For this project, we were supposed to create some kind of “lo-fi” digital image or video in the form of an installation.  I decided to gather a bunch of digital cameras, place them sequentially around the crit space, point them at the previous camera’s flip out screen, and project the resulting video on the crit room’s wall.  So I had one camera looking at part of the room.  Another camera a few feet away was looking at the first camera’s flip out screen.  Another camera was looking at the second camera’s flip out screen, etc. until I had the last camera hooked up to the projector which displayed the very degraded “original” video from the first camera.

Thanks to Patrick LeMieux for being the subject of the documentation video.

Here is the original project assignment:

PROJECT FOUR
Image based installation based on projection and exploring lo-fi digital imaging aesthetics

CONCEPTUAL OBJECTIVE
In this last project you will take the image off of the screen and put it into 3 dimensional spaces either with projections or hanging an accumulation of printed images. We will also explore the idea of lo-fi using devices like old camcorders and digital cameras, analog cameras, VCRs, scanners etc. as a source for image collection. Part of the lure of digital is its promise of perfection. In this brief time we will look at the “mistakes” of digital and use those as a potential source of inspiration for making work

You will work alone on this project. The content or theme of the project must have something to do with projection and/or degradation of an image.

TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES

• Video projection
• Alternative input devices
• Installation

FORMAT
You can use iMovie, FCP, and Photoshop and Flash to bring together your images for this project. The images will be projected in a space of your choice. Another option would be to print out images and then hang them in such a way so as to create a space. The idea is not to hang a set of pictures, but to create and installation/immersive space. If anyone has questions on what I am asking for, please do not hesitate to contact me. You will turn in two DVDs, a data DVD (with an .mov file) with your process work and an authored DVD that works on DVD player. You must also document your final piece with either video or still image.

IMAGE COLLECTION
You will generate the content/images for this project from found sources such as television, old VCR tapes, video collection, images that you find on the web, etc. You may also take images or video and experiment with removing digital information as part of the process of this project.

Think about or ask yourself the following as preparation or during this process:

• Think about “digital” versus analog ways of both making and looking images. What do you perceive as the difference? Does each process have its own aesthetic?
• Think about the experiences that you have had with art that involves video and projection. How were those experiences different than just watching a movie at the theater or on television?
• What is my content and how does it relate to theme of projection and degradation?
• What kinds of research or preparation do I need to do for the content I have chosen?
• What materials can I experiment with to convey my content?
• What equipment will I use or experiment with to both capture and project my images?
• How is the formal part of this project connected to the conceptual theme?
• What software will be the best tool for the content of my project
• How can I use the technology to enhance the setting that I wish to create?
• How will I organize or arrange my materials in a three dimensional space?

INTEGRATION—PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

This is not a one take affair. You have a set of challenges that you will need to work with. The first is deciding upon the content or idea of what you will make. The next is finding the equipment and time for experimentation. The last and in some ways also the first is the construction of a space. How do want people to interact with the images in the space? What do you want them to take home with them? How will your audience be transformed by the experience? After you have shot/collected all of your footage, WATCH IT AS A PROJECTION. You may need to come into the lab and actually play it on the instructor station looking at it projected on the screen. Play with idea of images in space. You may need to use the little space outside of Jack’s office to try out your ideas before you actually construct the piece. Be sure that the visual framework that you are creating best contextualizes your content. Like everything you have done this far, play with this idea.

Lastly and this is part of why we are in school, show and discuss you ideas with one another. This is what we do during critique.