Lectures and Exhibition write up

Sarah Simpson   
ART 245 Prof. DeLappe
February 21, 2011

Lecture#1- Small Talk Big Ideas! Joseph DeLappe

The lecture given by Joseph DeLappe was very interesting. Professor DeLappe is an artist, educator and researcher within the department of Art at the University of Nevada. He is also in charge of the digital Media area within the art department. Professor DeLappe’s work, including new age media design, online gaming activities, electron mechanical installation and websites, has been shown throughout the United States and abroad. He has had the chance to work with many different people around the world. During the presentation he talked about his work dating back to 1983 and finished with his most recent projects to date.

Professor DeLappe’s presentation began with his experience with a computer mouse.  He attached a pencil to the mouse to trace the movement of the mouse while playing video games, working on campus, playing chess, etc. After experimenting with the computer mouse, he began to drill into the online video game realm by working on projects like work/play, quake/friends and his project called Dead-in-Iraq. Professor DeLappe also re-enacted all three nationally televised presidential debates between John Kerry and George Bush within an online game. One of the more interesting projects Professor DeLappe discussed was about his Gandhi experience in Second life. The presentation ended with his most recent project involving Hosni Mubarak for sale eBay post.

Joseph DeLappe’s lecture is changing the way art is viewed. Few would have thought that art could be so complex and meaningful. His projects are proving to be inspirational by drawing attention to aspects of art that many would have otherwise overlooked. Every project had its own meaning and purpose to the artist as well as the viewer. Much of society might not have considered DeLappe’s projects as art, but once the bigger picture is noticed, it is clear that all are immensely creative and original. To enter all the names of America’s military casualties into the recruiting game or recreating Gandhi within Second Life are two of the most incredible ideas in gaming and art. His reactions obtained from all his projects were the most interesting part. As in the recruitment game, DeLappe’s work mobilizes the masses and forces them to rethink what is happening around them. While some may criticize DeLappe, others realize the impact of his work; that it is not just a game; it is the reality of life. Similarly, DeLappe’s project on Gandhi was also very powerful and his giant handmade replicas of Gandhi have rightfully received the attention of people around the world.

Sarah Simpson   
ART 245 Prof. DeLappe
March 11, 2011

Lecture#2- Jeremy Stern: Placing Sound and Activity in the Sheppard Fine Arts Gallery

            The lecture given by Jeremy Stern was very thought-provoking. He started by discussing some of his biggest influences when he was a child. He talked about Lucas Samaras and the mirrored room, Red Groom’s happenings, Sandy Skogland Fox work, Vito, and finally the comic store that he always went to when he was a kid. Some of the work completed by Stern began with his Half Baked comic series when he was in college and his drawing of New York parks. One of his creations that he described was his work using office supplies and his pushpin piece. Most of his work reflected his life and identity in some small way. For instance, his drawings including the map of the US, the mapped shovel, and the trimmed fat project were all personally related to him. His latest project was the most interesting. It reflected his experiences while living in Reno by combining music/sound with traditional art. His art work combined the sounds of driving around Reno with a map of the school. When you walked through the exhibit you heard each sound in a different quadrant. He also used a form of crowd sourcing to paint some of the walls black within the art building.

Sarah Simpson

Art exhibition: Leo Villareal- Animating light
    The Nevada Museum of Art was a great experience and all the work presented within this exhibit were wonderful. The architecture itself was fascinating. All the artist presented, including Leo Villareal, Ansel Adams, Jacob Hashimoto, and Timothy J. Clark were equally talented.

The first art installation encountered was called “Firmament”. This space was well constructed and very interesting. However, the patterns that the lighting created was a bit overwhelming. An interesting aspect about this work was that this piece of artwork made the viewer look up instead of on the walls. It also was interesting how there were relaxing chairs within the space but the lights contradicted it by making it chaotic. It felt as though the viewer was in the middle of a disco party or rave because of how the lights were moving.

