Video: Methods and Materials

My Unit 1 assessment feedback also encouraged me to explore the use of video.

‘At times, your practice also seems to be reaching towards performance (particularly the self-portraits, self-reflexive writing and video introduction on your online folio). You should spend time in the Joan Jonas exhibition that is currently on show at Tate Modern, which I think you will find very inspiring. The way this work is installed will be particularly interesting for you to reflect on; in terms of how stories are shared and how self-expression is channelled into her performances, films and installations’

In the summer of 2018 we visited the British Museum and were encouraged to ‘have a conversation in drawing’ with the artists who were on display. I chose to respond to a painting by Philip Guston and began several drawings on my iPad which I then linked into a video as above.  I displayed this video at the Drawing Exhibition at Wimbledon called Dissecting the Archive. Please press the centre of the blank space to play the video.

I found using the iPad an exciting medium and thus produced for Unit 2, another video titled Artist Decisions, which was meant to accompany a painting called The Enemy Within, about addiction to alcohol and drugs among the elite. I was having trouble deciding what type of hair to give this composite person and so I tried a number of versions on my iPad. First here is the painting, which is still unfinished:

And this is the video I presented at my Unit 2 assessment.

Also at the beginning and the end of every term I created a video diary documenting my thoughts about art and the philosophy that was evolving within myself about what art should and should not be. This process enable me to think through who I want to be as an artist. It is a self-reflective process and one that I found very useful.

Here is an example.

I then went to five very formative exhibitions. The first was the Modigliani exhibition at the Tate Modern where there was a 3 D video re-creation of Modigliani’s bedroom and studio. I found this 6-minute experience incredibly gripping and this can be viewed here. The Making of the Modigliani VR: The Ochre Atelier.  This was the primary influence on my making of my own 3D video called ‘Come’. The second was the Joan Jonas exhibition in which she displayed a video in which she repeatedly said Good Morning and Good Night over a period of time, while in her nightgown and in her own living room. This gave me the freedom to be in my own living room and bedroom and in my own red dressing gown to tell it like it is. The third was the Charlotte Prodger video on the queer experience which enabled me to document a little of what it feels like being a minority ethnic older woman in Britain. The fourth was Bill Viola/ Michelangelo Exhibition: Life Death Rebirth at the Royal Academy. This gave me an indication that I wanted to address issues of life, death and rebirth- spiritual issues in the same vein as Viola. And finally the fifth exhibition was the Tracey Emin: A Fortnight of Tears Exhibition at the White Cube Bermondsey in which Emin documents here own sleeplessness in 50 photographs and her experience of an abortion when young out of art school. This exhibition encouraged me to use everyday autobiographical material for the content of my video. Also my research had uncovered several other feminist video artists such as Lisa Steele’s (Birthday Suit with Scars, 1974), and which further enabled me to appear unadorned in my red dressing gown.

 The process of making the 3D video on the Ricoh Theta 360 degree camera was a steep learning curve[1].   First I had to learn about the connection between the camera and my iPhone through which the camera is operated. Then I had to experiment with filming a 360 room. This took a total of 53 episodes of filming to produce 4 minutes of video. I had to find the best position of the camera and the lens and the best height at which these should be placed. I then had to learn how to transfer the film snippets into the computer using Ricoh Theta File transfer. Both the camera and the iPhone became clogged with film and I had to delete my iTunes account on my old iPhone 6 SE in order to make space for the 360 video. Anna Bunting-Branch showed me a way of viewing the film that I had created in 3D by first transferring it to the computer and then uploading the film to Youtube. I bought myself a cheap headset in order to view the film in 3D on Youtube. This then enabled me to experiment with position and height and lighting.

In order to edit the more than 60 mins of film into a 6-minute video, I bought myself the Premier Pro programme and imported all the snippets into the timeline in the project window. I then learned how to cut the video by placing the cursor strategically at various points. I learned how to close the gaps thus created and then to smoothen the transition between 2 separate snippets of film with a transition effect called Chroma Leeks. In the end I had to discard a number of favourite film snippets in order to keep the film at a viewer-friendly length. The final film consists of 5 film snippets. I used a funnel technique moving from socially conventional living room shots where I introduce viewers to my day, to my dog, to my tea making ritual and then move to a far more personal one in my bedroom where I am making a 6 am painting. Throughout the video I use the fourth wall[2] to talk directly to the viewer so that it feels like an intimate conversation.

If you have an everyday headset used  for video games, this video can be viewed below. You will first need to download the Youtube app onto your phone and open the video from within the app. Then place the phone into your headset choosing the option Twin screens. Then press play and close the headset. You will then see the video in 3D. You cal also pan across using the arrows, but you will only see the video in 2 D. I would advise using a headset to get the full artistic effect of this endeavour.

