Exploring Science Fiction!

 

"Media...envokes in use their unique ratios of sense perception.

The extension of any one sense alters the way we think and act--- 

the way we perceive the world."

---Marshall McLuhan, p.148

I've always said I wanted to get more into sci-fi but never quite knew where to start.

The genres I love the most are fantasy and horror. This goes for all forms of media: books, tv shows, animes, cartoons, video games, and music. These forms intersect with sci-fi on occasion, but I haven't actively sought out sci-fi as an individual genre. One of the biggest franchises in sci-fi I have gotten involved in has been Star Wars which has a huge fan base. Outside that though, I've wanted to consume more sci-fi but have yet to branch out.

With that being said, my last project for my New Media in Art class is heavily inspired by Science Fiction. I wanted to experiment with blurry images and the smearing of light. I wanted the pictures to be super dark and exposed for long periods of time. I've worked with exposure time before back in my photography summer school class when I was 15. It was fun but I never played around with it as much as I would have liked. This was my chance to experiment and see what kinds of images I could get.

Portals pt.1 (2023), Nayla J. Brunnbauer

Portals pt.2 (2023), Nayla J. Brunnbauer

I achieved two things with these images: light smudging and double exposure. To get both of these looks, I would often change the exposure to be super low; in the negatives. I would then take the picture and turn the camera violently to the side. Sometimes I would tilt the camera up or down too. The point was for the camera to capture two different directions of the same general location of the subject. It was a fascinating discovery and made for some really cool images like Portals pt.1 and Portals pt.2. Another really cool camera movement I would do was draw triangles, circles, or squares with the camera. I would snap the picture (still with a low exposure) and then move the camera in the shape I wanted. This technique worked best when I had some isolated light sources in the image. This can be seen in the picture Testing Ray Gun.

Testing Ray Gun (2023), Nayla J. Brunnbauer

I wanted these images to have an unsettling feel to them, and I would say that was achieved. Both my subject, Nina Broberg, and I were able to achieve this sense of unease through these images. I would also say, the added tone of an alien invasion also makes the images really eerie. All in all, I'm super proud of this project. It's something I have made into a book and would love to get published in the near future too. I'll attach here a link to my Flickr if you'd like to check out the entire collection!

Here's the News: Something Happened!

 "At the high speeds of electric communication, purely visual means of apprehending the world are no longer possible."

--- Marshall McLuhan, p.63

How often do you pay attention to the feet around you? No, I don't mean it THAT way. I mean, have you really taken the time to admire the shoes a person wears?

My collection These are Shoes brings to light the wonder and uniqueness of a pair of worn shoes. Something I've noticed about myself is how many different kinds of shoes I have. Whether it's casual or fancy, my shoes mean something to me and set my outfit's mood depending on what I wear. I have new shoes, worn shoes, paint shoes, and dress shoes. I have marching band shoes from when I was in high school. I have sparkly prom shoes I wore to Junior prom (the only prom I got to have). I have vintage shoes that I wear way too often and continue to stretch the stitching.

These are Shoes: Casual EQ, 2023, Nayla J. Brunnbauer

I've sat with this project for over a month now. Here's what I've been doing--- photographing, photoshopping, printing, publishing, and displaying. I picked 20 of my favorite shots and created a Flickr account. From there, I created a book and got it published. While I waited for the book to arrive, I selected three different photos--- Causal EQ, Emmeth's Yellow in the Blue, and Athletic Trey pt.2 --- and had them printed out as 8x10. I plan to hopefully get framed at some point. Finally, the photograph The Dancer Jana pt.1 was printed out as an 11x14 and is currently on display in the Wriston Art Gallery at Lawrence Univeristy.

These are Shoes: The Dancer Jana pt.1, 2023, Nayla J. Brunnbauer

While none of these are crazy, amazing feats I've learned a lot over this project. I've regained my eye for photography, for one. I also got to spend a lot of fun time with friends and get a chance to admire how cool many of their shoes were. Finally, this project helped me realize what I wanted to dive deeper into for my final project for my New Media in Art class, which of course is photography. Expect more updates soon and please check out my Flickr to see my full collection of These are Shoes.

Learning About Spaces for Art Exhibitions!

 "Anybody can now become both author and publisher...Teamwork succeeds private effort."

