Material Thinking & Indeterminate conditions
In examining processes at the cusp of craft and CGI I have tracked roots back to Pixars, Ed Catmull and the first CGI animated film in which Catmull casts his left hand in plaster and then proceeds to map the points into the computer to produce the first digital mesh.I have also researched briefly, Stan Vanderbeeks work at MIT Labs in early Computer Graphics and his early response to the 'new' technologies. This gives some historical context to the research project.
I have also researched literature on Craft practices, including the notion of Material Thinking. Barbara Bolt refers to Heideggers "Material Thinking" , and "Handleability", and I was surprised by the idea of using materials "at hand", which is precisely how I initially started to work with Paper and Thread, as these were the materials I had "at hand at the time" and these embodied notions of Universality, simplicity, natural world as representative of the'actual world' and could be subjected to forces of entropy and decomposition (arrow of Time).
These materials were used in the construction of 'Blade', in the first attempt to work through issues related to "world" and "I" that arose from an uncertainty in and and perceived limitation of CG Animation. The questions raised were How did 'at hand' materials allow for a better understanding of CGI processes? How did these materials relate to the Human/Mechanism Interface, and better express the human condition, than I felt was possible to express in CG.
The Materials were also useful in revealing the indeterminate conditions of the natural environment, and this in turn gave rise to an opportunity to response to the unexpected. So is the work a response to an over-engineered and over controlled creative practice ? Can the machine be broken down, deconstructed and re-made in some way? Or is it a matter or reframing the approach to CGI modelling in Animation?
These are the current questions being asked and worked through in practice.
I have also researched literature on Craft practices, including the notion of Material Thinking. Barbara Bolt refers to Heideggers "Material Thinking" , and "Handleability", and I was surprised by the idea of using materials "at hand", which is precisely how I initially started to work with Paper and Thread, as these were the materials I had "at hand at the time" and these embodied notions of Universality, simplicity, natural world as representative of the'actual world' and could be subjected to forces of entropy and decomposition (arrow of Time).
These materials were used in the construction of 'Blade', in the first attempt to work through issues related to "world" and "I" that arose from an uncertainty in and and perceived limitation of CG Animation. The questions raised were How did 'at hand' materials allow for a better understanding of CGI processes? How did these materials relate to the Human/Mechanism Interface, and better express the human condition, than I felt was possible to express in CG.
The Materials were also useful in revealing the indeterminate conditions of the natural environment, and this in turn gave rise to an opportunity to response to the unexpected. So is the work a response to an over-engineered and over controlled creative practice ? Can the machine be broken down, deconstructed and re-made in some way? Or is it a matter or reframing the approach to CGI modelling in Animation?
These are the current questions being asked and worked through in practice.
