I took full advantage of the blackberries I used for making jam. I kept the seedy pulp (strained out) and used it in a natural-dying experiment, then kept the seeds to try as an exfoliant in home-made soap.
Blackberry seeds I'm keeping to try as an exfoliant in soap.
26/3/2018 - Monday
I’m working my way through old soap and desperately need to make a batch or two. This bar was used previously and set aside to see how well it lasted. It lasts very well when pre-used.
A pre-used soap bar
that’s been left for
about a year.
It hasn’t fared too badly.
More admin organising future supervisor appointments, journal etc…
I started re-editing my media annotations on Fuchs.
27/3/2018 - Tuesday
Jam making morning… 500gms of strawberries and 500gms of blackberries to make two batches. I bought two 250gram punnets of fresh strawberries for $3 each and a 500gram bag of frozen blackberries for $4. I had to go get some more sugar as well. Jam needs lots of sugar.
Two punnets
(unavoidable
plastic).
Topped and chopped
strawberries.
Cover with water.
Boil gently for an
hour before adding
sugar.
Frozen blackberries
packaged in plastic.
Blackberries covered
with water.
Sugar added to
the strawberries.
Sugar added to
the blackberries.
Testing if the strawberry
jam is ready. Notice where
it doesn’t run back to fill-in
where I have pushed it with
my finger.
I ended up with only
four small jars from
two punnets.
I used a fine strainer
to remove the
blackberry seeds.
Testing the blackberry
jam on a cold plate to
see if it sets.
Pushing the blackberry
pulp through the strainer.
A pile of blackberry-
seed pulp beside the
used and stained strainer.
I ended up with five
jars of blackberry
jam from the
500 gram bag.
Blackberry jam with
strawberry jam in the
background.
A log of blackberry-
seed pulp for possible
use in colouring /
dying.
I uploaded four images to Instagram and shared them to Facebook and Twitter, using the hashtags #homemadestrawberryjam, #homemadeblackberryjam, #alternativeconsumption, #creativeliving, #wollongong. I uploaded 9 images to Vero and shared to Twitter, which should share to Facebook. I used the above hashtags plus #corporationsneedmore and #artandlife
I optimised images and updated my draft journal.
I continued working on Fuchs.
I tested the blackberry jam for supper.
My first home-made
blackberry jam is
delicious and has
great consistency.
28/3/2018 - Wednesday
I did some experimental natural dying in the morning using blackberry seed pulp I strained out while making jam yesterday. Misty has since advised to maybe use a stocking to contain the seeds (which I’ll be picking out for a while) and add salt to help ‘fix’ the dye.
I’m using a pair of
cotton shorts with
paint stains for
testing.
I wrapped the shorts
in elastic bands
(tie-dye style).
I started off using 1/3
of the pulp but ended
up adding the rest to
the water.
I used as little water
as possible to make
the mix stronger.
The shorts soaked up
all the blackberry-dye
mixture.
I am planning on washing and straining out the seeds to test as an exfoliant in soap.
I continued re-editing my notes from Fuchs in the afternoon.
I went to the Content Creators Illawarra meeting in the evening. The topic of discussion was short form film.
29/3/2018 - Thursday
I laid the shorts in the sun but they attracted ants so I moved them into a shadier position.
Drying in the sun.
I moved them to a shadier but ant free location.
I had a shift looking after Project gallery in the morning and continued re-editing my notes from Fuchs when I had the chance.
I had some friends drop in with Easter chocolate.
I did some more writing in the evening.
30/3/2018 - Friday
It’s Good Friday…
I unwrapped the shorts. and laid them over a chair outside so they’d dry quicker. The blackberry dye seems to have worked OK but I should’ve given more consideration to the way I wrapped them. I had folded in half before scrunching, so the dying has only really worked on one side. I’ll have to make more jam and do the same thing, but fold the already dyed side in.
Wet back.
Wet front.
Dry back.
I’m saving the seeds, which are still drying, to test as an exfoliant in soap.
The seed are wet
and clumping
together.
I finished the latest edit of Fuchs and sent it to Andrew. I will work on the other things he wanted over the weekend and send them on Monday.
I went to a family gathering at my brother’s place for dinner and gave everyone jam instead of chocolate for Easter.
31/3/2018 - Saturday
I went to Dad’s for lunch.
I worked some more on the ‘Clouds’ edit and did some testing in the lounge room.
Test projecting my
editing of cloud
motion in the
lounge room.
There is alternating
vertical motion
between the four
panels.
At times the four
panels aren’t visible.
I also had the idea to use this footage in a detournement using my overlay method. This idea came from the fact that the resolution of the footage is not the best, due to original files having been lost (inadvertently deleted). ☹ This will hopefully not be as noticeable, by not being the sole focus, when blended with other footage.
I also noticed when messing around with the menu settings on the projector that the composition (Full HD - 1920 x 1080), doesn’t match the projector. I should therefore change the output settings to 1440 x 900 and re-render to match the resolutions of the composition to the projector.
1/4/2018 - Sunday
I updated my journal draft and optimised images etc… ready for publishing to the website tomorrow.
I worked on administrative, organisational things ready to send to Andrew on Monday, such as revised timeline, reading priorities etc…
The blackberry seeds are dried read to use in soap soon.
Dried blackberry seeds…
retrieved from making
jam and dying shorts.
I uploaded images to Vero and Instagram and shared them to Twitter and Facebook + added hashtags… #wollongong #clouds #naturalrhythms #artandlife #corporationsneedmore
I gave out some Easter Jam to the neighbours and some friends.
The exhibition ended so I picked up my digital prints from Project an hour after the gallery closed in the afternoon.
I re-rendered the cloud composition at 1440 x 900 and projected to see if it looked any better than at Full HD (which doesn’t match the projector). I also changed the colouring to make it look hyper-real. This worked well but the quality is still poor.
A picture taken of
hyper-saturated
footage playing
on the laptop.
Another hyper-
saturated picture
of the composition
playing on the laptop.
Another hyper-
saturated picture
of the composition
playing on the the laptop.
I’m going to try shooting footage of the projection and/or the laptop screen to see if that improves the quality. I also decided to do this as a three-channel projection, with de-saturated, natural, and hyper-saturated channels. This will vary from other detournements by using the same footage in all three channels. This is also a self-detournement, in the sense that I am reworking and re-contextualising cultural material that I produced a few years ago.
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