OK...so I look like a monster....a burned, pimply monster, but I am there....I can't wear my new face for some reason on Secondlife, so that's good......
However, my nose looks pretty good......
Monday, May 13, 2013
Secondlife---my alter-ego avatar...
I know I'm pirategrrl775, and I wanted to make a pirate, but I saw a cute little bee costume that I could not pass up---remember when I said I liked bees??? Yeah, I had to have it.... I also found a different skin color and hairstyle that I liked, but I still have on my glasses--I have to see, you know....taking the glasses off, you can see I have purple eyes to match my skin.....
Secondlife stuff.....created piece of clothing
So I found directions and templates to create a piece of clothing in Secondlife--super easy! Trying to get myself to wear it was a little harder--the directions on how to wear it must have been older, because the control to click was in a different location, but I did it. I used Photoshop to create this pink top with black stars. I decorated the template, but when I put it on my avatar, I changed it a little bit. Too cute!!
This is the template-- |
Monday, May 6, 2013
Evaluation Confirmation--needing all the help I can get!!!
User | Debora Fields |
---|---|
Course | Course Evaluation (Spring 2013) - ART 245.1001 Digital Media I (Whittenberger, Peter) |
Survey | Course Evaluation |
Started | 5/6/13 1:29 PM |
Submitted | 5/6/13 1:37 PM |
Status | Completed |
Time Elapsed | 7 minutes out of 1 hour. |
Instructions |
Monday, May 6, 2013 2:00:08 PM PDT
3-D---The Sequel.....
Well, this was harder than I thought it would be!!! I used Sketchup. Without highlighting every horrifying moment of working on this, I will just say that it looks like a pretty 3-D box. Yes, it is the shape of the matchbox, but the elements within it are not 3-D. Don't even get me started on the top!
I'll show the prettier ones first:
"No, you aren't crazy--I could not get the images to match the box perfectly, despite all of the tutorials I watched.
Uh, the top! Nothing I tried would do what I wanted............
I'll show the prettier ones first:
"No, you aren't crazy--I could not get the images to match the box perfectly, despite all of the tutorials I watched.
Uh, the top! Nothing I tried would do what I wanted............
Monday, April 29, 2013
Art Event Write-Ups
Two by Land--Katherine Sandoz and Nicole Donnelly at the
Sheppard Gallery
I attended the exhibit, but I was unable to get
an artists' statement--the desk area was pretty busy, but I enjoyed the art.
I am sure this exhibit is called "Two by Land", not only
because there are 2 artists, but because their works are similar, but
different. One uses more of the textural technique and images, while one
used bands of color to represent landscape views. The color choice would remind
you of a landscape you saw somewhere, but the muted quality of the colors
suggest that this is from a memory--you can remember some of the shapes, and
the colors, but the details are not quite clear. #5 does this for me: we can see that it
is a rock or hill, but the sediment layers are visible. It reminded me of the
passage between Valencia and the north part of the San Fernando Valley in Los
Angeles when you are traveling on Intersate 5. This is the San Andreas Fault
rift zone, and you can see the shape of the rock, but the exact location is a
bit vague in a memory.
The artist that used the textural techniques
appears as though she might have used acrylics--some of the techniques used
were almost like a resist, and there was also using and incorporating dripping
paint into the work. For example, #13 use the drips as tree
roots. The works were abstract landscapes, with a few that had
recognizable images, such as a castle and the sails rigging on a large
ship. The rigging was painted white on a background that mixed broad
sweeps with the resist technique peeking from underneath. The ship reminded me of the Balclutha, a
large, old cargo ship at the Maritime Museum in San Francisco. The artist that chose to use the bands of
color used color to illustrate the layers of landscape--a familiar yet unknown
view from the highway of mountains, some close and some far.
I thought this exhibit did a great job of evoking
memory. Sometimes when we travel, we see
something, through the fog or in the distance, and we remember it. It reminded the viewer to take in the broader
picture, and not just the details.
Persuasion—text,
placement and word use--Priscilla B. Varner at the Mc Namara
I began by reading the
artist’s statement. Varner says that printed words can be used and placed in
certain ways to evoke emotion. Words can
change the mood of what we read: a “small
gathering of protesters” can be inflated to “angry mob,” sparking emotion in the
reader. Varner used photos, paired with
a list of words hanging side by side—one word per line—intending to describe
the picture in various ways.
