For our first workshop today, we were asked to bring in something to represent a passion that we have. Immediately, I thought of bringing in some books of plays as theatre is something that I have been extremely passionate about for many years.

I first found my love of theatre when I was 14 and began to devise interpretive performance pieces in my drama class at school. This led me to take drama for GCSE, and later A-Level, where I learnt about avant-garde practitioners such as Antonin Artaud, Bertolt Brecht and Jerzy Grotowski. I found much inspiration in the abstract and non-traditional nature of their practices and read plays by absurdist playwrights such as Samuel Beckett and Eugène Ionesco. Since starting university, I haven't found time to continue performing but I make an event to go and watch theatre often. 

In my mini-presentation, I used the card we were given to make a small origami table on top of which I put the rest of the card that I had folded into a small book. I wrote a basic outline of the themes and ideas relevant to theatre and contemporary art on the cover and inside of the "book". I placed the playbooks around the table to create a small stage-like area. With my presentation on this idea, I wanted to combine the theatre look with interactivity of contemporary exhibitions. By having the text written inside the book, I invited the viewers to reach into the theatre space and interact with the mini-exhibition physically.

I found the comment cards really helpful when thinking about expanding this idea. it was also nice to see people interested in my thoughts and could potentially lead to forming a group. I am currently thinking of working on my own, but I am aware of the workload this would put on me and so I am definitely open to forming a group or working with other people.

In 2023, I worked with Amber Jane Halsey and Marcell Demetrovics to create a short film adapting Samuel Beckett's 'Catastrophe' into a 360° video experience intended to be viewed in VR. 

The single act play uses four characters: the Protagonist, Director, Assistant, and Technician. The Protagonist stands, unmoving and unspeaking, on a plinth on stage while the Director and Assistant critique, pick apart, undress, and physically move him to fit the ideal they are seeking for their play. The play is a commentary on the nature of control, censorship and free will. From this, we developed the idea of replacing the Protagonist with a mannequin and placing the 360º camera on its head thereby putting the audience in the position of the controlled and voiceless character.

I really enjoyed creating this film and merging my passions for theatre and contemporary art. This is something that I have wanted to do since before I started on this course and theatre is something that I am eager to continue taking inspiration from when creating my work.

For this making session, I borrowed an M5Go Starter Kit from the EMS. My goal was to write a program which would make it possible have a sound triggered by a button press. My idea for this was to create something like a child's toy which can speak when you press its hand. I would then adapt this mechanism to create the dolls described in my earlier paragraph.

I made the program, as shown in the photo, however, I unfortunately could not get the device to talk to my computer. Every time I tried to run the program, I received an "Import Error". Unfortunately, it seemed the device was just not compatible with my computer so I was unable to properly test the code. I decided to return the M5Go to the EMS as it is a bit too complex of a device for what I need it for but I still think it was good to experiment .

I found some speaker devices on amazon which are designed to go into children's toys and I think these are more suited to what I am looking for.

Today I made a quick prototype of a doll to test the equipment that I have. I do not own a proper sewing machine but do I do have a handheld sewing machine designed for quick fixes and also sewing kits with needles and thread. I made the doll using some scrap fabric I had at home and created it without a pattern. As such it is quite crude and uneven. I used the handheld sewing machine to sew the two halves of the doll together, leaving a small hole in the side. I then turned it inside-out, which was quite challenging due to the small scale of the doll and the thinness of its limbs. I stuffed the doll with fabric scraps and sewed up the side by hand.

Overall, I don't think the doll looks very good but I still consider this experiment a success as I now know more about designing patterns and will be able to improve upon this with further prototypes. For example, I would like my doll to be realistically proportioned and so I might try taking measurements of myself or anotehr person and scaling them down to create another, more realistic prototype. In the end, I would like my doll to be life-size but I think it's important to perfect the design on a small scale first so as not to waste time and resources on larger prototypes - these will come closer to the completion of the project.

I think I will also try searching for patterns online which I can try out in order to gain further knowledge about how to create the design I am envisioning.

