I just created this for fun using photoshop and Gickr.com
Assignment for Digitopia
Out of three animations by Miwa Matreyek, 'The circus, The factory and Digitopia'; the animation digitopia is the one chosen. It contains a lot of different factors and scenes, each portraying something different, but when it is put together it represents something as a whole. It is something, something unique; the way Miwa has created the animation conveys a special message, each person interprets it differently, but that is the way art should be.
Miwa Matreyek created the animation Digitopia in 2005. The animation mainly focuses on hands and eyes, but objects such as mountains, people and the head of a person are also included. It also contains cities, hands with sticks in them and technology such as microwaves, stereos, and computers. Hands with Palmistry and acupuncture points, as well as teeth, crowns and a science kit containing a microscope, DNA, a needle, the circulatory system and some test tubes are also included in the animation. When the animation was first seen, the viewer doesn’t understand what is going on, this is because there is a lot going on in each scene the viewer cannot absorb that much information at once. The main colours in the animation are black, white and blue; the black and white colours are usually the objects that are moving while the light blue is used for the sky. The time of day cannot be determined by the animation, as for all of the outdoor scenes the sky is always a light blue, signalling that it is always day. The overall mood of the animation gives the viewer the first time they watch it a creepy feeling as they don’t fully understand the animation, and what it is suggesting.
The black and white colours could be used as a metaphor, ‘everything is black and white,’ this can be seen as suggesting that the animation is black and white, that what you see is what there is. The blue of the sky then could be the grey area, so to the audience that view this animation on a shallower level it would be that everything is black and white; however, to the audience that view this on a deeper level can see that the blue represents the grey area. The colour blue can also represent hope and peace; however, it can also convey sadness and sorrow. By using the colour blue, the animator produces many different meanings. The artist was making a statement in her work, she was suggesting that not everything is always how it first seems. To the viewer the animation can be seen as representing something that is not Utopia, that Miwa has used the song in a sarcastic way, as everything in that world is more of a dystopia. The eye in the first scene shows that whatever you do someone is always watching, the data collected by the eye in the first scene is submitted into the brain of the person in the second scene. The person then transmits the signals to the hands, which transmits the signals to other hands in the city. Everything is black and white, showing that it is quite a boring place. The next scene, you see people in hands, this shows that they are like troops, continuously moving around and making sure everyone is doing the right thing. The person in the next scene has her arm changing into a sort of screw, representing that not everything is always as it seems, as people can change. The overall animation relates to everyone’s life as it is suggesting that not everything is as it seems, and what may seem in the beginning perfect, is often not the case. The hand with the palmistry and acupuncture points suggest that the hands are alive. The animator chose this type of animation, as it allows her to involve many different techniques and have lots of things going in one scene.
The work as a whole uses clever animation skills and conveys an important message to society. It has a lot of meaning and conveys numerous ideas. Although all the scenes together create a beautiful animation, feelings about it differ from person to person. As the animation contains many ideas, it is a very controversial piece of work.
Here is the video for digitopia by Miwa Matreyek:
Appraising Animation - assignment
TASK : Watch excerpts from the work of Miwa Matreyek, Multimedia Artist.
Take notes on your blog and then write a 600 word appraisal of one of Matreyek's works.
Appraisal = Describe what you see and hear, Analyse the Media Language and Interpret the Meaning
Use correct sentence structure, grammar, spelling, referencing and bibliography.
1. Watch these sequences and select one to anaylse and interpret
• &νβσπ; Digitropia http://vimeo.com/5906461
• &νβσπ; Circus http://vimeo.com/6714468
• &νβσπ; Factory http://vimeo.com/5905934
Embed your chosen piece into your blog
2. Focus Questions ~ answer these on your blog
• &νβσπ; Identify the imagery by listing what you see eg the subject matter; objects, shapes etc
• &νβσπ; What is your overall impression of the mood of the work
• &νβσπ; Watch and Listen for visual language cues, sound cues and editting
3. Anaylsis - see
• &νβσπ; Notice the visual language used by Matreyek's eg colour, line, the quality of the movement, shapes, use of scale etc - list what you identify - help site: HERE and for specific film language: MISE-EN-SCENE
• &νβσπ; Notice the sounds - list these identifying their type and quality
4. Interpretation
• &νβσπ; What is your interpretation of the work?
• &νβσπ; Survey friends and family ~ what do they think the work is about?
• &νβσπ; Who do you think is the intended audience for Matreyek's work?
• &νβσπ; How does visual language inform your interpretaion?
• &νβσπ; How has Matreyek used sound with the animation images to create meaning?