--- Marshall McLuhan, p.123

Recently, I had the chance to attend a lecture given by Terri Warpinski and David Graham about their non-profit studio space newARTSpace.

Both artists find their creativity rooted in the structure of images and color. Terri's work is well known for its attention to detail. She's quoted as saying, "I'm the laborer of everything that goes on." Her chosen medium is photography. From collages inspired by Robert Rauschenberg and Betty Hahn to her own field journals (books that document and list off her simplest of moves while at work in the field) being turned into prints for consumers, her work is definitely unique in its own right. 

Field Studies: Crater Tecolote, Terri Warpinski

David's medium is also photography, but he works more with old-style cameras. He's less known for his attention to detail but for the spontaneous, wacky images he captures instead. His images draw you in and keep you rooted in place as you try to discern what meaning they hold. His images started out without color, but now he's moved into using color more in his images. His work comments on issues or topics worth discussing and make viewers question their own understanding of societal structure.

High Water, David Graham, West Quincy, MO, 1993

They explained how coming together and founding newARTSpace has really opened up a lot of opportunities for them and for the little community of De Pere, Wisconsin. All of the proceeds from buyers at their gallery go straight back to the artist from whom they are purchasing. Terri and David don't make any money from the purchase at all. They talked about how this really confuses other artists who run their own exhibitions because usually they take some percentage of the proceeds for themselves.

Terri Warpinski and David Graham out on a stroll, Terri walking her dog

I'm excited to hear more about what they accomplish over the next few years. Being able to give exhibition space for smaller artists to get their work out to customers without extra money loss is really impressive and something very different from would bigger exhibitions are doing.

Bassoon Reeds at 480% Speed!

 

"We say, "Music shall fill the air."

We never say, "Music shall fill a particular segment of the air.""

--- Marshall McLuhan, p.111

I should start by admitting this wasn't intentional...

When I was given this assignment, I did what I normally do: let the idea sit in my head for a few days and see what my mind comes up with. It didn't take me long to decide to I should make my music using my bassoon reed. It was a brilliant idea and one I knew not a lot of people would have heard before.

The bassoon is a double-reed instrument. Basically, this means two pieces of cane are wired together and form a little tip: which we double-reed players call a reed (of course). This reed is then attached to the end of the bassoon. From there, we fit our mouths around it and that's how the bassoon gets its buzz so it can be played.

Three bassoon reeds, iStock images

Now, about the audio masterpiece I created. It was originally too long and I wasn't sure if it was worth it to find a 1-minute section I liked or cut up the track so that I could make a sound collage of all my favorite audio clips from the raw footage. However, I was tired. I was finishing this at 11:30 p.m. after my tech rehearsal for the Gaines Theatre Series (I'm stage managing for it). So, I was tired and remembered that speed duration exists. With a few speed changes, settling on a sped-up version at 480%, my final audio clip is what I got.

It's so funny and definitely a fun new twist on a sound while also using something that is never usually played on its own. It was a fun project to do and I hope it gave you as many laughs as it gave me.

To view my audio clip, click on the Soundcloud link at the top of my blogger!

How, Why, What do you PRACTICE?

"When imformation is brushed against information...

the results are startaling and effective."

--- Marshal McLuhan, p.76, 78

“Undermine the harmony of the educational system.” These wise words by Carol Emmons have been sitting with me since her talk.

Art is a lot of things: self-expression, world discovery, understanding, politics, and so on. Art is not without purpose, however. It serves a purpose because it's creation was meant for something to happen. It could be a conversation or an interaction, or even to invite the audience to engage in self-reflection.

Miasma (2022), overall view, Carol Emmons

Emmons gave a talk at Lawrence University about practice, which is something I’ve struggled with for a long time. What is practice, really? When, and how, does someone…practice? The simple answer is by doing; but what happens if your mind undermines you and makes you think that all that practice amounted to nothing? These are valid questions and ones that have stopped me from pursuing things in the past.

And yet, the past is the past.

Emmons' art focuses on how humans navigate this world. Her art is interactive and thoughtful. She puts time into researching the topics her art consist of. She treats her art with care, and that care can change depending on what tone she is wishing to convey to the audience through a piece. She didn’t wake up one morning with these gifts, with these eyes for detail. She cultivated them through one word: practice.

