(these are posted in reverse chronological order)
(WK9) 4.6.12
This week started out shaky but became more successful by the end. Using writing was a nice change in the way I thought about the project. It was a better grasp on creating a little meaning at least in the images instead of them being more on the purely-formal side.
Things that worked:
1. using writing as the prompt
2. doing a style I was interested in more than once, if I was excited about it, I did it.Things that did not:
1. having many go-to writing sources, not that this was a bad thing, but needing to find a piece of inspiration in a pinch. but i made it
This week with Gail, I talked more on the trajectory of things and I’m going to try hard this weekend to finally talk with Ed Fella about this project, shed some light, maybe help me prep for the presentation on thursday (even before the project is “done” !!) The graphic novel comic is coming along nicely, wish I was farther along but I think my hand would fall off. I am 6 pages in, done with two films… so need to make some serious progress on that tomorrow hopefully. This is the beginning of my final week!! I can’t believe that!! it’s almost been 70 days already… out of control.
Also, since it’s the last week, i’m opening it back up, with some rules I really like, finding a style that I want to emanate and using a piece of writing to start it out. I really liked that rule, and I think they make a good pair, at least I came to a content+form go-to by the final week.
MANIFESTO 5/5
1. Content: see *keeping
2. Form: a style i’ve found, a style i like, an image i want to make, this week is busy but also looser.
3. KEEPING: must include a lyric, an excerpt, be inspired by a piece of writing, be related to a published work, must have some form of writing married to it in some way or another.
(WK8) 3.31.12
This week was spring break. Part of my rules was to have part of the process occur outside of the studio which proved a lot harder than I had first anticipated, but it made it easier to spend time out with my parents and look through old photos.
Things that worked:
1. made some images that I was really happy with, which made it harder when I made images I was less than proud of.Things that did not:
1. trying to do something off campus, ended up struggling to make the image even when i had something planned outside of school… hard to think of the project when i wasn’t focused on it in the studio.
Started working on the graphic novel, it’s taking a lot longer than i had originally planned, mostly because i’ve been tired and over worked, so i’m only a few pages in but i like where it’s going nonetheless. hard to believe i only have two more weeks left of this!
MANIFESTO 4/5
1. Content: must include a lyric, an excerpt, be inspired by a piece of writing, be related to a published work, must have some form of writing married to it in some way or another.
2. Form: one element must be made to be transformed into another element (photo with tracing, type thats over drawn, writing that’s rearranged, something must be methodologically changed).
3. KEEPING: must “implement” photography. (collaged, framed, abstracted, poetic, etc.)
(WK7) 3.23.12
This week was fucking difficult. Pulled the only all-nighter of the year, and the images definitely suffered. I also wasn’t taking reality into account when I created the last rules/restrictions.. they were repetitive, and they were vague in a really non-constructive way. That said, I made a few images that gave me some good ideas to use in the future, stylistically and in application.
Things that worked:
1. slightly editing the rule on the second day of the week, it helped ever so slightlyThings that did not:
1. the 5-minute image… they suck.
2. creating rules/restrictions to push against rather than struggle within. i gotta work against my rules a little better.
Spoke with Gail about the reality of fourth year and how I don’t think i’ll be able to do the graphic novel + the final film by the end of the 10th week while maintaining the everyday + the rest of my school work (with gallery shows and project deadlines impending). However, she said that I could save the film element for the “sound project” planned in our class after the independent projects are over. That way it’ll still be done for reviews/moshow, but it wont’ be as shitty as it would be if i tried to do it by week10/day7 (especially cos i’ll be making a whole original film that day).
I am using spring break to work on the graphic novel, been collecting examples of what i want to do and i’m really very excited to work on it. It’s kind of been an ongoing dream of mine, one of those someday projects becoming more and more real. That said here’s week 8’s manifesto, WOW WEEK 8 HOLY SHIT:
MANIFESTO 3/5
1. Content: must involve breaks, leisure, naps, relaxing, sitting back, taking it easy, going along with it.
2. Form: part of the PROCESS (elements, method, content) must take place outside of the studio, crit rooms, the g-lab/grad courtyards and the design hallway. it is spring break dammit, this project started at the beach for goodness sakes!
