HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

I've had a great time this semester. I'll genuinely miss ART 211 but I'm excited to move on. Have a great break everyone!

SO COOL.

Someone I know just posted this on Facebook. I feel like it belongs here. Enjoy.

Video Art

THE FUTURE

The NY Times article was both really cool and a little bit scary. The idea that in just the next couple decades we could be that advanced blows my mind.

I think the most compelling part of the article is the last section under the heading "Toward the Future." It says:

How will we reach such a future? The key is to grasp the importance of science and science education. Science is the engine of prosperity.

Leaders in China and India realize that science and technology lead to success and wealth. But many countries in the West graduate students into the unemployment line by teaching skills that were necessary to live in 1950.

Years ago, pundits worried about a “digital divide.” It never happened, because access to computers became cheaper and cheaper. The real problem, however, is not access; it is jobs. Plenty of jobs are begging to be filled today, but those jobs require workers with a technical and scientific education. As Winston Churchill once said, “the empires of the future are the empires of the mind.” 

Read the full story below. Very cool stuff!

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/28/opinion/kaku-a-scientist-predicts-the-future.html?pagewanted=all&_r=3&

Slacker Art

Here's my thoughts on the two performance art projects that came in late...

I thought Liz did a great job! It's really cool to see a classmate effectively taking the directing road instead of doing the performance herself. I think it would've been cool to include the part where they got kicked out (as described on her blog) but it still ended up really fun!

I'd love to look at Jeff's performance too but it looks like he hasn't posted on his blog since November. I hope I remember to do it later but if I don't- I promise I looked for it!

Golan Levin in 3D

Not only was the Golan Levin interview compelling because of it's Kinect composition I also found these points he made interesting...

 -Video editing should be an essential college course -3D printing is the future
-Science fiction is often correct
-When something becomes smaller or cheaper it becomes completely different (leads to augmented reality)
-Open source government is possible and desirable -Computers will never surpass the way humans can respond to each other
-When all the human minds are connected we'll be thinking about... porn

Check out Levin's interactive art website at flong.com Cool Stuff!

Performance Art

"He's the king out there..."

I had no idea that the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack had such an impact on the music industry. I wasn't even award that a soundtrack comprised of a compilation of songs was even eligible for a Grammy award. It's really interesting to me that a lot of the songs featured on the album had enjoyed previous success before being associated with the movie. 

It's been a while since I've seen the movie so I'm definitely going to dawn my bell bottoms and pop the dvd in next chance I get. However, this time I watch it I'll try being more aware of the music it uses.

As a music buff I was curious so I found the whole album on youtube. You can listen to it below...

Article: http://thedissolve.com/features/adventures-in-licensing/268-the-saturday-night-fever-soundtrack-helped-spread-/

And just for fun...

Breakdancing

So my research has pointed me toward James Brown's performances of Get on the Good Foot as the origin of breakdancing. Here is a performance circa 1972...

Professor Echeverry wanted us to concentrate on the 80's so I found two good examples that I think capture the era...

Good resource: (http://www.globaldarkness.com/articles/history%20of%20breaking.htm)

D'Alessandro

I'm not sure if we were supposed to write a blog post about this or not. Since we were encouraged to explore and I did I thought I would make one anyway. I really like Professor D'Alessandro's work because a lot of it has an interactive element to it. Affecting people and getting them to identify with art is obviously a common goal and Professor D'Alessandro does this really interestingly. I was especially intrigued by...

 

Affliction (2008)

 

Project Sleep Walk/Talk (2008)

...and Paris Simulation (2007)

 

Performance Art in Modern Pop

This is Lady Gaga performing last night at her album release party, dubbed "ARTrave." Leigh Bowery anyone??

Jeff Koons Explains "The Gazing Ball" and the ARTPOP Cover

Get More: Lady Gaga, Music News

STRANGEr

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Speaking of Flash Mobs...

This one has been my favorite for a while. That Judas choreography is NOT easy and these kids slay it. AMAZING job!

Just for fun- here's the Judas music video. Even though ARTPOP is out, Judas remains my favorite of all of Gaga's songs and videos. Fun fact: The video cost 10 million to make, making it the most expensive music video of all time...

Warhol Lives

I thought I'd post classic some Warhol silkscreens in my favorite color combinations. Enjoy.

Red Liz (1967)

 

Pink Marilyn (1967)

 

Dollar Signs (1984)

 

Flowers (1964)

 

Fright Wig (1986)

 

Hammer and Sickle (1976)

 

Revolver (1981)

 

 

More Warhol posts coming soon!

Burgers.

Hamburger (1985) Andy Warhol

One of my favorite videos of the Warhol era. I just find it's a perfect summery of everything Warhol is about.

Archetypes

I'm actually really surprised no one knew what the word Archetype meant. It means an example or symbol that can be imitated.

My other fave, Marina and the Diamonds did a multimedia project she called the Archetypes in combination with the release of her second studio album, Electra Heart. It was a study of what she described as female archetypes and their role in American society. The imagery and visuals that went with it are absolutely amazing. I encourage everyone to check out the project tumblr below, which has all the pictures and videos.

The Archetypes

She wishes to say...

I was really excited going into the performance art portion of the class. Exploring Sheryl Oring's projects has definitely been a highlight for me. I am SO glad this got brought up in class because what she is doing is impactful both in the context of the project and in a broader view. I seriously love everything about her work.

I'm genuinely just speechless right now because I think these projects are so amazing. I think it would be extremely interesting if she enlisted the help of other transcribers and centered the works around other major events and milestones in in American politics.

I'm just in awe because for an artist to perfect their art in such a specific way is amazing. This is a perfect example of what the signature style of an artist can become. AMAZING. Bookmarked. I will definitely be following her work in the future.

Howl is Not Too Obscene

Reading the article 'Howl' Too Hot to Hear I was really more concerned about things the FCC is censoring besides the poem. Of course the language of the poem is interesting with the context we have for it today, but it wasn't the place of an independent station to air something with such a risk attached.

In places like Europe where audiences are desensitized to language and sexuality a poem like this would never be such a big deal. It makes me question why America holds the backwards values it does. I'd like to echo Professor Echeverry's question of why there was more outrage over Janet Jackson's boob than there was for 25 murdered children. It's wrong and the fact that Howl's language is still an issue decades after it was written shows just how backwards America is.

It seems pretty obvious. People should care more about bombs than they do about boobs.

Dream Machine

The Dream Machine was revolutionary invention by artist Brion Gysin. It features a lighted cylander with holes cut in it, placed on a turntable to make it spin. It produces a hallucinogenic and hypnotic effect without the use of drugs. It turned out to be an important tool, inspiring artists like David Bowie, Iggy Pop Paul McCartney, Marilyn Manson, Floria Sigismondi, Bruce Labruce, Nick Zinner , Beck and DJ Spooky. source



Here's a video showing how the Dream Machine is built and how it works...

Gysin and William Burroughs are also famous for pioneering the cutups method of contextualizing and reassembling poetry. The best example I could find of this is in the video below. I've also included a photo of a piece by Burroughs showing that the order of disassembling of words is completely up to the author.