The first work I noted this in was “Juillet.” The word was painted in dark gray or
weathered black block letters on a white wall, with tree branches hanging over
the wall. The words next to it were “anniversary, monumental, reconciliation, revolutionary,
rights, unity.” And yes, those two
words were printed in a fancy font. After
a short search, I found out that ‘juillet’ means ‘July’ in French. Now I could
understand more about the picture:
someone’s wedding anniversary could have been in July, July is the month
of Bastile Day in France, and perhaps July is also a month for other
things. In our country, it is the month
for summer and the 4th of July, so ‘rights’ might have meaning for
us in the United States.
Another example of word use is from a work called “des
Rangees”, which is a photo of large chairs in a grand theatre, with little
golden ornaments on top of the chairs that appear to be covered in velvet. Three
of the words used are ‘luxurious,’ ‘warm’ and ‘opulent.’ Luxury means an
expensive lifestyle to me, while opulent means expensive and over-decorated. The
scene all depends on the word used to describe it, and that is what Varner
wants us to do.
Wood, Paper, Etc—Walter McNamara at Sierra Arts Gallery
(OK, so didn’t take notes when I was there, and I don’t recall names of
pieces, but I will do my best here…) I had never seen McNamara’s work, so I was
intrigued. So many times collage and mixed
media work just looks like a mish-mash of garbage put together with no purpose
or meaning, but his works combine material and technique in a very interesting
way. This exhibit was interesting to me,
from a crafter’s point of view, because I enjoy using mixed media myself, and I
wanted to see what a “real” artist does.
I don’t use a lot of
wood, but McNamara combines wood with other materials, making a subtle
statement about outdoor life here in Nevada. There is art in a tree limb or branches.
I also like the message that comes from the pieces he created out of our
garbage—each piece is a piece of our own modern lives, formed to create
something usable from what we thought was no longer usable.
Discussion questions for Reading #7
1. Do you really think there is no new media, since everything has already been done before?
2. Digital media is not the be-all-end-all we hoped it would be, according to Manovich, so will we continue to use a flawed system, or even continue to call it digital media?
2. Digital media is not the be-all-end-all we hoped it would be, according to Manovich, so will we continue to use a flawed system, or even continue to call it digital media?
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Artists Presentation: David Em and Perry Hoberman
David Em
David Em was born in Los Angeles, CA in 1952,
and was raised in South America. He began working with oils, then he started to
create his own paints. He experimented
with plastic paints that he used to create 3-dimentional works. In the mid to
late1970's, inspired by the images of space being produced by JPL (Jet
Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, CA)scientists, he began producing digital art. He
utilized the computer labs at JPL, before personal computers were available, to
"create worlds of my own. (Em)"
Later, he was the Artist in Residence at JPL for 10 years. According to
his artist's statement on the Digital Art Museum (DAM) website, Em states that:
Early in the evening of January
6, 1975, I visited PARC for the first time. I had never been in a computer
research lab before, so everything was new to me. Computers were everywhere.
Alvy showed me how to run his paint program, which consisted of an electronic
stylus that could create lushly colored and exotically shaped electronic brush
strokes on a color computer screen. Moving the stylus across a digitizing
tablet controlled the location and movement of the electronic brushes on the
screen. Up to this point no one from a fine arts background had sat at the
controls of the system. But the stylus and tablet setup were easy for me to
adapt to because of my traditional painting background and my familiarity with
video tools, and an hour later I had created my first computer image. (Em)
In the
1980's, Em states that while others were working on animating their work, he
was focusing on "creating paintings with electronic light." He also
took programs that were used for scientific purposes (such as recreating the
rings of Saturn)and applied them to his works, creating images that look like
they come from another world.
Em took a year off from working with computers, but when he
returned in 1985, he noticed that the technology had changed, and he had a
new-found perspective on digital media:
While I was away from the
high-tech lab, I became extremely conscious of how much the tools we use
determine the physical and social environments we live and work in, and how
much these factors influence our perceptions and ideas. How tedious and time
consuming it must have been for Rembrandt's studio assistants to grind up a
tiny quantity of paint for the master's daily work, compared to more recent
times when an artist like Jackson Pollock, alone in his studio, could take
advantage of drums of commercially produced paints to develop new creative
directions. Now, by eliminating paint entirely from the initial creative act,
the computer is pushing the envelope of imaging a little further, opening the
way to a vast new and unpredictable visual territory.
