Poem Visualization

This is the final product of my poem visualization. The poem is about a dream that a pianist has one night, so I wanted the poem to seem dream-esque. I did this by hanging picture frames from the hall 'ceiling' thing. A normal book format would not have as accurately accomplished a dream-esque essence of the piece. I also chose to use picture frames because each 'scene' or line seemed like a frame to me. It did not all run together but rather, it seemed broken into frames.

The critique was very beneficial for me. If I was to do the project again, I would have made the images double sided, so that if the frames happened to spin, there would still be an image. I honestly did not even think of that (I also did not think that there would be a significant breeze in the hallway of the second floor!). I really do like how the piece turned out. I think it was worth the 17 hours of work...

Independence: Breaking the Restraints and Limitations of the Physical World

The title for the exhibition that Liz and I wanted to do was Independence: Breaking the Restraints and Limitations of the Physical World. We chose artists Q. S. Serafijn and Gerhard Mantz, two digital art masters.

The two artists complimented each in a unique way. While many exhibitions focus on the similarities between artists, our exhibition focused on how 'opposite' their works seemed to be. The created realities of Mantz were perfect for an exhibition setting. While Mantz worked beginning with realities and finishing with a digital piece, Serafijn began with his digital arts background and created pieces that ended in reality. The opposite processes of the artists, in addition to their similar categorization of 'digital artists,' made for an interesting potential exhibition.

Reality to digital, and digital to reality. The two artists used their unique talents and artistic perspectives to break the restrains and limitations of the physical world to create realities that related to the viewer (D-tower) or realities that were simply created (Mantz's works).

http://www.gerhard-mantz.de/f-home-flash.html

http://www.artnet.com/artist/720797/gerhard-mantz.html

http://www.publicartonline.org.uk/casestudies/environmental/muizengaatje/images.php

http://www.arcspace.com/architects/nox/d_tower/

THEIR Collaborative Presentations

Sci-Fi Night Club combined digital artists who worked with installations utilizing LED lights. Erwin Redl's light installations, specifically Matrix, reflected a the title of the exhibition. The environment created with Redl's LED lights gave the ambiance of a night club. Villareal's piece, Hive, stuck out in particular. The programming he did for each of the lights to link and move created a work that reflected the business of a bee hive. The two artists complimented each other and would create an effective exhibition.

Living Computer Mignonneau and Sommere/Hemmer was also an effective proposed exhibition. Pulse Park, which was located in a park that apparently no one knew existed, was a fascinating combination of lights and human interaction. The pulse of the lights were manipulated by the viewers, so it created an ever changing 'beat' for the viewers in the park.

Define Structure incorporated Redl and Asymptote architecture and the use of computer graphics, lighting, and architectural works. Thea architecture of Asymptote seem impossibly grand, and Redl's works seem impossibly surrealistic, even though the viewer is able to pass through his works. The exhibition would create a fun ambiance and environment; the combination of LED 'rooms' and architecture plans would make for an exciting exhibition.

Perceptions incorporated artists G. Scott and O. Wasow to create an exhibition that toyed with the viewer's perception of reality. Scott visual 'riddles' are engaging pieces that cause the viewer to think about what exactly the content is in the piece. The artists worked together nicely as many of their pieces represented somber feelings such as loneliness or discontent.

Mechanical Creations featured arists Renaldo and Feingold who played with human abilities and kinetics/robotics. The absurd talking heads complimented the robotic arms and would have made an effective exhibition of robotic 'humanizations.'

Future Schock Love Sounds featured digital artists Dan Deacon and Danny Perez. The installations would have utilized sound art and sound manipulation, similar to a concert, and digital video projections. The background of Dan Deacon with Animal Collective was something I found fascinating because I love Animal Collective, yet I have not heard of Deacon! The video projections would have matched the sound projects of Deacon, and would have made for an excellent, wild, exhibition. The title is genius.

Maquette? Like a Baguette?

No, a Maquette is not like a Baguette, Mom. In fact, a Maquette isn't even edible.

THIS is a maquette; it is the equivalent to a sketch for a painting. This is the "outline" to my project. It was really helpful to do this because it has hammered out what exactly I want to do and the dimensions that I will be working with. The poem seems like a web to me, and the speaker seems horribly peculiar. The sense I got was that he was sort of going through this scene, frame by frame. This lead me to want to articulate the piece in 8 "page", or frames. It will be hung in the hall and it will be much more spread out. I'm excited for it!

