Project 4 Artist Statement. 12.10.2014

(A)PATHETIC, Project IV
Alyssa Dulay
*My file was also too large to post to Vimeo.

I feel that performance pieces are a perfect opportunity to convey ideas of introspection: the artist is putting themselves on the line and physically adhering themselves to the art.  It is my opinion that people are products of their upbringing, and I wanted to use this opportunity to comment on my personal experiences growing up trying to constantly appease different people. My mother has always been adamant about me constantly looking my best, regardless of the company. I was a harlot if I tried too hard, and I was a bum if I didn’t try hard enough.  In my other ear, my father insisted that I be the best at everything I attempted. Whether it was board games, my academics, or a race up the driveway, there was an inherent disappointment if I didn’t throw my heart and soul into everything I did. These, and other facets merge and conflict when it comes to my discovering my own identity.

This conflict is what I wanted to explore in my performance piece. There is an evident challenge in being a cutthroat competitor, while at the same time retaining a feminine composure. Therefore, I wanted to give my piece a more frustrated and animalistic resolve.  My performance takes place in a bathtub. I chose this setting because I felt that there was certain sense of intention when you climb into a bathtub clothed: it just doesn’t happen on accident. There is also a subconscious sense of cleansing from a bathtub, which is what I felt this piece would do for me. We find my character delicately seated on the floor of the tub, inquisitively examining a bouquet of flowers. One by one, she plucks off the delicate petals and watches them cascade to the floor. The audience watches as her resolve transforms from curious, to despaired, to frustrated, and then ultimately cracked in an assumed animalistic insanity. Along with the bouquet of flowers, my props include gold and a pinkish-red acrylic paint. I wanted to add a substance with a bit of viscosity to add some texture to the work, while adding some aesthetic contrast in color. The pinkish-red symbolizes not only feminism and the pressure to remain composed in adversity, but also the pain it causes to do so.

I did my research on my flower of choice, chrysanthemums, and they are said to represent, honesty, clarity, and intuition in Chinese culture. In Japanese culture, they are commonly used in funeral arrangements and represent truth and grief. My piece ultimately represents the classic “love me, love me not” plucking of flower petals. However, rather than a game of chance, my character looks at these flowers as “for every person that loves me, there is one that does not.” She struggles to come to terms with disappointing so many people, and these emotions transform her into a creature much more confident, apathetic, and independent. I titled this piece (A)PATHETIC because of the feminine obligation to constantly act with compassion towards others. Therefore, it would seem logical that a lack of emotion would be masculine or strong. To be taken seriously in business, one has to be either seen with a stoic clarity or seen as weak and clouded with emotion. In the end of my piece, I overcome all my conflicting emotions, compose myself, and presumably move forward.

Reference Links (x)(x)

Performance Response Exercise - 12.03.2014

In-Class exercise response to Marina Abramovic's Nightsea Crossing, 1981 - 1987.  In her piece, Abramovic explored the discredited notions of silence, fasting, and inactivity.  I confronted two of these three aspects, denying myself any form of activity.  My piece is obviously much shorter than the original series, which would span 14 to 16 days at a time.  For brevity's sake of this project, I compressed my version down to a minute and a half.

Vimeo Link (x)

Project Draft Homework - 12.01.2014

Draft I (x)
Draft II (x)
Draft III (x)

