Week 10 games

Rebuild
http://www.kongregate.com/games/sarahnorthway/rebuild

Hands of War 2
http://www.kongregate.com/games/Djugan/hands-of-war-2-expanded-edition

The Dreamhold
http://eblong.com/zarf/zweb/dreamhold/

Castaway 2
http://www.kongregate.com/games/likwidgames/castaway-2

London Road
http://varytale.com/books/book/fox-london-road/info/

Choice of the Dragon
http://www.choiceofgames.com/dragon/

Photo Essay - Edward Midgley 42410363

"Nature Breaks"
My Photo essay captures the unique nature of weeds and the urban environment. Inspired by the blog "Guerilla Gardening" and their mission to take photographs of beautiful plant life imposed into the Urban environment. With the assignment condition needing to be original I took it one step back and just looked at how weeds and plants manage to break through the oppressive and almost impassable human designed structures such as concrete and brick. This photo essay gives an insight into plants that we consider a pest but when analyzed on a deeper level show the power of nature. The insignificance of these small things is blown away when we see the allegory for society and our ambition for growth past immense challenges.

I took these photos around my local area both from my own garden which I had let grow for this assignment, and local roads and parks. My favourite photo is a single strand of grass poking out of concrete next to a drain and I think it really captures the point of my video.

Blog Cited:
http://www.guerrillagardening.org/

Music:
Gold Lining - Broke For Free

Dylan Crowther and Robbie Coy photo essay.

'The Significance of the Insignificant'

In line with the notion of the ‘everyday aesthetic’, ‘The significance of the insignificant’ seeks to illustrate the relativity of significance and ultimately, the beauty and meaning inherent in ‘everyday’ items, locations and surroundings. As such, we chose to examine the overlooked in order to demonstrate that each whilst to one observer an everyday item is no more than trash, to another it holds an aesthetic appeal, or represents a subjective memory. This concept was furthered through each of our choice of shots; a table setting left behind, an old discarded sock, a lover's forgotten inscription. Each of these ‘everyday’ insignificant items ironically houses an aesthetic beauty due to the significance they hold to someone, thereby relating to the concept of the ‘everyday aesthetic’. The use of contrasting throughout our piece serves to illuminate the aforementioned ideal, so as to transform the ‘everyday’ into an aesthetic representation of the hidden significance of the insignificant. Thus, this piece reflects the notion of the ‘everyday aesthetic’, transforming disregarded ‘trash’ into the symbol of a treasured memory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voIyKy9FAkw&feature=youtu.be

Dylan Crowther and Robbie Coy.

Photo Essay: "Tea" - Joseph Sheehan 41460219

Rationale

My photo essay is based around the concept of “tea time” and its conventions. It features everyday objects associated with this concept, such as cups, saucers, teaspoons and kettles as well as food items and condiments.

This collection reflects Murray’s notion of the “everyday aesthetic”, including “autobiographical references that either hint or blatantly refer to their creator’s home life” (2008, 155), moments which are “fleeting” and “immediate” (151) rather than anything especially special or memorable, with a “low-end look” (160) of imperfect focus and haphazard composition.

I have prepared afternoon tea and taken photos at random moments throughout the process to create a sense of improvisation, often capturing objects where they lay in a disorganized manner, further contributing to the idea of fleeting moments of everyday life which are mundane and not “staged”. This photo essay invites the viewer to take a closer look at these mundane objects and the actions that involve them, and appreciate their significance in everyday life, particularly as a connection to heritage for those of British and Irish descent.


Works Cited

Murray, Susan. 2008. "Digital Images, Photo-Sharing, and Our Shifting Notions of Everyday Aesthetics." Journal of Visual Culture 2008 (7): 147-163.

Music

Cis_Minor, "Romantic, modern waltz in the style of Yann Tiersen (Amelie)", 2012, Used under a Creative Commons 3.0 License [http://ccmixter.org/files/Cis_Minor/38993]

Assessment 2: Photo Essay - Shannon Peters 41198484

His and Her's - Photo Essay

Rationale

The above video follows the theme of pairs with a sub-theme of romance in the everyday, it attempts to find the ‘beauty in the mundane’ (Murray 2008 pg. 155), the sentimental value in the ordinary. Objects of little significance around the house such as shoes are paired as part of a couple to show the photographer’s fleeting emotional response to them in their everyday life as Murray (2008) indicates the most popular images are usually personal.