The Marionettes of Distant Masters

The Marionettes of Distant Masters

Russell Edson

A pianist dreams that he's hired by a wrecking company to

ruin a piano with his fingers . . .

On the day of the piano wrecking concert, as he's

dressing, he notices a butterfly annoying a flower in his window

box. He wonders if the police should be called. Then he thinks

maybe the butterfly is just a marionette being manipulated by

its master from the window above.

Suddenly everything is beautiful. He begins to cry.

Then another butterfly begins to annoy the first butterfly.

He again wonders if he shouldn't call the police.

But, perhaps they are marionette-butterflies? He thinks

they are, belonging to rival masters seeing whose butterfly can

annoy the other's the most.

And this is happening in his window box. The Cosmic

Plan: Distant Masters manipulating minor Masters who, in turn,

are manipulating tiny butterfly-Masters who, in turn, are

manipulating him . . . A universe webbed with strings!

Suddenly it is all so beautiful; the light is strange . . .

Something about the light! He begins to cry . . .

This is the poem I intend to use for the artist book/poem visualization. I found this poem after a long search through contemporary poets. It was difficult for me to decide between Russell Edson and W.D. Snodgrass. Both poets had spectacular poems that would have been great to visualize. I chose this poem because I had the most peculiar "vision" while reading it.

When I read something, it is very easy for me to "vision" the text. For instance, fictional novels work as movies for me in my mind. It is spectacular, really. I have my own motion pictures while I read books. This happens better during some book.

The "scenes" I pictured while I was reading the poems were all very different. I chose this poem because the scene I was able to see was spectacular. It was an art in itself. A rush of a million project ideas came to my head. I love the idea of marionettes. There is something youthful and energetic about them. Better yet, the idea of two warring Master Marionetteers was enthralling.

I will have fun creating the piece for this poem. I intend to make it hand from the ceiling. I'd like to keep the rest a surprise.

Whitney Biennial Artist Comparison

Robert Williams and Charles Ray were two featured artists at the Whitney Biennial.They were not featured near eachother in the museum, but they were two pieces I noted and found interesting when I put them side by side on my laptop desktop. Ray’s “Untitled” was exhibited with a series of other works very similar. The works were either flowers, trees, or “garden-esque” subjects. He did not feature and real “foreign object;” each work was relatively recognizable. I could relate to the piece beacuse I was so familiar with the subject matter. He uses vibrant colors and colors that work in complimentary fashions (not in the sense that they were “opposite colors,” but they complimented each other). I loved seeing the series of works taking over the room. It was an explosion of colorful flowers and trees. It felt like a delft garden to me. I enjoyed his work.

Robert Williams’s work, “Astrophysically Modified Real Estate” was fantastic as well. I loved the series of works displayed on the wall. They were humerous and honestly reminded me of some of the sketches of a friend of mine. The ideas were impossible and rather absured. I love peculiarities. This artist certainly fit my taste. Like Ray’s work, the subjects of his pieces were recognizable. There is nothing outlandish about houses and real estate and cul-de-sacs. Each thing is very recognizible, like in Ray’s work. Also similar to Ray’s work, their pieces came in a sort of series. Ray’s work were featured in a room, taking up much space. Williams’s came in a series as well... but on a much smaller scale. Also, the medium of the artists work seemed “relateable.” Ray’s flowers seemed to be colored by markers, which evoke a sort of reminescence of kindergarten when I always drew multi-colored daisies. Williams’s works also evoked a sort of reminiscence, as their medium is a simple watercolor on paper. Watercolor was a common medium for me as a kindergartner and yound elementrary student. I could relate very well to to pieces of both artists through their medium

Their works are also very different. First of all, the scale of their works differ in that Ray worked rather large scale, with his “Untitled” at 47 x 32 1/2 inches, and Williams’s work at 36,8 x 44.5 centimeters. Color is also a great difference. Williams’s works have a soft coloration to them. He uses primarily neutral tones with no unusual colorations for the objects in his work. Ray uses a breadth of colors in his flowers. In nature, Daisies with a different color for each petal are likely non-existant. His colorations are unusual and not representative of the colors of flowers in real life.

