Pollution in land, water and air serve as a constant tug-of-war with the progress that comes with urbanization.

I developed this idea, having in mind to create a point of view in the collage that showed how different types of buildings, or "weapons", were being launched and zooming into a city. A spiraling and burst effect would also be achieved within the collage, signifying how humans experience a schizophrenic feeling of wanting to achieve more with urbanization, and yet the psychological fear of spiraling out of control and the desire to want to break free from it all are also present. And yet the over-reliance on technology and hunger for progress are, again, pulling humans in a downward spiral of destruction. Such a split feeling is what I want to show with the collage.

So I started editing, cropping and basically applying whatever I learnt in the Photoshop tutorials in this module to manipulate buildings like these:

Then I searched for images of swirls and explosions online and found these:

Apply Overlay and Colour Dodge in Photoshop to these two images, and the resulting image would look like this:

Then I looked for some images on cityscapes and added them to my collage. To me, collages have repetitive elements, so instead of using different buildings to create the scene of a city, I just used a single image of a cityscape, copying and reflecting the original image, making it a surreal city. Some more adjustments, and the resulting collage for my third assignment is this:

Class critique: Bringing this draft to class, there were negative and positive feedback received. Every student's work was flashed on screen before the class for critique. The class commended on my use of strong colours and complimenting colour choices to evoke feelings within the viewers. However, they felt that the perspective of the way the collage was presented could be improved. In other words, instead of looking like the buildings at the edges are attacking the city below, they look like they are being launched by the city. And so, Jing suggested approaching the perspective from below or above, by having the city be in the middle of the collage and buildings all around the edges appearing to be "zooming in" towards the city.

Lecture 6/Tutorial 5

This week we learned about Appropriation. The basic concept of appropriation is using existing material, changing its context and even appearance, and creating something "original" out of it. It brings up the issue of originality, and that nothing in this world is ever original, because existing material related to it can always be found. It could even be accidental, that an artist views a piece of artwork, and eventually comes up with an original piece of artwork based on that artwork that he or she viewed. It was in his or her subconscious that she "appropriated" the piece of artwork. Even if it was not subconsciously, if something is created and thought to be original, can it be confirmed that in some other parts of the world, the same thing is not created? Of course, this brings up the issue of copyrights. If one were to gain fame and recognition based on an artwork that originates from another piece of artwork, which piece of artwork, or rather artist, should be credited?

These were the issues mentioned in Lecture 6 this week, and many examples were shown in class, including Marcel Duchamp's Fountain, where the value of Art is questioned, with using a banal, mundane object like a toilet bowl, changing its position, and promoting it as "high art". Dadaism and Surrealism were mentioned again, but the most interesting part (for me) was the topic of Pop Art. Andy Warhol is one of my favourite artists, and his recognition is based on him using recognisable, familiar objects and people like Campbell soup and Marilyn Monroe to create artworks. He duplicates these images in artworks, and addresses issues like mass culture through his works. He is the epitome of Appropriation.

This week's tutorial was about Photoshop! Seeing how my skills were limited, I was excited about class. We learned different adjustments for a picture, non-destructive and destructive photo editing, and the various ways of selecting an area within a picture or photo. The 3 most useful things I have learnt from this week's tutorial are:

Before.

After. (Saturation was adjusted to the minimum, with foreground and background colours swopped to make some parts of the picture in colour, and others being desaturated)

Before.

After. (Hue was adjusted!)

Selection with Magnetic Lasso Tool.

Assignment 2/Tutorial 4

Assignment 2 was about finding a concept related to the Keitai Phenomenon. Concept first, technical aspects second. When Assignment 2 was given out, the first concept that came to mind was voyeurism. With the ubiquity of mobile phones, and their multi-functionality, one can never be sure if his or her privacy is being invaded at any one moment of their lives, especially in public places. Voyeurism describes an intrusive eye into people's real, unguarded lives, and is (at least, to me) a perfect example to describe how mobile phones can be an invasion of privacy.

In order to translate my concept into reality, I thought about how each picture could individually bring out the concept of voyeurism, and yet, could be brought together in sequence and have a common theme as well. I thought about the places people regarded as private, such as the toilet, their rooms, and the various camera positions that would bring out a sense of invasion. Black and white for the photos would be nice, because it brings out a certain emotion, or even creepiness, to the photos. It could even be said to give the photos a sombre mood, addressing the serious issue of voyeurism. I also got some inspiration from Cindy Sherman, an artist who deliberately creates everyday settings for her photo artworks.

I chose to use decanted and low angle shots for the last three photos to give a sense of uneasiness to the photos. Especially for the last photo, by placing a pan in the foreground, I wanted to show how the photographer was "creeping" up on the girl. In all four shots, the girl is not looking or looking away from the camera. This shows how she is 1. unaware of the invading camera, and 2. acting as a voyeur too, looking at something interesting (maybe someone else's life?) beyond the camera.

Class critique: I brought these photos to tutorial. Basically, the feedback was that, though the composition and treatment of the photos were good, the message (or theme) of voyeurism is not that clear. It needs to be stronger, more provocative, especially for the last two photos. Even if the girl was acting as the voyeur, her expressions could be more expressive and vivid to entice the viewers' imagination more.