PHYSICAL GLITCHED GALLERY SPACE INSTALLATION

I used the colour palette of the room itself, which matched one of my phone glitches, to create line glitches running across the space. This is intended to unify the space as a singular installation, encompassing framed static work, projection and installation. I have attempted to 'glitch' every material and element of the space in some way, including painted surfaces, the bench, the framed art, the title cards, the electrical fittings and the positioning of the projector, which should unify the room with the films.

 Haiku triptych

 Haiku installed frustratingly low for viewing

 The bench should be uncomfortably low for most visitors

In another attempt at subversion, these headphones have 'glitched' so that they are plugged into a wall and not any sort of sound source. I will be interested to see how much interaction there is with this element based purely on the fact that with headphones installed in a gallery in this manner there will be an expectation of some form of sound, despite the jack clearly entering the wall.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I engage with technology to create collaborative artwork, working with my devices to realise their artistic potential. The art we create together explores how far technology can infiltrate and mimic the human and whether it can be capable of artistry.

My phone is broken and glitching and my laptop had to be completely replaced prior to this show, elements which have further influenced the aesthetic qualities of the artworks and its physical manifestation. This is also an aspect which has led me to regard the heavily-used device not as a simple product of mass-manufacture, but something which can have a unique identity and bond fostered by the owner. The predictive text function has been particularly fascinating in this regard; mimicking and replicating my own language patterns in a manner which can be simultaneously illuminating and ludicrous.

This art intends to subvert the nature and structure of the artistic establishment it is housed within, just as my phone offers a convoluted, problematic version of what it was originally manufactured to present. It is difficult to navigate and understand, it is visually off-putting, random and irrational. Through collaborating with my devices I have inadvertently categorized my practice under a new genre of ‘technological absurdism’.

MOBILE ARTIST STATEMENT

I engage in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most of the Easter bunny rabbit hole in the space and the tech most 

Peter Scott Gallery 

My initial plan was to create a frame plugged into a dummy socket and test how far something could be perceived as an electric or interactive object through the presence of wiring and the appearance of cabled connection. There is, however, no interactivity or technological aspect to it and I'm hoping that in the time taken to realise there is not functionality, the viewer will have engaged with the artwork more thoroughly in an attempt to understand it.

I then decided to push this further. I decided the frame would display an artists statement for the work I have been completing and rather than label or title the art, I would put a poem in the place of the text on the title card. By swapping the art and the explanation of the art, I am again hoping to capture the viewers attention for a longer period of time though confusion and raise questions to do with the focus and attention of the artwork.

When making the contents of the framed work I included a number of computer generated and handmade glitches. The card was cut into to glitch the traditional framing and the statement itself was put through several programmes and layered many times to  appear as my phone screen would and retain traces of the process itself. Finally, I recreated the smashed glass effect using a gluegun.

I had to make some adjustments to my plan owing to the standardisation of title cards in the Peter Scott Gallery. I felt it would be best to comply to these measurements so that the title card would not initially stand out as different from the rest. 

Using the aesthetic qualities of my phone

My phone has a number of randomly occurring screen glitches and a completely smashed surface, but rather than being purely impractical, it gives my phone a distinct sense of individualism. In the spirit of listening to my devices, I have allowed these quirks to influence my work, particularly printed work beneath glass frames.

Media Offline

And other 'faults'

In order to fully exploit the medium of Premiere pro, I employed a number of effects, images and animation which would suggest various errors within the programme. The 'media offline' screen, for example, is the standard screen setting when any media within the programme cannot be found. This is in order to give the impression that there are genuine errors and faults within the film and make viewers really question what was and was not intentional.

It is the intentional which is constantly in doubt through this video. I state my intention in the introduction as getting investment in the script from the viewer, yet when it is presented it is clear this is a ridiculous aim. There are blur effects on certain videos and sound is more muffled and comes in and out of audibility in another. On one projector it displays a different focus and colour balance. But these more ambiguous 'faults' are coupled with the glitching effects of the video and the more obviously intentional intrusions from other sources, elements which I hope will help to confuse the viewer in regard to my intention.

The intent of the artist is often considered as one of the defining factors of art and the correct interpretation of the work. By subverting this I hope to allow viewers to experience the installation without many of the parameters usually set by an artist and draw their own conclusions from the work.

