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.