I really enjoyed the simplistic works of these two artists. They’ll definitely go in my “faves” folder.

Word Visualization: HYPER AND STRESSED

Feeling hyper? I most certainly am not. In fact, I went to bed at 3:30 AM. I chose this word because it is the complete opposite of how I am feeling (and do not worry, I am happy). I also did the word stressed. I feel pretty stressed, so articulating the word felt real nas. I scratch things subconsciously when I'm stressed.

Me, in Three

These are my final three images, after many hours in the Mac lab.

The first is a representation of who I was. I composited images I scanned from letters I've written or just writings I did in school when I was very young. I included some pictures that I've drawn (you can see a little blog sketch of a person) and other small drawings. I placed the picture in a corn field background because it made it unify with the other two pictures much better. The background had previously been a yard which was distracting.

In the second image, I included pieces that I felt described who I am today. I am free, and I feel like the composition and my position give that sort of essence, especially in the setting of the picture. The scrabble pieces and the very faint writing were the only two pieces that I did not sketch myself. The other phrases and sentences were sayings that I wrote in my handwriting (because I felt like it was totally lame to do otherwise) phrases that fit me or describe me or are phrases I enjoy. I included "...and fa-la-la's," which matches my oblivious, free spirited personality. I also included "and the truth will set you free," which is from John 8:32. I really do feel like a free individual, and people tell me that I live like I am free. Well, that verse is the reason why I feel so free. Because I know the Truth. Simple as that. I also included little monsters I've drawn, a couple guitar sketches, and some scrabble pieces. Why the scrabble pieces? I've kind of become obsessed with them since my conceptual art project. I might put some scrabble pieces on the frame of the final picture. We'll see.

The last image is what I hope to be remembered as. I included other sketches that I scanned and more phrases. The one says "and she was free," and another, "yes, curiosity." I am a curious person, and rather naive. I want to be remembered as being free. I brought a picture of a holga camera into Illustrator and did Live Trace and Live Paint, and put it in the picture. I adore photography, and I hope I am remembered as a talented artist and photographer.

I really like the final product of my project. Its going to be a keeper.

triptych, before the final product.

These were the three images I used for the basis of my triptych. I wanted to use the theme of who I was in the past, who I am in the present, and who I will be remembered as in the future. I used the image of my little sister (because I looked exactly like her when I was little) to represent me as a child.

The second image is a picture my sister took of me specifically for this project. I'm kind of strange, and I'm perfectly ok with that, so I wanted the picture of me in the present to be odd. I love rolling around in corn fields and feeling free. I wanted an image to capture a kind of "freedom".

The final image is also a picture my sister took of me for this project. It also presents an essence of freedom which is so important to me.

Illustrator

This is try one at something seriousish in Illustrator. I can't really say what exactly I did, because I have not been able to figure out how to see my history. I took a black and white photo of myself, posterized it in photoshop, and placed it into Illustrator. I made it into a live paint image, and did live trace. After altering the live trace settings, I came up with a "cartoonized" or traced image like this. I made the edges softer and changed some of the edges. The live traced traced by eyes in a strange way, so that they looked really angry. I took the warp tool and stretched my eyes so that they did not look quite so angry. I'm going to try and do another image of myself, because I actually have time to and I'd like to try out some of the other tools.

I am happy with this image because I have been able to alter the original significantly!

Let's Do Coffee

Let's do coffee. I heard a rumor that the airplane image did not count for a grade... so of course, I got nervous and did another image. I still do not even know what exactly does or does not count for the exercise, but regardless, I did two images. Doing two actually helped me out with learning how to do the curves. I'm kind of glad I ended up doing two...

Marina Abramović's portraits contained so many different emotions. The way she captivated feeling and emotion made her portraits seem alive, rather than a stagnant representation of an individual, mostly herself. I particularly enjoyed her black-and-white portraits. The rather eerie settings she used made the portraits alluring and thought provoking. Her other words had very direct statements being made about women. Her work with the woman in the kitchen and the other of the woman amongst children in uniforms were particularly interesting to me. The way she captures the individual's face seems particularly important in her work.