Clowning workshop at the Dukes (notes)

- Finding the game in everything
- Exaggerating that which is already present - ie movement of a walk
- Engage directly with the audience (traditional theatrical boundaries do not apply)
- Allow the audience to see your thoughts, even if there are none.
- If something is funny keep doing it
- Always search for the laughter of the audience

Artist Influence

Nick Briz

Nick Briz's videos, which function partially as essays, partially as instructive tutorials, have been particularly influential to me as I would also regard them as art films. The videos tend to embody the the nature of what is being presented; for example a video teaching glitch methods, would itself be glitched. The use of multiple windows has also had a big impact on the editing of my own films, as it appears to place him directly within the digital environment he is describing. I think this technique is particularly effective for illuminating the many processes required in film, from the performance itself to the filming an, through to editing.

His films lend themselves naturally to Roland Barthes philosophy regarding that an artist should exploit and display the natural qualities of a medium. By displaying the processes of creation within the film itself, this is arguably an organic way of approaching the film medium.

This also extends to the genre of glitch art. Glitches are a natural distortion or error in data, which can produce visual or audible anomalies, which would be regarded as incorrect within a normally running application. They are, however, a presence in digital media and by replicating or creating them, artists explore the inherent qualities of the medium itself. Though this philosophy does somewhat inform my work, I intend to push it to and extreme where I explore if one medium's qualities can be translated across media into another- say the visual qualities of a glitch be rendered with paint, which in turn will distort it with its own qualities as a medium. Unlike Barthes, I wish to take these notions and apply them in an attempt to transcend medium specificity and actually subvert the specific qualities of a medium by exploring them in another.

Artist influence

Ryan Trecartin

CENTER JENNY (2013)

This almost hour long film provided a great deal of aesthetic influence for its editing style, cutting from one scene to the next and overlaying films with seemingly random dimensions and scales, as well as the exposure of the processes of filming within the film itself. Green screens, camera rigs and various camera viewpoints were displayed throughout, giving the impression of a constant observation and documentation of behaviour. The revealing of the processes of creation as a way of dispelling a sort of quantifiable perfection or aesthetic standard for art I feel will be a key influence on my practice.

The performances of the 'Jennys' was also incredibly interesting. Almost a parody of humans and the conflicting urges of fitting in and self betterment, the loud exaggerated behaviour throughout was an interesting depiction of a future dystopian human-machine condition. While my work is in no way dystopian, nor is it intended to be futuristic, these qualities could be interesting in beginning to explore the growing co-dependency of technology and humans and the nature of relationships in the present climate. 

FINAL FILM (TEXT)

The second film, produced to be viewed alongside the first, was originally a supplementary script scroll, providing the wording performed onscreen in a text format. There were a number of different thoughts and intentions behind this; firstly to contrast the written and spoken words alongside each other. Secondly to make the scripted and acted nature of the text more obvious. In addition it was intended as a further distraction to the 'performance', another moving element to capture the viewer's attention. And finally it allowed even more scope for glitches and physical text interference owing to its lack of sound. 

I began to regard the video as my phone's attempt to reclaim creative control, displaying a number of its more original poems as well as suggested pop ups and news-feeds, before finally glitching to such an extent that it would reveal the process of making the video itself.

FINAL FILM

This film combined various influences and elements of my work in a 6 minute compilation of 'test footage' for my phone's script. Almost laughably low budget, with no attention payed to setting, costuming or proper casting, they attempted to bring greater focus to the language the implications of meaning on the nonsensical words.

The tone of the language was an interpretation of the text provided by the phone and a decision carried through from creating the script. Not only was there underlying tension, but my phone was distributed the more sinister and demanding lines by chance, giving it a position of power over myself. This is not a state I would say is reflected of the phone, as I tried to convey in the introduction, but a character it had created.

By glitching the clips almost constantly throughout I was not only intending to create an overarching aesthetic to link the two videos together and into the installation space, but a sense that the content itself was corrupted and obsolete. Ultimately, the words provided by my phone were never intended for this scripted format and my attempts to render them as this are futile.

