Day 17

Workshop: Visualizing Impression
Date: 28 December 2008
Time: 10-11am
Participants: Chin Yi Ton, Hee Li Jie, Lai Shu Wei, Lai Wei Shen, Lim Jun Hong, Saw Khe Xin, Wong Kah Lok, Wong Kai Wei

Details: Observation and analytic skill are important in the process of learning, the ability to see probabilities and possibilities assists in problem solving. This workshop provides exercises that we believe do such so, the participants will be trained to expand their imagination, to foresee and to be analytic. Construction of images based on 'impression' obtained through observation and memory, to this we named Visualizing Impression.

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'Draw what you have seen during the journey from your house to here.' This was the first sentence, and the participants started to trace back their memories.

I expected trees, cars, roads etc. Those were definite, I just hoped I got some cars or trees specifically drawn, can be in simple graphic form but has a characteristic that would also represent the real object observed during the journey, but I got none of those. I got the 'generally accepted'/universal graphic renderings of cars, of trees, of roads, of traffic lights and so on. No detail at all.

I moved on showing pixelated and blurred pictures as below:

Guess it.

George Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884), a classic example of pointillism.

So what's this?

Pixel rendition of Evening in Venice by Monet.

...I then asked them to imagine what's the original image without the filters. The response from this exercise sounded better than the former.

The next exercise consumed the most time, as they needed to watch short films/videos where I would interfere (pause) and the participants would have to imagine the next frame, sort of like a comic game, thinking about the following occurrences.

The list of short films/videos shown (click url to watch):

1) Is A Woman (music video)

music by Lambchop, directed by Shynola

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jfaqxcuebs
Pause while the leaves were traveling in group - Question asked: Where do you think the leaves are heading to? Draw it out. Meanwhile consider the previously observed environments, weather and season.

2) Superflat Monogram (commercial)
from Louis Vuitton, directed by Takashi Murakami
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C84FLwm3DA

Pause while the girl is entering another world - Question asked: Imagine and draw the world she and her handphone enter.

3) Bad Eggs (animation)

by Zax Inc.

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG4coPHkTmQ

Pause before the last egg hatches - Question asked: Draw what's inside the egg. Consider the context and think about reasons on why the last 'bad egg' doesn't hatch earlier with the other two.

4) Grrr (commercial)

from Honda, directed by Adam Foulkes & Alan Smith

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puGvk1RgmrE

Watch the entire video without pausing - Questions asked:
- How many chickens did you see?

- How many candles did you see on top of the cup made 'cake'?

- Describe the 10 ways as shown in the video, on how the engine being crushed and destroyed, if possible say it in sequence.

- Draw 3 flowers seen in the video.

Also in the dvd I have Tim Burton's first short and Björk's Wanderlust, but time didn't allow me to show them. I thought the videos are interesting still, show if any of you would like to watch them, just click!

I continued the videos after they drew what's in their mind. Though I skipped this for 'Bad Eggs' which made them a little upset and kept begging me to tell the actual 'thing' inside the egg, this was funny. I told them what's in the egg was what they drew and for those who weren't satisfied with such ludicrous answer, I asked them to dream about it at night.

Still they went back with a lot of noise calling me the bad guy. :D
Well, if any of the participants read this, click the url and watch it here then. Good luck.

*Projek Semai has no affiliation with any of the above directors/image makers/singers who created/produced the short films/videos. The film works were picked simply because we believed it has the value of creating suspense and triggers the children's imagination, where it would be of good use in this workshop.