I JUST FEEL LIKE DANCIN'......

so here it is...........I put all the photos of my OCD movements into imovie and made a very short film which is on a loop. I've created some sort of robotic, mentalist dance. Very appropriate to OCD I think, just because it's so damn repetative! I prefere the movie with the funky town music but everytime I try to export it, the music screws up. Luke tried helping me and so did my hopusemate but sadly........we're all crap!

watch away.................

Using this xeotrope seems to fit in really well with all Nikola Tesla and his OCD....

...the repetative movements and tasks
...spiral and the coil he invented...(not sure on the technical side of all this stuff)
...going round in circles
...don't feel like you're getting anywhere
...just going round and round in circles

Some xeotrope films I made from the OCD photographs I took..........






Some xeotrope strips that came with my brand spanking new xeotrope................

I forgot to say...I also searched a whole load of places in London for a xeotrope...not a xeotrobe the other day too! I went to the Dover Bookshop, Magna, random other bookshops, Paperchase, Hayward Gallery, Tate Modern and finally the Science Museum, just as it was closing...what a pain in the arse!!! For those of you who don't know, it;s one of those things that spins and inside has lots of different still images in it, the speed of the movement animates the individual images.

I've decided to take the photographs of me, remove the background and replace "me" into the xeotrope. I'm not sure if this'll work because the images are quite detailed but AS USUAL if I had more time, I'd simplify them, maybe just line drawings and I'm sure this would work. Again, the pictures are in no particular order, we'll just see what happens.

This project is just like part 4 of the 1st project. I'm really enjoying just playing around witht he idea and doing a lot of stuff I havn't done before. Keeps me interested but also.....I'm still terrified and hate technology!!!!!!!!!!!!

CHANGE OF DIRECTION...

I was waiting for Anjuli and Astrid in the casket space so I decided to look through the photographs on my camera, amongst were my OCD movement pictures................I found something really quite interesting

If I went through the photos as quickly as possible, they kind of began to animate themselves, in a stop frame, disjointed kind of way. They were in no particular order nor did they correspond to any dance movements I'd done but I like it.

I showed Luke and he seemed to like the idea too. He said it was better than a regualar dance video because that might just turn into another fatboy slim video....obviously on a way crapper level. I wacked all the photographs I'd taken into "premier" with a little help from my flat mate. I tried making some music but as a 1st time producer I thought I'd knock that idea on the head and find some instead because it was proving to be very difficult!!

.............if found...FUNKY TOWN...which I LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I recon it goes really well and managed to match it to the frame rate perfectly BUT everythime I export it, it messes up! Luke tried to help me for about an hour yesterday but we couldn't do it. He changed the type of audio file and told me to swap that for the existing one. I did that but still no luck, it all keeps messing up!

I'll show you what I have anyway.

I've just been playing about with some of my pics, layering them and changing the opacity. They don't look very good but I thought I'd post them anyway. Need to work out how to make it look like one person moving. I've seen it done before...think it's just case of playing around with the opacisty until it looks right. Not sure why I'm doing this really but thought I'd try it out.....

MOVIN' AND SHAKIN......................
I've taken some of the OCD-ish behaviour and taken the ones I think I can work with. Here are a selection of the ovements and stances I think I will be able to put to music. I really want this to come out well. This stupid crappy volenteering elective is slowly taking over my life. 20 hours..........yeah more like 7 months!!!!! They are really unflexible too! Well that's my rant over, I suppose I volenteered my time....but not my whole year. OK...it's time to shut up now.

SONGS.............

I've had a think about songs etc. Coreographing a dance to a whole song would be wicked but this is actually really difficult! I found tons of OCD-isms and chosen a few to take movements from. The thing is, I'm obviously not a trained dancer and the only time I do dance is usually when I'm drunk....I don't think turning upto my presentation drunk is a good move! Also, I wouldn't be able to memorise the whole thing and for it to be effective it has to be put together well.