Transjovian Pipeline
I chose "Turner" (1985)as my representative work by Em.
As a kid (and now!), I too, am fascinated by the pictures
that come from space. Images of planets, stars, and colorful nebulas can, as Em
stated, inspire one to want to create their own fantasy world, with no
limitations but their own imagination.
In this piece, I see sunset on the planet Turner. The color and swirled nature of the clouds
suggest that there are gases present in the Turnerian atmosphere, creating
cloud formations similar to those found on Jupiter. The rocky surface looks much like the red
surface of Mars, and I am sure much of that look is attributed to Em's
knowledge and use of the technology he utilized at JPL. His works, which have been featured in magazines
such as Newsweek and in collaborations with companies like Apple, are in
contrast to those of Perry Hoberman.
Perry Hoberman
Perry Hoberman was born in
1954 and attained his Bachelor's degree at Bennington College in Vermont from
1974-77. From V2, Hoberman's work is
described as," an installation and media artist who works with a variety
of materials and technologies, ranging from the obsolete to the
state-of-the-art, from low-tech to high-tech and nearly everything in between.
His work has variously taken the form of installations, sculptures, multimedia,
performances, concerts, plays and uncategorizable spectacles." His works
are more than visual: visitors need all
five senses to experience some of his installations. He has also published essays, exploring the
issue of mistakes and accidents while using digital media, and whether or not
these "accidents" have the same effect on art as they would in the
"real" world. Hoberman's works
often require action to create a reaction in the piece, such as "Timetable" and "System
Maintenance"; one is triggered by other imagery reflecting onto the piece,
the other is triggered by visitor interaction.
Hoberman has also worked with stereoscopic media: a technique that was invented in 1838, in
which a 2-dimensional image is positioned in such as way that the brain
interprets what the eye sees as 3-dimensional, with no glasses or other
external devices.
Gallery show advertisement
Timetable
The representative
work I chose by Hoberman is called "Bar Code Hotel" and it also a
piece that requires direct interaction. This full-scale installation received
the top prize at the Interactive Media Festival (Los Angeles, 1995). Hoberman
describes this installation by saying it "recycles the ubiquitous symbols
found on every consumer product to create an multi-user interface to an unruly
virtual environment (Perry Hoberman).
Each barcode creates a sound, video, or action which can last for a few
seconds or longer. Visitors are given 3-D glasses and a wand to scan bar codes
placed throughout the installation, so visitors are ultimately responsible for
their own experience in the installation.
"Bar
Code Hotel" is interesting to me, because it asks visitors to interact
with something they are involved with on a daily basis: those UPC bar codes on products. People who work in the retail field,
including myself, know that these little codes make your life easier, since you
do not have to input information in each time a purchase is made. Package designers loathe them, since they are
required on all packaging, and a design has to work around it. The only thing some people see them as, is
the annoying little beep it makes as a product is scanned; that beep elicits
memories of supermarkets, or reminders that we live in an automated world. By letting the visitor take control of how
the bar code is used, scanning it or not scanning it (or even scanning it over
and over), the visitor can have control over their own automated world. The mundane bar codes are now usable and are
capable of output.
Image from "Bar Code Hotel"
Here is the link to Bar
Code Hotel .
Comparing and Contrasting
the Works
Em
created his art with existing technology to create new works that he learned at
JPL. His chosen genre is visual art, and
he can reach millions of people with his art, since it has been published in
magazines and books, and he has produced art for many companies. Hoberman, too,
has used existing technology in his art in his works that use the stereoscopic
technique. However, his works are more
than just in the visual genre: he uses
visual, auditory, tactical and kinetic media in his works. Visitors to his shows can expect noise and
movement, as well as becoming a part of the show themselves. Rather than creating works for magazines, he
creates installations that incorporate the visitor in the art.
