Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
The Use of Sound
Recently I just visited the Haggerty Museum of Art, and saw the work of many artist. The two works I wish to elaborate about are Electric Sheep by Amy Globus and Cave Trilogy by Salla Tykka. Electric Sheep is a video not about sheep but actually an squid traversing a lengthy and complex plastic aquatic tanks. The video itself shows the squid moving through the tank, with many close ups and experimental angles, but the video has no actual sound, it is all added post production. Globus uses a song called "Wrecking Ball" by Emmylou Harris, and sound clips of electricity. The compilation of all these elements makes the short film have a eerie feel about it. Emmylou's melodic voice pulls you in as you watch this squid, compact itself into small spaces as it moves along. It is kind of disturbing, or scary seeing a close up of a squid in a small tube, and the choice of music enhances it even more. The sounds of electricity add into this mix, I felt actually took away from the entire piece. I often found myself taken out of a kind of trance whenever I heard the electricity because I was trying to figure out where it came from or why it is in the piece.
The other piece Cave Trilogy, by Salla Tykka was a compilation of three of her works Lasso, Thriller, and Cave. At the time I didn't not know it was three different shorts (haha) but none the less they all had elements of sound unique to each one. One that particular caught my attention was Thriller.(Not sure if it was thriller because it was in a loop of all three but pretty sure by the title) Thriller contains a total of three characters and sheep. There is a rustling noise in the background in the beginning from a woman in black dragging sticks in the woods for a reason not known by the view yet. The first vivid memory I have of sound is the eerie piano music when the camera zooms into the house and show a young girl in a bed, laying wide awake. It instantly reminded me of a song in a movie but I could not remember but with the wonders of the Internet I found out it was the Halloween piano theme. With this very well known and scary theme it had a dark presence in the entire film. The acting of the young girl, seeming possessed enhances the musical selection, and makes it seem like a horror movies with only the sound element. The last sound you hear is a gun shot from a rifle fired by the young girl, and the silence followed by it makes one want dialog to understand how and why this all occurred.
Between these two pieces I found it difficult to find connections between these two pieces, not to give up right away but sound was directed in a few important sound elements. In Electric Sheep the only sound is the sound is "Wrecking ball" and the electric sounds and Thriller contained the Halloween theme and other external noises. One comparison that enhanced both films was the use of professional music, captures the viewer in each and keep them there. Also they both use a minimalist approach not making it over saturated in sounds just the bear essentials. So they both did this very well but I still bother by the electric nosies in Electric Sheep. Thriller also had one issue with me and that was memorable sounds, unlike Electric Sheep there were not many other unique noises. Overall these pieces use sound very well, and typically enhances the works they are used in.
The other piece Cave Trilogy, by Salla Tykka was a compilation of three of her works Lasso, Thriller, and Cave. At the time I didn't not know it was three different shorts (haha) but none the less they all had elements of sound unique to each one. One that particular caught my attention was Thriller.(Not sure if it was thriller because it was in a loop of all three but pretty sure by the title) Thriller contains a total of three characters and sheep. There is a rustling noise in the background in the beginning from a woman in black dragging sticks in the woods for a reason not known by the view yet. The first vivid memory I have of sound is the eerie piano music when the camera zooms into the house and show a young girl in a bed, laying wide awake. It instantly reminded me of a song in a movie but I could not remember but with the wonders of the Internet I found out it was the Halloween piano theme. With this very well known and scary theme it had a dark presence in the entire film. The acting of the young girl, seeming possessed enhances the musical selection, and makes it seem like a horror movies with only the sound element. The last sound you hear is a gun shot from a rifle fired by the young girl, and the silence followed by it makes one want dialog to understand how and why this all occurred.