Homework - 11.19.2014

The Red Tapes

1. Acconci speaks in several ways.  From the beginning, he whispers to the audience.  I think that this voice plays to his inner thoughts, emotions, and intentions.  His speaking voice plays more to physical actions, recalling real-time events in a sequence of actions.  Acconci speaks directly to the audience, as opposed to his whispering voice that speaks less in complete sentences and reflects raw emotions.  He also speaks in the form of a repetitive voice that repeats phrases such as "what do I do?" and "what do I say?"
2. Acconci talks about a profile of himself: Italian born and bred in the Bronx.  In terms of nationalism, he talks about a countrywide issues of gang violence and murder, while second-guessing his relationship to these events.  We get a better understanding of how to piece together his fragmented stories.  Acconci comments on the contrast between people's portrayal of classic "America the Beautiful" and his personal experience in the slums.
3. He comments on his personal conflict with the American politics [20:49] and his disgust with president Kennedy and what he would do if he was there when he was shot.  Acconci would revel in his death and watch the life leave his eyes.  He pairs this his profile, darkly lit from behind.  This gives him an anonymous feel, a face in the crowd.  This suggest that these thoughts are not coming from only Acconci himself, but this is an opinion shared by a mass of people.
4. The quiet music paired with the paintings gave an admiral feel to the sequence: a classic depiction of America the Beautiful with pine trees, mountains, etc.  When Acconci pairs similar music with a black background, the piece has a much more eerie feel, suggesting that our portrayals of our country are not as they seem.  When Acconci talks about his experience with the car, he quietly repeats "vroom, vroom, vroom" throughout his speech.  This gave his words a more unsettling feel than if he were to insert real audio clips of cars.  His repetition gives us the feel that these words have been echoing in his head for a long period of time.
5. I understand this piece to be Acconci's disappointment with American society.  He comments on the contrast between Americans glorifying their own country with the real life political issues that are going on.

Project 4 Proposals - 11.19.2014

Project 4 Proposals
     I have brainstormed a variety of possible routes to reach this project, all with different concepts and ideologies.  I know I want my piece to have a more lighthearted and fun feel, mostly because I know that this is my strong suit and my work is strongest when I take this approach.  Generally I want to keep a theme of introspection.  I want to critique the audience themselves as opposed to attacking society itself.  I want the audience to feel like they can relate to the piece, or at least feel personally addressed.  I took more time than usual to ponder what I wanted to do with this piece, and the ideas presented here are a few of many I have jotted down in tiny script on a bar napkin.
     My favorite idea that I conjured up plays with the idea of complacency.  With the advancement of technology and the attitudes of my generation, I genuinely feel that the concept of chivalry has largely disappeared.  Words can be copied, pasted, and sent in seconds.  My argument is that my generation has grown complacent with romance... and it kills me.  I personally believe that everyone deserves to genuinely know that they are wonderful in their own right, and they don't have to settle for what is convenient or socially-acceptable to be happy.  People have the potential to love so much, and I feel like that energy is largely pent-up.  Coming straight out of high school and/or learning at a university, young adults are very much afraid of being wrong.  Success is binary.  You are right or you are wrong, and choosing the wrong answer can drastically affect your capability to succeed in the future.  That ingrained fear is what keeps us from taking risks, especially in showing our affections.  One could take this theory further into the realms of LGBTQ.  So many put up a facade of what they think they should be as opposed to genuinely expressing themselves, and it kills me.
     I want to express this conflict by writing a love song.  I want this piece to be very professional-looking.  I want to make a music video based on a song I write myself.  I will play my ukulele in a field, sitting in the grass when the sky is nice and blue.  My song lyrics will be generic displays of affection.  "I love how you have two eyes and they're such a beautiful color.  Your nose has two holes, I dig that."  My lyrics could apply to 99% of the population.  I think it'll come off across as goofy, and I think my approach of humor serves the wonderful purpose of giving you an air of optimism while at the same time making you genuinely think about yourself.  It is very important to me that I don't outright trash people who go about showing their affections through certain mediums (via the internet, in person, long-distance, etc.), but I just want to shed light on the implications of today's pop music and what the lyrics are actually teaching us.  This piece would involve only me playing my instrument, and I would expect it to last, at most, 4 minutes.
     My second-place idea largely relates to my first project, which comments on society's pressure on people, particularly women, to follow a narrow scope of "beautiful."  Large eyes, batting eyelashes, perky boobs, and a smile.  I want to take this to the extreme and pack on as much make-up as possible.  I will start with a blank slate, zero make-up with my hair a mess.  I would play audio of cosmetic tutorials in the background, sound clips of shows like America's Next Top Model, and read cosmopolitan magazine.  I would follow their tips if they had any, and take them to the extreme.  I would also like to tease my hair into as much of a 'fro as possible and insert flowers into it.  To me, fresh flowers convey fleeting beauty.  Sure you're beautiful now, but for how long?  At what cost?  I have access to colored contacts and I'm going to dye my hair over Thanksgiving break anyway, so I largely wanted to capitalize on the opportunity to convey change.  I would wear all white to represent a blank canvas and innocence.  The piece would last longer than the first, ranging from 6 to 8 minutes I would show in class.  The performance would definitely take longer, but I would condense the footage to keep the audience's attention.  I would apply all the products myself, sitting on the carpet flooring with a white wall behind me.
     My third idea plays with the idea of deception.  I don't quite know how I would present it, but my favorite idea so far is to have several scenes displayed at once side-by-side. The general idea is that I have several glasses of clear liquid. I would like to have 7 or 8.  All of the reels of footage begin identically.  The shot fades in, and I repeat the same lines as if I were at a dinner party.  My gaze would be directed at a "person" behind the camera.  Something along the lines of fake laughter and "You're so funny!  I'm having so much fun!  I can't believe I'm here right now, thank you so much for bringing me!"  The glass would be in my hand, sloshing as I spoke conversationally.  This would take on approximately 60% of the performance.  Closer to the end, I would look directly into the camera, and then would come the twist.  In each individual frame, there is a different substance in my glass.  One would be water, one would be alcohol, one would be lighter fluid, one would be bubble soap, one would be bleach, etc.  I would drink/light the substance and react to it without breaking eye contact with the audience.  The main objective of this piece would be to play with the idea of hiding your real emotions underneath what you portray.  I would include only myself, and it would be filmed in a brightly-lit room with maybe a black table.  The piece would last a total 4 to 6 minutes.