Relating The Artists to the Readings
In our reading, Digital Divide by Claire Bishop, she
states that digital artists should make a commentary about digital art in their
works using digital media. In our class
discussion, an example was used about quilters making quilts about quilting and
the social implications of such. Em's
works use digital media, but he did not create any interplanetary worlds that
were of planets dying because of their use of digital media. In this way, he
has not met Bishop's need for digital media to be commentary and reactionary to
the viewer.
In our reading of The Work of Art in the
Age of Mechanical Reproduction, I
noted that the author, Walter Benjamin, states that works produced by artists
need to be able to be viewed in real-world space--simply going online to view a
gallery show is not enough, and the viewer will not have the same sort of
encounter with the work as the artist intended.
"Bar Code Hotel" is unable to be reproduced: even if the installation were rebuilt, it is
the visitor that creates the experience, so no two visits are alike. You may be able to watch the video, but this
installation requires human interaction to make everything work. Besides, it no fun just to sit there and
watch everyone else making things go.
Sources
Bishop, Claire. Digital Divide.
March 2013 < http://www.scribd.com/doc/115513943/Bishop-Claire-Digital-Divide>
Benjamin, Walter.
The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. February 2013.
< http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm>
Dana, Jenny and
Jaime Radwan. ACM SIGGRAPH. 14 April 2013 <http://www.siggraph.org/artdesign/profile/David_Em/portfolio2.html>
Hoberman, Perry. Bar
Code Hotel. 15 April 2013
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvVJnhwGb0s>
Hoberman, Perry. Perry
Hoberman. 13 April 2013 <http://www.perryhoberman.com>
Monday, April 1, 2013
3D Sculpture
Here are some pictures I took of the sculpture project---I really enjoyed doing this, since I love to do things with mixed media like making collages and artist trading cards. This shrine represents some of the elements and themes that I like to use in my mixed media art.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Project 5--Continued....
Part 2:
For my own crowdsourcing project, I thought about my hobbies and what was already out there in relation to those hobbies. There are plenty of quilt circles, and swaps where someone adds a block to a quilt. Besides, I don't quilt, but I love to sew, and I thought doing something related to fabric would be a good idea. I have heard of people collecting fabric squares from people to create a quilt, but I wanted to do this on a bigger scale. I know for me, I get inspired when I see fabric; I can see the kind of projects I could make from it, and have made stops at fabric stores on trips, so I do have some pieces that can tell stories. My project would be to have people send in squares of fabric so I could make a giant blanket for an art exhibit. I would ask people to not just send in fabric they bought (although they could if it was from a special trip), but fabric from things that mean something to them. On my homepage, I used the example of a piece of a wedding dress, a sweater, or a tie. I also said that fabric binds us, because we all wear clothes, and most of the time, it is more than just an outfit we are wearing: we tie meanings and memories to clothing and fabric. If I really did this--which I know I would never have time to do this--I would want to make it as big as I could, so it would be big enough to cover the ceiling and walls of an entire room, then cut it up afterwards to make blankets for charity.
For my own crowdsourcing project, I thought about my hobbies and what was already out there in relation to those hobbies. There are plenty of quilt circles, and swaps where someone adds a block to a quilt. Besides, I don't quilt, but I love to sew, and I thought doing something related to fabric would be a good idea. I have heard of people collecting fabric squares from people to create a quilt, but I wanted to do this on a bigger scale. I know for me, I get inspired when I see fabric; I can see the kind of projects I could make from it, and have made stops at fabric stores on trips, so I do have some pieces that can tell stories. My project would be to have people send in squares of fabric so I could make a giant blanket for an art exhibit. I would ask people to not just send in fabric they bought (although they could if it was from a special trip), but fabric from things that mean something to them. On my homepage, I used the example of a piece of a wedding dress, a sweater, or a tie. I also said that fabric binds us, because we all wear clothes, and most of the time, it is more than just an outfit we are wearing: we tie meanings and memories to clothing and fabric. If I really did this--which I know I would never have time to do this--I would want to make it as big as I could, so it would be big enough to cover the ceiling and walls of an entire room, then cut it up afterwards to make blankets for charity.
Project 5--Crowdsourcing
Part 1:
I thought this project was a lot of fun. It was interesting to participate in different projects, and to (eventually!!) see my work along with the many others that contributed. I really wanted to do Dear Photograph, but the Submit button was disabled or something--I just kept getting an error message.
