FINAL PROJECT

For this final project I definitely struggled a bit coming up with a concept/idea and that’s the reason behind having two seperate GIFs, I really wanted to explore and experiment with the concept of double exposure but I was unsure of how to add my own little twist to it. I ended up making the second image of the double exposure, a GIF. This is where my 13 hours comes into play!

For the first double exposure GIF, I began by taking a basic backdrop picture in order to set myself up for in post editing. I needed to do this because as you see in the final product it appears that I am floating in the air. I did this by taking two coolers and laying on top of them. This allowed me to go back through in post and remove the coolers with the pen tool as well as the masking tool that would be used to brush over the image and reveal the first backdrop image making it appear as though these coolers were never there.

before…

after….

This whole process between setting everything up, deciding the best angle, all the redo’s and of course the editing portion took roughly 4 hours. Once the pictures were taken and everything was brought back inside to be put on the computer I needed to first create the GIF. What I decided to do for this set of double exposure GIFs was to add flames into the silhouette of myself floating.

This was done by taking an old pan we had laying around and crumpling up some newspaper and lighting it on fire. I then fired off multiple photos of the paper burning and this gave me what I needed to create the GIF. After the GIF was created I took the now edited photo of myself which required some patching up, the outside doesn’t necessarily cooperate with your needs and the light ended up changing on me so after 1 hour of editing I was able to stabilize the shots and make them match up evenly using the masking tool. Then began my process in creating the overlay, how the GIF would show through my silhouette. By placing the image of myself on top of the created GIF of the fire and lowering the opacity I could then line up exactly where I wanted the flames to come up from.

I ran into a considerable amount of trouble figuring out the sizes and resolutions of each image, I just couldn’t seem to nail or figure out fo that matter how to maintain such a wide view while also enlarging the GIF and that’s why the final product is cropped in so much. This probably ate up roughly 2 hours of my time researching and messing around with settings to get where I got. Obviously I eventually came to a compromise and made it work but this is something I’d still like to refine. After a few tests and putting it into Chrome I decided it was ready to be published. I think the final product came out looking great. If it were perfect it would probably have some more defining features, maybe take away a little opacity or define the figure a bit more but overall, I’m happy with the way it looks.

My second double exposure GIF was roughly the same process, except it was done indoor, this was me trying to change it up a little bit and do something I thought would look interesting. I first decided I’d do something pretty simple, a simple action. So I walked in front of the camera on a timer while it snapped a few shots of me flipping my phone in the air. This took way too many shoots to get right especially with one person.

However I did end up with some pretty decent shots that looked nice and created the GIF using the same process as before. After thinking on it for a while an idea popped into my head. Unlike the first one, what if I used a more close up shot and played the GIF through another lens. Sort of like inception. So I snapped a shot of me holding my phone and began in post editing.

The reflection was fine because I knew that would be edited out once I began. So I started by opening up the non exported version of the GIF, this allowed me to view the GIF in real time to make sure everything was flowing properly. The second step was to drag over the single shot of me holding my phone. This would be placed on the top layer, that way I could have everything beneath show once I cut out/ erased that portion of the top image layer. I used just the brush at first, but it came out a bit messy and I didnt like the way it looked. So I decided to use the pen tool just like before, this provided a much cleaner line and I was able to get the crop just right so that it looked natural enough. Again, I had the same problem as the first one making the image one size and shrinking the GIF down to another size was a problem. I’m sure it’s an easy fix and just something I forgot for the moment. All in all this whole process took, over the span of a couple days, 4 hours of editing and perfecting and another 2 hours setting up the actual GIF portion and the best way to get those shots. The final product isn’t as clean as my first creation but I’m still happy with the way it turned out.

Through the process of this project, it taught me a lot more about photoshop and forced me to do even more research on certain tools and learn how to use them which is always a bonus. If i were to change anything it would be to better perfect the sizing of two images in the same layer library and as for the first double exposure GIF, I would have the subject better lit in order to bring more focus to that area of the image. I’m happy with my results and I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing about the process as much as I did making it.

CHRIS MILK

Chris Milk was born in New York and now resides in Los Angeles creating new and innovative ways to interact with art. He first started his career doing music videos and some photography and later invented and is now CEO of ‘Within’, a virtual reality company as well as the co-founder of “Here be Dragons’, a virtual reality production company. He now focuses on enhancing human connection via emotional connection. Using cross media and multiple mediums to create exposure to true beauty in; physical, digital, and intangible aspects of everyone’s lives.

Milk’s work is super intriguing, we’ve looked at quite a few artists in this course, but I don’t think any of them come this close to using today’s technology in order to create something entirely new and generate a new perspective on human interaction and art as a whole. It’s crazy to think that if you’ve ever interacted with or played VR you’ve had a chance of using something that his company created and intended for that exact use. You become the art.

http://milk.co/interactive

The Best of Virtual Reality
Steven Alan
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WAFAA BILAL

Bilal is an American artist, born in Iraq Bilal’s work explores tensions between the cultural spaces he occupies. Such as his comfortable living in the USA and his conflicts that he faces in his home country of Iraq. He wants to bring these conflicts into light and provide awareness for those who might not otherwise be effected by something of this magnitude.

I think Bilal’s work is extremely effective and impactful at that, he does a superb job of narrowing down the message and making it very clear and easy for the audience to understand. He also puts a unique spin on almost all of his work which attracts viewers and creates a different, more attractive artwork.

Wafaa Bilal
A few words with Wafaa Bilal – We Make Money Not Art
Gallery Activation for 168:01 with artist Wafaa Bilal | New ...

