Representation:
In this lecture, we began to look at how Kant thought in comparison to Leibniz.
Representation is an example of Kantian thought. He thought in a structured but also provocative way.
Leibniz, however, thought in different degrees of intensity.
Kant believed in a universal structure yet Leibniz thought there was an individual structure.
Kant was almost the father of modernist thinking, yet Leibniz thought in post-modern idea, especially, individualism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanuel_Kant

http://www.brentmblackwell.com/obsessions/men/Leibniz.html

We then looked at two major collages: the Bauhaus, which I have been introduced to in previous lectures, and the Black Mountain Collage.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaus

http://archives.ncdcr.gov/Public/Digital-Collections-and-Publications/Resources-By-Subject/Black-Mountain-College

Bauhaus is purely focused on design and the BMC (Black Mountain Collage) is art based. Bauhaus was a modernist institution and was linked to modernism. Design, which was taught at Bauhaus, was put on the same prestige as artists. The ethos of the Bauhaus was all about function and universal principals of design, which was very much a Kantian way of thinking.
The BMC studied the history of art and had more of a progressive education. This means that it was loose and offered a lot of support. However, unlike the Bauhaus, it did lack structure. It was incredibly liberal and had open working spaces and taught humanities subjects. This structure and ethos drew a lot of students towards it. Artists such as: Rochber, Rockborne, Twombly and Vanderbeen come out of BMC and all the styles are very different from geometric, which comes out of the Bauhaus.
Bauhaus is all about conformity and follows a particular agenda. Although, both are modern collages, Bauhaus is firmly in modernity whereas BMC is leaning more towards post-modernity and has one foot in each.

Josef Albers is significant to both institutions. He was a professor in Bauhaus and then went to BMC as he preferred the ethos and principal of BMC. He did, however, link both institutions together.

Although they seem almost opposites, modernism and post-modernism are not. Johannes Itten said 'the basic cause at the Bauhaus' (the curriculum of Bauhaus) . Preoccupied with nature of physical world and its relationship with colour. However, putting new things together to create new experiences is were a new word could be discovered. This is where they cross over.

Josef Alber was a student of Johannes Itten and was majorly influenced by Itten. Alber and Lazlo Maholy rewrote the curriculum but still have Itten's basic model.
Alber was majorly interested in what colours look like together and liked material processes. He wanted to teach people that colours were relative and believes that variations of colour can be charted. Eg. A red square on a blue background looks different to a red square on a yellow background. Alber believed this was universal, like Kantian thought.

This lecture was incredibly interesting as it explored examples of the difference between modernity and post-modernity. It also widened my understanding of artists and art institutions which were heavily influential on artistic periods.

After Effects: 3D Animation

In this tutorial, we were taught all about more ways to use After Effects, especially looking at the 3D aspects of After Effects. We were given an example of what the outcome may look like when doing this task:


  BBC Today Programme - Stephen Hawking from Jasiurb on Vimeo.

With the use of cameras on After Effects, you can make it seem as if you are flying past the graphics. Although this is animated, most of the actual graphics are static and none of the images or text actually move yet the camera moves past them. This meant, we started with a still image that we were then going to animate.

I decided to use lyrics from a favourite song of mine, Only Ones Who Know by the Arctic Monkeys. I made it look simple and reflect the tone and mood of the song. Overall, the still image looks effective although, the next step, After Effects, was where it began to get difficult. 

In the image, every word and image was on a separate layer so that I could position each word and object differently for the animation to work. When I had inserted all my layers into After Effects, I then had to click the 3D box. I firstly made the moon on the string twist and spin although this wasn't that successful as you couldn't see it properly when I added the camera. However, it looked effective on its own. 

That meant each layer had a 3D cube in the final box. Then, this appeared on the composition:

This meant that I could now animate my objects and text to make them look 3D and begin animating these aspects. I could now drag text and objects closer or further away from the front and that means, when I add the camera, I can look through these different aspects of the composition. I then had to add the camera and make it so the camera could pass all the letters. The camera was a separate layer with its own functions and settings:

Camera Settings

Camera Functions

I had to set the camera so it looked through all the words in order, beginning with 'only' and ending with 'know'. This was the most difficult part and I found it really hard to execute well but I learnt how to move and use the camera and the 3D effects. This was my final product:

 https://youtu.be/LPEe_rib3G4

I am not entirely happy with the over all product. I think the main fault is the positioning of the text as it doesn't go from one word to another smoothly and clearly. I also think there would have been a better way to include the spinning moon on a string. Overall, the tutorial was helpful as always and introduced me to many new aspects of After Effects. Although the workshop was a challenge, I enjoyed it and hope to improve my skills on After Effects.