Second Life Final!

Thanks for a fun semester everyone!

The Dryland was my favorite :)

Second Life

Here's how it turned out! My lips definitely made things look a little strange and I had a rough time matching up the eyelids. At first my nose was way too red and I changed that in photoshop and upload a few different versions! 50L later… I was pretty proud of this version you see. I also needed to upload an image of the skin color of my face because there was nothing pale or pink enough (too strange even for Second Life). In the realm of hair, I didn't have too many options that looked similar to my own. But I did find this one that cost 100L, giving me 100L more to upload more textures for the dress, a different eye color, and the template for my fantasy character and item that I planed to make in photoshop. I didn't feel like making fancy boots so I just started from scratch with the options on Second Life. I'm pretty proud of the way it all turned out considering all the worry I did at first. Unfortunately, I think I'm having fun… YIKES!

 

Some little Bunny friends!

Because I have to miss the exclusive Hobbit premiere for this final, I decided to make my fantasy self a hobbit! I will be there in Second Life spirit now. I even included little hairy hobbit feet, a cloak, a vest, trousers, and a pack with maps and second breakfast! I changed my hair to the Female Rockstar hairstyle because the hair I bought for myself had a stupid bow on it that I couldn't edit off. The vest is actually designed onto the shirt itself as one combined texture. The pants started from scratch but the same item used for the sleeves of my sweater dress were used as the cuffs of the pants.

Final Writing Assignment

 The Interactive Installations of 

Yayoi Kusama and Olafur Eliasson   

By: Jenny Mortimore     
   

            For artists Yayoi Kusama and Olafur Eliasson, natural space and light mean everything. For this assignment I chose two artists that work in a wide variety of media but both find their strengths in digital, environmental installations that challenge their audiences' sense of reality. The two are not completely different but do not define reality the same. In their representative works, Fireflies on the Water and Feelings are Facts, both artists tackle the concept of reality in their own unique ways with great use of space and lighting. Despite using digital technology in their work to illustrate their concept of reality, both artists confront the question of “the world we are missing and the world we need.”

            Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama is an activist, feminist, and her paintings and style have been a major influence for artists such as Andy Warhol. She first came to the United States in 1957 to showcase her collection of paintings and to share in her ideas for environmental sculptures using artistic illusions like mirrors and lights. In the latter 1960s, she had become more of an activist in her career and organized many events such as body painting displays in the streets of New York, fashion shows and anti-war demonstrations. Years later in her career, she would become more attached to the digital medium and launched media-related activities such as film productions. Her digital work became more recognized after 1968, with the film, “Kusama's Self-Obliteration" which Kusama produced and starred in. This particular film was awarded at the International Experimental Film Competition in Belgium and featured many techniques that were unique at the time for film artists.

            Yayoi Kusama always retained the central theme of seemingly endless space in all of her work. This central focus of her artistic career has always been to convey this seemingly endless space to her viewers to better convey her idea of reality. Her piece, Fireflies on the Water, from 2002 was an exceptional example of an installation that creates a space in which individual viewers are invited to transcend their own sense of reality. Fireflies on the Water is a carefully constructed environment in which only one person is allowed in the room at a time to create a more intimate setting. Hundreds if lights are suspended from the ceiling with mirrors on every wall and water surrounding the platform the individual walks out into the center of the room on. This particular installation suspends the viewer into a reality of their own while the infinity of lights surrounds them. The mirrors are meant to have the observers see themselves in the infinity of the universe to reflect the reality as infinite and to have the viewer determine what part they play in that reality.

           
Yayoi Kusama, Fireflies on the Water, 2002

While Kusama created her environmental installation to be viewed alone and in a personal space,

Olafur Eliasson displays his work in ways that bring individuals together to reflect deeply on their ideas of that environment. A Danish artist and environmental activist, Olafur Eliasson’s works emphasizes the importance of having an honest and insightful experience by becoming apart of the works themselves. In a “TEDTalks” presentation Eliasson explained, “Having an experience is taking part in the world. Taking part in the world is really about sharing responsibility” (Eliasson). For Eliasson the work is a little less about the self, different from Kusama's work, and more about the “big picture” or society and nature as a whole. As an environmental activist, he tries to incorporate the importance of the viewers’ surroundings to make them aware that reality is what they make it based on how they treat the nature and space around them.

