Works by students in "FORM & TIME" 2023 Class, OCAD U.
23 Artists: Shanti Clyke, Peyton Cote, Peter De Souza-Samanek, Benji Dizon, Rania Adamjee, Ruby Doern, Connor Garito, Baz Goulis, Maya Harding, Jiona (Jiwon) Jeon, Billie MacFarland, Jasmine Miranda, Alessandra Perreras, Sowmika Sasikaran, Tracy Steele, Rae Sigrist, Jin Soh, Mai Anh Tran, Yujin Wang, Twig Whale, Tiantian Yang, Cecilia Yu, Jiaying (Renee) Zhang.
These body of work and experiments done by the students in "FORM & TIME" 2023 course at OCAD University, tackles a multimedia approach and experiments, allowing the students to expand their knowledge in mark-making that evokes themes of SPACE, FORM & TIME, while exploring, sculptures, collage, 3D work, installations, video art, animation, stop-motion, photography, projections, the ready-made, and performance to further one's knowledge beyond ideas on drawing & painting. Rethinking the possibilities of what art-making can be and challenging one's concepts of making. Linking through lived and cultural experiences that each of the students tries to unravel through a multimedia of experiments and exercises to give first year students a broader sense of how ideas can manifest in art-making process.
Curated by Julius Poncelet Manapul (they/them/ze)
Special thanks to all faculty members who had delivered and organized “FORM & TIME” Class this Winter 2023: Heather Frise, b.h. Yael, Francis Lebouthillier, Geoffrey Shea, Nina Leo, Marton Robinson, Sophia Oppel, Bentley Jarvis, Karly McCloskey, Simone Jones, Judith Doyle, and TA's: James Knott, Benny Sun, Hala Alsalman.
Welcome to "FORM & TIME" ONLINE EXHIBITION 2023!
Shanti Clyke
"Stay"
Medium: Wood, Acrylic Paint, Cotton Swabs, Various Fabrics, Paper, Hot Glue. Sculpture, Installation.
Size: 6" x 4" x 2" inches
I was inspired by David Altmejd’s Le Desert et la Semance and the idea of simultaneity and connection with objects in real space. I wanted to create a 3D montage/collage out of all the bedrooms I’ve had in my life and fit the main things I remember about them in one large room. I put them in order from oldest to most recent, which shows the changes of where I lived over time. For the main objects I placed many wooden blocks on a piece of wood, and then added details with cotton swabs, fabric, paper, hot glue, and paint. My current room has the most detail, and is the only one without the bed made, to show that I am currently living in this space. Overall, there are 5 rooms, but I wanted them to be arranged in a way where it is harder to tell where each room starts and ends, to make them appear as if they are all beds in a room together. I wanted time to flow together and show the feeling of shock to be in a new environment, longing for the old and familiar one but needing to move on because too much has changed over time and the past is gone. I used this project to review everywhere I’ve been in life, as the place where I stay has always been very important to me. This installation shows how much change can happen in one person's life over time but isn’t seen day-to-day.
"Plush Pin"
Medium: Wood, Yarn, Foam Hoop, Hot Glue. Sculpture, Installation.
Size: 25" x 8" x 8" inches
After seeing Mona Hatoum’s “Grater divide”, I wanted to create an everyday object that becomes threatening when enlarged. After reviewing a scaling-up workshop, I decided to recreate a red pushpin, because I wanted to bring attention and importance to something that was very small and often lost and overlooked by making it much larger. Using some craft materials (mainly yarn), I created a large pin that, unlike Mona Hatoum’s larger cheese grater, is not really menacing when it is bigger. I wanted to make it different from Mona Hatoum’s work because I wanted to make a pin that was larger and potentially more useful but make it in a way that goes against its purpose. A pin is a common and potentially harmful item, and by covering it in yarn it looks gentler and softer despite it being something people often get hurt by accidentally. I also thought it would be fun to make something that is a pun on pushpin, so because it is soft I called it “plush-pin”. Adding to this, maybe I could pin a giant paper or a person to the wall to give it more meaning. I am proud that I was able to create this physically as it was more complicated than my past installations and sketches, and I really enjoy working with yarn. I feel this was a successful experiment in “scale” and I hope to create more enlarged tiny objects in the future, as well as working with contrasting ideas in my art.
"Tangled"
Medium: Yarn, Ready-Made Objects Desk Items. Sculpture, Installation.