In-Class Exercise - Maria Abramovic - 11.19.2014

During the exercise, I felt acutely aware of where her eyes were focusing.  I felt like it was confrontational to look at her pupil-to-pupil.  I tried my best to focus on the features of her face rather than looking straight into her eyes, 'cause I felt like that was an innate challenge in a way.. it felt like a confrontation.  Instead, I inspected the features of her face.  I looked at the change in value as the light cast shadows on her face.  I looked at the way her hair cascaded down her shoulders and the curve of her glasses and the proportions from her eyes to her nose and her nose to her eyebrows and her eyebrows to the frame of her glasses, etc.  I tried not to look at her lips, I felt like that was too personal.  I tried not to look at her chin, 'cause then I feel like she'd see me look at her lips.  The whole experience I wasn't at all preoccupied or concerned about myself being deconstructed or judged, I just focused on measuring the proportions and geometrics of her face and what she thought if she was tracing the direction of my gaze..  You don't really get the opportunity to really stare at people and get a good look at them, while being at the same time, socially acceptable.  I feel like exercises at this provide a glimpse of something that we don't normally focus on.  I don't know what that says about me.
Also this movie reminds me of the movie Baby Mama, a romantic comedy starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.  Steve Martin, Tina Fey's eccentric boss at a health food company, rewards his employees with several minutes of uninterrupted eye contact.  I don't know if this was any way related to Marina's work, but there was a definite connection between the two with the reward of attention.  This takes the exercise to a more comedic setting, but they have similarities.

Writing Utensil Exercise:  I don't know why, but I felt like I had to write text about myself rather than pictures.  I felt this to be odd, especially being an art student.  What does this say about me?  I didn't even write anything deep, just what I was feeling.

Homework: Project 3 Feedback - 11.18.2014

Project 3 Feedback

I received a surprising amount of positive feedback regarding my sound project.  I was told that my piece sounded like the audio that corresponds to an animation, which is exhilarating because that's the career path I'm set on.  It was wonderful.  I got positive marks that my characters present weren't too annoying.  Zoe said that my characters that were intended to be irritating came across as endearing in their own way.  I took this as a positive remark because the main purpose of my piece was to entertain, not to make a particular statement on audible irritations.  I was told that I made smooth transitions between environments.  There was a clear definition between public space, outdoors, and home environment.  I was also commended on my use of gentle comedy.  Throughout my time as an art student at UF, I have noticed this to be my strong suit, and I struggle more at conveying emotion when I attempt to address more morose subjects.
One of the few negative comments that I got was a noticeable differentiation in sound quality between my snippets.  This was clearly not due to me downloading clips from the internet, because I only downloaded a handful (the crowd, footsteps on carpet, and a pan sizzling to imitate a burnt tongue).  However, some of my spoken words were amplified tremendously.  I needed to add the "noise reduction" effect to some of my harsher clips.  I also noticed personally that when coming through the speakers, the levels were off on some of my sounds.  I needed to change the amplification of certain sounds to accommodate the multitude of speakers in the black box.

