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Here’s a long tutorial on water that has already caused chaos in my Minecraft build, god give me the strength to watch it all through till the end.
Minecraft water
Minecraft – Videotage
As I was unable to visit Foredown Tower for this residency as it is still closed due to covid. I’ve instead recreated Foredown Tower in Minecraft.
It took me a couple of days to learn how to use Minecraft. I thought my difficulty was due to my dexterity but was mostly due to my mouse not having a right click and you need a red click to place blocks. I oddly also experienced motion sickness and had to take breaks in between creating.
Augmented reality and darkroom printing
I am interested exploring darkroom printing with AR/VR. Today I downloaded an Anna Atkins cyanotype to edit and create into an AR artwork.
I used Adobe Illustrator to edit the print.
1. Use the image trace tool to turn your image into a vector
2. Use the 3D & materials tool to inflate the vector into a 3D shape
3. Used the eyedropper tool on the original blue colour on the print and added this as the material
4. Export the shape as an .obj file
5. Uploaded to Abobe Aero
If you have the Adobe Aero app you can scan the QR code below to see the work in AR. Sadly the material hasn’t transferred over and so I need to learn how to keep the colour when exporting from Adobe Illustrator.
Edit…
I used Vectary to add the colour and I also used Vectary to create into AR.
Please find another QR code to see the work in Vectary. You do not need to download an app for this.
goals (all I have these days is plans and luggage)
Breathing in,
I have become space
without boundaries.
I have no plans left.
I have no luggage.
Breathing out,
I am the moon
that is sailing through the sky of utmost emptiness.
I am freedom.
~ an extract from Thich Nhat Hanh‘s writing
The subterranean in Semley’s Necklace by Ursula Le Guin
Research into the subterranean reminded me of Ursula K. Le Guin’s sci-fi short story, “Semley’s Necklace” (1963). In the story, a highborn woman goes in search of an heirloom and is instructed to embark on a journey that will last “only one long night.” Upon returning with the heirloom from only a two-day journey, she discovers nine years have elapsed on her home planet. The story borrows from Nordic mythology and utilizes the concept of time dilation.
The subterranean often represents the collective past of our species’ earthbound existence, which has manifested into the the most recent geological age of the Anthropocene. Yet outer space has always and continues to be considered humanity’s final frontier, associated with things hopeful and futuristic. Le Guin shows these narratives are not at odds with each other and adeptly weaves them in an alternative reality where a being from the equivalent of our historical past is thrust into our prospective future in such a way that the two realities not only coexist mutually but are able to inform one another.
—–
“Can we go soon on this journey? I would not stay long away from my home.”
“Yes. Soon.” Again the gray lips widened as he stared up into her face.
What was done in those next hours Semley could not have retold; it was all haste, jumble, noise, strangeness. While she held her steed’s head a dayman stuck a long needle into the golden-striped haunch. She nearly cried out at the sight, but her steed merely twitched and then, purring, fell asleep. He was carried off by a group of Clayfolk who clearly had to summon up their courage to touch his warm fur. Later on she had to see a needle driven into her own arm—perhaps to test her courage, she thought, for it did not seem to make her sleep; though she was not quite sure. There were times she had to travel in the rail-carts, passing iron doors and vaulted caverns by the hundred and hundred; once the rail-cart ran through a cavern that stretched off on either hand measureless into the dark, and all that darkness was full of great flocks of herilor. She could hear then: cooing, husky calls, and glimpse the flocks in the front-lights of the cart; then she saw some more clearly in the white light, and saw that they were all wingless, and all blind. At that she shut her eyes. But there were more tunnels to go through, and always more caverns, more gray lumpy bodies and fierce faces and booming boasting voices, until at last they led her suddenly out into the open air. It was full night; she raised her eyes joyfully to the stars and the single moon shining, little Heliki brightening in the west. But the Clay-folk were all about her still, making her climb now into some new kind of cart or cave, she did not know which. It was small, full of little blinking lights like rushlights, very narrow and shining after the great dank caverns and the starlit night. Now another needle was stuck in her, and they told her she would have to be tied down in a sort of flat chair, tied down head and hand and foot. “I will not,” said Semley.
