I often use purple, as pointed out by Billy. I just added the above image after changing the color.
What is its effect on you?
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Response to "Digital Self-Portrait"
I picked a photo of myself that, while not the most interesting, has the most potential to be the most interesting. My approach is to separate the different values in the picture depending on how dark it is. While this may appear to mean that I will have to limit myself to a monochromatic theme, I am not sure if this is the direction I will pursue. While this is one direction I could go - changing my face to a different hue altogether - i feel that eventually i will probably separate the different parts of the face, regardless of whether they are the same value and make sure that the different hues are of the same value. Simply, I plan on starting with a monochromatic theme and moving from there... I think it is important to approach projects through a different outlook. I feel that many people would expect one to follow more of a realistic route, while I am heading in a more surrealistic direction. We will have to see how this ends up.
Just as a side note, I have been using the mouse for this, and it is taking me about 2738905983749852x longer then it would have with the pen tool! AGH!
Just as a side note, I have been using the mouse for this, and it is taking me about 2738905983749852x longer then it would have with the pen tool! AGH!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
dear adobe. you stink!
Brooke Singer
I found Brooke Singer on eyebeam.org. She is the co-founder of Preemptive Media, an art, technology and activist organization. She is an art professor at Purchase College in NY. Her artwork can be found in several different mediums including websites, digital photography, installations and performances.
Brooke Singer is an artist who believes in sharing herself with the world, via the internet. Her blog is full of links of things that she finds interesting and every one of her sites is full of more links to projects she has either worked on or will be working on in the future. If you start on eyebeam, you can go to her blog, which then links you back to eyebeam and also to one of the projects she is working on. The eyebeam page you reach from her blog describes in more detail the organization she co-founded. From eyebeam, you can actually reach the original website. I found it very astonishing how much of an internet presence she had.
According to eyebeam.org, Preemptive Media is a group of artists, activists, etc. that are interested in creating new venues for public discussion and "alternative outcomes." This group is very much interested in the dynamic between the person as an individual and the person as a user and learner of technology. With such a rapid technology boom, it is very interesting to consider the interaction and changes that people will undergo as newer, faster and more encompassing technology emerges. Preemptive Media, however, does work with different side groups that look into the use of technology against its user. For example, "Zapped! investigates new technology used for product tracking and border control; Swipe exposes information encoded on drivers' licenses and shared without consent; and Moport is an online tool for generating and sharing mobile phone reports." More information then we expect is shared online and with groups or individuals that we would rather not have access to our personal information.
It is rather difficult to find some of her work online, although she has shown in great museums such as Warhol Museum of Art, The Banff Centre, Neuberger Museum of Art, Diverseworks, Exit Art, FILE Electronic Festival, Sonar Music and Multimedia Festival and The Whitney Artport. She explains on her blog that she is currently working on a "large-format photography project based on her Superfund365 website." Most of Brooke Singer's work that I could find were the somewhat practical elements in her website design and photos she has taken of contaminated sites. She briefly discusses the function of the different colors and sections on her website, "superfund.365.org." While I think it is nice to have the variation and changing elements on the screen, I feel as though, content-wise, most of the material is somewhat more in-depth then what the general populace would be interested in. However, if one were knowledgeable, they would probably find the site very, very helpful and the colors and design elements would really help to enhance the interest and usability of the site as a whole.
I am still on a hunt for a visual, tangible representation of her artwork (say, her photography) but for now, this lovely youtube video interview with her about her website (mostly the content and such) will have to suffice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yfsFkC78zE
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Vito Acconci
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| drawing of ‘mur’ island, graz, austria courtesy acconci studio © vito acconci. http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/acconci.html |
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| Vito Acconci http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/acconci.html |
While his work is well-executed and he conveys the thoughts that he wishes to, at least to me, I find the lack of cohesiveness in his work disrupting. He focuses less on the progression on the visualization and more on the progression of his thoughts and ideas. He has a somewhat disregard for his viewer... His goal is to present and express his ideas the way that he wants to with disregard, though not completely, to how the viewer will interact with and interpret his work. The theory and message behind the work is what is most important to him. This is both admirable and distasteful. I really admire the fact that he is so true to his vision and that admiration is what I am going to focus on here.
