Sunday, November 20, 2011

The Human Condition

          After creating the found footage video, being able to shoot my own video seemed like it would be easy. However, it was not. Well, it wasn't until I found my concept. I decided to look into the concept of the human condition, particularly focusing on curiosity, isolation, and a fear of death. The human condition is supposed to surpass all details like gender, race, and class; it links humans together. What excited me the most about this project was the cooperation I received from my friends. Two people assisted me in the film, Marissa, the actress, also offered to create a small original score for the film with harp. Christy, another friend and vocalist, also offered to collaborate in the musical piece. I feel very lucky that they lent their musical art to my short art film. I may not have used as many filters and transitions as I did in my found footage film, but I do feel like I pushed myself further in other ways using the Final Cut Pro software. I especially appreciated the opacity and overlay features for this project, as I feel it allowed me to express something that would have been potentially difficult in the previous versions of the software. If I could change anything, however, it would be I would have remembered to remove the actress's keys, as they advertise Lawrence University, which places too fine a point on her location, removing ambiguity.
 

I Want to Line the Pieces Up



I Want to Line the Pieces Up is a short film about the human condition. Specifically, it focuses on the ideas of curiosity and fear of death, ideas that are very much a part of this concept.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Appropriate Appropriation

          From the beginning, I had a clear concept of what social issue I wanted to critique in my video. I chose body image in women. However, as soon as I knew what I wanted to do, I realized all of the problems I would face. How do I appropriate without stealing? Is that under five seconds of that song? What if someone already remixed this, do I need to remix it further? It seemed a daunting task to make such a short video. A question I found myself pondering often during my process was how changed and broken up do sound clips need to be to no longer be considered the originals, as I did not want to infringe on the many copyright laws that exist in this day and age. As Lawrence Lessig states, "We thus live in an era of "illegal art"-not because of the political message of the art, not because of its morality, but because to use and reuse without permission is deemed a crime." I focused a large amount of effort into making sure I stayed within legalities during my process, but I learned you have to be very mindful and always paying attention. I agree copyright should protect artists and people, but then again if the material is changed sufficiently, I think artists should be able to use more than a measly five seconds. Lawrence Lessig also wrote, "The mix produces the new creative work-the "remix."" My question as an artist is still the same: how do we properly remix media to create art if there are laws at preventing this every step of the way?
          Copyright issues aside, I also wasn't sure I would be able to completely avoid the PSA feeling while making a video about a social issue. My art does not normally focus on issues like this, so I really had to push myself to create an artistic video using found footage without stepping on any legal toes. I feel as though I was successful, but my video may still be a bit too linear for my liking.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Modernly Antique



          After doing research and collecting a lot of information on Evan Baden, I definitely feel like I now understand his outlook on new media art. Evan Baden is young, at age 26, he is only five years older than I am. He continues to successfully exhibit his undergraduate body of work, as well as his current body of work-oftentimes around the world. I feel slightly unsuccessful knowing how much he completed by the time he reached where I am in school! I'm joking of course, slightly. I really appreciated the fact that Evan Baden still uses a film camera, a Canham 4x5, to be exact. I feel like he produces formally and aesthetically beautiful images using the hybrid method of film negatives scanned into Photoshop. Process aside, I very much enjoyed researching Evan Baden. His two main bodies of work deal with how technology affects the youth of today. When I was in my first darkroom photography class, almost every project I completed involved technology as a large part of my subject matter. I was able to identify with Evan Baden's concepts, as well as think very deeply about how technology has affected the way I personally have grown up. I am referring specifically to The Illuminati series, which depicts youths blankly staring at technology, bathed in an ethereal light. He exhibits with other modern artists, including Ai Weiwei and Kalup Linzy, but he really doesn't have a lot in common with them, artistically. I think his critique of youth and technology has a lot more in common with Ryan Trecartin. If Evan Baden continues to produce works and builds off of the concepts he has already produced, I am sure his place as a new media artist will only continue to be assured. 

