Power Artefact-A Reflective Review

Let me begin by stating that the poem that is read in this piece is by Wilfred Owen, one of the most famous WWI poets. How does that change your perspective of the impact of the meaning of the piece? And that is the feeling I wanted to convey. The sense of power that is produced as a product of not knowing either where something has come from or who has produced it can come from anywhere. The piece makes the spectator question what is going on. It engages them by making them query the story behind the poem, and who could have created such vivid imagery. It’s almost the same feeling created by my first artefact: The engagement of the piece by making the spectator ask who, what where and why?

With the constraints of only using audio imposed on myself, by myself, made me really think about what was going into the piece. I knew I wanted to keep it simple, so by only using two audio tracks: 1 background atmosphere and 1 spoken word track, I kept the simplicity to a minimal. I had to create all the sounds myself, so a lot of thought had to go into if the two tracks would work well together and I think they do. I originally wanted to use juxtaposed background atmos to the spoken poem, however this didn’t work. It sounded too confused and detracted from the original message I wanted to convey.

This is exactly the piece I wanted to create, so regardless of how entertaining or fun it isn’t to listen to, it still explores what I wanted it to from the set off. I also got a lot out of the process of development, things that I can apply to my future video projects. Things like the importance of making sure the atmosphere audio tracks fit with whats being said.

Artefact 2-Power

Here is my second artefact on power:

Idea 2-Final Idea

So here’s my final idea for my second artifact on power:

An audio piece that uses an atmosphere track in the background with a poem being spoken over the top.

The poem that will be read will be one from the first world war and by an unknown author (hey look at that, I’ve given myself an obstruction!!). I aim for the background to reflect the spoken word.

Idea 2-Development

After looking into poems I noticed that a lot of first world war poems were written by unknown authors, and that reading a war poem by an anonymous poet has the same effect as looking at a Banksy installation, the sense of power it invokes is a lot more poignant due to its anonymity. Here’s an example:

Do not stand at my grave and weep;

I am not there. I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;

I am not there. I did not die.

It’s quite a famous poem from the second world war. Although it’s origins are still unknown there is speculation as to who the original author was. Most people believe it was writen by Mary Elizabeth Frye although not everyone is convinced. Even this anonymity, as vague as it is, adds a sence of forboding to the poem. This proves that the unknown has the power to emphasise an artifacts point. It also shows that the unkown doesn’t create meaning, it simply emphasises what meaning is there.

Idea 2-Research

Having researched ambiance and atmospheric sound scapes, I found this:

London

It invokes everything I want to achieve in my piece. It makes the spectator use their imagination to create the images that go with the sounds and almost puts them in the scene. I think that using a track like this in the background as atmos with more visual audio (if you get what I mean) in the form of a poem or something.

By going with my theme on the power of the unknown, I will look into poems that produce power, or are a product of power and that come from an unkown source.

Idea 2

I’ve thought about it and I think I want my next piece to be an audio based one. Having mainly used video before and not really grasped the sound aspect fully, I think this will aid my development of creating video artefact’s. I think I want it to be a sound scape style piece, with atmospheric background layers and a powerful foreground track. Sticking with the power of the unknown theme and using only audio simultaneously will work quite well because of the way you cant place an image to sounds, which adds mystery and makes the audience create their own images what what the scene might look like. I will now look at other sound scapes and see how they portray power through the unknown.

Banksy-A Reflective Review

“When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised God doesn’t work that way, so I stole one and prayed for forgiveness.”

-Emo Phillips

This is the manifesto of the urban artist Banksy, the elusive street artist renowned for his witty, tongue-in-cheek installations, mainly on the side of buildings.

Personally I think he’s brilliant, and on so many levels. To begin with the humour of his pieces are on my level, the irony and wit are something I appreciate very much. Secondly is his elusiveness. The fact that no-one knows who he is and yet would have seen some of his work shows how powerful anonymity can be.

This has raised an interest in me: The power of the unknown.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/7702995.stm

As the article states, the building on which Banksy drew will have doubled in value just because of what’s on it. It should be said, however, that had any world renowned artist drew a 20ft high piece on the side of the building it would have had the same effect. Yet I can’t help but think that because of Banksys unknown persona it makes the piece seem something more than ‘posh graffiti’. It plays on the romanticised idea of the Superhero, the maverick vigilante.

Its this idea I want to peruse for my next artefact on power. How the unknown produces power.