Sound, Sight, Interaction exhibition in Brown, from Nov. 3 to Nov. 18th

A brief post about this exhibit. It was really interesting. I feel like most pieces there were deconstructions of sound and icons. I really loved the Michael Jackson piece which was a deconstruction of his music and physical transformation. Instead of going forward from when he was young, black and new, it was from when he was popular, white and his music was a sort of different. I felt like that was a deconstruction of his iconic image and how he went downhill. I just found that piece really interesting. Then there was this piece in a room that was a total optical illusion, I still don't get how it work but the piece hanging wasn't very expansive but one you looked inside or two people looked inside it went on forever. It was just so trippy. Then there was a piece with a guitar which I felt was an interactive piece but I didn't feel like i was allowed to partake in it. But I believe that was also a deconstruction and recreation of sound using the guitar as that stereotype cool, popular instrument that "anyone" can play. I believe we were supposed to pluck the strings sounds of some sort would play. But unfortunately that is all I can remember. It was definitely an interesting show.

Articles on Shepard Fairey

Much like Jeff Koons, Shepard Fairey is suffering from art theft and plagiarism. But unlike Koons, Fairey's work consists of reusing past artwork and transforming the image and meaning into something different and more political. Koon's definitely ripped off an artists work for kicks to see how far he could get, but Fairey is more about spreading the word. I guess you could say he too is being unoriginal stealing art and turning it into his own artwork, but I guess it's not as bad because it's considered "street art", high end street art since he's got this whole company and profits from his work. It's ironic reading how one artist criticizes Fairey about plagiarism while he himself copied Roy Lichtenstein and just that whole comic book style movement in general. Andy Warhol copied and created reproductions of products too and wasn't ripped as badly. and he made a lot of money and fame through that. I guess because America is so concerned about copyrights, censorship and all these strict laws to promote individualism that it's harder to use someone else's work as part of your own unless u ask permission and give credit.

In some ways I approve of this because I work hard to create my artwork and wouldn't like someone else claiming it as their own and changing it but when it comes to using other work as reference it makes it hard to know what's stealing from an honest mistake.

Professor Warwick's Lecture on the History of Electronic Music

After Professor Warwick talked about the theremin I had to look it up better. The way it works and the music it produces blow my mind. Two radio frequencies placed side by side one with an antennea and the hand (human electrical impulses actually being used) to make these amazing sci-fi sounds. I love eerie science fiction and so the sounds this instrument makes just blows my mind. Also the time of when it was made blows my mind. Electronic music seems like a relatively new thing but i learned its been around for decades only now we've started bringing it into the spotlight.

It's also interesting to learn how artists/musicians turned recordings of music and sound experimented with the looping to make "minimalist" music. OMMG a female created the very first dr. who theme!! and It's amazing. I feel proud as a female that she created such a notable theme for what is now a very notable show. It always feels so uniquely good even though its all experimental because that's what started it all experimenting and being good with sounds. Ahaha but you can kind of tell when the music was made because it has the feel of the era it was made in. Another chick invented painting by/with music. It's cool 'cause i know there's like a brain disorder that people who listen to music can easily see/visualize colors in their mind. The mellotron was basically a giant recorder synthesizer thing i forget the term but a lot of 'djs' at MICA have small ones that capture and store music to make mixes with. The mellotron just has reall cool retro beats to it.

AHAHA John Cage there's no way to talk about the development of music without him. He flipped music upside on its head. The whole 4'33" of silence really makes you think about sound, what is it, how its advanced its become so easy to access. It's just so eye catching. It's also interesting to see how music follows eras similar to art movement eras, like romanticism for example. Maybe art and music go hand in hand more so than I thought.

But overall I feel art, music everything is one big circle, we started experimenting with electronic, going away from that and coming back to it.

Telematics and Robotics: Movie on Survival Research Lab; videos on Stelarc and Ken Feingold, reading on Telematics, etc.

Survival research lab...wooow just, wooow. The war machines they make just to destroy...it was pretty intense and violent. Watching back when there was less crowd control looked dangerous. the crowds seemed waay too close, like what if something went wrong...I'm sure people have died watching this or participating. But it's really cool all the machines they make and have, and how inventive they are like with this godzilla monster thing missle shit. and how they make props to blow up. They're so lucky they can do this and have the tools and space to do it. It's also amazing how anyone can parttake in making stuff of course provided with either training or experience, plus help from fellow members and just an overall interest and desire to create and destroy. It was cool to see people don't have to be engineers just to make weapons. it's also amazing how long the group lasted i'm not sure if they're still running but it would be pretty cool if they still do. Never mind i just checked they're still running.

I felt some shows had a little bit of poltics thrown into them because I feel like I remember effigee- esque things or posters being destroyed. I always love seeing the grungy violence of the 80s to 90s war-machines versus the more creative technology stuff of today.

Stelarc has become quite the name recently in my classes with his odd integration of human and machine and ears. It's really interesting to see how he created these robotic body parts that work with human limbs, more advanced than that of prosthetic. I know the prosthetic ears don't but i guess it's more a visual thing. I believe Ken Feingold created this device or apparatus where something would push buttons or make noises and according to those actions his limbs would move but he was not in control. basically he turned himself into a puppet using technology which is really cool. it's strange seeing American's so fascinated because we're usually terrified and Japan tends to love this stuff.

