the MOVING WALLPAPER issue

[videoswitchboard]

THE NEW HOT POLL FOR NOVEMBER 2005 HAS ARRIVED!

You hear that somebody's called your visuals "MOVING WALLPAPER"- you assume that it means:

-a diss. pure and simple.
-it's not a comment about quality but more about style (e.g: it's not closely connected to the music or something similar)
-it's likely to be a compliment from design minded stylished person
-they don't actually know what VJing is about, they must mean "screensaver" or something.

Wallpaper lovers and haters, make yourselves heard!
Vote in numbers and maybe start by posting short replies only as to not influence others with your views..

it's an expression i've been wondering about for ages and it's just come up again in this thread (http://www.vjforums.com/showthread.php?threadid=13690&perpage=15&pagenumber=3) (Sleepytom's post at the bottom of the page) so i feel it's the right time to noise people up with some more issues of aesthetics.


cheers,

pointless dav.

[videoswitchboard]

end of the poll monday 21st of november.

special prize: 1 [original] machinista DVD for the most relevant (to the result percentage) 1 line answer as selected by ME.:yep:

[wellREDman]

i pretty much only vj with bands now
and what i see myself doing is creating an interesting dynamic backdrop for them to perform in front of.

[sleepytom]

i would use it to mean not attention grabbing ie that the visuals in question are not a focus, merely a piece of graphical furniture to be ignored.

as to the connotations then it would depend upon context and how you view your role as a VJ in that event.

[asterix]

I try and make it pretty obvious that Im compiling it! Besides my stuff is never still enought and is to beat synchronised to look like 'wallpaper'.

[Anyone]

I think Wallpaper may be looked at as a bad comment in the UK
because I have yet to see a good paper patern on the walls here.

This would probably not be the case for example in Barcelona or Copenhagen
were the decorative arts are not looked down upon

ever seen a Romantic or Art Deco wallpaper?

[kallisti]

well, i often tell people that i make moving wallpaper... before others get the chance to insult me, cut em off at the pass...make a surgical strike and take away their best insult... the way i figure, people who are into the idea respond with how it's not wallpaper, and how visuals influence the club etc.... the people who agree that's its moving wallpaper, well, i just figure that they could care less about what is going on, and are just there for the alcohol....

it's all context anyways... if a random person insults you, it has less bearing than if one of your friends said the same thing... besides in all art related fields, there is always going to be someone who just doesn't get it....no matter what you do.

[kevenius]

I've made this video specialy for people who say that :D


Motionapaper (http://xplsv.tv/motion.php?id=175)

[Lucidhouse]

Originally posted by kevenius
I've made this video specialy for people who say that :D


Motionapaper (http://xplsv.tv/motion.php?id=175)


that's the best wall paper I've ever seen! Great work!



- I've never had the moving wall paper comment, but have been told that I'm doing a great "light Show" which is comparably ignorant...

[djnada]

My feeling is that the "wallpaper" remark has entered the lexicon to refer to any visuals that are abstract that you throw at an audience. I think it was originally more directed toward the slow, visually "ambient' style of video. Yes, I consider it a put down - one that is embedded in the language no matter what you put out there. Though I haven't heard it's being used in a while.

[nocternal]

Originally posted by kevenius
I've made this video specialy for people who say that :D


Motionapaper (http://xplsv.tv/motion.php?id=175)


wow, i like

really nice man, ive only ever seen that kinda wallpaper after a hardcore raving session in thetford forest, but when i woke up the next day it was back to normal!

[spark]

ha! ditto kallisti, got it nailed there =]

i quite like the term, its kinda cosy, but yeah its a diss...

toby

[Creatrix]

I dont feel its any sort of judgement on one's work, rather the term 'moving wallpaper' to me depicts a subtle and supportive visual backdrop to whatever is happening in the foreground (ie. a band, poetry reading, etc.). Now, if you were intending for your visuals to be the prime focus rather than a supportive feature, well then perhaps the term could be interpretted to offend... Ultimately it depends on the context in which the term is being used, imo.

[Anyone]

First of all, I have to say,

that is a fantastic wallpaper Kevenius!
well done, you've proven your point the best way possible
actions speak louder than words....

This is so far the best example I've seen of re-appropriation of the word,
which as Spark said I agree is inteded as a diss
(FYI, diss is short for disrespect)

we have to remember that history is full of examples of reapropriations.
I studied art so that's the history I know,
and this one is chunk full of these:

Pop-art and minimal art for example,
were both meant as a diss,
coined by art critics to "insult" the artists abiding to that style...

minimal art meant originally "minimal art content"
pop art meant originally "art for commoners"

in both cases, instead of feeling insulted,
the artists said "yeah, that's what I mean"
confusing the critics and at the same time
using their own words as a weapon against them

reversal is a great strategy

long live the wallpaperists!

[neoteo]

totaly agree with the fact that words invoke diferent feelings and representations in mind.

after that exelent motion paper clip , everyone got amazed with what this topic could do !!!

good work kevenius

[VJFranzK]

Yes, nice wallpaper. When can we order rolls of it?


See also the hotel check-in scene of Fear and Loathing. It's a shame they hadn't the budget to do digital FX on more scenes...

re: wallpaper
I would find it insulting, unless it was a mellow ambient gig where such a style might be perfect? ;) best to ignore ignorant comments though - our modus operandi is cutting edge, it's only natural for people not to understand ( and mistake me for the sound man? )

it could be quite interesting though for a club to feature back projection wall instalations that alternate being still and morphing very slowly -

to make people wonder - did I imagine that?
:confused:

[spark]

btw didn't syzygy do a one-off set of animations they'd made from some famous wallpaper designer's archives at the big chill this year?

lovely stuff from what i remember, tho it was too light for most of the set, shame.

also, thats a beautiful sequence you've made there. truly.

toby

[VGA]

You've heard somebody called your visuals: "MOVING WALLPAPER" you assume it means:

- They hold your work in high regard, citing you as the natural successor to the great writer, socioligist and wallpaper designer William Morris.