            In his installation Feelings are Facts Eliasson, with the help of Ma Yansong, uses a color atlas to have viewers navigate their way through dense fog, seemingly endless color palettes, and a brilliantly illuminated atmosphere. He uses this installation to present exploration into the nature of reality. In a press release for their artwork they even posed the questions, "what should be the basis of our thinking and judgment in a space where reality and illusion interconnect? As we stand amidst such accomplished phenomena, can we re-examine with greater concern our sensations and experiences of that which is around us?" (UCCA). As the audience navigates through the environment of refracted light and the illusions of color, they also seem to navigate through their own sense of reality by defining what it is they are experiencing.

            There is a lot in common and a lot of unique differences between Fireflies on the Water and Feelings are Facts. Kusama’s work seems to be the ultimate self-obsession where the individuals are meant to see themselves at the centre of, and infinitely reflected in, the universe. Kusama’s artworks seem to ask how the spectators view themselves; not only within the artwork, but also in relation to their environment: do they feel what it is like to be ‘a dot in the universe.’ Kusama also uses a more objects in her work to better illustrate her ideas of infinite reality in order to make her viewers feel small, but focus on what makes them unique.

           
Olafur Eliasson, Feelings are Facts, 2010

In Eliasson's work, there is a less self-obsessed message and more focus on a theme of mass individualism. He creates space for the purpose of coming together and being a part of something that can make an impact on the world. A lot of Eliasson's work forces his viewers into a realm of pure perception, reconnecting them to nature and having them use their senses to navigate his artwork. He also separates the individual from reality as defined by modern culture by using as few objects as possible but impacting with one central theme like light and color. He even described artworks like Feelings are Facts as: "the way in which we learn about ourselves, and our world; the processes by which knowledge and understanding are acquired through experience." (Eliasson)

            However, both Kusama and Eliasson create spaces in which individuals challenge their basis of thinking and judgment and become a part of the art itself. It is as if both artists, with their activist backgrounds, are having their viewers interact with the work and become apart of the strong messages they both possess. In her essay, Tactical Media as Virtuosic Performance, Raley describes tactical media as “forms of critical intervention, dissent, and resistance” that can “manifest in virtuoso performance rather than extrinsic product.” Raley also explains it as “new media work that is at once aesthetic design, intellectual investigation, and political activism” (Raley; p.1-2). The works engage the audience in a natural environment with lights as illusion and excellent use of space. Similar to David O'Reilly's theory in Basic Animation Aesthetics, both Kusama and Eliasson believe, "The more elemental and simple an environment, the more exciting and visually rewarding it is when we introduce changes to it" (O'Reilly; p.3).

   

         To work with another one of our readings, I believe that bother artists, although working with a digital medium, possess the “aura” that Walter Benjamin discusses in The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Benjamin says, "We define the aura of [natural objects] as the unique phenomenon of a distance, however close it may be. If, while resting on a summer afternoon, you follow with your eyes a mountain range on the horizon or a branch which casts its shadow over you, you experience the aura of those mountains, of that branch” (Benjamin; III). This aura is present in both of the artists’ work because the audience has the ability to interact with the message in that piece. It is an aura acquired through interaction and, although their perception is not anchored to the past, the audience is never distanced by the artwork.

            Finally, in Claire Bishop’s article Digital Divide she says, "While many artists use digital technology, how many really confront the question of what it means to think, see, and filter affect through the digital? How many thematize this, or reflect deeply on how we experience, and are altered by, the digitization of our existence?" (Bishop; p.2). After becoming familiar with both artists and their environmental installations, I can affirm that artist working in this variety know exactly what feelings they are projecting through their work and "reflect deeply" on how the audience experiences it. There very much exists a need to have the populace and culture react and become involved with the same feelings as the artists. For activists like Yayoi Kusama and Olafur Eliasson, there is a passionate display of how reality works with nature through the use of digital tools. Both are successful in their own creative ways.

Work Cited

1. "Olafur Eliasson." Olafur Eliasson. http://www.olafureliasson.net/index.html, Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

2. "Information | Yayoi Kusama." Information | Yayoi Kusama. http://www.yayoi-kusama.jp., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

3. "Yayoi Kusama." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Oct. 2013. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

4. "Olafur Eliasson: Playing with Space and Light." TED: Ideas worth Spreading. N.p., n.d. 

