Wednesday, May 5, 2010
FIANL PROJECT: IRAQI MEMORIAL PROPOSAL
For my final project I decided to submit a proposal for the Iraqi Memorial project. When conceiving my idea for the Iraqi Memorial, I had one thought in mind: What is the price of an innocent human life? To me it seems that the Bush administration decided that innocent human lives are worth less than the prospect of acquiring foreign oil. For my proposal I intended to create a piece that represented this concept, and I believe that I have successfully done so. It represents our nation's dependency on foreign oil, even at the price of life. My piece, entitled "The Price of War" consists of a replication of a human heart painted with the Iraq flag to represent the innocent Iraqi civilians that have been killed during "Operation Iraqi Freedom." From this heart would drip a single drop of oil for each time an innocent civilian is killed. The oil would drip into a sculpture in the shape of hands that is painted with an American flag. The oil would collect in the hand shaped sculpture and, eventually, would overflow into a larger pool of oil resting below. I feel this memorial would be best placed in a gallery setting, such as an Iraqi Memorial Gallery, if one was to exist.
GALLERY REVIEW
I visited the Nevada Museum of Art during mid-April to view the exhibits and see what other artists, local and foreign, were creating. It was my first time visiting the museum, and I was eager to survey the works of art on display.
I was on the fence about most of the exhibits at the museum. In general, I didn’t really like most of them. It wasn’t that they weren’t any good, it was more so that they were pieces that I couldn’t really make a connection or relate to.
One exhibit, on the other hand, was one that I was immediately drawn to when I stumbled upon. It was entitled “Views From China” by Yang Yongliang, a young artist from Shanghai, China. Yongliang combines traditional Chinese paintings with the modern Shanghai city life and the details reveal current urban culture.
I was immediately drawn to this exhibit because I felt like it was something that I could relate to and, in my eyes, the pieces were aesthetically pleasing. At first glance, Yongliang’s pieces look just like traditional Chinese paintings depicting Chinese landscapes and a collection of what looked like an explosion above a cityscape.
But upon closer examination I noticed that these simple landscapes and explosions had much more to them. The landscapes were cleverly crafted from digital photographs of China’s bustling cities, and then manipulated into haunting imaginary landscapes that critique China’s rapidly changing built environment.
Yongliang depends heavily on his a camera and a laptop computer to make his art, similar to what I enjoy doing with my artwork. Using only these tools—and a knowledge of traditional Chinese painting traditions—Yongliang invents urban scenes that depict skyscrapers under construction, freeway systems, electrical power plants, and bustling urban corridors. His compositions starkly reveal the impacts of technological progress that China has undergone over past decades.
Beyond these pieces being aesthetically pleasing, I think I really enjoyed them because subconsciously I am attracted to art that hides a deeper meaning that challenges the viewer to really look at the artwork and think critically about what it represents. Yongliang’s pieces do just that and inspire me to try to do something similar in my own way.
IRAQI MEMORIAL SYMPOSIUM LECTURE
I attended the Iraqi Memorial Symposium on Thur., March 4, in the IGT Knowledge Center at the University of Nevada, Reno. The symposium consisted of several contributors to the Iraqi Memorial project talking about their proposals and their interpretations of the project. At the time, I don’t think I fully understood the concept behind the project, and thus found the symposium a bit dull.
However, after completing my own proposal for the Iraqi Memorial project, I feel as if I gained a new understanding for the concept of the project and what the speakers were trying to convey through their pieces. There is more to this project than just having people submit ideas for a memorial. It is a way for artists, designers, architects, and other interested creative individuals or collaborators to create artwork that dealt with the contemplation of loss, to honor sacrifice, to celebrate heroism and to sanctify a process of mourning that is ongoing and public.
Looking back on the symposium, I realize that the contributors who were brought to speak at our school and share with us their proposals had understood this and created works of art that they felt represented the above things in a way that best fit their views.
The visiting contributors brought with them a wide range of ideas for the project, some of which I enjoyed, and others that I don’t really feel I could grasp the meaning of. “Light Trails,” by Cat Soergel Marshall, was one of the pieces that I just couldn’t really grasp a hold of. Her proposal is a moveable memorial installed at various Iraqi locations that consist of, as far as I could tell, giant rope of light that extends through regions of Iraq. Marshall said, “The piece narrates the causality figures through distance, time, light and energy.” As I said earlier, I just couldn’t grasp a hold of this piece, but am sure it’s a superb proposal in it’s own right.