- They enjoy cosy nights in with strong chemicals.

- They've never tried to strip woodchip with 42 layers of white emulsion baked onto it, as moving is the last thing this that shit wants to do.

[Anyone]

I can brush off any insult, just laugh it off!

my favourite insult was a certain political VJ which I won't name
came up to me and said with a bit of a snear
that my visuals were very "pretty".

I wonder how anybody would be offended by that...?

Anyhoo, the only serious insult for me
would be to not get paid for my gig!

Ne1

[Rovastar]

I don't mind the term. I don't know what you lot are moaning about.....I mean it you could have your work called swirlies or something. :)

[vveerrgg]

Originally posted by sleepytom
i would use it to mean not attention grabbing ie that the visuals in question are not a focus, merely a piece of graphical furniture to be ignored.

as to the connotations then it would depend upon context and how you view your role as a VJ in that event. I think you're spot on....

right now I think the VJ is more in the backdrop. But if the focus and the context of the event is more visual based... I imagine it would be a different story.

[kevenius]

Came accros this http://www.droogdesign.nl/#frames(lb=lb.php?r=161&f=2,rb=rb.php?f=2&page=5)

That's real moving wallpaper! nocternal maybe that's what you saw.

[beeple]

who gives a fuck what someone else calls your shit. nobody will see it how you do and the way you see it is all that matters.

www.beeple.com

(however, if i had to guess, i'd say that was probably not exactly a compliment from someone who probably doesn't know what the hell they are talking about)

[VGA]

Originally posted by beeple
[B]who gives a fuck what someone else calls your shit. nobody will see it how you do and the way you see it is all that matters.


I give a shit what other people think of my shit because otherwise I wouldn't be doing it, hell, I wouldn't even be making it, I'd be staying indoors drinking bottles of Tusana cough linctus.
If one or two or a thousand people want to turn around and say they don't rate it well, hell yeah, fuck them, fuck their opinion and fuck their attractive cousins. If I don't get at least one person coming up and saying how much they enjoyed the show then I'm going home a mildy unhappy vj.
Unless that is, I've drunk too much cough syrup.

[videoswitchboard]

last chance to vote on this poll!!

8 hours to go before the whole truth about wallpaper is finally revealled.

[videoswitchboard]

Here we go- VJs and other visualists with no names have spoken.

The results are:

-a diss. pure and simple.
11votes
39.29%

-it's not a comment about qualy but more about style (e.g: it's not closely connected to the music or something similar)
5 votes
17.86%

-it's likely to be a compliment from design minded stylished person
5 votes
17.86%

-they don't actually know what VJing is about, they must mean "screensaver" or something.
7 votes
25.00%

Total: 28 votes.. not bad.

My analysis of the results is as follow:
With choices 1, 2 and 3 being the obvious negative, neutral and positive options, it leaves option 4 as being the odd one subject to interpretation.
I would argue that this choice (aside from those who picked it for a laugh) is an even greater insult than option 1 as it assumes that the person concerned must be ignorant as an excuse for their bad taste.

so final results are:
Wallpaper as an insult: 63%
Wallpaper as a compliment: 18%
neither: 18%

it's also interesting to read the comments:
many seem to confirm that this is a perceived meaning but as always, those who actually do good shit (in whatever style) can have wide ranging appreciation of many genres.

AND THE WINNER IS:
drum roll...

:nod: TOM :nod:
"merely a piece of graphical furniture to be ignored"
-nice one! I think this sums up the power of the diss.

the other winners are
...another drum roll....

:yep: VGA :yep:
"They hold your work in high regard, citing you as the natural successor to the great writer, socioligist and wallpaper designer William Morris"
-pretty much what I think

:heart: KEVENIUS :heart:
"motion paper"
a picture is worth a thousand words

and..
..cymbals..

:violin: ROVASTAR :violin:
"you could have your work called swirlies or something"
this one cracked me up!!

Well done guys- you've won a dvd that's freely downloadable (http://www.machinista.org.uk/dvd) . send me your address.

Ok,

cheers for contributing.
if you want to find out some more about my visual wallpaper investigations (and you've got a spare 10 minutes)


click here (http://davabernard.f2s.com/wallpaper/)


ceeya.

dav

[sleepytom]

wow cool a prize - and i thought everyone just hated me here!

you can send it to me if you want or maybe i hould just download it?
does it come with a cover? my printer is not working so a cover would be cool! perhapse you can just send me that?

[videoswitchboard]

just kidding Tom
no need to download: the original disc comes with cover and disc print...

just PM me your address, i'll send them next week when i'm back from Holland.

dav

[kevenius]

Wow thats really nice didn't know it was sort of a contest.

[VGA]

:yep:
Nice!
The last thing I won was a bag of crisps.
Interesting article BTW, perhaps the next vote should be what sort of a VJ do you consider yourself to be, supastar, marketing (the joy of live effects! yes mr.promoter/dj, I spend hours in after effects to create that custom animation...), animator...personally, I am of them, and none...

BTW Morris was actually a terrible writer, "The well at the worlds end" is the biggest pile of steretypical fantasy drivvle I've ever read.