Sketchup Project, Collage

Here is my finished Sketchup model and collage. I first modeled after my wedding ring and then added a model of my favorite wineglass and after that added images of the downtown Reno skyline to finish the collage. I relied heavily on the move tool and the follow me tool to complete the entire process as well as help from Photoshop in editing the surface textures before application. 

Digital Nation Discussion Questions

I have been thinking about the concepts in the movie Digital Nation for a number of years. As a protest against corporate propaganda and the over-stimulation that digital media can bring I stopped subscribing to and watching cable television about six years ago. I am not sure if this has helped or hindered my personal growth in the digital age because although I have lots of free time to read and do outdoor activities due to my non TV watching, I often feel behind and/ or alienated from pop culture. The questions I have about the film are these:

Now that digital media is so integrated into the lives of the millenial generation, how do we teach with it in the classroom, while also integrating an appreciation for the physical, natural world?

How does a person such as myself, who has purposely separated themself from the influence of mainstream pop-culture integrate into the digital world while maintaining an outside perspective on popular culture?

Project #4 Art 245 Video Remake

     For this project I attempted to remake the short conceptual art film "Lieder" by Cheryl Donegan. I used a Canon Vixia camera and other media to complete this remake including, canvas, paint, garbage bags, tape, pillows, oatmeal, and a swivel chair. This project was assisted by Sean Hansen who threw the paint and controlled the stereo. 

     After shooting the film I edited it using Final Cut Pro. For the audio I used parts of a song ("Restart" by Mexicans With Guns) layered with the audio track from the original film by Donegan. 

     I think the remake went pretty well and was able to capture the essence and concept of the original video while adding a more modern artistic quality. 

*Note- Technical difficulties with Youtube are not allowing me to post this video to blog at this time, however here is the link to the video. 

http://youtu.be/EIJCpnu1PKA

Reading Two Discussion Questions

1. Are the claims made by several early film artists that mainstream television is only propaganda promoting status quo a theme that is still relevant today?

-I think so. In the reading we learned that in the 1970's and 80's many artists questioned television as a source of reliable information, touting it as a government controlled propaganda experiment. Because television was new to these generations it seemed to be hard for many people to accept. While today most people accept tv as a good source of information there are still other people such as myself who do believe that mainstream television is used as a tool for propaganda, in which companies who have more money are able to advertise and push their products more and therefore monopolize the consumer industry. With the ability to have their products endorsed by wealthy, beautiful actors and other celebrities, large companies are able to reach audiences on a social level, wherein people of a lower social class watching the advertisement, and desiring to be a part of a higher social class, feel the need to buy the products based on seeing the higher class using those products. I haven't had cable in seven years. I don't need anyone telling me what I need to buy. I'm smart enough to know that buying the same things celebrities have won't make me more like them. 

2. What are some strengths that video art has in promoting concepts that radio, live art, or gallery art (paintings, drawings, etc) lack?

- Video art has the ability to reach almost all senses at once. While radio only appeals to the ears and paintings only can be seen, video art's three dimensional quality makes the viewer feel that they are inside the art piece. It also greater impacts the viewer because of it's ability to be shown over and over again. You can listen to a radio show, but unless you take extensive notes or record, you can only carry away what you remember hearing. A video may be played over and over again,rewound, fast forwarded, and paused, while appealing to the senses of sound and vision, it is more interactive than radio and also painting. Probably the closest thing to video would be live art, but then again, you can only take away what you remember, unless you videotape it.    

For the second project I used Photoshop CS5 and a combination of photos, drawings, and images from Google. I deviated from my first project theme because I am getting married next week and I got inspired to to an animation that was symbolic to my fiance and I. Water has always been a theme for us, so I used a photo of a place we had gone along with some drawings that he had done that hang in our house. I worked on this project a lot and was very happy with it until I realized that probably no one else would want to too at this because it's kind of sappy. Anyway, it was good practice using animation with photoshop and I learned a lot.

Assignment 1, Triptych- Repost and Afterthoughts

     After being inspired by the work of fellow classmates, I realized how to use opacity levels and certain enhancements, so I redid Assignment 1 using Photoshop CS5 and applying enhancements to different layers for artistic effect. As this was my first time using these tools, I wanted to leave the original version of the assignment up on the blog to show the progression of the work. 

Assignment 1, Triptych

Artist Statement:

This assignment was done entirely with Photoshop CS5. This was only the third time I have ever tried to use photoshop. For the theme I used a combination of images of organic matter juxtaposed with man-made objects, many of which are used in everyday life. Many of the organic and man-made objects can also function or be used as a substitute for the other. The point is not to try to claim that any of the things are better than the other, but by putting them next to each other lets the viewer decide which is more appealing, the organic thing or it's man made counterpart.