RICHARD LONG: Finding My Way
In a paragraph or two outline your idea and the inspiration or artist/photographer behind it.
Use the link on the website for how to brainstorm ideas (The Art Process & Brainstorming) and tell me which 3 techniques you tried.
38 comments:
Gosh. First one to comment. For the walking assignment, I have a crazy idea that may or may not work out, although I'm pretty sure if I have patience it will. I was first inspired by the "This Way...." (I forget the whole title) map series. I am going to go out into Boston as a tourist with a friend. We will ask other people to take our pictures, give us directions, etc. I then will take the picture, format them into postcards, and send them to myself. Originally, I had thought to write a "Updates for my mother" message series on the postcards, but my model Gabe Nicolas and the Sound and Spirit radio program changed my mind. When I asked Gabe to be my model, he immediately agreed, but posed an interesting question: Who are we and why are we in Boston? We are still working out on who we are because it is largely dependent as to what accent both of us can pull off. The "why" part was answered during the Walking radio program, when the host kept talking about pilgrimage, and how a recreation of the Chartres maze was made in San Fran. I turned that into a modernized version of a pilgrimage, but not a religious one. My cohort and I will be searching for "The Best [insert food item] in Boston."
As to the back of the post cards, I think I might try to write our version of the Canterbury tales.
Brainstorming techniques:
1). Took notes during the slide show, which led me to the idea of asking inhabitants for directions.
2). I asked someone who is creative, fun, and informed for their input, and their advice enhanced my project's connection to the idea of walking.
3). I modified (the M in SCAMPER) my concept of tourism to pilgrimage, and adapted (the A) the message on the postcards to fit the new concept.
I'm so sorry for that obnoxiously long post.
When I was in kindergarten, I loved going to this playground on top of that big hill in Allston/Brighton near Coolidge Corner. There was a metal stationary car structure that I always liked to sit in, and I would pretend that I was traveling to all these different places around the world. For this “walking” assignment, I want to focus on the idea of mobility versus immobility, and a stagnant childhood (kind of frozen in time and memory) versus progressing adulthood. I will take a series of shots of my subject (an adult) walking up the playground structure (specifically, the car), climbing into the car, and pretending to drive it. However, he will soon realize that the car (and his imagination) are no longer getting him anywhere, so he climbs to the roof of the car, looks around, and eventually jumps (I‘m not sure what this symbolizes yet… maybe freedom? Future?). I’m not sure whether or not I can actually make this whole story evident in a few shots, but hopefully, it will work out.
1) I took notes on the slideshow and the radio program.
2) I used another person to bounce ideas off of.
3) I played a word association game, because word association games are always fun!
Ok, I first got my idea for this assignment while watching the slideshow and seeing how the different photographers interpreted nature on their walks. Some of them used words, some of them used graphic representation for the walk, some of them brought back artifacts from their walk, etc. This reminded me of a poem I have read in English class (it was also on the MCAS) called "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" by Walter Whitman. The basic message of the poem is that nature is more beautiful as it is and that we shouldn't try and put numbers and labels on it to make sense of everything. Using this poem as inspiration, I would like to make a book incorporating pictures of nature in different views. I am thinking that one part of the assignment will be digital pictures that are very straightforward, scientific, approaches to nature. The other part will be black and white pictures of the same subject that are more abstract and focus on appreciating the beauty of nature instead of documenting it. I also might accompany the first set with information such as the scientific name of, for example, the tree I am photographing, and its average height, etc. I then might accompany the second set with maybe a poem or saying relating to the tree. I think this would work but I'm still not sure.
Brainstorming Techniques:
1)Take Notes. The notes I took during the slide show made me think of the concept of how we interpret nature.
2)Combine. At first I wanted to take either only a scientific approach to nature or only a more artsy approach to nature, but then I decided to combine them both so the viewer can make their own comparisons.
3)"Combination and improvement are sought." I hitchhiked onto the idea of Whitman's poem "When I heard the Learn'd Astronomer" and am trying to expand on his ideas.
Geez, these comments are a lot longer than they were last year. Oh well.
Basically I want to do something with walking (obviously), but the message I want to get off is how more and more people are walking due to gas prices. I'm thinking of maybe taking a picture of gas prices and then merging that with a group of people walking from a commuter rail or train. And maybe some interviews with walkers who've given up driving pasted on the pictures.
