Finished. The Hair Conundrum - Installation
Posted by -CaNA- | Posted in | Posted on 22:32
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After a hard couple of weeks we finally did the very last render and presented our installation. We think it's been a success. There are some details we would have wanted to improve, specially in the sound of one of the scenes.
We basically split a whole proyection into 4 screens and presented the all together in one surface, like four quadrants.
The public spoke, commented, and even stood there watching the loop longer than we thought they'd stay.
Some of the people there spoke to us about their feelings, questions and thoughts.
That's the part we enjoyed the most about this. The feedback of the spectators.
Fortunately we managed to successfuly transmit the emotions we wanted to express even before the shooting. So, as planned, most of the presents felt the images were somehow violent and raw, though aesthetically appealing. Others said they felt a bit disgusted, disturbed and anxious; and we know the sound also had something to do with it.
The director of our institute asked what gender one of our models was. That was part of the enigma of our installation. Why should a male or female be doing that?
Now days boys look a lot like girls and girls look a lot like boys. The removing of hair in our society has changed and a man can pluck his eyebrows without loosing his "masculinity" and a girl can have a hairy leg or a hairy armpit without loosing her "muliebrity"
As the screen is split into 4 quadrants, the top two scenes loop after a longer time than the bottom two. Meaning the rythm of the whole piece is divided in half.
Specially the bottom right screen, wich looped the shortest and had a very different rythm and look that the rest. So the eyes tended to move towards that part of the projection, whilst the sound of the rest two kept calling us to recognize and match the audiovisual correspondence.
Though we thought about it. The piece could change completely if we inserted the short loop in the middle of the other scenes and spread the visual differences in between the four screens. The rythm would then change. It would then saturate us with scenes of hair removing and perhaps we would have not achieve our goal. I personally think that the "voyeur" in us has once again been awakened by the audiovisual works and though those actions are recognized by our society as ordinary, routinary and common; the way they were shown to us, in such big format, such close up view and such illumination was somehow attractive and unique.
Adverts that sell hair removing products, show perfect bodies and hair as most of us have it, is rarely the main element in the picture.
We had our problems, difficulties and setbacks in the whole process of coming up with the idea and the developement of the piece but it has been an enjoyable experience, the things we have learnt and the mistakes we made are of great value in our professional formation.
Doing this installation was a bit like plucking your eyebrows or waxing your legs. It might hurt while you do it. But once the work is done you feel better and happy with the result.
The Hair Conundrum is an audiovisual installation made by students of Video Design in Istituto Europeo di Design - Barcelona.
Clarisse Rodriguez - Carlos Nieves - Javi Molina
Under the mentorship of Isabel Rocamora
