Robbie Cooper: Immersion

Robbie Cooper's exhibition 'Immersion' exhibits the disengagement society has from real life to video games and films. These virtual realities allow us to escape ordinary life and to immerse ourselves as our alter-egos, allowing us to become someone or something else.

I've been to the National Media Museum to see this exhibition and found it really interesting to see how Cooper has made this images quite harsh and simple. His style of photography reminds me of our Capture unit and the work we create for that, capturing a scene, scenario or person and to depict a story through the use of photography.

Cooper's use of long periods of filming allows the models to forget that they're being photographed and to allow Cooper to capture their natural moments of unguarded behaviour. I'm not sure if he uses photoshop to edit the images but the sharpness and clarity of them really allow his exhibition to stand out at Media Museum's gallery.

His work relates to our capture work; capturing a person or object in a day of their life. Although Cooper doesn't show us a full day of his subject, his photographs can depict a scenario and a sight into the subjects' lives.
For example, Cooper also photographed gamers and their alter-egos on screen in video games.

We can see here that these gamers create these alter-egos to escape reality and to become more powerful, stronger 'people'. These avatars could stand for a representation of the gamer's hidden personality or true feelings. By creating these personas in this way, the gamer's can be transformed into something that they believe they are not. They can have big muscles and longer hair, they can change their height and eye colour, but it's not real. They are simply immersing themselves into a virtual reality.
And it's really interesting to see how many people change their appearance on screen, to become another person.

But why do they do it?

They may feel under pressure to look a certain way, dress a certain way, or they could create these personalities to feel different; to start a fresh and show their true feelings, as many games now allow gamers to talk while playing on screen.

If i was able, i would create a series of photographs influenced by Cooper's work, to allow the photographs to show a person straight on, but then make the audience look deeper into the person behind the photograph, to find the personality and their story.

Tropic Of Cancer - Episode 1. Mexico to the Bahamas

In this new series by the BBC, TV presenter Simon Reeve travels on the Tropic Of Cancer, journeying through troubled countries such as Mexico, Libya and Mauritania.
In this first episode, Reeve travels from Mexico to the Bahamas, encountering difficulties with locals and experiencing what it's like to be part of Lucha Libre.

As we see in this episode, the climate is stiflingly hot and humid, so if we were to choose a career involving the likes of travelling Reeve is doing, then we would have to consider the protection we would need to take with us for the film equipment and ourselves.
We would need to ensure that our cameras, audio and film are able to withstand such temperatures and humidity, so as not to destroy or damage the film.
They would also need to take sufficient energy supplies for the cameras in case the climate causes the battery to run out, and also any back-up equipment we may need. As we see in this first episode, Reeve is travelling with approximately 1 or 2 other people; Reeve carries his own backpack and the camera is shot from a first person perspective, so from what we know there may only be 3 or 4 people included in the crew.

For these people, they would need to carry many tinned items for their food, or small packages to limit the amount of equipment they need to carry along with them. They would also need to carry masses of bottled water, due to the poor facilities in the countries they are visiting. The countries have poor water irrigation systems so taking bottled water would be the first step in trying to keep healthy on this journey. As the crew are travelling abroad to South America and Africa, they would need to ensure that they received their medication and injections before they set off on their journey, to protect themselves from insect bites and diseases.

I would also think that Reeve and his team would possibly have to train before they travelled so that they could cope with the heavy strain of their backpacks on their backs in the heat that they are travelling in. This would also reduce the risk of injury as well while on their journey, as they have prepare beforehand. You can really see the extent of what the crew have to go through even before they set off on their journey, as the facilities of the destinations they are travelling to simply do not cater for hardworking film crews in strange climates.

During the episode, we can also see that even locals are struggling just to live in the places Reeve is visiting. When Reeve visits Baja California resort in Mexico, we can clearly see the juxta positioning of the workers and the lifestyles of the rich and famous. The Mexican workers are employed to create beautiful villas for the rich, costing at least $8,000 per night. The workers then go home to their shanty villages just metres from the resort. It's really interesting to see how the workers can live in such conditions when the resort can churn over around hundreds of thousands of dollars a week, yet the workers get hardly any recognition for their work. It's almost exploitation of these workers, allowing them to create such buildings for the rich and famous to 'relax' in, while they then go back to their plywood homes, in fear of hurricanes and rain, as they would simply wash their houses away.

