Friday 26 June 2009
Cooliris is a viable option.
After a lengthy discussion with Shaun, the course leader, we came to the conclusion that Cooliris is a viable option as a method of display. Obviously the program in its raw form is unacceptable since I would have not created it, but with its embedding options it would be more viable and customizable for the use in my project, I will need to build a base Website's shell in Dreamweaver and embed the data on the said site, with embedding I can also use a variety of other mediums like Flv, for the video display, I will be doing extensive research into the methods into using Cooliris as a display app. Its fluidity and wall like structure will amuse and entertain the walls in my exhibition. For the exhibition I plan to have two walls covered with projectors that will be displaying the same thing on each opposing wall, this is because, just like in real life, your memories are something that you as a viewer are immersed in, and by being surrounded, your sensory perceptions will become dulled, almost like lost in thought as you view the various aspects of the piece. With this immersion I would also like to be clever in the audio placement. Ideally I'd like to have the audio placed above and at the corners of the room; so as to be bombarded from various curious directions for the sound, memory calls from many parts of the brains senses, smell touch and visual input, even light can play a vital part in the recovery of a memory. If I get time to complete this to its full I'd like to maybe create some sort of custom lighting system for the piece so that I can have total immersion. With Cooliris, I have a few good options available to me, one of which is to take a snap shot of the segment of the wall that the projection will be taking place and the install that as the Cooliris apps background, with this I can create the illusion of the various media windows almost flowing across the wall. This is obviously an area that will require some research soon. Hopefully, the following Monday I will be getting the internet, so with that I can update this blog 3-4 times a day, and as a result I can cover the content I wish to with greater ease, making the research side of my projects a lots easier. Anyway I have to go; the library is having a break soon.
Wednesday 24 June 2009
Cooliris or Flash.
I have been waging a war inside my head for some days now, and need to talk with Shaun, should I utilize Cooliris or Create from scratch, a flash app? Both have their strong points, for example, with flash I can be flexible and add the timeline feature with ease, but on the other hand, Cooliris’s interface and design are flawless, the feel you get while flying through the screen of images is also very nice, plus there is a developers forum where you can re-edit the application to play video, etc. I have a meeting with Shaun this Thursday, I just checked my mail, and I will bring this up with him during the said meeting, I’ll also bring the material for installing Cooliris.
A kingdom of knowledge.
I had a little look through the digitized work earlier, and the images I got from all my photo albums looked amazing in the Cooliris software, it was like you were flying through time browsing through the various memories that I had endured.
On a voyeuristic view I realised the complexity of the issue of viewing a second hand life, watching the human form evolving into what will eventually be what you see today. I guess this has another impact if you know the person, to see where they came from, what they liked and disliked, and creating the links of what defined them as a person, it's all very interesting indeed.
I want to look at other forms of this sort of voyeurism, maybe look at the TV series "Big Brother" where contestants have to just live in a confined space; in my opinion the results will always have similar effects since the environment they are placed in is somewhat a "controlled" environment.
Perhaps a better and more personal way of creating this sense of voyeurism is too take the cameras to a place where the subjects would normally be comfortable, where the only rules that apply are the ones that they would normally follow, but now I think about it was kind of done.
A program called "The family" was a documentary about a family where they had, with permission, allowed channel 4 I think, to install cameras into every room and place of their house and filmed their everyday life.
This family that was chosen was supposed to represent the average family, I have no idea how one would formulate a definitive average for such a broad spectrum of character archetypes.
This series, some of which I did watch, was interesting, but again not enough, to fully document and understand the human pattern, one would assume that to achieve this you might need to follow every aspect, no matter how mundane or personal.
This then, in turn, brings up the topic of censorship, and what is controlled media.
For example in my project, no matter how personal the data I will digitize this and add this to my memories, because in my opinion, censorship is just another type of controlled medium, and something controlled is something modified, and then eventually the product you receive at the end is not the true product.
If I offered you a glass of whiskey, and somehow removed the alcohol content, then gave it to you, it would smell, taste and probably look different, and as a result of that slight amount of censorship the outcome is not a true result, but one censored by the modifier.
The family, for me is a lot like this, it is apparent in some episodes that the family are aware of the cameras, and as a result their behaviour, naturally, changes.
