This week I took up a good deal of interest in a specific artist mentioned in the book for our class; "Digital Art" by Christiane Paul. The artist goes by the name of Kenneth Rinaldo and his piece that sparked my attention is titled “Autopoiesis”.
Autopoiesis is a unique installation that forms an interactive environment consisting of multiple infrared sensors equipped to robotic tentacle-like arms operated by a central computer. This combination allows for the arms to react individually, or in a grouped manner towards living beings that approach it. In addition the arms will make sounds according to emotion, higher beeps for excitement and lower beeps for a state of relaxation. So in a sense this digital environment has the power of “sight”, thought, touch, and communication. In this manner you could say that Autopoiesis surpasses some mentally disabled humans in the quality of what it is to be human. A sense of free will seems like the only element separating this creation from a life of its own.
Thinking back to older cartoons set in the future, such as the Jetsons, although we aren’t riding around in space shuttles to get from place to place or coexisting with robot servants who do chores for us, creations like Autopoiesis are a step closer to proving the past predictions of the future to be nearly legit.
If anyone else is interested in learning more about Kenneth Rinaldo or viewing Autopoiesis or his other artworks, they can be found at his home site “Emergent Systems“ (http://accad.osu.edu/~rinaldo/ )
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
ART 211W Post #9 Angles of expression
With every passing decade new methods of self-expression leak out into the Internet. Tagborads, Blogs, and Livejournals began the need to connect with the world until Facebook and Myspace came along. Every website started to coax people more and more to express themselves in different ways. What began as a personal diary/journal and public instant messenger connected and spruced up with the idea of gaming and personal-webpage development to create a site that causes people to want to “form an existence” and be noticed by others.
Now, the Internet has transformed once again to an even more personal manner. Instead of creating a page that reveals “who I am and this is what I like”, sites such as Twitter and FML exist merely to focus on the purpose of expressing a detailed “status message” about the highlights of someone’s day. Therefore these sites inadvertently create a way to rant, cure boredom, while forming a sense of connection between people having similar if not worse troubles. In this manner, the Internet has moved away from the detail about identity and into a world where anonymous people gather to share stories. At the same time, just like with the rest of the Internet these entries could be lies posted simply because they are humorous tales of what people would want to read. I agree that such sites as these are amusing but aside from a cure for boredom, FML and Twitter are practically pointless. Both are just different angles of looking into other people’s lives.
Now, the Internet has transformed once again to an even more personal manner. Instead of creating a page that reveals “who I am and this is what I like”, sites such as Twitter and FML exist merely to focus on the purpose of expressing a detailed “status message” about the highlights of someone’s day. Therefore these sites inadvertently create a way to rant, cure boredom, while forming a sense of connection between people having similar if not worse troubles. In this manner, the Internet has moved away from the detail about identity and into a world where anonymous people gather to share stories. At the same time, just like with the rest of the Internet these entries could be lies posted simply because they are humorous tales of what people would want to read. I agree that such sites as these are amusing but aside from a cure for boredom, FML and Twitter are practically pointless. Both are just different angles of looking into other people’s lives.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Journal Post #8 Seeing beyond the frame of opinion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAVt-TDXq4g&fmt=18
For this week I originally planned on critiquing a project done by an undergraduate student from the University of Northern Iowa. The video (link posted above) is titled “conscious” and represents various states of the mind using motion graphics and typography. I found the approach to his topic quite brilliant. After all the state of “consciousness” includes what we choose to think about, as well as what simply works its way into our thoughts. Sometimes our thoughts are even glimpses of pictures and pieces rather than completely formed ideas and scenes.
However, anyone can write a list of all the outstanding features of a piece of art without actually understanding the depth beyond the flashy facade. A good example regarding this particular piece was when my professor briefly showed it in class, stating that it was "horrible video". I was taken aback because the video seemed flawless to me, and hence grew the idea to write a journal post about this difference in opinion. But as I was watching the video over and over analyzing it, I began to realize that the artist's concept really wasn't as deep as it first looked. Craftsmanship was well done, but a lot more could have been done with the actual concept behind it. That’s probably why my professor was stern with the opinion that he had.
So as I was writing this post transformed from an original difference of opinions of a video to the complete redefinition of a personal struggle between awe of what I may not be able to recreate yet, and what makes a video production “good” or "bad".