Between these two pieces I found it difficult to find connections between these two pieces, not to give up right away but sound was directed in a few important sound elements. In Electric Sheep the only sound is the sound is "Wrecking ball" and the electric sounds and Thriller contained the Halloween theme and other external noises. One comparison that enhanced both films was the use of professional music, captures the viewer in each and keep them there. Also they both use a minimalist approach not making it over saturated in sounds just the bear essentials. So they both did this very well but I still bother by the electric nosies in Electric Sheep. Thriller also had one issue with me and that was memorable sounds, unlike Electric Sheep there were not many other unique noises. Overall these pieces use sound very well, and typically enhances the works they are used in.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Art Forum
From the magazine ArtForum, I found that it covers a large spectrum of art. Weather it would be film, photography, literature, and many other forums. One of the main reasons I chose ArtForum because personally I'm all over the place in what I like. Film and photography are my favorite two, but I love the see the work that others produce. One article that caught my attention is the article call Shrouded Skies. Written by Bruce Sterling, his review on the movie Dust. Director Hartmut Bitomsky, sets up the audience with the bare minimum and allows for one to interpret it as he or she pleases. "Bitomsky never coaches his players; he simply sets up a camera and waits for them to do something unheimlich." I find this style very intriguing because, I love to create stories in my own mind of what is going on. To some it may be annoying because the lack of direction, but sometime made up stories are better that real. I'm also very interested in seeing this film because I want to see how everyone interacts with the premise of the movie dust.
The second article I chose was called Garry Garrels, by Dawn Chan. It is based on curator Garry Garrels, choosing six abstract artist, to choose six other pieces of art that have influenced their thinking and works and also display some of their own.
"I’ve always been interested in abstract painting—that’s where I entered the art world—so I thought about other painters in this vein and winnowed it down to a group of six who represent a diversity of generations and approaches to the field. Another part of the show is about the situation of abstract painting today and how it remains a vibrant and vital form. It’s something that’s often written off."
I am also interested in abstract painting but, the problem I find myself thinking is anyone can do this, even more than calling something art. I could paint my own wall and call it abstract, but if everyone did this it would all lose its value. Abstract art in my opinion is something that captures my attention more than a couple of moments. The reason for moments is giving something a time value is too exact, maybe I only look for 2-3 minutes, but I may decide that was the best work I have ever seen in my life. I don't know, maybe I'm just stirring up more sandy water, and getting no where but its just a something that has always annoyed me, because someone can make millions off of one piece and another person who put lots of time and effort gets nothing.
Guess you could say the same for the lottery....
The second article I chose was called Garry Garrels, by Dawn Chan. It is based on curator Garry Garrels, choosing six abstract artist, to choose six other pieces of art that have influenced their thinking and works and also display some of their own.
"I’ve always been interested in abstract painting—that’s where I entered the art world—so I thought about other painters in this vein and winnowed it down to a group of six who represent a diversity of generations and approaches to the field. Another part of the show is about the situation of abstract painting today and how it remains a vibrant and vital form. It’s something that’s often written off."
I am also interested in abstract painting but, the problem I find myself thinking is anyone can do this, even more than calling something art. I could paint my own wall and call it abstract, but if everyone did this it would all lose its value. Abstract art in my opinion is something that captures my attention more than a couple of moments. The reason for moments is giving something a time value is too exact, maybe I only look for 2-3 minutes, but I may decide that was the best work I have ever seen in my life. I don't know, maybe I'm just stirring up more sandy water, and getting no where but its just a something that has always annoyed me, because someone can make millions off of one piece and another person who put lots of time and effort gets nothing.
Guess you could say the same for the lottery....
Sunday, October 26, 2008
MAM
The Milwaukee Art Museum is one of Wisconsin's great landmarks and one of the cities great visitor attractions and this past visit to the Museum was one best so far. The museum is home to over 25,000 works of art. Its permanent holdings contain various collections such as German expression and post-1960 American art just to name a few. On this trip, I visited the just opened Act/React exhibit where visitors are asked to interact with pieces of art not with a mouse and keyboard or any other mechanical device besides moving though the space themselves. The Artist created each one of these pieces with the intent on people to interact make it come “alive”. One thing I must mention that going in groups is recommended because it encourages people to work together to create unique art by just interacting with one another.