This is where I return to Emmons' comment about undermining the “harmony of the educational system.” The educational system is, in a way broken, or at least outdated because it can keep up with a world ever-changing and growing at a high rate. We need to be able to define what practice looks like to us, separate from a learning environment. It only can do so much for a student before the artist has completely been removed or beheaded by the system masquerading as a way of ‘cultivating talent.’

Cosmogony 2.4: The Cosmic Egg (2019), cart with eggs, Carol Emmons

In Emmons’ practice, she discovered a staple of her art: making it interactive rather than keeping to the ‘see, don’t touch’ rule that many museums and art galleries still have on their collections today. This to her was important. She wouldn’t have discovered this simply sitting in a classroom, rather than physically getting involved with her work. She needed to practice her practice.

Thanks to Emmons, I need to find ways of breaking the expected rules of the educational system within my art forms to truly grasp my full potential as an artist.

I Got Instagram 7 Years Ago!

 

""Time" has ceased, "space" has vanished. 

We now live in a global village...a simultaneous happening."

    --- Marshal McLuhan, p.63

When I was 14 years old, I made my first social media account on Instagram.

Nowadays, with a Youtube, Tiktok, Vimeo, Facebook, Snapchat, and Pinterest account I never could imagine my life without social media. It's what I check every morning before getting out of bed, scroll through during lunch, and clear of all my notifications before I go to bed. This routine continues again the next morning, and the cycle never stops. 

It comes with so much responsibility, and privacy does not exist. As McLuhan puts it, our world is one of "total involvement...and in which nobody can really imagine what private guilt can be anymore" (61).

Youtube: A Universal, Linear, Backwards Walk by Nayla J. Brunnbauer

My short film, A Universal, Linear, Backwards Walk is my take on my own relationship with social media and the digital world. I notice how often I walk the line between a digital existence and a real-life experience. When I'm not lost in the imagination of my head (a conversation for another time), I'm constantly struggling to stay in reality because I'm fighting off the constant pull of the digital world. The film's main character feels this pull too, expressed through the overlay of the Facebook screen with herself. The beginning of the film also emphasizes this pull as it clips between a colored stage and the Facebook screen. Eventually, the main character's friends begin appearing and ultimately succeed in pulling her from the digital world and back into the colorful world of reality.

There is so much I wish to discuss, but not here and now. What I'd like to end on is this: life is short. (Yes, we all know this.) However, I focus on the truth of the matter, which is I'd rather have physical, tangible connections than that of the digital space. I've decided to not get rid of the digital world, but instead live linearly with it while keeping my attention on those around me, who keep me going and grounded in the real world.

Welcome to My Experience!

 

"Whence did the wond'rous mystic art arise, of painting SPEECH, and speaking to the eye? 
That we by tracing magic lines are taught, how to embody, and color THOUGHT?"

    --- Marshal McLuhan, p.48    

I experience my world in four dimensions and through multi-sensory glasses. 

Starting something, especially starting something about myself, is always a challenge for me. I inevitably feel like I need to sound profound, but then, after I've written my profound thought, I find it cheesy or un-understandable and ultimately give up on it altogether; putting myself right back where I started. I think too much. I overthink much more than I think. It's a cycle, a dangerous one, I like to get caught in. My friends and family know this but they'll only ever see a fraction of that part of me. I feel it all, and will forever be subjected to feeling it because this is my body; my experience.

And yet, I continue to push forward. Anything I am capable of writing, I do. Short stories, academic papers, skits, plays. It flows into my fingers and onto my keyboard or through my pen. Writing is the one tool that organizes my thoughts.

Photo: writing prompt from my journal; two girls sharing an evening out together

Over time, I've found new ways of channeling my creativity. Film is one of them. Our eye sees what it wants, it is subjective, but the camera is not. It forces me to be aware. Animation, too, archives this and most importantly gets my hands physically involved; both in between shots and during the shots. 

Video: 2 seconds from my animation Our Love; two lovers being close either each other

Finally, I'm mastering the art of becoming someone else: acting. Theatre is powerful, whether a person is behind the scenes or on stage. It's collaboration. Acting itself is something I hadn't dabbled in until college. What I have found is how useful it is in centering myself in someone else shoes and broadening my scope of existence to include the other.

Photo: Lawrence University's production of Scapan's Tricks

My name is Nayla J. Brunnbauer. I am not a profound person. I'm the collection of 21 years of life.  I have so much more to learn and, yet, I am a well of creativity.