Sunday, March 9, 2014

course crossover -- rhetorics in racism into this class!

"AnzaldĂșa also discusses various forms of communication, in addition to the art of writing, in relation to the invisible border between the white culture and the Latin culture. For example, she talks about the way Latino/as and whites treat works of visual art. To Latin culture and its people, art is a living, breathing thing which has human needs; and they treat works of art not as objects but as persons, offering sacrifices and feeding and even bathing them. In contrast, Western cultures and their people treat art as mere objects for bragging and decorating small corners of their residences. They do not treat works of art as living creatures,“housing their art works in the best structures designed by the best architects…servicing them with insurance, guards to protect them, conservators to maintain them, specialists to mount and display them, and the educated and upper classes to ‘view’ them."[7] Thus they cannot connect deeply with works of art as those from Latin cultures can.

I just thought this was interesting from the perspective of a student involved in various art courses and social courses. This is from a book called Borderlands/La Frontera, where she discusses borders between cultures. Those cultures do not have to be ethnic borders. They can be between male and female, between generations, between towns, between languages. This has obviously made an impact on the way she sees people appreciating art. 

Thursday, March 6, 2014

charged environments

"In contrast to the simulations of virtual reality, responsive environments and contexts such as intelligent architecture and interactive installations tend not to create a representation that corresponds with physical reality but rather unitize real space in a way that renders it virtual and enables alternative, expanded forms of experience and awareness. Such works might employ sensors that respond to environmental conditions or the behavior of inhabitants to reconfigure the physical environment. They may use closed-circuit video to transform the audience into the subject of the work or may employ multimedia that enable collaborative exchanges both remotely and in physical proximity. High voltage electricity has been used as a primary artistic medium revealing the awe-inspiring power and spectacular beauty of this energy form. Performances in electronic environments can enable audience feedback to influence the unfolding of various elements or demonstrate the politicized contexts in which electronic media, particularly mass media, operate." 


Monday, March 3, 2014

map !


Look, my maps here! I'm having a little trouble understanding why there's such a big gap there off to the right. It does not show up in my saved file and could just be a result of Blogger.

I'm giving myself a 140/150 for this on account of lateness and the error mentioned above. I'm not sure how to fix it.


  • used google map snapshot as a key and single layer first, then placed markers over it in a different layer, then deleted map layer.
  • at one point, an error in saving compressed all layers and i had to start several saves back, but learned to save different visions to keep this from happening again!
  • a lot of tedious work, but found support of local restaurants very important. also learned that we in the tri cities actually have a pretty good balance of franchise vs. local eateries. it was mainly road 68 and queens gate that had the biggest cluster of franchise names.
  • considered light hues behind the river to soften negative space and hard edges, but i wasn't sure how i should go about that or if it would look aesthetically pleasing, or it might take away from the scattering of markers. 

Sunday, March 2, 2014

On last weeks critique

I remember this from Nate's project, with the topographic lines and various dips into depression, and how it could represent the tops and bottoms of a persons life. The lines at the end that pointed off in different directions was at first taken as the The Holy Trinity, until it was revealed that there is actually four lines there. I suggested reincarnation, and I wanted to expand a little further into an article I'd recently read that tried to explain things like deja vu . "Alternate world-lines" was the specific names this phenomenon was given, and it just tried to suggest that there are multiple realities going on at once, and deja vu occurs because you're seeing through through a veil to a lifetime lived before, where this thing happened. I relate it to reincarnation by the idea that it seems like reliving various lives, experiencing things, and maybe you're experiencing that same thing again and recognizing that you've experienced it before.

I think Nate said it was depicted in different directions so that we recognized life is not a given and could really go in any direction.

Right?

here's the article
The Mind Unleashed - 10 Mind Bending Implications of the Many Worlds Theory

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Data Mapping and Visualization brainstorms

My first go-to for data representation would probably end up being something to do with coffee. Maybe it's how many coffee shops have opened within the last couple of years, because I feel like I've seen quite a few. Maybe it's restaurants that have recently opened in the Tri-Cities with the expansion of our cities; there's been a lot of growth!

Maybe it's specified to franchises? Or maybe to better promote local eateries, it's local restaurants that have opened and are struggling to make it and we'd do better to go out and try to support them instead of the franchises that have started popping up (I'm not a die-hard against that McDonalds Big Mac; I'd just like us to expand a little more and contribute to the economy of Richland; Should I concentrate on just Richland? There might not be enough). Particularly out on Queensgate in Richland. I live not far from there, and I've watched it blow up quite a bit.

Not only mapping, but representing some kind of data -- after a conversation with Peter, he suggested mapping out caloric intake for average meals and sizing them with circles. Color is also important. Dark red is more calories, pink is less?

Yay!

Monday, February 3, 2014

Frida Kahlo Remanipulation: Reductions



"Demands to Reduce" to discuss ideal beauty standards, commercialized and public demands to reduce in size, always on the road to lose and lose and lose (or on the other end, "eat something!" Frida was literally fed pureed forms of food during her bedridden days in 1945, same as we are being fed sometimes devastating advertisements in the weight loss industry.) There are many of us trying to put a stop to being told that we are "too much" this or "not enough" that. There's pride in individuality and with that can come something fragile, like the size of our bodies.

You are good "enough". You do not need to reduce. You do not need to increase. 

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Carlos Santos work, recreation of classic paintings by Dee Kooning, van Gogh, Michaelangelo and more.

http://santocesar.com/Syncretism.htm








Wednesday, January 29, 2014

3 weeks and sprinting

Hi 477!
I've joined the class. I'm 3 weeks behind. Thank you very much to Dianna and Riley for letting me know that I was missing out on something great, and thank you to Dianna for giving me a heads up on the latest project. The gears are already turning.

George O'Keefe has been an influence in my last few projects. For the first project, I think I'll be doing a rendition of O'Keefe's, particularly the ones depicting animal skulls in the sky. Peter made some suggestions, but I think I'm going to be looking through O'Keefe's history to see what I can pull from there. Perhaps her experiences traveling or her own inspirations.

OBJECTIVES,

  1. Explore theories, concepts and propagated myths related to "originality," intellectual property, and appropriation.
  2. Question evolving role of new media and tools in contemporary art practice.
  3. Further examine the apparent disconnect and/or tension between "classical/traditional" production and "new genre" practices.
  4. Survey visual art precedents and further research and study objects of art in their historic development and stylistic contexts.


I'm worried my ideas don't quite match up to these goals.

Additional notes:

  • Consider the conceptual underpinnings of the original art work as well as your proposed objective and how your "aesthetic" highlights or challenges these concepts/themes.
  • Foster a print (smaller than 13 x 19) at 300 pip. Save at maximum resolution JPEG. 
  • Write a 4-8 sentence artist statement describing your work.