The space created by Leo Villareal gave a sense of dizziness that bombarded the viewer at first; there were too many colorful lights all moving in structured patterns, in different directions, and within different pieces. They all seemed to be made of the same kind of lighting, either LED’s or incandescent light bulbs. Each piece had its own special custom made software system and electrical hardware. One of the plaques providing information on the artwork revealed that Leo Villareall’s light sculpture can be compared to a digital campfire. This campfire concept made a lot of sense; all the colors represented the various colors of fire. Another interesting aspect to this exhibit was the rhythmic movement within the piece and how it all seemed to be forming in a pattern. The movement within some of the exhibits were intense compared to other pieces that were slow and soothing. Two installations within the space really stood out: Sunburst and Diamond Sea. Both of these artworks are completely different but Sunburst had very powerful movements and a strong representation of the Sun. Diamond Sea was interesting for the simple fact that it gave the viewer a sense that you were actually apart of the artwork because of its mirrors. Diamond Sea also represented a map of the world. By placing mirrors within this space, it drew comparisons to the viewer as an integral part of the planet.

Final Paper Assignment

Sarah Simpson
Art 245
Final Paper


Art is defined as the creation of beautiful or significant things; it is making something out of nothing; it is someones expression; it is lived and witnessed throughout the world (Google Define). Within the world of digital media, artists all possess innovative talents. These new and exciting technological approaches to art differ vastly from one another but are equally fascinating. The book called, Art in the Electronic Age, by Margot Lovejoy talks extensively about the increased potential of the interactive art possibilities and the use of technologies. With the Internet, CD-ROM’s, as well as the potential for artists to create their own software and hardware, the possibilities are endless (Lovejoy, 282). New software and hardware programs are allowing the artist to receive feedback from a person’s actions, voice, input, as well as touch and gestures (Lovejoy, 199). Artists can now create a space where a participant can obtain an infinite number of responses from a particular piece of interactive art.  
          
Throughout the book, Lovejoy also talks about how these interactions can result in loss of control and how an artist’s intention can become diluted. With little control the audience can change and alter the meaning and desired outcomes of the artwork (Lovejoy, 199). In this revealing and art-rich period, questions arise about the role of the artist’s and the function of art. Although new technology art has many dangers, it has provided endless possibilities and great new artwork that reflects the 20th century at large. Some good examples of this kind of artwork include: Ken Rinaldo’s “Autopoiesis”, and David Rokeby's “The Giver of Names”

The first interactive installation example is by Ken Rinaldo called “Autopoiesis”.  This particular piece interacts with groups of participants within a gallery space. Within this space, Rinaldo introduces the concept of self-making or self-interaction (Wikipedia).  The gallery space was commissioned in 2000 and consists of fifteen robotic sound sculptures. These machine-like sculptures interact to the presence of visitors as well as each other. Rinaldo’s machines learn and understand each other’s presence, and communicate with each other through a computer network and audible telephone tones. Rinaldo expanded on the idea of the machines interacting with humans by adding a self-realizing component where the individual mechanical limbs work and seemingly communicate with each other. Rinaldo’s limbs do this by communicating with each other through a hard-wired network. The computer system ultimately creates a musical language for the group of machine limbs (Rinaldo). Not only do the set of fifteen limbs communicate verbally, they also physically communicate by bending towards one another. Furthermore, they are capable of organizing waves and other interesting group movements. By adding individual computer controls onto each machine, they seem as if they are real creatures. When left alone the machines still talk to one another as if they were alive. Another interesting aspect to this project is that the limbs can also operate individually. The “randomizers” within each machine allow them to continually change and automatically remake themselves. They also allow the machines to form a group consciousness, where what is said by one, effects what is said by the others. The randomizers are also used to give the viewer a sense of emotional state, where the machines use higher tones to portray fear and lower tones with relaxation and play (Rinaldo). As visitors walk up to the machines they will bend to greet them. Infrared sensors alert them of participant’s presence and more sensors on the tip keep them from hitting a viewer, or one another. The piece can become quite chaotic and at times overwhelming. This piece of work reflects Lovejoy’s idea of the new technology and the dangers relating to the work. This installation was done so well that Rinaldo’s computer system gives him complete control over the machines while still allowing the viewer to experience free will and endless possibilities.


