Category: Video

Video recordings

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Bye Bye, Wheel of Fortune Seller

This is my recent attempt to respond to the current situation. My project has redefined itself a few of times during a very long and turbulent journey through 9 countries. My observations and reflections have substantially changed their focus.

My initial interests were firmly placed on the uncertainties of tomorrow. The context for my investigation was mainly related to a range of economic disadvantages of people in the countries, which I visited. I was both: fascinated and terrified to learn how they deal with their daily lives. How inventive and creative they must become in order to survive.

Subsequently, I realised that everyone is waiting for a new pivotal occurrence. Something important to happen and bring about a significant and positive change. One way of dealing with this lengthy, stagnant and monotonous process is to get subjected by the conditioning of a hypnotic repetition.

My visual exploration of workers, who were suspended in the vacuum of that process, followed. I become intrigued by creating painterly responses based on analysis workers in Asia. This has allowed me to produce some of my recent and key achievements:

  1. Thai Masseur

2. The Wheel of Fortune Seller

3. Three Burmese Monks

My video of the washing cycle of The Wheel of Fortune Seller is broken down into a number of independent parts. Each one is intended to be to have a separate meaning and be a metaphorical parallel to a chapter in life; from the start to the end:

  • Introduction of a middle-aged man with a face mask holding a Stanley knife. This scene is full of anticipation and automatic questioning: Who is he? What are his intentions? What is going to happen next? Are his intentions sinister?
  • Engagement of a background sound recording. This is a repetitive voice of an Asian female. It is difficult to understand and decipher. Her broken accent becomes much more clear with time. Her messages contextualise the scene.
  • Cutting the painting out and the shaking off. What is the intention? The voice starts slowly to become annoying. The shaking off is metaphorical for causing a loss of something and undergoing or suffering from a misfortune. My creative intention is to communicate how special and significant is the current pandemic situation in all broader contexts.
  • Magic of loading the washing machine. The painting appears to fly into the drum on its own. There is something theatrical, unreal and intriguing about this. It appears to be a bizarre ballet, a performance in the surroundings of a dirty corner – full of stains and clutter; in front of a red fire extinguisher, which symbolises a state of predicted and unavoidable emergency.
  • Washing – mundane and foreseeable. This part, coupled with a lengthy spinning cycle, is designed to test the patience. A new thought is born in my mind – when will this finish? Here again, this is a current question of primary importance and substance – perhaps on everyone’s mind (sic!)
  • Unloading. The female voice comes back. Something is finalised, concluded, yet the ‘old’ is reborn and reformed. It comes back like a haunting ghost from the past.
  • Final shake. It is intended to agitate – to get rid of what is there. The old is removed and no longer desired. The Wheel of Fortune Seller is erased from the surface of the painting. The old memories are gone. Let us hope, the real person behind the primary source character has a new and better life to enjoy and celebrate.

My intention was to create an almost religious and spiritual connotation.

Ultimately, the washed canvas will be stitched back onto the original stretcher. This refers to and implies a cyclic quality of life and its all events.

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“Busy Waiting”

A full commentary and critical analysis will follow. This is the first version of the piece and I am highly eager to make it available on my blog ASAP.

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Bye Bye Burmese Monks

I have made some real progress today. I set up a video recording session of the washing of the Three Burmese Monks piece. Everything was arranged in the print room. As the DLSR run out of power, I had to result to using my iPhone XSMax with a tripod.

Following a discussion of details included in my storyboard, Georgie, our technician, agreed to help with the washing performance.

My picture frame was purposely wanky and crocked. I wanted to include a glimpse of a fire extinguisher and PVC pipes in the view. I also thought that bleeding stains on dirty floor make a valuable contribution to the overall impact of captured images, their meaning and the recording.

The raw footage is relatively long and full of accidental disruptions. They will all need to be edited out in order to create a cohesive video piece. The details of my plan will emerge soon, and continue to evolve and grow.

