Thinking  about taboos…  also the idea of a performance piece being documented by video or photograph if it needs to be witnessed in order to be a performance piece if the viewing of it can be accidental… and the possible implications not wearing shoes in western society… about Marina Abramovic saying she no longer did pieces about endurance… The shoe throwing political protestor… use of another taboo.

Yes it was bitterly cold, slippery and surprisingly challenging to let myself do.  Very worried about explaining to any other walkers what I was doing and why.

Learning Outcomes

1. Development of your Project Proposal to plan a challenging and self-directed programme of study.

My project began as research in to how our identities might be linked to our everyday movements and how those movements might be interpreted as type of portrait.

Initially I drew from a range of disciplines that had influenced me: dance, somatics, printmaking etc.

Project proposal 1 2007:

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2008/01/27/122/

Online Research:

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2008/06/22/u2-w10-3/

Essay Abstract October 27, 2009:

The essay was an area I found daunting to undertake, but turned out to be one of the most important elements of the course in providing a critical context for the project.

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/category/abstract/

November 15, 2009:

As the course has developed I have tried to keep asking more questions about the role of the body and have come to understand that it is the physical engagement experienced  when engaged in  processes like  printmaking and dance and that had been the initial points of reference for the project.  This was understanding was greatly clarified by seeing the performance work of Alastair MacLennan at Newcastle and the work of Marina Abramovic on line:

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2009/11/15/934/

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/1022/

2. Demonstrate a critical engagement with practice-based research reflecting on

the critical skills and framework presentations.

Through out the MA I have tried to refine both context and methodology content of my practice.

Reading Susan Sontag’s Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors was a turning point as Sontag’s writing made me aware of the extent to which the body maybe surreptitiously used as a site of social inscription:

September 26, 2008:

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2008/09/26/u2-w3-3/

At the end of my first year I had to take a year out. Through out that year I kept blogging and researching issues surrounding representation of the body and health:

June 4^th 2009:

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2009/06/04/543/

March 28^th, 2009:

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2009/03/28/457/

Currently I have narrowed down the focus of research to the role of walking as a means to provide a context to question the role of the lived body and its use as a means of social inscription.

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/967/

3. Articulate a clear understanding of methodology and context in your creative

practice.

Action research has been the main methodology I have used to begin to explore developing the ideas for the project. Using video, paper based works, digital based pieces etc. to attempt to define which type of body movements to include and appropriate contexts for presenting them. It was rewarding working this way across many areas, but it did reveal that I hadn’t time tabled for the amount of information needed to take on board and meant  wasn’t always able to the best from the mediums:

Credo was a good example of learning process taking longer than I anticipated:

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2009/04/13/479/

Links to movement video pieces to show use of action research:

This movement sequence was a piece of practical research that was successful in many areas: developing an animated sequence from video and providing a form of basic interaction.

These pieces also made me question the style of imagery used and if it sat well with the project content and to try to create a more empirically lead work.

http://madigitalmediamovementpractice.wordpress.com/2008/06/19/16/

http://madigitalmediamovementpractice.wordpress.com/2009/03/13/credo-soft-wear-down-load-trial/

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/996/

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/645/

The action research brought in to focus the necessity to provide a more focused context. This difficulty around providing a critical context began to become more resolved when I started engaging with the research essay.

Reading for critical context was something I had little experience of and was intimidated by, so found that the best way to build that skill was to read as much as possible in areas to do with dance, somatics sociology, and then psychology and found gradually the underlying concepts built up to make a frame work that I was able to transfer over in to the reading of art critiques and engage more with in that specific field.

4. Reading the following books and researching websites sites:

(http://susanmort.wordpress.com/category/bibliography/ )

4. Evaluate and present your Project.

My project started as an attempt at the examination of the possible link between our identities and our movements. In an attempt to try to understand why our physical engagement with mundane activities might contain relevance.

I came to focus on walking as an act of embodiment and engagement in an attempt to examine the role of the lived body in the digital age. An important piece of the jigsaw was reading on line of the research by professor Alejandro Lleras in to body movements having influence on problem solving.

