#IntrotoBCT

[laura-bct]

29.03.15

Introduction to the Creative Technologies: Assignment 1.

I really enjoyed making this video but found I struggled a bit to fill in some of the time. I didn’t want to sit and talk in front of a camera for 3 minutes so I decided to make a combination of videos and images that relate to what I am saying.

[dsgn-ed]

SPARK LABS // SPACES TO PLAY - CREATIVE EVENT 3

I haven't always enjoyed skating. I liked the idea of it but I wasn’t really that good at it. But now I skate a lot on my longboard as its a fun way to get around...in summer the current weather situation in Auckland is not that conducive to long boarding at the moment. 

Spark Labs “Spaces to Play” talk at Seafarers Britomart was all about skate parks and skateboarding. Travis Wooler (architect) and Chey Atarai (Well known NZ skater) spoke about their roles in the building of skate parks all around NZ and their past experiences in working on these parks and how much work goes into them.

Chey presented a timeline slideshow showing how skateparks progressed and developed in time; he showed how they changed from being simply concrete poured into a bowl but how as skating evolved so did the parks; albeit at a slow and painful pace. He talked about how often they were poorly built and designed and placed in fringe areas to keep “troubling” youth outside of the main population areas. 

Travis and Chey aim now to work together with councils to build new skate parks which work better; have proper design and function. It has specific ways for traffic to work in the skatepark, design to make it part of the landscape its in and most of all to design a skatepark people want to come and use and encourages people of all ages and backgrounds to use it. 

This was an incredibly interesting talk and I definitely felt like this was an important event to go to. This showed the very thing we are learning to do. Create solutions for problems through the use of multiple disciplines, ideas and technologies. Travis and Chey have worked hard to combine peoples opinions, materials and technologies in the construction of the park to make it safer and better for everyone involved in it. This is exactly what my end goal in this degree is; to work in fields not usually conventionally combined. It really showed me the incredible diversity someone could have working as a creative technologist in the field and I felt a little inspired to one day work on a project like this.

http://www.sparkboroughs.co.nz/#/

This project run by Spark is all about building basketball courts all around Auckland and I would have loved to be involved in a project like this and have emailed the head of marketing about maybe shooting some of the openings of the courts and I can't wait to see where and how they find solutions for the problems that may eventuate.

Would I go to something like this again?

Yes...that might be a little biased as I ended up winning some really cool clothing at the event; but nevertheless it was an inspiring and eye opening event and it taught me a lot about what work as a creative technologist could look like. It was a very real explanation of what the work I do one day could look like or involve if I worked as a creative technologist and I can't wait to see where this degree takes me. 

[laura-bct]

Semester 1 Reflective Statement

The first semester came and went so quickly and it was definitely the most fun I’ve had doing work in a long time. I can honestly say I have enjoyed every paper we have worked on so far and I can’t wait until next semester to continue our work. 

Introduction to the Creative Technologies:

By creating the 3 minute video for our first assignment I was able to reflect on the idea of myself as a creative practitioner. As it was only the beginning of the course I was still unsure about what exactly I wanted to get out of this degree and where it would take me. Now, looking back on the video I created, I feel as though I definitely have an idea of what I am capable of and have so many ideas for future projects, plus an inkling of what I could do at the end of these three years. I really enjoyed filming and editing the video and thought it was a good starting point to the year. Watching my classmates’ videos, I was able to learn about the people I will be spending the remainder of the degree with.

The next assignment for this paper, 5 reflective blog posts, I surprisingly enjoyed. Going out and experiencing different kinds of creative events and writing about them really opened up my mind to the kinds of creative things people can achieve. I experienced numerous types of interdisciplinary exhibitions which motivated me to create similar things in my degree. I was also able to learn about different artists and creative practitioners that are an inspiration to my own work.

Programming for Creativity:

Learning Processing was a bit of a challenge for me. Having spent the past 3 years of high school learning web design using HTML and CSS, my mind was set on a certain way of coding. Although the basics were somewhat similar, I found Processing to be a lot more complex. This also meant it was more rewarding when I accomplished something, even as simple as covering the beginner parts which have become like second nature to me three months on. I found there was a massive jump from the lecture slides and lab worksheets to the assignments which required us to do our own research and work things out on our own. I struggled with this a bit as a lot of what I wanted to create was not on Google, meaning I had to either simplify my ideas or try my hardest to code as much as I could then ask others for help.

