“You don’t have 1984. In fact, you never had 1984. There is no such book as 1984.“
Zittrain, J. (2021)
Feedback
This week has been a busy one in regards to gaining feedback, and suggestions on how I might improve my current work in progress, as well as how I might display them. Talking to Laura in my 1-2-1 this week, gave me a lot of insight in why I felt the June 29th post sequencing was still missing something (a more in-depth reflection on this feedback can be found at the top of the June 29th post). I subsequently added an additional image and tweaked my sequencing, in the evening after my meeting with Laura, in preparation for the two portfolio reviews I had on Wednesday, which also proved insightful, although the feedback I received did differ.
My review with Sharon Young, really made me rethink how I might sequence my work, in that my work ultimately has several armatures of historical taboo that direct relate to the modern contemporary issues. When I brought up about taking my work into the physical, both Colin and Sharon seemed surprised that I would do so, as to them it made more sense for the work to be an online interactive piece and would lend itself well to a website. Sharon suggested Adobe Sparks might be a potential source of output in that they offer a viewer led experience, where the images could be group together under subcategories or captioned, as the current sequencing was quite confusing and I might benefit in making a mind map and the philosophies certain images are referencing to, possibly hyperlinking to the researh underpinning the work, the choice in representation and stereotypes.
Colin mentioned in passing that my choice in branding didn’t fit the type of photographer I am today, in that it looked too commercial leaning, and to change my logo, which to be fair was an outdated relic from back when I did my BTEC in the early 2010s. Like Laura he advised me to start thinking about gathering critical feedback, particularly from individuals who specialise in curating digital content.
Although I had felt that my work had significantly changed topic from the last time Colin had seen my work in PHO704, though Colin disagreed that ultimately my work was still fundamentally about the control of women and women’s bodies, the digital means by which women are controlled by men and algorithms, the outcome may be different but it’s ultimately another aspect of a wider guide, a glossary of control as an antidote, to the dark side of the internet, and this is how I should place my work, linking back to previous modules. He advised I should focus in on what I’m truly interested in as the current series is going in to many different directions.
Potential Outputs
Figure 1 Godfrey, M. (2021) Laura Owens x Van Gogh Installation
In my meeting with Laura on Tuesday she mentioned I might find looking at Laura Owens’ digital book installations (Figure 1) in the Owens x Van Gogh exhibition at Arles interesting. I haven’t been able to find out much on the web how Owens’ made these ‘faux’ books exactly (as her website doesn’t seem to show their existence), however from looking at the videos I have seen from the exhibition on social media it looks like she has used an iPad sized display screen to play videos, hidden within a beautifully bound mock book with framing. Prior to opening these mock books the disguised outward appearance looks no different to a traditional book, with the digital element of the work being a ‘surprise’ found only upon opening.
Figure 2 Murray, J. (2021) Digital book test
My initial ideas in regards to a physical output in exhibition was to have projections, and digital screens as that is what I have traditionally seen as the vehicle of display for works like my own which incorporate moving elements in the stills, however seeing Owens installations at Arles, has inspired me to think about doing more than just placing a screen on a wall, but also a tactile experience in the form of a digital book, I have created a prototype of how I would display as a digital book upcycling an old tablet cover and using the same approach of using old newspapers as I did for the redacted backdrop (Figure 2).
Figure 3 Murray, J. (2021) Flipbook test
Other approaches I’ve been thinking about, is the notion of using sealed hidden pages as a means to expand on and widen the narrative back out from one type of censorship to another, however more recently I had been thinking about flip books as a potential method of display, in that viewers would end up invested in looking for the minute transitions, unfortunately upon testing this idea I found that the details are just so minute that in flipbook format it looks like nothing is happening at all (Figure 3). I was however impresed by how professional and easy it was to bookbind now I have the correct needle and hole-making tools.
The other avenue for display that has been my fallback position is to display my work on a website (Figure 4), in the past I’ve usually stuck with using portfoliobox as my website of choice however, I felt that the options are quite limiting so I’ve been on a lookout for something which would allow more movability and customization. I noted recently that Molly Soda whose website I greatly admire as being a creative destination as well as a website uses hotglue.me, so I’ve been experimenting with the various options it offers. I’m pretty impressed by the fact you can host a website within a website.
References
Figures
Figure 1 Godfrey, M. (2021) Laura Owens x Van Gogh Installation. [Online] Available from: https://www.instagram.com/p/CQRKH6FFi_C/ [Accessed 07/07/2021]
Figure 2 Murray, J. (2021) Digital book test
Figure 3 Murray, J. (2021) Flipbook test
Figure 4 Murray, J. (2021) Potential web output
Bibliography
Murray, J. (2021) PHO 705: June 29th. Project Development: Heretic. [Online] Available from: https://jasmphotography.wordpress.com/2021/06/29/project-development-heretic [Accessed 07/07/2021]
Zittrain, J. (2021) The Atlantic: The Internet Is Rotting. [Online] Available from: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/06/the-internet-is-a-collective-hallucination/619320/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB [Accessed 07/07/2021]
Jasmine Murray Photography 
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