ON THE THRESHOLD
ON THE THRESHOLD is an ambiguous title, left open to the viewer’s interpretation of their experience. It could be associated with time, the constant state of change inherent in evolving technologies, each image leading into the next, the spaces in between, the passing of trends as the old becomes obsolete, or a threshold of the senses tolerance to stimuli.
The banners and projected animation compose a physical environment, which can be arranged to fill any space. The quantity of sensory information is meant to evoke desire and anxiety, confronting the viewer as they are asked to reexamine the role of the image within the public sphere of the Internet. As viewers navigate the space the composition of imagery changes according to their position and point of view. Different perspectives create numerous experiences and propose new connections between imagery. Viewers are made aware of their bodies as they negotiate the space, establishing a dialogue with the images, noticing passages of connection and interruption, following flows of repetition and backtracking through frames.
In order to collect Internet imagery I created a facebook page, inviting people within my network to contribute. I asked for images that were interacted with on a regular basis. I received personal photographs, stills from streaming video, iconic imagery from pop-culture, images from photo sharing sites and Google searches. I got the highest level of response from the people whom I am closest to; these are the images I decided to appropriate and utilize. Each colored bungee cord represents someone with whom I am closely connected. Each banner combines imagery from several people within my network. Receiving a quantity of images from each person allowed me to better pick out patterns, learning more about their interaction with these images and about them as individuals.
The animation is created by layering and abstracting YouTube footage, animated MySpace backgrounds, and gifs in final cut pro. I felt it was important to include both the physical banners as well as the video in order to create movement and contrast. The viewer cannot fully digest the video imagery, exposing its transient nature. The sound is created from the layers within the appropriated video and then modified to adjust levels, fading into the background and popping up unexpectedly. The interaction of the banners, lighting, and animation create an immersive atmosphere that asks the viewer/participant to multi-task as they plot a route throughout the space.
I wish to construct new realities in order to explore dialogues and relationships. Within the Internet images work less as mediators and begin to function as a dialogue of social connections and network formations. This dialogue forms a system of dissemination and emersion that goes beyond consumption or spectatorship. Peter Lunenfeld discusses this idea in his article Screen Grabs: The Digital Dialectic and New Media Theory, saying of the Internet “it is the first widely disseminated system that offers the user the opportunity to create, distribute, receive, and consume audiovisual content with the same box. Thus, theories have to strive to create new models of commentary that consider more than consumption or spectatorship. These models must take into account such things as the trade–off between speed and immersion, potential in the lab versus viability in the market, the social dynamic of the user group, the demo or die aesthetic, the Byzantine mechanisms of distribution, and, of course, the inevitability of machine failure.”
The banners and projected animation compose a physical environment, which can be arranged to fill any space. The quantity of sensory information is meant to evoke desire and anxiety, confronting the viewer as they are asked to reexamine the role of the image within the public sphere of the Internet. As viewers navigate the space the composition of imagery changes according to their position and point of view. Different perspectives create numerous experiences and propose new connections between imagery. Viewers are made aware of their bodies as they negotiate the space, establishing a dialogue with the images, noticing passages of connection and interruption, following flows of repetition and backtracking through frames.
In order to collect Internet imagery I created a facebook page, inviting people within my network to contribute. I asked for images that were interacted with on a regular basis. I received personal photographs, stills from streaming video, iconic imagery from pop-culture, images from photo sharing sites and Google searches. I got the highest level of response from the people whom I am closest to; these are the images I decided to appropriate and utilize. Each colored bungee cord represents someone with whom I am closely connected. Each banner combines imagery from several people within my network. Receiving a quantity of images from each person allowed me to better pick out patterns, learning more about their interaction with these images and about them as individuals.
The animation is created by layering and abstracting YouTube footage, animated MySpace backgrounds, and gifs in final cut pro. I felt it was important to include both the physical banners as well as the video in order to create movement and contrast. The viewer cannot fully digest the video imagery, exposing its transient nature. The sound is created from the layers within the appropriated video and then modified to adjust levels, fading into the background and popping up unexpectedly. The interaction of the banners, lighting, and animation create an immersive atmosphere that asks the viewer/participant to multi-task as they plot a route throughout the space.
I wish to construct new realities in order to explore dialogues and relationships. Within the Internet images work less as mediators and begin to function as a dialogue of social connections and network formations. This dialogue forms a system of dissemination and emersion that goes beyond consumption or spectatorship. Peter Lunenfeld discusses this idea in his article Screen Grabs: The Digital Dialectic and New Media Theory, saying of the Internet “it is the first widely disseminated system that offers the user the opportunity to create, distribute, receive, and consume audiovisual content with the same box. Thus, theories have to strive to create new models of commentary that consider more than consumption or spectatorship. These models must take into account such things as the trade–off between speed and immersion, potential in the lab versus viability in the market, the social dynamic of the user group, the demo or die aesthetic, the Byzantine mechanisms of distribution, and, of course, the inevitability of machine failure.”
