Brainstorm from 10/08 - 10/10

Audio to complement a button's rotation:

-Something that mimics rotation/cyclical somehow
-Something on a loop
-end of a record
-ringtone
-CD Skipping
-Water Flowing
-How is water flowing cyclical?
-it's seemingly endless
-it's part of the water cycle (condensation/precipitation/evaporation)

-Cycle of water evaporation...
-Rain can be analogous to rotating parts of a button
-is that clear enough, though?

*I don't have to use a recognizable sound
-just recognizable in that it's on a loop...
-could be static, then a crackle/pop at the end
-would have a recognizable beginning/ending

-Should the sound(s) be pleasant?
-Should the sound(s) be unpleasant?
-Should they be, to a certain degree, both?

-Should sound(s) harmonize with the object's movements?
-Should sound(s) be disharmonious--contrast with its movements?
-Should sound(s) compare and contrast w/ all imagery?

-Flowing water does have similar/dissimilar elements to rotation of button...
-it doesn't end
-but it doesn't have a recognizable beginning/ending...

**I'm limiting myself to one sound...
-How about gears turning, combined with...
-flowing water?
-rolling wheel?
-sandpaper grinding back and forth--that could be unpleasant though...
-or, is a certain degree of unpleasantness good? Probably a fine line...
-turntables... riffs, beats...
-multiple songs/musical scores--playing all at once?
-going into a crescendo?

***What about voices?
-could I have recognizable voices?
-use pop-cultural elements...

-How does the button fit into pop culture?
-it's part of fashions
-I don't think it's currently a fashion in itself--perhaps it was before...

-A major element in pop culture is substance subordinate to style
-style is God--substance is an abstraction that makes our head hurt...
-one gets the impression of mindless adoration/aggrandizement in pop culture...
-mindless repetition of television/movie quotes/sounds?
-yes, I like that...

-How about quotes/sounds on loops?
-but mixed up and jumbled to give a sense of disorientation...
-but recognizable as being on loops
-Repetition could almost become poetic, if the loops were arranged in such a way as to give them a sense of rhythm...

-How could I use this with my current, button game?
-completion of buttons/button parts could play different segments of a loop...
-until it became a complete poem/sound clip
-but if it was done out of order from the way I originally "composed" the sound clip, it would just come out disharmonious/jumbled--wouldn't it?
-maybe that could part of the fun/challenge for the interactive experience: they play with different arrangements until they find one of their liking...

Playful

This latest installment of the button is intended to be more playful than previous assignments; in fact, it's actually a game. I still need to work out all of the kinks, but it's meant to function as a puzzle. By slowly piecing the different parts of an abstract button together--via clicking and dragging--I'm seeking to aggrandize the form of the button itself... I think I'm going to have to add hints, such as the shape or color of the button piece changing as it gets close to its inteded spot; as it stands, the animation may be much too hard to determine its purpose. I guess we'll see...

Death of a Button: Act I...

After last week's two failures, I've decided it was time to retool my concept and design. Although, I'm still using the button as a subject of aggrandizement, the object itself has become much less prominent; in fact, in what I'm calling Act I (not yet complete), the button does not even make an appearance until the end. I've made this decision because my past work has become mired in lackluster animation that's both stagnant and unimaginative...

Now, as to concept--I've decided to achieve aggrandizement in the most absurd of ways: I'm going to eulogize a button. In itself, the act of eulogizing a human being, is aggrandizement (perhaps the ultimate form, when combined with martyrdom); however, I wish to make a point with this ridiculous anthropomorphism: by performing the act of eulogy for a button--something that obviously neither dies, nor performs any actions other than the joining an article of clothing--I am making reference to many of our own forms of aggrandizement that are just as absurd. As time goes on, I'll make this connection clearer...

Act I, deals with the concept of death from life--that this button is somehow dying so that other forms of life may flourish (ridiculous, I know). Visually, I've chosen to represent this concept through the use of abstract, living tears that seem to form from nothingness and coalese back into nothingness; I've also given them a snake like appearance, in reference to some creation myths that see the snake as a creative force. The text will eventually read "so that others might live, the button must die."

Fun with Letters

This second assignment, dealing with the expression of letter forms, is based upon aggrandizement of the ego. This idea is communicated through the constant use of the "i" letter form, and excerpts from the resignation speech of one Richard Nixon--which I believe in itself is the essence of aggrandizement: misconstruing and building up a criminal action(s) into some sort of civil service because his supposed intent was for the good of the U.S. I communicate this concept through the use of choppy animations that alter the position and appearance of letter forms, but essentially leave the underlying message/image intact throughout much of the animation. Also, although I never use an actual button image or reference, this concept is analogous to one of my key concepts in the ongoing button project: aggrandizement through added complexity that changes the images/buttons somewhat, but fails to change the underlying image.