Another idea I had was mixing music with walking. when i walk i always listen to music because it adds a certain aspect to the walk. It gets me thinking a lot. So maybe using musical quotes of what im listening to and pasting them onto a picture of a scene i'm walking in. I don't know..so many options.
Brainstorming Techneeeekz:
1)Taking Notes
2. Connection something i love to it - music
3. Connection something person - the fact that i sometimes have to walk to school because i have no gas!
1. i really enjoyed richard longs whole a path to be walken kind of feel. the way he uses vast open landscapes really gives the photos an epic and deep vibe which i would like to explore. using a very big and open area and maybe some form of a single line that stretches out down the whole area. that is something i would like to try for this assignment.
rule 4. using a group of ppl together instead of one
rule 2. having ppl dressed up in costumes
scamper: instead of ppl use an object, tell and objects story
I want to show the struggle or harder side of walking by going on a hike possibly. When I also think of struggle, I think of reward which would be the view at the end of the hike. During the hike I want to keep a record of different rocks that I had to overcome to get to the top, trees, and of sounds which is something like what Richard Long would do. I think presenting it would fun, maybe using pictures I take and of words that I'll make, I will lay them out in the shape of the hill I'll hike or something.
1. Taking notes in class
2. Game of opposites
3. A- adapted the sense of sound and writing
For the assignment, I am thinking of combining two of the ideas that I got from Richard Long's photographs. I plan to take very simple photographs of different people's feet in a variety of locations, such as a park, the city or at a school. I will then cut out the feet and collage words over the picture of different things that the person saw, feelings during their walk or what they were thinking about. I then am going to string together the different foot prints to make a trail of different people's journeys with a collage of words which will document their trip like Long did in his different walks. I want to convey the ideas of a path created by footprints as well as the mixed media aspect of using words not just photographs.
For brainstorming I used:
1. the notes from the slideshow which gave me the ideas from Richard Long
2. my sister who i ran my idea of doing footprints and she came up with the idea of making a line of them
3. combine, I combined the elements of photogpaphs and words instead of just using photographs.
Intially,I wanted to play with the idea of escape through walking. Francis Alys'idea of people moving into the suburbs from the cities is what triggered the idea of "escape," but as I brainstormed more, the farther i got away form it. I want to show escape through barriers and obstructions i find along my walk. Things made by man or nature that are meant to keep you out or even keep you in, things that will keep you from walking any further. I also want to show things that people intend to leave behind by possibly using objects as symbols.
I brainstormed by:
- (SCAMPER) "Reverse": the idea of "walking equals going somewhere or going some place" is what was more obvious to me so i reveresed it to "walking equals getting away or escaping."
-(SCAMPER)"Combine": I combined my ideas of escape with barriers.
- Taking notes diring the slides/ reviewing them.
So i have one idea that im pretty sure im going to do but i also have a back up idea if it doesnt work out, my first idea is to barrow 3 treadmills from somwhere and set them up on a walking path in the woods and have different people walk on them as my models. i got my idea from listening to Sound and Spirit when they were talking about the spiritual aspects of walking, and how you travel phyicaly and mentialy while you walk. I kept thinking about how ironic it was that some people walk on treadmills insted of going for a walk outside and i started to wonder if walking on a treadmill provide the same kind-of spiritual, calming experence as walking outside does.
I think that these photos will come out unique and kind-of comical but also make you wonder; who are these people, where are these people going, what are they thinking?
brainstorming techniques:
1. I took notes during Sound and Spirit
2. C: i combine the idea of a walk in the woods with walking indoors, opposites
3.I talked to different creative people
The basis for my idea is recording. I want to make a book (not a very long one) using only materials I found on my walk and the photographs I took, artfully incorporated into whatever materials I find on my walk. I want to leave that part open--the materials a surprise--and take photographs and use the materials to make/bind/in the book and possibly photogram-style. I'm planning on walking in several areas--more wooded, suburban, and urban if I can fit it into one walk.
I forget the artist's name (and my notes), but it was the artist who made the book dipped in mud. I thought it was really inventive to directly include elements from the walk and then make it into a book, which often relate to storytelling or a journey.
Brainstorming techniques:
-tried not to criticize my ideas too much (didn't really work...)
-used new ways to make my ideas wilder/more interesting
-substitute paper/binding with materials from walk
-adapt book to journey
-took notes
spectacular
For the assignment I was thinking of creating a visual dictionary of walking by asking people in Boston to do certain types of walks for me "strutting" or "slinking" etc. and taking a series of pictures of them walking. Then I would take three or so from a few different types of walks and print them and put them in sequence to show the different walks (probably do some cool display with the word, definition, etymology, and visual definition.) I got this idea from the big slide of all the different words for walking, and the all the artists who interacted with strangers, which I thought was a neat way to do art.
