I did not expect that my ideas would deviate so much at the
start of the project but I enjoyed how my ideas my research led me to look in
different ways from my initial plan.
During my Final Major Project, I delved initially into a lot
of media and shape experimentation with forms I could naturally find through
decay. By collecting photographic evidence of decay, I was able to create my
own decay of 2D materials using physical tearing, cutting and reusing old
surfaces to work on inspired by the works of EVOL. Eventually, through research
into digital artists and work such as glitches and digital manipulation by
David Szauder, I started to think in a more audio-visual way in which I reused
my material experimentation and photography to create sound, digital artwork
and moving forms related to the sounds centred around my theme of decay.
Whilst originally I planned to explore various ways I could
create decay with 2D based materials, I began to record the sounds of the
environment too, as either drawing lines representing sounds which I listened
out for and reproduced as an alternating pattern of increasing and decreasing
frequencies. This led to me using the images I have created and recorded into sound
and music through a method called ‘Resynthesis’. Also through creating sound by
this method of transferring image to sound, I was able to fulfil my original
goals of producing animated work through capturing the movement of the digital
sound waves shown in my digital audio workshop plugin called Harmor, which I
rearranged through video editing to produce a moving animated form which
relates to my sound work.
I feel my project started off going to plan but then worked
its way into something unexpected and new which led me back to my original goal
of producing animations of decay. A few revisions I did make was to not solely
go for a common way of producing animation. I originally wanted to try a few
traditional techniques but eventually led to making my own through
experimentation with software.
Through this project I have gained more knowledge of creating
music, reusing textures and shapes I find in the natural environment as a base
for more creative work and discovered a variety of artists who use sound as
well as art to create more interesting work.
Some problems I have discovered through this project were
sometimes trying to expand on certain ideas, mostly to do the vast amount of
initial starting points I was working with, due to the broadness of the word
decay. It was quite difficult to pick a direction since I found qualities I
enjoyed in all the work I did but eventually I found something I really enjoyed
and wanted to make my sole ambition to explore. Because of this, my original timetable
shifted but it did all come together comfortably.
I feel my project was successful even though I discovered a
fair amount of methods which I never really considered as I was writing my plan
and through my journey into the themes of decay, it sort of took its own
direction and led me into realms of producing audio-visual work. I feel I did
explore the multiple ways of creating decay as well as digital animated works.
Now that I have these new ways of producing work such as 2D
based formats, digital visualisations and even music, I could keep on exploring
and improving, involving a lot more chaotic randomness during visualisations
like the nature of decay such as digital and real life recordings of decay in
motion. I could further my music as either a collection of decaying sounds or
more melodic compositions. I could even take the skills and processes learnt
through this project and apply them to other themes or subjects in the future.