Sunday, March 31, 2013

"Passion" Sculpture

"Passion" was created by the carving of Styrofoam into an anatomical replica of a human heart and then through the use of mainly hot glue the long process began of inserting the over 1,440 match heads into the piece and then afterwards spraying the sculpture with a high gloss enamel to even out the tones and solidify the matches in place even more. I chose red match heads to symbolize the highly energetic combustible nature of my own persona and passion but also the material (color and function of matches included) doubles as a representation of my potential for anger and stress. Together these two elements of my life are held together by a thin veneer of personal control. I think this piece is very representational of my life and my own self-worth by representing how I approach most things in my life; with a notoriously high degree of passion but also with potential for anger and stress.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Cadre Art Gallery Critique


Cadre Art Gallery Critique:

 
The Cadre Art Gallery to me functioned around a number of different aspects of art but the most significant of which had to be the diversity of the digital media world as displayed by the multitude of unique pieces in the exhibit. Whether it be through the complexity of programming or the simplicity of some pieces, all were significant in their own aesthetically pleasing way. In this way I believe the Cadre Art Gallery was able to effectively show the true nature of a rather new and untapped art medium: the diversity of the Digital Media world.

To compare two similar yet resoundingly different pieces Geri Wittig’s 1994 game titled Papal Propagation is effective in its own unplayable nature whereas John Bruneau and James Morgans’ piece titled Cooperative Gaming Co-op is effective in its playable nature. Both pieces are gaming consoles yet the interactive nature of each piece compliments the main idea being expressed by the artists. Whereas Cooperative Gaming Co-op focuses on the “death of the arcade” and the potential growth of a new future for the arcade through a new interactive style of gaming, Papal Propagation focuses on a differing concept, that there is no potential for a democratic or majority rule concerning the direction and rules of the Catholic church. Both are highly effective in their own specific functions within the realm of Digital Media and in so, display the numerous possibilities within this medium even when both are concerning an arcade gaming console.

Another exemplary piece of diversity within Digital Media is the piece Siena by Vera Fainshtein. In this simple piece there is a camera focused on a building through the eerie fog with normal life events occurring around it such as people simply walking or cars being driven past. There is also quite a cacophony of noise coming from somewhere in the image leaving it up to the viewer to decipher the rather abrupt sounds in this peaceful setting. The displayed diversity of Digital Media through this piece comes through the brilliant simplicity of it. Whereas other mediums would only be able to capture a glimpse of that foggy day in Siena this medium allows an over-scrutiny of that day to really grasp a full appreciation of the multitude of sensory information this scene provides. Along the lines of simplicity within Digital Media is the piece Pixelboard by DC Spensley and Peter Spangler. As displayed throughout this gallery the theme of less being more within this medium is very common due to the nature of the medium itself being very complicated.

Throughout this gallery the variety within the Digital Medium art world was shown immensely and effectively through environmental interaction and inaction, simplicity and over-scrutiny, and the multitude of differing pieces exhibited. Together these elements created a very interesting and complex gallery that mimicked the complex and unpredictable world of Digital Media itself.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Part 2.) BioPrint Hypothetical Crowdsourcing Project
The idea for BioPrint came from a TV episode I saw years ago where scientists had found out specific genetic algorithims for the morphology of plants. To average people the growth and structures of plants seem very random and unpredictable, but on the contrary in perfect environments they are very easily replicated with stunning similarities. As a crowdsourcing project I wanted to find a great way to incorporate something personal from every individual into a beautiful work of art and believe this achieves that goal.

Bioprint functions by taking a Webcam photo/touchpad upload of your specific fingerprint be it thumb, index, middle, ring, or pinky. From there the ridges and calculations of specific measurements that makes each individual unique will be inputted into the L-algorithm (the master algorithm for the growth of plants and branchings.) Just like every individual fingerprint is unique so is the plant that will be created from the fingerprint. they will vary in such categories as:

-plant species
-location
-growth patterns
-rate of growth
-directional growth
-etc.

Plants will also be affected differently by ingame conditions not based off of member's fingerprint such as:

-wind
-sun
-other plants
-water
-nutrient dispersements

Navigation within the game is similar to a street-view navigation on google earth with 360 rotational axis on  X, Y, and Z axis' controlled by the mouse. Zooming functions can be controlled by mouse wheel or by manual bar below rotation panel in upper left hand corner. Zooming capabilities range from overall environmental view (world view) to individual branches (micro view.) In addition each plant will be tagged when scrolled over with the profile of that member as well as a drop down menu with alternate options such as following that member or messaging etc. Environment will be running 24/7 365 days a year unless technical issues render it temporarily unusable, plant growth rates will be accelerated to a ratio of 5 days equal to half a year. Environment while navigationg will be in constant motion with elements as well as other organisms controlled by site supervisors (employees of BioPrint.)

