When first approaching this subject I considered looking at my own every day. Living with children, and how my every day is different from average as my day to day accomodates the needs of my neurodivergent son. I photographed my children interacting on the train on a day out. While doing so I considered how we see the world, how we look at things through a lens, a screen or a reflection.
I photographed images of my children’s reflections on a mobile phone screen as they both looked into another mobile phone screen. I considered how a mobile image is made up of light and the reflections I photographed. How we see a reflective image of others through social media.
The topic of lights and reflections became a much more expansive and interesting concept. While out I took photographs of my children interacting with lights at the museum. and created digital images
https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/buffer/1_4srgltpv
https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/buffer/1_11m9fz0z
https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/Nailpolish+drip/1_qfsm7qhi
https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/PXL_20231127_115139440.TS%7E3/1_4hot32nh
https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/POV+EXPERIMANTAL/1_zsc0dpy0
Looking ay myself in the mirror I created digital images and short video clips.My reflection obscured and distorted with the condensation and steam on the bathroom mirror.
https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/Mirror+reflections/1_g5r7aeb5
https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/wet+mirror+reflection/1_rnbanhrj
Looking at reflections and lights coming from every-day objects I created short video clips.
Using items such as reflections on a coffee cup and cook wear. Considering how the light consentrated looks abstract and dreamy, when zooming out the reflection is every day and ordinary-insignificant in day to day life.
I investigated artist who had used light and reflections in their work.
Martin Creed Work no 227: The light going on and off 2000
Creeds instilation of an automitic light switch off every 5 seconds leaves its audience plunged into darkness.
Robert Irwin: Scrim veil—Black rectangle—Natural light, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (1977)
Photographs of natural light and its impact on environments.
Olafur Eilasson:Your spiral View, 2002
A reflective sphere where audience can walk through and experience the distorted reflections.
some
kaleidoscopic sculptures creating reflections and light onto surfaces.
Stardust Particle, 2014
Cold wind Sphere, 2012
While working on lights and reflections I took videos of different ways light reflected on water. Once I collected images I layered the videos onto of one another, altering speeds and saturations of each layer to create different effects.
https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/light+fragments.mp4+jill.mp4/1_ndlk5vw
To present a refined work I would plan to show ‘water lights ‘ in a darkened space on a large screen with a bench. I would want the screen to be at level with the viewer when they are seated to make the viewing more immersive. I personally find this video relaxing and gives a sense of mindfulness practice. watching the light dance and change on the screen.The light pulling the viewer in from the darkness.
I attended the TATE ‘Women in Revolt’ exhibition in London. The exhibit of feminist rebellion through the years was truly a spectacle. To see women who have as wife’s mothers and queers been oppressed. To see the volume of work in one place was truly inspiring.
I had thought I would keep away from the theme of motherhood. I find it as an art subject difficult to do well. I feel turned off by todays culture of ‘Mummy bloggers’ and ‘Celebrity yummy mummy’s’. Becoming a mother becoming the entire identity of a woman, no longer able to hold her own personality. Giving up their own remarkableness for an even which is so common it is unremarkable.
I did however feel this exhibit gave me permission to look at mum life as a mature woman and look at my experiences-how I have lived as a wife and mother. How I had lost my identity and uniqueness in exchange for these things.
Women and work- Margaret Harrison, Kay Hunt, Mary Kelly conducted a study of women who worked in the metal box company between 1973-75 documentation of photographs and typed text recalling a working woman day. The amount of work on a woman did not feel to have differed from an average modern woman day. A modern woman still carrying the lion’s share of childcare duties and household tasks.
I was really struck by this documentation. We are aware a parent is busy. A woman tends to take on more household tasks than a male. To see the visual of tasks broken down felt impactful. I wondered how my own busy day as a single parent would look broken down. I chose to experiment turning the text from typed print to video work.
I was pleased with how the video worked out. Adding the sound of a clock ticking I felt elevated the feeling of time restraint and business.
I chose to lean back into the idea of my own mundane lifestyle ofa parent and what that means to take on responsibility around the house.
I came across a movie ‘Jeanne Dielman, 23 quad du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles’ directed by Chantal Akerman.
The movie was around a woman’s every day life as a mother caring for her son. Carrying out day to day activities. I enjoyed the movie for the simplicity and exposure to a woman’s life. Scenes of domestic labour which are uneventful but recurring. Events such as cooking cleaning.