Size: 50" x 20" x 20" inches
When thinking about site installations, I was thinking about my room since that’s where I spend a lot of my time and create most of my art. Sharing my experience of this site (my room) and its meaning to me. I used string because it was something I was using a lot around this time, and it can get messy like my room. It disturbs my daily life since it's wrapped around some of my things like the drawing pad and pen. I picked the spot near my desk because it's the space where there is the most stuff moving and the most going on, it's usually the messiest, and then my walls which are a more clean space. I used to live somewhere that was very messy, so I have this fear of being messy, but I'm also not good at cleaning and used to mess. I tell myself things will be different when I move but it stays the same, I have this fear of becoming what I've left. I wanted the yarn to be placed in a way that looked very messy and random, different from how I’ve used it in the past which was more precise. I made the strings go up my sketch pad to the walls and the ceiling, because I was thinking of how the mess was growing started from the floor, to my desk, and my bed, and I imagined if it got even farther to the walls and ceiling like I was showing and just showing my room was chaotic and it was difficult to clean because it was all connected, to put away one thing would mean cleaning another and it became too big of a task all at once—like a “mess monster” taking over my room.
Peyton Cote
"Below the Surface"
Medium: Blue Plastic Wrap, Amazon Sunset Lamp. Photography, Collage, Digital Collage, Documented Performance. Photo Series.
Size: Varied.
Instagram: @peytoncoteart
The idea of gesture can be interpreted in many ways, and I have explored different types throughout my journey as an artist. For this piece I got inspired by James Knott's play with shadow and gesture. I wanted to try to take photos of my own shadow with a little bit of a twist. For my piece I used transparent blue plastic wrap to cast shadows that look like you are underwater. I used a circle-colored light to shine an array of blues and pinks at my ceiling, where I had also taped my blue transparent plastic sheets to hang. This created a space where it felt like I was underwater. I used the shadows of my hands and the plastic sheets to convey a scene of ripples in water, wave patterns and an overall feeling of being below the surface. All the rays of light and shadows that were created are truly beautiful and capture gestures in a new way for me. The feeling of being in water isn't something that I'm not super comfortable with, I would say I have Thalassophobia (fear of large bodies of water and what exists below the surface) so doing a project that rebuilds my relationship with water and depth was impactful for me, because I got to see it in a more beautiful way. For a final touch I compiled all my favorite images into a college with an ocean background to tie my ideas of being submerged in the ocean together.
Peter De Souza-Samanek
"Butterflies"
Medium: Printed Butterflies, Plastic Food Containers. Installation, Photography.
Size: Varied.
"Metabolism"
Medium: Plastic Forks, Eggs, Hot Glue. Sculpture, Photography.
Instagram: @latitude.gif
Both of these pieces deal with the theme of mass production and consumption. By incorporating food items and juxtaposing organic and man-made store-bought elements these pieces draw parallels between our metabolism and capitalism. In Butterflies I placed monarch butterflies in food containers, then staged them in my freezer. Their populations have been dropping drastically since the 90s which is why I chose them as a subject. This piece serves as a commentary on our impact on, and commodification of the natural world. By viewing the world as nothing more than a resource to be used to fuel mass-production, we lose our connection with the natural world, as well as destroy it. In the second piece, Metabolism, we can see eggs in a nest made out of forks. This is meant to allude to the fact that we are born into a world where we must eat, and that will someday eat us. Aside from this, I bought the cheapest eggs in the grocery, as well as disposable forks, which brings in elements of income disparity. Affording more mindful grocery practices such as free-range may not be possible for some, and because of this we're forced to make choices that are worse for the environment. Ultimately, we are in a conundrum where we have to eat to stay alive- and this applies to capitalism as well. Although we all know capitalism is unsustainable, the end of it and the uncertainty that comes with that is frightening. This piece serves as a reflection on the connection of the beginning and the end, destruction and creation, and places us face to face with this unsettling concept.
Benji Dizon
Video by Benji Dizon
"You’re allowed to mourn the kid you never got to be"
Medium: Experimental Animation, Video Art.
Duration: 00:00:42
Instagram: @uojeannn
“Using old family photos, I play between the past and the present. I often yearn for a different past. But all I can do is imagine and fantasize about the childhood I wish I had growing up.”
As I travel between pictures, I am struck by a sense of nostalgia and longing for the boy that I wish I had been. Through the magic of film, sound, and animation, I am able to explore this alternate reality, imagining what my life might have been like if circumstances had been different. With each passing frame, I am able to peer into the soul of this imaginary self, seeing glimpses of the kid I wish I could have been.
Through the artful integration of film, animation, and the experimental sounds of Aphex Twin's QKThr, I reimagine my childhood through a new lens. By manipulating the visual and auditory elements at my disposal, I am able to inject new meaning and depth into these old images, infusing them with different perspective and insight.
As a trans person, I often find myself caught up in the intricate dance of time, where the boundaries between past and present are often blurred. The memories of the past are inextricably linked with my present experiences, creating a complex and nuanced tapestry of identity. It's not uncommon for me to find myself consumed with nostalgia and wistful longing for a past that is forever out of reach. Despite knowing that dwelling on what could have been is futile, I cannot help but indulge in daydreams about the childhood that I wish I had experienced. It's not that I'm ungrateful for the life that I have now, but there are moments when I can't help but wonder how things might have been different if circumstances had been more favourable.