Additions of new flora and fauna throughout the years will encourage users to continue experience as well as add additional plants later on using different prints (up to 10-toe prints not recognized.) After a certain amount of time as decided by the L-algorithm in combination with the other environmental factors (those decided by fingerprint and those decided by game) the species will die and user is given the opportunity to create a new organism.

The ultimate goal of this crowdsourcing project is to take something unique to each individual and create something else as representationally unique and beautifull as well. Together these prints can make a beautiful forest teeming with various explorable species.


5.) Young Me/ Now Me

(Explanation)




Had a very hard time finding pictures with a similar pose, especially one for today but finally I decided to go for my passport photos for when I was three and last year. The image quality is lacking but I think the change is apparant and ultimately the goal of comparison is accomplished even through poor resolution photographs. above are screen photos of my process including the sent email.
3.) Johny Cash Project









Particularly time consuming I still tried to remain true to the crowdsourcing project by making as representational as possible and realistic with the given tools rather than interpretive.

3rd from the bottom is the original
2nd from the bottom is my finished final version
bottom photo is my pending acceptance
 





2.) Collected Visions Documentation
2.) Collected Visions

(Explanation)
Went to the site, sorted categories of photos by brothers and in school, found photo and selected essay about photo option, wrote essay, published essay with contact information should they choose to use it on the site.

(Essay)
Imagination is as expressive as it is readily available in the minds of children. The mind is an amazing world of differing possibilities waiting to be unleashed upon the factually bound world consequentially inviting endless possibilities of tales of danger and deception, romance and transformation, and much more. The sheer simplicity and honesty of such rudimentary pieces of art are unequivocal in expressive intelligence and representational and personal significance.

                One delving into the inner cavities of artistic freedom often finds uninterrupted spurts of imagination common among adolescence. This is for obvious reasons. For in adolescence the mind is unshackled by the heavy burdens of the struggle between imaginative endeavors and representational realities. The line is fine and often encouraged toward the latter category as the world picks up the little ball of free creativity and spins it with its own mad pace of cold factual reality often picking up mathematics and other factual topics continuing to grow in size until the massive ball that once represented an innocent child simply has no room for creativity anymore and drops it finally to the ground leaving behind a trail paralleling millions of others in melancholy insignificance. But there is a time. A time ripe with imaginative brilliance that, although inevitably doomed in a factual culture, peaks in early adolescence. At a time where the world is the canvass to the young minds wishing to exploit it the world is endless with possibilities. Possibilities that from that moment on set the course of that child’s very world in motion. Creations that show them what they are and what they can do, that art doesn’t belong to those who can simply afford to not pick up the factual world, but to every child who holds a piece of chalk in his hands or has energy to draw even a single line in the sand. They are all beautiful, original. Expressive and lovely and brilliant in their own entirety and when the day it eventually withers away and dies there is a legacy that will be left behind. A line that outweighs any gradual deterioration of creativity left behind the moving ball, a line showing in its own way the absolute beauty of free imaginative expression, a line that sets that very ball in motion.

                There is a time in early adolescence. A stage unlike any other that will follow where a child’s mind is free to dream, a time where the imagination lies prone, ready to pounce upon the factually bound world to show the brilliance and purity of a few simple lines.
1.) The collaborative work of "ameteurs" can create something more intellctually appealing and valid than a single artist's efforts. Is there also a route or a point where too much crowdsourcing makes the end product a bland average? Does the problem in that point relate to the amount of people contributing being too much, or rather the flaw in the crowdsourcing project itself not being able to accurately express the many individual contributions?

2.) The second reading talks about the inability for "equal conversations" with a computer because of the nature of the interactions is simply reactionary. The Digital Media world is defined by these interactions however. Is there a bit of art lost in the translation between these reactions of crowdsourcing projects? Does the fact that some forms of crowdsourcing projects require minimal reactionary involvement detract from their overall intellectual and artistic weight as a Digital Media Project?

Thursday, March 7, 2013

In an attempt to remain true to the assignment I clipped the audio from the original file and then listened to it by itself attempting to picture images or scenes that would coincide with specific sounds. The timing was the hardest part to get and I shortened/ lengthened specific scenes to try to match them with the audio as best as possible. Using the same audio was a difficult task in this way but I found a clever way to cut specific sections of audio to make it match better with the scenes. Not on purpose I think this rounds out my piece much better than having a mere linear cut of sound, instead now I have 9 minutes (original length of video) clipped and merging with each other in a much shorter film which I believe to be a true tribute to the entirety of the original film. Along the same lines of representing the original video I used black and white paint on a background attempting to make the styles the same. The content of the original video was an exploration of humanities evolution and descent, in a similar way I tried to make mine about a similar descent into the pain and mixed feelings and emotions that come with depression ie. solitude, desolation, bursts of anger and tears etc. It took me a very long time with over 400 clips of video turned into jpegs to make this video.