Commune research
MANIFESTO
REFLECTION
BRIGHTON
We met at Victoria Station at around 9:30 to 9:45am. Our group also invited Adam to join us for the day and this was a very last minute decision which we didn't mind as our planned trips weren't on a tight schedule. furthermore, it would be interesting to think about if the trips would be a different experience if it was just the three of us, and why might this be so. Our group came upon our first challenge as the platform number was not shown n the board even though we only had around five minutes left until the train was left. The adrenaline and rush that we experienced was also something that made us feel more relaxed as we all went through a moment of temporary anxiety of missing our train. During the journey, I limited my phone usage which is different to what I normally do, and this allowed me to take in the feeling of going to another place, whereas I think using my phone would isolate me from the real world and I would be unaware of the journey. When we arrived at Brighton, we mainly followed Huijin as she had the information about travelling to Seven Sisters Cliff as she came up with the location. Our group went through another hour of a bus journey, and we used this opportunity to either take a nap, eat our lunch or take photos/videos of the scenery surrounding us. I found it interesting how different the transport is in comparison to London, especially the traffic lights. A struggle that I had with the filming in the bus was the constant vibration, so I instead used this to record some sounds that may inspire my project experiments.
Seven Sisters
We also hiked for around 45mins to an hour. The journey to the cliffs was much longer than the way back because it wasn't raining and we stopped around to take photos and films. Due to our group's friendship bond being quite close, we would be patient when other people take photos, despite most of us joking about hurrying up. This is something I took from this trip; I wonder if I would have joked around as much with a group of people I wasn't originally friends/close with, and if my persona would be altered due to a change in my surrounding society. We went to Birling Gap and the Seven Sisters Cliff, and this was incredibly eye-opening to me to see such a different landscape to the ones I see in London. Although I have visited this city before, I was incredibly young and did not acknowledge the beauty in a landscape that isn't succumbed by skyscrapers and a noisy metropolitan buzz. I also focused on the natural processes in Birling Gap, and I am thankful to be able to apply my understanding from geography a level to these variety of forms, so that I could apply to it symbolisms of human growth or struggle. I also compared many of these wave processes to Bill Viola's work, which was one of the exhibitions I went to before commune so that I could inspire my trip.
For dinner time, we were meant to talk about our experience but I think that was unneeded because we talked about it throughout the journey and we were all exhausted by the hiking and bus travels.
One thing I wished I could do the next time I go to a different location is to bring material to create photoshoots/ moving images, as I feel that real life experiment would be more beneficial and effective. However, due to it being a day trip, none of us were able to do this as the carry load would be too heavy to bring around.
REFLECTION
BATH
same time to meet for the three of us. however, Huijin arrived late and missed the train so she had to get a later one, and this showed how much difference one second would make. Arriving at Bath, I was already taken aback by the Roman trails left on the majority of the buildings. When we first arrived, Kyndro and I decided on going to Pulteney Bridge, but we ended up in Parade Gardens to take films. I took footage of the interaction between young adolescents and children, and there was a school group that had occupied the majority of the park. I found it intriguing how similar their actions were to the ones I used to make with my classmates, such as eating on pavements or fitting half a dozen people on a bench.there was also a difference in “playtime” between the two age groups and that the younger children were far more active. Although this is a given, it’s compelling to juxtapose these varieties of interactions on film, as the lack of movement or sound is exemplified through the screen.
I also found many comparisons to Bill Viola and his water-based works, as well as finding similarities in the research I found in Sexuality in Adolescence and Girls in Film.
The Pulteney Weir served as a major inspiration on the trip because the sound emitting from this constant whirlpool of water was drastic and similar to the complex feelings that a growing mind would experience. The Roman Bath Spa had a resemblance with Reflection in Pool due to its form and tub filled with green hues. There was a lot of history behind this site, and further research into it can help with developing and narrowing my project concept. This day was more relaxed than Brighton, and this is probably because we spent the day in the city centre. We still did not bring any materials but I think there would have been fewer places for us to take photoshoots in Bath than in Brighton.