Web. 11 Dec. 2013.

5. "OLAFUR ELIASSON & MA YANSONG--FEELINGS ARE FACTS | Ullens Center for             Contemporary Art." Ullens Center for Contemporary Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.

6. O'Reilly. Basic Animation Aesthetics. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

7. Benjamin, Walter, and J. A. Underwood. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical             Reproduction. London: Penguin, 2008. Print.

8. Raley, Rita. Tactical Media. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2009. Print.

Project 7: Make Great Art

Gif: Ski Free at Mount Rose

I chose to do something a little challenging (to my knowledge that is..) and went with putting a gif onto a still image. After creating the gif it seemed as though all I simply needed to do was copy and paste all of the animated frames after the still image in PhotoShop. I was having trouble because the still image would only show up in some points of the animation and not in others. After some experimenting it turned out that copying and pasting was all I had to do EXCEPT I needed to place the still image as the background layer… Thus proving the littlest things are your greatest foes. 

Glitch Gif: Who's That Pokemon:

I wanted to try the glitch with a few photos and then create a gif with the series. I really enjoyed it! Although it was difficult to get used to the pattern, it was interesting to go through all of the code and find a result I really liked. I wanted to preserve the colors and even some of the parts of the Pokemon in order to make them fairly recognizable so each .png required its own special replacement. 

Answers:

Art Exhibit Write-Ups

Priscilla B. Varner's "Identity: The Military's Other Half"
November 1st, 2013
      This art exhibit was held at The Sierra Arts Gallery and served to present the 2013 Master of Fine Arts candidate Midway Exhibitions. I attended the evening MFA candidate, Pricilla B. Varner's photography was showcased and had a great time interacting with her work. There with other artists' works there but I decided to mainly focus on Priscilla's mainly because it was specifically her reception. Her photography identifies of individuals of those married to military personnel. It was a perfect variety of gender and ethnicity and I felt as though she was able to reach a broad audience as far as military spouses are concerned. She also did a fantastic job of capturing various kinds of emotions; one in particular was a series of photos of one woman's progress from being serious, to smiling, to laughter. It was a touching way to relate to his those that patiently wait for their spouses that serve over seas. 
      A lot of Pricilla's cropping choices were different but interesting. She really knew how to frame the individual and capture more than just their stance but their emotions. One individual in her photographs was placed in a steadfast stance, with a chicken under her arm, to exemplify her work on the farm while her husband is away. One thing that could have made the photographs more interesting would have been a different background or environment other than the plain, all white background her models stood in front of. For as natural as they all seemed, they could have used some guidance in how to interact as well. However, I could understand that the white background really makes the individuals' faces and expressions more clear. With their faces and stances being the center of attention, rather than the background, she is able to make the identities of the military spouses make an impact.


Holland Reno's 4 x 4 x 48 at The Nevada Museum of Art
November 21st, 2013
      The Holland Project's challenge to local video artists and musicians was a fantastic showcase of artist that do well working within a small time frame and with boundaries. It was a great atmosphere at the Nevada Museum of Art to be surround by many that are interested in the medium of video art. The exhibition featured five videos by the following artists: Alana Berglund with Kelci Mcintosh, Jesse McCloskey, Sam Santoro, Denali Lowder with Dane Haman, and Barbara Laukat. Each artist (or pair of artists) each worked with a local musician to coordinate a music video for one of their songs. Each group only had 48 hours to prepare, shoot and edit their videos and incorporate the following objects into their story idea: a pomegranate, a triangle, two of the four natural elements, a reference to a historical event that took place on November 21st, and the number 11 or 11:11.
      All of the videos were fantastic in their own way and all did an amazing job representing their song and artist. One video, completely in black and white with an old film filter, made an impact with personal shots of particular places, animals, and individuals. I enjoyed looking at these videos critically after having done the video project in class. For example, I feel like a few of the artists could have done a lot more creatively with the objects they were assigned and that one in particular was very under exposed. One the other hand, it was a great idea to challenge young artist and see how they use their creativity through video AND music. I have only attended one other Holland Project event but this event had me interested in attending more and interacting more with our artistic community.


