The New Aesthetic

Okay, I know its bad form to choose the first post right off the bat but I did go through older posts and this one stood out the most to me. It's just such a great statement about journalism practice and how it's pretty much degraded in recent times (I took a journalism class a year ago and 'yellow journalism' was a subject we touched upon) not to mention how we send and receive information through social networking. A great deal of what you will hear from other people is just flat out wrong which is why it is SO SO important to question everything and seek out your own truth.

I know it was meant to be satirical but I found the clip really funny because it was like a game of 'telephone' where the message gets distorted as it goes through one person to another. The end product is something that is completely off from the original message and often doesn't make any sense.

I actually watched Waving at Machines online instead of reading it and enjoyed what James Bridle brought to light. We are in a constantly evolving world and technology is now an integral part of us. Pretty relevant stuff.

Assignment Four Progress

For assignment four I chose Luke Fowler's Three Minute Wonder series. Out of the series I felt like like 'Lester' is the best fit for me:

http://www.ubu.com/film/fowler_wonders_lester.html

It includes ideas that resonate with me such as architecture, historic buildings, books, random objects and I felt it was a quiet introspective glimpse into the personal space of 'Lester'. Once upon a time I was considering a degree in Historic Interiors so this interests me greatly, plus I've always been interested in the space that people occupy. Sometimes just looking around a personal space can say much more than the person ever could. So, looking foward to it.

Video Art Questions

Video Art Question One:

In exploring new media and venues of art self expression and examination are nearly limitless. Chris Burden challenged the process by involving his own body in the often near-masochistic destruction of his self which included being shot, nearly being burned alive and crawling over broken glass. At what point does self expression cease to be art? Is there a limit where we say, ‘this is not art’?

Video Art Question Two:

Vito Acconci used video media to draw parallels between the celebrity and the false intimacy of the televised image. A modern day equivalent could be compared to the rise of reality television and the instant stardom that these ‘average people’ achieve. How is this artistic expression?

Final part of the project; adding sound. This has been a really interesting process and a little bit frustrating; I have had zero experience with Garageband and feel like there is so, so much more to do but I don't yet have the technical skill to pull it off yet. A great learning experience. Enjoy.

Our theme was the reality and fantasy side of humans consuming resources.  Now that we added motion to the two sides of the diptych, we developed a more humorous approach rather than a serious, political approach.  The jumping movements and display of life and death are not as serious as they was before.

Questions for Digital Media

Question one:

 

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction touches on the subject of the power of art and film used by the social masses throughout history and change brought by this ‘powerful agent’.  Within the last century history and humanity has seen massive change that can arguably be said to have been brought on by the use of photography and film.  What are a few examples of the important use of photography or film within the last century that fueled social change?

 

Question two:

 

In The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction the subject of the mechanizing and mass reproduction of art brings home the point of the impact of industry on art, and in turn, the impact on society and the changes that are brought for good or ill.  Will the ever vanishing handcrafted disciplines become completely obsolete as technology advances?

Also: have a Raz plushie

Going along the lines of fantasy and reality, Kristen and I chose to depict the relationship of humanity and nature. This diptych shows how through humanity’s greed we fantasize about limitless resources. However, on the other side, we convey the reality that humans are over consuming the planet’s resources. We threw in some irony with Michelangelo’s painting in the Sistine Chapel. We used his figure of God to depict his displeasure with humanity’s destructive behavior.