Author: Siting Yao

Draft 1

My key critical question:

Does animation need to make the audience ignore the existence of frames? 

The new medium I chose to explore is riso animation. The project I chose to copy is a riso animation project called “36 Days of Type 2021” by Hiromu Oka. I’ve tried to use risograph to make publications and posters before but never used it to produce animation. I also have produced animation by using hand-drawn frame-by-frame and stop motion but never get hands-on printing to make animation. So for this time, I decided to combine the risograph and animation together. 

It takes me roughly 5 steps to copy the project: Preparing the file, printing, cutting, scanning, and animating. The most unexpected part happened during the scanning process. Before actually experiencing this step, I thought scanning is just simply import the frames back to the computer to do the animating. But in fact, the scanning process influenced the outcome very much. Every small move and small change can lead to a different result.

For the studio work next, I decided to explore more on the possibility of using the methods of printing and scanning to make animation and produce a studio work that has a more complete narrative related to the Characteristics of the methods.

Draft 2

I chose the “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction by WALTER BENJAMIN” from our reading list as a lens to see through and analyse my project.

Benjamin argues that mechanical reproduction has challenged the traditional notion of the artwork as a unique, original object with an aura of authenticity that cannot be replicated in a reproduced copy. However, he also suggests that mechanical reproduction has the potential to be used as a tool for revolutionary change, as it can be used to challenge the authority of the ruling class and create a new, more democratic culture.

In the context of my risograph print stop motion project, the use of mechanical reproduction techniques like printing and stop motion animation can be seen as challenging the traditional notion of handmade art as a unique and authentic object. The process of printing and animating exact replicas of the original artwork challenges the idea of the artwork as a singular, original object with an aura of authenticity.

However, the emphasis on materiality and imperfection in the project may also be seen as a way to embrace the unique qualities of the risograph printing process and to reject the idea of the artwork as a perfect, polished object that is only accessible to a select few. By celebrating the imperfections and unique qualities of the risograph prints, the project may be seen as challenging the authority of the ruling class by creating a more democratic form of art that is accessible to a wider audience and embraces imperfection as a desirable and valuable quality.

Furthermore, the use of stop motion animation in the project may be seen as a way to explore the relationship between the original artwork and its mechanical reproductions. By animating the prints, the project brings attention to the unique qualities of each individual print, as well as the variations and imperfections that are present in the mechanical reproductions.

Overall, the risograph print stop motion project can be seen as a creative response to the challenges posed by mechanical reproduction, using techniques like printing and stop motion animation to challenge the traditional notion of the artwork as a unique and authentic object, while also celebrating the materiality and imperfections of the risograph prints as a way to create a more democratic and accessible form of art.

Draft 3 

In draft 3, I tried to render my text by using stop motion and scanning.

Here is the link to the outcome:

Original Text from One Publishes to Find Comrades by Eva Weinmayr

In the forms of  Exercises in Style (Raymond Queneau) 

Notation: 

How can we create a horizontal model of communication between artist and audience, a less owner-ship-based notion of authorship?

Surprise:

OMG! how a less ownership-based notion of authorship and a horizontal model of communication can be created between artist and audience!

Notation:

Usership represents a radical challenge to at least three stalwart conceptual institutions in

contemporary culture: spectatorship, expert culture, and ownership.

Negativities:

It is neither a participant nor an observer, but a group of people who use and make things. It is neither a revolution nor a political movement, but a change to the status quo. It is neither an ancient artistic movement nor an idealistic school of thought, but a fundamental tenet of today’s civilisation. It is neither authorship nor consumerism, but an act of observation. It is neither amateurism nor investors, but professionalism. It is not an act of renting or sharing, but of owning. 

Notation:

As important as the subject matter itself, was the physical process of making these very specific objects. The creation becomes as important as putting them to the public.

Awkward

Oh, I’m not very good with words, but what I’m trying to say is that I think the physical process of making these particular items is as important as the subject matter itself. Does that make sense? I don’t know, but it makes more or less sense to me. What am I trying to say? Oh yes, in any case, I think the way things are made is as important as bringing them to the public. Okay, yeah, I said it.

Notation: 

It was the activity of articulating experiences and collective brainstorming and the discussion of ideas that lead to sharp slogans and imagery for the posters.

Speaking Personally

I tell you that I personally believe that the poignant slogans and images of the posters must have been caused by the activity of articulating experiences and collective brainstorming and discussion of ideas. 

Matador of Barthes-Death Of The Author

Title: Death Of The Author

Author: Roland Barthes

Name of publisher: Fontana Press

Pages from to : 143-144

Paragraph 1 : 

Start with a example of Sarrasine Balzac, discuss the relationship between the author and the work.

Paragraph 2 :

How people always try to connect the work with the author.

Paragraph 3 ：

The removal of the author.

Paragraph 4:

Explained that It is a language which speaks, not the author.

Paragraph 5: 

There is no original writing, the text is a tissue if quotations drawn from the innumerable centres of culture.

Paragraph 6:

Everyone can understand writing in their own way. The future of writing depends on the reader. “The birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author.

In the process of this project, I get a very decisive inspiration from the book “Species of Spaces and Other Pieces” by George Perec. He inspired me to observe space through a different, careful perspective. In the chapter “ Street”, he observes the street rigorously. From the structure of the street in Paris: buildings, pavements, trees, gutters, and junctions, to what happens on the street: people, cars, shops, and cafes. So in my own project, I use these methods to deconstruct the physical site I choose: Roundhouse. It is a concert venue and also a historical building. I begin investigating it with the architectural structure. What is it made of? What is the external silhouette look like? How does it divide into different parts inside? What is the purpose of each part？

And with the continued investigation, I focus on the things that happened on the site. 

Like Perec took notes on the number of operations of a driver, I take notes on the conversations, the behaviours, the interactions and the collective responses that happened here.

These methods of observation and investigation really gives me an unexpected experience of process, helped me to expand the site into a huge amount of information and material to produce a visual project.

On the other hand, the documentary “Gleaners and I” by Agnes Varda influenced me a lot on the form of the project. In this documentary, Varda uses a very personal, humanist approach to investigate and document a group of people: Gleaners, from those picking fields after the harvest to those scouring the dumpsters of Paris.  I was enlightened by the way she recorded and edited. She found out what is funny and what mattered to her: heart-shaped potatoes, trucks on the road, and abstract paintings that made of stains. At the same time, she voices a critique of capitalist society. Varda’s way of filming is very intimate, casual and at the same time very detailed. Combined with accurately paced editing and narration, it feels like you are having a face-to-face conversation with her and listening to her inner thoughts. And in my own project, I also chose to use a DV camera and an analog film camera to make the experience of the audience more intimate and immersive. And for the editing and voice-over, I also try to connect with the audience while expressing my own thoughts.