Getting Lost

I asked my friend Nathan to help me with this project and he agreed mostly because he did not want to do his homework for organic chemistry. When I told him what the project was he used it as an excuse to use his motor cycle. He took me to a confederate memorial very far away from campus where I took these photos. We then went to Sheets for food but I figured that wouldn't be as interesting. The confederate memorial was quite creepy and to add to it there was lightning the whole time I was there.

Public Space in a Private Time

To be honest Vito Acconci is one of the people in life who I try to avoid.  What he is saying makes sense but he overanalyzes, gets off topic, and attempts to make sense of a complex subject with a simple concept.  All in all making sense of this type of work gives me a headache. I do however like his beginning paragraph (1) because it shows a progression of how society has changed because of time.

"It used to be, you could walk down the streets of a city and always know what time it was.  There was a clock in every store; all you had to do was look through the store window as you passed by."  This is a concept that did not exist in my life time, but I like the concept because it allows more social interactions. The idea of everyone being on "the same clock" is ideal because everyone relies on each other for the time.  Because there is a need to rely on others for time there would also be a stronger sense of community.  A sense of community is what we lack in today's world.

"But then times changed, and time went away... Time came cheap now; you picked up a watch like a pack of matches."  In this quote, Acconci is referring to when wristwatches came into style and suddenly you could find out the time on your own.  "You wore your time on your sleeve, you had time (almost in the palm of your hand. Public time was dead."  Today people do not rely on each other for anything because they don't need to. You have a source of communication and  infinite information in the palm of your hand.  If Acconci thinks wristwatches seperated society he should see what smart phones have done.  There is no longer a need to go to the library, ask people for directions, or get recommendations on restaurants.  Your smart phone has access to all that information and more.  There are now online relationships, jobs, and classes which eliminate the need to go out into the world at all. The world has become more disconnected by technology than it has been connected.  Vito Acconci displays this aspect in society well because he doesn't tell you what has happened, but he shows you.

PROJECT 2 FINALLYYYYYY

IM SO HAPPY TO BE DONE :)

Forgot to Post Signature and Line Drawing :O

Advertisement Project

Ever since I visited Baltimore I have noticed that the Natty Bo sign is colorless, which I found unusual for a logo.  For this project I add the main 3 bright colors (red, yellow, and blue) and I put in bolded bright colored text.  I also found that adding a border really focuses your attention in on the logo.

Winsor McCay

An American cartoonist and animator, Winsor McCay was a revolutionary cartoonist who inspired many famous cartoonists such as Walt Disney.  He was born in 1871 in Spring Lake, Michigan where he started drawing at an early age.  He originally went to business college, but then moved to Chicago in order to study at an art institute, however, he found that he couldn't afford it and went straight into work in printing. He produced wood cuts for circus, theatrical, and World War I propaganda posters.  He then moved to Cincinnati, Ohio to produce art for Kohl and Middleton's Dime Museum.  In 1903 he began drawing cartoons the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Many of Winsor's cartoons and animations were based off of poems or dreams. I watched two of his most famous animations Little Nemo, created in 1911, and Gertie the Dinosaur, created in 1914.  In these films he portrays himself first as the cartoonist and then he presents a challenge such as creating a 4000 page animation or controlling the animated dinosaur. It becomes humorous as things start to become chaotic because the challenge is too much for him.  He then regains his composure in the end and conquers his challenge and goes above and beyond what the viewer expected him to do.

Seeing these films gives the illusion of a time machine and really gives you insight into why Walt Disney's first animations were so wacky. I was really interested in the dream like cartoon Winsor created in Little Nemo.  His use of perspective really made the cartoon come alive and I was surprised he was able to portray that so accurately in his cartoon. He portrayed the surreal aspect of a dream also very well because the cartoon gives a sense of slight confusion followed by interest in what might happen next. The way the dream proceeded from a clown like figure on a blank piece of paper to a colorful scene with a couple climbing into a dragons mouth carriage was a very good build up.  I really liked how his characters, although silent, truly had their own wacky personalities that they portrayed through their body language and actions. His characters were fun, energetic, but in a way slightly insane which really brought the whole concept of the dream back together.

Project 2 Progress

I have completed most of the general shading in the face; however, I do have a lot more work to do in the details. I also need to crop my image on photoshop or learn how to adjust my work board.  I found putting in eyelashes to be a challenge because the lines come out blocky. To solve this I either have to simplify the details or find a different tool to use.

Frog... Secret Agent, Music Piece

The song starts out with a deep dull blocky base, which flows into the plucking. The plucking starts out organized but over the course of the song it begins to echo and warp.  The quirky accordion melody then strings in with a fluid motion. The lower notes are thicker sounding and the high notes are thinner. The accordion then adds a choppier on top of the existing one. The thin sound of the violin wisps in like the wind, but it makes its appearance strong. In the end, the violin becomes more chaotic and repetitive breaking up the beautiful sound. The xylophone comes in soft and cool as a contrast to the rest of the piece.  The plucking then comes back in warping in to eerie chaos ending the piece on a very different note.