David Rokeby's “The Giver of Names”, commissioned in 1998, is another piece which focuses on the interaction of humans in an electronic environment (Wikipedia). Like Rinaldo’s, “Autopoiesis”, it is an electronic art installation which interacts with participants. With this particular artificial intelligence simulation, the audience is asked to interact with a small video projection, a pedestal, and a large amount of assorted objects on the floor of the gallery space (Rokeby). The participant is given directions to place any combination of the objects on the pedestal. As they place their chosen objects on the pedestal it then triggers the computer program to generate a series of sentence’s based on the objects’ shapes, colors, texture and proximity to the other objects. As the computer system tries to make sense of the objects, they are transitioned into even more abstract objects (Rokeby). The sentence is then transmitted onto the computer screen and read aloud. Within the space that Rokeby created he also creates an entirely new layer of interaction called self-interaction. There are enough combinations of objects and words generated by the computer to give the participant the impression that it is up to them to create the sentences. The artist’s intent was to change the viewer’s preconceptions of the objects and enable them to draw separate conclusions. He intended to draw the assumption between perception and language and show the way language inhibits our ability to see. Since the computer system tied with this exhibit has never experienced the world as we know it, it produces its own assumptions of the objects. Although the participant is given the illusion that they are in control, the artist has limited the computers vocabulary to 100,000 words and the constraint of making grammatical sense, thus limiting the possibilities of the sentences created (Rokeby). This interactive installation reflects Lovejoy’s idea of how the artist’s intent is not always fulfilled. As Rokeby is looking for open-mindedness in the audience’s interpretation, he also has an overall meaning of his work (Lovejoy, 282). By making the constraints so large, his participants ultimately do have free will to make assumptions and may not interrupt his gallery space as he indented. While this particular piece of work could be deemed risky because of its use of technology and the freedom the viewer has, it still provides control, meaning, and a unique experience that art has yet to define.

The artists previously mentioned all used various methods to create successful interactive installations that provide the illusion of endless possibilities. Within these artworks, the viewer is intended to create their own interruptions even thought this method of art is controversial. Although they both were risky projects to endure, both artists proved to be successful. Both installations vary in many different ways but they also possess many similarities. Ken Rinaldo’s “Autopoiesis” meaning “self-making”, summarizes both projects; Rinaldo’s work highlights key concepts within Rokeby’s installation of the “Giver of Names”, while elaborating on the element of mechanical self-realization, whereas Rokeby introduces and focuses more on self-interaction (Rinaldos). Within both works each artist gives the viewer the sense of control and provides a gallery space where they have to interact to get results. They both use new technology art installation and computer generated software systems.

There are differences too, however. Unlike the “Giver of Names”, “Autopoiesis” has less of an overall meaning or a specific intent. Rinaldo’s work is primarily constructed because of his fascination between living and evolving technological material and his intent for this project is just that (Rinaldo). Although Rinaldo’s Autopoiesis is very controlled, it’s less controllable because of the fact that it heavily relies on the participants input. While the “Giver of Names” needs a participant to operate, once it obtains its interactive viewer, it has more control because of its given constraints described above. Also we should take into account that the “Giver of Names” was created much earlier in time than “Autopoiesis”. The computer system is much more limited in its interaction and therefore is far less intelligent.  Another difference between these two projects is the type of interactions they make. Although both interactions engaged a variety of the viewer’s senses, the “Giver of Names” has a more physical interaction. The participant has to physically place items on the pedestal, whereas the “Autopoiesis” is more verbal because of the communicative exchange between the participant and the machine.