Frida Kahlo's portraits, while very unique, displayed similar emotions. The medium is clearly different, as Kahlo used canvas and paint instead of photography. Many of the portraits involve a sort of solemn feel, or a sort of distress. This particular piece seems less emotional at first, when you first consider the coloration. Once you realize that the meaning of the picture on her forehead symbolizes her thoughts about death, you quickly reconsider your primary thoughts on the piece. I found the emotions behind this piece were related to the emotions behind Abramovic's pieces. I felt, distressed.

Cui Xiuwen's works were quite different from the other artists. Xiuwen's works seemed to had a recurring theme about them, with the young girls who looked very similar, with the white dresses and black hair. I usually like variety in an artists's portfolio, but I must say that I really enjoyed Xiuwen's common theme with the similar looking girls (who may actually be the same girls). Again, the idea I gathered was distress. Between the three artists, the most prevalent similarity (besides the fact that each artists works were based on femininity) is the repeated emotion of distress. Distress does not always as a "heavy" emotion. None of the works seemed particularly light hearted and positive.

Illustrator Exercise One

This is my first try at Illustrator. I can't say that I understand it very much, but I'm pretty excited to learn about it. What I did here was trace over an image to create this, using different tools to manipulate the edges. and of course, I made it hot pink because I'm a girly girl.

Jarred

This is the final product of the compositing project. I used seven different photographs and compiled them to create this "scene." I wanted to create a scene that would be "impossible" in real life. To give the picture a sort of surreal look, I incorporated a newspaper background, using the neon glow filter to give it the unusual tint.

The greatest trouble I had was trying to make it appear as though the parrot was inside the jar, because the class made it very difficult to do so. I found a way to successfully do so, although I have to admit, it was only luck that led to me to that. I made a duplicate of the jar, and put the parrot on top of the one jar. with the duplicate, I used the "burn" option so that it became more transparent. I put the burnt, transparent jar over the bird as a different layer, putting the parrot between the two jar layers. I was really excited to see that it had worked out.

The toy elephant is one of my favorite parts of the project. It is childish and very fitting. I do not think that a picture of a real elephant would have given the same effect. I think it would have been trying to pull off too much. I really liked the idea of having toys be incorporated into the image.

With the ''burnt jar,'' I duplicated it once again, enlarged it, and made it more transparent. With that, I placed it behind the girl and the elephant to sort of appear as a shadow on the newspaper background. I thought it was a little bit plain having all the newspaper in the background. I am very glad that I included the jar's ''shadow." I am very pleased with the effect.

Lastly, I decided to add just a silly, minor detail in the project: In the newspaper, for the article on the right, I replaced the picture of the journalist that lies next to the article with a small icon of Captain Hook. Why? Because I love Captain Hook. And I'm curious to see who notices it. I loved finding out all the humorous details within Michaelangelo's works... So I thought, why can't I try that too? So look for the little Captain Hook icon.. he's watching you.

Prospective Project.. take two

What I originally intended to do and what I have actually done for the project are extremely different. I first planned on compositing an image with my two sisters playing in the refrigerator and creating a "food stock wonderland." The more I thought and tried to develop an idea, the more my ideas completely changed. The proceeding photos are the three pictures that I am using to fulfill the project requirements (interior, exterior, human interaction).

What I later decided to do, was to put a stuffed animal (a nice colorful parrot) in the jar, with the young girl seated on top of a toy circus elephant, reaching for the poor little parrot who is stuck inside the jar. To incorporate an exterior, I chose a newspaper to make into the background.

I hope to achieve a sort of "playful" scene, with a child's toys, yet have it be rather ambiguous. We'll see how it turns out, with my second-ever try at photoshop.

"Inherited Traits"

The "Inherited Traits" gallery was perfect for the opening show in the new Art building.

I loved the originality of the piece and the perfect cooperation between the pieces with the common theme of heritage and family. Heidi Kumaow's projection pieces were beautiful in their narratives. The projection that told the story of how Japanese Americans used gardening to make it through their conditions was really beautiful to me. The narrative was detailed enough to be understood, yet "ambiguous" and vague enough to give a sense of honor and faded memories.