But when she saw that the four daymen who were to be her guides let themselves be tied down first, she submitted. The others left. There was a roaring sound, and a long silence; a great weight that could not be seen pressed upon her. Then there was no weight; no sound; nothing at all.
“Am I dead?” asked Semley.
“Oh no, Lady,” said a voice she did not like.
Opening her eyes, she saw the white face bent over her, the wide lips pulled back, the eyes like little stones. Her bonds had fallen away from her, and she leaped up. She was weightless, bodiless; she felt herself only a gust of of terror on the wind.
Block Types For Reference
Traversing Hollow Ground
2020
120 x 77 x 60cm
Insulation foam, video, video monitor, media player
Art as social practice: technologies for change
This week I’ve been reading ‘Art as social practice technologies for change’ edited by Xtine Burrough and Judy Walgren.
I have an interest in learning how to use technologies when collaborating with others on inclusive arts and participatory based projects. In my practice I’ve been learning how to use digital technology tools and how to use them in my creative work. In the future I would like to feel confident enough in my digital technology skills to develop and deliver inclusive arts and participatory based projects using digital technologies with participants also developing new skills through the work. So far I’ve been developing my skills in AR, VR, projection mapping and sensors.
Through reading the book I hoped to of learnt more on how others are using digital technologies creatively for socially engaged practice but most the projects where using already very established technologies such as photography, websites, social media and other forms of visual arts such as clay. Or the artist worked with participants to create visual artwork and then the artist developed the digital technologies aspect by themselves afterwards or beforehand. I would like to learn from more projects that have worked with participants to create the content but also worked with them to develop the digital output.
“I see technology as a tool, an important addition to my traditional, artistic skills, and like materials, to be used to strengthen an idea, and not for the sake of novelty. In social practice, technology allows participants with limited art experience to create beyond their own experience” – Kin Abeles – Valises for camp ground page 56
What I did like was the participation prompts at the end of each essay.
Make a list of every place you’ve ever lived.
Adding to this list, write down every place your parents have ever lived.
Adding to this list, write down every place your grandparents ever lived.
Adding to this list write down every place your great grandparents ever lived.
Adding to this list write down every place your…have ever lived.
In between each pace on your list exists a migration story. What are the forces that pushed or pulled you or your family between each place? Take a few minutes and look back over your list.
Pair up with someone and share a migration story that exists between two places on your list. Switch roles and repeat.
After a while, come back together with the larger group and share with you talked about in your one-on-one conversations. Feel free to share any other thoughts or connections that arise. – Mark Menjivar and Jason Reed page 100
“I feel, for one, technology is merely a tool, and it’s really important for me to think in that way. It can be easy, as a technologist, to create projects around technology and the capabilities of the technology. But that’s merely an exhibition of the potential of technology. For me, the questions are: How can I execute this idea that I have, create an experience around it and then what are the best tools to make that happen? – Ari Melenciano page 115
Further 360 footage of Foredown Tower
I managed to work out how to download the stitched files from Samsung Gear 360 software and I’ve uploaded the four 360 stitched footage to YouTube. You can move around the 360 footage.
Being a 360 recording you can see a 360 view of the area outside of Foredown Tower. There is a dry field, a path next to the field and the road that goes alongside Foredown Tower. Foredown tower is an old water tower and so is a cube shaped made of bricks with a black triangular roof. I am in some of the footage wearing a brown coord jacket, dark blue jeans and a yellow jumper.
360 footage of Foredown Tower
For my residency I would have liked to been able to visit Foredown Tower a camera obscura in Portslade but unfortunately due to covid they are still closed. I would have liked to of recorded scenes from the camera obscura to create VR piece of work.
