HOLY MOLY.

Creating The Face

Creating The Extra Me

 For some reason, I thought I took way more screenshots than this. Anywho, most of the time while working on this, I was around some other class mates. For the extra avatar, I created Pacman, but with wild eyes. Then I wondered what else I should do, so I created all of the ghosts as well. Also funny story, in the first photo of the ghost in the line of screenshots of creating the extra me, there were guys battling each other Dragon-Ball Z style, with explosions, and that's what was happening in the background, and they happened to trap Jasmine for a good five minutes as well. Plenty good times.
The face, while I think the shape looks alright, I didn't realize the colors would be so incredibly off-setting. And I took the photos at the same time; however, I did not think of where the light would be, etc, so my neck and ears look normal colored, and my face looks like Shrek. I think I would be able to do it again with normal colors next time.

 Artist Statement:

This project was horrible. I messed with many things for hours to try to recreate it. I would like to try and use this program more, or more specifically Blender to create something more attractive. I have a million times more appreciation for 3D artists, but I am still thoroughly interested in 3D modeling.

Lecture and Exhibition Papers

Ericka Harrsch Lecture

             Ericka Harrsch is a well-known, international artist that has had many exhibitions all around the world. She was originally a painter, who has transitioned through many, many mediums. Her lecture focused around a series that she started on in New York, Imagos. This used photography, and did an incredible amount of research on the Monarch butterfly. She teamed up with a scientist and began taking photos of the butterflies, and making them into exhibitions with 3D type images as well by putting them in shadow boxes to make them look like actual specimen. Through this monarch project she also began relating these butterflies to female genitalia. She compared butterflies of different regions to the genitalia of women from those regions. To do this she had to find women in New York and some how connect with them and get them to come to her studio and let her photograph their genitals. For me, this is really inspiring, because if you have a vision, then it is important to go through with that vision and find the way it works best.

            She used Photoshop to combine the photos of the women’s genitals with the photos of butterflies. She continued with this in making two-sided prints of the butterflies on a type of paper that sounded like butterflies fluttering through the air, and folding them to look like butterflies. She did this to an incredible amount – thousands of butterflies were folded. She had much help in folding these, which was interesting, because the people who folded them were mostly volunteers, children, parents, etc. And through this, it caused much conversation between people, because not all the time did people realize what was actually included in the butterfly photos.

            When she took these to her exhibits, she put them in a small room, where the butterflies laid on the ground, about a foot deep. With this, the audience could communicate and throw around the butterflies, hearing the similar sounds they make to real butterflies. Often, they also took the butterflies home as a momento of the time in which they got to encounter thousands of butterflies at a time. For me this is really important to be able to interact with the audience, and in this case, the audience was a very large variety of people, from children to the elderly. She also did this exhibition in a very nature-like area surrounded by real butterflies and foliage. The location of this specific exhibition was really eye-opening for me, because it is important to interact with not only the people viewing, but the environment around, and make the sense in the context of what is going on.

            Moreover, she continued to do many more projects based on her butterflies. One that caught my eye the most was her passport project. Due to the idea of immigration and butterflies, she did a lot of research on passports, and created a passport of her own, using the monarch butterfly on the passport. This was really unique and different, but it became rather scary and frightening hearing that she actually went to post offices and had these exhibitions, making it look like people were actually receiving real passports, and being able to travel. One of the places she went to was near the border of Mexico and The Unites States – knowing that getting your passport and perhaps work visas from Mexico to the United States, it was difficult to just sit there and look at all of per pictures knowing that many of the people who participated did not know what was going on, and why they were not actually receiving anything valid. While I am sure there were people there to explain what was going on, it was hard to watch and not feel bad for the people around. The art in the passports themselves was beautiful and meticulous. The research that had to go into this project was astounding. This is really inspirational to me, because I would like to create art in the future that is based on real world ideas, and facts. Art that will teach people things.

            After this, she focused on her collaboration with musicians to help create the LED Cello. This was a very interesting and inspiring project, because not only did it take a very large dedication to the project, but a lot of working together to help create an amazing, and multi-media art project. Music has always been a huge part of my life, and the combination of video, lights, and music is truly an experience. The way that the musician interacts with the audience in not only a musical way, but with the lights that interact with the cello is really moving and incredible. On top of that, Harrsch created video that intermingled with her paintings, which plays in the background of the cellist. The emotional and moving experience created by this is overwhelming and really inspiring for artists everywhere. Knowing that it is possible to create such work with others who work in total separate mediums is truly amazing. I’m hoping that one day I will be on this level of work, and continue to create even more incredible work. This artists lecture was truly and experience of it’s own.