The choice of music relies on the viewer feeling the ‘emotional reality’ of the images (Frith 1984 pg. 83) as well as the viewer’s  ‘subjective reaction’ (Frith 1984 pg. 86) to the images, hopefully the viewer will be able to connect the everyday items with memories of their own past and current relationships. A piano score was chosen as ‘the piano now is played to connote the piano then’ (Frith 1984 pg. 82), a period of classic romance and provides the images with their sub-theme.

As suggested by Murray (2008 pg. 154) photographs do not ‘create eternity’ and so the images are preserving only a feeling in time and as discussed by Murray (2008) a sense of loss is evoked in response to images.  Also suggested was the ‘temporariness’ (Murray 2008 pg. 155) of the images and so the images are organised from room to room with a constant and fairly quick stream of differing items replacing the last set, the viewer continuously being exposed to different and similar kinds of pairs hopefully achieving a sense of motion as described by Murray (2008).

This motion is central to the video as it highlights the way in which we now consume images, fast, self referential and en mass.  Singular images are no longer paused upon but large amounts of images are assessed as a whole and this video attempts to convey this.

References:

Frith S 1984, Mood Music: An inquiry into narrative film music, Screen, vol. 25, no.3, pg. 78-88, viewed 31 January 2012, http://screen.oxfordjournals.org

Murray S 2008, Digital images, photo sharing, and our shifting notions of everyday aesthetics, Journal of Visual Culture, vol. 7, no. 2, pg. 147-163, viewed 24 July 2008, http://vcu.sagepub.com/content/7/2/147

MAS110: Suburb in Decay By: Natalia Mierzwa 43052258

The choice of the theme “Suburb in decay” with the sub-theme of colour and textures was influenced by the everyday aesthetics. The objects found in the photo essay shifts the engagement with the everyday image as it reflects the beauty found in the ‘worn and torn’ that is often overtime neglected things in life that are left unnoticed. It also provides an immediate display of discovery and framing of the mundane that has been captured in the essence of this assignment. I choose various objects to photograph such as decaying walls, paint wearing off stairs, cracks on the road, doors and fences to key in with the theme of authentic decay in the structural elements.

The photographs are intentionally juxtaposed with another as they are placed in a particular way that will aim to draw the viewer’s attention to the variety of the objects colours and textures that I have tried to display.  Overall the emotion evoked by the choice of music is “hauntingly” beautiful as the electronic textures and not persistent beat is used to create or enhance a mood in what is up to the viewer to feel. The fast passed beat has also helped tie the images quickly in a 30 second timeslot. Hope you enjoy!

Music:

Baths (2011)

‘♥’

Creative Commons licence: Attribution Non commercial ShareAlike (3.0) licence

http://soundcloud.com/k-266/baths

Murray, S 2008, 'Digital Images, Photo-Sharing, and Out Shifting Notions of Everyday Aesthetics', Journal of Visual Culture, August, vol. 7(2), pp. 147-163.

MAS110 Photo Essay: 'Doors' by Alice

The introduction of new media forms, particularly digital photography, have given the average consumer a new sense of immediacy within photography; with participants now possessing the ability to incorporate photo-taking into their everyday lives rather than just at certain events. Both a cultural and technological compound of contemporary life, the ever-growing focus on urbanisation, realism and the mundane aspects of living, is a key trend in photography - one in which my Photo Essay ‘Doors’ reflects. 

Creating a barrier between the outside world and the individual home, doors provide a sense of protection to home-owners which is often overlooked. Their function vastly unacknowledged, doors in spite of their potential as abstract artworks, remain continuously open and shut without notice. A forgotten yet integral part of our daily lives, doors are merely considered an ordinary tool for owners. Coinciding with this notion, the images in my photo essay are placed in a certain pattern to reflect this relationship with the owner - with the best doors beginning  my piece and the worst concluding it. Documenting this deterioration of the everyday object proved key in reflecting how much doors are disregarded as simply part of the everyday. 

 Through my collection of images and the use of key iPhoto and iMovie effects, my piece aims to portray doors as integral to the everyday aesthetic. The use of music with a historic impression represents the timelessness of doors, serving a key purpose within society for hundreds of years. 