Homework - 1 minute of Digitopia
Shot 1
I think that this might represent a type a god, and as there is an eye that is continuely looking I believe that is meant to represent how he/she/it is the see-er of all. How it can see all. The light around it represents how it is a symbol of light (almost like a halo). The 6 arms on it could represent the goddess Shiva which is sometimes portrayed with 6 arms.
Shot 2
I think this is maybe representing the earth awaking, as it has its eyes closed and no thoughts then its brain sort of turns on and sends out waves. This could represent mother earth sending out her wishes and dreams for others to follow and abide. The brain to me has a picture of a butterfly which could represent freedom, and show that in this utopia there is freedom.
Shot 3
When I first saw this I thought they looked like worms trying to get at food. As I saw it once again I realised that they could be like satellites receiving data and transmitting it for everyone to see.
Shot 4
I didn't really understand this shot, maybe they could be barriers trying to keep bits of the city apart because they are all connected?
Shot 5
I think the hand was a way of transport, or maybe it is a house that they live in, it just happens to be portable?
Shot 6
I think that the hands were trying to build something and the person was directing them. I don't think that the person was a 'person' though because her hand changed into a screw so maybe she is a machine.
Shot 7
The hands reminded me of flowers that follow the sun when they bloom; but it could represent something else such as sleeping bodies but when the sun rises they get up too?
Shot 8
These hands were showing a reading of the hands and how pushing certain points in the hand helps the organs.
Sorry that for each shot they are getting shorter, its getting a bit late at night :)
I think that this might represent a type a god, and as there is an eye that is continuely looking I believe that is meant to represent how he/she/it is the see-er of all. How it can see all. The light around it represents how it is a symbol of light (almost like a halo). The 6 arms on it could represent the goddess Shiva which is sometimes portrayed with 6 arms.
Shot 2
I think this is maybe representing the earth awaking, as it has its eyes closed and no thoughts then its brain sort of turns on and sends out waves. This could represent mother earth sending out her wishes and dreams for others to follow and abide. The brain to me has a picture of a butterfly which could represent freedom, and show that in this utopia there is freedom.
Shot 3
When I first saw this I thought they looked like worms trying to get at food. As I saw it once again I realised that they could be like satellites receiving data and transmitting it for everyone to see.
Shot 4
I didn't really understand this shot, maybe they could be barriers trying to keep bits of the city apart because they are all connected?
Shot 5
I think the hand was a way of transport, or maybe it is a house that they live in, it just happens to be portable?
Shot 6
I think that the hands were trying to build something and the person was directing them. I don't think that the person was a 'person' though because her hand changed into a screw so maybe she is a machine.
Shot 7
The hands reminded me of flowers that follow the sun when they bloom; but it could represent something else such as sleeping bodies but when the sun rises they get up too?
Shot 8
These hands were showing a reading of the hands and how pushing certain points in the hand helps the organs.
Sorry that for each shot they are getting shorter, its getting a bit late at night :)
Animations by Miwa Matreyek - Factory
For the assignment we were given we have to pick a video out of, Factory, Circus and Digitopia. I think that digitopia is the weirdest one and its the longest, I think I might do factory as it is the shortest and it sort of makes sense in my mind. In my mind I think that it is to do with how workers are like sheep and how they seem to have no free will, The artist also took away their mouths and so cannot talk, this takes away free will and freedom of speech. It could be used to describe a political system, as the people in the country are like mindless sheep, doing what they are told (no questions asked). They don't seem to be enjoying themselves and are continuously doing the same movement over and over. The hand in a scene could be used to describe slave labour/manual labour as it is only a hand with no body or mind continuously doing what it is programmed/told to do.
Everything in the scene is black and white which could show that it is meant to be cold and show no emotion. The factory doesn't look that pleasant because in the starting scene there was dirty blackish clouds coming out of the factory indicating it is a very grimy place, The factory is also very cluttered never having an open space always there is something. This may be because the owner of the factory wouldn't want there to be a blank area so the workers would ponder what they are doing causing them to think and have freewill, so instead the factory is busy causing the workers to continuely be moving and working.
This is just a brief statement.
Everything in the scene is black and white which could show that it is meant to be cold and show no emotion. The factory doesn't look that pleasant because in the starting scene there was dirty blackish clouds coming out of the factory indicating it is a very grimy place, The factory is also very cluttered never having an open space always there is something. This may be because the owner of the factory wouldn't want there to be a blank area so the workers would ponder what they are doing causing them to think and have freewill, so instead the factory is busy causing the workers to continuely be moving and working.
This is just a brief statement.
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