Reeve says that almost 20,000 workers live in the shanty town near the resort, and there are also 150, 000 migrant workers working in this area alone. To add insult to injury, the workers have also suffered much more due to the recession in the US; limiting the work that their companies have for these Mexican workers.

Reeve then travels to mainland Mexico, to find out about the Mexican gang culture.
They're going to the heart of the drug war in Mexico, so before they even set off they would need to consider the health and safety risks. He arrives in Culiacan, dubbed the 'Crown of Drug Trafficking' by his local guide Pepe. The night before Reeve arrived, Pepe explains that there was an assassination attempt against the local police chief. The film crew are constantly surrounded by danger; brought on mostly by the fact that they are foreigners and are easy targets for local thieves and gangs.
Pepe takes Reeve to a local cemetery, and you can clearly see the money that is funded and produced by these gangs, as we see beautiful mausoleums protecting these criminals after death. 90% of the bodies buried in the cemetery are linked to the drug trade and gangs, and we see many posters of young men posing with military style machinery and items linked to gun and drug warfare. The wealth is also seen through the luxury of these crypts and graves; many have air conditioning and furniture, some are as big as houses.
It's also quite strange to see these families brandishing their wealth through the narcotics industry in the cemetery; almost viewing their children who have died as martyrs of the drug trade, almost worthless now because of the wealth they have brought to their families.

As they travel into Mexico, they come across a disagreement in a petrol station with a taxi driver who claims that Reeve needs to pay him for damaging his car.
Reeve and Pepe believe this guy to be in the wrong so they call the local police to deal with the situation.
As they wait, more taxi drivers and their cabs surround them in this station, Reeve becomes nervous.
Pepe tries to calm the drivers down but they won't resist.
I believe that the taxi drivers are trying to scam Reeve and the crew out of money, using their foreign status to mistake them for idiots.
The police arrive and the crew are told to come to an agreement with the drivers; so they pay them and are on their way.
It's really disheartening to see the police act is such a flippant way; maybe they feel as though the public control them, they feel worthless or even as though they have no power. They acted as though this wasn't a big deal and the only way to settle it was by money. It seems as though everything is settled by money, money is what people want and need, money is what makes the narcotics and gun crime circulate, but money is the one thing sparsely seen funded into homing and welfare of the people.

Mexico seems to be controlled by outside powers; Reeve visits a gold mine in the hills of Mexico, and one man fears for his own life after local workers attacked him.
Reeve interacts with the local communities to gain their side of the story and how they have been treated.
He creates this juxta position of the wealthy and the needy, the true workers and the ones who exploit.
The Mexicans also seem to have lost faith in their country and government. There is a Saint that criminals pray to, to ask for protection and guidance while they commit these crimes. Obviously they wouldn't be able to go to church and confess, so they find help within this Saint.
It's almost as though they have their own country, their own set-up and their own policies, as though what they're doing is fine.

Reeve also travels with the local police team; who try and target the drug safe houses.
Reeves would need to seek permission from the Mexican police to allow him to travel with them; but the fact that he did travel with them in this drug trafficking capital shows me that the police seem somewhat really relaxed about protection.

Reeve travels along the tropic to Havana in Cuba. In contrast to Mexico, officials have been impressed by Cuba's healthcare and education system but there is also another development Reeve is interested in.
There has been a regrowth of the community after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Allotments were provided for the villages, previously sites of cement factories etc.
They grow cabbages, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and mint, all grown organically. They provide Havana with over 90% of their produce.
It's inspiring to see these communities be part of this regrowth, but such a shame that even though one country is making an effort, others such as Mexico aren't.
The allotments produce over 1 million tonnes of food each year, and have been praised by the WWF for their efforts.

It's an interesting honest documentary and i look forward to watching to rest.

Tracey Emin - Strangeland

I recently purchased and have already read Strangeland by Tracey Emin.

After viewing her interview with Mark Rawson, i became enthralled with her life and her story, so i bought her book and began to read.

This semi-autobiographical book recalls Emin's memories of being a child, growing up in Margate with her mother and brother, her dad here and there as he also had his other family.

The more i read of this book, the more i didn't want her story to end.

