Final Blog Post

1. Listening experiment:
https://soundcloud.com/user684798532/joelaskowski_sound
recorded sounds
2012
0:42
A sound clip that utilizes the sounds in Final Cut Pro X. Using simple effects such as coughing, footsteps, and shuffling I try and recreate a soundscape that mirrors what one would here walking through the halls of the Wilson art building

2. Chroma Key:
https://vimeo.com/63950724
untitled
2012
video
0:08
This is a Chroma Key project that was a collaboration between me and Alex. In this project we play with the idea of perspective and make a funny video involving me running from water in a drinking fountain.

3. Animated Gif:
See blog post below
Iron Guardian
2013
Animated Gif
An animated gif that I made. Using a picture of Iron Man I added about 28 different layers to create an effect that made it look like the eyes of his mask were lighting up.

4. Found Footage
https://vimeo.com/59134370
Good Vibrations
2013
video
1:56
A video using found footage from the video called "The Nature of Sound." In this video I play with clips and rearrange/repeat them in order to point out the annoying parts and make the viewer feel uncomfortable at times.

5. Midterm Self Portrait and Self Portrait Redux
https://vimeo.com/64550341
video
2013
1:00
In this video I experiment with found footage as well gif style art and music. Recreating psychedelic imagery of what could go on in ones head while smoking by themselves they may tend to reflect more inward not showing the viewer what is really going on inside them.

6. Multi-Channel
https://vimeo.com/64354362
Ashes In An Hourglass
2013
video
8:21
Using three separate videos I created a multi-channel video experiment. Commenting on voyeurism, and the act of smoking as a measurement for life and time. The title "Ashes In An Hourglass" refers to this effect of with every drag of smoke time passes, similar to an hourglass where every second a grain of sand falls.

7. 60 Second Shot
Paranoid Nightmare
https://vimeo.com/64549666
2013
video
1:12
In this video I play with the idea of nightmares and the fear of being followed or chased.

8. Final Project
https://vimeo.com/64351014
Recurring Nightmare
2013
video
2:40
This final project revisits the idea that was used in project 7. I explore the idea of slowing down time and using color manipulation to deepen the dream like feeling and actually show the thing that has been chasing the protagonist.  

Wiki Entries:
3 Transitions (1973) Peter Campus
Semiotics of the Kitchen
paolo čerić

Tech Demo

Today I gave a tech demo that went over the effects and techniques that I would be using in my final project. Basically i will be using speed as one of the key points in my project. Slowing down the speed at key points in my project will create tension with the viewer that I am trying to achieve. Also the use of the color board and also exposure will play an important role. Overlapping sound effects during these key important times will help the piece all come together.

Artist Presentation

Douglas Gordon

• Born in Glasgow on September 20th 1966
• Currently lives and works in Berlin Germany
• Education: Glasgow School of Art 1984-1988, Slade School of Fine Art London 1988-1990

24 Hour Psycho:
http://www.wat.tv/video/24-hours-psycho-bref-extrait-41plb_2tg2r_.html
Gordon takes Hitchcock's classic film "Psycho" and slows down the entire movie so that it lasts 24 hours. While my entire piece will not be slowed down to this effect I will incorporate this technique within my project. 

Final Proposal

For my final project I would like to expand on the idea that I started with my 60 second shot piece "Paranoid Nightmare." I would like to keep the setting at night but change the environment to out by Meadow brook Mansion. I am very obsessed with the "Slender Man" urban legend, In which a tall man wearing a suit with no face pursues you until you die. In my other video you never saw what was chasing me if anything at all. I think incorporating an antagonist to the project would give it more depth. I would also like to add camera static and white noise to the piece to give it the same allusion that The Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity had. For my Artist I would like to choose Douglas Gordon and his piece "24 Hour Psycho." In this piece he plays the entire Hitchcock film Psycho in slow motion. While I do not want my entire work to be in slow motion I do recognize the effect that it can have on the project. I believe that slowing down certain frames at key points can build on that illusion of the dream in which we have nightmares where we are being chased by something but cant seem to move at normal speed.  