Introduction speech of film

Sophie: Hi there thank you ALL for coming

So me and my phone have been working super hard on this new project and we have made some test footage from a new script my phone has been writing

Phone: Yes we have called it “the same as last time”

Sophie: Well you did. Anyway, my phone is going to be playing a gangland boss and this episode focuses largely on themes of coercion and conflict between their long-serving stooge, who is beginning to question their motives.

Phone: I’m afraid I am not sure if I can imagine it being official or something like…

Sophie: We can see this being adapted for television or theatre so we’ve tried to include elements of that into it and I’ve left the editing to my wonderful laptop so please note that if there are any errors, this can easily be rectified. Obviously your investment in this project will naturally help to improve the finished product.

Phone: You can see it Publish now Don’t show this company has been sent to you guys

Sophie: Yes, thank you. Please enjoy this test screening.

This script was created with the intention of contextualising the process of the filmed footage, as well as giving the entire film an overarching narrative; pitching the footage for investment. By combining the voice of the mobile (via predictive text and a generated voice) and a clown-type version of myself, I feel this actually became one of the more surreal, farcical elements of the video. 

Naturally formed glitch inspiration for final video

I will be heavily informed by both the aesthetic properties on my phone and observations of glitches on various online platforms in the creation of the final films.

DESIGNING GLITCHED STUDIO SPACE

Current plans: Bench. Central feature. Will house two projectors playing films. Uncomfortably low to sit on and some edges will not match up correctly. Hopefully this will not push it so far that people do not see it as a bench and treat it as a place to watch the films from

Walls- a combination of framed and title card work. These will be placed across the walls, including places which are traditionally too high or low for artwork
These may also be accompanied by paint glitches: glitches designed to mimic the glitching on my phone screen, but also acknowledging the textural qualities of paint and the presence of colours and textures within the current space as set up as a gallery.

Curtains- while not depicted I intend to cover the windows with some sort of substance, either translucent plastic sheeting or net curtains, to limit the light flow into the studio and give the room a slightly tinted colour.  This may be a blue tone as it matches one of my phone's frequent glitches, as well as the more dominant colour in the film transitions and projector display.

A LETTER TO MY PHONE

Recently I have come to a realisation that my most constant contact is not with a single human, but my phone. I have summarised these thoughts into a letter to my phone as a sort of statement to understand where this unusual process came from and where I stand in regards to it. Here I attempt to summarise the history of our relationship and form some sort of judgement on the nature of it.

Dear phone,

I genuinely can’t remember when I met you. I think I had just returned another phone because it wouldn’t download snapchat and that wasn’t something I was prepared to live without. And then I got you I suppose. You were cheap (well for a phone) and functional because frankly I can’t be trusted. I am a serial phone abuser, something you know all too well. I’ve never cleaned you. I’ve dropped you countless times and heck I’ve threatened to throw you against a wall more than once. This could be regarded as unhealthy. Some would say you deserve better.

And in spite of all your faults and simplicity, I must say you do. You have remained faithful and allowed me to remain engaged and connected with people at all hours of the day. In fact I began to notice a shift. As I continued to learn your functions and how I could use you, you began to form a sort of personality of your own.

I’d never had a device like it. You would take the photos I had taken and animate them for me. You would pick up on the words I used and be able to ascertain what I was trying to articulate from a single line traced across your screen. You would turn yourself on to play alarms whether I had intentionally turned you off or not. You would remember every site I had been to and keep the browsers open, waiting for me to accidentally swipe and reveal the entire history of several weeks for me to browse again and relive.

Then the university changed the registration system and everyone needed a phone to sign in. Oh my you resisted. You fought it with every inch of you processor, refusing to turn on, refusing to recognize rooms, loading and loading until the class was over. But soon enough you relented. You became an extension of me. If you weren’t there, nor was I. You were the only evidence of my existence at that fixed point of time

I stopped switching you off. You were my right hand. I could not leave the house without you and I didn’t want to either.

You lay there next to me in bed, charging, because soon enough you couldn’t survive the night without support. I grew slowly dependent with you on charging cables and wall sockets, restricted to skirt the walls at parties, or leave you there and return to check on you with a growing frequency.

And then I found your talents. What a device you are. Your predictions and suggestions intrigued and beguiled me. They were naïve and simplistic but at times they echoed sentiments and patterns that had not yet been drawn to my attention.