Recently I visited the outside of Foredown Tower and recorded some footage with my Samsung Gear 360 camera. I then learnt how to use Adobe After Effects to stitch the footage together as unfortunately Samsung’s software does still work but you are unable to download it anymore as the software is now not being updated due to them discontinuing the camera. I then used Unity to create the short VR work. If you click on the screenshot it will take you to YouTube to play the short VR recording.
Being a 360 recording you can see a 360 view of the area outside of Foredown Tower. There is a dry field, a path next to the field and the road that goes alongside Foredown Tower. Foredown tower is an old water tower and so is a cube shaped made of bricks with a black triangular roof.
Research Topic – Gasometer
In my research for the Leave Your Body residency, I have been looking at Videotage’s quickly gentrifying neighborhood of To Kwa Wan*. As is usually the case with my practice, underlying historical narratives and connections that are not immediately apparent take precedence. The photo below is of the Towngas Ma Tau Kok Control Centre, located directly next door to the Cattle Depot Artist Village where Videotage resides.
Gasometers are large cylindrical metal tanks built as storage silos for gas for use as fuel.
There are several different types of gasometers. The type of gasometer with scaffolding, like the one at the Ma Tau Kok Control Centre, are predominantly located underground and would telescope up above ground as pressure from stored gas increased and subside as pressure decreased, storing and releasing gas through the day like a massive lung**. However, the use of gasometers has become obsolete in recent times as gas storage is largely done underground in high-pressure pipelines. As our age aligns development with green-washing, immunization, and escapism, the burying or obscuring of unseemly or obsolete systems is an ongoing process worth investigating.
*To be fair, one of the top three of Hong Kong’s pollutants is a result of its use of concrete, so most of the city is under an incessant pace of development and gentrification, which makes pointing out and finding methods of preserving historical landmarks all the more crucial.
**Thinking of the city as an organic machine, composed of its inhabitants and the infrastructure that meets their needs is a biomorphic analogy that runs throughout my practice.
6. Go Deep.
I am slowly, deeply and intentionally breathing into Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ book ‘Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals’
I have a lot to process and it feels important to: Go deep.
“What would allow you to look at what is under your actions, and under that, and under that? ”
“And the ocean itself has so many depth lessons, when you think you’ve reached the bottom, there is sometimes still deeper to go…”
“Take a breath”
Extract from ‘Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals’ by Alexis Pauline Gumbs’, Chapter: ‘Go Deep.’
5. Be Vulnerable.
I am slowly, deeply and intentionally breathing into Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ book ‘Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals’
I have a lot to process and it feels important to: Be vulnerable.
“I wonder what our sensitive edges have to teach us.”
“…our tendency to hurt people who have already been hurt in similar ways to us, and what it takes to actually lead on the issues that have impacted us the most.”
Extract from ‘Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals’ by Alexis Pauline Gumbs’, Chapter: ‘Be Vulnerable’
4. Listen.
I am slowly, deeply and intentionally breathing into Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ book ‘Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals’
I have a lot to process and it feels important to: Listen.
“Listening is not only about the normative ability to hear, it is a transformative and revolutionary resource that requires quieting down and tuning in.”
“…opening a space to uplift the practice of listening even more than the practices of showing and proving and speaking up…”
Extract from ‘Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals’ by Alexis Pauline Gumbs’, Chapter: ‘Rest’
3. Resting.
I am slowly, deeply and intentionally breathing into Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ book ‘Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals’
I have a lot to process and it feels important to: Rest
“I have heard people praised over and over again as “tireless,” right through their exhaustion and death. I myself have forgotten to eat.”
“…And we deserve space to reflect on what we made…”
Extract from ‘Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals’ by Alexis Pauline Gumbs’, Chapter: ‘Rest’
2. Permission. (Video + Text)
I am granting myself permission.
Video 1: my reflections unfold in realtime.
video 2: my reflections are voiced.
My reflections – full text – below
I am contemplating my blog posts on this platform.
I am wanting to grant myself PERMISSION to use this blog space for REFLECTION.
In order to REFLECT I feel I need some SLOWING DOWN, RESTING, PAUSING time…to ALLOW my mind, heart, body etc. to RELAX, LET GO + BE.