For this week I originally planned on critiquing a project done by an undergraduate student from the University of Northern Iowa. The video (link posted above) is titled “conscious” and represents various states of the mind using motion graphics and typography. I found the approach to his topic quite brilliant. After all the state of “consciousness” includes what we choose to think about, as well as what simply works its way into our thoughts. Sometimes our thoughts are even glimpses of pictures and pieces rather than completely formed ideas and scenes.
However, anyone can write a list of all the outstanding features of a piece of art without actually understanding the depth beyond the flashy facade. A good example regarding this particular piece was when my professor briefly showed it in class, stating that it was "horrible video". I was taken aback because the video seemed flawless to me, and hence grew the idea to write a journal post about this difference in opinion. But as I was watching the video over and over analyzing it, I began to realize that the artist's concept really wasn't as deep as it first looked. Craftsmanship was well done, but a lot more could have been done with the actual concept behind it. That’s probably why my professor was stern with the opinion that he had.
So as I was writing this post transformed from an original difference of opinions of a video to the complete redefinition of a personal struggle between awe of what I may not be able to recreate yet, and what makes a video production “good” or "bad".
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Journal Post #7 Absolute Ambiguity
MUTO: an ambiguous animation painted on public walls is a masterful production hosted at blublu.org. This approximately 7 minute long film is composed of hundreds of stop-motion stills, a well-compiled audio track, and hours into days of constant labor on an overall large scale.
The bizarre story of MUTO can only be described as the very definition of ambiguity. By constantly changing in a variety of unpredictable manners the viewer’s attention is easily captivated and locked in place. Though MUTO is only a 2D wall animation, the subjects of the story randomly interact with their environment (eating papers, crawling into holes, running across the ground, pushing aside objects, etc.), providing an unbelievably eerie dimension of reality to the piece. Sound effects and a small amount of rhythm were also carefully selected and compiled. The element of silence in particular was thoughtfully incorporated. In this manner between audio and visual cues the audience is at the complete mercy of the artist’s direction the entire duration of the film.
What I find to be the most amusing though is the fact that this entire film was created in an area where public interaction appears for the most part, unavoidable. Therefore countless passerby could be (and probably were) glancing over and watching the production at hand, merely to accept the event to be “just another artist” and continue on with their lives. Unless they later gained access to the film they may never understand the true amount of work, purpose, mindfulness that was taking place so close to them. Then again, this would be just another example of how impersonal society is.
Monday, March 2, 2009
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Although I have yet to watch the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, after stumbling across /this\ particular trailer I have become a great deal curious about how original the film idea for this movie was.
For someone such as myself who has only seen Forrest Gump, my initial reaction to this movie trailer was not only amusement but also a strong feeling that the producers of the Curious Case of Benjamin Button copied off of Gump’s original plot. However, I was shocked to later discover that the book Benjamin Button was based off of was produced in 1921, 65 years after the novel Forrest Gump was published.
As just another member of the audience I truly don’t know who copied off of who, or if anyone copied at all. It is quite possible that this entire cycle of confusion began with Winston Groom (writer of the book Forrest Gump). However there also could have been a problem with how the books were interpreted by the film directors that resulted in the existing “clone-like” similarities between the two films.
After a small amount of research I was even further intrigued that both Forrest Gump and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button were tagged with exactly 13 academy award nominations each. To me though, this is just a prime example of how originality can fail entirely without the majority of the public even taking notice.
On a side note, I am not certain of how long this link will continue to work for. After the producers of Benjamin Button discovered the origin on this parody, they have been cracking down everywhere to destroy it in order to keep their ratings up. I’m hoping that “The Curious Case of Forrest Gump” will remain online, particularly because of how amusing it is; although I worry it may be terminated.
For someone such as myself who has only seen Forrest Gump, my initial reaction to this movie trailer was not only amusement but also a strong feeling that the producers of the Curious Case of Benjamin Button copied off of Gump’s original plot. However, I was shocked to later discover that the book Benjamin Button was based off of was produced in 1921, 65 years after the novel Forrest Gump was published.
As just another member of the audience I truly don’t know who copied off of who, or if anyone copied at all. It is quite possible that this entire cycle of confusion began with Winston Groom (writer of the book Forrest Gump). However there also could have been a problem with how the books were interpreted by the film directors that resulted in the existing “clone-like” similarities between the two films.