A proposal that I enjoyed was “The Killing of Lions: An Iraqi Memorial,” by Maureen Drdak. The piece draws upon the representation of lion hunts as the eloquent and ironic metaphor for the War in Iraq. The lions represent the “powerless” Iraqi civilian dead, and mineral threads express the unseen, impersonal violence, which penetrates these lion like souls. I enjoyed this piece for its simplicity and underlying meaning the most. It was uncomplicated and easy to understand, and yet, at the same time, very effective in getting it’s meaning across.
I think the symposium was a great way for the contributors to the Iraqi Memorial to share their views on the project and their proposals. After completing my proposal, I look back at the symposium with a new view of what the contributors were trying to convey and have a new respect for the ideas each of them created for the memorial.
EDDO STERN LECTURE
I attended Eddo Stern’s lecture on Wed., April 14, in the William Raggio Building. He showed many of his artworks while explaining his interpretations along the way. I liked many of his works, and others not as much.
Eddo Stern creates what he calls, “playable artwork which is very interactive.” He is a video game designer/artist and teaches at UCLA.
Eddo Stern works on the disputed borderlands between fantasy and reality, exploring the uneasy and otherwise unconscious connections between physical existence and electronic simulation. His work explores new modes of narrative and documentary, experimental computer game design, fantasies of technology and history, and cross-cultural representation in computer games, film, and online media.
He works in various media including computer software, hardware and game design, kinetic sculpture, performance, and film and video production. He is currently developing the sensory deprivation game Darkgame.
The first piece he showed was video of Tekken Torture Tournament, a video game hack of Tekken Tag Tournament. This hack required that two participants were connected to an EMS Stimulation Machine that would electronically stimulate them each time there characters were injured.
I enjoy the design of Tekken Torture Tournament having a physical interaction. It creates a new dimension to the world of video games. It is one that I imagine could someday be a norm, to create a physical connection between a player and its avatar.
Another of my favorite pieces that Stern showed was his game being currently developed, Darkgame. In this multi-player video game a player is deprived of certain senses in exchange for powering up other senses. For instance, by giving up your vision, you gain greater sensory detail in hearing, or speed. I found this concept interesting, and would like to try the game to grasp a full understanding of how it all works.
Another of Stern’s works that I enjoyed was the series of Kinetic Shadow Puppets. I liked these for different reasons than the others. I liked these simply because they were nice to look at in a gallery setting, and could even be placed in a home. They weren’t anything new or too different from things other people had done, but they were very well done.
All in all, I enjoyed the lecture that Stern put on and found several of his ideas captivating and made me re-think my own processes and ideals when I go about doing my artwork.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
FINAL WRITING ASSIGNMENT
Throughout the spring 2010 semester many artists and artworks were covered. There were many that I enjoyed, others that I did not, some that required me to think deeply about the concept or meaning, and others that were simply pleasant to look at. As the semester proceeded and the lessons became more focused on recent works rather than the beginnings of digital media, I found myself becoming further interested in the subject. It’s my belief that to understand where something is going, such as digital media, you must first understand where it came from. That is why I believe that as the semester proceeded and I began to understand further how digital media came about, the more I became interested in the subject.
The three artists that I am choosing to research and compare works are Eddo Stern, The Yes Men, and William Kentridge. All three of the artists were covered in the final weeks of the semester and are three whose works I found appealing.
Eddo Stern works on the disputed borderlands between fantasy and reality, exploring the uneasy and otherwise unconscious connections between physical existence and electronic simulation.
His work explores new modes of narrative and documentary, experimental computer game design, fantasies of technology and history, and cross-cultural representation in computer games, film, and online media. He works in various media including computer software, hardware and game design, kinetic sculpture, performance, and film and video production.
After attending Stern’s lecture in mid-April and researching more of his work, I found his ideas and concepts intriguing. I also enjoyed the idea of physical interaction, like the electronic stimulation in Tekken Torture Tournament, in the ever-expanding world of video games.
After researching more of Stern’s works I found many that I found compelling, such as the series of Kinetic Shadow Puppets. The shadow puppets were narratives consisting of plastic, paper, and electronics. According to Stern, he spent a year-and-a-half playing the online-game World of Warcraft, and after that was struck with many ideas to create new works of art, including the Kinetic Shadow Puppets.
The shadow puppets were a different type of work compared to most of Stern’s other works, which dealt with hacking or programming video games. The puppets were a simple way to tell a narrative, such as “Man, Woman, Dragon” which was based on World of Warcraft. It is a representation of Chuck Norris fighting a dragon, with a she-elf doing what looks like casting a spell, but I’m not certain.