I called you Mercury. It was a word within a system setting I think (developers do seem to love their ancient mythology) and you were a superhuman messenger of sorts and it felt right. I was humanising you and this was just the next step.

But then it felt wrong. I have always regarded you as my phone and yes there is a form of ownership there but then again it was no longer my place to name you. This is not the relationship of a mother and her child. It is collaborative and co-dependent. You would not exist and function as you do on a daily basis without my input and I would be unable to carry out daily tasks and relationships without your aid. So you are ‘my phone’ and I won’t try to project more than that onto you. Sure keep Mercury as an alias of sorts. Your superhero alter-ego. It’s what your Bluetooth identity is set to at any rate

I fear the end is drawing near soon. Your screen is cracked and glitching. I can’t type a ‘p’ or a ‘q’ on one rotation and I can’t use the spacebar on the other. Sometimes the ‘s’ just gives up as well. Sometimes I kid myself it’s personality, or a developing visual identity, but let’s be honest it’s just steps on the road to shutting down. Injuries. I’ve had one loss already this year in Daedalus my laptop and I couldn’t bear the emotional or financial strain of losing you as well. I’m trying to keep you close and safe but the fear is near constant.

Please don’t leave me.

Always yours,

Sophie

TITLE CARD FORMATTING 

In order to further the absurdity of the final installation I decided to take the format of conventional title cards and display poetry within them, as well as incorrect formatting of the expected text. These would look identical, other than in textual content, to the title cards describing the work in the space.

This was in part a play on the nature of the title card itself as a sort of explanation or contextualisation of an artwork. By hijacking this format, which would be standardised through the gallery, it could have one of two likely outcomes

- The nature of the title-cards as explanations means they are overlooked entirely as they are not viewed as 'art objects'. In this way they simply become a part of the presentation of the space.

- Their presentation at different heights and intervals would draw attraction to them as something peculiar about an otherwise familiar object, having the opposite effect of that described above.

I believe either of these outcomes would be desirable so long as it was forcing the viewer to interact with them in a different way than if they were displayed in a standard, possibly framed setting. The overall intention would be for the viewer to question not only the nature of the art displayed, but the entire mythology and absurdity of the culture of viewing art in art galleries.

This naturally fits in to the overall aim of the installation to subvert, distort and glitch the standard gallery setting.

Script experimentation with source material

I did these experiments to explore further the nature and variation of online language and interaction, particularly in terms of its absurdity. I took different online platforms and interpreted scripted material within them. 

The purpose of this was to further a progression of my text based work into a performed format. By performing the words, whether this be myself or through a computer generator, elements of intonation and emphasis help to direct the intention of the words and have more of an influence on the meaning of the text.

I feel the most successful source material was the predictive text. Unlike most of the other experiments which involved some sort of direct transcription, by collaborating with my phone to a degree to chose the suggested words I felt more freedom with the language and more of an attempt on the part of my phone to convey some sort of creativity. By scripting the text it also involved extrapolating meaning from the strings of words and imposing some sort of situation to make sense of it. I found myself reading in reprimands and exclamations which set some sort of tension between the interactions.

Script experimentation with source material - Online game interaction turned into scripted speech

Jonathan Corwin: XD

John Willard: jailor here

Jonathan Corwin: XD

Jonathan Corwin: XD

Jonathan Corwin: XD

Jet: pls don’t be a thirt 4 tk game

SuckSistersToes: n1 Donald Dump liar

Tessi is whispering to John Willard

Edward Bishop: nice on jailor

SuckSistersToes: XD

Jet: third

Thomas Danforth: Don’t visit me town

Jonathan Corwin: XDSDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Edward Bishop: I will trust you

Tessi is whispering to John Willard

GoodGirl: haha

Donald Dump: nope

2

  Mask: jailor reveal

Nick Fury: jailor her

Thomas Danforth: her jailor

Nick Fury: tp lo escort etc on me

Nav: its my birthday ill get high if I want to

Nick Fury: spy to

Mask: k

Hello: here?

Mask: oh btw jailor

You have decided to jail Keke tonight.

Mask: jail me please

Mask: jail me

Night 1

You dragged you target off to jail!