When you first enter the exhibit, the visitor walks through a small hallway that soon opens up into a large open space, with a slightly raised platform on one end and a projector displaying figures on the wall on the other end. These two pieces are created by Scott Snibbe, an interactive artist that primarily focuses on projector based pieces. The piece titled Deep Walls is the projector displaying images on the wall. The projection shows one large square image on a white wall broken up into 16 evenly divided squares, showing shadowy figures of people, doing random physical movements. To create a recording all one needs to do is, walk in front of the projector and instantly, it begins to record your actions. Once the visitor steps out, it begins to loop the recording of their actions in one of the small squares, as a black filled, outline of themselves. This act may seem small and insignificant but, it is very powerful for the visitor. Having the freedom to act however one wishes in front of, essentially a video camera, and not be recognized by anyone else but you, I found very liberating. My friend and I, easily filled all 16 squares in a few minutes and took time to reflect on what we did, which took longer than the actions we did. Scott Snibbe act of minimalism can captivate ones interest to leave a mark on a recording for a small amount of time, without instructions or motivation to do so. One thing I would like to quote is George Fifield, the guest curator writes, “In mythology and fairy tales, capturing another's shadow is a hostile act. We may no longer believe that photography captures our soul, but having our shadows trapped is an experience that might give us pause.” I feel this almost perfectly explains what happens right after one leaves the projector's view, the feeling of viewing yourself but no one else to find out, just becoming another shadow among other is exciting but scary.
Another piece of work that I found profound was Snow Mirror, by Daniel Rozin. This interactive work is setup in a pitch black room, with a projection on a curtain-like screen. This full size sheet reflects an image to the viewer of snow flake like white dots, in a light wind. As the viewer walks in, they can see a slight outline of themselves like in Deep Walls, but with better detail. And as one approaches closer to the curtain, they become more and more into detail but never truly revealing their identity. What makes this unique is the snow aspect of Daniel's work, if the viewer stands still the snow collects on their outline becoming a living snowman. Also if the viewer makes any movements depending on how fast the original image will dissolve, or blend into their new position. Personally I found it a kind of visceral feeling to this piece of interactive art. I happened to have my Ipod playing while interacting with this, and found myself very relaxed in this room. Freely moving around, but it felt like I was leaving or even losing a part of myself as I moved my body through this blizzard. This mirror also give an effect of an alternate world besides our own, like Alice in Wonderland and Wizard of Oz. Mirror's can show many things good, bad, and the fictional world, or different ways to view things, which Snow Mirror does very well.
The Act/Recact exhibit was a very enlightening and power trip which has open the world of interactive art to me. I have seen videos where people interact with this type of art but typically on a psychological level. From my experiences these types of art can evoke strong emotional feeling from anger and rage to happiness and pleasure. Deep Walls allowed the viewer to act out as they please without consequence. Snow Mirrors allows one to look at themselves in a different light, and blend, disappear and reappear at their will. I think that some of these exhibits could even be better if one brings music with them in my personal opinion. If I ever have the chance I wish to experience other pieces of interactive art that these artists have created. Truly these two examples embody what interactive art is at its fullest.
When you first enter the exhibit, the visitor walks through a small hallway that soon opens up into a large open space, with a slightly raised platform on one end and a projector displaying figures on the wall on the other end. These two pieces are created by Scott Snibbe, an interactive artist that primarily focuses on projector based pieces. The piece titled Deep Walls is the projector displaying images on the wall. The projection shows one large square image on a white wall broken up into 16 evenly divided squares, showing shadowy figures of people, doing random physical movements. To create a recording all one needs to do is, walk in front of the projector and instantly, it begins to record your actions. Once the visitor steps out, it begins to loop the recording of their actions in one of the small squares, as a black filled, outline of themselves. This act may seem small and insignificant but, it is very powerful for the visitor. Having the freedom to act however one wishes in front of, essentially a video camera, and not be recognized by anyone else but you, I found very liberating. My friend and I, easily filled all 16 squares in a few minutes and took time to reflect on what we did, which took longer than the actions we did. Scott Snibbe act of minimalism can captivate ones interest to leave a mark on a recording for a small amount of time, without instructions or motivation to do so. One thing I would like to quote is George Fifield, the guest curator writes, “In mythology and fairy tales, capturing another's shadow is a hostile act. We may no longer believe that photography captures our soul, but having our shadows trapped is an experience that might give us pause.” I feel this almost perfectly explains what happens right after one leaves the projector's view, the feeling of viewing yourself but no one else to find out, just becoming another shadow among other is exciting but scary.