I enclose the final washed up image of the Three Burmese Monks piece and some raw and culminate footage below:

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Time-lapse & Hyper-lapse with Colour Grading Workshop.

This has been a very intensive and exciting day. Matt Edwards, who run this workshop is an expert with a fast knowledge in this area. The purpose was to initiate experimentation with filming and editing footage in an intentional and meaningful way. A strong focus on the overall idea is very important in order to develop a holistic and professional piece.

In order to ensure consistency between individual workshops and experimentation, I have decided to create and record a mini pop-up show of my screen prints.

I used a Nikon D90 camera and a tripod. The idea was to capture a broad view of an art studio. All work in progress provides the frame with detail and sets the seen, while contextualising the video. I practiced with recording myself, while continuously displaying prints on a white wall to form a large rectangular composition. Subsequently, the pieces were removed one by one. White wall as a start and the same white wall as the end. This concept has provided my with the boundaries for my action and narrative.

I have experimented with a range of possibilities and considered a number of unassuming angles for shooting. My creative intention was to ‘go’ beyond a simple use of a documentary or media approach. I wanted to create a short art film.

Simultaneously, this provided me with an excellent opportunity to photograph my prints using a digital SLR.

As soon as all images and video footage are processed, I will include them and other visual material in this post.

Premier Pro is an advanced piece of sophisticated video editing software, which allows for a superb level of control, manipulation and intervention.

To aid my memory, I made a number of notes. I hope to use them as guidance in further experimentation. I am excited about taking my current ideas further and this process will begin shortly.

I feel that I have learned a lot about the impact of colour changes on video and the way in which it is perceived and understood by an audience.

Surprisingly, there is a similarity to how this applies to traditionally developed imagery.

I created a number of clips and sequences and experimented with additional effects including the use of alteration layers.

All in all, the day was very successful and demanding. I have benefitted from being challenged, especially in the context of experimentation and risk-taking leading to the development of new ideas and discussions of alternatives.

I am looking forward to the next stage of refinement of the work, which I have started to produce today.

A screen shot of my notes is below:

Raw Footage for Editing during the workshop
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Morning Coffee – Constant Versus Variable. Thanks

I have spent a lot of time considering differences between constant and variable within my new composition.

The constant is the known, predictable and expected. All of these feelings are associated with safety and security, with certainty and control. On the contrary, the variable is the dynamic, unknown and unpredictable. It makes us uncertain and anxious. It reminds us that we have little or no control over our destination and associated events. It makes us realise that we are walking in darkness with no sense of a real direction. All we do is to assume that we are in charge.

Although this piece has some potential, it would benefit from a further development. I need to question the relationship between certainty and uncertainty in the context of repetition and monotony.

Following a range of discussions with my colleagues and students, I have come to conclusion that the next step will be to remove certainty from the work and emphasise the variable part of the composition.

Until know, I have managed to explore possibilities and discuss alternatives with the following experimentation using light and digital manipulations:

 

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Symposium Part 4 – HYPNOTIC REPETITION & My Observations.

1. One Legged Pool Player

The One Legged Player is totally on the task. Her appearance looks frivolous and theatrical to distract from her determination and the fact that she cannot afford to miss any shots. Her outwards image portrays glamour and fame, but the reality is diametrically different.
The One Legged Player is frozen in a stretched position, suspended in the vacuum of repetition. Every shot is executed in an identical posed pose in a hope to attract attention and increase the stakes, hence maximise profits.
I am hesitant to come to conclusions that there is something repulsive about it. The first impressions of wonder and curiosity are replaced with laughter and astonishment.
The performance continues regardless.

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https://wordpress.com/post/pavszymanskiart.wordpress.com/2120

2. Coach To Myiek

This piece portrays a coach driver. He is preparing to leave Kawthoung for a 20 hour long journey to Myiek. The road is terrible and unpredictable. His old coach must be in a top condition before the passengers are allowed to board.
The driver looks very tired and substantially overweight. He spends his life driving his coach between those two distant cities in Myanmar.

