SMP Exhibition

             

             The SMP exhibition proved to be very diverse this year even more so than last year in terms of medium and styles. Upon visiting the gallery, I was amazed to see everything from dozens of neon sculptures to hundreds of compiled geometric drawings to even footprints in concrete. Garrett Zopfi's work really struck me the most because his work was composed of these intricately designed and brightly colored plaster sculptures. There was at least 50 or so of these tiny creatures that were laid out. What was even more interesting was his theory behind this display of public and interactive art. I read in his book that he wanted to design a piece that was inviting but at the same time would create a type of apprehension. Traditionally, in most exhibits, viewers are not permitted to touch any of the artworks. Garrett played off this idea by having both vibrantly painted sculptures and stark, black sculptures. In essence, all of his work is meant to be touched and played with, however, viewers will not know that and mostly would stay away from the darker objects. The darker colors communicate a type of age and with age comes a sense of value which then dissuades viewers from touching it so as to not damage the work. On the other hand, he created brightly colored, almost candy-coated sculptures which tempt the viewer to touch and even play with them. Yet funny enough, Garrett also hung a sign up telling viewers that they could touch the pieces yet the writing was ambiguous and almost had to be deciphered. In all, I really enjoyed Garrett's work because of his clever and ingenious idea behind it. Overall all of the SMP works held great strengths and were very different and diverse from one another which made this exhibition, in particular, very unique.

              

Final Self-Assessment

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Anuli Duru

Self-Assessment

Final Project:

“Revisiting the Body”

            Throughout the semester, I have focused my work in elements of anatomy and structured my compositions around this central theme of zooming in on parts of the body as well as its everyday actions so as to make minute things more important. What our body does for us everyday is important, as it is amazing, yet we hardly pay attention to the significance of these everyday functions. The core theme of my final work is again to zoom in on parts of the body and comprise in such a way that it generates a sort of “beautiful composition, just as our bodies are beautiful compositions. What drove me to create this piece was my fascination for the human body and anatomical elements and their vast array of functions. My inspiration came from an anatomy class I had taken over the summer. I had already been fascinated by the subject matter before I came into the class, but afterwards, I was mesmerized by the many layers, properties, physical, and chemical elements of the body that I hadn’t known before.  I was especially captivated by the functions of the brain and dreams. I really wanted to delve further into the concept, so upon creating this piece, I intended to explore parts of the body as well as the mind with a dream like feel.

            The process for creating this work was definitely one of the most challenging trials I have ever had to face. It involved working with and figuring out a whole new program—Adobe After Effects—while at the same time trying new forms of video editing such as green screening, or, in this case, blue screening. After Effects in general is an amazing yet incredibly advanced program that one can either love or hate. At first I hated it. Yet when I took the time to do some background research, watching hundreds of YouTube videos and readings forums after forus, I found that After Effects allows you to do some incredible things. In fact, I never thought I could generate my own particles or even begin to work with blue screening and key lighting. I learned so much just from playing around with different effects, timing and positions, and values. With the blue screening, I had an easier time working with it, yet I also learned that there are so many ways to edit and work with blue screen. In all, working with After Effects and blue screening was simply a matter of doing some research, playing around with different settings, and finding a method that works best for me.

            In creating my work, I would have to say that my work habits could have been a little more consistent. Some days I would work for 2 hours and then some days I wouldn’t work at all because of how frustrated I was with After Effects. Yet what I was consistent with was my research. I would watch videos from start to finish and then replay them as I worked and mimicked the tutorials. Based on this, my work ethics were in some ways efficient yet not sufficient. I could have been more consistent with my working stages so that I could learn even more about After Effects and utilize more tools to create a better video.

            Stepping back from the finished product, I would perceive this work as a type of intense, mesmerizing composition that does zoom in on parts of the body such as the eyes, lips, and hands. Yet I wouldn’t perceive it as an ode to anatomy, but rather an intense, dramatic and appealing musical composition. The formal elements of hue, saturation, and stark contrast are applied which creates this dramatic, edgy atmosphere while the overlaying of imagery and particle interfaces makes for a dream-like atmosphere. In effect, the message then needs to be more clearly articulated, perhaps by showing actual anatomical elements like the bones or skin or even cells. Yet overall the piece is visually appealing and captivating with the use of blue screening techniques, stark contrast, dramatic music, overlays, and particle interfaces.

