After being briefed on the general concept of ‘Öte & Beri’, we formed our group and began to discuss several ideas amongst each other. Eventually upon further consideration we decided as a group that Berk’s idea was perfect to describe the concept of ‘Öte & Beri’, and we also believed that it would be very interesting to see as an installation in an art gallery.
After Berk proposed the idea, we began to think deeper into how his idea connected with the concept we had been given, and what his installation idea meant. After further research we eventually came up with the name, ‘Monitus’, in reference to the latin core of the word ‘monitor’ in english, considering that monitors are where we get the majority of our information nowadays.
The art project we are currently working on is called ‘Monitus’. ‘Monitus’ will be an art installation made up of both a wax head sculpture and a monitor, wherein which the audio-visual content we have created will be playing on a loop. This video content will be experimental and will consist of different visual images overlapped by different audio clips that describe the visuals in different ways. The main idea of our art installation is that audience members go up to the wax head sculpture and put in the ear piece. They will be listening to the audio of the video playing on the monitor, however the catch is that they will not be able to see the monitor due to the wax sculpture in front of them. Forced to trust what they hear, we only expect them to stay and listen for a short while, mostly due to the uncomfortable closeness of the head sculpture that will be merely a few centimetres away from their faces. We expect the people to move away from the head and attempt to look behind it in order to see the monitor. This is where we hope that they will realise that what they’d heard via the ear piece was not accurate to what’s on the screen.
What we aim to convey in this installation is that there is always a something standing in between the audience and the information. We wanted to showcase how easily information can be distorted and manipulated. The wax head sculpture is the figurative ‘something’ standing between the data and the audience, changing the meaning of the information on the screen. We also thought that the physical aspect of how the screen is close to the person yet still out of sight can be a way of representing the concept of ‘Öte & Beri’. How distance can affect transmitted meanings and messages.
Whilst working on and researching for this art installation we also came across the BAFTA award winning art series programme named ‘Ways of Seeing’ presented by John Berger in 1972. In the first episode, Berger shows a painting by Van Gogh. He later on adds that this was Van Gogh’s last picture that he’d painted before committing suicide which adds a whole new meaning and depth to the image. This then inspired us to use our video in the installation as a way of showing how the way information is perceived can be altered via presentation and those who present the information. In the case of our art installation, this ‘presenter’ can be considered the wax head sculpture.
In terms of the material elements of the installation, the video will be shot indoors in a studio and will feature basic pop art images, dancers with colourful costumes, etc. The audio of the video will be recorded later and will be almost like a narration over the visuals used.
After listening to Berk’s initial idea for this art installation in one of our group meetings, we immediately all agreed on his idea and started to think of more ways to improve the idea and make it better. Berk drew a sketch of his idea, of which we used in our project presentation.
After fully understanding the idea and the thoughts behind it and listening to the feedback after the presentation we did in class, we began to discuss certain elements like the logistics of the ear piece, the face of the wax head figure, the content of the video to be played on the monitor, the height of the stand of which the head figure and monitor would be placed on, and how we could add a ‘breathing’ mechanic to the figure in order to make the experience more uncomfortable to the viewer - almost as if the head figure was an actual human.