Sieve Perceive 2016 / Collaborative Unit

Working as a group has its own charm, starting off with random disorganized thoughts to a streamlined execution of them, everything is a part of the process. The process in itself is so exhaustive that it encompasses every tiny bit of detail which one might overlook whilst working as an individual. Collaboration is helpful in collating individuals with a varied thought process, sensibilities and putting them all together towards a common denomination. We started with a group of 6 delving upon ideas ranging across various disciplines. A collective group serves as a perfect catalyst for meaningful outcomes to a proposed question. We can learn a lot from each other who come from diverse backgrounds and have distinct personalities with different complexities (Dynamic, Generative, Social and professional) Collaboration diminishes the complexities of the task in hand. It gives way to new ideas, which as an individual would be hard to come up with. It’s the right balance of doing something to harmonize the elements and make them work in tandem with each other. As Edwin Kaats says in Creating Conditions for Promising Collaboration: Alliances, Networks, Chains, Strategic Partnerships “To be successful, social animals must be hawks and doves. As a result, the new theories tend to emphasize reconciliation, compromise and the need for good relationships. In other words, making amends is not about being nice, but about maintaining cooperation. So, we need collaboration and the ability to connect to survive.” ­­ The collaborative project started with six of us exploring how illustration can be taken forward and brought into something which is much more than marks on a sheet of paper, how do we take it forward and make it more sensorial and let people connect to it in a more exhaustive way.  We started exploring different media and tried to find a connection with the human perception. We also realized how blatantly people disregard their surroundings nowadays with the advent of technology at their fingertips. It started with ‘Enter the Cube’ which then developed into ‘Sieve perceive’ which was the final name of our project. The project talks about how we as human beings perceive the world around us. How do our senses make sense of the surroundings with which we interact daily, knowingly and unknowingly? The sound, sight, smell around us and how do they make us creates a sense of existence. The shapes, colors and several other stimuli which sensitize our senses. The consciousness of the reality, and its implications. Speaking with practitioners from different fields also helped us broaden our perspective about the idea which we had initially. Ben Stopher, Paul Jackson and Nicolas Marechal provided us with interesting insights about the project ranging from technological aspects to derivate methods of research and speculation. Technical expertise was one of the major aspects of the final show which was quite helpful for us as we were not quite informed about that particular field. These insights drove our process of collection of data in a much more streamlined way. The project started with us trying to build a makeshift artifact which was capable of shooting video from the viewpoint of a person, using an iphone camera and some wooden structure. The point was to capture what was there around us. But the method didn’t work because we were missing quite a lot of details in between. Hence, we decided to ‘go pro’. The ambient sound was also recorded using a portable sound recorder, which was later incorporated into the movie to give an immersive experience to the viewer. One entire day of shooting starting from Oxford Circus covering Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, Piccadilly Circus and Reagents Street, we managed to get the footage for our film. There were instances where we had to overcome difficulties while filming the footage ranging from camera getting stopped and a lot of ambient sounds affecting the sound recorder. But the beauty of working collaboratively is that you find answers in unexpected ways, overcoming these challenges were then just a meager improvisation which was achieved fully to get back on to the track again.   It was time for us to collate everything and put them together. The tangible screen that was developed as an output was reflecting on the fact that how the world casts its reflection on us, which is the basis of our understanding of the subject. When we look at an entity as humans we tend to reach out for it, explore it. Or when we look through space there is an imaginary desire line which forms the connection between the object we are looking at and the surroundings. We touch them, feel the texture. Its an inanimate gesture which defines the active participation of the audience. we started building the curved screen for the projection, the print collaterals,   e-mailers, posters, postcards and sketchbooks alongside sourcing projectors and speakers. We wanted to try Madmapper for the projection which we eventually managed. Each one of us worked on a different set of theme for their sketchbooks. The projection which was an integral part of the exhibition was directed towards perception, the visuals depicted were to accentuate rapid saccades* to the viewer. How they see, what we saw while filming and what is it they acquire while going through the immersive experience of transporting themselves in the middle of the street. How we recognize things that we have seen before and things we haven’t. how do we recognize objects? as a whole or as constituents of its part? For my sketchbook, I went ahead with my idea of mapping, where I intended to map the movement of people and how the shapes and color has an impact on people. How each one of us is different towards the visual stimuli around us and what they perceive from it. I started mapping movements of people around places like Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus, extracting patterns out of their movement and mixed them with the shapes around that area. I was also intrigued by a thought proposed by philosopher Parmenides, who argued that there was no change or movement in the world, although everybody saw the opposite. This meant that sensory experience is just a deceptive illusion. Arnheim. R. Visual Thinking(1969, pg.5) The final task was to create something cohesive as a visual language for the exhibition. Varied themes from 6 different sketchbooks were analyzed and a common ground has to be found in order to make them look visually similar. We tried different variations and processes, this, in particular, was the most difficult part of putting something into one. It was a task that was enjoyed a lot. We realized that how important it is to let go off an idea and choose the best for the outcome. How not to be overly attached to one particular concept. This collaboration seemed to reap some good results in terms of the ideas and the execution. It turned out to be pretty satisfying and productive with each one of us giving their very best towards its completion. How each one of us tried to make the best use of the skill set and used it for the benefit of the project and learned a new set of skills from each other. I personally felt that it made me learn more about the perception of ideas and some research about ‘Tachistocopic training’* which talks about how we can train our brain and ourselves to diminish the affect of ‘tunnel vision’ which is very important as an illustrator and an image-maker. We derive inspiration from the world we are surrounded with so mastering or understanding these techniques would come in quite handy when it comes to visual research. It opened up new ways of collaborative work and introspection about what do we think about illustration and how do we approach it. A critical interpretation of the process that was followed and reflection upon it helped us form an opinion about the practice of illustration.