From our discussion, it’s become clear to me that how something comes to be aggrandized is debatable; however, what seems to be concrete is that the methods by which something becomes aggrandized are various, and many. Objects (both tangible and intangible) can become aggrandized by scale, position, and even the amount of attention paid to it—to name a scant few of the possibilities…
What has also become clear to me is how undeveloped and far too general my concepts for this project are: I haven’t tapped into the multitude of directions that exists in the simple button; I haven’t researched the history and current usage of the button, nor have I ventured past the metaphor of connection and explored other analogies that can be made as well…
One thought that’s popped into my head is how so much of life is simply aggrandizement; there are so many facets of our culture, worldwide culture, that isn’t essential to survival, but is aggrandized to seem as though it is necessity. Take mass consumption, for example—since the 50’s, we’ve all been taught—in some form or another—to seek to and want to buy the newest, biggest, most technologically advanced products out there. Even though most of these things are not necessary, and in some ways may be harmful by bringing a sort of intellectual stagnation that distracts us from the things of actual necessity, we’re imbued with a perceived need for consumption.
I don’t want to get stuck on just the idea of consumerism, however: there are plenty of other facets of everyday life that serve as examples of aggrandizement—not just American or industrialized…
An example that I believe holds true for all human history is myth and religion. For these systems of beliefs to function, the subjects that deal with—good, evil, saints, God, gods—must be raised above the mundane and everyday. It’s not as though we can find entertainment in a mythic character that isn’t extraordinary in some way, or worship some saint that perform some phenomenal act, or actions; no, we worship or at least pay ample attention to myth and religion, because their subjects surpass the everyday man and woman…
When you think about it, aggrandizement is really a tool for societal cohesion and hierarchy. In order for societies to exist, there needs to be this general sense of what is important—basically, what is right and wrong. I believe you can trace so many behaviors such as fashion and etiquette to learned behavior that became engrained in our genes; in other words, although wearing what celebrity trendsetters are wearing isn’t essential to our own, immediate survival, the desire to do so is—or at least once was.
One has to wonder if groupthink is as important as it once was, when humans were far fewer, and day-to-day survival was a much more precarious thing; in turn, one has to wonder if aggrandizement is as important as in previous times, or just a learned behavior that’s as useful as our appendix.

Aggrandizement Links

Here's an example I immediately thought of when considering the subject of aggrandizement: a series of sketches from SNL parodying the Actor's Studio; I think James Lipton's aggrandizement of the mundane is what makes this sketch so successful...

There are plenty of examples from history, but the first example I considered is the Roman Empire: Emperor's were deified in the most extreme example of aggrandizement...

Concept Freewrite

I’ve chosen a button as my so-called, simple object—4 holes, and a surrounding circle… a circle often represent unity, a system a way of being… a button connects two pieces of a garment—usually; a connective tissue between two structures—a connection. The 4 holes in turn connect to whatever is being connecting to the other structure: a connection of a connection… of a connection? I suppose I could use repetition no exponential growth of a connection somehow in this multimedia format, but how? Of course, I wouldn’t just want to repeat myself three or four different ways: I’d like to—I know, I’ll just include a connection of a connection of a connection… as one of my themes, ideas, motifs… But I still haven’t come to the issue of aggrandizement, well not exactly. In a way, I’ve aggrandized the object of a button by implying that it is part of something bigger than itself, part of a process—still, to aggrandize the button, I believe I need to make the button in itself powereful and grand—not to act as a cog in a magnificient system but magnificent in itself… How do I do that, though? I thought earlier that one very simple way of aggrandizement would be deifying whatever I choose to use as an object… to make something divine is the ultimate aggrandizement… Okay, going back to the idea of exponential growth or creation of a connection, yes I like creation because it implies a much more godlike role… too bad there can’t be three holes: I could use that number as a sign characteristic of something holy given its significance in traditional western culture specifically Christianity no its good that I don’t have three holes because I would be putting myself in a box by going down that path… alright, four holes that provide a connection to a surface that provides an additional connection to an adjoinging surface, but where do I go from there? A button is about creating a closed system—it’s not really built upon from there is it? I suppose that really depends on what the button is built upon/ connects… a button fly on a pair of jeans is part of a whole system of connections—perhaps the last part of the system… the stiches connect the jeans from bottom to top, and the button(s) bring everything together… the button or buttons doesn’t have to be the be all end all to be aggrandized—all I have to do is make it into something grander, or at least much more extensive complex than considred normally just by pointing out it’s a connection to connection begins a process of aggrandizement… I don’t have to make it into some creative force or something that grows exponentially—all I really need to do is begin from this premise and relate other topics to it create analogies that somehow make the button much more than it has been in the past in other words, the button doesn’t have to be concretely grand it can be grand by virtue of something it can come to represent… I can imagine a number of images imagery related to the button—circles overlapping and repeating—but I’m having trouble imaging sounds that could be associated with a button… prying, pulling, popping—are sounds that can be, I suppose… as long as the viewer/listener has an image to associate with the sounds so the connection can be formed… the word button, the image of a button/buttons, the sounds associated with a button, other words created from associated with button: buttoned-down, love button, button-fly, push-button… connections to itself, to the adjoinging surface, to sounds that come from buttons, to words/language created from associated with buttons… I think the beauty of connections the concept of connections is that it is broad of a idea thought action that it may work well with transmedia multimedia convergence…