MFA Art Exhibition March 2014

The artists for this exhibition included Erin Shearin with their piece "Evolution," David Tilley with "Valley, Interior," and Mathew Aakor with "Synonymous." Erin Shearin probably had the most notable pieces there with small fetus-type sculptures made out of clay hanging in glass balls, and the string in which it hung on also had the clay wrapped around it to symbolize umbilical chords. With each new sculpture of the small fetus', there were some that had malformations, or horns to make them looks like beasts. Some even have tails. They describe their work to represent climate change and the adaptation of humans with it, causing the growth of tails, horns, and misplaces toes, etc. This was  one of the more interesting displays at this exhibition because it was 3-D and you got to look at it from every angle and walk around it coming up with stories for each 'child' and trying to understand the position that each of these little children were in. Some looked like they were really in a struggle with themselves in order to one. Here is a picture of one in particular:

It looks as if it wants to be away from the horns that seemed to have been forced unto him. It really represents the struggle. The technicalities in the clay were also rather impressive, the molding was consistent in each one seemed to be on purpose. The only thing that could have changed in my opinion was the clay on the strings. It seems to be sparse and thin in places; however, overall this seemed to be my favorite piece.

              The next set of pieces, from David Tilley, entitled "Valley, Interior" were a set of photos that had layers on top of one another with cutouts of other photos. And all of the photos were in Nevada, including casinos, and the valleys. He explained that it represented barriers, and life experiences. It was really interesting for me because I grew up in Nevada, and I definitely felt some connection to these photos as a whole because sometimes there are things that stifle you from doing things, even places you love.

              The last series by Matthew Aakor. He describes his works, which are sculptures, to represent marriage and family issues. One of the pieces was a balance that was balancing water and oil with a tray underneath that collected the oil and water that perhaps fell from the cups. This one truly resonated with me because while sometimes you don't get along with your family and you don't mix well, you can meet in the middle sometimes, and with oil and water, sometimes you are not meant to mix and be happy with one another. This honestly resonated rather deeply with me and was why it was also one of my favorite pieces.

Exhibition about The Future - April 2014

             Over the passed month there have been little sculptures created from the 3D print maching in the Digital Media lab. These focused on the idea of the future, and each small sculpture told their own story. They created these models first using a program called Blender, and eventually printed them out on the 3D print machine. A few of the titles of the figures include #12064, Talking Head, and Happy Pills. #12064 seems to be my favorite most of all because for me it is the most believable, because every time we turn around Google seems to be buying the new program we are using, or really everything that we are doing in general. The painting on this figure was also very well done. At first, on the figures head, it seems that there is hair, but when you look closer, the hair is in a barcode-like way. The lines looked like hair, but there were numbers underneath, signifying that one day we will be ruled by google and we are controlled by things on the internet.

            Talking Head was also a very interesting figure to me, because it is an honest fear of mine. Even right now I am not even sure who I am and what I am doing, and it seems this figure from the future does not know who she is or what she is doing. It seems that in the future we may be more reliant on things to tell us what to do.

           Lastly, Happy Pills really resonated with me as well. The description described the piece as self-medication becoming more popular and way out of hand and eventually the FDA decided to ban them, thus causing an amazing Black Market, and the figure is sitting on top of a beautiful chair and a huge (in comparison) tub of pills. For me, pills have always been incredibly scary due to the fact that they are so addicting and a lot of the country replies on them to live a normal life. I've always been skeptical about drugs and I always will be.

            Overall, I was impressed by these small figures and the work that went into them. Some of the painting on some of them could have been slightly more refined and taken more time, but they are overall impressive.

Reading Questions

1. Manowich says that even this age, the reproduction of works lowers the quality of the pieces due to compression, does this matter considering that he also states that much of the quality can't even be taken in anymore by the audience?

2. Do you think that taking the ideas of analog media now would be helpful in progressing new media?

Impressions

Art in the digital world is viewed many ways, and created in many forms. It can be used to be incorporated into society and have an actual application, as well as the idea that it can bring knowledge and power to society about subjects that are not well known. A couple artists that focus on many of these things are Aaron Oldenburg, and Jamie Allen. Aaron Oldenburg is a game designer and new media artist whose primary interest is in game rules as an expressive medium. His video and interactive work has exhibited in festivals and galleries in New York, Berlin, São Paulo and Los Angeles, including SIGGRAPH and FILE Electronic Language International Festival. He teaches game design as an Assistant Professor in University of Baltimore's Simulation and Digital Entertainment program and has an MFA from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. In October 2003 he finished two years as an HIV Health Extension Agent for the Peace Corps in Mali, West Africa. Jamie Allen describes himself as someone who builds things with his head and hands, creating things that involve our relationships to creativity, technology and resources. He is Head of Research at the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, where he helps chart a course for research and experimentation at the institute, with colleagues in the Research team and Labs.ciid.dk.  