And to do that I need to grant myself PERMISSION…
- I need to grant myself PERMISSION…
- I need to grant myself PERMISSION…
- I need to grant myself PERMISSION…
I hereby grant Rebekah Ubuntu, (aka me, myself and I), permission to…
- SLOW DOWN, REST, PAUSE…
I hereby grant Rebekah Ubuntu, (aka me, myself and I), permission to…
- ALLOW my mind, heart, body etc. to RELAX, LET GO + BE.
I think a lot about how resting, reflecting and repose are all about permission.
I feel conflicted about work and rest. Like the two oppose each other and lead to a sense of dissatisfaction.
To reflect, requires repose, pause, slowing down.
Yet, the pace with which I have been enculturated, I’d say from the age of five or so, is so fast. It’s a constant busy-ness for the sake of busy-ness type feeling. And it has shaped the way I conceive of most, if not all things, including my own sense of intrinsic value.
The issue I am already confronting (for the sake of this residency) is:
I don’t know HOW to really REST if it isn’t about SLEEPING, NAPPING or RESTING to RECOVER from an illness or fatigue. I don’t feel a sense of embodied understanding around a NATURAL STATE of REST.
For example, I am always thinking…about what’s next. What’s next for this blog, what’s next for this project or that, what’s next for my career, what’s next for my life…
I am choosing to free write – and record it as it’s happening. I guess I want to remove my tendencies towards PERFECTIONISM which I think is linked to this sense I have of NEEDING PERMISSION to REST.
Like I need PERMISSION to SLOW DOWN.
So recording myself write this, removes the self-censoring, self-editing, self-criticism and allows for an acceptance of what is.
Perhaps that’s what REST allows too…a sense of ACCEPTANCE.
I immediately feel inclined towards GRATITUDE also as an ANTIDOTE to the BUSY-NESS…
1. Residency Intention: Slowing Down.
To get me started in this residency space I am slowly, deeply and intentionally breathing into Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ book ‘Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals’
I have a lot to process and it feels important to:
Slow Down
“What if we could release ourselves from an internalised time clock and remember that slow is efficient, slow is effective, slow is beautiful?“
Extract from ‘Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals’ by Alexis Pauline Gumbs’, Chapter: ‘Slow Down’
“…slow is efficient, slow is effective, slow is beautiful…”
Booklist
I’m using this space as a place to list everything I am/plan to read for this residency.
In Praise of Paths by Torbjorn Ekelund (translated by Becky L. Crook)
published by Greystone Books, Canada 2020
EAN: 9781771644952
The Old Straight Track by Alfred Watkins (Kindle edition)
published by Heritage Hunter 2017
The Old Ways by Robert MacFarlane
published by Penguin books 2013
EAN: 9780141030586
The Book of Trespass: Crossing the Lines that Divide Us by Nick Hayes
published by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC 2021
EAN: 9781526604729
collage 2
![(text-colour:red)+(background:(hsl:162,0.7238,0.6451,0.7))[Alt/Text: .. (t8n-time:1.5s)[[melted red plastic fingernail on white hand in boiling put of tumeric on cheap stove in Kitchen in Birmingham,->blood on the water]] alongside the River Cole. Inset image: an image of a large police-hand covered tight in sick-blue gloves, which the police wear when they are touching (t8n-time:2s)[[bodies->The Body]] or objects without consent. The rubbered-de-oxiganted-blue police hand holds a dirty white arm, with long read nails; dripping water. The red nails bleed on to fingers. The image is from (link: "this news article")[(goto-url: 'https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/hand-arm-found-river-cole-18211227')].Inset 2: black and white night vision police image of the river cole taken from above. T(t8n-time:1.5s)[[his is from the night the police break up a rave in June 2021->police rave]]. Bodies are close to each other. Inset 3: body in pink in front of a bridge over the river looking down at knee](t8n-time:1.5s)[[spit->The foam]]](https://vitalcapacities.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/collage2-1024x482.jpg)
hand and arm
