Projector Party - Final

I've been wanting to try an overlay of videos for a while so I thought this projector project was the perfect opportunity. My neighborhood had a Christmas light competition so I decided to go around and film different light displays. A couple of months ago I saw a video made by the Discovery Channel where they visualized what would happen if an asteroid hit the earth. I decided the lights and the asteroid video would be great to overlay. I also thought the Christmas lights and asteroid would be a good way to represent the apocalyptic/holiday theme of the project. I layered both videos and then lowered the opacity to get the overlay effect. I also found a light display that read "Peace on Earth" and thought that was a poignant way to end my video.

For my audio I used one line from Band of Horses' song "The End's Not Near". The line is in the middle of my audio piece. For the intro and conclusion of my audio piece is a part of "The End's Not Near", but played in reverse. I thought the song and especially the line I used, "The end's not near, it's here, hallelujah spread the cheer" fit well with the theme of the project.

Diptych Videos

The two videos represent the urban world versus the natural word. For the urban video, I sped the video up and used a monochrome filter. I wanted to represent the chaos and bleakness of an urban, endless concrete jungle. For the natural video, I looked for vibrant colors. I wanted interesting shapes that would bring out nature’s beauty. I chose the kaleidoscope feature to add those interesting shapes and another dimension to the leaves and river that I filmed. The two videos represent contrast and contrasting landscapes that are seen all around us. 

Exhibit- Prospectives '12

The  Prospectives ’12 exhibit was host to six artists from different areas of digital media. The artists featured were Sophie Kahn, Liat Berdugo, Kian Peng Ong, Ann Bartges, Javier Villegas, and Georgie Roxby Smith. Between the six of them a diverse amount of art and styles of digital media were represented.

It was fascinating to see what they had created using new forms of media. One of the pieces that sticks out in my mind is Sophie Kahn’s piece where she made 3D sculptures of people’s faces. She is still a traditional sculpture, but she utilizes a new for of media. I enjoyed and appreciated the humor in Liat Berdugo’s piece. Berdugo’s work is all about illusion. One of her pieces included a pineapple that she had attached a switch to. She filmed a short video where she flips the switch on the pineapple and a blender turns on, making it look like the pineapple is a real functioning switch. It was funny, but an interesting statement on how we perceive technology and the limits of technology.

Another piece that captured my attention was Kian Peng Ong’s piece. His piece was a pan with beads in it. The pan tilted from side to side and was controlled by a robotic arm. There were microphones around the piece to broadcast the sound of the tilting pans. His inspiration for the piece was the first time he had ever heard ocean waves crashing on a beach. The first time he heard ocean waves was at night so he couldn’t perceive what was making the crashing noise. After I heard his description the piece made sense. It’s all about the unknown and using your senses to figure out and analyze what’s going on around you.

The artists and art represented in the exhibit are just a small fraction of what digital media has to offer. The Prospectives ’12 exhibit was a great look at where art is heading and how art is evolving.

Questions

1. For Liat- Your piece were humorous, how much of that is intentional humor?
2. For the entire panel – Would any of the artists be interested in collaborating together? 

Artist Lecture - Paul Demarinis

Paul Demarinis' lecture was fascinating. I enjoyed his work with combing sculptures and sounds. In some ways he seems like more of an engineer than an artist. I found that interesting because some of the projects this semester felt like engineering or a science project. I never realized before how much those two subjects can actually influence each other. Demarinis' art is somewhat interactive and has an element of fun and lightheartedness. My two favorite pieces that he mentioned in his lecture are the musical rain drops, "Rain Dance", and the musical rainbow, "A Light Rain". 

I liked that his art wasn't traditional. His ideas are very unique, he really brings something different, but enjoyable to the art world. “Firebirds” is a great examples of his unique innovation. I love how “Firebirds” takes something so out of control and traps in a cage.

Demarinis' lecture was engaging and entertaining and it gave me a new perspective on how art can include elements of science. 

Questions 

1.Does science play a role in your work? 

2.Are your pieces, such as “Rain Dance”, supposed to have an air of lightheartedness to them?

Artist Lecture - Amy Sackstede

Amy Sacksteder's lecture was full of interesting information on her previous artwork and how she became involved with the Sheppard Gallery. She was chosen to be a visiting artist based on her proposal of how she wanted to use the Sheppard Gallery as a space. Sacksteder is a mixed media artist. She makes sculptures and collages and also does some photography. 

She explained how she likes to collect things from nature, such as flowers, and incorporate them into her work. Her work is full of vibrant colors contrasted with natural objects and colors, like bright orange cones with salt representing snow. Her work is a combination of eye catching, but also subtle beauty.