Today we had a speaker, Johnny Titheridge, come in to talk about exhibiting work. Johnny works for the White Cube gallery and as such, he had a lot of valuable insights into art exhibitions, particularly in the commercial art world. He went over several different types of - painting, performance, installation, etc. - and the things to consider for each one. An example would be if you have any technical equipment in the piece, are the wires hidden or shown? Does the outcome of this choice affect the way the piece will be read? This reminded me of my final project from last year, Digital_Mirror:Virtual_Stranger, in which we deliberately chose to suspend the long computer and projector cables form the ceiling. We also added spare cables that did not serve any functional purpose but just added to the aesthetic value. This choice reflected our desire for the piece to feel raw and stripped back. We wanted people to see the mess of cables, which would usually be hidden away, as they were reflected on themselves and how technology has shaped their inner perception.

After the talk, we went to the White Cube gallery and viewed the current exhibition - I Followed you to the end by Tracey Emin. I found this exhibition to be very interesting and thought-provoking, particularly appreciated how you could see and feel the emotion and pain of her struggles through the paintings. I really liked the inclusion of the giant sculpture in the middle of the floor, surrounded by the paintings. Though it and all the paintings depicted very similar things, each of them felt slightly different and individual, all coming together to give a wide picture of Emin's story. The size and scale of the sculpture really expanded the impact of its message. Johnny then took us behind the scenes of the gallery, letting us see where they store the art and how it is moved and processed.

After this, we went to another gallery nearby, Drawing Room, which was housing an exhibition called The Earth is Knot Flat by Emma McNally. I loved the combination of different media in this exhibition, using drawings, sculpture, and projections to create a complete image exploring a deconstruction of traditional drawing. I also really liked the second room of the exhibition which was filled with art supplies. Visitors were invited to sit around the table and create whatever came to mind with the range of materials given. Once done, the finished pieces could be hung from strings around the room creating a laundry line of tiny artworks.

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about artificial intelligence. It seems like I can't go a day without hearing or seeing something about AI, particularly generative AI. I feel like every company and brand seems to be adopting AI as part of their business, even when it clearly isn't necessary. 

Every website has an AI chatbot you have to fight past to talk to a real customer service agent. Every book and email and text message and search result can (or must) be summarised by AI. Every paragraph we write or picture we take can be "enhanced" by AI. Even algorithms or tools that already existed and and don't even use generative AI are being rebranded to cash in on the current big buzz word trend. We no longer need comprehension skills or writing skills or editing skills because AI can take care of it all for us so we can spend more time focusing on the important things like working (unless your job can be replaced by an AI) or hobbies (unless you like doing anything creative because AI can do it instead) or spending time outside (for now, because the energy consumption from just training a large language model could be environmentally detrimental).

When generative AI first started getting popular it was easy to tell what was a real image or original drawing and what was generated; tell tale signs like too many fingers, foregrounds blending into backgrounds, or a strange glossy sheen made it easy to spot. Now, however, as AI is used more and more and the models are improved, more data is absorbed and regurgitated, it is getting harder and harder to tell. The lines between reality and simulation of reality are blurring. Misinformation can spread faster than ever before.

Project Idea

I think it could be interesting to explore an AI angle for my project. While I am against using generative AI myself, I believe that it could be possible to create an installation illustrating the idea of AI subtracting from humanity and the human experience. It interests me greatly how we as species seem dedicated to the pursuit of more and more technology and appreciate less and less the world around us. I think I would like to explore this in my project and create some kind of critique of AI and its relationship with us as humans.

In this tutorial, I discussed with Tadej the feelings I have been having about not being entirely sure what I want to do with my project and not feeling too happy with the themes I have been looking at previously. I mentioned that I have been thinking about simulation and the idea of trying to enhance, replicate and escape the human experience through technology. We discussed these ideas and he suggested I read Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard. He also recommended a podcast calling The Coming Storm and a book called Getting High by Kester Brewin. The book is particular interesting to me as apparently it looks at humanity's drive to learn how to fly and how we have used technology to help us 'achieve' this goal - I place achieve in quotes because, while we can travel the skies, each of us as a human being cannot actually fly as a bird can fly.