Rania Adamjee
"Menstrual Patterns"
Medium: Water Colour Pencil, Pen on Paper. Drawing.
Instagram: @uponanendlessspiral
The final painting is a rotated repetition of the original piece which consists of a representation of the female reproductive system. I chose this part of the body as an example of form given that it has such a crucial role to play in evolution, as well as in the formation of society. The female reproductive system is such a core point of so many protests which we see taking place today, and serves as an emblem for several existing concepts and constructs. The symbol of the female reproductive system represents the formation of life, as well as the political advances which we see taking place today. However, the female body as well as the female reproductive system, is still spoken of with a glance of shame throughout the world. On a daily basis, we see women having to hide the fact they are on their menstrual cycles, be embarrassed of having vaginal issues, and have concerns regarding their healthcare be undermined. The purpose of this piece is to portray this part of the body as something which we should take pride in, and celebrate as well as appreciate, given the fact that it can provide us with so much. At the end of the day, we are all products of femininity and the feminine body, which is why we should appreciate not only our existence, but also the source of our existence. The female body and reproductive system, is, has, and always will be a symbol and a structure of power to exist within this world.
Ruby Doern
"Trace Movement"
Medium: Charcoal, Graphite on Paper. Drawings.
Size: 8" x 12" inches
I had thought frequently about how to capture motion in a drawing and how to show movement on a single page. I was inspired by Eadweard Muybridge and his photographs capturing motion in multiple images and I wanted to look at gestures in a way similar to stop motion. He had multiples of photograph stills of his subject matter moving and I wanted to create something similar but instead put all of the photos showing movement into one singular photo or page. Just like editing photos with a long exposure and seeing the overlapping ways the subject matter moves through the photo, I wanted to create a layering effect in a single piece. With gestures and studies of motion it’s difficult to communicate to the viewer in a single frame the motion of the subject. Slowing down the eye movements and capturing bits of information as the subject matter is moving is what I wanted to show in this piece. You can see the movement of the figure and see where the slight pauses occur while the background and some movements blur into the figure. Building off of a previous experiment using the blurred motion, I used myself as the subject using a blurred camera effect to inspire the creation of movement throughout the piece. The charcoal allows for those easy blurs and lots of contrast as the subject moves through the paper. The study of motion and movement is what I really wanted to accentuate with this piece and how the eye can track the different directions the subject is moving.
Connor Garito
"Vignette of Anger"
Medium: 4H-6B Pencils, Paper. Drawing.
Size: 5.24" x 36" inches
I have always felt a strong connection to the practice of realism and exploring extremely detailed and large artworks using various mediums. “Vignette of Anger” is my attempt to accurately depict real-life societal struggles using a realistic art style. “Vignette of Anger” will be the first in a long series of large artworks I plan to make during my time at OCAD U. It is meant to be the starting point and reference to my journey as an artist and will allow me to document this progress.
Looking into self-image, I used nature and flora to spread the message throughout the drawing. On the left side, a clean symmetrical figure with roses and soft, smooth vines surrounding it. Looking as though it is the flawless embodiment of a person. While the right is screaming out with jagged coarse vines alongside thorns, holding the figure back. This contrast in “Vignette of Anger” is to bring light to the anger many of us hold for not being the ideal person we want to be and the confrontation we all have as a result of these emotions.
Baz Goulis
Video by Baz Goulis
"Flux, Flow, Change"
Medium: Video Performance, Adobe Premiere Pro, Gauze, Googly Eyes, Fabric, Sunglasses.
Duration: 00:00:51
For this experiment, I was inspired by the “The Today Series” where On Kawara expressed a flow of time through a series with minor changes. Instead of using objects, like Kawarea, for each of those moments separately, I decided to explore integrating objects of meaning in the actual experience within a performance. These objects helped to express thoughts and feelings from a particular span of time. There was a lot of change over this period and all the change affected how I experienced time. When I think back to some of this period all I can see are snapshots, like a series of pictures moving forward in linear time, similar to how slides drop in a slideshow using a carousel. The performance displayed here was based on a three-year period of time and how I now remember it. Passage of time or change is displayed by the adding of and taking off of layers. Certain areas flow quicker or slower depending on the intensity of feelings.
With the in-class review of techniques for Adobe Premiere Pro, I was inspired to experiment with a timeline based software. I initially chose this medium because I felt like it could help facilitate the particular experience in a multi-dimensional way.
"Site Fictions & Installation"
Medium: Documentation Photographs of Performance, Pomegranate and Hammer.