PIPILOTTI RIST

Rist is a swiss contemporary artist who deals mostly with video art. Creating and most known for her vibrant colors and focus on the female body (mainly her own). She often uses certain camera techniques and forms to sell a message of social critique or commentary. She has said before; “In the same way I want to create spaces for video art that rethink the very nature of the medium itself. I want to discover new ways of configuring the world, both the world outside and the world within.”

I think Rists work is nothing to overlook and the messages she gives are often very clear and she does a great job of portraying them clearly and concisely. You can immediately tell her work is siding with the female body and a message to go along with it every time she makes a film. Her colors I would say are traditionally over saturated, but with the style she uses, the vibrance fits quite well.

Pipilotti Rist: Color is Dangerous – Louisiana Channel
https://vimeo.com/167880482
Pipilotti Rist: Pixel Forest,' Deep in the Wilds of Video - The ...
https://vimeo.com/157562433
Sip My Ocean: For Pipilotti Rist, music is everything

NAM JUNE PAIK

Paik was born in North Korea in 1932 and died in 2006. He is known for his work with the alteration of television sets but also dabbles in drawing and multimedia manipulated sculpture and installation work. His modified television sets, in particular, combine the moving image with the free, expressive gesture of abstraction; using brightly colored markers, paints, and other materials, Paik would add expressive layers to the screens. Lion (2005), a monumental assemblage comprising twenty-eight television screens and a hand-painted guardian lion sculpture framed within a wooden arch, displays fast-paced montages of flowers, animals, and fish, as well as footage of lions and Merce Cunningham dancing. Lion is emblematic of Paik’s late style, in which he often reflected upon the many artists and performers who influenced his oeuvre.

I think Paiks work is quite interesting and shows some similarities with a couple other artists on our list. His ability to take older technology and manipulate it in such a way in order to create his desired look is really quite something. He’s had a lot of schooling and been through a lot and often times this shows in the work he puts out.

Nam June Paik's legendary Electronic Superhighway
Dawn of the MTV Era: Video Art Pioneer Nam June Paik's Vision ...


Smithsonian American Art Museum channels Nam June Paik - The ...

EVAN ROTH

Evan is an American artist born in Germany, currently working in Paris. His work focuses on visual and conceptual ideas that use certain technologies for something other than what they were made for. He does work in prints, sculptures, videos and website design. His work is sponsored in a few museums including some in New York and Israel. After looking at several of his works he makes it clear that he likes to use the space around him and connect the abstract with the normalized.

I think Evans work is quite exhilarating to look at and he produces some pretty interesting pieces. I also quite enjoy the simplicity of a lot of his work and how clean looking it is, he puts tremendous stress on the way the final project looks and what is being portrayed and thus when it comes out, it’s extremely powerful.


https://creative-capital.org/artists/evan-roth/

http://www.evan-roth.com/shows/

TAKESHI MURATA

Murrata is an interesting artist because of his ability to take what he knows with glitch effect and other common errors and pioneer them into his own digital work. With video and CGI being his prioritized work he has come to create some pretty fantastic things. Born in 1974 and currently lives in the USA doing more CGI work. As well as having his art featured in a few gallaries.

I think Muratas work is definitely something new for me. I hadn’t put much thought into the things that I would normally consider broken, being used to create an actual feeling. His video/CGI work is also super intriguing, there’s a strange twist to it that gives off a creepy or abnormal vibe, but it all works in his favor. Because it customizes his work so much so to the point where it’s almost irreplaceable.

Image result for takeshi murata
Image result for takeshi murata
Image result for takeshi murata

https://www.artsy.net/artist/takeshi-murata

http://www.takeshimurata.com/

CHRISTIAN MARCLAY

Christian is a talented artist that deals with the fusion of fine art and audio as well as video and sculpture work . Born in California, 1955 and currently works in London and New York putting on exhibits for his work. He first got into this art by using old records that he could then mess with in order to create sound skips and scratches to create new sounds that lead to creativity.

I think Christians work is very creative and how he stumbled upon the idea of using old records to create new sound off of what sound already existed was very clever. His sculptures and video work almost puts you in a trans because of how real it is, but surreal at the same time. He’s able to use the distortion of space and sound to create new perspectives and give the audience something to remain interested in.


Christian Marclay 'Subtitled' 2019

https://whitecube.com/artists/artist/christian_marclay

https://fraenkelgallery.com/exhibitions

http://www.artnet.com/artists/christian-marclay/

PETRA CORTRIGHT

Petra was born in California, 1986 and currently works in Los Angeles, California continuing her carrier in digital work be it virtual paintings, GIFS, or even video. She first began on YouTube using the built in tools to mess around and distort her own face and body. She will often times also use existing images on the web or historical pictures and modernize them in her own style. She’s been to many award ceremonies and received tons of recognition for her work and how it projects modern ideas and modern art.

I think Petra’s work is something that definitely shouldn’t be overlooked, some might say that it isn’t traditional enough and that she doesn’t use real paint therefore it’s not a painting, but I think her work puts a whole new meaning to what different types of mediums exist and how they can be used because although her work is all 2D she finds a way to add texture and depth to each of her works that makes it appear as though it were with real paint.

SELF PORTRAIT/MOSAIC

I wanted to first off start by saying how much fun this project was and how many ideas I had rushing through my head, but alas I was able to limit my options and create a couple of my favorite options. I originally had the idea that I wanted to be hanging from somewhere and when I walked into this parking garage, I knew I could find something to use to create this shot. nailing the exposure was a bit tough but I think what I ended up with does the job just fine. I then quickly realised I wanted to have myself helping myself hanging and someone below snapping a quick pic!

I couldn’t resist doing another in the same location so I went ahead and posted that as well. It’s my second favorite because I had a hard time with the lighting and the way certain shadows were being cast. Nonetheless, I came up with this>

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