Communication Breakdown Cont....

For my performance art I wanted to stress how much face to face communication we have lost with technology. In the business world, one can communication strictly through email avoiding personal communication completely. Who needs a hand shake when you can have letterhead? When you hit the dating scene not much changes. Dont have the balls to ask her on a date, well just shoot her a text then boys! Although my dinner date using stictly text messaging is an exaggeration of personal communication it also touches on the cell phone becomign your sixth finger. Im completely guilty of this myself, but you would be hardpressed to find a college kid who isnt armed 24/7 with their cell phone. I think the old phrase "boys cant live with them, cant live with out thme" should simply be substituted with cellphones.

Communication Breakdown

performance art

I now have a new found respect for those "weirdos" that hang themselves from trees and practice endurance by slamming their bodies into seal beams. Prior to this class these stunts seemed like nothing more then a cry for atttention but i now realize the time, dedication and elaborate thought process that goes behind each work. In my digital arts class i actually did a presentation on nam june paik, a man whose significance i failed to understand. His massive tv sculputures are uncomprehensible when you see them in pictures. Watching his documentary gave me an understanding of his wacky personality and just how amazing a hundred tv sets was 30 years ago. Yoko Ono is another performer that I knew of, yet didnt realize her importance besides being married to a beatle. The performance, cut off, makes a strong statement for exposing internal suffering as well as fights the staple gender issue. On a lighter note, kinda, Bob Flanagan brought humor into performance art. Fighting for his life, bob found performance art to be the perfect outlet. His sometime comedic, groteque and depressing stunts were always an expression of him and the disease that defines him.

The Beat Generation

"The so-called Beat Generation was a whole bunch of people, of all different nationalities, who came to the conclusion that society sucked." - Amiri Baraka
From this conclusion spun a cultural phenomenom producing amazing literature, rejection of mainstream america and a whole lot of phsycadelics. At the heart of this new era was three primary men, Jack Kerouac William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. Reacting to the post WWII life and inspired by surrealism the beats were known for spotinuity and non conformity. Jack Kerouac's On the Road tells of the beatnik travels and is filled drugs sex and profanity. William Burrough's Naked Lunch shares some of the same content in addition to autobiogrpahical events but it was assembled through a method coined "cut up". By piecing together his notes and automatic writing a classic was made. Now not only did they produce controversial content but produced it in a non conformist way. As the generation expanded it fostered the counter culture we know today as hippies.

Cutting the art history in half

Thanks to the creative mind of Man Ray art is no longer fields of flowers and portraits. Marcel Duchamp started his career as a traditional watercolor painter, in time his art transformed to more abstract works including cubeism. Man Ray and Art histories big break came in form of a urinale in 1917. An object seen and used everyday became art when taken out of its element and placed in an unconventional way. The process of decontextualization, adding elements together to change form of object, opened a new world of art. Also getting it's start during this time is dada, an anti art anti war movement lead by Tristan Tzara. Laying the groundwork for performance art, surrealism and abstract art the dada played a large part in the revolution of art.

GRID PRoJECT

History of video games

Never had it been so good to be a geek! I was baffled three weeks ago when I witnessed a grown man get a packman tattoo. He was obviously successful, sporting a v-neck affliction shirt and BMW keys in hand yet he was about to put cherrys bananas and the packman on his body for life. That is a serious dedication for a game that saw its peak almost 30 years ago. I had never realized how closely related the military and video game truely are. It makes perfect sense boys are usually the ones tinkering and blowing things up, key components to gaming. Two years ago I found an Atari T-shirt at the goodwill, a treasure not to be left behind. The first user friendly game consol took the country by storm. Before long competition thrived, Atari dropped off and Asia tuned in. Somewhat unfortunate that China capitolized on the thriving industry we created. At this point their culture revolves around it as men describe characters as "cute"

Revenge of the nerds!

its amazing to think the technology we take for granted everyday was only a glimmer in some nerds eye forty years ago. The first computers, for lack of better term, remind me of the first telephones. With someone maning the switchboard on one giant machine that has barely any purpose. Although the ENAC did have one important purpose, decode messages during WWII. By the time the first personal computer hit the market nerds were on top of their game. The Altier, named after the one and only star wars, revolutionized the market. Although the new device was far from user friendly it was a glimpse into the future of the world. Through specialized applications the computer slowly transformed from a strict businesss tool to a means of entertainment and communcation with the internet. Still baffeling me about this whole process is the actual way the information is decoded and then transfered. I understand that a bit is 1 or 0 and 8 bits equals a byte but i just cant grasp how that can be trasformed into the music, games, art and communication we come to expect from the computer and internet. Im extremely thankful someone understood it as I depend on the computer more then my car or phone!

History of Radio

I found the timing of this class extremely ironic and somewhat reassuring. With our economy shaping up to model that of the 1930's learning about their method of coping was very suitable. Through the radio millions of americans were consolled through the dark days of the depression and then uplifted and infused with music in the years after. Just before this class I was contemplating how useful my degree will be in our declining economic state, im now somewhat relieved. As advertising flourished through radio in the 1930's the industrie will now flourish through the internet and social networking sites.

I love finding new interesting websites like otr.com! I poked around for a while and finally decided to give the hindenburg commentary a listen. I have always known what it was but i loved the brief history of the event its gives before listening to the podcast. What used to be an 8 minute clip has now been extended to thirty minutes of painful updates. In the extended version herb morrison interviews actual survivors that were straight from the wreckage. One man was even addressed as the "burning man." Other updates included crew members that survived through jumping out the windows. One podcast i was really sad not to find is war of the worlds. I have learned about that in three classes and have yet to hear the actually footage.