So I've finally decided on a song.......THE MAKARENA!!!! A very repetative tune with a good beat. I can compose a short, hopefully well rehursed dance that the whole class can join in with. I definatly want to tape this when it's done. I just have to make it work!!

After having our group meetings yesterday I came back quite excited. I was really stuck with where I was going with this Obsessive Compulsive thing. I have the research but I didn't really know what to do with it. We thought about making games, filming my day sticking to some rules....blah blah blah but nothing seemed very fun or exciting. It was all a little too forced and I couldn't see the outcome doing what it should. I wanted my research to determine my outcome as we've been encouraged to do. The group came up with an idea that I love!

..........."THE OCD DANCE"

......basically, I've looked at lots of peoples mini OCD obsessions. I'm going to use the movements and actions of their OCD (eg....switching the lightswitch on and off, jumping up and down 3 times, stacking and re-stacking glasses) and then combine them, forming a dance or dance movement. If this all works out, I'll teach the class this move in my presentation and we'll all dance to a chosen song. It's kinda like the dancing that "people who can't dance" do....you know the big fish, little fish, cardboard box thing. It would be great for OCD sufferes because all their obsessions would be combined and fulfilled.

excellent.

CRAAAAAAAAAAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZY!!!

WOW...there is another world out there as far as OCD is concerned. The people that I've spoken to, the people that I've heard about and the people whos blogs/facebook groups/myspaces and chatroom messages I've looked at don't actually have OCD (the real thing) so I don't feel guilty about calling them crazy!

OK...I'll admit that a few of the little "habits" I posted up about last time were my habits but having researched other peoples OCD-isms they are nothing!

HERE ARE A FEW FOR YOU TO HAVE A READ ABOUT..........................

1. "When I'm getting ready for bed, I imagine I'm being chased and will be killed, I give myself a few seconds, (I change this every time) to be completly covered by my duvet, including my head."

2. "When I drink anything, I always swish it around in my mouth first before I imbibe it." (mainly Iliked the word imbibe here)

3. "I must drive down a certain road when driving, even if it's in the wrong direction."

4. "Sometimes when I close a door I put my hand in my shirt then I close it."

5. "If I have a meal with meat and vegetables, I use my knife and fork normally but every time I eat a bit of meat, I have to swap around the knife and fork and then imediatly swap back when I'm eating the rest of the meal."

6. "When I'm done going to the bathroom the door has to be all the way open so the handle is touching the wall or its hitting the door stop. But if it hits the door stop and it bouces off then I have to fix it again."

7. "I have to sleep with my knife in my pocket or I can't sleep at all."

8. "I count a lot of stuff but one thing that is a must is, how many pieces I cut bananas into before he eat them."

9. "When I open a can of pop I only pull the tab back a 1/2th of the way."

10. "Apparently I sometimes masterbate in public and don't even realize it."

11. "It's kinda weird, but when i eat, i place my left hand on my crotch area (im completely serious), im not whacking off or anything, im just kinda pressing down with very minimal pressure, and i dont have a hardon or anything, i usually only do it when im cold though."

12. "Whenever I fart, I unconsciously cup my hands near my ass and then take a hearty whiff of it."

13. "When I get lost in my thoughts in class I like to run through each and every peer in my class and decide in my head whether or not they would be worth keeping alive if maximum work productivity was absolutely required for a high-scaled emergency situation."

14. "Must have on hat 90% of the day."

15. "I hide my thumbs when I pass by graves."

...they were just some of my favourate. I'm not sure if these people are serious but the ones I spoke to seemed deadly serious, all straight faced and the ones on the internet were all in deep discussion (some quite worried about themselves....rightly so I think!!!!!!!!!!!)

I'm findin OCD and Asplergers Syndrome really interesting...it seems to me that maybe OCD is an extension of Asplergers.
I've talked to a lot of people about OCD, can't say I've met anybody with it yet but as far as I can tell, everybody had it to some extent.