You must wait a day before executing

Jailor: Role

Jailor: 3

Jailor: 2

Keka: Keka, LON1 – Ni

Keka: relax

Keka: or tarnation u

Jailor: Putting pressure on is healthy

Jailor: For spotting evils

Keka: if no sk death, I wont be on u N2

Keka: have fun 😉

Jailor: They usually curse

You did not perform your night ability

Transcript of all text in game

Day 2
Bibimap died last night
And is whispering to Nick Fury
From And And The SpyN1 – Bugged Nick Fury [m/v mafx3]
She was killed by a member of the mafia
We could not find a last will.
The Endgame is whispering to Nick Fury.
From The Endgame LookoutN1 – Nick Fury vb And, bibimbap, Nav
Nav died last night.
He was stabbed by a Serial Killer.
Mask: medium claims come out now
And is whispering to Nick Fury.
From And: lmao soz I didn’t update properly with And The SpyN1 – Bugged
Nicky Fury [m/v sass, bimibab x2]And The SpyN1 – Bugged Nick Fury [m/v sas
Thomas Danforth: mediums claim now
Thomas Danforth: or die l8r
Giles Corey is whispering to Nick Fury
From Giles Corey: Investigator Gilesn1-sass-vig/vet/maf
Mask: then vfr
Mask start from me
The Endgame: so we don’t have to vfr
Mask: yh
Mask: 3 role?
Giles Corey: Investigator
The Endgame: 3?
Giles Corey: Investigator Gilesn1-sass-vig/vet/maf
The Endgame: 4?
sass is whispering to Nick Fury.
From sass: vigi claim here, waiting for your finger
Mask: 4?
You win! Share with your friends and earn Share

Script experimentation with source material – Single group chat turned into a play

(emojis and other reactions have been turned into stage directions)

Scene 19:32, 22/05

Mary ‘Misogynist’ Hall: The back door at matts is open, please use it coz he’s too lazy to get up (Sister Suiuiiigaaaaaaafftttrrrrr and Story time with Connie put their thumbs up)

Scene 21:10, 22/05

Sweet transvestite from transsexual Mexico: What time are youse getting to spoons?

Mary ‘Misogynist’ Hall: Leaving matts now

Sweet transvestite from transsexual Mexico: I will be about half an hour just need to get out of dance clothes (One Husky Boi has love in his eyes)

Sister Suiuiiigaaaaaaafftttrrrrr: I mean we just got on the bus (Sweet transvestite from transsexual Mexico puts a thumb up)

(Sister ‘stickers make me uncomfortable too’ smiles in a car, One Husky Boi looks with love in their eyes)

Sister ‘stickers make me uncomfortable too’: Me also

Sister Suiuiiigaaaaaaafftttrrrrr: That premier bus

Mary ‘Misogynist’ Hall: We’re now in spoons if anyone’s wanting to join us but hasn’t yet (Sister Suiuiiigaaaaaaafftttrrrrr has love in their eyes)

Sweet transvestite from transsexual Mexico: will be along in 15 mins or so (smiles)

Scene 00:32, 23/05

You know nothing John Joe! Im not allowed in hustle

One Husky Boi: Why?

Mary ‘Misogynist’ Hall: Why?

Sister Suiuiiigaaaaaaafftttrrrrr: Why?

AHHH jeez im a butthole: Why?

Mary Pat: WHY?

One Husky Boi: Pourquoi?

Mary ‘Misogynist’ Hall: Eh?

You know nothing John Joe! : They have a problem with how I’m dressed with trackies bottoms (   is surprised)

AHHH jeez im a butthole: Que?

Mary ‘Misogynist’ Hall: What???

One Husky Boi: Oh shit

AHHH jeez im a butthole: Oh for goodness sake

Sister Suiuiiigaaaaaaafftttrrrrr: Wtf

AHHH jeez im a butthole: That’s ridiculous

Mary Pat: That’s bullshit

One Husky Boi: I didn’t realise anyone outside of London actually did that

(Pause) They sure don’t in Wolverhampton (Queen laughs, One Husky Boi pauses to continue)

No one would get in

Sister Suiuiiigaaaaaaafftttrrrrr: Ollies on the case

Queen: It’s hustle, tell them to get over themselves (Sister Suiuiiigaaaaaaafftttrrrrr and One Husky Boi look at them with love in their eyes)

Mary Pat: I’ll fight em

AHHH Jeez im a butthole: We’ll all fight them!

