My trip to the Tate Modern

On Wednesday I took myself down to London and went to the Tate Modern. I really enjoyed it and thought some of the works were amazing. I've always been a big fan of Salvador Dali, Max Ernst and Roy Lichtenstein so it was good to see some of their work up close.


Salvador Dali _ Metamorphosis of Narcissus 1937

I also loved seeing some brilliant work of people I've never heard of (some of which I recognized the work but never knew who had created it). It expanded my knowledge of the artists that use the style I really like which can never be a bad thing.


Raoul Hausmann _ the Art Critic 1919-20


Fernand Leger _ Two Women Holding Flowers 1954


Sir Eduardo Paolozzi _ I was a Rich Man's Plaything 1947


Francis Picabia _ the Handsome Pork-Butcher 1924-35
(I really liked this mixed media image but I did think the combs stuck onto the image kind of ruined it.)

I enjoyed some of the more interactive arts such as Helio Oiticica, Tropicalia where a room was covered with sand and gravel paths. There was a cage with two amazing parrots (real life) and a random two random cubilcles, one which you could see in straight away and was just empty, and the other where people were only allowed in one at a time and you had to go through a dark little walk way with rainbow curtains covering 3 points in the corridor, then once you had navigated your way through this you got to a fuzzy TV screen where the reception would come and go so you would hear snippets of the news amongst white noise. It was a bit strange and I'm not really sure what it was all about but it was certainly fun to experience with all the mystery.

Another room was painted with lines in different shapes and when you entered and looked around it made you feel dizy and even a bit sick (Sol LeWitt, Six Geometris Figures). Elsewhere there was also a giant bubble machine (David Medalla, Cloud Crayons No.3 - An Ensemble of Bubble Machines), and a room full of different coloured flourecent light tubes (Dan Flavin, Untitled (for Donna) Sa)

One thing not to miss if you go is the State of Flux exhibition. There is a film on three screens made by Steve McQueen called Drumroll (1998). There are three cameras in a barrel filming as it is rolled along the streets of New york. One camera at each end and one on the side in the middle of the barrel. It made me feel a bit sick when watching it but it's good to catch little things passing by, I thought it was a brilliant idea.

Nearly finished first year... I can't believe it!

I'm really pleased that the Identities project is over. I enjoyed doing it and was pleased with what I came up with. I can't believe the first year is nearly over, it's flown by so quickly. Now I've got to concentrate on the end of year presentation. I want to do Interactives next yr because I think it'll be a good opportunity to experiment with what is possible in Multimedia. I'm a bit surprised that I haven't managed to find anyone else who wants to do it but I suppose it doesn't really matter. I'm a bit worried about the end of year presentation because I don't think I've really got enough work to show what I can do and prove that I'll be able to do Interactives next year. I think I might try and do some experimental work over the next week to take in for my presentation. Well we'll see how it goes.

Website Usability Seminar

Evaluation of www.playmonday.com

Use of text equivalents rubbish
Ability to use site without plugins rubbish
Abiltity to use the site with just a keyboard rubbish
Colour combinations used on the site could be worse
Colour contrast of the site could be worse
Ability to apply user settings to the site could be worse but not by much

Evaluation of www.Vodafone.co.uk

Use of text equivalents quite good
Ability to use site without plugins alright
Abiltity to use the site with just a keyboard good
Colour combinations used on the site could be worse
Colour contrast of the site n/a
Ability to apply user settings to the site could be worse

Evaluation of www.ntu.ac.uk

Use of text equivalents pretty good
Ability to use site without plugins pretty good
Abiltity to use the site with just a keyboard not too bad
Colour combinations used on the site could be worse
Colour contrast of the site n/a
Ability to apply user settings to the site very good

Evaluation of www.hotmail.com

Use of text equivalents ok
Ability to use site without plugins not too bad
Abiltity to use the site with just a keyboard not too bad
Colour combinations used on the site not good
Colour contrast of the site n/a
Ability to apply user settings to the site a bit crap

Live performance

For anyone who reads this, me and my group will be staging a protest outside Green's Mill, Windmill Lane, Sneinton, Monday 29/01/07 from 11am. Anyone is welcome to come along and watch us in action or even join in!!

hi ho, hi ho, it's back to work we go...

Right, I've got two projects on at the minute, the main one being Identities, the other a factual exercise. In the main project I've decided to use the multimedia course option. I will create corporate logo to base my website and advertising material around. I will start by researching what available information there is about the multimedia course at Nottingham Trent at the minute and also check out the competition from other universities. I will then research website and advertising design, I will also have to use software tutorials to enhance my skills in Dreamweaver as they are quite basic at this point in time. During the next couple of days I will devise a timeplan to help me keep on track with this project as I learnt this is very important from my last project. The second project is going to be slightly challenging as I'm not really sure what we (my group of 5) are going to do, first we have to start by researching George Green who we have already found out was a mathematician and physicist in the 1700s. We then have to create a 'sight specific performance event', of which, live art must be at the core. We can use any medium, and we have to make some money, whether it be 50p or £500. This is difficult as we do not yet have any clue what to do.