WIRED next fest

Art of Play by Erik Natzke caught my eye as a still picture, I can only imagine how amazing the rolling videos must be. It reminds me of an elaborate version of the 90's computer screen savers with the swirling lines slowly revolving around six colors. WHY isnt the biofuel filling every semi in our nation? Alternate fuel sources is something i would love to learn more about but i feel the facts are hard to find. I love seeing the technology in prosthetics as a dear friend in highschool lost a leg in a car accident. The thought of her hiking, playing softball or walking to class makes me so happy :) NASA doesnt have a team of trained professionals crafting a time warping machine, but they do have an educated staff depicting realistic look at our world in the years to come. Disinagrating coastlines and dramatic temperature changes are just a few things to look forward to. SIMPLIFY OR DIE!

Visions of future in film

Futuristic flicks have never been my favorite type of film. Although when I have two different teachers play Blade Runner and stress the importance of movies like Minority Report and Matrix I cant help but be interested. Videodrome was the one I had never heard of but found most intriguing. Blondies creepy suduction scene was far more scary then any blonde bimbo running from a walking killer like todays horror films. On a realistic level it questions what is reality? With todays couch potatoes feeding on shows like real world, celeb reality and simple life I think its fair to say that the line is vauger than ever. Barbarella, the staple Barbie, was one of the first futuristic sex icons. As much as I love a women superhero do her nipples really havee to show all the time? Overall this class gave me more appreaciation for futuristic movies, my next trip to blockbuster might bring me to the sci fri isle.

On the flipside, I loved seeing my beers books! Victors was great!!! its amazing what a little technology can do. With the digital flipbook not a single stick figure step or blood drop is overlooked. Not to mention adding music, the icing on the cake. It made me realize that drawing it wouldnt have been as stressful as i made it. I also really liked Ryan's. His mushroom story was fitting for the assignment.

continued....

In the progression of movies and technology realism has always been the primary goal. From time photos to film projection to black and white then color and now HD the evolution is far from over. Our obsession with the next best thing has led to rapid changes in technology and culture. Futuristic flicks such as Space Odyssey and Clockwork Orange serve as prime examples. Utilizing our future infactuation Stanely Cubrict created a skewed idea of the year 2001. Although we have yet to take trips to jupitor and get waited on by a flight attendent wearing grip shoes we do rely on credit cards, coffee shops and computures similiar to the HAL9000. Clockwork Orange combined classical music with a sythesizer twist to aid its sycadelic willy wonka feel. The strange sci-fi murder flick is a visual treat. With artists naming themselves after the acid milk bar and Alex, the main droog, being synonomous for halloween pieces of these movies remain in our culture today.

Evolution of film

Evolving with the new technology, film took forefront to "yesterdays" camera. With the capability to create short films entertainment turned from a luxury to neccesity. Prior to this the only real time entertainment was the opera or musicals which tended to be a bit pricey for most. With the invention of movies the same show could be repeated for multiple audiences and at a fraction of the cost. Iorning out the kinks in the new technology Melies, Eisentstein and Griffith produced cutting edge works that remain classics today. 1902 brought George Melies's Trip to the Moon. Through a combination of animation, magic and film he created a movie experience unlike any of the time. In the coming years the first animated movie premiered along with timeless tail "The great train robbery." Still lacking sound and acting ability movies slowly began to stress realism. Joan of Arc, one of the best silent movies, stressed simplicity and natural acting. From the few clips we watched in class it was the only silent movie to really evoke emotion. The crisp close ups and simple sets really allowed you to focus on the acting which was suprisingly good. I was also reallly suprised how similiar that joan looks compared to the actress staring in the most recent rendition.

Broadway-The American Musical

As Julie Andrews guided us through the history of Broadyway I was amazed to see the rapid change and cultural impact it had. To my surpise the liberation of women started by a glamorous Broadway producer Florence Ziegfeld. Thanks to his glorification of the American women we have birth control and hooters. Also during this time, whites continued their racial debauchery with minstrel skits painting their faces black and acting with an exagerated southern twang. As women skirts got shorter, African Americans entered the theater and Jazz struck gold. George Grishmen bridged the black and white musical community creating what he called "artistic unitity." Broadway's evolution to fragmented stories can also be credited to Grishmen. Its boggling to think these are the few people that set the bar for entertainment, influenced the growth of New York and united the melting pot of cultures in America.

my misconception

Breaking glass, busty women and wealth was the unfortunate misconception i had of opera till today. To my suprise, I can add castrated men, technology and the beggining of entertainment to the list. As we viewed the progression of Opera from Farinelli's era with few accesories or story lines to the elaborate sets and plots of the 1900 the eventual transformation to broadway and television is obvious. When compared to the entertainment of today, Opera feels authentic boasting raw talent, dramatic stories and far from the hollywood ending. Although they often lack a picture perfect ending the conflicts suffice. The often eery or depressing content seems to reinforce to drab life of the time. For the first time I gave opera a chance and I must say Im pleasantly suprised, and am glad to have a little more cocktail convos under my belt.

At First Glance

I am guilty, like most conscious college students, of being ia devoted ratemyprofessor.com user. As im sure the majority of the class, including you professor know past students have hailed your extensive knowledge and unconventional material. Reviewing the syllabus confirms the rumors with your diverse subject matter, use of mediums and creative projects. As my eye scanned the assignment coloumn my anticipation grew with words like opera, thirft store, photography and xerox. In addition to an A, I hope to broaded my general art knowledge and abilities while having a few jaw dropped experiences and some laughs along the way. I apologize for the family emergency and look forward to jumping into this class.