After a small amount of research I was even further intrigued that both Forrest Gump and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button were tagged with exactly 13 academy award nominations each. To me though, this is just a prime example of how originality can fail entirely without the majority of the public even taking notice.
On a side note, I am not certain of how long this link will continue to work for. After the producers of Benjamin Button discovered the origin on this parody, they have been cracking down everywhere to destroy it in order to keep their ratings up. I’m hoping that “The Curious Case of Forrest Gump” will remain online, particularly because of how amusing it is; although I worry it may be terminated.
Monday, February 23, 2009
ART211W Entry #5 ~ Appreciation of Flash
“LittleFoot” is an amusing short film by Adam Phillips created entirely in Macromedia Flash 8. At first sight not only are the sheer beauty of the graphics and animation outstanding; but more so it is the understanding of how complicated flash is to use that invokes a sense of deep appreciation from the viewer.
From personal experience I realize that even simple animations can consist of endless lines of layers and action-script. To make matters more complicated, it is impossible to ignore the ever-common appearance of the “dotted-line of death” that usually results in the “seizure-inducing errors”. That of course typically follows with minutes into hours of trial-and-error revision, and it just goes from there.
Nevertheless, “LittleFoot” is a successful production with a sequel called “the YuYu” released a few years later. Part one (LittleFoot) leaned more toward a child-like sense of humor and the character of human nature, while part two (the YuYu) synced mystery with drama connected by music. What I find to be the most enjoyable about the video itself is how the artist continually plays against what he builds up to be expected by the audience and then incorporating slight twists to keep the viewer interested. Little does the typical viewer know, but Phillips took his production step further and included hidden messages within specific images in “Littlefoot” that reference to a language and creatures that were used in his later production of “the YuYu”. A complete list of the secrets is posted at http://www.biteycastle.com/content/LFSecrets.html
Both of the original videos can be found on Biteycastle.com, which I believe to be Adam Phillips’s homepage, although I later discovered that there are better quality versions currently available at NewGrounds.
From personal experience I realize that even simple animations can consist of endless lines of layers and action-script. To make matters more complicated, it is impossible to ignore the ever-common appearance of the “dotted-line of death” that usually results in the “seizure-inducing errors”. That of course typically follows with minutes into hours of trial-and-error revision, and it just goes from there.
Nevertheless, “LittleFoot” is a successful production with a sequel called “the YuYu” released a few years later. Part one (LittleFoot) leaned more toward a child-like sense of humor and the character of human nature, while part two (the YuYu) synced mystery with drama connected by music. What I find to be the most enjoyable about the video itself is how the artist continually plays against what he builds up to be expected by the audience and then incorporating slight twists to keep the viewer interested. Little does the typical viewer know, but Phillips took his production step further and included hidden messages within specific images in “Littlefoot” that reference to a language and creatures that were used in his later production of “the YuYu”. A complete list of the secrets is posted at http://www.biteycastle.com/content/LFSecrets.html
Both of the original videos can be found on Biteycastle.com, which I believe to be Adam Phillips’s homepage, although I later discovered that there are better quality versions currently available at NewGrounds.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Digital Media and Halo
This week for ART 211W as the reading discussed Digital Technologies as a medium and our class focus was aimed at how digital technology can be used as a central element in making art, one particular example came to my mind of how media can redefined and spread to engage different audiences.
First released in 2003 and completed in 2007, Red vs. Blue really has come a long way. For anyone not particularly familiar with the chronicles, Red vs. Blue is a parody of compiled footage reenacted with Halo’s gameplay and matched with a developed storyline and witty dialogue. What started out as a simple group of gamers playing Halo has evolved to an over 5 season, 100 episode DVD set, with its own spoofs from other fans.
So here we have the basis of what began as a video game that was turned into film and enhanced by the web. In this case Halo ended up appealing to not only its fans but also people like me who have never particularly had an interest in playing Halo, but enjoy watching Red vs. Blue. This example more so exhibits the business strategy of maximizing public exposure, but it also shows how easily new media can adapt to different and various forms within the array of digital media (starting with the basis of 3d modeling and development of the game, to the production of the film series).
