connorchen-saddog8

[connorchen-saddog8]

Proposal feedback

feedback: What does activating the screening mean? How do you emulate the brain rotting feeling of doom scrolling. An act that is hurting your brain but an action you are physically in control of, and prolonging this psychological experience. What is the active, interactive part of it that I can include in the install to activate the space.

Yvette mentioned an artist duo: Eva and Franco Mattes

Materiality of the screen interacting with the body

also, this show:

ALL I KNOW IS WHATS ON THE INTERNET

[connorchen-saddog8]

PROGRESS on dog suit

again da suit is to film the sad dog videos, one of the consistent motifs that will be in my work. kinda have it more figured out now.

Sad dog is the flaneur. Sad dog is the silent wandering ghost. Sad dog is the person with headphones on in the cafe because is he is too scared to talk to anyone. Sad dog looks out the window on the train. Sad dog is depressed. No longer the con man taping manifestos around George street and harassing the general public to “become a sad dog”. He’s unemployed. He’s lost all direction in life. He will cry if someone slightly raises their voice at him. He doesn’t think he’s sad, or happy, or much of anything. He’s gotten to that point in depression where he’s more of a floating camera than a person. An observer. He does mundane things. Everyday things that everyone does. He is painfully awkward and out of place. Like it’s his first time on earth. He doesn’t talk. He doesn’t have a job, he is a bum. He’s just going around doing things to fill his day before he thinks about killing himself. He’s harmless, He’s not really that said. He’s just existing. He’ll be fine.

i didn’t mean for that to sound like a heh… i’m fine… like i’m 14 and this is deep way idk

the costume will just be a made head, fur gloves, boots maybe, and a tail.

started with cardboard to construct structure for the head

fleshing it out with more tape and cardboard and some batting

looks a bit weird and dragon loke but the fur will go on better

adding white fur and black mesh.

[connorchen-saddog8]

Week 3 studio reflection

Goals for next week / this weekend:

sketch design for sad dog suit

start making the suit

make two more videos (friends fandub, ghillie suit nature documentary / csgo moments)

write a draft artist statement / rationale

finish proposal document

In the morning we did a few guides on writing artist statements for our works:

working titles: SAD DOG FUNNY MOMENTS COMPILATION (TRY NOT TO LAUGH) 2025

During group consult with Julie, she suggested the artist Gillian Wearing, in relatioin to masks and identities, avatars etc.

[connorchen-saddog8]

Created one video idea. LITTLE JOHN WAITS FOR THE BUS

again, thinking about intuitive making. Just making whatever random idea comes to mind.

[connorchen-saddog8]

Consultation about project 1

Talked to harry about my idea and things I would need for install, the main take aways are:

sad dog persona aspect - furry influence, but also mascots in media. Harry emailed me a helpful list of other media that involve mascots. ( i was mainly inspired by my previous work, BE A SAD DOG and David Attwood's Human Shit)

thinking about consistency. consistency not only through the motifs of the sad dog, unspoken dialogue / captions and omnichord synth sounds, but also in visual aspects, such as vertical / horizontal filming.

Ideally, for install it would be a blank room full of monitors and screens. different screens for every video, audio playing out loud, unsynced, creating a sensory overload, overwhelming, captivating experience. "activating" the screening. Forcing you to pay attention? not to focus on any single one, but to BE there. Be in the room and all this shit is playing aroudn you. Possible locations are the install empty rooms, or the SCA gallery (for grad show only) or even a corridor.

However, most likely there won't be that many monitors available, Harry said at most 6-8. An alternative solution would be to use large projections, and projection map / create separate smaller videos in them. Possible locations are the lighting studios, or the other locations previously mentioned.

[connorchen-saddog8]

LIST OF VIDEO IDEAS

sad dog on da street (more sad and fursuit than BE A SAD DOG)

sad dog in the boxing ring (BW AND dramatic, slow mo)

family guy beautiful moments

little john waits for the bus

sad dog shops for groceries and makes a horrible dinner party

sad dog painting a wall white

sad dog falling off a hill in a grave yard

sad dog eating spaghetti

friends fan dub (ross: monica, i’m a trans woman. monica: oh but you’re so goddamn annoying. you would be bad trans woman rep. chandler: but does that not put trans people on a pedant al? if all trans people in media are saints, thag sets a model minority myth, and an unachievable standard for the layman to lay judgement upon trans women for. rachel: rhat is true, but i fear ross is too unredeemable a character, and it, in my opinion, will come off as villainizing the trans community instead. everyone besides ross: yeah ross, i don’t think you should be trans. ross: we were on a break! rachel: guys, i am a trans man. everyone: oh congratulations! thank you for telling us. come on, let’s go buy you a he/him badge. DISCLAIMER: look i just hate ross. and i love trans women. i’m trans. if u didn’t know. yeah. connor chen is a trans man! tell your mom that. actually don’t if she’s trans phobic. )

monkey bible zine

stereotypical youtuber blog but no sound. there is sound but the youtuber is just mouthing everything instead of speaking.

csgo flash bang effect in pedestrian / private home places

youtube poop broke back mountain / cut together different scenes

video of smoking a cigarette, dubbed over sound is loud train or synth

sad dog plays omnichord

use ghillie footage, some kind of big foot hunting documentary with csgo funny commentary

through lines are sad dog persona and sound motif of loud omnichord dissonant synth

and maybe the absence of spoken dialogue. it’s all captions ?

[connorchen-saddog8]

Who inspires me?

heath franco - absurd, lo-fi, humor, shoddy sets and costumes, repetition of words, words, words, words

slaughter beach dog - spoken word lyricism, folk like casual, how a guy who’s fine rhat their gf cheated on them would talk.

