video

Opening Night

As soon as the work was placed in context within the disused retail space it ceased being an idea and became a reality. All of our thoughts and feelings coalesced to become the exhibit itself.

Because of the nature of the project, we required somewhere for the people experiencing the work first hand to record their thoughts, this then led to the inclusion of a table in the space. The table itself alone means nothing but when placed alongside the enclosure, it becomes a communal space where people interact, discussing the work and ultimately documenting their experience for us.

To facilitate this documentation process we supplied a prescribed medium in which to record their thoughts of the experience. We chose 'post-its'. The simple, baggage free, aesthetics of the post-it seemed like a perfect fit to the Locus/Oubbliette, we wanted the whole experience to be free-form and the immediate usability of these ubiquitous objects contributed to the artwork as a whole better than any interview ever could.

Despite the simplicity of this method of information gathering we realised that for people to participate in the exercise that we would have to 'get the ball rolling' and placed the first two post-its where we wanted the cloud of responses to appear. Before long the ice was broken, and whatever inhibitions that may have existed to prevent people from participating were gone, and because we had already given people the building blocks, the visual instructions or invitation to add to the wall, they never at any point required our assistance or asked for our permission. The result is an easily understandable and highly visual record of emotional responses to the work.

The foot traffic of the room began to exhibit a pattern soon after the first person entered the box, first you would see people eager to look through the holes, often immediately after this a conversation would arise...
... and then people would approach the wall to document their experience.

The role of the table then began to take on a new significance, we knew this would happen but we never envisaged it becoming a counterpoint to the enclosure itself. In the box you are isolated, confined - prohibited from interacting with one another. Around the table however, the human interaction which you were deprived of is encouraged by the table. It becomes a meeting place, a hang out - a haunt.And finally we end the night with the refined collection of emotive terms and phrases - far more valuable to us than questionnaires etc. could ever be as it is a physical remnant of the night, a tangible reminder which has become enshrined in our memories. Its form is immediately recognizable and the information contained within is as succinct as it possibly could be. As good as these notes are, they only tell part of the story of the night, we began not knowing each other, we began with feelings of anxiety toward entering the box, we began with a feeling of unease towards viewing people in such a way, but we also began armed with the knowledge of what this piece could do and we left the work all the better for it.

Entitled ...

after various discussions into what the installation should be named, we have settled upon; 'The Locus/Oubliette'. this title came about when we were drafting text to go alongside the work, something which we found to be a cumbersome practice that has the potential to do more harm than good in regards to the experience of the exhibit. We have deliberately been sparing with the information given to visitors of the work because we did not want to 'unpack' its meaning for fear of destroying or damaging the theoretical underpinning of the piece.

Aestheic Consideration

people have mentioned the similarities between the visual language of our concept and the aesthetic of military pillboxes. Although not intended, there is an undeniable similarity which needs consideration as to whether or not we wish to take this further, or distance our product from certain 'undesirable' connotations which come with the aesthetic.

Historic precident - Dan Graham

This work, entitled 'performance and stage set' by Dan Graham, consists of an audience and a cohort of musicians both facing a wall of two-way mirror. both the audience and the musicians can see each other and at the same time a wide angled camera is recording the entire room from behind the two groups of people - this is then displayed on a screen on the other side of the two way glass, meaning that they spectators can see themselves in reflection and a faint image of the entire room displayed behind the mirror. this means that the audience can - and must - view the musicians using the mirror instead of the usual way of looking directly at the musicians face.

Concept

part of the brief was to create a 'hide' or 'folly' to this end we have designed an enclosure which facilitates the observation of vulnerable parts of the body. the thinking behind it is that a person enters the box and becomes the focus of the public audience. View ports are dotted around the box in order for people to observe the subject, with or without the knowledge of the subject. in doing so the person within the box exposes parts of their body which they may not necessarily would want to show - certainly not in such a way which invites scrutiny.

Ambiguity

carrying on from the '21st century portrait' film we came across the film of david beckham sleeping, again it was about making the audience take a closer look at a modern day icon. by sowing david beckham in a state of vulnerability you humanize him and show that he is no different to anyone else. the most important thing we took from this video however was the thumbnail image of the video which was somewhat misleading - it was a close cropped image of beckhams arm and the folds of his skin - the image itself was highly ambiguous which meant you had to concentrate on it in order to deduce its actual subject matter.

Intitial Research

we began by looking into previous work centered around observing people. during this process we came across the work: 'a 21st century portrait' by Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno. the work itself is a film centered around Zinedine Zidane - a footballer who at the time was considered the most influential player in the world. as the title would suggest zidane is the only subject or 'character' in the film, and was interesting to us as it shows how we view things in different ways - and that in watching a football match in which Zidane is only a small part you see a football match but when you watch a player, you see a man, you see what that man does, how he reacts in certain situations and thus you gain a better understanding of who that man is.

Subject

As a our object of study we have chosen people - what is more "everyday"than you or I?

Introductions

1. Collaboration Project

On Lookout: observing the everyday

Project brief

This project is intended to encourage risk and experimentation in your creative ideas. It should enable you to test and consider your research methods, development and production of a solution as a collaborative group. It should also challenge you in how you manage contrasting forms of knowledge for your practice

Primary knowledge and inspiration is achieved through the observation and experience of things. We can gain understanding through this activity but how do we then document and communicate this knowledge? This knowledge can be technically, qualitively, quantitatively or narratively communicated. It can be textual or visually represented - metaphor, reportage, analogy, narrative etc.

Your task is to merge experience and knowledge so bridging the gap between the activities of our everyday environment and knowledge in such a way that we will be able to gain a new way of seeing the everyday.

Man has observed nature and gained knowledge, so by turning on our own urban (peri/semi/hardcore) environment, what do we see? By considering and applying rural/nature tactics of observing, tending and protecting to the activities of the urban environment we should be able to produce new knowledge of our everyday existence.

Working in groups you are required to design and construct a “hide” and a “folly” which are vehicles or devices to observe and draw attention to the everyday. These ‘structures’ should act as the focus for the observation activities and should be carefully considered in terms of function and aesthetics. Your device can be located where you choose and observe what you want but this may require negotiation (and ethics). The knowledge gained from the device should then be communicated in a method and format, which is stimulating and informative.

In your development work you should respond to the following themes:

Observation – Function – Knowledge – Emotion – Narrative – Time – Aesthetics - Materials.