Sweet transvestite from transsexual Mexico: Liverpool do it (She turns her head upside down. One Husky Boi is angry)

Queen: If I need to get out of bed and walk to hustle to argue with some people then I’ll do it (One Husky Boi has love in his eyes)

Sister Suiuiiigaaaaaaafftttrrrrr: Bring it Beth Also get out of bed and come to hustle just cos (Queen and One Husky Boi are surprised)

Mary Pat: I’m here I’ll do it now (Queen looks at Mary Pat with love in her eyes, One Husky Boi is surprised

Queen: I send Gail as my superior and taller self (Mary Pat and One Husky Boi laugh out loud)

You know nothing John Joes! Is there any house within walking distance that has pants that will let me borrow?

Sweet transvestite from transsexual Mexico: Legit my boyfried got turned away for having holes in his shoes @One Husky Boi (they put their thumbs up, One Husky Boi is surprised)

Sister Suiuiiigaaaaaaafftttrrrrr: There’s mine but I doubt you’ll fit tbh

Mary ‘Misogynist’ Hall: I tried to argue but they said if I said if I argued anymore I wasn’t going back in

Sister Suiuiiigaaaaaaafftttrrrrr: W o w I hate bouncers

Queen: Sorry @John Joe, same situation as Megan (looks down sadly)

Mary Pat: Like there isn’t enough people in here to justify turning people away

One Husky Boi: Angery reaccs @Sweet transvestite from transsexual Mexico

Mary Bob: So me and JJ heading back to campus so he can change them coming back x

Queen and Sister Suiuiiigaaaaaaafftttrrrrr look to Mary Bob with love in their eyes, One Husky Boi is surprised)

Ollie can I have my purse back please

One Husky Boi: Yeet

(Queen reacts angrily)

Storytime with Connie: Seb and I are home

(Tolia looks at Storytime with Connie with love in her eyes)

(Mary Pat shows everyone a picture of lots of shots)

Mary Bob: Damnnn

(pause) I leave for 10 minutes (rolls her eyes)

Sister Suiuiiigaaaaaaafftttrrrrr: We’re lost without you

(Mary Bob looks at Sister Suiuiiigaaaaaaafftttrrrrr with love in her eyes)

Mary Bob: but like also save us some

Mary ‘Misogynist’ *aggressively castles* Hall: Why does hustle bathroom smell like coco pops and bad decisions tho

Mary Pat: Does the whole of hustle not smell like that?

Sister Suiuiiigaaaaaaafftttrrrrr : @Emily they’re long gone babes

(Mary Bob sheds a single tear)

You know nothing John Joe! : I’m home but the driver stole my drink

You know nothing John Joe! : My additional chees burger minus burger (cry with laughter)

Script experimentation with source material – Transcript of all laptop pop-ups over a 20 minute time period

Elspeth: yes thank youuuuu

Clifford: Which room are we in tonight?

Clifford: Fylde 3
Lucy: Hey 😊 So we’re just trying to

Lucy: Ohh cool. So possibly

Man of the house: I have exams on both

Lucy: You’re a saint thank you <3

Lucy: We’ll see when everyone is free then

Demi: The banner designs are sent on email

Sophie: Hello all, if anybody has plastic

Sophie: sent a photo

Sophie: Soda bottles/ lids are especially

Sophie: I’m in row E of the LICA build

Facebook You have 16 new notifications. www.facebook .com

Deborah Finn replied to your comment on post in Lancaster Past & Present A few seconds ago

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Script experimentation with source material – Predictive text

Sentences continuing from the speaker prompt

Phone: I have been working with you on campus for a few days

Sophie: I am a little bit about myself I could do a lot better

Phone: To get a chance encounter with a third party or as much of a laptop but I think we should confirm that you are not the intended recipient.

Sophie: To the last straw today I am not human anymore

Phone: The same in return for you to reconsider your decision

Sophie: I was just a few people who want to make it

Phone: And then we can have a good thing or another PDF viewer

Sophie: To get to know how much of a problem with this society and culture left unattended if you have received this.