Nate Joski's Ponder Over Yonder at Bibo Coffee
November 24th, 2013

      Dedicated to my new found love for the Holland Project events, I went to Nate Joski’s exhibit which was apart of the Holland Project's Micro Gallery at Bibo Coffee near campus. It is a fantastic idea to combine childhood toys or figurines with environments that are as vivid as a childhood imagination. I really enjoyed a lot of the photography that seemed carefully planned and uniquely framed. I'm a huge stickler for cropping and I believed the artist did a perfect job framing his toys and childhood reenactments with the background. There were also a number of fantastic drawings and sketches as well as fun dioramas. 

      The dioramas were similar to the assemblages that we did for our 3D projects which mad them really interesting and relatable. I could imagine that a lot of his work was personal and reflected the wonder he must have felt reliving the beautiful memories of his childhood. The toys, figures, and environments they were in always worked well together aesthetically and they were almost always pleasing to the eye. I always enjoy exhibits in which an artist explores more than one artistic medium and finds a way to make each piece, despite the differences in how they are made, work very well together. I could also be emotionally biased as I am still very drawn to a lot of my childhood toys. It was a great idea with an amazing impact.

The exhibit will be at Bibo Coffee until December 27th and I really recommend going!

What New Media is Not Reading Questions

Lev Manovich - One Million Manga

1. Do Manovich's Five Principles help to better understand New Media? Do these concepts and principles give more authenticity to the medium of digital art? With the emergence of new visual media and media culture in society, do you believe these theories are necessary? Why?

2. "What before had been a mental process, a uniquely individual state, now became part of the public sphere. Unobserved and interior processes and representations were taken out of individual heads and placed outside … What was private became public. What was unique became mass-produced."

I felt this was a fantastic way to describe Interactive Media. Now when we view "New Media" it forces individuals to connect with the artist by absorbing their individuality and being impacted by their idea. Do you believe art is more effective? How does this concept burn the "Digital Divide" article we read?

Art Evaluation

Digital Divide Reading Questions

After Videogames by Miltos Manetas

X-Ray Portraits by Ayako Kanda and Mayuka Hayashi 

1. In the article, Bishop says, "While many artists use digital technology, how many really confront the question of what it means to think, see, and filter affect through the digital? How many thematize this, or reflect deeply on how we experience, and are altered by, the digitization of our existance?" (p.2)
Do you agree with this statement? Also, do you agree that contemporary art largely ignores the digital? If so, why do you believe it is so often ignored?

3. What do you believe the 'divide' Bishop is talking about? Is the gap the amount of specialization? Or the alienation of terms? Or the lack of feeling in digital work?
How does this work for digital mediums like code in which it is an 'alien' concept but requires hours of anguish and tons of specialization in order to produce a desired art piece. For those of us working with glitch art or study glitch artists, what are your personal feelings on this 'divide.'

Note: About the one thing I agreed with was her opinion on the current retro fashion for analog media and that no exhibit is 'complete' without something old clunking as background noise. However, I don't believe she finds it beautiful like I do.

Project 6.2: 3D The Sequel

I was definitely taken by surprise with the amount of time this project would take. I took me at least two days of messing around with Blender before I really contemplated giving up. I went through a few forums asking desperate questions and watching tutorials until someone suggested I look a program called SketchUp (because I thought Blender and Maya were too difficult). If I could describe how different SketchUp is from Blender I would say it's the same different as using Paint instead of Photoshop. There are A LOT less tools, shortcuts, and methods to memorize. The only thing that was somewhat difficult with SketchUp was not having objects like cubes and spheres provided and each object you create has to be drawn together by different points. Luckily, I have a Wacom Tablet so that was not too much of a concern as I got used to it. The flowers were as easy as making one petal and then mass producing it. The origami cranes were about the only thing I got used to thanks to Blender and I was able to upload that origami paper pattern to the "materials" section and paint it onto each crane. The bottom of the pot was easy and the soil was just a duplicate of the pot with random geometric shapes on top to close it up. I am embarrassed that I was not able to put on the paper fan… or the sand dollar… or the om pendant… But I did something! And it was WAY tough. It seems like this program is popular amongst architects and engineers because it is practically drafting an object. Anyway, I enjoyed the challenge of trying something completely new. 