1. I took notes in class.
2. I bounced ideas off friends.
3. I combined elements of different ideas from these people/slides.
My idea is to make footprints with water in different places in Boston that are all connected in some way. My ispiration was the giant footprint in tazainia and also Francis Alys' photograph with the green paint line in Palastine. I liked the idea of adding something to the landscape to symbolize a journey.
Brainstorming:
1. notes
2. talked to someone creative
3. tried to combine of water (which fades) with the experience of a journey which will always last.
As I was watching the slideshow I noticed how many different photographers used straight lines seeming to go on into eternity, such as Richard Long. The lines were symbolic of a journey, path, eternity, etc. However, in my mind when I think of a path, journey, or eternity a maze or some type of curve or winding road shows up in my mind. So the other day when I was taking a walk with my friend past Boston College, I noticed the memorial labyrinth for the 22 college alumni killed on 9/11. The labyrinth is a sort of winding maze that leads you to the center, then back out again. On some of the stones are engraved with the names of alumni who were killed. I walked through it with my friend and loved it because it brought forth the same meditative feelings that comes to you when you are walking a straight path, but more realistic because the path is constantly and swiftly winding. Another element I could go deeper into is the coming and going, and people passing each other. For the presentation I definitely want to somehow echo the feeling of the labyrinth (not sure how yet) and incorporate dried flower petals because many of the families and friends of the alumni who were killed placed flowers on their loved one’s engraved stones in remembrance (which is definitely an important aspect I’ll reflect on as well.).
1) Took many notes on the slideshow.
2) Asked many different people for their original input.
3) Taking a different approach to a popular idea.
I have a couple of ideas for this assignment:
I thought about doing something on footprints on different surfaces - dirt, sand, chalk on a blacktop - that would either lead to somewhere or just be random.
I was also fascinated by people's unawareness to their surroundings. I originally began thinking about this when we discussed in class how people would react to someone littering. I though about either placing an unusual object in the city and photographing people's reactions to it. Or doing some photographs in which only the object was in focus, and the people would be blurred.
1. Took notes on the slideshow
2. Bounced ideas off of people
3. Combined different ideas (with my first idea I combined the idea of paths and nature)
I liked Martin Kersels' idea of staging something within the city. Originally, I planned to stage a walk-off or something in the middle of Boston, but after going through my notes from the radio program I noticed that I wrote a bunch about walking as a religious experience for buddhists, and Jesus' walk with the cross, which made me think of Kanye's "Jesus Walks". So I think I might have a friend dress up like Jesus or some other pop culture figure and walk around different districts in Boston where people will react differently to him. maybe.
1. took notes during the slideshow and radio program
2. combined different ideas
3. bounced ideas off a friend
OK... so I actually have a couple ideas, being the indecisive person that I am.
The slideshow had such a huge variety of ideas that I couldn't help but want to explore the different ways of interpreting this assignment. One of my ideas was to document different people, their lives, and the trails they leave behind. A simple example would be a child, an teenager, and an adult. Standing behind them as they walk, we'd notice the different objects in their wake that would represent each person's different personality. A child, wrapped up in a blanket, may leave behind stuffed animals and other toys, while a working adult, who is more organized, leaves only a few paper trails... or maybe even nothing behind.
Another idea was to go into the city (or another busy place, like Main Street <--ew) and have a model do some really wacky things/dress differently, etc. I'd then capture the reactions and emotions of the people around us, the object of which to display and maybe even analyze people's social interactions with others, especially when confronted with something not necessarily in their comfort zone. It'll be like.... social psychology! (ahh I'm such a nerd)
(judging from the comments, these are brainstorming techniques?)
1) Took notes on slideshow and radio program
2) Chatted with people, not necessarily mentioning the photo project
3) Connection to something I'm learning (go psych!)
i really dont know what im gonna do but i want to keep walking simple but exciting. maybe by showing a short random walk could be as significant as a predetermind walk. i do have this idea of having polaroids in many random lines showing events in many random walks
My idea is to follow a person around (someone that I know), starting at a hospital (birth) and ending at a cemetary (death). I would just fill in kind of a story. My inspiration is a Death Cab For Cutie music video.