If anyone interested, the entire series can be found to watch on Machinima.com if you search for Red vs. Blue. Or, if you’d prefer, full seasons are also posted on YouTube if you search for the user “roosterteeth” or simply for Red vs. Blue.
First released in 2003 and completed in 2007, Red vs. Blue really has come a long way. For anyone not particularly familiar with the chronicles, Red vs. Blue is a parody of compiled footage reenacted with Halo’s gameplay and matched with a developed storyline and witty dialogue. What started out as a simple group of gamers playing Halo has evolved to an over 5 season, 100 episode DVD set, with its own spoofs from other fans.
So here we have the basis of what began as a video game that was turned into film and enhanced by the web. In this case Halo ended up appealing to not only its fans but also people like me who have never particularly had an interest in playing Halo, but enjoy watching Red vs. Blue. This example more so exhibits the business strategy of maximizing public exposure, but it also shows how easily new media can adapt to different and various forms within the array of digital media (starting with the basis of 3d modeling and development of the game, to the production of the film series).
If anyone interested, the entire series can be found to watch on Machinima.com if you search for Red vs. Blue. Or, if you’d prefer, full seasons are also posted on YouTube if you search for the user “roosterteeth” or simply for Red vs. Blue.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
The Addition of Absence
As I was going through finishing up the reading for this week (Chapter 1 of the book Digital Art by Christine Paul) I came two artworks by Charles Cohen that particularly interested me. The inkjet prints featured on page 38 of the text each describe a style that focuses on absence as the key in perception for the observer. Due to the cutout forming a state of absence, the viewer’s mind forces a connection to be made and thus fills-in what does not otherwise exist.
This tactic actually stems from a branch of Psychology all the way down to the art of the optical illusion itself. You see, our brains process what we see in a manner that relates objects to familiarity, organizing pieces of shapes and patterns in a “whole” piece that makes more sense to us. Cohen plays off of this trait in his works by tricking our minds into seeing posed, but imaginary people.
In the end, many of the works of art we have today follow interesting principles of psychology that have existed and been manipulated since the early 1900s (some depictions include the Kanizsa triangle and the Ehrenstein illusion ). This interests me greatly because although the works are digitally produced, could they truly be considered “New Media,” when there is nothing particularly ‘new’ about them?
Nonetheless, I still admire several of Cohen’s pieces. My personal favorites included in an album listed as “analog time” on his website where each seems to have this particular void that you can feel if you look at them for long enough. For me those three photos leave my mind guessing exactly what his inspiration was or what emotion he was trying to convey more so than any of his other works. Loneliness? Emptiness? Inner longing? The viewer was probably never meant to know for sure.
This tactic actually stems from a branch of Psychology all the way down to the art of the optical illusion itself. You see, our brains process what we see in a manner that relates objects to familiarity, organizing pieces of shapes and patterns in a “whole” piece that makes more sense to us. Cohen plays off of this trait in his works by tricking our minds into seeing posed, but imaginary people.
In the end, many of the works of art we have today follow interesting principles of psychology that have existed and been manipulated since the early 1900s (some depictions include the Kanizsa triangle and the Ehrenstein illusion ). This interests me greatly because although the works are digitally produced, could they truly be considered “New Media,” when there is nothing particularly ‘new’ about them?
Nonetheless, I still admire several of Cohen’s pieces. My personal favorites included in an album listed as “analog time” on his website where each seems to have this particular void that you can feel if you look at them for long enough. For me those three photos leave my mind guessing exactly what his inspiration was or what emotion he was trying to convey more so than any of his other works. Loneliness? Emptiness? Inner longing? The viewer was probably never meant to know for sure.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
ART 211W Post 2 -- Ah, technology
The Macbook Wheel: a revolutionary new addition to the Macbook family with a unconventional clicker touch wheel in place of a keyboard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BnLbv6QYcA
My main reaction when I was first shown that very commercial was a complete exclamation, “YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!” I mean, come on, not a mix of the Macbook Air and an iPod! The commercial was produced by “The Onion News Network”: a production group of many whose purpose is to create false news broadcasts for amusement. It still took me a while to do a small amount of research online to verify that the Macbook Wheel was created purely out of parody. A side result of parody is, of course, to fool the viewers in a humorous way. After all, with Apple’s constant strive for simplicity as well as the easily recognizable symbol of the clicker-wheel, which is primarily associated with the iPod, they could honestly get away with making a laptop such as this had they really wanted. It’d be foolish, I think, to make a piece of technology so simple that it is unnecessarily complicated to use (hence why I freaked out when I first saw the commercial). Avid Mac fan though I am, some flaws just can’t be covered.