Interactive installations are a unique new form of art, presenting audiences with a new way to both see and experience an artist’s ideas as well as a new way to visualize and interact with technology. Throughout the book, Lovejoy discusses this new type of art. Rokeby and Rinaldo are just two of the many fascinating artist using technology in their work. Both these artists engaged the audience by creating a new outlook for the world of art. They both take risks when creating such art. Some intent may be lost within the experience but by creating endless possibilities within their artwork they should come to expect such an outcome. Giving the audience the opportunity to interact with machines, electric devices and tools that are used daily, these artists allowed the audience to engage these machines in a new way, one which reminds the audience of the constant connection between humankind and technology.

Works Cited

Lovejoy, M. (2004). Digital Currents: art in the electronic age.

Rinaldo, K. (2000). Autopoiesis: Artificial life robotic sculpture installation . Retrieved from http://accad.osu.edu/~rinaldo/works/autopoiesis/autopoiesis.html

Rinaldo, K. (2000). Emergent Systems. Retrieved from http://accad.osu.edu/~rinaldo/

Rokeby, D. (2004). The Giver of Names Project. Retrieved from http://www.fondation-langlois.org/html/e/page.php?NumPage=4

Rokeby, D. (n.d.). The Giver of Names . Retrieved from 2010: http://homepage.mac.com/davidrokeby/gon.html

Wikipedia. (2010). David Rokbey. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rokeby

Wikipedia. (2011). Ken Rinaldo. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Rinaldo

Projects

The two crowdsourcing projects I decided to participate in were SwarmSketch, and the One Million Masterpiece.  

Within SwarmSketch, I drew many different lines every day for a week. By drawing lines I contributed to the creation of Moussa Koussa and the 2^nd Amendment. Although everyone should know what the 2^nd amendment is, Moussa Koussa is less familiar. Moussa Koussa is a Libyan political figure and diplomat who served in the Libyan government as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He served from March 2009 until the 2011 Libyan civil war when he resigned his position from the Gaddafi regime on 30 March 2011. I had a lot of fun with both of these drawing. I liked the fact that you were able to vote on each line. This allowed me to become meticulously engaged in the drawings detail- something that I would have not noticed otherwise. The drawings that were created from this crowdsourcing site are presented below.

The One Million Masterpiece is such a fun crowdsourcing site. I created three different “master pieces” on this site and uploaded them to my profile. I had difficulty learning how to use the tools to create a piece, but once I got the hang of things, it was really quite fun. The first piece I created was a picture of a landscape: trees, flowers and the sky. I wanted to create something by using circles, therefore, besides the flower stems, everything is created from circular motions. The next piece I created was an Easter basket that reflected the theme of the season. The third piece I created on this site is by far my favorite. I drew two martini glasses; they are relaxed, fun and colorful. The one thing I love about this site is that it creates a video of the creation of your artwork. I watched other people’s videos and found several amazing pieces of work. Below are my videos created on The One Million Masterpiece website.

Click on the Link to view my videos:

http://www.millionmasterpiece.com/profile-1005885

 

Crowd-Sourcing Project

Crowd Sourcing project:
If I were to make a crowdsourcing project I would focus the idea around scrapbooking. Scrapbooking is an expensive and time consuming project. It involves being able to have enough space, materials, and money to finance the projects. Although the idea of creating a scrapbook may sound simple, it actual take a great deal of creativeness, thought and design. Besides the pictures you need to create the scrapbook and you also need a great design. Being a full time student and having a demanding job, it is hard to find the time to get the pictures I want to scrapbook, come up with a design or layout, then finally build the scrapbook; not to mention the mess it can be and the time it takes to clean up and put things away. I know other people feel the same way.  