 Finally I had to learn to set up and operate the expensive 3D kit in order to play the video for viewers at the final Grad Show. Under the patient vigilance of Ursula Pelczar in the Film and Video suite I created for myself the following Set Up diagram. The program that plays the 3D video is called Steam. I had to learn to use this program. I had also planned to serve a cup of Japanese tea to my gusts so provision had to be made for a power socket for the kettle too.

 Because the equipment is expensive and complicated I needed an invigilator dedicated to my space to welcome viewers, present them with a cup of Japanese tea and invite them to watch the 6 minute 3D video. This required me to find such a person and to train this person both in the set up of the equipment and in the operating of it. There was a cost associated with this.

I wrote the following instructions for myself:

 SETTING UP VR: 

1)   borrow headphones from CLS

2)    borrow VR equipment from Film and Video studio 

VR Equipment comp-rises of

Laptop

VR box

Headset

Headphones

Sensors x 2

Remote controls

 Laptop

Connect to power source 1

HDMI cable to VR box topside (not coloured)

Usb to VR box topside

VR Box

            connect to power source 1

HDMI cable to headset (orange side)

Usb  to headset (orange side)

Dcin to headset (orange side)

Headset

As above to VR box

Connect to headphones

 via small wire on top of headset

Sensor 1

            connect to power source 1

Find tiny button at back and toggle to b. Wait for green light

Sensor 2

            connect to power source 2

Find tiny button at back and toggle to c. Wait for green light

 Kettle for tea ceremony connects to power source 2

 See diagram

STARTING THE VR

Make sure the internet is working and on. Charge two remotes overnight. The remotes are required to start up the VR.

 Turn on windows computer switch on right corner

Press control alt delete to unlock

Login with hut00041440 and uni password.

 Turn on remotes by clicking on small button below the large circle. Green light comes on.

Instructions come up on screen look at these carefully and follow.

Now playing

 Now Steam works

 My Steam account is linked to nimmihutnik@yahoo.com 

 Login to steam via nimmihutnik and password

Double click on SkyboxVR

 Make sure headset sits between two sensor or else computer will freeze.

 With remotes on both hands click on the big button direct laser to

Directory

            Desktop

                        NHVR

Continue play press ok

 Now it is running

 Check that the loop function is working.

TO CLOSE THE VR AT THE END OF EACH DAY

To get out of Steam click x on right hand side top

Turn the computer off

Look for power button on start screen and click and choose shut

Unplug two sensors and store safely.

Having viewed the video, I was referred to the following artists by Lois Rowe: Donald Urquart at Studio Voltaire in Clapham, London. Saskia Olde Walbers, Maureen Paley for her created narratives, Anna Bjenve Hansen, “The Interludes’ and Rosaline Nashishibi who marks her films with chapters. I was also encouraged to edit out those parts of the film that did not require a 3D presentation. For example, I had filmed a dialogue between me and a friend, about death and dying in which there was no movement about the room. Lois suggested that this was essentially 2D material and so I took it out as I was looking for ways of making the final piece shorter.

Transcription

While invigilating at the Hollow Chambers exhibition at the Crypt in Euston, London, I was privileged to share an invigilation slot with Jacqueline Nicholls from Central St Martins. Jacqueline was `Jewish and the wife of a rabbi. She had spent the past 7 years transcribing the Torah. She pointed me to a recently published book called Art and Religion by Aaron Rosen. Her work looks at misogynistic and sexualized images of women in the Torah. After talking with her, I decided to transcribe the Book of Ecclesiastes i.e. copy it word for word, just as the scribes of old would have done.  But, in addition to the meditative exercise of transcription I decided to denote all mentions of ‘he’, ‘him’ etc. with a ‘sic’ as if a mistake had been made in the original text. Using ‘he’ and ‘him’ rather than more gender-neutral terminology is a relic of patriarchy and I wanted to highlight the systematic incorporation of female identity into the more generic identity of  ‘man’.

I have therefore placed this book of transcription on the counter that holds the Japanese teapot and tea cups. Here is an example of a page of transcription and this is the book into which I transcribed the text. The cover is particularly beautiful because it is made of wood.

 [1] Tunstain, J. (2018) The Complete Guide to VR and 360 Degree Photography,  London, Octopus Publishing Group.

[2] Green, Holly (25 October 2017). "Doki Doki Literature Club Makes The Case For Breaking The Fourth Wall". Retrieved 5th August 2019.