Creative Technologies Studio I:

I enjoyed all of the projects in this paper as they involved more hands on work, which was something that drew me to this course in the first place. The first project for Play, creating a card game, taught me the importance of team work as I was in a group of four and we needed to share the work load fairly to make sure everyone got a turn doing something, and one person wasn’t doing all of the work. It was so interesting to see what other groups came up with and to see just how different each game was. Gaming is something I have always been interested in so I was quite excited to be doing a project on play. Unfortunately, as this was our first studio project and it was not quite what I was thinking when the word play was mentioned, I think I could have done better.

Project two, Sound, consisted of four sub projects which slowly introduced us to the idea of sampling, something we used in each project for the Sound topic. The collages, soundscapes and musical instruments all combined unrelated things to create something else entirely. We were able to demonstrate this at the end of the paper by performing a sound piece live in front of the class with our musical instruments. Although this was a bit nerve-wracking, it was awesome to see how others had created instruments out of random materials that you’d never guess would be used. 

Project three, Moving Image, started off a little boring but quickly got better. The flipbook wasn’t something I was overly taken with the next projects definitely made up for it. Creating a non-narrative moving image experience which explored an emotion was such a fun project to do, and we had the freedom to create whatever we wanted which fit into this brief. My group chose to do a 3 minute video, and although it was hard to participate completely with such a large group, I enjoyed being a part of it. The final studio project of the semester, the Vernissage, was by far my favourite. Inspired by the previous Moving Image video, I worked with Anastasia to create an uncomfortable, but realistic short video which I think turned out really well. I was given more of a chance to film and edit, something which I love to do, and the final result was very satisfying. It was also chosen to be exhibited at the open studio night which I am very pleased about! 

Conclusion:

Overall, this semester has been a lot of fun and I have learned that time management and teamwork is very important for everything that I do. There are some projects that I wish I had done differently but I am generally happy with the results I have been given and next semester should be a good one. ☺

[juliandv-creativetech]

Semester 1 Reflective Statement

Going into the semester I still had quite a vague idea of what creative technologies was. I dismissed this lack of understanding since some of the projects which a creative technologist embarks upon seemed to fit perfectly with my current hobbies and passions.

Without looking back at my video for Assignment 1 my current thoughts of the creative technologies are as follows:

Creative technologies is about collaboration and the conversion of multiple creative industries which includes but is not exclusive to art, design, computing, engineering and communication.  It is a future proof industry as it is forever in a state of change.

Because of this constant transformation it is hard to define creative technologies to those who specialise in one field, as this is a different way of thinking. This can make it very challenging to describe the degree without giving a long speech.

Admittedly I have occasionally labeled my degree simply as the current project at hand (such as ‘programming’ or ‘filmmaking’) to avoid myself rambling on for several minutes to a blank face of someone who regrets asking what I do..

Overview of Semester 1 Studio 1 Projects

Click on each project title to see it in more depth

Intro Video

Through creative the video and watching ones created by other students I began to learn about what it meant to be a Creative Technologist. It gave me a chance to research the industry and gave a glimpse in what the semester to come may hold.

Cards For Play

I really enjoyed creating the ‘mind bending’ Tesselate card game. Optical illusions have always fascinated me and I was surprised how well the card game ended up messing with the mind. I was really happy with the group as well, as I felt everyone contributed equally which can be a rare occurrence in unpaid group work. It definitely had me excited for the things to come and made me even more confident in the decision made in taking the course.

Sound

The sound project began with hand done image collages to introduce us to the idea of sampling. I have touched a bit of the concept while creating scores for short films but never focused on sound this much. Next creating a digital soundscape challenged me to create a 3 minute ambient sound piece. I found this easier than I initially thought it would be. I think this is because I could relate the process to video editing which I really enjoy. 