            Based on all of this, if I were to give myself a grade it would rest between an A- to a B+, because my message needs to be more present so that the viewer knows it is clearly about the wonders of the body. However, I would grade myself with an A- to B+ because of the challenging material I overcame and my manipulation of these challenges.

Final Project Plan: "Hip-Hop Anatomy"

For my final project, I to dissect elements of anatomy and combine them with elements of hip-hop culture--two of my favorite subject matters. Throughout the semester I have focused my works on zooming into a subject matter and generating it into a form that would allow the audience to acknowledges and appreciate its uniqueness and importance. I wanted to take parts of the body and minor actions and zoom in on them so as to make them larger than life because the body and the thousand of functions it performs everyday are incredible as well as critical. In essence, for my final project I wish to create or recreate a type of music video using both aftereffects and iMovie that would feature MC's, dancers, graffiti artists (elements of hip-hop) and zoom into their body movements as well as overlay images of the muscular and skeletal systems as they are moving. In short, this video will present anatomy and its importance in a type of fun and musical manor as well as emanate a powerful feel and message relating to the power of the human body.

Experimental Photo and Video for AfterEffects

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRbRc3ZeORw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUzxtnNdMl0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz4dvYTdlxI

Self Assessment for Project 2 and Remix

The central theme of the Remix project was Pop culture play on the ordinary. The project guidelines specified a type of mix of media and mediums. I wanted to produce a piece that showed just that in that it would play with elements that were polar opposite to one another. These elements played on the idea of mixing that of analogue photography with digital graphics, using color and black and white, and taking an ordinary subject matter and placing them into an iconic context. What drove me to create this piece was the fact that I wanted to play on opposites and see what could be produced from it. What inspired me also was the works of Andy Warhol and elements of pop culture and advertisement. In a sense, I intended to take an ordinary figure and make them an extraordinary or even marketable piece.

The process unfolded once I learned how to develop film in the dark room and how to use a negative film scanner. I knew that I wanted my subject to be a person and who seemed to have some type of story or history to them. So I chose the photograph of an older gentleman in what appears to be a dimmed lit kitchen. Using various tools in Photoshop, I was able to cut what I wanted from the original, balance its hue, saturation, and lighting as well make it black and white. I then used shapes and a bright color palette to create the background and duplicated the image of the older man. This is where Warhol had definitely come into play. To heighten the contrasts even further, I border the piece with thick black borders and white text which made the piece a more "poppy" or pop-like.

My working habits for this project were effective in that I was actively manipulating what I could in both the analog and digital realms. I spent a number of hours working on this project yet I believe I could have put more time into this piece. Stepping back from this piece, it looks as though not a great deal of effort was put in although it is visually appealing. If I could revisit this piece I would play more on color and contrast as well as create more replications. Overall, if I were to grade myself, I would give myself a B because although the piece is colorful and eye-catching, more could have been done to take it to the next level.

The central theme of my Alternative Printing project was the interactive body. I wanted to feature three systems (skeletal, muscular, and augmentary systems) of the body and make them interactive for the public. Just as our bodies are constantly active and interacting with forces around us, I wanted to switch this idea around and have my audience interact with these active body parts though it is actually inactive or immobile as an art piece. Also I wanted to utilize different techniques for alternatively printing as well as different surfaces to heighten the effect of each piece and its interactive nature. What drove me to create this series was the fact that I am fascinated by the inner workings of the human body and how it functions multiple tasks every second, every day. So what I intended was to have a series of pieces based off of the human body that both utilized different methods of printing and had different interactive qualities.

The process for this project unfolded when I decided that I wanted to focus on body systems and interaction. I began by deciding the methods of printing I wanted to take on. After retrieving a mirror, I knew that I wanted to play on reflection with reflective surfaces. So I used super sauce transfer to print a translucent image of a skeleton onto the mirror, so that when displayed, viewers can look into the mirror and see both their reflection and the reflection of the skeleton over their reflection. The next type of printing that I wanted to experiment with was printing on fabric. I then decided that I wanted to create a wearable item which is where the inspiration for the “muscle” shirt came (a shirt displaying the muscular system). Finally, I came across temporary tattoo paper online which inspired me to print on the skin which also represents the augmentary system.

