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