This week’s lecture at times was a hard concept to grasp but what I did come away with was the idea of transformation in regards to giving life and personality to an inanimate object. I tried my hand at making a stop motion video, depicting a little Lego garbage man simply going about his job. When you think about it, the Lego man and his truck are just pieces of plastic but they didn’t don the roles of garbage man and truck until their pieces were put together and were made to act out this role by combining photos of them to give them life. This personification through the use of technology has allowed for an unrestricted and accessible way for anyone to create a story. Different stories can be told through different mediums – the medium is the message. Esther Leslie, says in her journal ‘Traces of Craft’ that this type of creation “does not squash authentic experience but transforms it into object forms and forms of experience appropriate age.” This is insightful as with new technology comes a new avenue for creators to express themselves. She goes on to say that these works “fan a spark of life that is integrated harmoniously with labour.” It is through the creation of these works achieve a sense of humanity due to the devotion and detail put in.
I’m still trying to get my head around it.
Check out some of these amazing stop motion films.
Stay classy,
Tracy Bustamante.
References:
Leslie, Esther (1998) ‘Traces of Craft’, Journal of Design History, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 5-13
original clichés 
I like your little lego man clip. How long did it take you to create it? it is amazing how you can do so much with lego even though the medium itself is quite stiff and ridged. Breathing life into these little toys, this guy has actually created an entire YouTube channel where he has made up little stories using lego characters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pyCTPQZUXc and worth having a look at if you are interested and is a perfect example of what you have explained in this blog.
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Thanks. It took about an hour and a bit all up… which is funny for the 19 seconds of content it created haha. It was quite fun to do. I checked out that video and wow it is amazing. There were moments there were I forgot they were just Lego pieces. But in the end that’s really the aim, isn’t it? To give them life through a new medium.
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Well done with the stop motion video, it looks simple but would’ve taken a long time to make. It really helps get your point across too. Like you said, the LEGO truck and man are just inanimate plastic objects until you physically move them and record those movements using digital technology. I, like quite a few people, found the lecture content difficult to comprehend as well but your post definitely helps clear a few things up. However I think you have incorporated one of this week’s readings into to your post to help support your view. Esther Leslie’s ‘Traces of Craft’ would have been perfect!
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Perfect! You’ve demonstrated a ‘Digital Transformation’ by expressing it through a stop motion animation. From my understanding, a digital transformation is enhancing any material form by digital means. But this doesn’t just mean animating objects like Lego, it can mean digitally transforming ‘experiences’ (conceptual) into audio form (tangible) through podcast storytelling.
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This is really good! You turned a real life activity into a stop motion piece, perfectly demonstrating digital transformation and technology. I liked how your video was short and sweet. The use of lego is something most people can relate to growing up with them. It would have been nice to incorporate some sound/ sound effects into the video. Maybe you could have taken a recording of a garbage truck and used that? Just an idea, but a really great post!
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Reblogged this on mooreblogsread.
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