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.