I was really caught when I heard "sites have the potential to contain stories" in the Site Fictions & Installations section. I subconsciously knew that sites contained memories and stories, but until hearing someone conceptualize the idea out loud, it was far back in my mind, where I seldom observed it. Having the concept of site of fiction brought to my attention, forced me to consider the stories I have attached to certain sites and the possible narratives each individual holds within themselves as a site. I was influenced by artists such as Lisa Steele's work, specifically on how the artist was able to narrate stories of her past using the scars on her body. I decided to consider my body as a site to evoke narratives liked to my past. I became interested in the idea of stolen innocence. As I excavate deeper and exploring my relationship to the topic, I was reminded of the story of "Persephone", relating to Hades, the underworld and the significance of the pomegranate. My goal for this experiment was to comment on power dynamics and the taking of something that was never knowingly given. Certainly themes that I would like to expand and explore in the future.
Maya Harding
Video by Maya Harding
"Expressive Movement"
Medium: Experimental Video.
Duration: 00:01:21
Size: Varied
When considering the human body as a form, there are many individual aspects that can be identified as signifiers of emotion or expression. This can be seen in the tilt of a brow, the tapping of a foot, the shrug of shoulders, or the waving of hands. The mannerisms in which one may choose to express themselves are of interest to me, as they can often be indicative of both personality and lifestyle.
The video performance piece Expressive Movement is a narration of a confessional free verse poem by the same title. In this I explore my own mannerisms, relating my habits back to the environment that I was raised in. Through speaking with both the same tempo and tone that I use in casual conversation, while moving my hands in a way that reflects how I express myself daily, I invite the viewer into both an intimate and niche aspect of my personality. The use of repetition aims to enhance the patterns seen in my actions, while creating a new work of art with each movement. Expressive Movement explores the individuality of the human form as a vessel for expression, while acknowledging the elegance and decorative qualities of the body- more specifically the hand.
Video by Maya Harding
"In Five Days"
Medium: Experimental Video.
Duration: 00:05:00
Size: Varied
Production Time: 5 Days
Understanding both the linear and multi-faceted nature of time is important when considering one’s own relationship with it. Although time moves forward at a constant pace, our personal perceptions may cause this flow to become distorted. Moments appear to pass by at a slower or faster pace, and minutes can become blurred with hours or even days. The unreliable nature of memory can act as a catalyst in further distorting time, and how it is perceived by an individual. In our memories, linear events may begin to switch around. The act of “reliving a moment” will inevitably be accompanied by discrepancies relating to both the passage of time and order of events.
My work In Five Days, as implied by the title, documents my day to day experience with both time and my perception/memory of it over the course of five days. This repetitive process of documenting my daily activities was inspired both by the act of journaling in order to remember one’s day and the representations of linear time flow by works such as On Kawara’s “The Today Series”. Through taking clips at different points in a day and then later compiling them, my interest becomes in displaying how I remember events by the end of the day– in terms of both sequential order and emotional qualities. There are clear instances of overlap and distortion, depicting how my perception of events are altered. In creating this work I aim to challenge viewers to consider the relationship that time has with memory, and how through the passage of linear time our perceptions of previously lived moments may become further distorted or disappear altogether.
Note: The work above is a continuation of the video editing processes and conceptual elements relating to the perception of time that I observed in Week 11. Additionally, it references themes of linear time and collage from Week 9.
Jiona (Jiwon) Jeon
Video by Jiona (Jiwon) Jeon
"Life Traveler"
Medium: Digital 2D Animation. Digital Art, Animation, Video Art.
Duration: 00:00:48
Size: Varied
Instagram: @jiona_7746
I thought about my background before the artist I am today existed. The first thing that came to my mind was "travel" and I felt that I was doing the art now while traveling to many countries and experiencing many cultures. Travel made me an artist because I like to draw while traveling and I learned my strengths and weaknesses that I didn't know through this. That is the reason why I want to study abroad and also want to live in another country.
While making this animation, I thought about why I wanted to work in the animation industry, and once again I felt that making animation inspires me a lot. Also, I was able to look back on my year in Canada. I realized that I learned a lot and grew up in Canada during the year. Traveling is an act that grows me and inspires me to be an artistic inspiration, and I plan to travel constantly to become a better artist.
Billie MacFarland
"Chest Piece"
Medium: Photography, Performance Art. Photo Series, Performance.
Size: Various
As a trans person, my body and bodies like mine are often the subject of scrutiny and legislation. Trans bodies are political, there is no doubt about that, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t also playful, silly, and beautiful. This piece is installed on a physical manifestation of my masculine leaning gender but it itself is the opposite of “manly”. By using my top surgery scars as the site of the installation, I explore my body as a space on which I can tell stories or challenge beliefs. As a non-binary trans masculine person, my presentation is in constant tension with what it traditionally means to be masculine. This piece injects light and joy into the stoic and stodgy idea of white/cis/hetero/western masculinity.