The same can be said about "Big Brother" except with that show there is a prize, a reward that drives the contestants to altering their behaviour to what they might think to be acceptable by the public. With constant reminders of reward, is it not obvious that they will themselves evolve and alter themselves to achieve these goals; it’s no different to university or my own situation.
Some research, seems somewhat boring, and as a result we tend to bypass some information because we deem it unworthy of our time, but with university you will often endure things you might find boring, or unsettling, but with the reward of our qualification, we make the effort because most of us are aware that a qualification will help with a better job, or help command more respect from our society.
Either way, this topic as you might have guessed is vital to the development and understanding of my own project, as it follows the same fundamentals of these shows.
On a voyeuristic view I realised the complexity of the issue of viewing a second hand life, watching the human form evolving into what will eventually be what you see today. I guess this has another impact if you know the person, to see where they came from, what they liked and disliked, and creating the links of what defined them as a person, it's all very interesting indeed.
I want to look at other forms of this sort of voyeurism, maybe look at the TV series "Big Brother" where contestants have to just live in a confined space; in my opinion the results will always have similar effects since the environment they are placed in is somewhat a "controlled" environment.
Perhaps a better and more personal way of creating this sense of voyeurism is too take the cameras to a place where the subjects would normally be comfortable, where the only rules that apply are the ones that they would normally follow, but now I think about it was kind of done.
A program called "The family" was a documentary about a family where they had, with permission, allowed channel 4 I think, to install cameras into every room and place of their house and filmed their everyday life.
This family that was chosen was supposed to represent the average family, I have no idea how one would formulate a definitive average for such a broad spectrum of character archetypes.
This series, some of which I did watch, was interesting, but again not enough, to fully document and understand the human pattern, one would assume that to achieve this you might need to follow every aspect, no matter how mundane or personal.
This then, in turn, brings up the topic of censorship, and what is controlled media.
For example in my project, no matter how personal the data I will digitize this and add this to my memories, because in my opinion, censorship is just another type of controlled medium, and something controlled is something modified, and then eventually the product you receive at the end is not the true product.
If I offered you a glass of whiskey, and somehow removed the alcohol content, then gave it to you, it would smell, taste and probably look different, and as a result of that slight amount of censorship the outcome is not a true result, but one censored by the modifier.
The family, for me is a lot like this, it is apparent in some episodes that the family are aware of the cameras, and as a result their behaviour, naturally, changes.
The same can be said about "Big Brother" except with that show there is a prize, a reward that drives the contestants to altering their behaviour to what they might think to be acceptable by the public. With constant reminders of reward, is it not obvious that they will themselves evolve and alter themselves to achieve these goals; it’s no different to university or my own situation.
Some research, seems somewhat boring, and as a result we tend to bypass some information because we deem it unworthy of our time, but with university you will often endure things you might find boring, or unsettling, but with the reward of our qualification, we make the effort because most of us are aware that a qualification will help with a better job, or help command more respect from our society.
Either way, this topic as you might have guessed is vital to the development and understanding of my own project, as it follows the same fundamentals of these shows.
Proust, Proust, Proust...
Yesterday I spent a good 2-3 hours reading more from the book "Remembrance of things past, within a budding grove" by Marcel Proust. This book is very intense, it’s writing style that features huge sentences that drag on for several lines often end up leaving me with little to no idea what I just read; I'll give you an example. *opens book randomly and selects a sentence* 88 words I counted in this sentence!! "People who move in society are very short sighted ; at the moment in which they cease to have any relations with the Israelite ladies whom they have known, while they are asking themselves how they are to fill the gap thus made in their lives, they perceive, thrust into it as by the windfall of a night of storm, a new lady, an Israelite also ; but by virtue of her novelty she is not associated in their minds with her predecessors, with what they are convinced that they must abjure." Anyway, keeping track of what’s said is getting tough, but I'll keep going at it, not that much more to read now... About 4-5 hours, if I'm going to understand it.
Tuesday 23 June 2009
Books... not so much like Bus's.
I finally received ALL of my books for my references and research, they are:
"Philosophy and memory traces" by "Sutton"
Status: \\\UNREAD///
*This book had to be purchased and sent to me by the library, I have had to wait a good 2-3 months for the books to all finally arrive, the problem is that I have until 27th of June to read them, but I'll request more borrowing time but I have to be very precise since they are very anal about loaning new books*
"Remembrance of things past, within a budding grove" by "Marcel Proust"
Status:\\\47% Completed///
"The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud Volume 17" (1917-1919)
"An Infantile Neurosis and Other Works"
Status:\\\UNREAD///
"The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud Volume 19" (1917-1919)
"The Ego and the Id and Other Works"
Status:\\\UNREAD///
And there is another book, but I forgot to put it in my bag, I'm at the library, because I have no internet at home.