Project III Artist Statement - 11.17.2014

My third project takes the listener through a series of environments, each presenting the audience with relaxing audio.  The first will be a bar, then the street, then the bedroom.  In the future, I would like to extend this piece to cover a wider variety of environments, but I will limit myself to the three for now based on time constraints.  I would shorten the time within each scene, but I really want to immerse the listener into each environment I present.  Seeing as my previous pieces have been more morose, I wanted to take a more lighthearted approach to this project.
My piece is, as previously mentioned, centered around taking the listener through a series of environments.  Each scenario will start off very relaxing-- the quiet lull of a crowd, the gentle shuffling of footsteps, and the comforting warmth of a cup of coffee.  However, each scene will have its own individual twist of having an irritating noise thrown in at the end.  In regards to this piece, "irritating" is not defined exclusively by a shrill noise or loud repetition, but also spans to include feelings that the audience can relate to.  One example is where the main character of my piece snorts and sniffles while walking down the street.  The sound of the sniffles isn't necessarily obnoxious, but being congested with a constant runny nose is.  I felt like this shift in perspective would make my piece more relatable to the audience.  I also feel that my piece takes on a comedic tone as the audience takes amusement in the main character's dilemmas, as is the intention.

SoundCloud Link (x)

Group FCPX In-Class Exercise - 11.12.2014

Vimeo Link (x)

Project III Feedback - 11.10.2014

I was told to make my project more first-person, as in shuffling and bumping into people in a crowd.  I really think this will make my project more dynamic.  My conversation now in my project seems to scripted.  I need to fix it so that it seems more natural.  To achieve it, I will probably add in conversational audio spoken by myself.  I'm really excited to get this project started.

Project III Revised Concept - 11.10.2014

Artist Statement Draft
My piece now takes a more narrative role than originally planned.  I intend to take the listener on a short journey, playing with the idea of audible pet peeves.  I will take the listener from scenario to scenario in different environments.  My draft takes the audience into a bar-like space and sets the scene in a calming fashion.  Music plays softly in the background, the bartender pours the listener a drink, and the audience basks in the ambience.  After a couple of seconds, a sudden and shrill voice takes over the space, filling the listener's ears with whiny, nasally voices.  The listener leaves in a huff out the doors to a different space.  I want to take the audience through at least 3 different spaces and play with how far I can push the contrast between relaxing and irritating.  I want this piece to differ from my previous pieces in that it has a much more humorous tone.  I want this contrast to evoke relatability and amusement.

SoundCloud Link (x)

In-Class Exercise. 11.05.2014. Sound Analysis

Rabbit Season, Duck Season, FIRE.

String instruments, a higher tempo conveys a more upbeat mood (throughout).
A wind-up car revving up meant to imitate a gunshot as Daffy's beak revolves around his head, or maybe a tiny firework, maybe a kazoo (0:25).
The second blast sounds more like an accurate gunshot, but not so much a rifle as a cannon (0:48).
A flute expresses Daffy's contempt for Bugs (0:52).
A string instrument with more bass, perhaps a cello, conveys Daffy's anger (0:56).
A flute is also used to convey Bug's innocence, he gets more falsetto music (0:58).
Mel Blanc is also famously known for his incredibly impressive voice acting (throughout).

In-Class Exercise - 11.03.2014

Group Instructional Exercise
SoundCloud Link (x)