EXAMPLES FROM PEOPLE I KNOW.....
* Pairing up all the shoes in her house before bed or else she won't go to bed
* If she turns round in a circle, she has to untwist herself by turning round in the opposite direction...even at roundabouts!!!!!!
* When washing his hands, he can only have one hand wet at a time.
* If she itches one side of her body, she has to itch the other side to keep it all balance.
* If she prays, she has to say the same thing in every language she knows.
* When she stops cooking, she has to jump up and down when she turns the gas off so that she remembers she's done it.


...I'm thinking about setting myself some rules and filming myself for the day, sticking to these rules. I'll have to be careful what my rules are because it could be dangerous applying them to everything, if I was obsessed by the number 3 I would have to drive home on the motorway in 3rd gear and I'm not sure that would be very safe!!

...Another thing I'd like to do is to film other peoples obsessions.

OCD

Luke told me to look up ASPLERGERS SYNDROME because I said I was interested in Teslas's obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) mainly with the number 3.

What id Asplergers?...
So far, I know that it's characterised by DEFICIENCIES IN SOCIAL AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS. It si considered to be part of the "Autism spectrum" but the difference being that early development is normal and there is no language delay. It is usually not diagnosed until ADULTHOOD. The therapies required to help Asplergers sufferers need to address BEHAVIOUR MANAGEMENT and POOR COMMUNICATION, OBSESSIVE OR REPETITIVE ROUTINES and PHYSICAL CLUMSINESS. Most people can lead a regualar life with relationships, families, jobs because they are aware of their problems and realise where they need help however, many do not realise they have Asplerger's untill they experience difficulties with relationships.

Some of this may apply to Tesla...
His had strange relationships with people and most found him to be quite odd. He was obsessed by his work and more interestingly by the NUMBER 3. None of this was recognised in him, until he was an adult.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ASPLERGERS SYNDROME...
Limited interests or preoccupation with a subject to the exclusion of other activities - HIS WORK
Repetitive behaviors or rituals -THE NUMBER 3
Peculiarities in speech and language - not that I'm aware
Socially and emotionally inappropriate behavior and interpersonal interaction - YES
Problems with nonverbal communication - ?
Clumsy and uncoordinated motor movements - ?

SOME INTERESTING LITTLE BITS...
*As people with Asplergers lack the ability to communicate their own emotional state, they often make remarks, meant well but that may offend, obviously unknowingly. They do not know what is acceptable social behavious intuitivly, they must learn it. MIND BLINDNESS...they can not read a persons emotional state just by reading an expression or body language etc, therefore seen aslacking empathy. This leads other people to believe they may be uncaring and rude when they are not.
*ATTATCHMENTS TO OBJECTS NOT PEOPLE
*People with AS often speak in a far more formal way, which can make them SOUND MORE INTELLIGENT THAN THEY ARE.
*They TAKE THINGS VERY LITTERALLY....maybe Teslad didn't understand American humour when Edision offered him 50,000 dollars for the work he did in his company.
*As with AUTISM, some will be considered GIFTED in maybe music, art, maths however this is counterbalanced by delays in social functioning.
*ILLEGIBLE HANDWRITTING
*An intense FOCUS on one particular subject...science and maths are seen as common interests to AS sufferers. "In pursuit of these interests, people with AS often manifest extremely sophisticated reasoning, an almost obsessive focus." They have little interest in anything else.
*CHANGES TO ROUTINE maycause anxiety.
*A delay in motor skills eg...twitching of the arm, other jerky movements.
*Experience SENSORY OVERLOAD...eg like familiar smells, tastes, clothes.
*Strong dislike to having their HEAD TOUCHED and LOUD NOISES
*"Unable to block out certain REPETITIVE STIMULI, such as the constant ticking of a clock. Whereas most children stop registering this sound after a short time and can hear it only if they consciously attend to it, a child with AS can become distracted and agitated."