Nina Kachadourian's Genealogy of a Supermarket and Nightgown were magnificent pieces. The humor behind the genealogy was intriguing, yet the piece had a sort of reverence for family heritage, and therefore the viewer could take the piece seriously. The Nightgown piece so truly beautiful: the adventure behind the project made it seem like a two-part story. The missing pieces make the work even more beautiful, beacuse there is an essence of mystery of heritage that cannot be grasped. Of all the pieces, these two pieces were my favorite. I could not say which piece I prefer... each is beautiful in a very different way.

Reviewing Reviews for your Review

As I got to read what others reviewed about the artists, I was able to gain new perspectives on the works. Jeff Wall seemed to have interesting responses. As Christina stated, his works seemed to be "snapshots." As Elena also said, his works seemed "well staged" and rather professional in the most artistic essence.

Tuen Hocks, as Christina said, seemed to step on the line of childhood stories and fantasies. I loved the strange Dali-esque storyline that seemed to go behind his works. Each story seemed so strange, yet they were so appealing.

Gregory Crewdson created scenes which draw the viewer to "comb through the scenes like a detective," as Michelle said. As Kara also noted, his works seemed to evoke almost "uncomfortable" emotions, which is why I feel so drawn to his pieces. The emotions aroused are rather indescribable, but strange at the very least. His pieces succeed in engaging the viewer's mind.

As Elena noted, Cindy Sherman's pieces seemed to contain a sort of narrative, a very vague narrative. I really love how Liz explained that while the other artists relied heavily on light and color, Cindy Sherman relied on image and narrative rather than color. I enjoyed the reviews because each person brings forth unique perspectives which allow me to enjoy the pieces in different ways.

Compositing Exercise 1

This is my first composition, which was part of our compositing exercise. I took three black and white photographs from my album online from Italy and created this image. There is a statue bust in the window, and through the passage way there are the ruins of building. There are also two trees of some sort on either side of the passage way. I made them very opaque to give a surreal effect. I believe I have 5 total layers, but I may be wrong. No, maybe there's 6...

Regardless, I'd say I'm pretty proud of my first try at Photoshopping.

I like it

Artist Review: Gregory Crewsdon

Gregory Crewsdon's works were the most interesting for me to look at. His pieces contain so many deep tones, yet have very unique ways of emphasizing light. I strongly feel that his decision to leave his pieces without a title affect his work positively: too often the title of a piece can give away the scene or establish the scene prematurely, before the viewer gets a chance to imagine what the scene or situation may be. Because his pieces were not titled, I was able to view with work without any "previously set" notions. It was completely up to me to set the scene, or "title," without considering the role the title may play.

His pieces also seem to be full of "lonely stories," which make me want to explore or enter the work itself. As another student, Shannon E. stated, the "dramatic lighting to emphasize his focal point" is very effective. His use of light is very striking and gives certain works a very particular aura. While his pieces create a sense of wonder, I also feel a sense of anxiety behind each scene that Crewsdon articulates. Like Hock, his works are very "dream-like," but it a different way. I definitely enjoyed Crewsdon's work. I really admire the way he establish such ambiguous moods.

Artist Review: Teun Hocks

Besides having a sweet first name, Teun Hocks also as some sweet work. I am a huge fan of the man with the broken drum. I'm not sure what exactly is so appealing about this piece, but I feel so drawn to it. The scene is full of some sort of purple plant... which I would take as a happy or pleasant scene. However, in the midst of these pleasant purple plants, the poor drummer seems to have collapsed. I love it. It seems quite surreal and dream-like.

His piece with the man and the boxes is so pleasantly surreal. Usually surrealism is not something I particularly enjoy, as they always seem to remind me of bad dreams I've had. But his piece with the man laying in the boxes, with a matching skyline behind him, is so peacefully surreal. How is it that the man is so quietly sleeping while laying in boxes outside of a city? His pieces remind me of the surrealist Magritte, who also reminded me of bad dreams. I enjoyed his work very much. The drummer is likely my favorite piece of his.

