I have separated this portfolio into four sections including:
- Media Art
- Media Creation, Aggregation and Curation (Digital Artefacts/Research)
- Writing
- Marketing and PR Campaigns
Along with these physical works, my experience and employment can be found on my LinkedIn profile which can be accessed, here.
I wrote an Honours Thesis in Cancel Culture. This can be accessed here:
Media Art
Throughout the years, I have created several pieces and installations which have resonated with my overall artistic journey and live experiences. While studying, I utilised a variety of film, avant-garde and experimental techniques to broaden my skill set in a digital media field. Below are examples of these works.
Ubiquitous Rage – Physical Film Manipulation
Ubiquitous Rage attempts to explore violence, war and suffering through the use of juxtaposing worlds, times and story-lines exuding a surrealist aesthetic. With fast paced cuts, transitions and almost strobe editing techniques, the suggestion of the unpredictability of a fire and rage that is connotative to war is achieved. Burning violence is juxtaposed to the innocence of women and children which conveys the powerlessness of a family with the burning upredictability of war at their doorstep, being a fire to burn out of control.
The kaleidoscopic effect represented the travelling of time between worlds, all representing a pain and suffering. This film effect was also used again to further emphasise unpredictability and utilises discontinuity editing to achieve this.
Through this project, I attempted to utilise kinetic movement to form an ideal frame of abstraction throughout the film. The use of nail-polish marbling and leaves created a psychedelic, pulsating experience for the audience in an optical adventure that was able to stimulate the senses. The work of Stan Brakage further influenced me to create an indulging experience for all the senses. I believe my work encompasses the notion that it does not rely solely on the story itself, but the emotional attitude of the audience, how they perceive reality, materialism and movement. Through this project, I believe I have created an experience of Synaesthesia.
This project truly explores alternative cinema through the meshing of contemporary and alternative techniques and technologies. The use of 16mm film while editing digitally to convey the theme of rhythm further emphasises this point. The utilisation of both cameraless film techniques (such as scratching and marbling) emphasise the alternative thought and process that formed the basis of the film.
Geoslaves – Art Installation
‘Geoslaves’ (2018) is a subversion of the contemporary use of screen mediums to elicit a manifesting paranoia correlating to surveillance culture ideologies. Using multiple screens, inspired by Gary Hill’s In as Much as it is Always Already Taking Place (1990) and David Hall’s End Piece (2012), the audience is subjected to the reality of a pervasive and invasive experience, being the personification of societies paranoia towards ‘others.’
The deliberate manipulation of footage to create an aged VHS aesthetic (glitch art) or CCTV connotes to Nam June Paik’s V-yramid (1982). By manipulating RGB channels, wave warps and noise in editing footage, Geoslaves is able to emphasise the notion that technology controls humans, creating a culture manifesting paranoia, discontent and a glitch in our societal system of surveillance.
Geoslaves correlates to the study of Jerome Dobson (2003) Geoslavery, stating that we are becoming more comfortable with being slaves to our geographical location and surveillance culture. Following a non-linear storyline through the application of eleven screens allows for audiences to interact with each story here uniquely with user experience being different each time. This experiences plays with the notions of reality, whereby a fractured space of discontinuity forms a continuous narrative. Sit back and enjoy people watching.
The Water Series
At The Water is a conceptualisation of my innermost thoughts and feelings through the constraints of the Lumiere Brothers remoscope criterion. This piece utilises a linear sequence to convey past emotions, displaying feelings which I have expressed and kept hidden in my life. Adhering to the criteria, of creating an abstraction of where I have come from, At The Water conveys feelings of the past and how I have changed. Notions of anxiety, loneliness, darkness and isolation were the chains which held me, I felt like there was no where out. However, wherever there is darkness, there must be light.
Through the constrains of the remoscope basis, understanding that by imposing limits you are able to transgress boarders was extremely useful. The fiddling and experimentation which came from this paradigm of film production has enlighten my understanding of what makes a film truly beautiful.
Sounds correlate to the empathetic world of human senses with these individuals resonating to sounds they find intriguing.I resonate with the sound of water as it sooths and calms me.
The beginning of this piece conveys a rushed and confused individual being called upon by someone. The sounds which were created in this introduction to my piece resonate to the work of Foley artists Sara Monat and Robin Harlin in which they refer to this sound creation technique as a mosaic. This refers to the ‘larger’ sounds being supported by the ‘smaller’ sounds without an audience noticing.
Idiosyncratic noises which resonate with water have been employed in this piece due to my very close connection with water, it being where I spent most of my childhood with my family. Water has an ebbing and flowing melody which inspired the acoustics of guitar in the background. I was inspired by Air who composed ‘Alone in Kyoto’. I attempted to add a soothing atmosphere to my piece through their instrumental and sound techniques.
Other artists and composers of whom I gained inspiration and guidance from include Hayao Miyazaki (Ponyo- water sounds), Alicia Stevenson (foley artist) and Steve Mann (experimental foley artist using a hydraulophone).