On a bit of background history, apparently The Onion News Network has been around since 1988; created by two college students from the University of Wisconsin. Here’s the link to their home page in case it would be of any interest.
http://www.theonion.com/content/index
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BnLbv6QYcA
My main reaction when I was first shown that very commercial was a complete exclamation, “YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!” I mean, come on, not a mix of the Macbook Air and an iPod! The commercial was produced by “The Onion News Network”: a production group of many whose purpose is to create false news broadcasts for amusement. It still took me a while to do a small amount of research online to verify that the Macbook Wheel was created purely out of parody. A side result of parody is, of course, to fool the viewers in a humorous way. After all, with Apple’s constant strive for simplicity as well as the easily recognizable symbol of the clicker-wheel, which is primarily associated with the iPod, they could honestly get away with making a laptop such as this had they really wanted. It’d be foolish, I think, to make a piece of technology so simple that it is unnecessarily complicated to use (hence why I freaked out when I first saw the commercial). Avid Mac fan though I am, some flaws just can’t be covered.
On a bit of background history, apparently The Onion News Network has been around since 1988; created by two college students from the University of Wisconsin. Here’s the link to their home page in case it would be of any interest.
http://www.theonion.com/content/index
Monday, January 19, 2009
Delving Into the Realm of the Abstract
For years, abstract new media art has always been my personal favorite genre. The majority of traditional abstract art that I’ve viewed, no matter how magnificent, simply seems to fail at expressing a sense of individual life. The sense that the object or piece that the spectator is viewing truly is looking back through the screen.
As an example, I greatly admire the work of the new media artist Geoffrey; particularly that of his homepage, Oculart.
Each artwork is particularly unique with a sense of mystery that causes many viewers I have spoken to have spent more time being creeped out by it to the point where they refuse to try to understand and immerse themselves within the mindset of the artist.
In a room with no distractions; if you turn on your speakers and simply take a few minutes analyzing a piece or two, more and more small details come into play. Sometimes it seems impossible to shake the feeling that although each piece is a composition of dissonant sound and small loops of animation within a larger context, that the piece itself doesn’t have a mind of its own.
Looking in the left-hand column some particular pieces I’d like to note are ‘hey death’, ‘funeral garden’, ‘harp siesta’, and ‘la noye`e’. Each artwork has at least one element that fakes the mind into expecting more to happen. It’s as if the viewer’s mind secretly craves some sort of fright or connection with the world lying beyond their computer screen.
In one particular interview Geoffrey mentioned. “I think there are two types of animation, one which is narrative (traditional), and animation that is a still piece of work but uses motion to provoke a further fantasy and work engagement.” That being the case, I suppose it was his purpose all along to coax the viewer away from their own grasp of reality.
As an example, I greatly admire the work of the new media artist Geoffrey; particularly that of his homepage, Oculart.
Each artwork is particularly unique with a sense of mystery that causes many viewers I have spoken to have spent more time being creeped out by it to the point where they refuse to try to understand and immerse themselves within the mindset of the artist.
In a room with no distractions; if you turn on your speakers and simply take a few minutes analyzing a piece or two, more and more small details come into play. Sometimes it seems impossible to shake the feeling that although each piece is a composition of dissonant sound and small loops of animation within a larger context, that the piece itself doesn’t have a mind of its own.
Looking in the left-hand column some particular pieces I’d like to note are ‘hey death’, ‘funeral garden’, ‘harp siesta’, and ‘la noye`e’. Each artwork has at least one element that fakes the mind into expecting more to happen. It’s as if the viewer’s mind secretly craves some sort of fright or connection with the world lying beyond their computer screen.
In one particular interview Geoffrey mentioned. “I think there are two types of animation, one which is narrative (traditional), and animation that is a still piece of work but uses motion to provoke a further fantasy and work engagement.” That being the case, I suppose it was his purpose all along to coax the viewer away from their own grasp of reality.
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