Final Writing Assignment

Yayoi Kusama and Olafur Eliasson Presentation

For this assignment I chose two artists that work in a wide variety of media but both find their strengths in environmental installations that challenge the audiences' sense of reality. Although they are not defined by the single medium of electronic art, both artists have experimented with the medium and use a great deal of digital work in their installations and videos. The two are not completely different but do not define space or reality the same. In the representative works I have chosen, both artists tackle the concept of infinity in their own ways which I will describe.



Yayoi Kusama, Fireflies on the Water, 2002

Olafur Eliasson, Feelings are Facts, 2010

Works Cited

1. "Olafur Eliasson." Olafur Eliasson. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.
2. "Information | Yayoi Kusama." Information | Yayoi Kusama. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.
3. "Yayoi Kusama." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Oct. 2013. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.
4. O'Reilly. Basic Animation Aesthetics. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
5. Benjamin, Walter, and J. A. Underwood. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. London: Penguin, 2008. Print.
6. Raley, Rita. Tactical Media. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2009. Print.

Project 6.1: 3D The Original

My sculpture is composed of: 1 Buddah, 2 Sunflowers, 1 Origami Fan with Infinity Knot, 2 Origami Cranes, 1 Sand Dollar, 1 Om Prayer Stone, Gold Wiring, and all built in and around a Moss filled Flower Pot. I love and enjoy all of these things and tackled a lot of possibilities on how to bring them all together. Luckily Buddah and Om can go hand-in-hand with nature while Origami connects with the asian theme. However I also have a love for the ocean and seashells that I couldn't ignore! So, I tied the gold wiring to the asian theme and placed my love of the sea - the sand dollar - with Om. I also couldn't ignore my love for origami. I enjoyed making them and it seemed like a good idea to incorporate them into the scene but the fan is probably my only problem after it all. Well, it was more creative then building my cat with Jelly Beans, so I'm proud of the after math.

Project 5: Tactical Media

The Original Website

I try not to be confrontational and I mostly go with the flow of things. This project was tough because, although I feel strongly about a lot of things and do possess strong opinions, I try not to shove them in anyone's face. But I guess that is also what is easy about this project; you can get your point across in ways people can understand without (hopefully) doing much damage. I recently saw a post online that was calling our government "Worse Than the Galactic Empire." I thought to myself, "Now, that's a bit much" but thanked that looney that posted it for the inspiration to do this website. In a sad attempt to be a creative activist I chose the most confrontational site at the time: HealthCare.Org. I had fun photoshoping Obama Wan Kenobi and revisiting my Star Wars nerdom. I decided to call it RebelCare as I view the Rebel Alliance to be similar to Single Payer advocates. It was a lot of work but I am hoping I got the point across. The New Hope plan is based on the Marketplace, an area that essentially educates the masses on universal healthcare (RebelCare) and walks you through the process of what to do. Seeing as many seem to be 'at war' with insurance companies (the Galactic Empire) over this, I thought Star Wars was an appropriate choice. Enjoy!

Tactical Media as Virtuosic Performance Reading Questions

1. What Wikipedia said:

"Tactical media is a term coined in 1996, to denote a form of media activism that privileges temporary, hit-and-run interventions in the media sphere over the creation of permanent and alternative media outlets."

Where as Raley describes tactical media as “forms of critical intervention, dissent, and resistance” that can “manifest in virtuoso performance rather than extrinsic product.” Raley also explains it as “new media work that is at once aesthetic design, intellectual investigation, and political activism.” Raley emphasizes the role of dissent in the artist as activist through campaigns of “little tactics” versus “bold strategies." These "little tactics" are often not responded to as just "little tactics" but as forms of terrorism or events that serve extreme consequences. How do you view purpose of digital media? Does it always have a happy ending? Is it never supposed to? Where do you draw the line between agitation and promotion or education? Do you believe social media has changed how the world views, shares  and responds to tactical media? Has this change "shifted the nature of power" as Raley mentions?

2. We're all nerds here. So, what kind of controversy could I start when I suggest that many, if not most, videos games are all a form of tactical media. A few games like America's Army and TuboFlex are both introduced as effective forms of tactical media. Are there any games in particular you can think of that fit Raley's definition of tactical media as mentioned above? How do you view "hacktivists?" This also begs the questions of whether fine art is neglected in tactical media. With video games and interactive media, has the world become more challenging to approach with political ideas that fine art has been removed from the equation?

