Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Art & Tech "Monotony"


Just finished my Art and Tech constructed images project today. The critique went very well, and I was really happy with the way it turned out. My project itself was 100 individual photographs of people watching television, exposed for six frames each, in an infinite loop. The project was displayed on a small television set hooked up to a small DVD player, and the video played to the song, "This Dirt Makes That Mud" by Liars. My idea for the project was to create a feeling of monotony, repetition, and disconnection. Here's a shorter, internet-friendly version of the video (beware! 10 straight minutes might leave you feeling weird) and a re-cap of the critique:


How do I understand this work?: “The irony of watching TV. A continuation all about the screen, what is on the screen – we watch the screen ourselves, then we watch the screens that the others are watching on the television itself. Everyone watches TV – this is a glimpse about human consumption of media. We are the viewer, and we are the idea. We are a participating part of the piece.”
“It’s like being in a museum and looking at the people who are looking at the art, instead of looking at the art itself. It’s completely different experience.”
What’s the idea behind this work?: “The idea of TIME, pushed into a fast-paced slideshow. The amount of time we spend in front of a TV. The amount of time we spend looking at these photos. The amount of time it took to take all of the photos. How many lives of our generation has led up to this point – the way technology has raised us, and how we are comfortable looking at it. Our generation, the youth – us, and the disconnection we have with the rest of the world while we watch TV.”
“Physically, the project is noxious, hypnotizing, frantic – the speed keeps the viewer anxious to look for detail – if they miss something, they want to wait for the loop to hit that point again in order to collect the detail. The concept of time is visited, again, with the idea of anticipation and waiting.” “Watching, experiencing the project makes me sick – which leads to the idea of asking the viewer to be a part of it.”
What’s successful?: “The speed, being noxious, works very well – not allowing enough time to completely focus. It really puts the statement of how much of our lives are about TV on the line.”
“The colors are crisp and clear – look HDR-quality – in some of them, you can see the gleam of the TV. The quality of the pictures mostly gives the added detail of what exactly is on TV, which is interesting, and often distorted.”
How could it improve?: “The rhythm could be played with – try having the television stay in one place, and have the people move from left to right around the television. Maybe just use the light from the TV and no other sources of light. Maybe include a pattern of different generations, from child, to teen, to adult, to elder, and again. Maybe split the TV in half, or include two TVs, one with photos of TV sets and another with photos of faces lit, watching off-screen screens – flipping them in succession, batting back and forth. Maybe have an installation with an included remote control that is sealed up, or maybe a remote that has no batteries/will not work.”

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Warped Tour Poster Contest


My final project in Illustrator Graphics is to design a music poster - and I have had my eye on this Warped Tour Contest for a few weeks now. The prize is $500 and two tickets to the show, so I talked to my teacher and got enough motivation to really pull something together this weekend, before the deadline of the contest. I sketched the thing Friday night and just completed it a few hours ago (Sunday night/early Monday morning). I had lots of fun making it and actually ended up learning much more about the program that I realized I would. I hope that with a few critiques and modifications I can wrap this up into a nice finished piece for the student show!


The only requirements for the contest were some size and color restrictions, and to play off of the theme, "Music makes the world new". The theme of the festival this year is the Mayan Calendar - which is why I chose to make a beastly creature with a head-dress, and why I threw in a stylized piece of "ancient art" in the background. I put the coyote-cow in space with a guitar, to signify the fact that he is a rockstar-god of the universe, breathing/singing life onto the planet Earth.

My entry can be found/voted for here: http://creativeallies.com/creations/v551

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Aquarium Poster


This was an assignment for Illustrator Graphics. The requirements were to make a poster that included an octopus and the words "Monteray Bay Aquarim, 886 Cannery Row". I have my sketched template as well as my finished shape-collage. I roughed out many compositions and also started on one before coming to this point, because I realized that doing the more serious preliminary sketch beforehand helps immensely. I am excited about doing more in Illustrator now that I am feeling more comfortable with the program - the final project is a poster for a musical act.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Music Video


I am really happy with the way this video turned out. The assignment was to construct video footage  alongside a musical composition. After thinking through many ideas, I winded up with this one: a short film starring all the stuffed animals that clutter my basement and room. The video is a homage to my old "friends" as well as my childhood - an eerie memoir about growing up. I hoped to invoke a reflective mood, and I am interested in pushing this project further in the future.

Also, here is a quick movie poster I made in class today (we have to create a final image for class in a few weeks).