Artist Review: Jeff Wall

The works of Jeff Wall were very appealing pieces. It seamed like he was able to master "everyday" things and twist them in very unique ways. Other than this piece, titled "Gust," his works seemed very subtle. "Milk" is a very still piece, except for the milk bursting. The movement is subtle. In his other pieces, the movement is not the focus: it seems like reaction or lack of reaction is what the viewer catches. His work seems to capture a moment rather than a scene. They stand as a small piece of a narration, rather than telling a whole story themselves. I really like his piece, "Gust." I think it's the helplessness of the people that make me draw to it. He also seems to have a boring, estranged outlook on life. I'm not sure if it was his goal to give that impression, but I certainly feel that he captures the "boring" elements of life.

Artist Review: Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman's pieces capture the essence of female beauty. Each one of her photos seems to articulate just how beautiful women are, even in strange situations. With each of her pieces being in black and white, I saw her works as more of a "collection" rather than individual pictures. It seems like she is creating a story with each "scene" being a different place and a different setting, with a different woman each time. Her work also reminded me of vintage romance films, because the women we were so delicately beautiful. Her work also seemed very vintage vogue. This piece which was also an "Untitled Film" was my favorite. I love how strange the setting is... and how through the goggles you see the perfect eyebrows and eyes that belong to a lovely woman... well, you can assume that much. She could have some nice eyebrows but still be really ugly.

Influences Art Influences Me Influences Mind

On a serious note, I am inspired by this piece, the Nike of Samothrace. Whenever I think of something that best articulates what beauty is in a material form, I think of this. I think its mostly the mystery behind it, that the artist of this masterpiece is unknown. It influences me to create something beautiful and completely captivating.

Conductors are such weirdoes. They stand swinging their arms furiously with their back facing us. On top of that, they get paid like kings for doing that. I want to be a conductor. It gives me license to be as strange a person as I want. I added this because I'd like to share with you all just how badly I wish I could get paid millions of dollars to swing my arms all around at people with giant instruments. Also, music is an inspiration to me. Classical music always runs through my head and I motion my hands as if I'm conducting some music in my head sometimes. Don't judge me!! Anyways, music is pretty much always playing while I'm making art. It keeps me focused.

This is Indigo Montoya, "prepare to die."

Naturally, Mr. Indigo Montoya is a tremendous inspiration to me: he has set the standard for all men who I may date... that they must have impressive chest hair like him, an awesome mullet which he totally rocks, and a nice scratchy mustache. I would like to thank Indigo Montoya for setting such high standards for the men I will date.

And lastly, there's Mika. He's my inspiration because he is so completly himself in his outrageousness... and everyone loves him for that. I love being a big wierdo and I love being outrageous. So Mika inspires me to keep this up because he obviously loves life and has more fun than most people, simply beacuse he is so okay with being outrageous. He inspires me to be me and not hold back any part of me. Plus, I love his giant eyes and really high voice.

I really hope starts a clothing line someday. In fact, I bought gold metallic shoes and a silver metallic shirt because of him.

I HIGHLY RECCOMEND that you watch his music video, "We Are Golden."

That music video made me realize that my tendency to walk around my house in my underwear is OKAY!

Who on earth is that?

That's what I ask when I see a blogger blogging. It's like they have something important to say and I should know who they are. Well I'm not a blogger, but I'm blogging because my college likes to make students blog. My Spanish 103 professor is even making me get a Twitter. At least we're not being forced to use Xanga or Myspace.

Well, my first blog is apparently an "About Me," which is unfortunate because I no not like to write about myself and you probably would not like to read about me. But I do whatever I'm told...

So.

I.make.art.

I'm an artist, my friends. I make things, and I talk about them. I make things that are meant to be looked at and talked about. I try to make things that are aesthetically pleasing so that you enjoy looking at them... but sometimes I like to be like Willie Cole and make things just to make you look at them and wonder, "who on earth did that?"

I make arrt. (That was a typo, but I kept it because I wish I was a pirate)

I enjoy [nearly] every moment of the process of making art. There's the Ultimate Artist who made me and made art before we knew what art was; and that's who I make art for.

I love the smell of oil paint, the texture of Color Aid paper, the weird sensation I get from saw dust, the taste of books, the fact that i'm nearly illiterate when it comes to using a my MacBook Pro, the cute squareness of my MacBook's buttons, the slight pain in my fingertips when I play the guitar,

and I love when people ask "who on earth is that?"

and answer, "Oh. She's an art major."

oh, and last thing: my computer experiences that may relate to this class:

a big fat impressive nothing... unless editing pictures counts