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Superheroes on the Wall

Previous Mudd Show
          After working on this project for so long, continuing to hone, edit, and refine my photographs, it was very satisfying to be able to actually place them into an art gallery. After receiving my magazine (as mentioned in the last post) from Magcloud, I was able to view my series as a set on paper. I enjoyed the objectness of it, and was excited about the magazines being on display at the gallery. Facebook was used a tool to promote the Mudd Gallery exhibition. Considering Mary Ann Doane's concept that "technologies of mechanical and electronic reproduction, from photography through digital media, appear to move asymptomatically toward immateriality," suggests that immateriality and use of digital media on computers is potentially the preferred media for viewing art in today's society. After experiencing the "Watching" gallery opening at which all twelve of our magazines lay out on pedestals for the visitors to touch and hold, it was clear that immateriality was not preferred for these visitors. Several visitors attended the opening and it appeared that most of their attention was turned toward the magazines. It was obvious people were interested in being able to actually pick up the magazines and interact with them directly. After selecting the final key images from our projects, the Mudd Gallery was a very successful venue to present them to the public, especially paired alongside with the magazines. 

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Superheroes in Print

       
          When considering the magazine on Magcloud, I decided I absolutely needed to reshoot my models. I shot my newer photos with diversity in mind and I feel like the flow is much better now, versus my original Flickr set. I also noticed the Magcloud set has taken on a new, deeper meaning. I have paired the images in the Magcloud set, rather than the former presentation of the unwatched followed by the public surveillance identity. My creative process was most definitely influenced by using the magazine as a venue. Personally, I feel as though the flow in the magazine makes every two images a singular entity, or perhaps a comparison. Overall, the magazine still contains my original concept, which was very important to me when considering sequence. For the future, I have been searching for more models to add, which will take the project to an even higher level. I will utilize more settings and more superhero logos to convey my concept. By having more models, the overarching idea of public versus private identity will come across more clearly, rather than having just the three models.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Superheroes


When thinking about surveillance and watching, I kept also considering how identity fits into those concepts. I decided to use the idea of the Superhero as a metaphor for identity. My models are not literally representing the superheroes on their shirts, but the metaphor still stands. I considered how humans behave in today's technological age with all of the cameras and surveillance technology found everywhere. When we do not feel as though we are being watched, we may present ourselves in a less flashy manner. I used the idea of surveillance in the first half of each narrative and took photos of the models doing activities they would do in every day life, while not interacting with the camera. I then used the notion that the Superhero facade could represent the individual's public identity. The models interact fully with the camera and acknowledge that they are being watched. I asked them to perform, presenting themselves strongly to represent a public identity. I also kept in mind that those being observed change because they are being observed, in a psychological sense. In an article by Richard B. Woodward, he mentions "We like to watch and, in turn, don't mind being watched." I view this quote as entirely applicable to the superhero half of my series, while their non-observed identities would mind being watched. Conversely, Philip E. Agre discusses in his article "Surveillance and Capture,""the assumption that this "watching" is nondisruptive and surreptitious (except perhaps when going astray or issuing a threat)" Watching in the sense of surveillance is not necessarily nondisruptive, as many people begin to present their identities in a different manner because of it.   

Friday, September 16, 2011

Technological Evolution/Human Evolution


Library assistant Norweita Graham 
 displays a computer punch cardused in the 
library's check-out system in 1969.

      As computer technology evolves, so do people. That is to say, it almost seems like people evolve around the commercial technology, rather than the general population causing the evolution of it. I found Lev Manovich’s discussion on the trends of Flickr and YouTube videos particularly interesting and supportive of this idea. He mentions an explosion within a few months’ time in 2007 of image activity on Flickr tripling. A few months is a long time; not many savvy computer users in 2011 would find that statistic surprising. I certainly did not feel surprised while reading that section of Lev Manovich’s article, however when I think back on that as a newer image hosting website in 2007, the statistic is far more impressive. Ted Nelson wrote Computer Lib/Dream Machines with the intention of making the Internet and computer technology easily understandable and accessible to the general population. I feel as though there is evidence of this success in the popularity of image and other hosting sites that are now easily accessible and user friendly. Even though I have lived through the advance of the Internet and have had Internet access for most of my life, I was hardly aware of its history. This thought returns to the concept that technology evolves us. Computer users are so focused on the technology of right now that technology of the past hardly enters their minds. Doug Engelbart mentions, “we suspect that improving the effectiveness of the individual as he operates in our society should be approached as a system-engineering problem,” which—while published in 1962—is directly applicable to the concept that technology has become the new system engineer.