Originally when creating the video I had wanted to represent a transformation, like someone accessing a new part of themselves, ways to do things and ways to be creative that supposedly happen to people after drug use. I was also inspired by the different sort of dilemmas or contrasts I had been considering during my work on this project. I didn’t want to romantise drugs but wanted to represent the possibility of growth within a person or positive use of natural substances (plants, mushrooms). I layered these clips with ones that represented stunting growth (cutting flowers) to suggest the negative implications of drug use or negative conceptions. I also contrasted the euphoric and dreamy clips with real advertisements and video footage from times in the past, when drug culture was different, that people feel nostalgic towards. The video continued to be edited and meanings shifted. Inspired by Mark Leckey’s videos, I wanted to show nostalgia for a time in history as recognisable to everyone for many different social reasons and not just reminiscent of a more ‘free’ lifestyle or drug culture. This was through the stark transitions into rave clips in the 80s as well as the advertisements for cars etc. I also used clips of myself, alone against a background of tapestries and making use of the materials we had access to in the house for the creation of the video. I was filmed putting on make up (styling myself) and painting, tasks I feel could be influenced by a surge in creativity as a result of drug use as well as art forms I feel have been influenced by drug culture either in recent years or history.
Through the video I made use of editing and specific colours, as well as the content already in the clips, to create an atmosphere. The song, space song by Beach house also worked to contribute to this. I felt the song worked interestedly against the sudden changes into audio from the outside footage found online.
Feedback and responses:
Cara
- felt like a music video. an art form connected to musicians, who are notorious for drug use to influence creativity.
- Layering and close ups of eyes / colours worked well
- Consider More similar shots of lips / hands. (how you consume/handle drugs whilst also being the body part used when you create things)
- Liked the quick chop and change to advertisements and connection to wider society.
- The Woodstock clips at the end could have gone on longer, nice to look at
- Growing mushrooms, spiritually growth/ artist grown symbolic?
- Colours were representative of theme. Could be more heightened, make colours more saturated and vivid like visions induced by drug taking.
Martina
- felt like a mood board of feelings
- Showing perspectives like inner and personal vs onlookers perspective of drug use. Personal was of me in euphoric state alone in my room vs chaotic group at 80s rave
- Layering of the shots felt like a link to the psychedelic
- Harshness between clips and between lighting – me alone, enjoying myself and doing my own thing in contrast to fast pace clips of other people in crowds in a different time period.
Estelle
- Close up opening shots felt like a start of music video
- layered shots of mushrooms over background set worked really well
- Felt like time lapse of mushrooms growing and cutting flowers, felt like progression. more shots like this playing with time like speed up or slowed down. perception of time which feels appropriate as drugs and creative tasks can feel like they over rule the power of time.
- etherial settings
- cutting in and out of historical/social clips could be more intense or controversial
- into core of project could show more crazy
- pin down narrative of the world created or offers
- exploration as positive affects is a niche angle, play up
- undercurrent of drugs or intoxication could involve animation or more vivid visual experience represented
- productivity is never assumed to be a result of scenarios presented, show creative processes as important and take them up a set every time
- creative manifestation of effects of drugs
Practice-based Research Project 