Pussy Riot: Punk-Prayer "Virgin Mother of God, put Putin away"

(chorus)
O Virgin Mother of God, put Putin away
?ut Putin away, put Putin away
(end chorus)
...
Black robe, golden epaulettes
All parishioners crawl to bow
The phantom of liberty is in heaven
Gay-pride sent to Siberia in chains

The head of the KGB, their chief saint,
Leads protesters to prison under escort
In order not to offend His Holiness
Women must give birth and love

Shit, shit, the Lord's shit!
Shit, shit, the Lord's shit!

(chorus)
O Virgin Mother of God, become a feminist
Become a feminist, become a feminist
(end chorus)

The Church?s praise of rotten dictators
The cross-bearer procession of black limousines
A teacher-preacher will meet you at school
Go to class - bring him money!

Patriarch Gundyaev believes in Putin
Bitch, better believe in God instead
The belt of the Virgin can?t replace mass-meetings
Mary, Mother of God, is with us in protest!

(Chorus)
O Virgin Mother of God, put Putin away
?ut Putin away, put Putin away
(end chorus)

Project 4: Video Reenactment

I'm sorry to disappoint anyone when I say I just did not have the cojones to do my time lapses in an abandoned building although it really helped Takashi Ito. I also, lacking major equipment, failed to capture his amazing moving time lapses. However, I tried to capture his essence through the time lapses, light manipulation and bulb shutters, all definitely as time consuming when you don't have a really nice, expensive camera. I used a Canon Rebel T3ii and shot and AV Bulb for the night shots and TV Manual for the sunset, the 5 f/s and always changing ISO. Each clip is dissected in to respecting photos and I can safely say I underestimated this technique. I mainly worked in Adobe After Effects and brought that product into Adobe Premiere to add the audio. Enjoy!

http://www.ubu.com/film/takashi_ghost.html

Director Takashi Ito's "Ghost" (1984)
Music: Yosuke Inagaki

In "Ghost," Takashi Ito explores some of the most basic dimensions of cinematic illusion, such as space depth, lightning and movement to create a visual feast that seems to touch on the horror genre. But it's not quite so, for the "Ghost" we are allowed to see is not designed to frighten but to mesmerize the spectators. Bulb shutters, long exposures and time-lapse are used to dazzle perception and insinuate the presence of floating life-forms in a closed space. Inagaki's soundtrack kicks off with a steady electronic ambiance but soon descends into a hellish world of rhythmical distortion and mutli-dimensional lo-fi mayhem. I don't think your children will be scared with this extraordinary piece, but if you do have them, please make them watch this in a closed dark room and report the results. -- Eye of Sound

Video Art Reading Questions

Nam June Paik's "Electronic Superhighway"

1. In this article 'Art' and 'Artful' are said to have separate meaning, though linked terms that exist to help us differentiate between what can and cannot be considered to be art. I believe Art is an expression of the artist's spirit and the world surrounding them and artfulness is something creative but born out of a desire to sell something or communicate a certain idea. The author even mentions, "Art lies in the intentionality of the artist." So, based on what you have read in this article, what makes "Video Art" as opposed to an "Artful Video"? 

2. Do you believe that video art could spell the end for other mediums of art like painting or sculpture? Or, do you believe, like the author mentions, that the conceptual video form is more of a continuation of these mediums? For example, much of Bruce Nauman’s work (such as Walking in an Exaggerated Manner) features a combination of video art, sculpture, and performance; he uses his own body as sculpture, while performance is the act that “sculpts” the physicality of his art, and everything is captured with video. How many of these conceptual videos did you see as "art" or "artful"?



3. Do you see Video Art as more of a communication art after reading this article? In the Personal Narratives portion of the article, many of the videos serve as diaries and personal reflection of the artist's past. How many of these personal videos did you see as "art" or "artful"?

"Whether it be through narratives, formal experimentations, short humorous tapes, or large-scale meditations, video art, at the end of the twentieth century, has assumed a position oflegitimacy, even prominence, in the art world that few saw as possible even in the 1980s. 1ts seeming endless possibilities and relative affordabil­ ity make it increasingly attractive to young artists who have been raised in an era of media saturation. Video is a ,vay of participating in and reacting to media overkill; it is also a manageable means to communicate personal messages." - Video Art (Chapter 2)

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Reading Questions

"Examine the development of mechanical visual reproduction from copying a master's work..."