Copyright issues in general, and the readings, including on Koons vs Rogers

Jeff Koons may be a famous MICA alum but his ego is too big for his own good. He clearly pushed the copyright boundaries to its limits and lost. But hey guess what he can afford to, maybe he likes the negative attention too. I just don't understand why he chose a relatively unknown image from a relatively unknown artist and turned it from a photograph into a sculpture. It's also funny to see the original creator of the photograph caught Jeff Koons and actually challenged him. Maybe this was all in his favor to get known too. But a lot of people wouldn't have the guts to challenge Koons though he can pay his way out either way. I don't feel Koons could've been protected from the copyright law just because he transformed a 2d piece into a 3d one and altered colors. There's just waay more similarities than differences between the two..

Koon probably wanted to fuck with the system and see how far he could get. but it goes to show not a lot of art is original these days. someone has done something similar before. sometimes i feel grateful for america's copyright laws such as how it was used here, other times i feel frustrated because you have to walk on eggshells and becareful about what you use as reference and stating whether or not it is yours. But with technology it's become easy to do art theft, people upload their art, people take pictures of art. it's hard to avoid.

Hacking (Discovery Channel documentary on early hackers as creative individuals, and the birth of the personal computer)

I remember finding this movie to be really interesting. I can't believe hacking all originally started with telephones and sort of wire tapping. The way the guys used the land lines, hacked the phone boxes, automated dialing systems and even the transmitter cables which are dangerous for joyride phone calls. Hell that was the best part they all did this for fun and shits and giggles, thrills and free calls. I guess back then the phone system was hard but not that hard. It's just difficult to believe you could hack a land-line phone...

And then that paved way to computer hacking. The guys hacked the large old school computers because people were catching onto the phones, and that's when it became intense. They could see peoples personal information which I personally don't approve of. But back in the day there wasn't as much to worry about if people saw your info unlike today you have to worry about identity theft 24/7. But they would hack those computers see information, know how to accesses things, and it was so easy for them to slip in and out. Incredible. I believe all their computer hacking lead to further improvements on computer processors, security, size. I think they made computers more accessible to the public ironically ( the invention of the personal computer?) and one of the guys helped create Macintosh before he was fired and possibly sent off to jail. I know at least one guy was sent to jail and another guy is works a specialist to protect people from hacking. It's also interesting to see these people claim the rights of the first to invent hacking and the time line of it all.

Hah...late post. Well we never did finish the film, but I did learn about who Barbara Kruger is and her role in the art world. I knew I've seen her posters before all around because they are so popular but I didn't know who created them. I like their witty humor in some of them, the bold graphic design of the letters collaged onto the black and white photos. I find it interesting that she was a worker for hire graphic designer, hated doing others assignments and just broke away from it to pursue her own career as an independent artist. Her work was also made during womens' rights movement at the time, which would explain why her images are so strong and are primarily in a photographic collage medium. And even though she refuses to explain the political influence her work has over people she at least acknowledges the power they potentially hold. It's interesting how she explains that omnipresence of power that is all around us. Politics discussions always become heated so it was probably a good idea for her not to go into depth her political views and the meaning behind her works. We as a society, people, and viewers definately need to take a step back from the television and world of reproduction around us and think for a bit the meaning behind it and not just entertainment.

Yesterday, we watched The Persuaders which was a documentary about the advertising world of today, how it has evolved and how it's still evolving pushing at its limits. The movie called this era of consumers and advertisers, 'crammed culture' or something like that. It was a comment about how crammed together the advertisements that surround us are. Everywhere we go we see both still and moving advertisements, big, bright, and in the most unexpected of places. It almost feels like there's no privacy, space or alone time for yourself because you're being pressured to buy, buy, buy.

They also talk about how ads have basically become something like white noise to us; we've grown immune to the bright lights, and flashy colors. I'm also just shocked to see how much studying, and analyzing is involved before creating any sort of plan to advertise a product. That German guy for example pretty much created an equation to explain the consumer mentality and how advertisers can manipulate it.

Then they also showed those god awful surveys most people hate doing. The questions they ask for research seem ridiculous even the guy being survey was like huh?! There had to be some sort of incentive for those survey participants to get them to answer those questions (being filmed shouldn't be one of those incentives). Just the whole analyzing the consumer thing was pretty wild, but if it works and they're convinced it works, why stop doing it I guess.

It was also interesting to see why some ads are far more successful than others even when a lot are very similar. It's also interesting how intimate the ads are trying to be with the consumer. Some people try to make the ads too vague, metaphorical, and not literal enough; for some ads and companies it worked because of product and/or timing, for others not so much. So in the end its one big risk and for some risk and an art form which is probably why some ads are too vague in what they're trying to sell.

I myself usually turn a blind eye to ads because I don't pay enough attention to them. And if they do catch my eye its usually because of color, design, humor or something like that. But I never feel the urge to buy the product just admire the ad. Heh, advertisers must not like my type.

EMAC

EMAC and art blog, I say hello and bid you farewell until next time.