So for my crowdsourcing project I would create a space where people could contribute to page layout designs for different geographical locations and different events. All the contributors would collaborate to create one- to as many designs as they want and upload them to the Internet.  As each layout gets completed by the group of individuals that helped create the page, it would get placed into an online scrapbook. When the scrapbook is deemed complete, the viewer would be looking at pages created by people all over the world and each of the pictures for that specific event, like Easter Sunday, for example. Essentially the contributors would be adding ribbon, boarders, pictures, cutouts, etc. By allowing everyone to take part in the creation of this layout it will allow the world to have its own scrapbook with unique pictures and memories. This project would also allow the participant to use other peoples design by simply printing the design or recreating it with their own materials. If the participant chooses to print the design (for free), it not only eliminates most of the costs of scrapbooking, but also cuts back on the time because the design is being made by millions of people around the world instead of just one. Essentially this can be done to create invitations, collages, slideshows, and other projects as people see fit.

Another unique experience is the ability to create projects that can be completed for private groups. Say, after a wedding the bride wants a scrapbook so family and friends can log on to the website and contribute to the wedding scrapbook. By allowing a private collaboration view, the end result would just be pictures of that persons wedding or event rather than anyone in the world. Another example of this crowdsourcing project includes the celebration of Easter Sunday. Here, everyone could log on to the website and begin to create a page layout that represents their experience on Easter Sunday. The website would rotate through many different locations and events while placing them in their own scrapbook for viewing and for everyone to use. Here is what the home page would look like:

Chapter 5 Questions

1.      What are some of the major problems in computer graphics according to Lovejoy? Do you believe with today’s technology and computer programs that we can truly represent reality or is it too complex for our technology?

2.      The latest generations of computers and software have made music and sound extremely easy to record, create, produce and edit. Using sound in the art world has changed the way art is constructed and formed. Do you believe that sound would have had the same effect on traditional art as it does with work constructed today?

YouTube Video Mixer!

Here is my Link to the YouTube Video Mixer-
http://www.unr.edu/art/site/areas_of_emphasis/digital_media/projects/Sarah_Simpson.html

This project was by far my favorite. I have so fun finding all the videos and being able to select a topic I care about. Trying to find the right video’s with good sound and pictures was harder than I expected.  I enjoyed being able to work with Dreamweaver and the code of creating websites. The YouTube Video mixer I created was about the ocean. I wanted to create a space were the view felt they were actually at the ocean. I placed the large video in the center to portray my message of how important the oceans are and how we need to take care of everything inside and around them.

Video Art- Recreation of FILE by Cheryl Donegan

My interpretation of this film was based on the idea of consumer spending and buying habits and how their habits are affecting other aspects of their lives such as family. Within this video recreation I wanted the viewer to feel a sense of dizziness and confusion about the overall message. The chaos within the video is a representation of the lifestyle that consumers lead. Instead of a person being grounded and consuming their real life, they live through materialistic products and put a greater emphasis on unnecessary purchases. The video is showing the affects that modernization is creating on the natural world.  Our generation is the sum of our current achievement; we have built more than all previous generations together, but somehow we do not register on the same scale. The images and movements within the film portray a sense of “junkspace” creating randomness without a true balance.  The music playing throughout the film compliments the underlying theme of disorientation.

Link to original video:

http://www.ubu.com/film/donegan_file.html

Movie synopsis

Gary Hill: I believe it is an image-

Throughout this movie Gary Hill described some of his artwork and communicated his message to the audience. His first piece was called the Wall piece where he bounced words off the wall and as they bounced back his body lit up. He described a lot of projects that he would attach different things to his body such as the bow and arrow (cross bow) project where he attached cameras to his arms and head. He also described his project that showed his body parts in different sections of the screen. He used a lot of movement and motion of art in the film and mainly he used performance and video installation. He also stated that he used many of his pieces to investigate otherness and ambiguity, dislocation of the senses, boundaries and figurative interactivity. He said that most of his pieces focus on language. Examples of projects that stood out to me were the project where he showed the body in different frames. He shown the viewer how the body had to share time and that the body was ultimately trying to get up. The speed of the body changed from fast to slow. The girl reading out of the book was also another interesting piece described within this film.