While I appreciate and respect the work that he has done, it is more the philosophy behind his work that attracts me.
In reference to "Remote Control": "The tying up is an occasion for me to get into wrapping you up in a more generalized way." The rope represents Acconci's will in the woman's space, binding her physically and mentally, as she stops resisting and acquiesces to his demands. As a study of consent and control, an underlying theme of the work is the manipulative potential of media technology, which reaches isolated viewers and subjects them to its organizing control."
In reference to Claim Excerpts: "In this record of a live performance, Acconci gives physical manifestation to the subterranean regions of the artist's mind and will, revealing the effort he must make as an artist to simultaneously convince himself and his audience. Perhaps no other piece from the early 1970s more thoroughly spells out the psychologized drama engendered by performance-based video.... Blindfolded, seated in a basement at the end of a long flight of stairs, armed with metal pipes and a crowbar, threatening to swing at anyone who tried to come near, Acconci simultaneously invited and prohibited every visitor to the 93 Grand Street loft to descend into the world of the unconscious."
—Kathy O'Dell
From an interview (http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/acconci.html):
do you read for pleasure rather than for work?
it's all the same. I don't separate them.
it's all the same. I don't separate them.
because you are an artist...
well, me and the people here at the studio think of ourselves as
designers. we're not artists. my work comes from a background
in art. I realized that I wasn't interested in viewers, I was interested
in users and participants, so it made sense that my work had to
move to design or architecture. though it took a long time for me
to see this..
This expression of his philosophy is why I both admire and dislike his work....
I was unable to view his videos because of streaming quality, but I viewed many still shots.
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| 'City of Words', lithograph by Vito Acconci, 1999 |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vito_Acconci
http://www.acconci.com/
http://www.vdb.org/smackn.acgi$artistdetail?ACCONCIV
http://www.ubu.com/film/acconci.html
http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/acconci.html
http://www.mediatecaonline.net/mediatecaonline/SConsultaAutor?ope=2&ID_IDIOMA=en&criteri=Acconci,+Vito
http://weblab.uni-lueneburg.de/socialsoftware/paradise/index.php/Vito_Acconci
OTHeR SoUrce:
http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2008/04/art-space-talk-vito-acconci.html
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Finished project and Self-critique
New version!
Process:
Four years ago, I took a semester-long graphic design course with a teacher who knew nothing about Photoshop or Illustrator herself. We did things exactly from the book, and experimented ourselves through trial-and-error, since she was of no help. By the end of the course, most of the students were moderately experienced in the basic tools of Photoshop and Illustrator. Experimentation and trial-and-error were fundamental to learning in the class. However it was limiting, as without guidance, we often did not delve into the more complex creative elements of either program.
Loosely guided experimentation was fundamental in this project. Studio time in class consisted of constant work. When I hit a road block, however, I did not have to rely on ambiguous youtube videos or unclear instructional sites. It helped to have someone circulating the room seeing if we needed help. It also helped to be surrounded by opinionated, creative peers who could give an honest critique of my work.
I started out with a vision of what I wanted. Not all of the details were in focus, but I knew, to an extent, how I wanted my final project to appear. Throughout the whole process, however, I gradually became receptive to the fact that not everything was going to work exactly how I had imagined. However, this did not mean that the element I had created did not work in any capacity. Just as with another studio art, some elements of a work will turn out differently then expected, but this does not always mean that the elements did not work. I had to become more accommodating and more able to take a step back and objectify my work.
It was very important for me to be able to step back from my project, to take a walk around or work on other projects, and then go back to the original work with fresh eyes. When studying an image for a while, one becomes adjusted to the slight changes and nuances and, in a sense, loses touch with the work as a whole. I often find that I will become fixated on a particular detail and will work to make the detail appear “right” or “correct” in relation to the rest of the work without taking a break to really consider the project as a whole.