We also discussed the idea of video games and virtual reality and how we use these worlds to escape from the real world and get away from the stresses and worries and problems of reality. In games, we are able to play God ourselves, creating and controlling characters, but even then we are still at the whim of the developers, playing out fantasies in someone else's imagination.

Finally, we spoke about the idea of an installation and creating an interesting and engaging environment for the audience and then interjecting with the topic I wish to talk about. I think we did this very affectively last year in our installation Digital_Mirror:Virtual_Stranger which asked the audience to look at themselves and question how technology had shaped their self-perception. We also spoke about Brechtian theatre and how Brecht's practices used a stripped back aesthetic in order to have the audience focus on the social issues that the play was trying to address.

Last night as I was falling asleep I was thinking about my project and had a vision for a final product. It is still in its infancy as it was just a simple thought but I think it has potential for development into a more complex and interesting product.

The vision was to have either two rag dolls or one rag doll and one robot-like figure positioned as God and Adam are in Michelangelo's iconic The Creation of Adam. Behind this, I would project a capture of a player flying through and infinitely generated landscape (I think this is inspired by trying to fly to the 'farlands' in Minecraft when I was younger).

I would make the doll/s out of fabric as I planned to originally at the beginning of my explorations. If I make the robot, it will likely be made out of plastic and metal parts and pieces of electronics. I am going to look into creating the landscape in Unity.

I am still developing this idea further and trying to refine it but I like the concept and I think it's good to have some kind of idea for my final product.

In a trip at the beginning of the semester, we visited an exhibition at the Vinyl Factory. One exhibit in the exhibition was Vigil 2.0 by Caterina Barbieri with Ruben Spini. The piece was comprised of a block of ice with a hand imprinted on its surface slowly melting. Behind this is projected a timelapse video showing a sunrise - the video plays forwards before reversing and looping back round. The piece is also accompanied by original music composed by Barbieri.

I find the aesthetic composition of this piece incredible striking. Watching the ice slowly melt as the sun infinitely rises and sets behind it is a really beautiful image. The temporary nature of the ice juxtaposes the eternity of the sun and the overall effect is calming and thought provoking.

I was inspired by the composition of this piece with its projected background behind a central "sculptural" element.

Today I attended the sound recording and editing workshops. While it isn't relevant to my project, I find it enjoyable and interesting to learn the best ways to use a microphone in different situations, how to capture the best audio recording, and how to edit audio. I used to edit soundtracks for the drama pieces at GCSE and A-Level and it was interesting to learn how to use these techniques on a more professional level.

Later on, I attended the talk given by Pete Jiadong Qiang from the Virtual Realisms talk series. Pete spoke about his creative practice, going from where first found his interest in the virtual, through his creative career, and up to his current practice. I found it interesting to see how his career had progressed and how each step had moved him forward to the point he is at now. I particularly liked his piece Hyperbody Dungeon which was a virtual reality experience housed within an inflatable structure.

This week I have started working on the Unity project to be projected in the background of my installation. I have never used Unity before beside a couple of basic level sessions that were held last year. Having forgotten most of what I learnt in these sessions, it took some time to get to get to grips with the basic usage of the software. Once I had found my way around, I found a tutorial on YouTube by a user named CodingWithRus which goes through the steps of procedural terrain generation in easy to follow and well explained instructions. I downloaded Visual Studio and got to coding, following the videos to create the field of cubes shown in the screenshot. Though it is hard to tell from the image, the heights of the cubes differ slightly based on random perlin noise. As I develop the program further, this will be used to create hills and valleys.

I am excited to continue working on this aspect of the project in particular as it is a somewhat new skill and I enjoy challenging myself and exploring new avenues for creation.

Today I continued working on my Unity project. I added a grass texture and trees which I downloaded from the Unity Asset Store. The trees have their own perlin noise field to control generation as well as restrictions which stop them overlapping or generating too close to one another.

I then began to write and implement the code which would allow the terrain to generate depending on the movements of a player character. Unfortunately, however, it quickly became apparent that my laptop would not be able to handle the loading and generating of the world as the fans began to go crazy and my whole screen froze. This means I will have to do the rest of the programming using the computers on campus.