Shirin Neshat: the women moves-

Throughout this film the artist used music heavily.  Shirin Neshat tells the story about a Muslim woman and her experience in two opposite worlds. It shows the psychological and emotion state of mind of someone who was simultaneously born in one space and then lives in another. She describes immigration as very difficult because you are ultimately removed from your place of center. The artist said that “You never feel grounded or at home again.” Some of her work described within this film includes:

Soliloquy-

This serious of work looked at the revolution and the religion of Islam. It was produced by the artist with a point of view of living on the outside and going back as a visitor. She talked about the boundaries within the Islamic walls and how that reflected men’s busy lives at which they were not really doing anything. Within her work she created a space that produced a feeling of obscurity; bunch of men standing around doing nothing, getting nothing done.  From here she showed the audience a scene where women are getting on boats in the ocean. She said this scene was intended to show a sense of freedom, she wanted to make this piece unclear but what was clear was the women’s bravery. The use of water was intended to symbolize women’s lives compared to men. Women are productive and always moving where as the men were portrayed to never get things done and were standing still. The women within the film were always changing. She described this piece as a connection of the strength of women who do more and bring more change, rebel, and stand up for themselves.  

Rapture-

The work called Rapture focused on issues of gender in relationship to music and how women were forbidden to perform. Men seemed to have all the support and didn’t have to break rules like women had to. During the woman’s performance the camera turned around her. It was meant to simulate her dancing and show the audience that she had gone mad. All traditional rules were broken by the woman performer. The woman performer always moved where as the man stayed in the same place. 

Fervor-

This piece focused on taboo’s, surrounding the idea of sexuality (mostly in Iran) in Islamic society and the internal and external pressures a man or a woman have when humanist nature is under society control.  In this film she wanted to show women and men on the same side unlike all the other works. She said that this work required lots of traveling and cast to complete.  

Tongues untied by Marlon Riggs-

The beginning of this movie had a very powerful opening. I liked how the movie talked about silence and how it’s the deadliest weapon. The actors within this movie discussed how people were labeled and cornered by identities that they never wanted to claim. It described how instead of claiming this unaccepted identities people would rather run and hide.

The overall plot of this movie showed how the new gay life for a black man was very hard. There were white gay men posted in magazines and in popular paintings but black gay men were invisible. The movie described it as being an alien. Throughout the movie stories were told of homophobia relating to racism. Each story showed the black persons struggle.

All the music throughout the movie was also very powerful, such as heart beats, silences, “anger unvented becomes pain unspoken becomes violent cha cha cha, techno music was also used, duets about coming out, and lots of repeating sayings.

Summary of my thoughts-

All three of these movies were very interesting. I really liked Shirin Neshat movie called The Women Moves. I felt that she did a great job going through her work and painting the viewer a picture of her thoughts. I believe that all her work can relate to everyone on some level. My favorite part during her film was when she described her piece where she created a space where men seemed to be busy when they actually were standing around. The scene where the women are pushing the boats into the water is very powerful; I liked how she described the water and how she made it symbolize the busy always changing lives of women.

 The movie called Tongues Untied used a lot of repetition. What stood out the most to me was the music within this film and how it really helped grab the viewer’s attention.  My favorite part of this film was when he was talking about how he felt cornered by different identities that he never wanted to claim. The words used really made me think about silence and how people run away because they would rather be silent than deal with the negative comments associated with unaccepted views.

The third movie called I Believe It Is an Image was another good movie. All the work shown throughout this film was very different from the first two artists. Gary Hill seemed to use more movement and technology to get his point a crossed.  Most of his work was a mystery to me and it didn’t make much sense like the other two. I couldn’t relate as much but I did like his project were he had the little girl read from the book and then he went through the book and changed the spelling of the words to how they sound.

Chapter 4 questions

The author talks about how the history of film and video were separated because of the video’s immediate feedback of a mirror image. Do you think this was the onset of today’s society, of the need for instant gratification and our desire for immediate results? If not did this begin with the rise of a different technology/innovation either before or after the introduction to video?