Creating an instrument was the favourite part of the sound project for me because I could finally have a good play around with an Arduino which has been on my list for some time. Overcoming each small challenge in making this was extremely rewarding and I am very happy with the final project. The last part of the sound project involved live performing a soundscape with other instruments. I liked how every instrument was so different, yet when put together in a certain combination it created something new and amazing.

Moving Image

Filmmaking has been a big part of my life, both professionally and as a hobby. I was happy to be doing a project with a filmmaking component since this was a path I considered taking instead of Creative Technologies. 

The moving image experience my group created was a lot more abstract than I am used to, however I enjoyed stepping out of my comfort zone. The installation involved two projectors each displaying a different but related video next to each other on the emotion of ‘fear’.

Vernissage

The final Studio 1 project was a refinement of a previous project. I carried on the soundscape and moving image, creating an immersive video presentation and a 3D sound experience by using binaural audio. 

I researched different immersive video techniques by playing around with virtual reality technologies such as Google Cardboard and Oculus Rift but settled on a single screen receded in a reflective box which the viewer could look into due to time restraints. 

Programming For Creativity

This paper taught me A LOT on programming even though I am aware that there is still much to learn. My previous programming experience lay mainly in web design and development, in languages like HTML and PHP. I think the main thing I learnt is how important it is to organise code. Looking back at some of my code before taking this paper I’m both shocked and confused. Shocked at how messy some of it is and confused at what any of it means without diving deeper into the code.

Research Blog Posts

Through attending various creative events (some here) I have been able to broaden my understanding of the creative technologies. It is incredibly inspiring to hear success stories of those in the field. This really motivates me and helps me stay on track. It has surprised me how many free events there are, and how relatively few people take up the opportunity. Most of the events I’ve attended this semester have been at Spark Labs or Colab which both bring in talented guests from all different backgrounds.

To succeed in the creative technologies you have to be smart, and cautious while taking educated risks. Without these skills I think it will be all too easy to be a ‘jack of all trades’ who cannot combine the skills in the most effective way. I now also see the further benefits of specialising in one area. For now it’s great to be able to have a go at different topics and see which ones I like.

All of the projects and work so far has been extremely enjoyable. I only found out the extent of this after comparing degrees with other students. No conventional exams so far, and all of the course work is that which I would have been struggling to work on myself in spare time had I not taken the degree.

[dsgn-ed]

SPARK LAB // SIMON DEVITT - CREATIVE EVENT 5

Photography; in all honesty theres probably no one in our class that doesn’t know I have a camera…that telltale burst of a camera shutter; yup thats me. Taking photos 24/7. So when Spark Labs had an event about architectural photography Im sure you can imagine it would not have been hard to sign up immediately.

Spark Labs “Lens on Architecture” talk at Seafarers Britomart was an incredible pleasure (probably once again sweetened by the fact I won a prize). Simon Devitt spoke about his view on architecture, his growth as a photographer and his development into the work he does today. His roots in film inspired much of his work and work ethic which is now something I want to try for the lessons learned and ethic it requires. But before I get into what he said, who is Simon Devitt?

Simon Devitt is a world renowned architectural photographer who first began shooting on his dads old minolta film camera back in the 80s and has grown in his passion into a canon ambassador who travels the world shooting incredible pieces of architecture all over the world. He is a highly published photographer with many contacts in the magazine and media industry having shot hundred multitudes of editorials for magazines like InDesign (Australia), Architecture NZ, Decor (Italia). His incredibly polished look to all his photos is incredibly inspiring and the way in which he maintains his own personal look throughout his work is very impressive.

He began talking about where he began talking about his work in sports and his progression to digital and how too often people decide wether a photo was good or bad on the back of a camera right after the photo has been taken, which really resonated with me because I know how often I sometimes do that. I make a split second decision that I could really regret later because you never what that photo could turn into once you have time to look at it in detail, work with it and develop it into a beautiful image.

Devitt spoke with such depth and fluency that I actually began to take notes…I never EVER take notes when someone is speaking, i get bored to easily but what he was saying made a lot of sense to me and I really wanted to remember the things he said. Things that really stuck where his points about where will your photos live; on a hard drive forever, or will you print them and look at them in physical form. Ill admit to very rarely printing any of my photos and I think I shall aim to change that and maybe print a Zine or Short book.