When I began this project, I struggled with this fixation, I know that I have improved greatly by the end. While I improved greatly, one thing that I need to improve on is working on an appreciation for distance. I find that I get too involved in the small picture, rather then the large, and in the long run it can really mess me up. Regardless, with consistent work and effort, the image came to fruition eventually. It is difficult, when immersed in a project, to force oneself to take a break and come back to it. I find that I have to think of it as mixing oil paint. Sometimes the more you work the medium, the muddier and grayer it becomes.
For this particular project, I focused completely on perspective. I found that I really had to push myself to consider new ways to show perspective. Even in the past few days, I changed my approach. I added further elements to the water, such as the lighthouse, and many more to the sand, such as the turtle and rocks. I started with many more elements, but found that the image looked far too busy and so scaled back.
Finished Project:
The final image certainly has its strengths and weaknesses. I think the image as a whole comes together pretty well, with the exception of the lighthouse, which I find to be somewhat awkward, perhaps because of the color. I managed to add depth and perspective to the waves and sky through hue of the waves and sky and size of the waves, boats, and clouds. The concept of my work was inspired by the illustrations of Eric Carle. I wanted the viewer to recognize that it was created from everyday objects. It was to be surreal and childlike, with the twisted element of depth and perspective. I think that this objective was achieved. This particular idea was an interesting question to deal with while in the process of creating the image. While I wanted the image to remain childish and simple, I had to add perspective, which added a certain element of sophistication to the image, taking away from what I wanted the original feel to be. It was a fine line to walk and it was difficult to balance each texture to make sure that one did not appear too real, or real in a way that threw the rest of the image off. As a piece overall, each texture works together to communicate the idea as whole. It is when the viewer looks closer that they realize that each individual element is something unrelated in any way. I think it presents an interesting metaphor about life.
All of the elements of the work are cohesive, in that each element as an idea comes together to create a scene. Stylistically though it was not as cohesive as it could have been. One of the problems I struggled with in this project since the very beginning was the texture and coloring of the sand. I had the texture the way I wanted it in the beginning of the project, but after trying to add a gradient for perspective purposes, it lost its grainy feeling. I attempted to fix it to look more natural, by adding elements such as darkness along the water (to represent where the waves had washed up) and another layer with the original texture, but I am not sure it helped in the way that I wanted. The darkening of the sand to appear wet worked to create more believable scene, however, and I later added another layer with a texture of real sand blended in. While it was one of my most frustrating problems, I managed to fix it by the end of the time we had to work.
I became very familiar with the different Photoshop tools during this project. I worked with many different layers and adjusted each layer to fit the picture’s visual needs overall. I blended many layers together to create elements such as the moon, the sky, and the sand by using opacity and layer style. The moon and the sky are a combination of three different images each. I used four or five different textures for the waves and adjusted the color through layer style in order to make sure that the progression of hue worked for the perspective. I used drop shadow and global lighting to get a cohesive shadow in the image. I used the vector mask tool, quick selection and marquee to make and select the shapes that I created for the image. These shapes included each layer of waves, the moon, the clouds, the boat, the mast, the sail, the turtle and the turtle’s eggs. I used the vector mask tool the most often for free form selection purposes as I had a lot more freedom and control with the shape. I used the burn tool to add depth to the turtle’s nest and I made the lighthouse out of a pen and some paper, playing with the shadows and erasing nonessential lines to make it look more believable.
Communication with an Audience:
A flannel shirt, textured cardboard, lotion, layered paper, a wrinkled inner tube, a rubber band ball, pen and a marker drawing are things that one would encounter and take advantage of seeing in everyday life. A seascape is something fairly common and identifiable, even to those that have never been in person. When a night seascape is made of every objects such as those mentioned above, however, it plays the part of stopping the viewer and forcing them to consider the object or texture in a different way then it would be found in normal life. Fading clouds, shrinking waves, different sized boats and a small lighthouse help to add perspective. That was the purpose of this work and I think that this combination of images and textures does just that.
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