The onset of video art was largely due to the shift in museums acceptance and evaluation. Do you think that video art would have flourished as it did without the acceptance from museums?

Link to original website

http://reno.craigslist.org/

Website Assignment

I centered my website on the “Anti Craigslist’s” view point of prostitution. Instead of being used for selling junk, finding jobs, and community events I put an emphasis on the personal ads and the prostitution side of the website. It is meant to make people laugh but also consider the prevalence of prostitution in today’s society. The saying goes that prostitution is the oldest business but in today’s shiny, clean and modern society it’s something that you wouldn’t think would really flourish. But ask anyone in the world and you will see that prostitution is still massively prevalent world wide. When you think of your average Joe you may perhaps think of old desperate men who can only get sex by paying for it. But the demographic is normally very different. It varies widely across all ages and locations.

Chapter 3 questions

Celeste Olalquiaga describes the postmodern experience as: an individual experiencing a major transformation of perception and consciousness and that the body now exists in a new kind of time and place. Do you agree with what she describes of the new body? What do you think had the greatest affect when undergoing this change? 

The author states that the way new knowledge is acquired is through apperception and distraction.  Do you agree with this statement?

Walter Benjamin states that “the body becomes more mechanized at the same rate the computer becomes more “friendly”. The boundaries between the spheres of the body and of technology have begun to transgress, overlay, and blur.” Do you think he is right when he describes how the body is further distance from tactility and everything is beginning to blend together? How do you think this blend has affected the art world?

Questions for Reading Discussions: "The Medium is the Massage"

My two questions for discussion include:

McLuahn states that people tend to focus on the obvious, which is the content that provides valuable information but tend to miss the structural changes or changes made over long periods of time. Why is it that we as humans don’t realize the social implication of the medium until after the change or until someone points them out?

Each visual illustration within the book plays a specific role. What “effect” or “massage” did the pictures throughout the book have on your human sensorium?

Project #2 Animation

This assignment is an extension of my first Las Vegas assignment. My goal was to make the montage come alive. Within each frame of the animation I changed my center point and focused on different aspects of the overall images.

Project #2 Animation

This assignment is an extension of my first Las Vegas assignment. My goal was to make the montage come alive. Within each frame of the animation I changed my center point and focused on different aspects of the overall images.

Las Vegas- Montage #3

My third and final montage was focused around the aspect of gambling. It brings out a new perspective of the other side of Las Vegas. I enlarged the dice, cards, chips and the roulette table to center the viewer’s attention.  I faded the pictures into the city’s landmarks to show my friends and I within the city’s boundaries and within its craziness.  I tried to show that the photos are less important than what the city has to offer. Altogether, I feel that each one of my montages are too busy, but I feel that the busyness fits with the city’s atmosphere.

Las Vegas- Montage #2

Since my first montage was very busy I tried to have a focal point within my second montage. I put the Las Vegas words in the middle with the pictures around it to try to bring out the importance of the photos that were taken during my Las Vegas trip. Without my friends, this trip would have never taken place.  Although this montage was still somewhat busy I feel that there is more of a focus. Again, I was still having fun with the tools and options I had within Photoshop. 

Las Vegas- Montage #1

My first montage illustrates how other people and I may think of Las Vegas and the specific landmarks that represent this city. I also chose to illustrate Las Vegas because I just took a trip there, and the memory was fresh in my mind. In this first piece I was mostly just playing around with Photoshop and learning all the various tools within the software. I do not like how it turned out to be very busy, and I think it needs some focus.

Triptych- All montages together

Questions for Reading Discussions

My two questions for discussion include:

As Lovejoy states in the reading

“Artists’ vision and artists’ responses to the world are dominated by the conditions and consciousness of a particular period.”  

What are some particular time periods that really reflects an artist’s vision and responses to the world, such as the modern period and the invention of the camera?

As technology continues to grow how will the art world be affected? Is it going to become more difficult or less difficult for the artists to come up with work that is still unique?

Hello everyone =)