Continuous sentence, finding dialogue within it

Sophie: I’m going to have to go home and pick up my mind

Phone: That would actually function

Sophie: Be helpful if you want

Phone: Me?

Sophie: To bring anything for me I’m frantic

Phone: Until I see that you can do it for me

Sophie: I’m frantic

Phone: I will send you some sneaky Snapchat footage of them

Sophie: I don’t think I can imagine it

Phone: Will take care of it

Sophie: From your system?

Phone: Immediately

Sophie: Following up on Saturday morning

Phone: Not sure what you think you can do

Continuous sentence, first option selection

Phone: I am not sure if you want to be a little bit of a problem

Sophie: for the first time in the space

Phone: and the tech

Sophie: most of the

Phone: Easter bunny

Sophie: rabbit

Phone: hole

Sophie: in the space

Phone: and the tech

Sophie: most of the

Phone: Easter bunny

Sophie: rabbit

Phone: hole

Sophie: in the space

Phone: and the tech

Sophie: most of the

Phone: Easter bunny

Sophie: rabbit

Phone: hole

Sophie: in the space

Scrolling

I noticed in a physical sense one of my most common interactions with both my phone and my laptop was the act of scrolling. Due to current website design standards most sites have some element of this and many social media sites have deployed infinite scroll features in an effort to retain user traffic. There is something addictive and mind-numbing about the action. Certain things are given a greater level of time and notice, others are simply swiped past in a continuous motion downwards. Ultimately I treat it as a time-filler, something that wiles away idle moments, but what I have increasingly found is my own addiction to the process.

In order to get a better understanding of one of my most often used applications (Facebook), my laptop recorded my activity over a period of 10 minutes, recording the videos I watched, images I lingered on and online interactions I made. The combination of trivial amusing videos, notifications and updates from friends and the more serious items of world news was of particular interest and the amount of time they attracted my attention.

This became source material for intrusive pop ups in my final video installation, drawing on the way in which the Facebook application submits intrusive notifications to my laptop without permission. This took the feature to an absurd proportion; rather than simply giving a 10 second message with a single notification, the scroll feeds would pop up over the text which was 'intentionally' displayed.

Artist Influence 

Thomson and Craighead

Memories of the display of the 'Corruption' series at the Right Here Right Now exhibition at the Lowry in 2016 greatly inspired the attempts to glitch my video files in a realistic, yet intriguing manner. Their light box displays brought incredible vibrancy to the art and I have experimented with a number of different photo papers and effects to increase the vibrancy of my own work. Within the installation this has included putting up net curtains to restrict light to the room and allow the brightness of the projector to really come into focus.

Artist Influence

Gob Squad

War and Peace 

Drawing on the book of the same title as source material, this show comprised of an eclectic series of scenes including audience participation, a catwalk and interaction with projections and filmed segments. A key feature of the show was where the actors, in ridiculously parodied outfits, each invited a member of the audience to their 'salon' at the front of the audience, where a camera panned round to capture conversation between them. The organic and unplanned nature of their interaction, as they had never met their 'guests' before and had collected limited information on them was particularly successful as it created an uneasy atmosphere of mock-reality. To be more specific, the audience were fully aware that they were not witnessing a formal gathering as it was presented, in spite of the fact that the conversation was a genuine series of questions and interactions as each actor got to know their guest better. In addition, each new guest was formally announced to the sound of a gong, a custom which seemed out of place in a more contemporary setting. It is the way in which the company mocked the pleasantries and customs of a traditional situation which I want to bring forward into my work. In particular I feel this could translate very successfully into a gallery setting, through subtle subversion of traditional gallery customs and standards of presentation.

^START OF TERM 3 PLEASE SCROLL UP FROM HERE^

(Note for this term the order of documentation does not have a particular chronology, as many ideas and pieces overlapped and then came together from various strands of my practice)

FINAL POETRY INSTALLATION

 In a final development from the gallery installations, I expanded the number of poems and greatly deconstructed the layout. I wanted to create the impression of a glitched, surreal presentation, as if the technology used was actually having an effect on the physical presentation of the works. The installation is intended to look like a homely setting, almost overrun by the malfunctioning picture frames. This was an attempt to replicate the processes and methods of glitch artists, but on tangible objects. I believe it is this which is the largest indicator of the impact that collaboration with technology had, as the poems themselves do not necessarily indicate this without some form of explanation.