Each of these artists create art that provokes the audience to really think about what the art is saying, and how it effects their lives personally. A piece that Aaron Oldenburg created, called “After.” He describes this artwork as “[…] A video game about finding and then placing a loved one in the afterlife. The goal is to simulate an agnostic encounter with one's own belief system when dealing with death. The game begins with the death of a partner, and after, the player encounters obstacles in their life that can be overcome only by incorporating the imagined presence of their departed lover into their life. The controls are traditional first person mouse and keyboard.” After experiencing this game, the emotions that were created from this were intense. You witness your loved one dying, and then you have to go through trials and many an error to find them and guide them to the afterlife. The graphic style in this game are minimal, and in this sense, it is truly effective, because you are focused on making sure that your loved one makes it to the end where they will be comfortable.

At the start of the game, you cannot really interact with many things other than laying down and standing back up as you watch a red timer slowly go down, a timer to the inevitable death of the loved one that you are controlling. This causes a tension and anxiety in the person playing the game, because they know it is coming. Once it happens, the feeling is paralleled to the feeling of losing someone in real life, because while it may be expected, it does not help in the end, you still feel strange and not ready for it, and through the journey of getting them there, it is difficult, but once they are able to get to the other side, there is solitude, which is a comforting feeling. However, unsure that this is intentional, after the game ends, it completely starts over. This personally was a very empty feeling. It was over, but suddenly nothing felt accomplished. Again, the emotions from this game were an incredible array of feelings, and did cause me to think about my own life, and death that I have encountered.

For the piece that Jamie Allen did, he created a movement called “Human Potential” which focused on the idea of sustainability. Siggraph Asia describes this work as “a bicycle generator powers a water pump and lighting system for a plantation of hydroponically grown, edible plants. The plants provide nourishment for the biker, and this sealed micro-ecosystem asks: What are the limits of human ‘sustainability’?” He used technology to help make the bike sustain the crops that were growing, causing a cycle for the crops and the human. This provokes many questions about how we are living and the idea that perhaps we could sustain our own crops to live, but since we are in such an industrialized society now, it is nearly impossible to sustain ourselves this way by merely focusing on the product. Too much energy has to go into the crops, and time that it is not a viable way of living.

With this idea, though, it gives the audience ideas about how they can possibly change the way they live to help the environment, without using all of their energy to do so. This personally is really effective, because the relationship between the art and the social and political concept of growing your own food, or buying selectively. Both of these pieces cause many thoughts for the audience, and cause them to reflect on their life, causing an impression in the audience lives. However, while “After” causes an incredible amount of emotion, “Human Potential” just causes many questions to arise. And obviously the style of both of these projects are incredibly different, one is a video game while the other involves reality and immersion into community issues.

As for some critique for both of these projects, in Aaron Oldenburg’s “After,” it would have been more effective if perhaps during the time lapse to the loved ones death, if there were more human interactions with the surroundings to display more of a human sense. The controls are easy to understand, and the feelings are honestly the thing that matters most, and it was extremely effective personally. The presentation was executed very well, and was very easily downloadable. This project was an incredible success. For “Human Potential” I feel like for it to be more successful, there could have been more research and information about what it takes to sustain the crops that we need to live. Perhaps some numbers about how much energy would be needed to sustain those crops with the setup they had. The idea was very interesting and very impressionable, and the presentation was set up in colorful and very modern way which in turn was also successful. 

Both of these artists created an impression in my life and how I look at things. Also, I attempted to contact both of these artists a few times over the semester; however, neither of them responded or were able to respond, most likely due to the volume of work they are currently doing.

Citations

Allen, Jamie. "Human Potential (Movement) | Jamie Allen." Jamie Allen Human Potential Movement Comments. Siggraph, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.

"Art Gallery: Adaptation For Attendees SIGGRAPH Asia 2009." Art Gallery: Adaptation For Attendees SIGGRAPH Asia 2009. Eurographics, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.

Oldenburg, Aaron. "Aaron Oldenburg." ...Games. Unity & MakeHuman, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.

Oldenburg, Aaron. "Rhizome | After." Rhizome | After. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.

Reading #5 Questions

1. Do you think that the heavy integration of digital media and art in society has shaped the way most art is viewed and understood nowadays?

2.Do you think that digital media at such a high volume has effected the way that you see digital art and even other art? Do you think that you've become at all desensitized to art in the world due to the high rate that the internet pushes art?

Tactical Media Questions

Do you think that the tactical practices of persuasion are morally right?

Do you agree that tactical media, such as The Yes Men focus on experience rather than engagement? Do you think that there should be a form of engagement to make a larger impression on the viewer?