Another piece of work that I found profound was Snow Mirror, by Daniel Rozin. This interactive work is setup in a pitch black room, with a projection on a curtain-like screen. This full size sheet reflects an image to the viewer of snow flake like white dots, in a light wind. As the viewer walks in, they can see a slight outline of themselves like in Deep Walls, but with better detail. And as one approaches closer to the curtain, they become more and more into detail but never truly revealing their identity. What makes this unique is the snow aspect of Daniel's work, if the viewer stands still the snow collects on their outline becoming a living snowman. Also if the viewer makes any movements depending on how fast the original image will dissolve, or blend into their new position. Personally I found it a kind of visceral feeling to this piece of interactive art. I happened to have my Ipod playing while interacting with this, and found myself very relaxed in this room. Freely moving around, but it felt like I was leaving or even losing a part of myself as I moved my body through this blizzard. This mirror also give an effect of an alternate world besides our own, like Alice in Wonderland and Wizard of Oz. Mirror's can show many things good, bad, and the fictional world, or different ways to view things, which Snow Mirror does very well.
The Act/Recact exhibit was a very enlightening and power trip which has open the world of interactive art to me. I have seen videos where people interact with this type of art but typically on a psychological level. From my experiences these types of art can evoke strong emotional feeling from anger and rage to happiness and pleasure. Deep Walls allowed the viewer to act out as they please without consequence. Snow Mirrors allows one to look at themselves in a different light, and blend, disappear and reappear at their will. I think that some of these exhibits could even be better if one brings music with them in my personal opinion. If I ever have the chance I wish to experience other pieces of interactive art that these artists have created. Truly these two examples embody what interactive art is at its fullest.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Field Report #1 Yay...Traces of the Wild
Well just wanted to start off saying I'm not much of a writer so excuse me if this does not make sense, I will try my best. So to start off, for my field report I watched Traces of the Wild: The Films of Robert Schaller on September the 25th and it was interesting to say the least. So interesting and different that I'm still deciding on how I felt about some of the images we saw in the showing. It was very well done considering the tools he had to work with but it may have been a bit of an overload in my opinion in some cases. One of the segments that I recall was when Schaller had the projected two images on top of each other almost simultaneously only to be off by a couple of seconds. These projections seem to show a person walking through a park or forest, navigating his/her way around nature but, each of these projections were processed in a different way. When watching these projections I found it hard to focus on both at the same time, but as I switched between looking at them they seem to revel a hidden segment or (world) if you will that you are not able to see in the other. It gave me the feel that I was able to see parts that only a handful would catch also, but at the same time loosing another half because I was only able to focus on one.
There was one segment in the middle that showed a tree's and nature in all sorts of views but then started flashing the same tree over and over again. It made it feel like a 70's or 80's effect where it was lots of effects happening at once, zooming in and out, quick transitions, flashing of objects. Some may say it was like something of a drug induced binge.
Later during the premier, Schaller laid all three projectors on there sides and simultaneously showed a segment all together cut up in three parts. It showed a female dancer, presumably a ballerina, practicing moving horizontal left to right, right to left, and random through out the entire showing. I thought it was different (not the word i want to use but...w/e) to use three projectors and not just one, gives it a different feel, almost as an older style of film. Also the text in the film help give you as a view of what maybe going on. It is still completely up to you to interpret it but gives you a baseline. One part I didn't understand was the insertion of noise filling up two of the three projectors at a certain time. I didn't feel it added to the movie at all. Otherwise I fully enjoyed Robert Schaller films that her created and presented.
There was one segment in the middle that showed a tree's and nature in all sorts of views but then started flashing the same tree over and over again. It made it feel like a 70's or 80's effect where it was lots of effects happening at once, zooming in and out, quick transitions, flashing of objects. Some may say it was like something of a drug induced binge.
Later during the premier, Schaller laid all three projectors on there sides and simultaneously showed a segment all together cut up in three parts. It showed a female dancer, presumably a ballerina, practicing moving horizontal left to right, right to left, and random through out the entire showing. I thought it was different (not the word i want to use but...w/e) to use three projectors and not just one, gives it a different feel, almost as an older style of film. Also the text in the film help give you as a view of what maybe going on. It is still completely up to you to interpret it but gives you a baseline. One part I didn't understand was the insertion of noise filling up two of the three projectors at a certain time. I didn't feel it added to the movie at all. Otherwise I fully enjoyed Robert Schaller films that her created and presented.
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