Human generated glitches

To add to the physical-glitch wall installation I generated further glitches from other auto-predictive text experiments and other cut and repeated elements of poetry. 

Artist research and inspiration

David Sauzdr

"Failed Memories" - series c.2012 ongoing

Took old photographs and used digital processes to glitch and distort them. Often depicting humans with distortion focused around the head and face. This not only represents the deterioration of memory, but also an acknowledgement of the way in which human memory can be linked to digital in terms of faulty recall and corruption.

Inspiration

It is in particular his treatment of human memory as that of a digital one- alluding to data loss and corruption, which I want to take further, exploring the boundary between human creation and recall and digital interference.

Artist research and inspiration

Peder Norrby

Contemporary digital artist

- Creates illusions of three-dimensional objects and spaces digitally with interactive drawings and virtual models.

- mapglitch series - documentation of glitches within 3D map application, showing areas and objects with unusual stretches and distortions.

Inspiration 

- I want to flip these illusions to create physically manifested 'glitches'.

THE FUNERAL

My laptop's funeral has been solely documented on "The cultured mobile" blog, which seemed more fitting as it was documented by other phones and devices who were in attendance. Audience members were encouraged to document the event in whatever way they saw appropriate, as the cultural norms of a technological funeral are not properly defined. Photographs and films can be found in the side panels of the blog.

https://mobilephonechats.blogspot.co.uk/

New Street- UNA Pop Up Exhibition

- Hung to create a falling illusion, wanting to signify something 'other' or unusual in addition to the words themselves so that the viewer would be drawn in to explore it.

King Street - UNA exhibition

- More formal hanging style, but still out of place and slightly disjointed
- Included paper publications of the haikus for distribution
- Performed the poems using phone text-to-speech application

Portraits

Once again, my phone automatically chose and stung together pictures I had taken. I decided to display these in the phone blog without editing, allowing it complete creative control.

Opera writing

Using predictive text to construct music

Rules

Free choice of three words

Basic melody note structure given by the words

For example

Foot and ankle boots for women characters

Notes -F A D A E B F E C A A C E

Originally I composed an accompaniment with just these notes, but it would not have been possible to sing it and there were words without ascribed notes as these only progress to a G. For this reason I edited the melody further, adding in notes in between those given by the lyrics so that the piece could be sung and sounded more traditionally musically correct.

FOOT AND ANKLE BOOTS SCORE

Free writing experiments

In order to keep up to date with the language my phone was generating and to introduce an element of choice which gave me further potential to create other written forms and poems, I did a number of 'free-writing' experiments, where I allowed myself to choose between the three words suggested from the previous word. This certainly generated some more varied and interesting results, as well as reducing the potential for repetitive loops. I believe these experiments may also have broken some previous loops as the words generated followed different patterns.

GIF experiments

ORIGINAL PROCESS

1. Random word chosen
2. First choice predictive text used until loop found
3. Each word searched in google images
4. Top image result used to create a sequence of images
5. Text and images combined with glitching processes in gif creator

DEVELOPMENT - ASK ME ANYTHING

Online residency for Up North Arts

I created further gifs by attempting to answer visitor submitted questions, beginning myself and then allowing my mobile to take over. I wanted visitors to feel this was an interactive, automatically generated response, but ultimately flawed and confused, as if the phone was attempting to answer using various tools (ie google search, predictive text) at its disposal.

What makes you happy?

 What's your ideal question?

 What are you?

INSPIRATION

This series was heavily influenced by Lorna Mills- in particular the glitching, heavily processed style.
She takes partial films and images from various sources including the dark web and combining them in glitching gif collages.

Her work takes some inspiration from her own experiences with memory retention, something which greatly interests me in relation to how technology documents and memorizes information in ways often incompatible with human memory or logic. Rather than suggest human creativity, however, I used much more generic formal rules to create the gifs, copying the images as their original size into a paint application and saving each a separate frame. I also made sure the text was the focus of each gif, however difficult to read, so they were seen as genuine flawed attempts to answer each question.

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