Video by Billie MacFarland
"Shaving"
Medium: Film. Performance, Video Art.
Duration: 0:02:09
Size: Varied
Instagram: @puppieluvr42069
This piece was heavily inspired by the work of Adrian Piper, who uses her body and her experiences as content for her performance art, including reading from her private journals. I want to take a page from her book and explore a personal experience from my childhood. With this piece of performance art, accompanied by the reading of a poem that I wrote, I hope to evoke the vividness of memory and its bitter sweetness. In an act of artistic vulnerability, I invite you into my bathroom while I shave and reflect on my complex relationship with shaving. This piece uses sound and intimacy to enhance the sense of embodiment as well as the scale of time.
Jasmine Miranda
"Morning Coffee"
Medium: Instant Coffee, Water, Mixed Media Board. Photo Series, Drawings.
Size: 8" x 10" inches
Instagram: @jans0am
The form module of this course helped me to produce some of my favourite experiments from this semester. The piece I’ve submitted is a series of prints made with instant coffee and water. I make myself coffee every day, and every time it is more or less the same. When thinking about multiples, networks, and repetition, I felt I had a strong understanding of how making copies of something can slow down the process and really get you to observe the slight differences and nuances of each piece. A practice that I have started to include in my daily life is mindfulness, which came easy to while creating this piece. I try to stay in the moment while doing everyday tasks to really observe how the world reacts to my movements. Every morning I pour instant coffee into a cup. I sit and wait for the water to boil and watch carefully as I pour the water into the cup. This is probably the most consistent I've been with anything. I found the way the water causes the coffee granules to disperse and swirl around the cup enchanting and wanted to recreate it on a bigger scale and make it something that is a bit more permanent.
Alessandra Perreras
"I Whisper"
Medium: Rice Noodles and Rice paper, Pen (for script writing). Sculpture, Installation.
Size: 18" x 3" inches
Instagram: @a_perreras
The body is a subject that I rarely ever touch on, most likely because of my meek nature. As I found my experiments in response to the course material were guiding me towards exploring my Filipino heritage, I decided that this final piece would comment on just that: the lack of my participation and understanding of Filipino practices. I have always felt distant from my culture as the only exposure I had was passed onto me by a means of oral tradition, storytelling, and the passing down of traditions and beliefs. In the decolonizing site experiment, I learned how to write in Baybayin, an ancient Filipino script which came into fruition before Spanish colonization. I became so entranced by the practice that I often integrate it discreetly in most of my work.
I Whisper is a spinal cord sculpted with rice paper and rice noodles. The choice of material was inspired by Filipino tradition which encourages the consumption of pancit (noodles) on special occasions to live a long life. To accompany the spinal cord is a second tradition written in Baybayin: jumping at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Day will ensure growth in the new year. For this piece, I really wanted to find physical evidence through my body of my Filipino heritage as I often invalidate myself because I am so ignorant to what it is really like to be in the Philippines. This piece speaks to my cultural identity: although I feel like a false Filipina woman, I am, nevertheless, connected to my ancestors, all the way to my bones.
Video by Alessandra Perreras
“2007, Probably”
Medium: Micro-Mixed Media Animation. Experimental Video Animation.
Duration: 00:00:44
Size: Varied
"2007, Probably" is a micro-mixed media animation that illustrates the recollection of a memory. Looking back at moments from the past, I notice that I hardly remember any vivid details. I remember more of a haze; I only knew of faint forms and faces from a time when I was, say, just six years old. These specific moments from my childhood have only occurred to me recently upon the loss of a loved one as I gathered with my family to look through a series of old photos to reminisce. During that time, I stumbled upon a home video (the one you are seeing right now) which I felt was the perfect imitation of peace. It was mere coincidence that my past loved one was in this video; in fact, her voice is so apparent in it. Since her passing, I have always associated her with the colour blue (Nothing deep. Really, it was just her favourite colour) and the ocean. I used that kind of imagery to emphasize her persistent presence which I miss profoundly, and to demonstrate how, to this day, she is still around. These days, I often have a desire to run away from the problems that come with maturity and age and wish to return to a time of innocence. This video animation pinpoints where I would like to return to, if given the chance.
Sowmika Sasikaran
Video by Sowmika Sasikaran
"TIME"
Medium: Digital Animation.
Duration: 00:04:00
Size: Varied.