I tried all the techniques for brainstorming. Twice.
i got my idea when we were listening to the sound and spirit radio program. the host was talking about getting lost in a walk, and letting your mind wander. also in the slide show we saw a quote from thoreau where he talked about how the woods and nature is a much better place to walk and escape from the city life. while taking notes about this i automatically though of one of my favorite photographers. Tabutead Sebastien, a french photographer who does some amazing pictures of people in the french countryside. so in my pictures i want to bring these ideas together, i want to be able to show a person loseing their conciousness in a walk and just living in the moment and enjoying nature and their surroundings. so my idea is to either go to grass open land of lincoln or the tall beach grass of cape cod and use good angles to a show a person really loveing nature and their walk.
1. i took notes in the slide show so i wouldnt forget the artists that i liked.
2.i talked to my mom who is a former artist and we brainstormed places that we think are beautiful.
3. i hitchedhiked my idea from the navajo song in the sound and spirit program to tabutuead sebastein's photographs and came up with an original idea.
I was inspired by Richard Long and his combination of observations with photos. my plan is to start outside my house and flip a coin to decide which way to go. I will do this at every street corner, and see where i end up. on my walk, i will record all the directions i turn and the street names, as well as other more general observations, so that when i am done, i have a map of where i went (and also a means of finding my way home). on my walk, i will collect items that i find (leaves, trash treasures, etc) in plastic baggies and label the bags with where i found them. i will then take these objects and arrange them in the line, according to the route that i walked,and photograph them, forming a map of my journey.
i will probably elaborate on this, but this is my basic idea.
brainstorming techniques:
1. taking notes on slideshow
2. going over notes
3. made list of possibilities
4. combined ideas to form one concept
I have two ideas. My first idea is that I do something that has to do with the way walking allows you to go places that you can't otherwise... I could show people not following one way signs, or taking shortcut staircases that cut through streets, etc.
My other idea is that I do something like Richard Long where i leave a line during a walk. Either using stones maybe, or maybe things that i actually find on the walk, i pick up and drop a few feet later.
Brainstorming techniques:
1. adapt (other artists ideas into my own)
2. combine (ideas about picking things up from walk and making line)
3. note taking in class
For the walking assignment my inspritration comes form the artist which mark the landscape.the lines which were left on the mountains and fields. also the the artist that made the line between Isreal and Plastine was pretty cool. my ideas for the walking project is to focus on the what we walk on and how we impact vs. walking it self
1. took notes
2. thought
3.think outside the box
Realizing that my old idea made no sense, I came up with a completely new one.
After going over my notes, I found our discussion on women walking and getting harrassed to be intriguing (in reference to Yoko Ono's "Rape"). Reading "manifesto for.." interested me in how to "reclaim the nights in the city". How would a specific route, or walk, vary at different times of day or night?
By following two seperate models (one male and one female), during the day and during the night, I hope to distinguish the differences the same route could have when changing certain variables. I want to understand how a walk would be different during the day vs. the night and for a male vs. female.
-reading notes
-completely changing my idea
-combining two interests
I thought of the walk concept as more of a spiritual journey. I would use the Eightfold Path as my outline/inspiration, and try to interpret each step into a photo.
1st step -concentration
2nd- mindfulness
3rd- effort
4th- livelihood
5th-action
6th-speech
7th-intention
8th- view
I still need to decide exactly how I am going to translate these concepts visually. I could have a friend model being a person following the Eightfold Path, and his personal transformation. I could have all the photo's literally be taken with him on stairs as a visual clue. He could begin at the bottom of one set of stairs, and end at the top of a different set.
1. I took notes during class,--spiritual journey vs. a literal one.
2. I brainstormed with a friend
3.I Modified my original idea to trya and make it stronger
There were two artists work we looked at that i really liked. I can't remember the names of them, but the first was the person who pushed the block around Mexico. The other was the artist who walked back and forth making a line in the earth and taking a picture involving it. I used both of those and the idea of interacting with strangers to come up with my project. I also liked the idea of incorperating words and art into the assignment.
So, my idea was to first paint smallish boxes different colors and designs (stipes, polk-a-dots, etc.) I would then take these to Boston, where a festivle is going on this weekend, and set the up on a line or in one section. One person would begin by picking up a box, walking about 10-15 yards and placing it on the ground. They would then walk back and get another and do the same. I was hopeing i could get people to join in (so some people i asked to start this off would help). Once all the boxes were moved, they could continue. I would be taking photos of this...