Multiscreen

Perspective is always something that has interested me very much, especially when it comes to video art. With that being said the act of smoking is also something that tends to come up alot in my work. The project idea that I have set in my mind now will involve 3-4 screens. They will all be focused on me at different angles and one will be focused inside an ash tray. I intend to smoke a cigarette in front of all the cameras. As time goes by I will ash into the ash tray and you will see that from a different perspective stretching into a different monitor from a top down view. Im shooting for around 6-8 minutes depending on how long it takes me to smoke. I also intend to loop the piece at the end so that it constantly plays. The biggest challenge that I think I will face is setting up the cameras to a point where they will capture different angles but not see each other. In other words no cameras will be seen in frame. Although I think that I may also want to try a couple shots with the cameras in frame to see what that looks and feels like. For my screen support I intend to just use the monitors in the class room. I have worked on a multiscreen project before and they worked just fine. In order to pull the project off I believe the subject/content matter needs to be exactly synced I hope that the free ware program does this efficiently of I may have to change my idea.

Untitled by Joe Laskowski

00:56
Digital Video

The Roving Eye

Kent Dorn, Fugitive (Blue With Cigarette) 2008, mixed media on canvas

Andrew Guenther, Will to Change Things, 2007, mixed media on board

Usually when I think of portraits I tend to think of pictures of real people, or at least pictures that resemble real people. I chose both of these pieces because they confused me at first and made me think about what a portrait could actually be. When looking at Dorn's piece Fugitive I was repulsed. What stared back into my eyes was something that resembled a melting corpse. The piece was 3D in a sense in that it actually rose from the canvas. The work consisted of piles of blue and black mush, cut out pictures of two eyes, a mouth, and pins. Andrew Guenther's work was very similar to Dorn's in that it also was very chaotic and dissembled . Will to Change Things consists of an outline of a human male plastered with what appeared to be brown paint and glue. Random objects are suspended around the figure with sticks, string, and glue. I noticed sunglasses, slippers, cigars, and lotto tickets folded carefully between the teeth of a comb.

After reading The Roving Eye I thought of two questions that professor Goody posed: "What makes a portrait genuine? What constitutes artificiality?" I began to read the artist statements for both artists and things began to make sense. Dorn's work tends to focus on exploring a lifestyle that would be played out in epic survival tales. With this statement in mind I thought of the actually meaning of the word "Fugitive." The picture that I saw may not have resembled the man itself but it certainly embodied how one in his position would feel. Guenther's piece was different in that I found more meaning in the portrait itself then in the title. Looking at the items individually meant nothing but when I started to put them together I got a feeling that I was looking at an old relative. I made a connection with my uncle who wore similar sunglasses, similar slippers, and loved to gamble. After having these realizations I walked away with a better understanding of how portraits could display more then a persons facial characteristics.

Chosen Art Work

Iron Guardian (2013)
283kb
Gif
A gif I created using multiple layers. I built a layer of light that enhanced the eyes and made the picture come to life.


http://vimeo.com/59134370

Good Vibrations(2013)
1:56
Found footage movie
Using found footage from an old science video I create utter chaos with whistles and bells.

https://soundcloud.com/stream

Sound Experiment(2013)
0:42
Sound Clip
Using sound clips I try to re-create the common background noises that one would hear in a building. From footsteps to sneezing and coughing the listener is asked to close their eyes and imagine that they are present in that situation.

https://vimeo.com/59417556
Chroma Key(2013)
 0:08
mv4 movie
A collaboration between Alex Schawlbe and myself. We created a short narrative about what it would be like to be 3 inches tall.

Fair Use and Appropriation

Appropriation is one of those fine lines that seems to be walked across everyday. Being an artist, musician, and student I probably break copyright laws almost every other day. When I am working on a project for school I usually don't think twice about where my material is coming from. I don't stop and say "I wonder if the person who created this Jpeg is going to care if I bastardize it in Photoshop." The same can be said if I am working on a video project. I don't stop and wonder if Paramount pictures is going to be knocking on my door because they saw my video project that had footage from the movie Terminator int it. Its just a certain thing we take for granted and to be honest as art students we are allowed to. As long as we are using copyrighted material for projects and homework we get a free pass from copyright laws. Just don't expect to sell said work of art after you graduate. I find this to be a little unsettling because if I were to use someone else's idea in a paper I would get kicked out of school for plagiarism. Where exactly is the line drawn? What makes an idea/thought written on paper different from an idea/thought created through media?

The first article by Negativeland brought up some interesting points as well. One point I really liked was the idea of theft out of necessity. How is a small time artist/musician expected to get approval and pay copyright fees if they sample hundreds to thousands of clips. The answer is they just simply won't. Music I feel like plays by its own set of rules anyway. DJ and electronic musicians rip off tons of copyrighted material and get away with it, sometimes sampling full on choruses from other songs. However if I were to walk on stage with a rock band and try to pass off the chorus to Hey Jude as my own work I would get my pants sued off. In that aspect I feel like music copyright laws are simply a little biased by genre.