I extended the work by adding in video footage of myself looking some what melancholy/ hopeless. I cut the text into chunks interrupted by the footage. I sped up the video during the first few clips of text and slowed the footage of myself down. I slowed down the end text to show a change of pace/atmosphere in the video.
I chose to take my make up off and wear a wig in the video clips.I covered my tattoos and had to be mindful of how I held my mug as not to show tattoos. I am aware my own personal image is more unique. I wanted a more generic look in my image as to represent a wide image of mother hood and relatability.
To show this video I would use an old tv set. I would possibly sit it on a kitchen table with a chair and empty mug sat next to it, perhaps maybe with items of domesticity such as a washing basket with clothes. Showing the chaotic buy life.
I considered projecting the video into a large clock face but felt the text and numbers on the clock face might become messy and deduct from the video instead of enhance.
Thinking back on the workshop I took part in with Tess Lynch, I considered how to incorporate domestic items into my work further.
Much like at the workshop I used domestic items and sealed them into a vacuum bag.
I put kitchenware into the bag hoping the suction around the sharp kitchen knife would pierce the plastic and cause the bag to burst. Unfortunately, the bag did not shrink as much as I hoped, and I didn’t get the desired effect. I will continue exploring ways to create this work. Looking for ways to express pressure and release.
https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/cleaning+up/1_6bs
I used the Knife to create videos like previous, focusing in on the abstract reflections on the knife and zooming out to reveal the monotony of the object. I did the same technique of filming using the metallic reflections of a toaster. Zooming out to reveal the object. I felt these videos work well together. To resolve theses as a final work I would ideally present on a screen with all four videos playing together at one time. I am looking to explore the potential of editing to create 4 tiles showing the separate videos on each tile.
https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/sink+dreams/1_y6uc75b3
https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/morning+dreams2/1_0nkansjc
https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/husewifedreams%7E3.mp4+jill/1_yt5g9qgf
https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/body+double/1_9vih62ov
I added the video together on one screen adding all four clips. In the end I felt it was too many clips together. The clip with the toaster I decided to edit out. It felt the least effective of the clips.
https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/4+video+comploation
dia/housedreams++3-Jill/1_unqe2991
I felt the metallic was strong image to contrast with the two dark reflections and so kept these together. I maintained the sound from ‘house wife dreams’ clip as it worked well with all the images together.
When presenting this piece I would present this on a large screen.
Continuing looking at domestic scenarios I pulled up clips from my door camera and compiled a video of coming and going from my home over a week.Unfortunately the clip had continuous errors when down exporting. The blink camera which the clips were pulled from had corrupted frames on each clip. Identifying them was a lengthy process , finding the frames, splitting clips and cutting frames. The event was disheartening. The video was complete at the point of exporting. In the end there were too many corrupted frames to have a piece of work which was satisfactory for the time it had taken to make.
While ending the video I came across interesting sound clips which had been picked up over the camera. In particular I liked the different ways of saying goodbye when leaving the house, continuing from that the clips of saying ‘I love you’ and how these interactions are all different. Exploring the different ways we show love. This was sparked from a clip catching of myself telling my son off for staying up to late and then asking if he needed gloves and continuing by saying I love you. It made me consider how we show love in acts of care. I feel this is a theme I would like to explore more.
Giving concentration on the words and a closed sensory feeling from the over ear headphones would give more thought and intimacy t the words being said.refine this work I would Pulling out the sound clips from the recordings and use it as a sound piece. I have in the past had motion activated sound in work and considered this again. Potentially in a door way. An installation which would unexpectedly be encountered.
When using premier pro to extract the sound from the videos I encountered the same issues as I did with the previous video clips. Some clips were corrupt when they were being exported and so were unfit for use.
I have not worked exclusively with sound before but think I could find a way to record similar sound bites and piece them together as I had planned.
I took part in an Adobe film editing workshop and found it really useful for learning how to use edit scenes and ways they flow better together linking them through a theme and not just cutting to the next thing in the story board.
Talking about the basic set up of a successful story.
Sync through sound or through connected images. I played with some stock images and used them to create short videos.
The scene edit video I intentionally chose images which I felt related to my project and pictured domestic frustration. I would like to spend more time refining the video and editing scenes into better sequences.
If I was showing this finished video I would want to show it on an older tv. the low quality of image and retro feel of the tv would lend its self well to the images.
https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/editing+scenes+experiment/1_fuelhpq4
the second video I focused on choosing images to match up to the sound clip, giving sense on movements.
https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/sound+sync+experiment/1_8yj6rfi4
