I've been looking at archive material for my project that relates to Industrial Schools ran by the Catholic Church. I came across a documentary made by Louis Lentin, which consists of interviews of women who spent time in industrial schools as children. I've been harvesting material from this and editing it in Premiere Pro, with the intention of inserting archive sequences among my filmed pieces.I'm not sure how I stand ethically with doing this. Also some of the material is quite emotional and hard hitting and I don't want to be exploitative with this.I justify it to myself with the fact that Lentin's documentary originally worked as a critique, as does mine -  my re -working of the material is a further re-enactment and engagement with the critiques of the abuses perpetuated. Perhaps it is better that the archive material is being  re-presented in another form, gaining an audience again in another manner, rather than gathering dust somewhere, fading into oblivion? This is how I'm justifying to myself at the moment.

I'm putting up a couple of rough sequences from my the video that I've been working on. The first sequence is the introduction and sets the scene. The second sequence is one of seven that form an irreverent reconstruction of the creation narrative in Genesis.The concept behind the work is that the reconstruction of Genesis represents the institution of the church and its belief system, within which are hidden events that the church have covered up or had an effect on eg. child abuse, pregnancy. The reconstruction can be seen as a critique of the Catholic Church , the irreverancy of the constructions work as a parody. The flashes of archive imagery rupture the representation of the church and are then removed – signifying  the church’s attempts to subdue them. 

EDIT: Could only put up one sequence due to uploading issues with blogger and my internet speed. I'll try the other one later.

I've been looking for video/film online that relates to religion, or social politics, and critiques of that - it's hard to find film pieces that I can actually view, most sites just give textual detail and an image. 

'Belief' (2012) by Jon Thompson and Alison Craighead

Belief is made from information found entirely on the worldwide web. In fifteen minutes, the-screen installation presents a series of fragmented broadcasts about belief, all sourced from YouTube.
https://vimeo.com/109853984

Belief, Installation View

Three short pieces are collected as Tory Stories by Peter Savage: The Revival, Back After the Break and An Ugly Streak of Violence. (1984)

"Something from my overtly political phase. These pieces are of their time.The Revival uses material from an interview with Margaret Thatcher. It is a simple critique—using humour to make the point—on the way politicians and the media shape what we understand, to reinforce particular viewpoints. 

Back After the Break uses material mainly from television advertisments in which women are pre- sentedas stereotypes. Again the way in which television images are used to promote a particular view of ‘acceptable roles’ is demonstrated, countered by the ‘Iron Lady’ who steadfastly refuses to listen....'

http://www.lux.org.uk/collection/works/tory-stories-parts-1-3

'A Mass for the Dakota Sioux' by Bruce Baillie (1963- 64)  https://vimeo.com/48298412

'A film mass, dedicated to nobility and excellence.
No chance for me to live, Mother, you might as well mourn.' -Sitting Bull, Hukpapa Sioux Chief.
Applause for a lone figure dying on the street. INTROIT. A long lightly exposed section composed in the camera. KYRIE. A motorcyclist crossing the San Francisco bridge accompanied by the sound of a Gregorian chant, recorded at the Trappist monastery in Vina, California.The EPISTLE is in several sections. In this central part the film becomes gradually more outrageous, the material being either from television or the movies, photographed directly from the screen. The sounds of the 'mass' rise and fall throughout. GLORIA. The sound of a siren and a short sequence of a '33 Cadillac proceeding over the Bay Bridge and disappearing into a tunnel. The final section of the Communion begins with the OFFERTORY in a procession of lights and figures to the second chant. The anonymous figure from the introduction is discovered again, dead on the pavement. The body is consecrated and taken away past an indifferent, isolated people, accompanied by the final chant. The Mass is traditionally a celebration of Life, thus the contradiction between the form of the Mass and the theme of death. The dedication is to the religious people (Dakota Sioux) who were destroyed by the civilisation that evolved the Mass. - B.B.'

Also some areas of contention that relate to my topic - looking at the moment for more archive material related to this: abortion, birth control, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, pregnancy, conflict in Northern Ireland, women's rights.

Artists and photographers using themes of religion. Not much video, I need to do more research here.

Damien Hirst (the great pretender?) 'to leave the flock is to leave behind the protection of the church. In Christian belief, the Lamb of God was sacrificed to redeem humanity from the original sin of Adam and Eve. The work’s religious connotations are fused with scientific advancement through the use of the formaldehyde gas which fixes and preserves the sheep carcass. This synergy between religion and science is a reoccurring theme in Hirst’s work' http://www.tate.org.uk/artist-rooms/collection/themes/artist-rooms-theme-belief

                                                                                                 Away from the Flock 1994

Bill Viola 'Martyrs' ' the theatricality of his works has led to comparisons with the Baroque, a movement much associated with the Catholic Church. However, Viola’s influences extend beyond this, incorporating Eastern art history and spiritual practices' http://www.tate.org.uk/artist-rooms/collection/themes/artist-rooms-theme-belief http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/may/21/bill-viola-matryr-video-installation-st-pauls

Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan’s satirical sculpture La Nona Ora (1999) - Pope John Paul II lies on a red carpet, crushed by a meteorite that has just plummeted from the heavens

Tutorial 3/3/15

During the tutorial I was asked what my project was about and I found I struggled to communicate this. I think this is because as I've been working on the project and testing different strategies and approaches, it has actually developed into something other than what I had suggested in the proposal. So from starting out with an idea of being objective it has actually become something that is subjective. AC advised me that I needed to really pin down what the project is actually about, so when I got home I wrote about it and I believe I have a more coherent idea of what it is and where it's going - which is actually helpful as I feel that now I know where I stand with it, it's easier for me to think ahead and plan what I'm going to film. So, at the moment,  a short video of different items, interspersed with archive video and a narrative text. Lets see where I can go with this - fun times.