This film is a showcase of a lover’s personal archive. How far love can go before it breaks. It allows the viewer to see into the relationship of two lovers over time through the digital archives. How the lover, being documented, hides their true feelings which only begins to break as the pressure piles up. I wanted to show the feelings and story through single stills, sounds and animations. I used Adobe Photoshop, Animate, and Premiere Pro to draw, animate, edit and composite the entire film. I focused on telling the story through symbolic, cinematic methods and to display an extreme method of loving.
Tracy Steele
Video by Tracy Steele
"Ravine"
Medium: Video/Sound Art.
Duration: 00:05:17
Size: Varied. Vertical Cellphone Format.
This short work of video, sound, and image is an homage to a place that has become a friend. The ravine close to my home is within the Don Valley. It runs along the only two places where Mud Creek still surfaces above ground. Over the course of the last hundred-or-so years, most of the creek has been diverted, built over, filled in or otherwise made invisible. For most of the 7000 years before that, it was a place along which wildlife flourished, and indigenous peoples, including the Wendat, Haudenosaunee, and Mississauga’s, took sustenance. Soon after the very problematic “Toronto Purchase” of 1787, the waters of the creek that fed the mightier Don River helped to power mills in the valley that produced the paper, flour and bricks that would build Toronto.
I can trace my own history in the ravine. It has been a place for adventures with my children, head-clearing trail runs, walks with friends, difficult conversations, a broken heart, refuge, soul searching, sanctuary, therapy, and peace. A constant companion.
The sights and sounds in this work were gathered recently on a cold Sunday morning. That day, with my trusty and ubiquitous iPhone in hand, I explored more closely the place I have come to know so well. My hope is that I have done my friend justice and made a start at expressing my feelings towards this special place.
Video by Tracy Steele
"Freeze"
Medium: Video/Sound Art.
Duration: 00:06:13
Size: Varied. Vertical Cellphone Format.
Considering the constant battle we wage against aging – as though we have the power to stop it – I wanted to explore the idea of stepping out of the ring. What if we stopped fighting? What beautiful things could emerge when we no longer direct our energies – creative and otherwise – toward trying to control the effects of time?
My bathroom cabinet is stocked with products claiming miraculous age-defying properties. I selected one from the shelf and froze it inside a block of ice. When solid, I placed the block on an upturned bowl which sat on a stool over four large sheets of watercolour paper. I then rigged up an old heat lamp and started filming the melting process, taking one minute of film every hour or so, as well as some still images. The melting water randomly soaked the paper, leaving some areas dry and flat, others wet and wavy, and others puddled. I pushed the unpredictability further by dropping coloured water-based inks onto the paper and manipulating them by hand.
In editing the film, I had to fight the urge to shorten the clips even more than I did and speed things up – to “find out what happens in the end.” I mean, it really is kind of like watching grass grow, or wallpaper peel. But I realized that was the point. I think this little film’s strength is in its maddening ability to test one’s patience. It begs the question “What’s your hurry?”
Rae Sigrist
"Ousia"
Medium: Clay, Wood, Doll Arms, Pearls, Wire, Ethically Foraged Feathers and Moth Specimen. Sculpture.
Size: 7" x 12" x 3" inches
This morphic entity is inspired by the Greek myth of the harpy, or bird women hybrids: seductive yet grotesque; uncanny yet familiar. I’m interested in where we connect the human form with the form of the divine. This is an exploration of materials and giving their previous forms new narratives by combining objects of juxtaposing relationships: human hair and bird feather, man and nature, clay and plastic, the natural and the synthetic. This transformation happens through materials as well as pose--seemingly taking off in flight.
Captured in a moment of transcendence, the form’s “take off” carries energy by the placement of materials: repeating form of the arms, the destruction of the left wing, falling feathers, and the moth half bitten in the mouth. There's a certain violence in those energies that disrupt the peaceful symbol we typically equate with birds. I believe transformations typically carry a past of scars given and scars received, illustrated here within the relationship of the bird and the moth.
Jin Soh
Video by Jin Soh
"Yellow Tulips of Hope"
Medium: Experimental Video Collage.
Duration: 00:00:07
Size: Varied. Vertical Cellphone Format.
During week 10, Gestures and Objectives, I made a video talking about “Comfort Women”. I decided to extend this topic of the women in my culture again, but with different skills I got from week 9 and 11 as well. Using a college style and different atmosphere of filters, I collaged on the image stills of drying tulips. This work in title “Yellow Tulips of Hope” talks about “Comfort Women or Comfort Girls” were women and girls were forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army in occupied countries and territories before and during WWII from Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, and China.
Yellow Tulips usually mean hopeless love, or forbidden love, however, as time passed by, it is also used as hope or happiness. I clipped out some parts of yellow tulips and put some pictures of the ‘Statue of Peace’ found in South Korea, blended with archived documented images during these horrific past narratives.