Portraits

Sonya Rapoport

Sonya is an American conceptual and digital artist who is best known for her computer- assisted interactive installations and web-based work. She attended many colleges, but her passion has been focused both art and technology.  Her variety of interests began with the human figure in abstracted form in 1940 and in 1950 moved toward an abstract expressionist and watercolor. In the 1960's she experimented with bringing in a science aspect by incorporating scientific illustrations, graphs, and three dimensional abstract expressionist constructions. In the 1970's she began to use electronic media to start work on interdisciplinary and cultural studies. In the 1980's and 1990's her projects became large scale and very complex. They had very specific messages and were exhibited often in many stages.

"The Transgenic Bagel is a parody on the recombinant gene splicing theme. The genetic formula of a desired trait is engineered and impregnated into a bagel which serves as the transgenic (gene transfer) vehicle. The bagel physically resembles a plasmid, a circular DNA molecule which contains the genetic information. A section of this loop can be excised and another portion of the DNA inserted." This piece is well thought out and the more you look at it, the more of the parody you see. For example, the snakes   intertwined in the tree are shaped like reproductive organs (penis and uterus) which contribute to irony of the situation because the organs are out there, yet the characters in the image seem to prefer the indirect method of reproduction (eating a bagel).   It is interesting however that she really does do her research when it comes to the science aspect of her art.  The bagel plasmid, for example, does include adenine, guanine, thymine, and cytosine in the way the are supposed to be placed. Also, mentioning Watson and Crick, the co-discoverers of DNA, helps the viewer identify what aspect of genetics she is attacking. 

The Transgenic Bagel Explanation

I am not a fan of Sonya's work mostly because I do not find it initially visually appealing. Her concept behind her work is what makes it interesting to me, but not the work itself. For example, this image is pixelated and the text is in all different colors that don't fit in to any color scheme.  I also find it difficult to understand her work without a thorough explanation and background on the subject. I do, however, still admire the fact that she is poking fun at science because it is a very serious subject that doesn't always adhere to human reasoning.

Kal Gajoum

Kal has professional experience with oil painting and watercolor. He has traveled the world learning different styles and finding inspiration for his works of art. Although he has had a wide range of interests he now focuses on cityscapes and still life's using palette knife techniques with oils on canvas. His works have been featured in at the Royal Fine Art Gallery, Center of Britain Art Gallery, and City of Carlisle.

Gajoum appeals to me because he has an abilty that I lack in my painting style.  I lack the ability to give the illusion of smooth water. Although the majority of the painting is broken up into his palette strokes, the waterline is smooth and beautifully crafted with reflections that go for a greater realism aspect.  The water in his paintings sometimes seems to be the only real part of his paintings which is amazing because, once again, I find it to be hardest part to paint.

Gajoum also does a great job creating a mood in the painting with his use of color. The painting above shows a summer- like cheerful setting, while the painting on the right is interpreted in a calmer setting. What is interesting about the painting on the right is his use of orange and yellow to change the normally depressing greys and browns to give off a warmer tone. My only critique would be that his signature and out of focus strokes seem to distract the viewer from the main scene in the painting.

His website: http://www.kalgajoum.com/artist/

Celebrity Mashup

This is my combination of Johnny Depp, Harry Potter, and Amy Winehouse. I focused mainly on making my additions seem real and blend in with the picture.

Before and after Bad Photo

Before 

After

Sadly this was taken on an old camera so there was only so much I could do. I never seemed to completely eliminate the green on Derek's scruff, but everything else was pretty easy to correct.

Photoshop Collage

Scanned Images

The scanned items I chose are either from my dorm or from my class Japanese Art of Self-Cutivation.

Wax Paper

Slipper

Scarf

Mario Party Backpack

Leather-like bag

Wooden vase

Copper lining in vase

Cardboard box

Bracelet

The Empty Mirror

Pixel Attempted Post

So creating my animation was pretty easy for me, but then I discovered the struggle in posting it. I learned about .psd's .gif's and .jpg's all to bring you the tiny little still image that you see above.  In my actual animation there are three major moving parts. The "little red guy" drops from the pipe into the water creating a splash. He then moves across the screen and down into a stair case leading him into the next level. In the mean time the yellow toxic waste was repeatedly spewing from the pipe.  I was very disappointed that I couldn't show you its full potential, but at least I learned a lot in the process.

Pixel Animation Post that wouldn't upload correctly :(

Artist Post

 Laslo Moholy-Nagy was a very strong believer in modern art and using to turn artists into designers.  He also encouraged people to experiment with the new media of photography in order to break artists out of their traditional methods. His interest in the interaction of space time and light helped him in creating his works of art.



Laslo Moholy-Nagy explores the optical effects of objects and is a strong advocate of the integration of technology and industry into the arts. He creates kinetic light sculptures in order to display the trajectory presented by an object in motion. His work was some of the first of its kind in the new age of digital art and took that age in a new direction by showing people what you can achieve with light, glass, and a camera.

I really like how his work seems like something out of a crazy dream, but he managed to create this illusion through real world objects. I found some of my favorite pieces on the website below. These pieces show that he used a variety of mediums to display illusions. However, the most captivating of his art is his moving art in which he creates glass structures and shines light through at different angles in order to create the illusion of movement.

 

http://lisathatcher.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/laszlo-moholy-nagy-photographer-in-the-bauhaus-style/

My Homework for this class won't load...