I’m going to be taking an intensive two-week course over the winter-intersession at MassArt called Installation: Reflective Space. I’m wondering if there are other media makers in the Boston area that would be interested in taking this class with me? Contact me if you’re thinking about it. It would be wonderful if there were some other media makers in the class working with video, sound, and projection so we can share tools and techniques.
DETAILS
Installation: Reflective Space meets January 3–14, 2011, Monday–Friday, 9:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. in N-379, the class earns 3 credits and is offered through MassArt Professional and Continuing Education, visit their web site or call 617.879.7200 for more information or to register for the class. Download a flyer for the class as a PDF.
DESCRIPTION
Installation is a relatively recent art form that challenges traditional categories of art because of its impermanent nature and tendency to incorporate a multitude of influences. This course explores installation practice using diverse media, including but not limited to sculptural material, photography, drawing, video, and sound. Assignments encourage experimentation while reflecting on physical, psychical, and sociopolitical content in relation to the site, and include a shorter and more substantive project. Presentations, group discussions, and critiques enhance classes. Relating meaningful techniques and material to the space is emphasized over mastering shop skills. Students must have some experience with object making and the media they intend to incorporate in their projects.
INSTRUCTOR
Danielle Sauvé is a sculptor and installation artist. She received her BA from Laval University, Quebec, and her MFA from Concordia University, Montreal. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout North America and internationally. She has created permanent public art installations, and has pieces in the permanent collections of several museums, including the Montreal Contemporary Art Museum and Joliett Art Museum in Quebec.
Photo: Danielle Sauvé’s Promises (Seeking Recognitions), 2010 (photo by Richard-Max Tremblay).
Yesterday I gave a presentation titled “Smartphone Shorts” at Tufts University which was part of the 
by Troy Lanier and Clay Nichols, it presents a methodical and readable introduction to making short videos.
For iPhone owners the latest version of 
Great work does not always require a fancy camera. While I love shooting with my Panasonic HPX170 DVCPro HD camcorder, sometimes the iPhone is a better choice when I need to maintain a low profile and I can shoot what I need with the iPhone’s fixed lens or with a wide-angle lens attachment. There are lots of great examples on Vimeo and YouTube of videos shot, in part, with the iPhone, as well as examples of works shot entirely on an iPhone. Here are seven examples of videos shot entirely with an iPhone.
To put it in one sentence, sound is vibrations in air that touch us. Like the proverbial tree that falls in the forest, if nobody is around to hear it, did it really make a sound? The vibrations caused by the falling tree don’t become sound until they touch us. And these waves literally touch us, according to developmental psychologist Ann Fernald, who describes sound as “touch at a distance” in the 
, Barry Blesser and Linda-Ruth Salter suggest that social relationships are strongly influenced by the way that space changes sound. Every environment has an aural architecture, whose attributes contribute to the fabric of human culture. We can sense spatial configurations through hearing, for example, with our eyes closed we can find an open doorway or know if we are in a room with low ceilings. The aural imprint of Tokyo is quite different from that of New York, and once we have experienced one of these cities we are likely to recognize their aural imprint much in the same manner we recognize images. Sound recording on a documentary need not just be about getting clear dialog, it can also be about capturing the aural imprint of the spaces we are observing. Whenever possible, when I am out observing with my camera, I try to record stereo ambience as well. Given that a good stereo audio recorder can be had these days for about $200 there’s no reason a separate audio recorder can’t be capturing the aural landscape when you are out capturing video with your camera. In fact, given where things are heading technologically and aesthetically, perhaps we should go the distance and record surround ambience. It is all well and good that Hollywood features create amazing soundscapes during the post-production process, but as documentarians, we should try when we can to capture the actual aural landscape of the locations we observe.
and 
) which consists of three lenses: fisheye, wide angle, and macro. The olloclip includes lens caps for the wide and fisheye lenses, and a cute case made of microfiber lens cleaning material. The product packaging is a little excessive (they could learn a thing or two from Studio Neat who sells the Glif) but I guess it needs to be striking in order to stand out among all of the iPhone accessories at the Apple Store, though perhaps the mail-order packaging could be more minimal. Be careful when purchasing from non-mainstream retailers, a lot of clones have sprung up like weeds and their optical quality varies. Below is the olloclip kit (case not shown) along with three configurations (left to right) on an iPhone 4S: wide angle, fish eye, and macro.
The olloclip wide angle lens approximately doubles the standard iPhone lens field of view and the macro lens multiplies the magnification of the iPhone lens by a factor of about ten. The overall fit and finish of the olloclip is very good. It’s obvious they have gone through great lengths to assure quality manufacturing and probably accounts for the additional cost compared to other adapters.The optical quality is reasonably good, chromatic aberration is not excessive, however, with the fisheye, you’ll see quite a bit of lens flare from light sources in or close to the edge of the frame that will exhibit blooming, much like when you stick a Soft F/X or similar diffusion filter on your D-SLR or video camera lens. Shooting macro is a tad awkward because you have to unscrew the wide angle lens elemnent from the macro lens element before you shoot. The macro lens opens up a whole new landscape that is now within reach of the iPhone lens. Below is a frame grab from video shot with FiLMiC Pro using the macro lens and the iPhone solidly positioned on a tripod with a Glif:
I really like the olloclip. This lens kit is small enough to carry with you so you’ll get a lot of use out of it. As someone who’s been a D-SLR photographer with a collection of lenses since I was a teenager and later started shooting with 16mm film and professional video cameras, I have become accustom to having lens choices. But the Canon D-SLR and Panasonic prosumer camera I use for my documentary work are too large to take everywhere, especially both at the same time. Given the iPhone is always close at hand, it’s nice to be able to shoot wide or close with the iPhone when the situation presents itself. If you embrace the inherent characteristics of the olloclip, rather than expect it to provide D-SLR optics on a beer budget with a shot glass form-factor, you’ll be happy with how the olloclip expands the visual possibilities of the iPhone for both photography with the 
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