MAPMAPMAP

As promised, an update into my adventures in video mapping with Jaygo Bloom at the VRC. The two day workshop saw the small group of us (three in total) video map onto cardboard boxes in the Centerspace. Thoroughly enjoyable and a chance to get a hands on experience with some of the technology which makes these visual spectacles possible. There's a lot of "visual indulgence" in video mapping, as it's often employed by VJ's but when applied in an installation based environment it can heighten the visual language of the piece being shown.

First off, apologies for the poor quality video and image, I was a little ill-prepared and only captured images using my iPhone. However a fellow video mapper at the workshop brought a SLR, so I will update with links when he puts up the images. Quality of image aside, the above video demonstrates the high level of interaction between the physical space and projected environment. At this juncture in my Masters I see this as a method of contextualising modernism within the present and giving it relevance using the technologies of the "future".

My first semester has been dominated by an ever broadening attempt to "understand" modernism, but one must draw a line between looking at the Smithsons and dissecting The Communist Manifesto. Modernism commands contextualisation within socioeconomic history but yet when you look at many of Gillespie Kidd & Coia's buildings the movement is applied as a style. It seems as the movement is diluted down from Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier the utopian agenda is adapted and altered, which is why I refer to it as a "style" rather than a movement. We did have our moments of glory with developments such as Robin Hood Gardens but I feel we often misappropriate the values of modernism to a building which carries the distinct style. This is very much a thought-process in motion, and perhaps when I wake-up tomorrow and gaze upon my pictures of St Bride's I will lament on this notion.

I have digressed slightly, but my post still relates to the application of video mapping in my practice. If anything it can be used to highlight the irony and contradictions within the modernist movement, specifically Scotland's attempts triumphed by Gillespie, Kidd & Coia.

For my contribution to the video mapping I created a 3D object which was lit in Maya. When mapped on to a white plinth it was gradually illuminated with a light that does not exist. The creation of a fiction within a virtual environment can serve two purposes in my work: juxtaposing reality against the forgotten fictions of modernism and the creation of a narrative which only exists within the viewer's pre-conceived notions of the history of modernism.

I'm on to something, I just don't yet know exactly what it is.

Links, links, links:-

http://www.antivj.com/ (video mapping artists extraordinaire)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamvlog/sets/72157625462044176/ (my Flickr set of the video mapping workshop)

Quality of Light

I had an excellent tutorial with Jaygo Bloom last week, who is currently showing at the DCA - part of the Discovery Exhibition. I discussed my interest in creating work within virtual environments, with possible extension into his field of video mapping onto real objects. It was refreshing to get the perspective of a practicing artists who works successfully both commercially and in respect of his own practice. Jaygo re-affirmed the importance of the idea, and the means by which this is realised should be an afterthought (considered, of course).

That leads me to my focus for this year. "Focus", a term I'm constantly banding about almost in a state of fear that if I "loose focus" I will implode. I'm never short of ideas, just putting those ideas into practice almost seems sacrosanct, and therefore I hold off until I know my focus. That said, most of my 3rd Year in TBADF was spent pondering, so I tend to draw more and keep momentum through reading, blogging, etc. I have to strike a happy medium between research and practical work.

Last year I enjoyed working from plans of the Hutchesontown C Development, it allowed me to develop a "relationship" with a building that no longer exists. As such, I think that's a good starting point for any practical work, establishing a connection with my subject matter.

At the point in time, my focus has been drawn to the churches of Gillespie Kidd & Coia. There's an interesting juxtaposition between the employment of modernist architecture to re-invigorate the liturgy and the subsequent dissolution of the modernist movement. The socialist ideals of modernism also seem at odds with their employment in religious structures. I'm still not sure if I'm entirely comfortable with the notion of modernism and churches - in particular GK&Cs application of a "style" rather than an "ideal". I sound like a purist, and give GK&C less credit than they're a due, their application of the "style" is beautifully informed.

St. Bride's in East Kilbride has to be my favourite of GK&C churches, an ominous exterior downplays the even more striking interior. The light is channelled through the thick walls of exposed brickwork in a beautifully considered design. The consideration of light, especially when employed to draw focus to (for example) the altar in a place of worship, seems central to CK&C buildings. Modernism prioritised function over form, and as such, the consideration of lighting was a major focus.

Lighting, a crucial component of my Degree Show work, but something, surprisingly, I did not put too much weight on. As such, to truly experience how the light interacts with some existing modernist structures I'm planning a trip to East Kilbride, to visit St. Bride's. From there I can start to develop the idea beyond sketch-book drawings with photographs and video.

Links:-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsalib/ (GSA's Photograph Archive on Flickr)