Attribution of Creative Commons Music: 

Red Hook Ramblers (2011)

'Apple Pie' 

CC BY -NC -ND 3.0

<div xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" about="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Red_Hook_Ramblers/Live__WFMU_on_Antique_Phonograph_Music_Program_with_MAC_Feb_8_2011/Red_Hook_Ramblers_-_08_-_Apple_Pie"><span property="dct:title">Apple Pie</span> (<a rel="cc:attributionURL" property="cc:attributionName" href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Red_Hook_Ramblers/">Red Hook Ramblers</a>) / <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">CC BY-NC-ND 3.0</a></div>

Youtube link for bigger screen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu73ZE3rbNk&feature=g-upl 

photo essay by Laura zhang 43014941

Something will small and may ignorant is the part of “everyday aesthetics”. The theme of my photo essay is a about street which is people touched in everyday but not pay attention to it. The video demonstrate the different views form streets, by the way I use letter to help audiences to understand what I want to say in the photo. Although, street is a universal views in people’s life, yet, there are many histories happened in there. Each of streets has their own culture and unique name. Actually, sometimes which is brought unforgettable memories is not only about street, but also about someone where living in the street. The photo essay focus on demonstrating “everyday aesthetics”, I try to make some links in my photos so that audiences can understand my idea. The idea of my video is about street, it like a person to describe themselves history. 24 images reflect the daily life of people in the streets that is the most nature and universal ways to tell audience what is the beauty in the society. I capture images from city and quite street near my house. Even more I collect many street pictures in different perspective, such as rainy, snow, sunny and cloudy. The purpose of this which is demonstrate street in comprehensive.

Music name: make you feel my love

By: Jon Peter Lewis

Student No: 43014941

Assignment 2: "Bad Parks" by Eleanor Sanderson (42879302)

Bad Parks

by Eleanor Sanderson (42879302)

The theme for this photo essay is ‘Bad Parks’ – something we see every day and quietly chuckle over but never give any greater consideration to. I have defined a bad park as being a car parked in an illegal location, at an odd angle, off the curb or not within the prescribed space. I was drawn to this theme because I only recently have finally gotten around to getting my P Plates. I now have discovered that weird joy you get when you actually make a good park and the smugness that comes with observing others’ bad ones. It is a simple pleasure that you happen upon by accident. There is no need to seek it out, it is simply found in the everyday, an underappreciated and everyday bringer of joy. In my use of the Ken Done effect I have tried to emphasise the exact point that makes the park seem bad in the same way that my eyes would see it, whether drawn first to the mistake or bigger picture. Image transitions are at times snappy and image viewing is not long but isn’t this how we view the subject in real life? A quick peripheral glance, a smile and then continuing on with our day, satisfied with the knowledge that at least we can park better than that person (the irony being that my own parking effort does at one point feature in this video, and it was not a set-up).

I decided to play on the everydayness of the theme by picking music and editing the photos in such a way that would create an ethereal, nostalgic effect. This effect juxtaposes with the subject which is mechanical, a product of the modern age and hardly a catalyst for reflexivity. Thus, I have edited the photos using vintage and vignette effects and played with the light to create a golden light. I enhanced the sharpness of the image to make the subjects appear distinct within their setting at the same time. The music chosen is ambient.

Music Attribution: Beatlove, “Sensation” October 10, 2012 via Free Music Archive, Creative Commons Attribution – Non-commercial – No Derivatives.

Rebecca LeBas (42872782) And Nicolas Mulder (42895421)

 

Rationale:

For the photo essay, our theme regarded “Houses” and the sub theme of roof-tops. My partner and I were inspired by the everyday architecture that houses and roof tops provide in shaping our society. Houses and roof-tops also provide a gateway into the public life from the private sphere. Individuals sub-consciously leave their private life to commence daily life duties in the public realm. In fitting with the notion of ‘everyday aesthetic’, we believed our theme of houses and sub theme of roof-tops were perfect because everyone sees it in their day to day life; and doesn’t stop to question it.

As Susan Murray stated in her writings regarding shifting notions of everyday aesthetics, “Photography is no longer just the embalmer of time…but rather a more alive, immediate, and often transitory practice/form.” (2008, p.1) My partner and I considered both the functionality of roofs and aesthetic appeal and how it largely goes forgotten. We wanted to capture the architectural elements of various styled houses in Suburban Sydney. Using a DSLR, we were able to capture the everyday aesthetic of houses and roof-tops.

Our photography like Flickr is inspired by the everyday motive; an  “…immediate, rather fleeting, display and collection of one’s discovery…” (Murray, 2008, p.1) As amateur photographers, my partner and I found inspiration in the spontaneity of driving around suburbia; sourcing photos of various period style house and roof tops in areas of Beecroft, Carlingford and Cheltenham.   