The relationships she describes in this book are different from the ones i have come into contact with, but it's seeing this miraculous turn around of her life that i have more respect for her.

At times in the book, you don't know wether the recollections she is having are real or not, dreaming or living in the real world. But it does give and insight into the troubled mind she may have suffered from, and her experiences during those times.

The sheer frankness and honesty in this book is something that drew me in right away, and the scribbles of Emin's handwriting grace the pages from time to time, showing the personality behind the artist and her true feelings as she wrote them.

They say you can look into alot in handwriting, so maybe that's why Emin chose to have the notes printed into this book; to show her personality through her art rather that printed letters.

She may have just included the notes as another one of her art forms; as well as her collections of drawings.

Her book is very effective and fascinating but for me it didn't pull on my heart strings and beg for my sympathy. It gave me the information honestly. I like that in a book. I prefer autobiographies and hard hitting novels. I prefer brutal honesty and raw emotional tales of life.

That's exactly what Emin delivers in this book.

While reading this book, you see how Emin has become the strong woman she is today. Her candid recollections of her childhood; sex, drinking, dancing...all those hardships she experienced, especially with sex and men.
It seems as though Emin has always been a strong character. In her book it seems as though her memories remind her of how she got to where she is today; she's always fended for herself, stood on her own two feet while her father was away and her mother worked to support her children.
Then she discovers men, and alcohol. But she doesn't become trapped in a vicious cycle, she stands up for herself and stays ona somewhat right path.
Although the drink becomes a problem later on, i believe she used it as a tool to block out the past, the sense of unwant and abandonment. As she says in the first page of her book " But at the moment of my birth into this world, I somehow felt a mistake had been made".
Emin says "My soul had been floating along when, somehow, i got caught up in his (her brother Paul's) conception".
Again this immediate sense of undesirement as soon as she is born sets as a backdrop throughout this book, with her father having other families, wives, children and her use of men, and their use of her, for sex. Just sex.

The book seems to be compiled of exerts from Emin's memory, so the information doesn't flow smoothly, but this is the beauty of how the book has been written.

It takes you into a dreamy state, reminiscent from your own childhood where you recollect memories at different stages.

Usually the memories you remember are sometimes the more vivid and important ones, and that could be why Emin has inserted these memories to show an overview of her childhood, the most dramatic stories and the most touching.

Overall i thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and am in the process of reading it again, picking up on things that i missed the first time around.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Tracey Emin, art and life.

Interaction: Mind The Gap E-Mail

We have just returned from our half term and i have received no e-mails as of yet from Ben Rothera, marketing officer at Mind The Gap.

We were going to send a responding e-mail to catch up on his thoughts and ideas about our proposal, but then decided that it would be much more direct to telephone him and come to a conclusion, because if he were not interested in interacting with our group, then would would hastily need to find a new community group and connect with them by e-mail and telephone.

Myself and Ruby drew up a 'script' for our telephone call, listing the main points we would like to go over with him over the phone.

The discussion went quite well, Ruby said that he sounded interested in our ideas but the only setback was that MTG were uncertain and would not allow us to distribute the video after it's production.

We understand their concern and have decided to draw up a contract with MTG that we will only use the video for our topic and the only people who will see it are our college peers, our tutors and the exam board.

As it is a video piece, we do need to film the community group, but we are willing to comply with their decisions as we admire this group for the work that they do, and are really interested in working with them.

After the telephone call, we reported back to our tutor and came up with the idea of arranging a meeting at MTG. They have meeting rooms available with projected screens and CD/DVD use. From this information, we are currently planning a proposal which we will show to MTG at a meeting.

This way we can outline our ideas and then receive feedback directly from the administrators there, and work on the problems directly if we feel that there are any.

We can also approach them with the contract to say that the video will only be used for our educational purposes on the day, showing our professionalism and assertion that we would like to work with this group.

We are currently waiting for a call back from Ben Rothera after he said that he would discuss our ideas with his manager.

Interaction: Mind The Gap E-Mail

We received an email back from Ben Rothera, marketing officer at Mind The Gap.

He explained that he was away on annual leave but would get back in touch when he was back in the office.

It was quite disappointing as we are really geared up to start arranging meetings and phone calls about our proposal for this company.

However, he didn't say no and that's always a plus, so we will keep our fingers crossed that he will reply once he is back in the office.