I think that to say there is no such thing as no-motion/no-content, etc, just takes us back to the concept that matter is never gained nor lost, and there is no such a thing as nothing because everything is comprised of something - which is great rhetoric. and sometimes it is the function of art to provide us with rhetoric, to tease these concepts out of the audience, and to radically alter paradigms in the ways sited by Scott's examples. however intriguing a concept may be (concepts being abstract ideas generalised from particular instances), they do not necessarily make for real content (the events, physical detail and information in a work of art), not to be confused with form (the shape or structure of something). alas, conceptual art has value as such, but doesn't always function as art, art being the stuff through which we learn more about what it means to be human. something can be abstract and still be content (i.e. love) but stretching the conceptual past it's conctruct doesn't imbue the work with a deeper meaning. so, i guess my gripe with the "lack" of content is that so much technologically-based/motiveated/embellished work has so little to say, apart from self-references and clever conceptual puzzles. i feel like too much work is about what we can do, what we are capeable of on a physical/techical level, and not driven by a compelling need to communicate something that is best understood by being expressed with a particular set of tools/vocabulary of movement/whatever mean necessary. is that clearer? -c ------- but I have less funny things to say in response to Christy's comment that perhaps there is some connection with a "rarely addressed" lack of content issue. Just as with Richard's proposal that there is "no such thing as no-motion" -- there is no such thing as no content. Please give me an example of where you might perceive there to be a 'lack' of content and what are the means for identifying this lack? what evidence do you look for? I would be happy to read something of interest on this topic. Best, Scott At 16:32 13/11/01 +0000, you wrote: >Scott has brought up an interesting point that we have been implementing for >many years. When capturing motion for the video games industry we often >record a performer doing absolutely nothing because there is no such thing >as no-motion in terms of real human / animal movement...(it is impossible to >not move at all - unless you are dead), and this nothing movement is very >important in sustaining the visual narrative and believability of the game. > >Regards, >Richard Widgery >richardw@kinetic-impulse.com > > >-----Original Message----- >From: owner-dance-tech@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu >[mailto:owner-dance-tech@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu]On Behalf Of Scott >deLahunta >Sent: 12 November 2001 06:57 >To: dance-tech@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu >Subject: stillness capture > > >Hello, > >A thought: > >Matt Rogalsky is a UK based media artist who has recently announced his >plans to "capture the gaps between the words" during 24 hours of monitoring >BBC Radio 4 on 12 December 2001... and produce a 24 CD box set of silences. >[12 December is the 100th anniversary of the first wireless transatlantic >communication.] Matt has programmed Supercollider (a realtime audio >synthesis programming language -- http://www.audiosynth.com/) to adjust >itself to the loudness of the radio signal and pick up the ambient and >other sounds that occur between the words. Each programme generates >different silences -- "the silence of The Archers* is totally different >from the silence of Today*" -- (*two BBC radio 4 shows for those of you >outside the UK). The website for the project is: >http://www.silenceisntgolden.net/ > >Motion Capture technologies (those systems that produce a simulation of >movement recorded in three dimensions in the computer) places the emphasis >on being able to reproduce this simulation of movement to appear to be as >accurate as possible. In the animation field this accuracy is measured by >different criteria than in the field of biomechanics. In animation, the >accuracy aims to be universally acknowledged -- its evidence is the fiction >that become less fictional through this integration of motion. This >integration relies these days on a combination of sampling (capture) and >synthesis (computation) and can apply not only to individual figures >(animals or human) but also to larger crowds or flocks of figures moving in >concert. The field of biomechanics is different by magnitudes -- motion >capture in this context is designed to produce the most consistent, >detailed and accurate traces of motion for analysis to be conducted by >specialists in the field and in the service of developing solutions to >motion problems encountered by people or animals. > >To return to the concept of silence -- why not develop a project that would >focus on the capture of stillnesses? I am not thinking of the sort of work >that David Rokeby has done with WATCH (1995) for example using video >analysis of video image http://www.interlog.com/~drokeby/watch.html -- and >other similar projects. I'm thinking of a project that would propose to >situate itself in the center of what is essentially a commercial and >scientific industry with 100s of researchers, programmers and developers >contributing towards the capture of motion in service of the two >trajectories mentioned above. A project to capture stillnesses could >describe a set of conceptual, philosophical, technical, cultural and >aesthetic questions as a starting point. Who knows what the outcome would >be... probably not a 24 CD box set of stillnesses. > >*************************************************************************** * >******** >Soon I will put a report on line from a motion capture project several >artists >participated in this last May in Athens. We didn't focus on capturing >stillnesses >exactly, but we did get the systems to do rather strange things... >*************************************************************************** * >******** > >best > >Scott
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