June 10, 2009

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=579

This post refers to the point where I began to consider the idea of dualism and how it might be a factor in the understanding and expectations of the lived body in the digital age.

June 26, 2009

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2009/06/26/597/

Essay

The essay was an attempt to bring together some of the various threads of thought and research I had been carrying out and provide a contextual frame work for those emerging  ideas. I have attempted to establish that there is a proven link between our movements and cognitive process, that the body is used as a site of social inscription and that the digital environment has a direct impact on the developing brain, that society requires boundaries, which have previously been maintained through body language, facial expression, mores etc. With the removal of the human body in digital interaction many of these boundaries of our interactions are no longer maintainable, having an impact on our understandings of social structures and behaviors.

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/essay/

The aim with the final work in unit 2 is to continue to examine the role of the lived body through creating a well researched and appropriate work which will address these ideas.

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/1002/

5. Contribute actively to debate and discussion through Pathways and across

the course.

November 6, 2009:

Though I have struggled with the online chat environment I have attempted to contribute to the discussions, though not very successfully.  This has proved to be an area of the course in many ways that I feel I have made least progress in:

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2009/11/06/890/

April 29, 2008:

Towards the end my first year in 2008 we were joined by PhD student Jem Mackay and invited to become involved with his project on mind mapping as a collaborative tool.

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2008/04/29/u2-29-april-2008/

May 26, 2008:

This experience brought the realization that I am still initially more comfortable where there is the possibility of backing up discussion of ideas through practical engagement. This was also the case with Mail Art which has helped provided an alternative route to open up areas of discussion.

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2008/05/26/u2-5/

December 3^rd, 2009:

Generous input from others on the course has provided both stimulus and insight:

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/1002/

6. Be aware of your own personal and professional development.

When I entered the course in 2007 my practice had been on hold for over 8 years and I had not shown work since 2001.Since joining the MA I have been involved with a variety of projects. Including: Oxhouse online digital alphabet project, Peep Wardrobe Gallery, Field Show at EmptyShop Gallery and 2 shows held at Camberwell College.

I have developed and kept Mail Art in circulation through a variety of participating venues for the last 2 years, providing a platform to work with a number of peers from Camberwell as well as a wide range of artists world wide and venues, creating valuable experience such as the opportunity to co-curate the Mail Art show at the Long Gallery, Tron Theatre in Glasgow 2010, exhibiting at the Glasgow International Artists Bookfair 2010 and the place at the upcoming Emptyshop studios in Durham:

September 20, 2009

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2009/09/20/663/

Showing at Empty Shop Durham provided an opportunity to asses my work in a professional setting and have feedback from the public:

May 20, 2009

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2009/05/20/517/

Mail Art Summer 2009 Issue:

http://mailartone.wordpress.com/2009/08/01/mail-art-one-summer-2009/

I came to the course with very limited experience in digital media. The mid-point review reflects some of the ground covered in terms of gaining knowledge and confidence with the media:

MPR:

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/category/mpr/

An area that hasn’t progressed as I would’ve  liked was the sketch books. This  area highlighted that I had not timetabled for realistically; found in practice course requirements and project development  took more time than expected. The sketch books have been very useful to keep a record of progress through practical work. These 2 sketch book entries are to show how my practice has become more focused and how have tried to develop the practical work.

5. Online Sketch books:

http://susanmort.wordpress.com/2007/11/17/72/

http://susanmortsketchbook.wordpress.com/2009/06/29/45/

Had a really kind email from May in response to a weblog I’d posted for Tuesday’s chat (see the post below) discussing the learning outcomes. It was lucky I posted it as Jonathan made some points and highlighted some issues with it. Here’s the chat:

‘ there are several slide show options including my favourite option, which is to upload your pics to flickr (I have this theory that flickr host photos, that is all they do so why should we host them on our sites and fill up the space, just use flickr, same with video, use youtube or vimeo) anyway, once pics on in flickr you can them get a feed from your photos and create a slideshow in worpdress and if you make any changes to the flickr pics, like new tags or extra pics in automatically updates

….Susan i realise it was an experiment, the work and the use of the slide show but maybe you could comment more on how you think the experiment went, at the moment you simply describe the work which is fine but we also need to see a little more comment about how ou felt making it, did you feel it was successful, if so why, what worked well, what would you develop further; and if it didn’t work well how did you feel about that, what would you change, what did you change, etc etc…. ‘

So I have updated the post in italics to show the amendments.