3. KEEPING: must “implement” photography. (collaged, framed, abstracted, poetic, etc.)
(WK6) 3.17.12
So this was the first week of half-2. It went surprisingly well, not that the rules were especially hard to follow but I think it was an easy way to introduce the manifestos into the project.
Things that worked:
1. typography was hard to make presentable as my idea of the images that i want, but it made me think differently.
2. using designers as a starting point was really helpful, made me look at things, made a few images that i really liked.Things that did not:
1. allowing time for other projects (the film especially).
2. doing drastically different color schemes, it ended up being one point color and always using black.
It was a little difficult for some of the images. But it went well overall. Again, it allowed me to think about each image in a different way instead of all being internal. I also had a really good conversation about the project with Gail this past thursday. She has some really amazing prompt ideas: letter of complaint to my ukulele, letter to my accordion, choosing lines from one chapter of Ulysses.. etc).
MANIFESTO 2/5
1. Content: must be something to, for, or “from” something, or someone.
2. Form: must “implement” photography. (collaged, framed, abstracted, poetic, etc.)
3. KEEPING: (1/5 rule: “content: the image must indicate, be inspired by, be related to: a designer, illustrator, artist (+ animator)”).
NOTE* // i got rid of rule “other” from last week (number 3) because now one of the rules carries over from the previous week.
(2ND-HALF) : SCHEDULE FOR REMAINING WEEKS
WK6
+ manifesto 1/5
+ ideas for final project (see week 5 review)
+ sketches/tests (for final)
+ choose existing representative images
+ week in review
WK7
+ manifesto 2/5
+ TALK TO ED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
+ begin making final pieces
- – storyboard graphic novel
- – animate 2 films together
+ week in review
WK8
+ manifesto 3/5
+ continue making final pieces
- – add 1+ films to first two
- – begin penciled out frames
- – ink at least the first 5 weeks
+ week in review
WK9
+ manifesto 4/5
+ continue making final pieces
- – add as many films as possible (up to week 
- – ink out previous 3 weeks
+ PLAN FOR MAKING EVERYTHING FINISHED AS FINAL WEEK FINISHES
+ week in review
WK10
+ manifesto 5/5
+ finish image reel
+ finish book film
+ week(s) in review (+ presentation?)
(WK5) 3.10.12
This was the final week of “themes” per se, the theme was “staged scenes.” It was an idea I had been fantasizing about since the inception of the project (based on object photogoraphy, modern photographic still lifes, a beautiful music video by Scott Barry, title sequences by Wes Anderson, etc. It went well, there are a lot of toys in the studio.
Things that worked:
1. doing many short films enclosed within the final weekly film.
2. playing with sound instead of just picking a song.
3. borrowing objects, creating tiny sceneryThings that did not:
1. i gotta take a photo class… or i gotta remember what i learned from the one i took in first year.
Because this was marked the half-way point of the project, it opened up the floor for some vast changes in the project; starting over but not scrapping the scraps from weeks past. I decided, after discussing with Gail and Kate, (and being told about the Dogme manifesto), that:
+ Each of the remaining weeks would have “Manifestos” (similar to that of Dogme)
+ The focus would be formal/content rules and restrictions, to kind of work within instead of simply picking a subject and just making whatever I want
+ The rules would have opportunity for exploration and stuff that I still want to make, or might make already, but hopefully the content would differ from my go-tos of the past 35 days.
THE MANIFESTO FORMAT (FOR WEEK 6 SPECIFICALLY) IS AS FOLLOWS:
1. Content: The image must indicate, be inspired by, be related to: a designer, illustrator, or artist.
2. Form: The image must contain some form or influence of typography.
3. Each image must have a different color scheme from the other images of the week.
4. Must keep one of the rules from each of the following weeks and add the 2 remaining (content, form, x)
(WK4) 3.3.12
This week I actually had a proper amount of time to spend on the various projects. My theme worked very well, doing things for other people. I’m thinking of having that be the main theme after the halfway point (at the end of this week), and starting to instigate restrictions instead of themes.