A test video I've been working on, taking inspiration from other artists strategy of narration. The quality is low due to internet uploading issues.

I've been looking at strategies of artists who use video, in particular recent Turner prize winners Duncan Campbell and Elizabeth Price. Campbell's piece 'It for Others' is about the relation between objects and value systems. I've watched some of it and find it quite hard to get through in parts, but I like his strategy of narration. Elizabeth Price's piece 'The Woolworth's Choir of 1979' is only available in small snippets online. Her strategy  of split screen and text narration is also of interest to me.

Duncan Campbell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IpQv2SFA0A
Elizabeth Price:  http://www.motinternational.org/ep-projects-woolworths-choir.html

Duncan Campbell, 'It for Others', Installation View

Duncan Campbell, 'It for Others'

Elizabeth Price 'The Woolworth's Choir of 1979'

I've been editing video with Adobe Premiere Pro, but need to find some decent tutorials on how to use it properly, my exported files end up being a very small aspect ratio. Also either my internet is slow or blogger won't let me post videos correctly. Anyway, I've been playing Premiere Pro, a Nasa sequence of an asteroid and also some Nasa audio and interspersing it with a sequence of a rock that I recorded. I've attached a test video and I find that as I'm making it I'm thinking of putting in other filmed sequences and flashes. I like the idea of the asteroid being in constant motion, oblivious to any human concerns, and then flashes of points of contentious ideas coming on screen. The clicking sound comes in as the ideas flash - wanting attention, 'hey look at me'- anyway that's the idea for now. Also I had the idea of making two videos, the same imagery in both but different audio - one the nasa audio and the other is a prayer sequence that I found. The presentation would involve the two videos facing one another and opaque glass or perspex in between - the idea being that the same object or events are being viewed with different interpretations; the different view points know the other is there but cannot see the other clearly. 

Credit:� Solar Dynamics Observatory/NASA.

Looking at material that interests me. NASA , footage of sun spots - stuff we can't see with the naked eye; science, the lens shows us that is, so we believe it. Who would not believe it? 

Finished proposal was sent in to tutors on Sunday, so that was interesting in that it got me to sit down and try and think logically about what my project is about - again, what am I trying to communicate? So I narrowed it down (ha) into an investigation into themes of opposition and perspective, and the delivery of work that illustrates certain divergent views, which are truth and reality to the respective holders, yet cannot (will not?) be reconciled.

 I had mentioned in my first proposal that Niamh O'Malley's work is of interest to me. She's currently showing at the Douglas Hyde Gallery, a really nice exhibition . I'm very interested in her use of glass, as a method of delivery, and as a conceptual aid. The idea of using glass as a viewing mechanism, or as screening device could I think be applied to my own work.  O'Malley also uses video as part of her installation, a medium I'm more drawn to using as part of the creation of my own project. She breaks up sections of her previous  videos with a kind of sliding, screening device. My interpretation would be that it's used as a method of showing fragmentation, not seeing the whole picture.

                                             https://vimeo.com/45720125
                                             http://www.douglashydegallery.com/niamh-omalley/

Niamh O'Malley Installation Vew, Douglas Hyde Gallery

Tutorial

During the tutorial today a keyword for me to reflect on was 'perspective'. In relation to my project this word can give it a base and a starting point from which to grow and develop. Rather than getting tied down to a narrative based photographic body of work, the tutorial helped me to consider a more conceptual approach to the project. So, if I consider the two perspectives that are at the heart of my topic, how do I visually articulate the differences, and importantly, what is it that I am trying to communicate? Looking at work were two opposing views or differences are communicated:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2DNMG2s_O0

Shirin Neshat is an Iranian artist whose work addresses social and political issues within Muslim society and  'the complexity of certain oppositions, such as man and woman. Neshat often emphasizes this theme showing two or more coordinated films concurrently, creating stark visual contrasts through motifs such as light and dark, black and white, male and female.' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirin_Neshat)

In the work shown above, Neshat uses two screens, one showing a man singing and the other screen showing a woman. The man sings to an audience of males, the woman to an empty auditorium, signifying the voices of women who are not heard in some Muslim societies. The woman's voice and song is comprised of guttural sounds and noises, no decipherable words can he heard, once again signifying the lack of voice for women - her voice seems like a cry, a lament, a screaming for someone to listen or to those who won't listen, an assertion of her will.  The effect is simple yet powerful. In relation to my project, Neshat's strategy of using two screens is interesting, and could be an effective method of highlighting divergence and opposition.