For the Sheppard Gallery, she was inspired by Reno's landscapes. Landscapes are a recurring theme in her previous work. Sacksteder’s work represents a meeting place of urban landscape and natural, organic landscapes and objects. It was interesting to hear her process of setting up the space for her show. When she explained it, it sounded overwhelming due to the time constraints she had and some problems she ran into. It was a great look into problem solving and art. She had to figure out how to prop the salt up into mounds, she needed a lot of help to cover a wall in silver leafing, she wanted to use ladders to make train tracks, but ultimately chose silver tape.

Overall Sacksteder's lecture was a wonderful insight into her work. She gave a great background into what inspires her and what goes into setting up a gallery show.

Questions

1. Sacksteder mentioned she had never been to Reno before. What is her impression of Reno now, having explored and having this experience how will it influence her future artwork?
2. Hearing the problems she ran into while setting up the gallery – how often do problems like that happen? How does she cope in fixing problems on the fly? 

Pico Projector Project

 

 Orginally I had intended for this piece to be displayed on the lockers near the classroom.

After testing it on the lockers I decided I needed a new location. I tried projecting it above the heaters in the hallway, but ultimately decided on the large vent on the ceiling in the classroom. This was my first foray into After Effects. I had trouble masking the background and unfortunately didn't realize a simple black background would've done the trick. From the beginning I had wanted to create something with light. Originally I looked into making light streaks, but that was too difficult. So I decided to make fire in After Effects. I went through several tutorials before finding one that was successful in helping me. I followed the tutorial, but made some of my own alterations to achieve a more convincing flame. Delving into video mapping and After Effects was difficult, but I'm proud with what I created.

Sugar Pop - Record Player

Sugar Pop, Kim Swift, 2012 mixed media

Sugar Pop is based off of Jean Tinguely’s idea of using found and used objects for art. The CD player, yogurt cup and vinyl record contribute to that idea. The painted records on the front of the piece are inspired by Christian Marclay’s vision of using vinyl records as a canvas for art. Sugar Pop represents culture and music saturated by sugary, manufactured pop songs. Behind the sugar coating are the major record labels that have dominated music for decades. The names of some of those record labels are attached to the middle of the structure and the candy and decorated records create a fun façade. At the top of the structure is a whirling Wham! record, making a fast, rhythmic sound to complete the piece.

Prospectives '12 Logo Animation

I made a stop motion video using skittles and markers to animate the Prospectives '12 logo. Surprisingly the hardest part of the animation was taking pictures of the skittles moving. Animating the statue was actually the easiest part. It took an hour to to take all of the images of the skittles and letters, completing just a five second sequence. It's impressive to think about real animation and how long it would take to create a full show or movie.

Sound Remix

Sound remix created in GarageBand

Remixed sound- http://soundcloud.com/kaswift/audio4
Original sound- http://soundcloud.com/kaswift/ls100466

Record Player Proposal

For my homemade record player I’m going to use a battery powered lollipop spinner to spin the record.

 

I’ll attach the lollipop spinner to a cake stand for the base of the record player. Depending on the weight of everything it will either be a two tiered cake stand or three tiered stand.

 

I’ll attach the record to the lollipop spinner by placing a chopstick where the lollipop would normally stand. For the speaker part of the record player I’ll use a party hat or a candy cone attached to a needle, like the record players we made in class.

 

I want my overall record player structure to be candy themed to go along with the spinning lollipop base. I’ll also look for a bubblegum pop record to play on my record player.

While I was researching cake stand ideas I found a homemade cake stand made from records which is an idea I could incorporate into my project- http://www.capecodtoday.com/blogs/index.php/2012/07/02/diy-vinyl-record-serving-tray?blog=276



picture credit- http://www.mrprintables.com/printable-party-hats-stripes.html , http://www.joyshope.com/2010/06/carnival-of-tiered-trays.html , http://goodhumored.wordpress.com/2012/02/22/spinning-out-of-control/

Angry Bird- Avatar Battle Final

I made my Angry Bird costume using a projection to get the exact sizing. I did not use a template and came up with the rest of the costume design on my own. I had to figure out a way to box myself into the costume and attach cardboard straps to hang over my shoulders. I used a lot of duck tape to reinforce the glue. I made a slingshot to go along with my costume. On the inside of my costume I attached a paper bags to fill with small Angry Birds for the slingshot. The hardest part of making the costume was cutting the main body piece. It was such a large piece and because it's a circle it made it difficult to cut. I had a lot of fun with this project and I'm really proud of what I made.