The first project I worked on was The Johnny Cash Project. I am not a Cash fan, but I recognize the song: it used to be wrestler The Undertaker's entrance music for a while. I clicked on "Contribute", and I was given a choice of frames to work on, which were probably spots in the video that needed to be filled in. I chose the blank one, since I was not really interested in illustrating the sheep frame that popped up, and the other one seemed to complicated, but you could select other frames. The tools were right on the site to create my artwork, so I created an abstract brushstroke for a frame near the end of the video. Here is my contribution. It is still awaiting approval, but you can see the whole video here.
For my next project, I did Collected Visions. It is a site where you can create a photo essay about the photographs people have contributed, or you can just submit an essay, or submit your own pictures. I chose to write a short essay about one of the photographs on the site because it reminded me of my grandmother:
I have not heard whether or not this was accepted for submission, so I hope it will be. The website for Collected Visions is here.
The last project I collaborated on was Young Me/Me Now. I thought it was a pretty fun project! You have to find a picture of yourself as a child, then take a picture of yourself now, trying to recreate that old photo. I had my mom dig out the the old photo albums and found a picture of me, as a very adorable baby, so I used that one. I don't have anything in that blue, and for sure I don't have any footie pajamas, so I did my best. I have not heard whether or not I was accepted, but this is what I came up with:
Check out Young Me/Me Now here.
I thought this project was a lot of fun. It was interesting to participate in different projects, and to (eventually!!) see my work along with the many others that contributed. I really wanted to do Dear Photograph, but the Submit button was disabled or something--I just kept getting an error message.
The first project I worked on was The Johnny Cash Project. I am not a Cash fan, but I recognize the song: it used to be wrestler The Undertaker's entrance music for a while. I clicked on "Contribute", and I was given a choice of frames to work on, which were probably spots in the video that needed to be filled in. I chose the blank one, since I was not really interested in illustrating the sheep frame that popped up, and the other one seemed to complicated, but you could select other frames. The tools were right on the site to create my artwork, so I created an abstract brushstroke for a frame near the end of the video. Here is my contribution. It is still awaiting approval, but you can see the whole video here.
For my next project, I did Collected Visions. It is a site where you can create a photo essay about the photographs people have contributed, or you can just submit an essay, or submit your own pictures. I chose to write a short essay about one of the photographs on the site because it reminded me of my grandmother:
Grandmothers:
A Love Like No Other
Pouring over an old photo album for another project, I came across old
pictures of when I was a baby. There I was, 7 months old, and being held by my
grandmother. I related to this picture because I have some pictures similar to
this one in the photo album, with my grandmother looking at me. This is not my
own grandmother, but I can feel the love she has for her grandchild, the way my
grandmother loved me. I think it's sad that we enter our grandparents' lives
when they are older, and we miss out on what they were like as children, or as
young adults. My grandmother passed away when I was in 5th grade, so I never
thought to ask what her life was like at 17, when she left Mississippi and
moved to California. My mother said she grew up in a home where children didn't
ask things like that, so she didn't know either. I think our birth gives our
grandparents a second life: a chance to make right the wrong things they did
with their children, and a chance to hold a tiny hand, the way my grandmother
held mine. My grandmother would always buy us things, including the Holly
Hobbie oven my mother made her return. In my eyes, my grandmother could do no
wrong: she made potato salad for barbecues, baked cakes on birthdays (nevermind
that it was a box mix), prepared holiday meals, and came with us on family
trips. I hope the little guy (or girl) in this photo cherishes the memory of
his grandmother they way I cherish mine. She will always be in their heartI have not heard whether or not this was accepted for submission, so I hope it will be. The website for Collected Visions is here.
The last project I collaborated on was Young Me/Me Now. I thought it was a pretty fun project! You have to find a picture of yourself as a child, then take a picture of yourself now, trying to recreate that old photo. I had my mom dig out the the old photo albums and found a picture of me, as a very adorable baby, so I used that one. I don't have anything in that blue, and for sure I don't have any footie pajamas, so I did my best. I have not heard whether or not I was accepted, but this is what I came up with:
Check out Young Me/Me Now here.
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