Installation at Gladstone Gallery

A test still life image and scan of archive material that relates to my project. I'm hoping I can turn this into a coherent project, can I make archive material, still lives and other images work together? Need to get up to Antrim soon, probably not this weekend, but the next one. Also looking at locations that pertain to other elements of the topic, I want to do more research on these locations and pin them down.

Interesting work by Stuart Whipps - I'm interested in his response to archival imagery and information, building and creating his body work from investigative material and sources.

http://flattimeho.org.uk/exhibitions/stuart-whipps-birth-springs-death-falls/

A postcard of Victoria Falls leaning against a geological sample from John Latham's mantlepiece (2012) Digital C Print, 85 x 51.25cm

(2013) video, 2' sec looped. Courtesy BP Video Library. Original film dir. Ralph Bond, sponsored by Scottish Oils Limited, produced by Realist Film Unit

Researching my topic, some interesting background information emerges.

http://www.calebfoundation.org/ The  group that lobbied for the creationist element to be included at The Giants Causeway Interpretive Centre.

Edwin Poots, minister for the environment in Northern Ireland believes the earth is 4000 years old.

http://sluggerotoole.com/2007/12/02/good-heavens-youre-the-culture-minister/

 http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/11/northern-ireland-edwin-poots-creationist-anti-gay

Interesting article that sheds some light on the topic.

http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/creationism-and-political-power-northern-ireland

Initial proposal exercise - 12th February 2015

In the morning we were required to write up and initial proposal for our self-initiated project and then share this with a fellow student. We then broke up into two groups to discuss our ideas and proposals. I found the writing up of a proposal helpful in that getting ideas and concepts down on paper actually helps in gaining clarity on that idea. Making a timeline is helpful too - I sometimes find that I haven't given enough thought to the planning of the timeline of my projects,  and that life events and family commitments often curtail certain plans - making a proper timetable that is also flexible,  will help here (hopefully).

Group discussion: Each of us shared a brief synopsis of our project with the group and tutor. Interesting hearing the others ideas. My idea for my project was inspired by a creationist element of The Giants Causeway exhibition centre in Northern Ireland. I'm interested in the clash between the two elements that are opposed to  each other - how to visually articulate this concept? During our discussion I said that I wanted to be objective in my approach to this project - as an initial idea I want to put aside my own  religious or scientific beliefs and put forward two opposing views, and as an 'artist'? be the the creator, be in the middle. As an atheist, when I consider  creationism my own opinion would probably be one of derision, however, with this work I think that it's important that I put this view aside, and step away from my 'subjectivism' and to try to be objective. TM suggested perhaps to move away from objectivity, that maybe  the artist  should be giving an opinion? I can understand this view, perhaps the work produced would be stronger if taking one side. The obvious side for me is science, however wouldn't this make the work too obvious, too subjective, too cliched? Maybe, as the work evolves (ha), or not as the case may be (as has happened in the past), my own subjectivities will naturally surface. However, for now I maintain my objective stance!

Small group tutorial with tutor on 5th February.

Chosen unedited images.

Discussion about our exercise on the theme 'Consumption'. I shot images of discarded items left on Dollymount beach. After viewing these images we moved onto a discussion of how to show the work; I was interested in a gallery context. Initially I had thought of displaying images in perspex cubes or boxes. TM suggested a move away from this. How else to present? 

TM's  proposal of printing the work on bags, key rings or t-shirts was interesting in that a move away from expected forms of showing work can lead to an expansion of how the work is perceived and also developed. I liked the idea of printing on paper bags. TM's suggestion of an exhibition in which work was printed in these ways and then presented to the viewer, perhaps as gifts to take away was refreshing and compelling. I often find myself bored and losing interest in photography and the limitations that seem to surround the way it is presented; the idea that there are more provocative forms of presentation is compelling to me. 

TM asked for ideas of how else I could print the work, I suggested a cheap, disposable paper, similar to the waste paper that is left behind itself. TM asked how the presentation could be expanded further and proposed bringing in the waste materials into the gallery itself. I found this session very interesting in that it got me thinking about possibility of expanding, developing and presenting work, Afterwards I thought of printing the work on cheap paper, crumpling it up and forming a kind of heap or sculpture on the gallery floor; or asking audience participation, in which they are invited to either print or take a page and discard it on the gallery floor. I found it refreshing that opening up our conservative thoughts of presentation can lead to further development.

Thoughts on class today:

Creating artistic work - just do the work, make, make and make. Do not wait for flash of inspiration.
Creating a type of brainstorming mind map on a topic is useful in where it can lead you - do not overthink this, be intuitive. Failure is ok, we can learn from this - if failing do not take it personally, it's not a reflection on me as a person - OK!

To do: Given the word 'Consumption' - make associations with this word, see where it leads.

To read: 'Art & Fear' - David Bayles, Ted Orland' ; 'The Myth of Innovation' - Scott Berkun; 'Out of our Minds' - Ken Robinson.

Words to apply to topic:

Who?
What?
When?
Where?
Why?

Test post