1.      Walter Benjamin says:

"One might subsume the eliminated element in the term “aura” and go on to say: that which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art. This is a symptomatic process whose significance points beyond the realm of art. One might generalize by saying: the technique of reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of tradition. By making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique existence." (III)

 It is here when Benjamin discusses the authenticity of work that has been reproduced and how, lacking time and presence in history, is missing a particular uniqueness or originality. The fact that reproduction has changed the context means that it lacks the "aura" Benjamin so often brings up. How do you feel about the concept of a work lacking this "aura"? Do you feel this makes you connect differently to art? 

Later on, he continues this concept and says:

"Magician and surgeon compare to painter and cameraman. The painter maintains in his work a natural distance from reality, the cameraman penetrates deeply into its web. There is a tremendous difference between the pictures they obtain. That of the painter is a total one, that of the cameraman consists of multiple fragments which are assembled under a new law. Thus, for contemporary man the representation of reality by the film is incomparably more significant than that of the painter, since it offers, precisely because of the thoroughgoing permeation of reality with mechanical equipment, an aspect of reality which is free of all equipment. And that is what one is entitled to ask from a work of art." (XI)

Due to war and political change, the different forms of art had to be changed as well as their content. Benjamin saw that it is not enough, for example, simply to make people aware of human misery: photography can “make human misery an object of consumption” and can even turn “the struggle against misery into an object of consumption.” What are the effects and significance of new art forms like photography and film? Do you believe they still do not contain an "aura" because they are an image of an image?

2.      In part VIII of Benjamin's article he explains how film can detach the audience emotionally from the actor. Unlike theater acting, the big screen creates critics of the audience rather than devote them to the story emotionally. When you watch a film, do you feel that this is true? What films, actors, or directors have felt as real as the personal contact of theater (if any)? Are they considered cult?

Project 3: Animation and Audio

Downloaded Sounds:
1. The Beatles - "Because"
2. "Deep Space" from Freesound.org

Microphone:
1. Heartbeat Imitation

The hardest part about this project has been choosing audio that would work with the movements and atmosphere of the animation. I chose the deep space sound to set the atmosphere for the piece while providing the perfect hum that doesn't distract too much from the song or the piece itself. Maybe it was a little risky including the Beatles' song because it could distract from the movement and other sounds but, after listening and watching over and over, I am confident that my final editing choices for the song made the animation. I listened until the song seemed to fit just right with the movements and slowed the song down to 75% to fit with the rotation of the hands at top-center. I also dulled the sound to make it similar to the deep space hum with the Underwater Effects in Adobe Audition. And then the microphone was easy enough to pound my chest to create a heartbeat noise. Lastly, I made double sure that none of these sounds would be destroyed by the "Drone" and, luckily, I feel like they work perfectly. I hope you all agree! I also changed the original animation just a bit at the end. I've made it now so the the hands and heart sort of evaporate into the background. It looks like it doesn't end so suddenly and feels more organic.

Project 2: Animation In-Process: "Look Inside"

        In this project I attempted to do animate as much as possible without distracting the eye too much. I tried to use a lot of the effects but not many of them worked well with the skeletons or removed the textures I liked so much. I did use the "glow" effect on the ribcage, brain, and the two heads in the center in hopes to soften the harsh edges and create a "dreamier" atmosphere. I decided not to use any of the candy layers from my original montage because I believed it might take away from my — not so planned — theme.  I went for a very psychedelic approach to stick to the topic of Introspective. The colors, rotations, and flow were all attempts to please the eye. As Aldous Huxley says:

“Everything seen by those who visit the mind’s antipodes is brilliantly illuminated and seems to shine from within. All colors are intensified to a pitch far beyond anything seen in the normal state, and at the same time the mind’s capacity for recognizing fine distinctions of tone and hue is notably heightened.”

        Overall, I am happy with my first attempt at Adobe After Effects. I wish I had managed my time better so that I could tinker more with effects. There were so many possibilities with the layers I had that it was starting to become overwhelming! I will know better the next time I use this program... hopefully.