A collection of Eddo Stern’s work can be found at: www.eddostern.com
The Yes Men are a group of culture jamming activists who practice what they call “identity correction” by pretending to be powerful people and spokespersons for prominent organizations. They create and maintain fake websites similar to ones they want to spoof, and then they accept invitations received on their websites to appear at conferences, symposia, and TV shows. They express the idea that corporations and governmental organizations often act in dehumanizing ways toward the public.
Elaborate props are sometimes part of the ruse, as demonstrated in their 2003 DVD release The Yes Men and their 2009 film The Yes Men Fix the World.
After watching a short clip of The Yes Men Fix the World in class, I proceeded to rent the film and watch it in its entirety. I must admit that it was a film I found intellectually stimulating that really required me to think deeply about many of the “identity correction” schemes they were participating in.
The film The Yes Men Fix the World starred Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno, and Reggie Watts. Perhaps one of the Yes Men’s “identity correction” plans, in my opinion, was Andy Bichlbaum appearing on BBC World on the twentieth anniversary of the Bhopal disaster as a Dow Chemical spokesman.
Bichlbaum announced Dow was accepting full responsibility for the chemical disaster that killed thousands and left over 120,000 requiring lifelong care. Bichlbaum went on to announce Dow planned to liquidate Union Carbide, the company responsible for the chemical disaster, and use the resulting $12 billion to pay for medical care, clean up the site, and fund research into hazards of other Dow products.
These announcements caused the Dow stock to decline in value of more than $2 billion in just over two hours. After the original interview was revealed as a hoax, Bichlbaum appeared in a follow-up interview on the United Kingdom's Channel 4 news. During the interview he was asked if he had considered the emotions and reaction of the people of Bhopal when producing the hoax. According to the interviewer, "there were many people in tears" upon having learned of the hoax. Bichlbaum said that, in comparison, what distress he had caused the people was minimal to that for which Dow was responsible.
The Yes Men claim on their website that they have been told by contacts in Bhopal that once they had got over their disappointment that it wasn't real, they were pleased about the stunt and thought it had helped to raise awareness of their plight.
It seems to me that this is the goal of The Yes Men; to raise global awareness about the way corporations and governmental organizations act in dehumanizing ways. I really enjoyed the film and plan to continue to follow their work as it has caused me to question the way corporations and governmental organizations act.
The Yes Men’s official website can be located at: www.theyesmen.org
William Kentridge is a South African artist perhaps best known for his animated films. These are constructed by filming a drawing, making erasures and changes, and filming it again. He continues this process meticulously, giving each change to the drawing a quarter of a second to two seconds' screen time. A single drawing will be altered and filmed this way until the end of a scene. These drawings are later displayed along with the films as finished pieces of art.
After watching a short clip of one of Kentridge’s works in class, I was immediately reminded of watching more of his work the previous semester while in Jeremy’s art class. I remember seeing it for the first time and wondering how much work must go into each one of his films. Although most are moderately short, it still seemed to me that the processes that Kentridge must go through would be long and tedious. But the finished piece is astonishing and worth the monotonous work put into it.
The political content and unique techniques of Kentridge's work have propelled him into the realm of South Africa's top artists. Working with what is in essence a very restrictive media, using only charcoal and a touch of blue or red pastel, he has created animations of astounding depth.
A theme running through all of his work is his peculiar way of representing his birthplace. While he does not portray it as the militant or oppressive place that it was for black people, he does not emphasize the picturesque state of living that white people enjoyed during apartheid either; he presents instead a city in which the duality of man is exposed. In a series of nine short films, he introduces two characters - Soho Eckstein and Felix Teitlebaum. These characters depict an emotional and political struggle that ultimately reflects the lives of many South Africans in the pre-democracy era.
Most of all though, I really just enjoy watching Kentridge’s films and imaging the processes that he must go through to get a work completed. It inspires me to create something as magnificent as his films and makes me hope that someday I may inspire someone the way Kentridge has inspired me.
The three artists that I am choosing to research and compare works are Eddo Stern, The Yes Men, and William Kentridge. All three of the artists were covered in the final weeks of the semester and are three whose works I found appealing.
Eddo Stern works on the disputed borderlands between fantasy and reality, exploring the uneasy and otherwise unconscious connections between physical existence and electronic simulation.
His work explores new modes of narrative and documentary, experimental computer game design, fantasies of technology and history, and cross-cultural representation in computer games, film, and online media. He works in various media including computer software, hardware and game design, kinetic sculpture, performance, and film and video production.
After attending Stern’s lecture in mid-April and researching more of his work, I found his ideas and concepts intriguing. I also enjoyed the idea of physical interaction, like the electronic stimulation in Tekken Torture Tournament, in the ever-expanding world of video games.