References:

Murray, S (2008) Digital Images, Photo-Sharing, and Our Shifting Notions of Everyday Aesthetics. Journal of Visual Culture August 2008 vol. 7(2). 147-163.

MAS110 Photo Assignment-Ellen Stacey 42912083

Rationale
Hidden Street Art is the often over-looked art that can be found in the streets, on walls, on doorways and benches throughout the world. Earlier this year I traveled to Melbourne, and saw examples of such street art around the city. The street art varied in its depth and complexity, but some was obviously done by talented artists wishing to showcase their talent to the general public. When I came across art in different locations, I realised that such great beauty was posted over walls in laneways and quiet streets and that it was highly probable that many people would not even know it was there. Unless people lived nearby or had reason to walk past it on a regular basis, it could go unnoticed. Passers-by could also overlook the depth of artistic talent, seeing it as little more than graffiti, or as an eyesore in an otherwise ‘tidy’ environment. The effort and talent that has gone into some of these works goes unappreciated so often, so I wanted to showcase this in my video. Many people don’t ever get a chance to see some of the amazing work on offer, free to view.

Ellen Stacey 42912083

Lights By Sonia And Tiegan

LIGHTS BY SONIA AND TIEGAN 

Small and mundane aesthetics surround us every day, usually with little regard or appreciation. Despite each object being a creation; a representation of beauty and purpose, it often goes unnoticed due to the fast paced society we live in. Light, which governs our use of space and time and the way we live our lives cannot always be natural. Artificial light, in the form of electricity is a human construct and has broadened our opportunity see, in otherwise darkness. Light surrounds our daily actions but is often taken for granted. Through our collection of images, we have aimed to express different sources of light, from natural to artificial fixtures. We portray not only how the mundane can be transformed to be something beautiful but how these different sources and fixtures are art forms that expose and store light which we would have a lot of trouble living without.

Sonia Kovacevic - 42884306

Tiegan Scully - 42774012

MAS110 Photo Essay Rationale, Isabel Pamatmat 42852080 and Matija Simic 41482034

Intricate Details

The predominant theme of our video 'Intricate Details' is the everyday aesthetics of doorknobs. Our sub-theme is the concept of 'wear and tear' and the intricate aspects that are associated with this object, which gradually deteriorate over time. The focus of this video is to draw attention to the mundane objects that are overlooked in everyday life (Murray 2008). The 'wear and tear' aspect of the doorknobs is emphasised in the video by the lines, cracks, paint, grime and rust of this object. These aesthetics symbolise the inherent characteristics of a household ageing throughout time, aesthetics which are largely overlooked in our everyday lives. 

References:

Murray, S. 2008. 'Digital Images, Photo-Sharing, and Out Shifting Notions of Everyday Aesthetics'. In Journal of Visual Culture, August 2008, vol. 7(2), pp. 147-163. 

By Isabel Pamatmat 42852080 and Matija Simic 41482034 

Joel Evans (42868416) And Olivia Dent (42471346)

Rationale: 

The concept of the 'everyday aesthetic' is centered on mundane items that are used or encountered everyday, but largely go unnoticed (Murray, 2008, 155). For our photo essay we focused on "more of a fascination with the process of compilation and comparison"(Murray, 2008, 155) rather than "narrative coherence" (Murray, 2008, 155). 

The theme of our photo essay is technology; the sub theme that we are focusing on is electronics, as we thought it would be exciting and interesting to experiment with. We believe it fits Murray's concepts of amateur photography and 'everyday aesthetics', as electronics are a major aspect of everyday life and largely go overlooked. Few notice electronic devices until they either malfunction or a new and improved model has been made available. By placing images with similar subjects side by side we maintained the 'everyday aesthetic' theme throughout the photo essay. 

From buttons on keyboards, cables and wires to USB's we thought it would be interesting to experiment with different angles, lighting and other techniques to create our photo essay centered on electronics. As mentioned above we adhered to the notion of 'everyday aesthetic'. An example of this in our photo essay is image nineteen, which has a focus on the cords. These are highlighted by natural lighting and draws the eye of the viewer to the cords, which would normally go overlooked. 

References: 

Murray, S (2008) Digital Images, Photo-Sharing, and Our Shifting Notions of Everyday Aesthetics. Journal of Visual Culture August 2008 vol. 7(2). 147-163.

By Joel Evans: 42868416 and Olivia Dent: 42471346