Review- RiP!: A Remix Manifesto

RiP!: A Remix Manifesto is a documentary narrated and directed by Brett Gaylor that focuses around remixing, art and copyright laws. It also focuses on Girl Talk- a remix dj dealing with modern music and art making, but battling copyright laws.

The film is interesting and eye opening. Gaylor says in the film, “copyright is out of control…it’s been manipulated for profit at everyone’s expense”. Record companies and corporations just want money. To clear an album of remixes and samples it would cost 4 million dollars, according to the film. In the film there is a montage of songs that build from older songs. Remixes aren’t that different from how people have made art in the past and how people have made music. It is a new medium, but the idea is basically the same. Gaylor says, “Artists build on the work that came before them…Shakespeare, Thomas Edison…from the Dadaists to the Beat artists to Warhol”. Recording companies and corporations are taking that freedom to art away from people in order to make money.

            The film is an important commentary on the way our culture and society works today. In the film the artist Girl Talks says, “it’s beneficial to share ideas”. With the internet ideas are shared faster and faster than ever before. It is important for society to share ideas and to build upon those ideas for a better future. 

Kiel Johnson lecture

Kiel Johnson is an interesting and motivating person. His stories about his experiences in the art world were fun and engaging. Kiel Johnson draws but he is mainly known for his cardboard sculptures.

            Johnson said, “art can made out of anything” and he proved that by making amazingly detailed and beautiful pieces out of cardboard. He made an old fashioned camera out of cardboard and even made it into a functioning camera. His art is very urban. When he isn’t using cardboard as a medium he is drawing urban landscapes. Johnson’s art is very imaginative. It is chaotic but also streamlined. Sometimes he is drawing  every material thing that he owns and other times he is piecing together scraps of cardboard into a perfect row of violins.

            One of the most interesting parts of his lecture was when he talked about making cardboard robot costumes. He did a workshop at a community college and helped the students make elaborate cardboard robots. Johnson said, “art is fun…not something to stress about”. Johnson’s art is fun and he really loves what he does. He is not afraid to take risks and try out new, crazy ideas and that is very inspiring. 

GameMaker- Take The Money And Run

For the final version of my game I settled on a monopoly theme. The player controls the snake to collect all of the monopoly money while avoiding economic woes such as foreclosures, falling stock market and the Occupy Wall Street movement. I chose the Monopoly theme after seeing Monopoly graffiti art by the artist Alec. Monopoly is a symbol of money and being wealthy and that fit with the concept of my game. I also found a picture of the Monopoly guy running with the words "Take The Money And Run" and placed that in the middle of my game. I also added Rem's hat to the snake to incorporate the rest of the game and the dream concept.

Games for Change

http://www.gamesforchange.org/play/the-great-piggy-bank-adventure/

A lot of the games wouldn't work on my computer but I found a kid's game that focuses on economics because my game in gamemaker focuses on economics. It is obviously made to teach young children simple financial tips. The game apparently has ties with Disney and there is a ride at Disney World that has a similar theme to the game. The game's graphics were great and I can see how it would appeal to children through the different activities. I think it is a good thing to focus on and teach children and it does so in an engaging way. 

Character and Game Ideas

For the game avatar I thought it would be interesting if the character changes to a classic style 8-bit character during the game/dream sequence. 

For my level of the game I have the base of the game developed but I have to work on the theme and graphics. I want the snake to eat the dollar signs to gain points and the snake must eat all of the dollar points to win. The player must avoid running into economic woes symbolized by things like foreclosure signs and gas pumps. When a player wins an Occupy Wall Street symbol will overtake the screen. 

GameMaker- Snake

I started making a my own version of the classic Snake game. I need to work some things out. I want the snake to eat the objects, and have more objects to avoid. I haven't decided on a theme yet, but I definitely want to change the objects and change the snake graphics.

Pulp Fiction- The Diner Scene

Link- Pulp Fiction Machinima

This project was really interesting and was harder than I had originally thought. It is pretty amazing to see what goes into making a machinima. It felt like we were filming a real movie. We had to do multiple takes, we had technical problems, we had to find a set, costumes and characters.  It was a group effort and it would be hard to film a machinima by yourself. It was interesting setting up shots and working with camera angles. I haven't had a lot of experience filming so it was a good insight into movie making.

Machinima Progress

http://www.youtube.com/embed/KqO4--SYOyQ

Filming went well, but there were a few glitches. Props kept disappearing off of the table and we had trouble getting rid of the chat symbol above the male character. The most difficult part this week was adding the waitress. It was hard to find a gesture that worked for pouring coffee.

Machinima Progress

Filming went really well last week. We got some good shots, but we couldn't film the wife's part because we only had one microphone working. Earlier this week I helped look for more props for the table.