Basic research. Check!

After looking through countless youtube videos and such, I have finally started reading. Art books, psychology. You name it, it's here. Good perspective.


Currently reading:
The Content Analysis of Dreams - Calvin S. Hall and Robert L. Van de Castle


Stop Motion: Craft Skills for Model Animation - Susannah Shaw

The Waking Dream: Fantasy and The Surreal in Graphic Art 1450-1900 - Edward Luche-Smith and Aline Jacquiot


Salvador Dali's Dream of Venus-  Ingrid Schaffner

Also, got my hands on a BBC Documentary : Why do we dream?

Fingers crossed. :)

Good concept video

Came across this Louis Vuitton ad. Directed by Bruno Aveillan, it is a good montage of individual concepts put together...complete with a good background score.
It's basically clips from nature, people, and inanimate objects. But the way it is all put together is commendable.
Although it's an ad for Louis Vuitton - a high fashion brand...the attempt to make it more of an experience rather than high fashion indulgence hooked me on to this commercial. Unlike the rather eclectic and nouveau riche image of LV, this ad crosses barriers and delves into a more natural, almost spiritual treatment.

What Dreams May Come

What Dreams May Come, directed by Vincent Ward: Starring Robin Williams

This is the studio trailer with music composed by Yann Tiersen - Comptine d'un autre été: L'après midi

The concept of life after death and consciously manipulating dreams has never been more beautiful. It's a good take on what lies beyond the "tunnel" and how life on earth MAKES your after-life.


Have a look :

STOP and Stare!

Another great stop frame video. Coldplay's finest :) I'm betting those are chalk drawings. But wow, a lot of effort. And time. And a bunch of great artists!




So nice!

Big City Lights!

One word. WOW

One of the nicest installations I've ever seen (not in person though). The use of light and 3D projection has always baffled me. It's a calculated skill and probably takes a hell lot of time. But the result is before your eyes - scintillating! I wish I could do this. But then again, I wish I could do everything! :D

Inspirado!

So this film has been my inspiration forever now. It's surreal, contrasting with bits of realism and cutting-edge set design. Have a look at the trailer, a must-watch and one of Michel Gondry's finest!


My favourite scene from the film :)


Happy viewing!

Making the Future - one step at a time

Every once in a while, I am asked the inevitable. “So what’s Nottingham like?” My answer- Two weeks of fun followed by a week of serious project work. A team of 13 individuals from different MA courses came together to create an experience, a collective picture of their individual journeys and a consciousness of what was to come. Having used this excellent opportunity of working in a team with various like minded people, I came to realise that even though we all come from different cultures, there is something about art that is in union with our selves as a whole.

Our group brainstormed together for about an entire day till we came up with an idea for the project. Using our native culture and experiences as a backdrop, we started working on an illustrated collage which would eventually form the words “Making the Future”. The reason we chose this phrase is because it is synonymous with our Institution and its core ethos.

While working on the project, I saw how my group mates represented their culture in the form of drawings etc. It was a visual treat to watch how our individual efforts in making this collage led to the forming of a dynamic piece of art. How it all came together to create “Making the Future” is a paradigm of what we’re here for.

Working together as a team taught me how to manage time and responsibility. Also, communicating with students from different countries and academic backgrounds helped me understand their ethos and co-work towards a common project. Along the way, I picked up a few words from Chinese, Greek and Irish and it really got me curious about their respective cultures. The project aided me in getting a fair idea of how people from different academic and social cultures work and how this opportunity can be maximised to create art.

The aim of the project was to embark on a journey and along the way, gain experience on both academic and social aspects. Although our project wasn’t an account of our literal journey, we tried to bring in aspects of our personal journeys from back home and incorporated it in our project. Our success remains in the fact that we were able to develop a strong bond among us as group mates and more importantly as friends.

In the coming weeks at Nottingham Trent, I hope to learn more about different people and their cultures and use this knowledge to develop my own personality and style as art in general is a mélange of different styles. I would like to explore the psyche of how people think, daydream and what they encounter. It is fascinating to create a piece of work out of something that would otherwise seem absurd and pointless. However, I would like to use this very subconscious state of people’s minds to figure out what they see when they don’t want to see anything and how this can become a wonderful piece of art. A good example would be me day dreaming about flying animals and paper towers. This may seem incomprehensible but it leads to developing a thought process that delves into the way people perceive reality. 

Bon voyage!

Writing is often considered as a means to express yourself. People write to give out details about their day, pen their thoughts down, so on and so forth. However, my reasons for writing, particularly maintaining this blog are different. I want to use this as a portal to document my journey through my year at Nottingham Trent.

So, off I go! See you on the other side :)