Anyway, today is a nice day, and so that I get some of the most natural vitamin D as well as work I will read these in the sun today, I have my notebook, pens and the books I just mentioned, I may be able to finally finish Marcel Proust’s insane book, which is for me, a very difficult read.
Anyway I'll update later hopefully, and talk about some other reference material.
"Philosophy and memory traces" by "Sutton"
Status: \\\UNREAD///
*This book had to be purchased and sent to me by the library, I have had to wait a good 2-3 months for the books to all finally arrive, the problem is that I have until 27th of June to read them, but I'll request more borrowing time but I have to be very precise since they are very anal about loaning new books*
"Remembrance of things past, within a budding grove" by "Marcel Proust"
Status:\\\47% Completed///
"The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud Volume 17" (1917-1919)
"An Infantile Neurosis and Other Works"
Status:\\\UNREAD///
"The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud Volume 19" (1917-1919)
"The Ego and the Id and Other Works"
Status:\\\UNREAD///
And there is another book, but I forgot to put it in my bag, I'm at the library, because I have no internet at home.
Anyway, today is a nice day, and so that I get some of the most natural vitamin D as well as work I will read these in the sun today, I have my notebook, pens and the books I just mentioned, I may be able to finally finish Marcel Proust’s insane book, which is for me, a very difficult read.
Anyway I'll update later hopefully, and talk about some other reference material.
Tuesday 16 June 2009
Useful link.
I was reading the written piece from the Stanford University; it talks about the concepts of memory. It explains in some considerable depth about the concepts of memory, they explain that memory is itself a type of knowledge, and can only be obtained by experience, but for someone that has misplaced those memories, it must mean that I have also lost in tail, knowledge, experiences and emotions that would have been associated with those events.
They also discuss that unlike pure imagination, memory documents real events, but I have experienced a few events that I thought I had been involved with but it turns out that I had fabricated the whole event from other people telling me what had happened, used the stories, that no doubt were stored in my head, used those stories with me in and worked out a whole new perception where I have altered my reality, and have lived an event "second hand" so to speak.
I think It goes without saying that memory is a very interesting thing, without our ability to analyse and store information, we don't actually exist, because we would only be able to recall the present, and not be able to predict the future based on our past, or reflect on out past as a whole.
I watched, only a few days ago, the film "Total Recall" and I honestly had no idea on its relevance to my project, had I known, I would probably looked at it earlier.
The whole concept that the main character is one of the main antagonists is quite clever, because it’s not that he has no memory, he just has an altered memory, which brings me onto a subject that I covered in games design, hyper reality.
Like the matrix, total recall gives its viewer another perspective on life, one that cannot easily be disproved.
Could our lives be real? Or some sort of manufactured environment?
Could our memories be real? Or again manufactured?
As for the environment, for most of us it IS manufactured, the house, and every single aspect has been manufactured to cater to what is deemed to be our needs.
But you never really get a say as to what these needs are, society and corporations create not to needs, but more so to desires.
Realistically, the TV exists for two things, to help sell us more of these manufactured goods that we don’t need and to apparently "entertain us" but my guess is that if your life never had a TV in it, you might find the concept of sitting in front of a box for hours a little... pointless?
The stimulation that the television gives us is basically a release, from our busy day to day lives, I think that to ensure that the populous repeats and work, they need a brain stimulus with minimal effort, and TV provides this, you can feel social and evolved with whatever you are watching.
But work itself is not that alien a concept, ants for example, outnumber people something like a billion to one, and there system of a sort of order of society has provided them with a very successful species.
Humans however, all feel equal, and it’s this equality that brings about our downfalls...
Anyway, completely gone off on a tangent, and this is somewhat irrelevant on this project, or is it?
Well maybe not so much now I think about it, but either way my time in the library has ended.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/memory/
They also discuss that unlike pure imagination, memory documents real events, but I have experienced a few events that I thought I had been involved with but it turns out that I had fabricated the whole event from other people telling me what had happened, used the stories, that no doubt were stored in my head, used those stories with me in and worked out a whole new perception where I have altered my reality, and have lived an event "second hand" so to speak.
