Apcrit jules schmuker
more images of my work
thank you to everyone for not getting upset with the huge amount of time my crit took....
For the actual physical tape drawing:
so, the first thing that went wrong was that we all came in from the wrong direction, resulting in unexpected response (your not suppossed to feel good after looking at this stephanie). :) I was glad to hear that the drawing showed a disconnect between time and space.
size =empathy? I'm not sure where to go with that comment because I don't feel that it is enough for viewers to empathize with me just because of the size and apparent amount of time I put into the work. The size of this work was important to make that point and to fit neatly in the space, but if it were smaller, I'd like to think that it would still work.
When I chose masking tape as the material to draw on, I was trying to find a light colored flat sticky super long surface that I could draw on. Tape just seemed to answer those criteria, and I wasn't thinking of other meanings that it could hold in its material. I really enjoyed hearing what you all had to say about tape meaning construction, painting a house, refacing, or controlling environment. Another comment that I hadn't thought of was that the ledge added an uneasiness and that the new wing of building being next to the woods is the same kind of thing that I am protesting in the drawing.
Watching the trees in the movie gets boring and... nature is boring, manmade stuff exciting, viewers couldn't wait for the bulldozer to come in.
The video felt bigger and more expansive.
The alternate ending was viewed as cheesey but good. It is hard for me to tell how much I can speculate of the future, and if viewers will still take me seriously if I go speculate too far. If I redid this, I would add some sparse houses in the ending, as Emily suggested.
I still do feel like leaving the ending open leaves more questions..... doesn't that make people think about it longer and harder?
Okay, so those are the things that I had taken notes about during the critique. I am also going to attempt to get some naturalish sounds this week as a replacement for the video, but don't worry, we won't watch the whole thing again!
Response:
First off, I would just like to say that you are addressing a very important yet disturbing issue in your work. It is something that should be addressed and made aware of in a public realm. Everyday I drive past recently developed or developing areas in Jenison and Allendale and I have noticed the oddly colored artificial lakes and lack of trees. It is a surreal utopia that seems to make me feel uneasy whenever I glance at it. It boggles my mind to think that they clear so much land without leaving any of the original trees. I also find it slightly disturbing to think that everything in these communities are designed, from the lakes to the placement of the trees. These communities almost don't seem real at all. Before I ramble on anymore, I think your work addresses this process of destruction and development very well.
- the use of tape worked well with your concept since it is a material used in construction
- the size works well with the space and almost forces the viewer to look at it up close because of its size.
-becomes more powerful
- the way in which it was drawn is inviting (almost cute) so it doesn't put off the viewer
-it gently gets the message across
- If you decide to re-film it then maybe you could consider using a dolly or rig something up to set the camera on so that the panning of the image is much smoother and easier to watch.
- some parts went a little too fast so maybe it could stay at a steady pace. (I got dizzy at one point)
One area that really caught my interest is the single tree standing behind the bulldozer and its path of destruction. I begin to ask myself questions like, "why was this tree spared?" or "How did it manage to survive the destruction of man?" Is this single tree symbolic of something? It really seemed to catch my attention.
I enjoyed the alternate ending. I couldn't help but think that protesters or environmental extremists were driving the bulldozers that destroyed the homes. I know this is cheesy but I think it would be humorous if you created another alternate ending where the trees were driving the bulldozers. This is kind of nerdy but that thought reminds me of the Lord of the rings when Treebeard and the ents retaliate against man (Sarumon) and come out victorious......wow that was pretty nerdy.
-b-rad
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