aSSessMENt 2 raTIOnaLE stATemenT
My work explores the binaries between Eastern and Western cultures in reflection of my personal affiliation with both. Through combining several contrasting techniques in video editing and sound production, I have aimed to merge different styles in order to create a sense of chaos and unity at the same time. Inspired by Daniel Crooks and Ah Xian, this work fuses the styles of both artists.
In the process of creating this work, I experimented with different techniques and ideas before coming up with an idea for the final idea. Working with the concept of constructed binaries in contemporary art, I was interested in the idea of having two traditionally opposing identities and fusing them to create an unusual outcome that works in a unified way. Using the idea of contracted binaries in gender identities, my first experiment was using stereotypical ‘male’ clothing to create a project historically and socially associated with the ‘female’ apron. The outcome created an interesting paradox between the two conflicting notions.
For my next experiment, I decided to explore binaries in identity but in a different way – in terms of culture and geography. In doing so, I looked through old photos of past travels to different countries and became interested in the idea that despite each place being geographically separated, many of the photos had very similar features and sceneries. As such, despite some photos being from Western places like Europe and Sydney, and others from Eastern countries like Japan, Korea and Vietnam, my photos of their buildings and nature had very similar aesthetics. Using a photo editing program, I decided to merge the photos with similar features to create one single photo that still looked like a complete picture. I did this for several photos to create a series of interesting images that any viewer wouldn’t be able to tell that they were located in opposite sides of the world.
Following on, inspired by Daniel Crook’s video production ‘Vanishing Point’, I went on to experiment with video editing to further my idea of merging cultural identities. I was intrigued by the sense of movement created by merging different videos and how they overlapped to create a piece that had no definite image. Through the manipulation of different editing tools on Premiere Pro and MovieMaker, I merged four separate videos of the photos I took, each with an opacity of 40% and zooming in on each image. In doing so, I aimed to create a binary between what was definite and what was not, representing the fusion of both cultures.
My next experiment was with sound production and how audio can be used to fuse the binaries between Eastern and Western traditions. Inspired by the philosophies of contemporary artist ‘Ah Xian’, I wanted to create a composition that explored the cross cultural space between both identities. Using the program Garage Band, I played around with the different available instruments and found it interesting how certain sounds were associated with certain cultures. For this experiment, I tried to appropriate one of my favourite ‘Western’ songs, ‘Thinking about You’ by Frank Ocean. However instead of using typical pop sounds of the song, I used instruments that were traditionally used in Chinese music, such as the Pipa, Chinese Drums, strings and erhu. This in turn created an interesting balance between the two genres.
Furthering on from this, I then merged the audio I made with the previous video to create my final work, called ‘Frank O-Xian’. The final work, through its recurring motifs from both Western and Eastern cultures, is aimed to create a harmonious piece which breaks down the binaries between the two cultures. Despite the content of the work being from such different places with different values, ethnicities, religions, history and physical appearances, I wanted to explore the similarities that linked them together.