Movies: The Happening, punch drunk love - awkward dialogue

David Attwood - human shit - mascot photography, street

eric andre street interview

paul mccarthy - video

that one sca video show, two gay guys having sex. 虾粑粑

reading…..? what am i reading recently. my own comic? hahah . shut up.

[connorchen-saddog8]

hello, first blog update of 3rd year i think. for sem 1 project was caught between a compilation / reel of random video ideas i had, or a giant coffee tableesque book that incorporated swear issues and furry erotica (new interest in print media).

some mindmap activities:

decided to pursuit video idea

unspoken dialogue / inner dialogue, graphic quality of caption and sound design without words

through line of sad dog persona, intercut with other random / absurd video ideas

both video and also performance. being embarrassing and vulnerable to my core (my fursona) in public

plan for proposal

- fully finished little john video

- story board boxing video? / idea board, illustration

- plans for making sad dog fur suit

- idea list of sad dog videos

- install / engagement focused screening

past practices of dialogue from inanimate objects, talking to the universal / divine through impersonal awkward conversations. approaching the intimate, lustful, shameful and private through the mundanity of small talk.

ie. who loves mary, godlessplay, bent over by the machine, be a sad dog.

maybe stems from my self prophecising inability to talk to people.

also fondness of absurd concepts and how my work always turn out kind of funny? even if i don’t mean to.

the videos are intuitive? short, simple ideas, easy to make. most of the dialogue is jsut stream of conciousness. some sort of video diary?

also - focusing on install. making the screening experience not just a shitty cinema experience on plastic chairs, but also not just a screen people can walk past. how to engage audience into space and video? initial ideas of incoporating screen / monitor as sculptural form, each video on a different screen, a room with a million videos. i’m not looking for immersion or watch time, i’m looking for a way to activate the space.

[connorchen-saddog8]

[connorchen-saddog8]

what i've been up to

2nd year is officially finished... I do have some ideas for stuff I want to work on during the holidays, mainly just a bunch of absurd video ideas, but for now I'm working on a comic project.

Trying to embrace the trash aesthetic and inconsistencies of zine and underground print culture, I've been uploading a comic called SWEAR. I've had this idea for a comic when I was in highschool, and now im going for it with some retcons to make it less obvious it was an idea I had in highschool.

It's a furry romance / slice of life / biblical fan fiction? / surrealist / queer comic, detailing the life of PEAR, a trans girl just trying to get by, whose also the catalyst for the end of humanity. As well as her two friends, Samael, a cynical demon whose trying to aid in bringing the apocalypse, and Wormwood, a self righteous angel whose trying to stop it. It is very influenced by Scott pilgrim, cus im basic or whatevr.

With this project ive really been trying to just not care too much about the peripherals and just make, so all the inconsistencies and mistakes and plot holes and less than ideal drawing and writing are a part of it i suppose. I just wanna make the damn thing. Currently it is only available online, as i've been drawing them traditionally and scanning them to post online, but eventually I want to make some small zines containing a few issues and experiment with print.

Anywho, if you want to read it, find it at this tumblr blog: @swearcomic or read it on @extrasaddog8 on instagram

[connorchen-saddog8]

HELLO MARKS AND FEEDBACK ARE OUT

robyn gave me some artist readings: Isa Genzken

havent given it a proper read yet but just putting it here so i dont lose it !

[connorchen-saddog8]

BENT OVER BY THE MACHINE - Final Documentation

Installation view:

Photos:

Full digital video:

For progress and ideas / blogs, look at the rest of this blog! Everything related to project for will all be tagged under #bent over by the machine and #project 4 (they are tagged on this post too, simply click on those!)

Thank you!

[connorchen-saddog8]

Finished Video

Test installed today, everything basically done!

was thinking about it, and i think this piece of video art was a big inspiration

some install photos

[connorchen-saddog8]

quick blog post updating my project! working on the final sculpture, here’s a run down of the process

1. construct cardboard base, attach wire for structure

2. spray expanding foam

3. spray paint white

4. attach wires and dildos and condoms and wires and shit

5. apply gloss varnish

all that’s left is tomorrow i’ll use hot glue to glue in some of the last wires and stuff, and attach magnets for the back flap to close and i’ll test attach it. Leaving the two parts separated for now so i can easily insert the crt.

also! made the body pillow

made the image on photoshop by combining photos of old pcs, reference to the i have no mouth and i must scream game as i think this gooner would find am hot, a gooner reddit post and wendigoon’s rokobasilisk video… (i think the info hazard warning is funny)

i’ll stuff it tommirow

-@all that’s left is to make the video ! and i have thé script all ready , just have to get the tts voice, bit crush some moaning and add text graphics. test installing on monday.

[connorchen-saddog8]

i wanna have a baby and name it image or perhaps picture

[connorchen-saddog8]

for body pillow: get fabric transfer sheet and print industrial machine or computer on it

[connorchen-saddog8]

Mike Kelley and Paul McCarthy

Talking to Newell and he gave me some more artist inspirations: He particularly liked the garishness of the material of the sculpture, also the grotesque and kitch / corny porn part of it. He advised to lean in fully into that aesthetic and not be in the middle. I'm gonna get gross guys.

Mike Kelley, “Aerodynamic Vertical to Horizontal Shift”, 1999, Credit: Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts

This particular sculpture by Mikey Kelley is very inspiring, especially the concrete forms he uses combined with the kind of straight table work bench legs.

Also, their video works similarly feature equally grotesque and unnerving subjects / aesthetics.