I bought the yellow tulips and waited for them to wither, that embodies scars and brown markings all over their petals. My goal was to imply the latter meaning of the tulips and at the same time, there is a beauty that one cannot specify in withering flowers. There is all sort of beauty in the passage of time. They show the assumed history of themselves through their ‘scars’ and ‘flaws’.
Most Comfort Women still hides themselves from society and never reveal that they were ‘flawed’ once. My perspective belief is that one should not be ashamed of their scared past. Scars evokes the idea that the wound has healed. Although comfort women have been wounded, those scars represents strength and invulnerable to endure the wounds and adversity.
Mai Anh Tran
Video by Mai Anh Tran
"The Digital Gestures"
Medium: Paper, Stop-Motion Animation.
Duration: 00:00:18
Size: Varied.
Living in a modern and digital world, we are too familiar with hand gestures while using our phones or tablets as we interact with them every day: zooming, swiping, tapping, scrolling and other more. We have access to almost everything in our lives under one simple tap on a digital surface. I think it would be interesting if we combine both of these concepts: the digital medium with the traditional medium like paper to create a stop-motion video to tell a narrative. Both paper mediums (books, newspapers,...) and digital equipment (phones, cameras, televisions,...) are used to record and convey information, to entertain or to learn; in other words, they have similar functions in being an important and essential part of human evolution. I chose paper cranes as my main object because I grew up making a lot of origami and I am interested in experimenting more with the art of paper folding. I used a black background as a humour symbol of the fact that most people prefer to use the “dark mode” setting in their devices rather than the default setting. It is also to be more clear and easier to see the movement of the hand gestures. This stop-motion animation is a part of my question “What if we can use our digital hand gestures to interact with everything in life besides our phone.” Imagine simply swiping our hands left and right in the air to change the selection on the bookshelf without having to get up from your comfy chair. Would that be an interesting way to interact with the world or terrifying of how it can make us become dependant to easier ways in life, lazier?
"The Summer Trap"
Medium: Magazine Collage.
Size: 10” x 12” inches
For this experiment, I picked June from the calendar specifically because this is the month that I always feel it passes so fast yet so slow at the same time. For concept explanation, June is the time when summer break begins, when I have the chance to rest from studying and go on vacations; therefore, time goes by so quickly as hours turn into minutes. However, because there is no homework to keep my mind occupied, I often have empty moments to do nothing, and I wish time could go faster so I can get back to my school routine again. I feel like I am in a trap of time between the busyness of a city and the peace of nature. As for style, I want to create this pop-up dimension effect, so I cut out the images of cities, clouds and jungles, then glue them layer by layer. I also folded the day boxes of the calendar to construct a wavy background.
Yujin Wang
Video by Yujin Wang
“Gathering”
Medium: Ink, Water, and Film. Experimental Video.
Duration: 00:00:29
Size: Varied.
“Time will bring everything together in the end, although we are individuals in this world, we need a sense of belonging, and everyone is the same. So, when we are in a certain group and admit that there are people belonging to different groups, then we can see a clearer self. After that we can think about next time when people gather again, they should do more cheering rather than a battle because at the end of time we are all together.”
There are two parts in this work which are the visual part and the sound part. The visual part shows that something gradually gathers and becomes clearer, and for the sound part, there are sound effects about people cheering, war, and protest, which shows the different emotion people may have as a group.
Twig Whale
Video by Twig Whale
“Dying of Gravity”
Medium: Digital Photoshop Animation.
Duration: 0:00:15
Size: Varied.
Website Links: https://cityyliights.carrd.co, https://ko-fi.com/cityyliights.
This piece was inspired by an in-class experiment from our Time unit; more specifically working with flux, flow, and change. In class, students each brought in a novel of their choosing, and they would write down a single sentence from their novel on a sheet of paper. Both the novels and papers got passed around between students, each choosing a sentence from the novel to add to the singular sentences from other novels before it. Then, there would be a new story on the paper; one that was composed of singular, out of context sentences from a plethora of different novels. There were two lines from one of these new stories that, when put together like this, really stuck with me. “Dying?” “You mean gravity?” I asked. I don’t know which novels these lines came from, or what the original contexts were, but these lines together clung to me. There was so much weight to it, and it gave me such a unique, eerie feeling, that I simply had to attempt to (quickly) animate it. The closest thing I felt that could represent this feeling was the simple contrast of an angel and a demon; though, after their exchange, their roles seem to swap, or you realize they aren’t who you expected them to be. It’s these two creatures who likely understand nothing about death, just trying to make sense of the natural forces of the world that they are separate from. It’s simple, it’s morbidly curious, and it sits with you; at least, I hope it does. I would love to animate these characters more with these kinds of unique exchanges. Playing with the linear narrative allows for newer, more fluid, more emotional narratives to appear, and I thoroughly enjoyed working with it.