Extra Credit: Aram Bartholl Lecture

Aram Bartholl's work closely relates to the realms of art and technology, specifically the connections between people and different networks both physically and digitally.  This is obvious in his WoW piece that he did in both Laguna Beach and Korea.  In his piece, Bartholl recreated the floating name tags that are paired with every user on the online RPG game, World of Warcraft.  He did this using clear plastic and cardstock letters.  The artist stated that this piece really highlighted the clash of cultures depending on where the performance piece took place.  Some bystanders in Laguna Beach assumed that the names signified that the participants were political candidates.  Participants in Korea were yelled at from across the street.  Bartholl went on to elaborate that if he were to do this piece in Germany, nobody would react or bother to say anything.  This difference in reactions was a pleasant side-effect to Bartholl's artistic comment on self-identification and all the information we give out to others on the internet and then juxtaposing this fact onto real life.
Bartholl went on to talk about his other pieces, including his QR Code series, which combined the organic touch of fingerprints and paint strokes with the human illiteracy of digital QR codes.  He also mentioned his CAPTCHA Project, which questioned the relationship between humans and viral software entities.  Bartholl put the captcha codes onto business cards to ensure his clients were human instead of viruses.  He also appropriated the letters into the urban environment amongst graffiti letters as a sort of comment on an exclusive group of "real humans only" gang.  Other projects included Forgot Your Password?, which composed of books of leaked LinkedIn passwords; and Dead Drops, which included sealing USB outlets in concrete in an urban environment.  This piece was my favorite, because it sort of forced the participant to actively go out and seek places to share art, music, and ideas.  Despite the drawbacks of possibly virus downloads, I think the piece is an ingenious comment on the gap between being glued to your screen and actively participating in the word.  I feel that Dead Drops abridges this gap, and it's truly amazing that it brought so many people together simplistically.
The artist's work relates to my own in the sense that I am also interested in the field of art and technology, and I enjoy exploring the ideas of relationships between people, especially happenstance encounters between strangers.  I am doing this now in a photography series in which I explore the relationship between people and inanimate objects.  The viewer doesn't quite anticipate the bond I highlight, and exploring peoples' personalities really gets me excited.  However, Aram Bartholl takes the idea into a much more in-depth realm of online communities that do not interest me personally.  Overall, I found Aram Bartholl to be a very interesting character, and I incredibly enjoyed working with him in his figure-drawing workshop.

Project III Concept & Sound Bits - 10.29.2014

Project III Draft Concept
In my tentative thought process, I had the basic idea of creating the sound of machinery using organic sounds and repetition, thus creating a Willy Wonka-like effect that was rather playful.  Upon further contemplation, I now want to make a piece that hits closer to home.  Retaining this machinery-like effect, I now want to comment on the irony of trying to force yourself to relax.  I would start my piece off in a tense environment, perhaps busy with the sound of a crowd or cars honking their horns. Then, with a transition such as a door closing or the muffling of one ear then the other (like putting earbuds in).  The sound would turn into predictable relaxing sounds (birds chirping, ocean waves, etc.)   Then, I would slowly glitch these clips and bites until they turned more irritating.  The listener would bounce in and out between reality and the relaxing state until either reality eventually takes over and the listener can't block out the noise or the listener learns how to drown out the excess and focus on staying calm.

SoundCloud Link (x)

In-Class Exercise - 10.29.2014

Soundcloud Link: (x)

Homework & In-Class Exercise - 10.27.2014

Project 3 Brainstorm
I want to play with the idea of repetition and create a sort of machinery-feel, but with organic sounds.  I want to make a sort of playful Willy Wonka-sounding machine.  I feel that this contrast between the organic and the mechanical will create an interesting audible environment.
My second idea is to create a commonplace environment, but editing the sounds of unrelated objects to sound like them.  For example, when I was playing with audacity earlier today, I found that tearing paper sounds like an a skater sliding on ice.

Soundcloud Links: (x)

In-Class Analysis Exercise - 10.27.2014

"Take the A Train," Duke Ellington

This is a musical piece done by a band of people, composed in 1939.  The song starts off with a shrill saxophone, imitating the sound of a train.  The shrill action-noises remind me of the original Batman series scene transitions.  The video reveals that there were four saxophones and at least six trumpets to mock the sound of a train's horn. The musicians also scat to recreate the sounds of the mechanics of a train.  They make me think of the engine thumping and machinery ticking.  The bass also reminds me of the deep chugging of a train.  Rather than coming off as campy or hokey, the impersonations give the piece a very fun and uplifting mood characteristic of the music of the time.
When the female vocalist comes in, the instruments take a much more musical tone rather than artistically impersonating a train.  I would definitely categorize this as a musical number, seeing as it has lyrics and instruments synchronized to a beat.  While the beginning is very theatrical in its audio, it quickly transitions into a catchy, upbeat musical number.  There is a slight fuzz in the background, indicating that this song was recorded decades ago, but I feel that this adds to the character and genuineness of the audio clip.  The fuzz harkens to a simpler, more optimistic time.  I could listen to this clip all day.  It makes me happy.