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https://wordpress.com/post/pavszymanskiart.wordpress.com/2072

3. Burmese Captain

This work portrays a Burmese captain in charge of a long boat. His job is to transport people and cargo from Ranong in Thailand to Kawthoung at the furthest southern point of Myanmar. His main clientele are poor illegal workers from Burma trying to earn a few baht in Thailand.
Following a long conversation with him, I become one of his passengers. To maximise income, he accepts as many people as possible. He even travels on the very front of the boat to save valuable space. This place is very uncomfortable and rocky. He is also fully exposed there to the power of the tropical sun. He tries to get some relief from the burning heat by hiding under a colourful umbrella.
The image is very clashing in colour – very kitsch. This is further enhanced by his crude and cramped body position.  His ankle reveals a massive tumour.
There is a gigantic growth on his leg, perhaps caused by prolonged exposure to the sun and continued contact with polluted water in the port.
My creative intention was to portray him in his usual setting, while crossing the same water many times every day.
The focus is on him. The beautiful surroundings no longer matter. He cannot see the landscape. He is trapped in his daily routine.
The colour of his shirt blends in with the orange stripes of paint on the boat. The umbrella is feminine and looks absolutely ridiculous.

IMG_1581

https://wordpress.com/post/pavszymanskiart.wordpress.com/1884

4. Three Monks Begging

Mixed media on unprimed canvas.
168 cm x 118 cm
This new piece portrays three Burmese monks taking a break from their money collecting duties, while entertaining themselves with a large group of pigeons.
In the area, there were large numbers of child monks present. Most of their days are spend extorting large amounts of cash from the hard working, fearful and deeply religious market community.
They are immaculately dressed in pink robes and sarongs. Simultaneously, they walk bare foot to project an image of poverty and humbleness.
However, the truth is different. They have got daily targets to fill their metals trays with a mixture of coins and bank notes to satisfy the needs and expectations of their superiors.

https://pavszymanskiart.wordpress.com/2019/12/02/three-monks-new-gif/

 

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Symposium Part 3 – Repetition and Ritual.

 

Life tends to deal with these problems naturally through repetition and obsessive engagement in distractions.

An excellent interpretation of this concept was developed by Zbigniew Rybczynski(1981) and his Oscar winning piece titled ‘Tango’.

and his subsequent 1987 animation called ‘Imagine’

Both are characterised by identical starting points and their destinations.
This would imply that there is no room for progress in hypnotic repetition?
Roman Opalka, seems to be a master of this phenomenon in his ‘Counted Paintings’ series, which consumed his life.

He began painting numbers from one to infinity in 1965, in his studio in Warsaw and continued until his death in 2011.

ROMAN OPALKA–

  • Daily rituals, work and religion.
  • Time, procedures and commuting.
  • Breathing, heartbeat, sustenance and sleep.
  • Everything is done to order.
  • Retirement, loss of purpose and death.

Entrapment in hypnotic repetition.
Suspension in the vacuum of life.
Charlie Chaplin questioning industrial repetition as a lifestyle:

We live in an industrialised society and are compelled to take part in this repetition.

Points for discussion:
• What is your entrapment?
• Do you find it comforting and reassuring that tomorrow is going to be there?

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Three Monks – Developments

Recent development and enhancement of colour composition.

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Last video modification with reversed and looped ending.

Initial video experimentation with an attempt to contextualise the piece and support its meaning with unnerving sound.

 

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Dreaming about The Island Girl

“Her messy hair a visible attribute of her stubborn spirit. As she shakes it free, she smiles knowing wild is her favourite colour.”

“She didn’t just walk on the wild side,
she lived there, dancing in the streets
and setting fire to its sky.”

J. Iron Word

Island-Girl.gif