After Effects Assignment 4: Dancing with Light

After effect: CH 6 &7

Used Tools: Trimming, overlay, splitting, sequencimg and bending layers, light(from ch2),autobezier as well as all previous tools.

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After Effects Assignment 3: Fleeing Memories, Flying Thoughts

Aftereffect Tools used:

Chapters 6&7- Layering with a fixed background. Tools: Scale,position,rotation and opacity.
Orbiting objects, value graph, wiggler and motion sketch, aouto-orient rotation,layer ordering.

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After Effects Assignment 2: Capitol Perspectives

Inauguration Photos.

Incorporating Chapters 1, 2 and 3.

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Nature of Sorensen

In state of nature lives of men are "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short"

- T. Hobbes (Leviathan)

For Vibeke Sorensen, nature is a mixture of many influences with interconnected features. Her vision on the necessity of an harmonious environment is reflected in her work Sanctuary. She displayed her work in a safe haven as she puts it. The images used in the project are superimposed and combined in a calm manner as if everything in the image are naturally connected/together. Rather than approaching her task from a religious perspective she saw sanctuary in nature instead of a religious fortress. She sees the harmony in nature and allows her viewers to escape into nature.

The reason why I brought Hobbes' quote into this post is because Sorensen is also trying to pass on that same very message: we are all mortal. The only way to escape this reality is through coming together, in an alternative nature where our inter-connectedness matters more than our disconnectedness. At least that is what I perceive as her goal from her nature.

I am truly fascinated by Sorensen's art production. It seems like she never stopped. Her inspiration finding its roots in nature, identity,poetry and memory have been her flashlight in her expression. Since the concepts she's dealing with are concepts with which we deal with consciously or unconsciously in our daily lives- I find it easy to relate with her work more than that of Chan's.

From: Sanctuary [2005]

From: Sanctuary [2005]

From: Frames of Memory [1998]

Lights at Dark: Chan's Nightmare

As a small child, whenever I stayed at my grandmothers home I had difficult time sleeping. Her house was near a highway and car lights would hit the trees in front of my room's window. In those silent nights I would see reflections and various shapes on the white, empty walls of my grandmother's house. Seeing reflections of what's happening outside the window would remind me that I'm safe as long as I stayed in my grandmother's house.

The Hirshorn Museum for Realisms Pt. II had Paul Chan's 1st Light piece displayed at the end of the exhibition. It was beautiful...I remember standing there watching the reflections from a window somewhere invisible. The whole exhibition was based on how one perceives reality and how we differentiate from non-reality. Chan's window provides room for unlimited possibilities all beyond expectation, showing tools of daily life pass by...to an unknown space.As it turns out, Paul Chan's 1st Light is in remembrance of the victims of the September 11. His 7 Lights show expresses his boundless concept of outer space, reality and unpredictable expectations.

In a more bizarre way, Paul Chan explores possibilities of distorting classic art pieces through changing their contexts. As we studied in class, he works on Caravaggio's Fruit Basket resting on the edge of a wall. Just like in 7 Lights, he floats everything in the basket (including basket as well), providing the religious context of The Rapture.

Though all his works somehow look comforting to me, it is clear that his intention is to get his viewers into thinking. His work has a pessimistic and somewhat disturbing nature, almost like nightmare, while I perceive them in a dreamy fashion.

Glitterbest et. JBlake: From Graffiti to "Time-based Painting"

A true Washingtonian, Jeremy Blake came to experience the rich and vibrant culture D.C. has to offer. As he sees it New York and London were always hot topics for Washingtonian kids. Then there was the art and the cultural arena of Washington DC where works to and from New York would find themselves in the exhibition halls in downtown DC.

From a more visual art perspective, his works look like works of a rebellious school kid distorting his vision of reality through his colored oil crayons. He achieves the same goal through his use of media tools. His use of vivid colors remind me safe of a safer variety of graffiti art. Since the graffiti is respected for requiring a)skillful drawings b) unusual location. Graffiti is considered as an art crime, for they invade the city walls while they become source of inspiration for some people. For me it is this part of his work that I see as poetic.

Having a brief background in graffiti art, I see his work through a different lens. Seeing these images reflected on the walls and see their transition will probably make me feel very excited. I really want to use this method in my project. Glowing, diffusing colors with upbeat rhythms will no wonder bring about a good end-product.

A Graffiti in Istanbul

After Effects Assignment 1: Chapters 1,2 & 3

After effects Chapter 1 and 2:

Anchor point, scale, rotation and opacity. Simple 3D Rotation
Trial 1:

Something went wrong during compression and this video ended up being 4 seconds long.

Trial 2: Travel into darkness and back

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Stan Brakhage: A Man With A Vision

After class, I decided to look at his other works and I was most impressed by Dog Star Man. Over imposing images of nature and moon and volcanic eruption and changing the colors of the imagery created an apocalyptic image in my head and the movie started to look more like a horror movie with the sound effects used.

His editing techniques allowed him to layer and de-color his footage. His imagery follows an unpredictable rhythm that captures your attention and when viewed in a dark environment can draw you into the vivid colors and motion of the patterns. I only wished that Dante's Quartet had some sounds which would have made me follow the sequence a little better. Black Ice did not really require any audio for I found it had a stronger sense of depth to it.

His efforts in bringing such diverse imagery should be celebrated. Specially without use of Final Cut Pro, After Effects and other editing tools we take for granted.

PUPILAR W/ DOG STAR MAN BY STAN BRAKHAGE from pupil on Vimeo.