My work habits I would say were very consistent and engaged. Because I was working with a subject matter that I expressed full interest in, I found that I was fully engaged and working diligently for hours. During this process as well, I was pleased to have learned how to use super sauce transfer and make custom temporary tattoos. Unlike the remix project, I find that I put great effort and more time into this project because it involved things that I have never done before. Stepping back from this piece, I would say that there is a clear connection between the play on the skeletal system and the play on the muscular system as well as the motive behind each. Yet with the temporary tattoos, there seems to be a disconnect because the tattoos themselves don’t seem to have a connection to a body system nor with one another because they are all so different. So if I were able to revisit this piece, an idea that I could utilize would be to have tattoo designs of body parts or bones which I believe would communicate a type of connection to the augmentary system as well as connect it with the other displayed systems. Overall, I believe that my grade for the project is between an A- to a B+ because the effort is evident and the piece explores many different elements (body systems, interactions, and printing methods) as well as attempts to connect them all into one cohesive series.

Jurjen Versteeg

Jurjen Versteeg, otherwise known as Synple is a Dutch designer whose work focuses on motion graphic desing, animation, and visual effects for commercialism and media use. His work takes real-life footage and mixes it with visual effects and animations using after effects. He work also delves into title effects and all-animation videos.
Yet what I find most interesting about him is that the concepts that he portrays in his work deals with a type of magical realism. Most of Versteeg's works take real-life people place them in environments dramatized by color, visual effects of actions and emotion, and elements of music. His story lines and the length of his videos are all relatively short and sweet. Yet all of the effects he uses combined make his videos visually appealing and very elaborate. In essence, Versteeg takes simple sequences and relatable characters and enhances them for commercialized purposes, which is exactly what commercialism entails. It is the enhancement of an image or product to entice the eyes and desires of the consumer. Versteeg accomplishes just that.
Versteeg's work relates to my work in that I too want to create a project that delves into the effects of commercialism and "glamour art". Just like Versteeg, I am trying to create a seemingly simplistic sequence of images and words that work cohesively and effectively in marketing a fashion product or style. I feel that Versteeg's communication of color and enhancement of realism is very important because it provides and inspires me with  a theme of magical realism to use as the basis of my work. After all, fashion and glamour tends to portray over-exaggerated and expressive ideas and ideals but in a visually appealing and artistic way.
Versteeg's work, although appealing and simple, don't really express a range in subject matter. I like that his videos are short and the colors, effects, and music are on point, yet I find his work on title sequences, particularly uninteresting. Specifically his Fashion Ahoy wasn't as interesting. However, the concept was very specific--to strictly advertise famous fashion icons such as Chanel, Gaultier, and Galliano and their works for an upcoming fashion show. His title work was colorful and visually appealing but I think it lacked content and content meaning works of the designers or images related to fashion. Perhaps, his concept was to make the names of the designers "fashionable" but I think he could have gone further in communicating a fashionable and glamourized appeal.
http://www.synple.nl/work/motion/into_the_wild
http://vimeo.com/13153961
http://vimeo.com/26278283

Finalized Plan and Progress

"Muscle" Shirt

-To be printed on Stretch Fabric and sewn as a shirt.

"Man in the Mirror"

-To be printed on a large mirror with super sauce transfer.

Plan for Experimental Printing

• Objectives
• Printed Fabric [Apparel]
• Leggings
• Bag
• Goal: Interactive and wearable prints.
• Deadline: Oct. 13
• Materials:
• Plain White Leggings
• Super Sauce transfer
• Bag
• Inkjet printable fabric
• Sewing machine and materials
• Mirror prints
• Faces Printed on Mirror
• Goal: Interactive object in which the viewer's reflection is combined with the image of a face printed on the mirror.
• Use photoshop or illustrator to create images or retrieve from web
• Print images
• Deadline: Oct. 18
• Materials:
• 2 mirrors
• Printed images of faces
• Super Sauce transfer
• Kaleidoscope
• Single image printed on mosaic of mirrors
• 3 medium sized mirrors needed
• Super Sauce transfer images onto 1 mirror
• Break all mirrors into pieces and reconstruct them into a mosaic
• Goal: Mirror pieces with printed images will reflect off of other mirror pieces and create a mosaic of image reflections
• Deadline: Oct. 22
• Materials:
• Super Sauce transfer
• 2-3 Mirrors
• Hot glue
• Cardboard
• Presentation of a three projects: Oct. 23