Other things he said like applying restraint when shooting and editing and the closer you get to a subject the more likely you are to reflect yourself in your photos. These are all things I believe very deeply in when taking photos and shooting film. Devitt used a quote from Walter Evans “stare, it is the only way to educate your eye”. I absolutely love that quote and I definitely feel as if thats a crudely beautiful way to illustrate what it means to look at a beautiful photo. Its a piece of time, completely still; isn’t staring the only way to admire a second of time that will never come again. I came out remembering again why I began taking photos in the first place, to freeze the places, people and experiences Ive had in time and be able to fondly look back on them and admire the things I did.

Would I go to something like this?

Yes, I’d imagine from the rest of my blog post you’d probably get the very clear idea I enjoyed this event…I enjoyed it a lot.

I really like this simple and not unknown intersection between two fields of design and creativity. The creation of beauty and the documenting of that beauty. That is something I aspire too in my creative practice; to use my work to showcase someone else in a light they didn’t expect but also enjoy.

I have also now begun to look into a way I could get involved in shooting new buildings and architectural developments and learn a far different type of architectural photography than what I’m comfortable with because if I learnt anything at all from Devitts talk its that creating a piece of work which tells the story of someone elses is far greater than just a single beautiful image…sometimes you don’t need that “hero” photo and if anything that hero photos should render itself naturally and not at all forced.

[dsgn-ed]

THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON - CREATIVE EVENT #4

A MOVIE...FOR AN ASSIGMENT. This was a little bit different to the usual sort of work you'd expect to do but I absolutely loved watching an action packed Marvel Movie for an assignment. 

Film is something which interests me greatly; I do a huge amount of photography but there is something about creating a film that I love just as much if not occasionally more than photography because in a few frames or seconds it captures movement or stirs an emotion as it literally shows something happening...and Avengers sure had a lot of things happening.

Avengers Age of Ultron is the second instalment of the Marvel movie series; based on the Marvel Comic universe a band of superheroes must battle together to stop a mechanical artificial intelligence from wiping out human life on earth. 

But why did I go watch this film as a creative event?

Animation, special effects, design, cgi. These are all literally “Creative Technology” - the use technology to create new imagery or effects and animation. We are currently involved in a huge amount of coding work; most of to animate objects in a window. The movie is that very concept except on a scale thousands of times more intricate the a few balls bouncing around in a window.

I watched these two clips from documentaries and behind the scenes videos about the way in which the CGI, animation and special effects work was done in the film and it absolutely blew my mind. The amount of time and effort that has to go in to get something like this working is incredible and I can see why some of these films need such huge budgets to employ the number of people they do. 

They have to create an entire digital plane for the characters and objects to work in and translate real camera footage and CGI into one sequence and I cannot imagine how hard that has to be but I think that Id love to sit and watch them work on it; however painstaking it may be.

The animators work with the filmmakers and directors to turn the vision inside all these creative individuals heads into a realty...a computer generated one. Whilst watching the movie you knew it was all fake but it looked so real; from the buildings and explosions to the characters when they wearing being animated, it all looked like the actual actors even when they were in CGI.  As wee learnt on our very first introduction to the degree during our tour, this was in fact the magic of the MoCap lab. 

Would I go to something like this again?

Is that a serious question; of course I would. I love film and watching these action packed movies with huge amounts of special effects and camera work because it involves almost every single one of the fields I enjoy. Film, photography, animation, music, design, acting, the list goes on.

I learnt a lot doing my research into what goes on being the scene of these films and now I definitely have another thing I’d like to add to my bucket list: work on a big budget film in some shape or form and hopefully it'll be sometime soon.

[dsgn-ed]

BILLY APPLE - CREATIVE EVENT 1

RI had seen this event advertised all over the city but it took me a little while to go but once I did it was a real interesting exhibition. This was the first time I’d properly been into the Auckland Art Gallery and I was immediately attracted to the buildings architecture, in its minimalism and clean lines...but thats not what I came into the building for.

