Time: Metropolis Installation Reflection

FINAL CITY VIDEO: https://vimeo.com/195794683
FINAL NATURE VIDEO: https://vimeo.com/195772862

SHORT CLIP OF FINAL: img_0738

TIME REFLECTION

When I was given the assignment on multiple perspectives, I decided to collect quotes from friends about a dance on Halloween weekend. For the most part, everyone felt a similar, boring vibe and it was not what they expected even though there was appetizers, lights, music, and dancing. After collaborating with my peers in class to combine the three of our ideas, we made a quick installation that had colorful paper on a mannequin and on the walls to represent beams of light that were at all three of our events.

After researching and sharing installation artists with the class, the next assignment was to brainstorm and sketch different ideas that incorporate multiple perspectives. I experimented with the idea of lost belongings and where they might go as well as other ideas like setting up the room with vines to feel one with nature or separated from the environment we live in every day; the city. I also liked the idea of making a collaborative installation so I worked with a concept inspired by the artist, Andy Golub. I formatted the mannequins in a circle facing each other with a space for viewer’s to go inside. In the middle of the mannequins I would have a table with paint so viewer’s could paint on the mannequins however they’d like. Similar to Golub’s work, this installation sketch is a form of self-expression.

As I continued to experiment with different installation ideas, I liked the idea of separating from the environment we are in. I looked at more installations with a similar concept and found that the use of mirrors was often incorporated to help translate this to viewers. I decided to create an installation with one short film of nature and on the other wall a short film of the city. In the center of the room I would have a mirror facing both walls. As my viewers walk around the installation, they would hear different perspectives of nature and the city as they become a part of the scene that they are viewing, as shown in the mirror.

When I further developed this idea, I realized that the mirrors were not needed and the films felt too far from one another to compare and contrast. I later decided to have the two films playing on opposite corners of the room, having a total of 4 videos playing at once (see three views drawing sheet). The purpose of having the same two videos played twice was that each video has a narrative of multiple perspectives playing in the background. To show how separate the city and nature is from one another, the narratives of the city is played in corner 1 and the narratives of nature is played in corner 2. I timed the recordings so that they would play one at a time as the next one played a few seconds after the one played previously. The opposite corner effect forces my viewers to walk around the room as I utilized the space to show that even though each scene is different, you can find similar events in either one, such as themes of togetherness, peace, and connectivity.As the videos are played, viewers can see this connection while watching the videos simultaneously. Although in my final presentation my idea didn’t work out perfectly, the echo of the voice added an empowering vibe of how each person felt about the topics discussed and how my viewer’s really had to pay attention because of the low volume of some of the computers used.