I think It goes without saying that memory is a very interesting thing, without our ability to analyse and store information, we don't actually exist, because we would only be able to recall the present, and not be able to predict the future based on our past, or reflect on out past as a whole.
I watched, only a few days ago, the film "Total Recall" and I honestly had no idea on its relevance to my project, had I known, I would probably looked at it earlier.
The whole concept that the main character is one of the main antagonists is quite clever, because it’s not that he has no memory, he just has an altered memory, which brings me onto a subject that I covered in games design, hyper reality.
Like the matrix, total recall gives its viewer another perspective on life, one that cannot easily be disproved.
Could our lives be real? Or some sort of manufactured environment?
Could our memories be real? Or again manufactured?
As for the environment, for most of us it IS manufactured, the house, and every single aspect has been manufactured to cater to what is deemed to be our needs.
But you never really get a say as to what these needs are, society and corporations create not to needs, but more so to desires.
Realistically, the TV exists for two things, to help sell us more of these manufactured goods that we don’t need and to apparently "entertain us" but my guess is that if your life never had a TV in it, you might find the concept of sitting in front of a box for hours a little... pointless?
The stimulation that the television gives us is basically a release, from our busy day to day lives, I think that to ensure that the populous repeats and work, they need a brain stimulus with minimal effort, and TV provides this, you can feel social and evolved with whatever you are watching.
But work itself is not that alien a concept, ants for example, outnumber people something like a billion to one, and there system of a sort of order of society has provided them with a very successful species.
Humans however, all feel equal, and it’s this equality that brings about our downfalls...
Anyway, completely gone off on a tangent, and this is somewhat irrelevant on this project, or is it?
Well maybe not so much now I think about it, but either way my time in the library has ended.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/memory/
Tuesday 9 June 2009
Cooliris
Cooliris is an interesting program, it allows you to view various media with speed and ease, all contained in this virtural enviroment which is quite aestheticly pleasing!
Only issues i'm having at this moment are ones with video, I think I might have to convert video into FLV format as I had kinda expected.
Anyway, I'll update again later today.
peace
Only issues i'm having at this moment are ones with video, I think I might have to convert video into FLV format as I had kinda expected.
Anyway, I'll update again later today.
peace
Monday 8 June 2009
Pulled some stuff form our lesser regarede source, Wiki.
Disorders
"Much of the current knowledge of memory has come from studying memory disorders. Loss of memory is known as amnesia. There are many sorts of amnesia, and by studying their different forms, it has become possible to observe apparent defects in individual sub-systems of the brain's memory systems, and thus hypothesize their function in the normally working brain. Other neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease can also affect memory and cognition. Hyperthymesia, or hyperthymesic syndrome, is a disorder which affects an individual's autobiographical memory, essentially meaning that they cannot forget small details that otherwise would not be stored.[10] Korsakoff's syndrome, also known as Korsakoff's psychosis, amnesic-confabulatory syndrome, is an organic brain disease that adversely affects memory.
While not a disorder, a common temporary failure of word retrieval from memory is the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon. Sufferers of Nominal Aphasia (also called Anomia), however, do experience the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon on an ongoing basis due to damage to the frontal and parietal lobes of the brain.."
Ripped from a Wiki post about Memory.
I found this VERY interesting as my dad’s side of the family has Alzheimer's in its history, and reading this reminded me of a previous memory, perhaps one of the negative sides of memory loss is its ability to also allow you to re-remember and endure again, previous nightmares.
A few years back, as of when I'm unsure, I remember awaking in tears after having a dream this I was locked away in a mental hospital, Hellsdon to be exact, and this is a common thing about dreams and nightmares, they have to spawn from some sort of fictional sense, because you brain has to replicate these dreams from events that your body has itself had to deal with.
That’s why you never die in dreams, because your brain has not, obviously, died or experienced death.
In this dream I was a normal man, but because of my desperation to not go to this hospital, I acted somewhat irrationally and thus looked even more mentally unstable. So it would seem that I'm very afraid about being misjudged, that’s my analysis of that dream, no idea as to its exact date, it just came back to me when reading that text about disorders, and I felt it relevant to add here since this is all about memory.
