Visiting park at mid day

I went to the Washington square park during mid day on thursday. It was filled with mostly locals. I immediately noticed that the texture of the paths varied on texture depending on how close it was to the most populated area.

I started focusing in on the poles. I noticed that the poles furthest away from the fountain connected were broken and jagged. Which created an unwelcoming environment. While poles closer to the fountain/more populated areas were more tamed and well kept, which made me feel more welcomed in the space

unnamed-7 unnamed-3To the left is off to the side where not a lot of people are and the right is near the fountain. 

 

First day of research

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Visited the park with everyone in the group. We explored the park a bit to learn more about the different possible texture that can be found. At first we just talked about simple textiles like wood, stone, bricks… etc but soon we expanded on our textures and included temperature, airflow and different movements of objects/liquids as well.

 

Came up with the research topic of: How does sensation and texture affect the mood.

 

Final product

Lina

 

https://youtu.be/xYZSg0c6L4Y Is the video

I wanted to convey how space changed as my mood changed, and how my emotional association with the space changed the feeling of the space.

When the assignment was given, the space my mind automatically pictured was my dorm bed. It was a space I spent the most time in.

The first picture represents when I first moved in. I was the first to move in on the 20th, far before my suitemates or my roommate. In away, I really was alone in the vast sea of parents and freshmen. I used two cardigans and a $9 pillow because I didn’t have sheets, but I was happy to just have a space I could relax in. Especially after orientation. Which is why picture looks more relaxed. The tint used is green to convey comfort, and the pose is laid back. To the left of the photo, the cardigan almost makes me look like I’m melting into the bed.

The second picture is about the middle of the week, I had spent the week or two, trying to stay connected with a friend. After writing an email or text to them, there was always a lag. Of course, they were busy but that wait for me was agonizing. Which is why I am sitting and look deep in thought. The color tone of the picture changes, it becomes a cooler green. The blanket also looks like a blab rather than something to cozy into.

The third picture is showing the end of the week, when I started feeling more agitated. How I felt more alone but also weary of waiting and writing to my friend. I am laying back down to show the decline and the tiredness.

The last picture is of the end of the week. I had given up on trying to stay friends with this person and to represent that my back is turned from the viewer. The color is completely in cool tones.

And the size of the pictures are steadily decreasing, this was to represent how I started to feel more and more frustrated in the exchange, and how that affected how I perceived the space of the bed. It made the bed feel smaller, and less welcoming, and a stressful place to be in.

The video narrative uses photos takes during the shoot that was cut from the final product. I used different length clips and moments of black out to help the rhythm of the story. I had to go into photoshop and make sure all the photos were the same size and not upside down, while editing the narrative.

Learning Photoshop and Premiere, that be it at the most basic level, was a challenge in itself. There were times I panicked, and thought I had to start from the beginning, and there were times I actually had to start from scratch.

editing on Premiere Pro

While editing I realized that not everything was the same size. I kept looking at the screen and wondering why the boarders would change between every 5 pictures or so.

I went to Photoshop from Premiere Pro to edit the size from 43 in by some obscene number to 28 by 17–ish. And the boarders are now consecutive.

Also when I dropping photos to Premiere, some would import upside down. So I had to go to photoshop again to fix that.

I didn’t want to do transitions because I felt that the jump cuts were more raw feeling.

Note to self: don’t panic.

Editing

I have decided on an order, so now comes editing. We went over photo shop in class–but I ended up doing a lot of google/lynda-ing. It…didn’t really helped. I kept having trouble moving the edited photo to the final plane sheet– it kept just copying and pasting the original. I saved it as it’s own file and copied and pasted it, not quite sure if that’s the write way of doing it but it worked.

I scrapped the idea of speech bubbles, because it was a bit too literal. I didn’t think it was doing anything for the mood of the piece.

Color was  a large part of editing. The photos go from warm to cool, to show my emotions going from feeling peaceful to feeling alone. Simply put a visual representation of indifferent to sad.

Ordering

So originally I wanted to used three photos, but when I re-read the assignment it said four. Which was a good thing that my roommate and I went back in, because a photo from that session might will be the fourth photo.Screen Shot 2015-09-03 at 9.16.28 AM

(This is the original order I wanted it in)

Another order I’ve considered

 

Screen Shot 2015-09-04 at 9.54.08 PM

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But I didn’t think it conveyed the sense of loneliness, more–boredom.

Then I come across this order,

Screen Shot 2015-09-03 at 9.16.28 AM

But inserting the photo below between the last two. I think it conveys loneliness and impatience more.

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photos

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My roommate and I had a mini photo shoot, and took a couple of photos a few days ago. Pictured are a couple of them– I’ve already gone through and picked ones I wanted to edit.

Yesterday we went in and took a bit more because I wanted this angleunnamed-1

Photo inspiration

 

 

Félix González-Torres-untitled (portrait of marcel brient)

 

This is “Untitled (Portrait of Marcel Brient)” by Felex Gonzalez, I realized that I was going more towards loneliness and I felt lonely in my own bed–I can’t relate to losing a loved one to AIDS. But I can relate to being incredibly sad and alone in your own bed.

Screen Shot 2015-09-01 at 7.54.58 AM

 

How I felt just b being stuck on the computer for entertainment, and connect with humanity.

Screen Shot 2015-09-01 at 8.46.49 PMScreen Shot 2015-09-01 at 8.44.29 PM

 

When no one wrote back, I felt like I was ignored–even though I knew my friends were busy. I knew they we’re: at work, at orientation, or at class. But I could help but feel like puling a tantrum after the 3d day.

Screen Shot 2015-09-01 at 8.42.30 PM

 

After a while I just felt stupid, that other people had other things–larger things to worry about than their friends not texting back. And it reminded me of this art work.

Concept map for Project one

concept map + notes

 

I added some notes and summaries here and there for my concept map of time. From time I went to the space I’ve spent the most time in the city–my dorm bed. How it went from being a little retreat to a place where, more than anywhere else, alone. Id just spend time and waste time alone on my computer waiting for responses from people.
At first I thought that I felt so sad because I didn’t have sheets, but when I got the sheets I still felt alone. I realized it was because I was alone in my dorm room, and also alone because I was losing a close friend on the other end of the response

 

What is time?

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In summery what I wrote is that– time is the measurement of the passing moment, and that it’s only missed when it’s passed. It’s only valued when it’s gone.

Adding on: That it feels so much longer when it’s taken up by vacancy: lagging time, waiting for a friend, being unamused, emptiness. But it feels that much shorter when it’s taken up by something: laughter, entertainment, feeling connected.