People with as are more likley to have ANTISOCIAL PERSONAILITY DISORDER, DYSLEXIA, MOOD SWINGS, DEPRESSION AND
OCD.

"A DIFFERENCE NOT A DISABILITY"

well....below are meant to be some pics of random coils of wire, rope, rolls of paper, rolls of bin bags and other such things I dound in a DIY shop. Not 100% that this is gona help me in my voyage to fulfil the brief but I like them anyway...

ok...these have posted up a little strange! The colours were suposed to be more orange. I used sparklers and tried to make patterns and write words. Not sure where I'm going with this, maybe a dead end but we'll see

WHAT I THINK...this man was pretty incredible! This was a time when the lightbulb had not even been invented, elecricity was in it's infancy and he developed a system that is still used in our homes today. Although I don't understand the technical aspect of much of his work, I like what he worked on. I've played around with light and photographed using long exposer. Also been into a DIY shop, photographing cable. I have no idea where I'm going with any of this but it's all just my take on this man. His personality interests me more than his actual work, especially the fact that he had OCD.

Okeedoke...here we go...

NIKOLA TESLA (10th July 1856 - 7th January 1943)

"THE MAN WHO INVENTED THE 20th CENTURY"



Tesla was a Serb-American inventor, most famous for his contributions to the discipline of electricity and magnetism in the late 19th/early 20th century. Ironically, legend has it that this guy was BORN PRECISELY AT MIDNIGHT DURING AN ELECTRICAL STORM...not sure about that one! His fame rivaled that of most other inventors simply because many of his discoveries were ground breaking. After he died at the age of 86, the SI unit measuring magnetic field was named in his honour...the TESLA. Throughout his life, Tesla contibuted to robotics, computer science, nuclear physics, ballistics, theoretical physics and much more.

I've sat and research this man but in all honesty, most of what he did is way beyond me. Although I know what he did, I have no idea what it all actually means. SO...I looked into the man himself...what made him who he was???







He was known to many as "the mad scientist," this was down to bizarre claims about possible scientific developments. Since his death, many of his findings have been used with some CONTROVERSY to back up various pseudosciences for example UFO THEORIES!! After leaving school, he studied only one term of electrical engineering, obviously didn't graduate and followed that with one term in Prague studying physics and Maths. That was it for him, he was done, now he was off into the real world inventing real stuff. Clearly very interlligent, he was also lucky enough to have a PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY. He claimed that he'd often have "blinding flashed of light and hallucinations. Often these visions would be linked to an idea he may have had, just by hearing the name of an item. He'd mentally visualise an invention in precise detail, making improvements, and operating the device in his mind, knowing the exact measurements etc before construction the object. The object was always perfect! PICTURE THINKING.


USED AND ABUSED...
Working with a man called Thomas EDISON had an effect of Teslas PERSONALITY. Edison offered Tesla 50.000 dollars to completely re-design the company's DC generators. After doing the job, Edison took back the promise and said "you don't understand American humor." Tesla obviously resigned and took up a job of digging ditches, ironically for Edisons company, he needed the money to survive and continued to carry out research on Alternating Current, AC. This made Tesal very BITTER.


Tesla set up his own company, Tesla Electric Light and Manufacturing but due to disagreements about AC, with his investors, he was relieved of his duties and again, became a COMMON LABOURER. Later he moved on to working with a man called GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE. He invented the AC induction motor and developed the principles of the TESLA COIL. Tesla system would allow TRANSMISSION OF AC ELECTRICITY OVER LARGE DISTANCES. He then looked into developing what would later be referred to as X-RAYS and the HAZARDS of working with X-ray producing devices.

After setting up HIS OWN LABS he investigated a machine for inducing sleep, cordless gas discharge lamps, transmitted elecromagnetic energy with out wires, effectively building the 1st radio transmitter.


WAR OF CURRENTS...
Problems with AC over DC lead Tesla to bankruptcy. Through all his financial difficulties, he was NEVER INTERESTED IN MONEY, if he had none, he would work to get some. He shows himself to be a very modest man, only interested in his work. He sis not actively persew commercial exploitation.