The conceptualisation of my original ‘Where I’m From’ poem resonates through all of my past assessments. However the progression has been formulated in reverse. This metaphorical way of producing my own narrative through a reverse sequence of works is how I wanted to conceptualise and resonate my ‘Where I’m From’ story. This work is where I was from years ago. My sound project more so recent and the remoscope project, quite recently. Producing my content in this way resonates with continuity in reverse is resonate of Michel Gondry‘s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind of which inspired me to film my works in this way.
From the Water is an accumulation of my own thoughts, feelings and ideas represented metaphorically through the colours, angles, shots and characters which I have chosen to include. The necessity of water in this film conveys the flowing relationships which life gives you and the shifting sands under the waves which push and pull you away from friendships. This relates heavily to the tones of my poem being loss, mental health, anxiety and home. Idiosyncratic noises which resonate with water have been employed in this piece which relates heavily to the subject matter.
Media Creation, Aggregation and Curation (Digital Artefacts/Research)
Ethical Implications of Human Tracking Technologies
This research encapsulated a few key concepts including the ethics of tracking humans, geoslavery and surveillance culture which is a prevalent issue in our quickly evolving, technologically dependent society.
In the context of this investigation, I cumulatively utilised primary experimental research (a discussion video with my family) and secondary research to fully engross myself in the content and topic i would be mediating. In this way, the mediation of my work would take the route of conveying four YouTube videos and a YouTube Channel to assist in creating a forum or community space for further discussion on tracking.
Five Second Summaries
This project began with my peer, Brooke, and I back in 2016. It has since been terminated as our main content aggregation site, Vine, shutdown operations in early 2017. Being our first project together in making content, it was an experimental time where we were gauging how to engage and entertain a potential audience. It was a great way to jump headfirst into a new social media platform and gain experience in a niche field.
Vines can still be found through this link, here.
Along with our Vine channel, we had accompanying social media such as our Twitter, Facebook and YouTube with varying degrees of success. This project won the best ‘Digital Artefact Category’ at UOW BCM’s Bloggies in 2016. I was also nominated for ‘Best Blog Design’ and ‘Best Tweeter.’
Instant Anime
Following one of the niche interests which I have, I decided to make a YouTube Channel related to anime. Within this channel, I experimented, ideated, aggregated and curated my content for a specific audience (being avid anime watchers).
Auto-ethnographic Study of Shintoism in Anime
Your Name is an anime film released in 2016, I explored spirituality in this anime with a focus on Shintoist ideaologies, values and faith in an attempt to cultivate my understanding and knowledge in relation to Japanese culture. I did this by employing my own cultural framework and assumptions in correlation with an auto-ethnographic research approach.
Taking both a qualitative and quantitative approach, I interviewed my own personal biases and framework within my analysis and research to develop a greater understanding and respect for Japanese culture. I also chose to use YouTube as my medium due to narratives also being a valuable source of data for research, and immersing one’s self in a culture is the most powerful form of self-reflexivity and reflection .
This last iteration of my auto-ethnographic research exemplified how anime transcends the notion of physical borders and can create an engaging experience for a plethora of cultures. It also explores the notion of anime as an effective form of communication in regards to Japanese spirituality as Your Name refers to and uses Shintoism as a major plot point.
Wanting to focus on this aspect of spirituality in the film, I aimed to address three main points. The notion of my own relationship with spirituality and how it framed my perception of the film, how Your Name conveyed notions of spirituality throughout the film and the effectiveness of Your Name’s allusion to spirituality.
Sinami
Sinami is a project I started when I had spare time for editing. This involves streaming games like League of Legends on Twitch and editing videos on my YouTube channel.
Writing
- Chattr – Since 2017, I have been a part of the Chattr editorial team as a Feature Writer, writing a plethora of Reviews, Bachelor Recaps and Op-ed’s.
- ‘ Vulnerability in the Future of Work and Men’ – I find Australian society’s infatuation with stereotypical male masculinity and the tendency to neglect the importance of vulnerability in men. This piece unravels the reasons for the negative stigma of vulnerability in our society and underpins how the workplace can be the start of this cultural change.
- ‘The Antagonist Called Time’ – One of my favourite pieces that I have written. We have the tendency to refer to time as a tangible resource, where it has become a commodity and representative of our worth in some circumstances such as the time spent in a certain role or employment. This value of the time we spend on things that we value as individuals is extremely important.
Marketing and PR Campaigns
Paper Not Plastic
This campaign had an accompanying Facebook page which can be accessed, here.
St John Ambulance NSW x UOW
This campaign involved a cohort of 60 students in creating a tribute event to recognise the importance of CPR and first response. My role in this collaboration was utilising social media influencers, local clubs and university groups to share the key messages of the overall campaign with the hashtag #everyminutematters.
krisesandchrosses 