Im not always someone to immediately jump at the idea of going to an art exhibition but I was pleasantly surprised when I came into the Billy Apple exhibition. Its design in both simplicity and message caught my attention and I wanted to get a real feel for what this was all about. But I didn't really know much about Billy Apple, who he was or what exactly he did...so first I did some research.

The gallery celebrates 50 years of Billy Apples work in an exhibition of over 150 pieces of art and will run for three months at the Auckland Art Gallery. But what exactly is/who/what is Billy Apple.

Billy Apple was “created” in the swinging sixties; born out of the rise in culture and conceptualism of a growing London populace. “Billy Apple” is intact not his birth name, but instead a living brand he decided to turn himself into; an incredibly introspective viewpoint into the life of an artist and the plight of art everywhere. Born in Auckland in 1935 as Barrie Bates he grew up in Orakei and suffered at school to bullies for his differences; but when he was introduced to Art School and a man by the name of Robert Ellis. Ellis was a famed British artist from the highly renowned Royal College of Art in London who encouraged Bates to apply to the school and pursue Art. 

Bates left for London at the age of 24 he left for London against the wished of his family to pursue art; and he didn't look back not returning to New Zealand for 16 years. He arrived in London at a time when art had merged with pop and a cultural revolution was taking place. He drew great influence during his time of study from commercial and advertising and so in 1965 Billy Apple was born. 

He dyed his hair blond and began a career creating art branded with the living identity of Billy Apple. His work rangers from neon lights in the 60s, to gallery spaces, billboards, film and groceries all exploring the relationships between art, money and commercialism and the intersection of the three. 

So enough about his history; the real question remains as any art connoisseur would tell you...”how did it make you feel”

First impressions make or break some things for me...first impressions here definitely made this gallery incredibly intriguing from the get go. The tagline of the gallery alone held a lot of connections for me...”the artist has to live like everybody else”. Apples exploration of commercialism and art showed how all the pieces he created were a commercial and in some shape of form commercialised and consumable...that could mean either as a object which can literally be consumed like an apple for an example or it could be a piece of display which can be consumed by reflecting upon it or putting up in a home or studio to be appreciated by others. 

I felt like I could make a connection with a lot of his work having an understanding of what its like to work in a creative field without pay just to try and gain some exposure which people often take advantage of and Billy Apple shows how that art or creativity you show is your own brand and that what you present to the people you work for is your own brand and identity. 

Some of the pieces like the many different “grocery or consumer goods” were very interesting and I definitely enjoyed reading the bios about their creation and what Apple was aiming to do with them...however this wouldn't be complete without things I didn't really enjoy. 

The conceptual art pieces i didn't really connect to much; Ive seen much of these pieces around in galleries or in peoples homes, workplace or studio and I don't personally feel incredibly attracted to pieces of art like this; I always seem to wish it was a piece of fine art or a “normal” or realistic and non conceptual piece or art; but its all personal taste and this is mine. I think this comes from my grandfather being an inspiring painter and much of the art I was exposed to from young age was inspired by painters like Van Gogh, the wet and long brush stroked and “realistically arty” landscapes and portraits or watercolour painting seemed to always stir a feeling in me I never got when looking at conceptual art. 

Billy Apple explored the relationship between two fields; one very creatively orientated and the other much less creative and much more commercial and then combined two in a field of art and development which has remained relevant throughout his long life and this is definitely what makes this exhibit meaningful and insightful for me. Is this not the very sort of work and ideology we as aspiring creative technologists aim to create and work with?

Would I go to something like this again?

Possibly, I’d probably do a bit of research into who the exhibit was from and what was the content of the exhibit; I took a chance with Billy Apple and was impressed  by much of the exhibit...but I think that maybe next time I might decide to go to something I know a little more about or I feel would stir that feeling in me that my grandfathers art started. 

http://www.exhibitionsgallery.co.nz/drseuss.php

This Dr Seuss exhibition looks like it would be perfect...if only it weren't in Wellington only; but this exhibition definitely opened my eyes to some of the incredibly interesting exhibits that Art Galleries have and that maybe I should give more of these exhibits a chance to wow me and introduce me to a different style of art or imagery that could give me an entirely new perspective on how I view art.