Extra Credit: Faculty Exhibition

"Your Eyes Proclaim..." By Julia Morrisroe.

Acrylic, enamel, & polymers on canvas & paper.

Morissroe's series works to give an order to a sensory overload.  Her works grapple with the hierarchy of information we receive and how we filter sights and sounds.
I love the images' aesthetic.  I personally am also fascinated by why people deem certain images aesthetically pleasing and why that opinion differs from person to person.  I love how soft her pieces are.  My favorite thing about them is that there is a certain sense of chaos, but the mess is contained within each individual painting.  This was my favorite piece in the show.

Lisa Iglesias
Acrylic paint dripped over the state flag of Florida.  Forgive me if this information is incorrect, but I neglected to take a picture of the piece's description.  From what I recall, the artist wanted to comment on the different influences and changes that have changed the local environment.  More than anything, I was impressed by the display of the piece.  It hung maybe seven feet in the air and gave a very chilling impression, almost like a figure hung by a noose.  I feel like it really pushed the ideology of the death of society as it was in the past, made heavy by all these new changes and opinions.

Extra Credit: Under the Skin

Scarlett Johansson is an alien life form entrusted with the duty of collecting human skins.  These skins are assumed to be used for other alien life forms to come and live on Earth.  She does this by seducing men walking alone on the side of the road and offering to give them a ride to their destination.  She then convinces them to come home with her, where she lures them into a tank for cultivation.  However, at some point along the way, she stumbles across a man with elephantiasis and sympathizes with him.  She sets him free, abandons her van, and walks along the Scottish countryside determined to live the life of a normal human being.  She happens across a nice gentleman who takes her into his home and becomes infatuated with her.  Scarlett is especially tentative to trust this man, seeing as she seduced people to kill them.  During her time here, Scarlett realizes her wrongdoing in her seductive acts, and she refrains from speaking much at all.  She also becomes fascinated with the skin she is in and spends a lot of time inspecting herself in the mirror.  The man who takes her in eventually gets around to having sex with Scarlett and she, confused by the human anatomy, stops the procreation at the point of penetration and is seen looking longingly into the window.  In the morning, she runs away from the nice man and travels deep into the woods where she runs into a logger.  They are the only two in the woods.  They go their separate ways and Scarlett finds a shelter for hikers.  The logger finds her here and tries to touch her sexually.  Scarlett freaks out and runs away.  The logger chases her and finally tackles her down.  In ripping off her clothes, the logger rips off Scarlett's skin.  He freaks out and runs away.  The tears are very noticeable, and the alien then proceeds to peel all of her skin off, revealing her true form.  She sits there and inspects her faux face.  The logger returns, pours gasoline on the exposed alien, and sets her on fire. Scarlett tries to escape, but eventually burns to death in the snow.
I thought this movie was too odd for my personal taste, and the violins provided an overwhelming amount of tension, and I sat uncomfortably for the duration of the movie.  The movie also uses a lot of instances of repetition and self-reflection, making for a very slow-moving film that dragged at times.  Repetition includes the scenes of Scarlett driving around and picking up men, which attributed to a good chunk of the film.  Her successes and failures day in and day out clearly display a prolonged passage of time (11:44-1:05:08).  There were also a lot of scenes flaunting the landscapes of Scotland and, while they were beautiful, also dragged longer than they should have in my opinion (1:06:56 - 1:07:21).  I did enjoy the film's contrast between the violins and dead silence (34:57 - 38:38).  I didn't know which was more unsettling, but the anticipation was palpable, proving to be incredible effective.  I would say this part was my favorite scene.  The subtle clues of Scarlett's intentions are slowly revealed to the audience, providing time for us to theorize as to what exactly is happening.  There were a lot of dramatic uses of jump cuts in the movie, especially between picking up the men and actually taking them back to her lair, especially at (33:53).