Things that worked:
1. using people I know as starting points, making content that directly relates to them.Things that did not:
1. getting everyone’s address… I should find a better method for distributing these things. MAIL THEM PRONTOOOOOO
Did some really good discussing with Gail about my project this week. It’s a hard project to talk to being so personal, but she gave me some good feedback and seemed stoked on a few different directions. After discussing it with her, I think after the half way point it’s time for my project to take a new direction. I would like to make things for other people as often as possible, and begin adding restrictions (like no paper, no drawing, must be a collaboration, must use a technique randomly chosen, etc.) I would also like to begin after the fifth week (next week) has finished, to start coming up with a final form for my project. I had explained to Gail that the go-to method would be a book and a reel showing what I had made, but I think it would be good to come up with a form for these that is a little less expected. Maybe it’s a puzzle, or a motion piece that uses the still images and a book that uses the content from the films or something like that. These are mostly formal explorations day by day, and I think it would be good to transform them only using the content that i’ve generated in them and leave form well enough a lone; just so I can distance the final outcome from the exercises I’ve done throughout the ten weeks.
For next week: staged scenes (final week-long theme without restrictions)
+ write 7 ideas (one a day) for the final outcome of the project.
(WK3) 2.24.12
This week was one of the busiest weeks of the semester thus far. I took the previous weekend off (from friday to sunday) and therefore could not follow a specific theme so the images were kind of all over the place.
Things that worked:
1. taking photos when i’m not in the studio and doing something with them laterThings that did not:
1. coming up with something that I like when i’m not at the studio…
2. not having a theme…
I still was able to make something every day, but i need to have versatile themes every week to make work that I like to make, and I like the result. I think each day I need to have a few options to choose from just in case. I need to start listing every time I have an idea, because only coming up with them when i have a breather is definitely way too hard.
1. Weeks should have themes, trips should have separate themes. Plan ahead for foreseeable interruptions for my schedule.
This following week: making things for another person. Different person each day.
Post something about the gift, but dont’ give it away to them until it’s given away. Or make it anonymous until it’s sent out.
(WK2) 2.17.12
This week was harder. I had a theme: re-appropriated printed material, and that worked pretty well. The theme was easy to follow and easy to accomplish
Things that worked:
1. following the theme
2. trying to get some variety within that theme
3. doing it every day with a lot of workThings that did not:
1. a lot of the ideas that i started with. being more impromptu with my entries helped.
It was a good week to test out doing a theme. I think i need to do that again
1. Switching the film day if theres a reason i won’t be able to do it that friday is okay.
2. Do the week in review RIGHT AFTER the week is over. .
The following week did not have a theme.
(WK1) 2.10.12
This week was an experiment. I let myself run free, make any images/film I want, and some were very fun, others were very very frustrating. One encounters this with most personal work. However, the one of the ideas with this project is that I’ll learn something by the end, gain something 10 weeks later.
Things that worked:
1. one day for the film!
2. accomplishing every piece before 12AM
3. the photography: not as bad as expected
4. journalling each day, posting each day
5. responding to the day rather then starting itThings that did not:
1. no theme, absolute free reign
2. coming up with a completely dif. idea ea. day
3. publicity: just some spam comments and friends
4. working at the beginning of a day
5. avoiding my go-to techniques….
These aren’t ultimatums; I still feel that week no.1 was a success since I accomplished my bare minimum goals. This said, there are some new guidelines I would like to add to my project further from this point. I didn’t want to make the whole project about any single thing, but I don’t have any problem with making each week self contained as the film can kind of represent a sort of closure. The new additions/aspects to the project are as follows:
1. Each week should have a theme or a go-to starting point. These will always be different: (appropriated printed material, short stories, people of history, people in my life, app. homework, etc) The theme for week no.2 will be printed material; newspapers, books, etc. The idea is that I can do anything within that basic guideline, but I won’t be starting with a blank slate. I will decide the following week’s theme after I have made the film of the previous week.
2. The weekly film should use at least one thing from the previous 6 days, this is a very open guideline, but hopefully it will start to instill a process from static image to motion within my personal practice.
3. I still will not be able to start the next image till at least after 12AM that day, but I can make lists of ideas for the next day to hopefully land on the idea I least expected. I might forget it after sleeping…
Each week will be self-contained, and I will try and add something into the mix so I will have a bunch of steps built into the project by the end. Because this is a model for my *VERY* personal practice (creating things that are not commissioned/hired) I am trying to be realistic to the way that I work. This is to kickstart that personal practice, and bring it into gear, but maybe in the process it will also inform something about my practice with my official workload. “Appropriated printed material” begins next.