And here’s is May’s email:

‘Something related to your work … whilst I was in think airport catching a flight back to London, there were these art pieces on display in the departure lounge. They were done by recent graduates. One graduate did a series of items of clothing – gloves, socks, shirts. The clothing pieces were each dipped into wet clay and then the pieces were put into the stove (sorry… I don’t know what the process is called when u fire clay to dry). Anyway, once that process was done, the heat would burn the clothing material so that all that was left was the clay casts it made.
The artists’ concept was that the clay left the impression of the person as the item was gone and all that was left was the essence of it.
There was also a shirt that exhibited that was made up of several square pieces of clay attached together to make up the shirt. I think each piece was from a different item of clothing belonging to the person that wore the shirt or something like that. If I recall correctly, the meaning behind it was the garments that were a part of the person’s life – their essence formed part of the person/ person’s life.

I saw your pictures of the skirt and the walking idea and it reminded me of the exhibit I saw
I like the concept of the items leaving their essence and imprint into the cast that was left behind… kind of like footsteps left behind after walking ’

I was really grateful to May for this email. The theme of exhibition she describes  deals with some of the ideas I have been looking at. Also it gave me the incentive to start making some practical work again.

Tried continuing this thread of ideas from White Sheet and August Steps 2009 in these 2 photos below:

The top photo, wearing pointe shoes that are no longer used, no longer a part of my daily life, and the second of the marks left on my feet from having worn them. This idea follows on from earlier work where I drew on my body causing urticaria. Showing the impact on my body of a particular physical history

In the essay (apologies it will get posted am behind and need to catch up with a few things including learning outcomes.), I refer to common phrases about walking E.G.  ‘Walking on egg shells’.

What does it feel like walking on egg shells? Started taking some photos and filming video sketches today.

Made the following slide show (not yet on flickr sorry … next one will be) to be viewed as though a flick book to generate the movement.

My project began as an attempt to question the link between our movements and our identities and understand if our engagement with mundane physical activities may be seen to contain relevance.

I have narrowed down the range of movements to focus on walking, an activity unique to humans, in an attempt to provide a framework to examine some of the issues around the lived body.

White sheet was an early piece that incorporated the use of  mundane movements; in it I tried hiding the body with the sheet to express the idea of the hidden, unconsidered body.

I used the format of slide share in order to create a very basic form of interaction with the piece. These are themes I would like to develop within the final piece.

The things that worked about this piece:

The camera set up.

Using a video clip to lift stills from.

Using an activity that hides/traps the body.

What would I develop further from this piece?

Save slide sequences as iMovies and incorporate sequences in to Korsakow to keep interactive element.

The things that didn’t work in this piece:

The imagery is too soft /hackneyed it doesn’t convey the idea strongly enough. It is too pleasing.

I wasn’t clear enough about viewing slide show quickly like a flick book to create the sense of movement rather than as a series of photos.

Haven‘t provided clear rationale for using slow motion.

What would change next time?

Imagery.

Might also try speeding up sequences.

Provide a clearer rationale for image speed.

I am going through a phase where can’t seem to keep up with the course: going through the learning outcomes/assessment for unit one; thinking about the essay, trying to keep up with the chat content.

I realised today that a key element about walking for me is that it represents a freedom. A political freedom: anti capitalist not be reliant on money for a car, bus, whatever. I have never thought about the political implications. There was just a satisfaction in walking from A to B. That’s an issue that comes from the virtual walking environments currently being developed… lack of freedom. I will need to pay. Someone else will prescribe my views, my interaction, and sensory experience. Those implications worry me.

I was born and grew up in London. My family didn’t own a car and there wasn’t much money, if you wanted to go somewhere you walked. I would regularly walk from Kilburn where we lived to Oxford Street, Trafalgar Square or the Tate gallery and back again, without thinking about it.