Another day...
Today is of course, another day, and another page of our daily lives that depending on whether or not we have a particularly good or bad day will remain with us forever in our memory. Unfortunately, for most people, in a week or two time this day might just be a blur, and it’s this repetition that we have to endure that overwrites our memory with similarities and this erases and poisons our memories.
Too much repetition brings normality, an area that everyone can relate to, it’s these familiarities that in my view spoil what should be a life of discovery and not one based on repetition.
Today was supposed to be the day the High school would contact me, but as usual, things never go as planned and they have not called me to confirm such meetings.
So, time to take this into my own hands, in a little while I will be heading to the high school, and ask, again, for this meeting before it's too late.
Anyway, back to the other issues, on the front line at this moment is the Cooliris program, that with some editing, I will hopefully be able to utilize its application abilities.
It’s a really clever piece of software and utilizing it will be one of the main challenges that I will have to overcome.
I'll link you, now.
http://www.cooliris.com/
This software is amazing, it basically takes my concept to a new visual level, and its ability to be customized so freely means that making the workflow easy is now achievable.
Anyway, today I've been looking at its applications, it seems that any video or audio needs to be in FLV (flash move player) format and this will create some issues with conversion, but maybe might work in my favour, since flash content is vector based and as a result can be resized to whatever dimensions I wish.
Using a program called 'PicLens Publisher' I can create the websites necessary code that will be used by the program Cooliris, only problem so far is going to be its size, since making an online application which houses Gig's of data will not be cheap, so all I have to do is adapt that code that Cooliris uses to help itself work the way it should.
Too much repetition brings normality, an area that everyone can relate to, it’s these familiarities that in my view spoil what should be a life of discovery and not one based on repetition.
Today was supposed to be the day the High school would contact me, but as usual, things never go as planned and they have not called me to confirm such meetings.
So, time to take this into my own hands, in a little while I will be heading to the high school, and ask, again, for this meeting before it's too late.
Anyway, back to the other issues, on the front line at this moment is the Cooliris program, that with some editing, I will hopefully be able to utilize its application abilities.
It’s a really clever piece of software and utilizing it will be one of the main challenges that I will have to overcome.
I'll link you, now.
http://www.cooliris.com/
This software is amazing, it basically takes my concept to a new visual level, and its ability to be customized so freely means that making the workflow easy is now achievable.
Anyway, today I've been looking at its applications, it seems that any video or audio needs to be in FLV (flash move player) format and this will create some issues with conversion, but maybe might work in my favour, since flash content is vector based and as a result can be resized to whatever dimensions I wish.
Using a program called 'PicLens Publisher' I can create the websites necessary code that will be used by the program Cooliris, only problem so far is going to be its size, since making an online application which houses Gig's of data will not be cheap, so all I have to do is adapt that code that Cooliris uses to help itself work the way it should.
Sunday 7 June 2009
Grrr
My luck has been somewhat 'opposing' to me, again... I managed to leave my USB stick at university last week and only got it back on Thursday just past, without it I could not use my Digital cam. Then, my other book arrived at the library. A bit of good luck at last, it seems to be the book I just read, and it’s in a comic form?! Weird. I've been trying to get drivers for my scanner so I can start the tedious process of scanning my images into my PC and begin the process of digitizing everything. I handed in my letter to the high school and await their response tomorrow, fingers crossed I can start filming soon! Other than that I'm still trying to get an internet connection to the flat, so that I can update more freely and use the Cooliris program suggested to me by a first year student, it basically does what I plan to do in flash but without the time line. Anyway I’m in an internet cafe and running out of time, I'll update a gain ASAP. Peace.
Monday 1 June 2009
The Beginning...
This is the start of my journey into the realms of my past, I'm somewhat at a loss as to how I might feel or reach when rediscovering my past. I just hope that the reasons for this desire to discover myself are brought to light and that I can now finally understand who it is that "I" am. With the recent spate of tragic luck that I have had to endure, I find myself ready to; once again, have a second try at this whole "digitizing" aspect of my project. This is basically the process of taking real objects, photo's or video or even audio, and scanning and transporting that information into my PC so that I can categorize and add them into the flash time line I plan to create. Firstly I'll go to my parent’s photo albums, and take a look at my earliest recorded moments, gather all the images and resources available, form there start the process of digitizing.
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