International Space Centre Trip

Questionnaire

Choose an interactive display that you found exciting and engaging at the Space Centre - I liked a game called 'Do You React Fast Enough'

Describe the elements in the display and say why you found it exciting and engaging - The display included a series of large buttons that light up in random sequence and the user has to hit the buttons before the light goes off, this makes the user excited as it is a game they can win.

How successful were these interactive multimedia elements? - I thought the interactive elements were very successful as the buttons were large and the game is suitable for all ages as there are two different levels to play the game at, i.e. easy and hard. the only downside is that some buttons were quite high up and it may be hard for small children to reach these and that would lead to them losing the game which isn't really fair as it is mainly designed for children.

Now choose an interactive display that you find is not engaging at the space centre. Why do you think it does not work? How would you improve it? 'Satelite Navigator Assistant' was not very engaging as there was not many options to choose from and this was quite frustrating. It was also not very clear what was actually happening and if I can't understand it then what chance has a primary school child got...? I would have made the screen look less busy and crowded by enlarging the key text. I also would have simplified the language used to explain the options and the consequences of the choices made.

I really enjoyed the Space Centre, most of the exhibitions were aimed at a much younger audience but it was still fun to explore. The best part of the trip was seeing the film 'Astronaut', the effects used in this film were amazing and at many points you were dizzy because you actually felt as if you were travelling through space. I think cinemas would be a lot more exciting if they used a dome ceiling as a screen and created the same effect.

Explanation

Sophie P and me found this amusing video of boxing ballpoint pens on youtube and thought it would be fun to make a reply. We first created our video using Sophie's own mini DV camera, unfortunately this made our film in 'asf' format and we were not able to find the software to either view the film properly or convert this to a format suitable for us to post on youtube. Due to this problem we created another 30 second film. The second version we shot was slightly different to our original idea. Our first film focused on the 'mating rituals' of bluetack beings we had made to stick on top of the pens, this developed to the bluetack beings just being stuck on pen-lids, and in the end the pens had nothing to do with the film, which in turn meant our reply to the youtube video had nothing to do with the original film. With the second film we decided to just use plain pens and have them chatting about the original youtube video we were making the reply to, through this they end up arguing and fighting. This version has a lot more to do with the original youtube video so we thought this would be a more appropriate reply. I enjoyed making this film, and working with Sophie P made it easier as we could work out the problems we came across together. I have learnt a lot from this experience, about the cameras we used and the computer side of things too.

original youtube video

my reply to a youtube film

Important Object

This is a picture of the pair of objects that have value to me. My trainers help me get from A to B, they look good and they're practical. They are pink sketchers, size three, and they only cost me £15.99 from TKmaxx. I love the design of them, they are very feminine, with floral designs on the stripes down the sides and on badges on the laces, yet still practical, unlike some girls trainers you get that are more like shoes that you can't do anything in. They help me "expand my knowledge of myself, my environment, world past and future" because as soon as I put them on my feet i am capable of almost anything, i can walk or run about and explore the world around me, and without them I wouldn't be able to do much at all.

Short films (4)

www.atomfilms.com - Mug - Directed by Adrian Tannor

Thriller. Bit wierd, man draws a portrait of a stranger on the train, he gives her the picture and starts chatting her up but he seems agitated and overly horny. She tells him she has a boyfriend and gets off at the next stop after giving him back the picture, he follows her and theres a short chase. In the end he catches up with her and pins her down, then asks for his wallet back. It sounds like an alright story line but for some reaon it just didn't work well in this film.

Short films (3)

www.atomfilms.com - 1440 Minutes - Lior Ben-Aharon

Spoof of 24, really well done, with good timing and over passionate characters. Has to be seen, its hilarious!

Short films (2)

www.pawky.com - Dealing With Women - Written and Animated by Julia Vickerman

This is a short animation about a man's past experiences with women and why he feels indifferent about them, hatred and loathing because of their manipulation, but at the same time he can't get enough of them. The film was narrated by a male voice that was slightly monotonous, and sadistic but i think this worked really well, it also incorporated a little speech from other characters, ie. the females. I found this film funny yet so true.

Short films (1)

www.pawky.com - Eviction - Directed by Steve Loff

This is a short documentary about a family in New York being forcefully evicted from their apartment. They are not being evicted for not paying rent, but for occupying two apartments in the building, and this is due to the recent split of the parents. In the film you watch how the family react both emotionally and physically as their door is being knocked down by the police. Although it is a short film the viewer learns quite a bit about what is goin on because of text appearing to explain the story. I thought this was a very effective way narrating the picture without having to have a voice speaking over the scenes.

Losing my blog virginity

Hi my name is morag, (pretty obvious from the name of my blog). I'm 20 yrs old, from Newcastle and I've just started uni at Nottingham Trent, studying Multimedia. This is my first ever blog so bear with me!!!