Hopefully enough people would join in to make it work. I was planning on then asking people who joined in 2 questions. The first, simply...was there one color box they were attracted to or went for? I would make a chart and photograph at the end of the film. The secon question would be what did this event symbolize or mean to them? I could take specific words (i.e. "it represented untiy and working as a whole"...unity and whole for this example) and make a collage of this. Then take a picutre of that collage at the end of the film as well.
I dont know how realistic this is, people may not join in.?
I had a few ideas but i think if've decided on one.
I wanted to use the idea of walking and music. I feel like walking creates a rhythm and i want to represent that. My idea was the layout to blow up some sheet music and put photos of someone walking along it. I will elaborate more most likely.
So my idea was while I was taking a walk, to leave something behind. What i'm going to do is get random pieces of maps and fliers i find on street poles and fun things like that and dip my foot in paint and put a footprint and a quote about walking on each one. Then i'll take them all and take a walk, putting then up on trees and poles along the way and taking a picture of them, documenting, not only where i was, but where other people will be reading them in the future (hopefully they will get something out of it). Maybe ask some people in the street to pose for me next to them if they're nice enough Then, since i already have the paint, i could leave some footprints on the sidewalk (which will hopefully wash off eventually) in a short line that i walked and take pictures of that. I think the two of those go together.
1) Taking notes from the slidehow.
2) Talking about it in class, in the small groups.
my idea for the walking project is to , one day walk along a path and after a set amount of steps take a picture. it could be of anything, from a house , plant, animal,etc... Then on the next day i wanted to take the same walk but walk the reverse of what i did the say before and take pictures in the same places. i think it will be cool to observe how perspective change will be cool, and i want to see if some things don't even look the same from different angles.
Where i got my ideas.
1) Taking notes in class
2) Discussing in small groups
3) Running my ideas by a friend not in my photo class to see if it made sense to someone who didn't know what the assignment was.
my idea arrived to me from an angel. his name was Josh. i read the comment that he left and immediately rethought my idea. he is absolutely right about the losing consciousness in the moment of a walk, and i want to show the mental process of people in the city as they walk and what is going through their minds. i believe that all forms of walking are forms of mental strife, no matter what mood you are in. a strife-less walk is a meaningless walk. we not only walk to get from A to B, but have you noticed that when you walk you find yourself thinking of something, trying to figure out something, whether it is important or not. you are always at battle with your walking mind.
my idea started with the idea of people forgetting the meaning of walking now a days. i thought that people might be blind to the fact that when you walk you are venturing on a spiritual endeavor without even knowing it. so i first thought that i could show this by having a person dress up as jesus and carry around a cross in the city so that you can compare the average, modern man walking next to the sole icon of walking; the biggest strife-full walk in history, the carrying of the cross by jesus.
but then i realized that every walk is an endeavor, both physically and mentally, no matter who you are or when you walk; your mind is always going. so i though that maybe i could get random people off the street to show themselves striving to walk mentally through a physical view. so basically i would have random people carry a cross as to show the mental struggle of the mind when we walk and at the same time comparing it to the past walk of jesus.
FINAL IDEA: when i thought of this i thought i had it, but i thought of one more thing. instead of chaining the idea down to relating to the walk to jesus, why not have multiple props: a bolder, cross, ball and chain, even an office desk and supplies to show a personal struggle of what is on the mind during the walk and to show a satirical view of what our society has forgotten about due to our second lives at the office.
MAYBE FINAL IDEA: to build on this further, i could have the objects get smaller near the end of the walk and eventually disappear or have the person escape from them. the ball and chain would be released, the office left behind and the cross smashed to pieces on the ground. this can give the project a little more depth and meaning. i can either try and use random people off the street, or get my friend to help me with the project.
BRAINSTORMING:
1) Notes
2) person (josh's comment, if that counts)
3) writing
so for this walking assignment i am thinking of doing something related to psychogeography because i was really interested in it when i saw the slideshow. my idea still needs some developing but i want to think of places that make me happy, sad, scared, nervous etc. and take pictures of them and try and convey that emotion.
brainstorming techniques:
1. took notes during the slideshow
2. talked to other people about my ideas.
3. modified my ideas.
I'm really confused right now. I thought we were supposed to blog or whatever the verb is... but judging by the rest of these old posts that hasn't actually been assigned for the clothes assignment...
Well, here's to covering my behind. Cheers.
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