Of Working with Videos and Weddings

Wedding videography is something that has increased in popularity extremely quickly, and has become even more of an in-depth art form.  I had the opportunity to film a wedding yesterday, and it went pretty well!  I watched a playlist of wedding videos for inspiration beforehand, so I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do, though this was my first time ever filming a wedding.  I set up two cameras on tripods to capture the ceremony from different angles, and manned a third camera myself.  All in all, it was definitely a good learning experience, and the editing process now begins...

Reading Response

Shanken presents a plethora of vibrant artworks within pages 54-78, and the one that I want to talk about is titled "The Weather Project" by Eliasson (2003-04).  It looks like a mysterious scene from a sci-fi film.  In actuality, is comprised of a mirror ceiling, mono-frequency lamps, and mist.

The Weather Project

The result truly looks like a landscape, perhaps in an industrial city, or something from the sci-fi show "Firefly".    

I really feel like this is something you have to experience in person to understand it fully.  Anyone been there?

Reading Response

Shanken talks about simulacra on page 43, which are "understood as second-order simulations, or simulations of simulations, wherein that which is being simulated is presented and received not as a simulation but as an original.  While this description is a little difficult to fully wrap the brain around, I found a great example of my own to help elaborate.  HER interactive has been producing real-life, but fictional, simulation games for over 17 years.  My family owns all of these games, and I have played a couple myself.  The first one I ever played was called "Danger on Deception Island", and one of the reasons I found myself so excited to play it was because it was designed to take place on the Puget Sound, following the events surrounding the appearance of a unique killer whale.  Since 9-year-old James was living on the West Coast at the time, it was exciting to play a simulation game based around where I lived, and I played it all the way through.  They are still coming out with more, and having played them periodically, I have to say they are still pretty spectacular simulation games.  The real-life simulations in those games, along with amazing artwork and voice acting, are what I am guessing has kept these games so popular.

The Return of Our Good Dr Megavolt!

Many art installations are wild and imaginative.  I think Austin Richards got both requirements down pat.  Dr Austin Richards has been building these amazing Tesla Coils himself since 1981, and he uses them to create a spectacular light show.  I discovered his work last semester and thought it was too cool!  The guy has two physics degrees, a metal suit he runs around in to attract his homemade lightening, and he then proceeds to get zapped repeatedly for show.  What not to like?  

He's got a website, too:  http://drmegavolt.com/burning-man-2011/

Reading Response

In Art and Electronic Media  pages 1-30, Edward Shanken highlights various methods of creating art how they evolved into the next advancement.  He used examples of kinetic art, art that uses light as an essential component, and also time based pieces.  While reading about these, and other technological advancements, it is neat to learn how far we have come.  It also struck me that I have seen very few Kinetic art pieces before, so I find the examples on page 16 quite informative.  Shanken says "Gabo's Kinetic Construction (1920) produced a virtual volume only when activated, thereby making motion a necessary feature of the art object and further emphasizing temporarily."  I kind of would like to obtain a motor and make a kinetic piece now, so I can test different shapes, and see what they turn into when spun around perpetually.  

My Digital Cave Art Project

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing "Cave Art Re-imagined"!  I've included my artist statement to explain it a bit.  This was a very fun project to work on, and I got to go crazy picking and perfecting colors for this piece.  The goal of this project was to recreate a famous historic art piece, and make a jpeg and gif version of it.  I picked cave paintings because petroglyphs have always seemed intriguing and mysterious to me, and so making my own version of one is kind of something I've always wanted to do.  Granted, I didn't get to etch glyphs into the wall of a cave by torchlight, but I have created something new, and that is pretty cool too.

Artist Statement

“Cave Art Reimagined”

The work that I have digitally recreated is cave art from Albocasser, Spain from the La Valltorta Ravine.  I chose this piece because it is a famous representation of art from ages past, and while not everyone has seen this specific piece, it is popular among the cave art genre for its clear depiction of hunters and game colliding in contest.  It is supposedly thousands of years old, and is made up of a matte reddish-brown substance.  Keeping the original’s dim, rustic color pallet in mind, I decided to make my own version into a splash of vibrant new colors, running deer, and hunters with modern weapons.  By doing this, I aim to have this piece highlight the differences between ancient culture, and modern culture.  It is fascinating to think about the changes and advancements made over the years.  Back then, bows and arrows characterized long-ranged weapons, and most art was made with natural colors and methods.  In contrast, today’s modern weapons hardy resemble those of old, and the resources we have for creating art has vastly expanded. 

(click to enlarge any pics)

original (completely un-edited)

digital re-creation 

animated GIF highlighting the changes