After researching more of Stern’s works I found many that I found compelling, such as the series of Kinetic Shadow Puppets. The shadow puppets were narratives consisting of plastic, paper, and electronics. According to Stern, he spent a year-and-a-half playing the online-game World of Warcraft, and after that was struck with many ideas to create new works of art, including the Kinetic Shadow Puppets.
The shadow puppets were a different type of work compared to most of Stern’s other works, which dealt with hacking or programming video games. The puppets were a simple way to tell a narrative, such as “Man, Woman, Dragon” which was based on World of Warcraft. It is a representation of Chuck Norris fighting a dragon, with a she-elf doing what looks like casting a spell, but I’m not certain.
A collection of Eddo Stern’s work can be found at: www.eddostern.com
The Yes Men are a group of culture jamming activists who practice what they call “identity correction” by pretending to be powerful people and spokespersons for prominent organizations. They create and maintain fake websites similar to ones they want to spoof, and then they accept invitations received on their websites to appear at conferences, symposia, and TV shows. They express the idea that corporations and governmental organizations often act in dehumanizing ways toward the public.
Elaborate props are sometimes part of the ruse, as demonstrated in their 2003 DVD release The Yes Men and their 2009 film The Yes Men Fix the World.
After watching a short clip of The Yes Men Fix the World in class, I proceeded to rent the film and watch it in its entirety. I must admit that it was a film I found intellectually stimulating that really required me to think deeply about many of the “identity correction” schemes they were participating in.
The film The Yes Men Fix the World starred Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno, and Reggie Watts. Perhaps one of the Yes Men’s “identity correction” plans, in my opinion, was Andy Bichlbaum appearing on BBC World on the twentieth anniversary of the Bhopal disaster as a Dow Chemical spokesman.
Bichlbaum announced Dow was accepting full responsibility for the chemical disaster that killed thousands and left over 120,000 requiring lifelong care. Bichlbaum went on to announce Dow planned to liquidate Union Carbide, the company responsible for the chemical disaster, and use the resulting $12 billion to pay for medical care, clean up the site, and fund research into hazards of other Dow products.
These announcements caused the Dow stock to decline in value of more than $2 billion in just over two hours. After the original interview was revealed as a hoax, Bichlbaum appeared in a follow-up interview on the United Kingdom's Channel 4 news. During the interview he was asked if he had considered the emotions and reaction of the people of Bhopal when producing the hoax. According to the interviewer, "there were many people in tears" upon having learned of the hoax. Bichlbaum said that, in comparison, what distress he had caused the people was minimal to that for which Dow was responsible.
The Yes Men claim on their website that they have been told by contacts in Bhopal that once they had got over their disappointment that it wasn't real, they were pleased about the stunt and thought it had helped to raise awareness of their plight.
It seems to me that this is the goal of The Yes Men; to raise global awareness about the way corporations and governmental organizations act in dehumanizing ways. I really enjoyed the film and plan to continue to follow their work as it has caused me to question the way corporations and governmental organizations act.
The Yes Men’s official website can be located at: www.theyesmen.org
William Kentridge is a South African artist perhaps best known for his animated films. These are constructed by filming a drawing, making erasures and changes, and filming it again. He continues this process meticulously, giving each change to the drawing a quarter of a second to two seconds' screen time. A single drawing will be altered and filmed this way until the end of a scene. These drawings are later displayed along with the films as finished pieces of art.
After watching a short clip of one of Kentridge’s works in class, I was immediately reminded of watching more of his work the previous semester while in Jeremy’s art class. I remember seeing it for the first time and wondering how much work must go into each one of his films. Although most are moderately short, it still seemed to me that the processes that Kentridge must go through would be long and tedious. But the finished piece is astonishing and worth the monotonous work put into it.
The political content and unique techniques of Kentridge's work have propelled him into the realm of South Africa's top artists. Working with what is in essence a very restrictive media, using only charcoal and a touch of blue or red pastel, he has created animations of astounding depth.
A theme running through all of his work is his peculiar way of representing his birthplace. While he does not portray it as the militant or oppressive place that it was for black people, he does not emphasize the picturesque state of living that white people enjoyed during apartheid either; he presents instead a city in which the duality of man is exposed. In a series of nine short films, he introduces two characters - Soho Eckstein and Felix Teitlebaum. These characters depict an emotional and political struggle that ultimately reflects the lives of many South Africans in the pre-democracy era.
Most of all though, I really just enjoy watching Kentridge’s films and imaging the processes that he must go through to get a work completed. It inspires me to create something as magnificent as his films and makes me hope that someday I may inspire someone the way Kentridge has inspired me.
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