"TESLA NEVER MARRIED, HE WAS ASEXUAL AND CLAIMED THAT HIS CHASTITY WAS VERY HELPFUL TO HIS SCIENTIFIC ABILITIES."

A donation scheme was set up, where American companies could support him but he declined. Instead, he chose to live on a state pension from the government and continued his research. At this point in his life he was also showing signs of OCD....AN OBSESSION WITH THE NUMBER 3!!! Examples of this were needing 3 napkins at diner and walking round the block 3 times.....crazy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Gt01CMlFFA

Tesla was critical of even Einsteins work on relativity.


THEORIZE...
Tesla began to theorize about electricity and magnetism's power to CHANGE SPACE AND TIME. His interest in light as a particle wave lead to his invention of a WALL OF LIGHT. This would allow time, space, gravity and matter to be changed at will. The Sci-Fi geeks loved this...they all got on board and engineered an array of proposals including anti gravity airships, teleportation and time travel!

TESLAS FLYING MACHINE...he wanted to invent something that would fly, without wings, propellers, an engine r an on board fuel source, suggesting it would run mechanically. The appearance would be that of a cigar or saucer...again, later enticing UFO conspiracy theorists.


DEATH...
Found dead in a New York hotel room, heart failure, aged 86. Although he sold his AC electricity patents, he was DESTITUTE and had significant debts. It was not until he had died that he was recognised as the INVENTOR OF THE RADIO. Although most of his work conformed with principles accepted by science, his EXTRAVOGANT PERSONALITY and sometimes unrealistic claims, combined with genius all made him a popular figure with theorists and believers in conspiracies and HIDDEN KNOWLEDGE.
"HE WAS AN ANGELIC BEING SENT FROM VENUS TO EARTH TO REVEAL SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE TO HUMANITY."



WIRELESS...
Teslas objective was to PROVIDE ENERGY/POWER EQUALLY TO ALL, he saw the distinction between the people who did have and the people who din't and wanted to erase it. He wanted free energy to everyone, without fuel...TESLA DISCOVERED WIRELESS TRANSMISSION!!! He sought to REMOVE DISTANCE eg in communication and in doing so hoped to ensure friendly international relations.
"A WORLD WITH OUT WIRES, A WORLD WITH FREE UNLIMITED ENERGY"





DEATH WAEPON...
2 million dollars would be the construction cost of 12 of these weapons. He believed that they could end all wars. The machine would take one particle and accelerate it using high voltage to great velocity, therefore causing lots of destruction. The US government took an interest because that saw that the world was on the verge of WW1. Different segments of the plans for this weapon were given to different countries so that they'd have to solve the problem together. Nobody knows what happened to these weapons, they disappeared after he died.


Nikola Tesla was ridiculed his whole life, he was so advanced in his thinking and his radical and eccentric statements did not help him. He was PERSEEVED as snobbish and over confident, therefore ostracized. It was after his death that many of his scrutinized statements were then adopted.

Basics of energy...NOTHING THAT GIVES US SOMETHING.

Hello again! I've been away for the last week and a half so I'm affraid the blog is looking a little low. I'm gonna leave the clip art project and come back to that once I have a chance.

OK...right, so I was given a name yesterday and that name is...... NIKOLA TESLA. I'm ashamed to admit that I went away from college thinking this person was a woman...I was wrong. Once I did a bit of research, I realised that this person was infact someone I knew of. Thinking back to physics lessons at school I remembered learning about this ground breaking inventor/scientist. Unfortunatly I didn't remeber anything other than his name.

I'm gonna post what I've leasrt tomorrow because I want to put up some pics. I can't do that here because the internet is really really slow so I'll do it from college. I will say that although I'm not interested in what Telsa did, I am interested in him as a person. All will be revealed tomorrow. x x x x x