While it is frustrating that I won't be able to work on this project at home, it is a good thing that this happened early and that I now know that I will need to borrow a higher power computer from the EMS when it comes to displaying my work at the end of the project.

Today, I gave my project pitch presentation to the class, going over my project so far and the idea I wish to create.

I was happy with how the presentation went, though I was nervous and didn't do the best job with my public speaking. The feedback on my idea was very positive and constructive.

One important note was a point Chris mentioned about making it obvious that the projection is being generated live. He suggested having a read out of each object being generated viewable on a computer within the installation. I think this is a good idea as the fact the world is constantly generating is key part of the meaning of the piece. I did mention, however, that the possibility of having it generating live is dependent on whether I can get a computer capable of handling the workload. This would also be key if I decided to include an interactive element. 

It was also suggested that I speak to one of the members of the EMS team who knows about Unity and could advise me on my project.

“These first aeronauts affirmed that physical flight, just like the religious journeys into ‘inner space,’ was about recovering heaven. Altitude was, for these pioneering pilots, about flight to a place beyond the reach of the corrupted Earth. Height had so long been considered sacred and immortal, reserved for the holy, but now, having achieved our dream and taken to the air, things changed. It wasn’t so much that altitude was prohibited because we weren’t pure enough, but that we could achieve purity through flight. In the Middle Ages we had given up the air to demons and witches, but now, in these enlightened times, up here we felt out of reach of the power of evil. We had risen with wings to where the heavenly host sang. In the above we could enter a place of angelic peace, a new paradise.

For all its battles with medieval Christianity, flight now emerged as a religious technology. At the birth of aeronautics, gravity and grave were still inextricably bound: escaping the latter was about our journey to defeat the former. Perhaps, we thought, with the invention of ever-finer flying machines we might finally escape the earth and outrun the earthen graves ordinary life dug for us.

” 

This morning, I attended the seminar Tadej gave on how to get funding as an artist. I found this really valuable as it is something that I will definitely have to do in the future, especially since I am very interested in producing and am looking at pursuing producing as a career.

In the afternoon, I had my final tutorial before the proposal submission. In it, we discussed how to structure the proposal and what to include in each section. I feel content with my project in the state that it is and I am looking forward to making it a reality. I am going to try to do a couple more pieces of practical work before the submission, focusing on the doll and how it will look. 

After the tutorial, I attended the talk given by Dr. Aleena Chia in the Virtual Realisms talk series. I found the talk interesting to begin with but I am not sure I understood the points she was making towards the end. I thought the idea she put forward of "congealed labour" was interesting, thinking about how the individual contribution of each artist is "homogenized into the asset itself" and their authorship over their creation is lost upon sale.

Today, I created a new partial-prototype for the doll figure. I wanted to experiment with methods of construction for the doll, mostly due to the flimsiness and difficulty in posing that will come from making the doll solely from fabric and stuffing.

I used chicken wire which I modelled on my own leg and foot to create the structure of a lower leg. I then used newspaper and PVA glue which I watered down to a runny mixture to papier-mâché over the wire. Once this dried, I was left with a light but relatively sturdy leg model.

Going forward, I am going to decide whether to paint the leg, to apply ripped pieces of fabric similarly to the newspaper, or to create a sock which I can slip onto the model.

I think this could be a promising way to create the model, or at the very least parts of it. I would like to have the look of a children's doll so I think the loose, ragdoll construction is preferable for the majority of the doll, however I think the torso area in particular may require some reinforcements due to it having to carry the weight of the cables and electronic parts.

Though it is hard to reflect on a project that has not yet been made, I am very happy with the research and experimentation I have conducted in preparation for next semester. I feel confident and passionate about my themes and ideas and I am very happy with my design for my outcome, while still being open to developing and changing certain elements, for example adding interactivity. Going forward, I am going to continue to develop the Unity project and explore the potential to add a UI which participants could interact with. I am also going to continue working on designing my doll and creating a pattern that I am happy with. I would like to do more testing with the chicken wire model to see if this is a better way to go or if should stick with simply fabric and stuffing. These are questions that should be answered fairly easily through trial and error.

I am excited to make this project and I hope that the outcome will be something I can be proud of.