Tiantian Yang
Video by Tiantian Yang
小红妹妹 (“Little Red Sister”) / Xiao Hong Mei Mei
Medium: Website including photographs of plaster sculptures, scale varied. Sculpture, Photo Series, Performance.
Duration: 00:02:50
Sculptures Size: 2.0″ x 1.5″ x 1.8″ inches
Website of the Digital Installation: https://xiaohongmeimei.wordpress.com/
小红妹妹 (“Little Red Sister”) explores mass production in China, its history, and its consequences. China is widely known for its manufacturing industry, to a point where many only know China as a country of mass production. Many people believe in stereotypes centered around this, leading them to dehumanize Chinese people. Even compared to other East Asian countries, China is seen as industrial and uncultured. 小红妹妹 / Xiao Hong Mei Mei is an experimental website that attempts to highlight, exaggerate, and challenge the misinformed beliefs surrounding China and Chinese people. The website’s format references ecommerce websites, which are often associated with mass production and consumerism. It displays repeated images of plaster doll heads costing $0.00 (also meaning priceless), referencing the cheap cost of Chinese products. The doll heads as a subject reference the exoticization and fetishization of China and Chinese people; the plaster heads were modeled after dolls made for the tourism market in China. The dolls’ names are written in pinyin (the Latin alphabet) to make them more consumable to the Eurocentric world. These heads represent Chinese people, who many incorrectly view as a fully homogeneous group. When a user clicks on a doll, they are taken to a product page. These pages are mostly identical, except for a select few, which display the life stories of people I know. Many of these people lived through periods of major industrialization, and I share these stories to highlight Chinese history and emphasize the lived experience of Chinese people.
This work began with a sculpture of a doll head, inspired by a rag doll from my childhood. I created a latex mould and made five different copies of the head using plaster. I created a website using a website builder and uploaded photographs of these plaster heads. I designed the website as if I were selling these doll heads, however, there are hidden links and pages that suggest a different intention.
Video by Tiantian Yang
"From One Time Zone to Another"
Medium: Video Collage Art.
Duration: 00:01:29
Size: Varied.
Website: https://tiantianyangart.wordpress.com/
From One Time Zone to Another explores how we perceive time differently when we are in different places. After moving from China, I rarely travel back home, but when I do, it always feels surreal. I remember one experience in particular when I was in grade two, I had five weeks to spend in China. The plane ride there felt like an eternity. And when we landed, I thought I would be there forever. The five weeks passed unbelievably quickly. I remember crying on the last day before we boarded the taxi to the airport. I could only experience the feeling of home for a few weeks every couple of years. And it does not help that time always passes abnormally quickly whenever I am there. This piece investigates how space informs our perception of time–how a space produces certain emotions or experiences that makes time pass differently.
I created this piece by combining various videos and photos I took in China and Canada. I then distorted them by either slowing the video down or speeding it up. I also made some parts of the video using stop motion. I wanted to distort the experience of time by editing the videos to represent the way time feels when we travel. Furthermore, the controlling of time through video editing represents my desire to control my perception of time during my limited stays in China.
Cecilia Yu & Jiaying (Renee) Zhang
Video by Cecilia Yu & Jiaying (Renee) Zhang
"BREAKFAST"
Medium: Coins, Hand Gestures, Doughnut, Stop-Motion Animation.
Duration: 00:00:34
Size: Varied.
In this experiment, Cecilia Yu and Jiaying (Renee) Zhang made this stop-motion animation. They tried to use the materials they had on hand, body parts, and hand shadows to complete the animation. It is a story about a customer who comes to a doughnut shop to buy his breakfast (inspired by the fact that donuts are my breakfast). If there is anything that I they believe they can add more to make some development, it will be the play on shadows.
"Our animation doesn't really have a deep meaning, it just simulates the small things in life. The final hand shadow is kind like an experiment, but it did add some interest to the whole film. I really like our title entrance sequences as well, they shake like traditional animation, we tried to make each frame of the film different because we don’t want it to be static. The sound effects are mostly record by myself, except the chewing sound, I use a free sound effect of eating corns on YouTube, which I think fit actually quit well with our film." -Jiaying (Renee) Zhang
"What makes it interesting is that the characters are hands. We use multiple gestures (knocking, waving, rubbing, etc.) to show emotions and words. I like how the customer interacts with the store staff. Such a silent drama is inexplicably funny and also gives me a sense of early traditional animation. I also like how the hand eats and chews the doughnut. There are two paces here, one is 'eat-chew; eat-chew', and the other one is 'eat-eat-eat-chew-chew-chew.' This feeding speed changes well to show how hungry the protagonist is." - Cecilia Yu
Many thanks for visiting this online exhibition!
Poster Series Designs Below by Julius P Manapul