Walking represents a personal freedom I never queried until health issues, location and transport became factors to me. For one reason or another it has become problematical to rely on walking and I realized that the small films I’ve made about walking for the course in some ways have acted as a document of that contrast.

It took writing the essay to make me realise these issues. It feels like not having seen something because it was too close. I wish I’d had had this overview before writing the essay but can start to take these ideas forwards from having engaged through the essay.

Next Post

 

This Tuesday the chat was based on discussion of our essay presentations.

The  online chat environment is not one I find easy.  It is a very impersonal environment that some how manages to create a very personal one.

Andy asked me two questions I wasn’t able to answer very well at the time, so will try to give a clearer response below:

The first was about the theme of walking and if I felt it dealt as a metaphor in my presentation.

Though I tried to deal with facts in the presentation, the idea of metaphor has been knocking at my consciousness but I can’t as yet articulate it clearly. I am very slow with the academic element of this course. It takes a long time to un-tease things from all the chaos that I go through both dyslexia wise and intellectually. Hope in a week or two when the essay is completed I will be able to include a clear metaphor but at this point in time how to articulate it clearly is work in progress.

Do feel some of these academic aspects have improved since first joining the course. Though  did have  a journey in that area to start with so it may seem very little progress. As long as it is going forward its all good.

The second was around Darwinism versus creationism in relation to themes in the presentation.  This question followed on from some of the issues raised in the previous discussion of Hassen’s presentation.

It is understandable that a work once it is viewed is informed for the viewer through the interpretation that they bring to the piece, based on their set of current understanding, history and experiences. Hopefully the viewer will take something away that may become relevant in a new context at some future point. Art goes with you and keeps re informing as understandings shift. This alongside its ability to raise debate is what makes it invaluable.

At a more personal level I wasn’t sure how to respond to the issues contained in Andy’s question, other than, for me this question focuses on the right to hold a personal belief structure and think we all should have a right to one and have a right to have those views respected and this is something we should all protect for each other; even if those views appear contradictory.

I have always admired Isaiah (or any  visionary), just as I admire Darwin’s tenacity and academic legacy and feel that they stem from the same place and  what is of real value is the on going debate.

Presentation

MPR

This project has evolved as a response to my interest in exploring the link between our movements (for the purpose of the MA, specifically non body language movements) and our identities.

My research has come to be  focused  around the link between identity and movement, of embodiment and disembodiment, the materialized, de materialized and the philosophies of Descartes and Merleau-Ponty.

 

Throughout unit one I have focused on constructing a methodology in order to explore these ideas.

Videoing movement, slowing footage down, lifting stills allowed me to make slide shows and short video animations which explore movements

http://www.slideshare.net/susanmort/white-sheet-1

and to ask questions about appropriate ways of filming these movements. E.g. what areas of the body to film, whether or not to include the face, question the role of background and environment?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkI_7T1LPUg

 

I have been using the following programmes

Credo: for animation from video footage of the body.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoYR_sMg-F0

Korsakow: to experiment with a non linear format.

 Isadora:  to create a piece where video and physical interaction may take place in real time.

 

Through out August 2009  I attempted to provide a more systematic and structured context for presenting these movements and have done his by attempting to add an empirical element by wearing a pedometer to record the number of steps I take daily and keep a video diary of myself walking for a short period each day.

 

“But in reality the body is changing form at every moment; or rather there is no form, since form is immovable and reality is movement. What is real is the continual change of form: form is only a snapshot view of a transition.”
                                                             —Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution 

 

‘The surface is where the self meets what is other than self.’  Leder, D. ‘The Absent Body.’ The University of Chicago Press 1990 (page 11)

 

The meeting point between our bodies and the surfaces they encounter will be the starting point to explore the link between identity and movement .

In order to continue this I aim to:

1. Develop core project and methodologies employed to a more specific view point.

2.  Create  better definition of key words e.g.: identity/surface/environment/embodiment.

3. Book motion tracking facilities at Newcastle University.

4. continue to produce paper based pieces alongside digital pieces. http://www.slideshare.net/susanmort/steps-august-2009

5. Produce prototype for final piece.