A Photographic Reality

    Upon reading the After Photography by Fred Richman, there came to mind the many ideas and different modes of looking at photography and its influence on the world particularly in the digital age. It is interesting to see how far photography has come from its earlier forms. It used to be that photography was moreso a process in which photographs were taken and the film was developed and thus photos were created. Then instant photos came about in the later years of the 20th century. Yet now in the digital age, photos are not only instant but they are able to capture even the most minute details. In fact digital photography now can be see not so much as process (though there are processes required for developing different types of film) but as the traveling of pixels and megabytes through a digital realm into a memory space. Digital photography also allows for pictures to be manipulated while in the camera and before the film is even developed.
     Yet what proved to be the most striking thought was when Richman talked about how photography created new realities as well as how our view of the world can also be consider photographic in some senses According to sculptor, Alberto Giacometti, "one never sees things, one always sees them through a screen". This poses an interesting idea of how our world, as we envision it, exist only as the reality that we ourselves are seeing. In other words, we can't see the world through one another's eyes, only our own. So what we see is a replication or mirror image of what actually exists--this replication being our vision. Richman goes further into that idea and asks the question "where, then is the "real" now?" From this he creates this idea that we are always looking at photographs or replications of reality. Whether it is an image of map which is a picture that replicates a picture of an actual place or places or even the images depicted from television shows and stations where a past reality (depending on when it was recorded or the 1 second delayed transmission of a live recording), we are always looking at reality through a screen.

Self Assessment for Project 1

Video Url: "Embody"
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtJ4PXtzwm0&feature=plcp

Self-Assessment

            The central theme of my work focuses on zooming in on different parts of the body as they perform mundane and routine actions in effort to create a life and significance for these parts of the body and make these actions important by making them monumental. In one day, our body, from our hands to our feet, our eyes, our mouths, and from our ears down to our toes individually and collectively perform over a hundred actions in one day. We make over a hundred decisions and a hundred interactions whether we are typing a paper, looking through a book, or even hugging and kissing, such simple actions are what make us human. They are what give us personality, language, culture, practices, religion, etc. Ultimately, they are what give us life. And yet such critical things go unnoticed because we see them as everyday and unimportant though they allow us to do so many things and maintain our routine way of living. This is the very realization that drove me to create this visual salute to such ordinary objects and mannerisms. I want to express the significance to viewers yet at the same time spark an interest in anatomy. Human anatomy also inspired my work because it is fascinating to think that over a thousand functions are being performed within the body not to mention the millions of interaction of cells that are pertinent to the functioning and basic survival of a human being. However, zooming in on parts of the body, just as American photographer, Jason Horowitz does, may generate negative reactions from the viewer because such a large view of things like kissing or chewing food may come off as repulsion. Yet, again like Horowitz shows in his works, there is also this attraction that the viewer will toward to such a close up image. It is so close up and large scale that it proves difficult to avoid. So with that in mind, I intended the outset of my work to underline this same theme of repulsion and attraction as well to create a conscious awareness for the significance of our bodies.

So the process of executing this project began with my first attempt at portraying the “secret lives” of hands and feet. I wanted to show their daily actions as sort of a montage of different actions and interactions. I began by filming my hands and feet as I performed my own daily routine and then I introduced other people with their hands and feet performing their daily routines. Yet the message was not effectively communicated nor executed because the mundane actions that I attempted to bring life to, still ended up remaining as mundane actions because I had I excluded actual experimentation with the camera that I was using. Instead I just gave the picture as it was but there was no content, there was no interest, and ultimately there was really no significance. Then in my second attempt, I began focusing more on the experimental side of filming rather than the subject matter. Yet I also expanded my subject matter to include eyes, lips, and fingers and I took my camera into more “unseen” places. I experimented with water, angles, and obscuring the lenses in different ways to affect how the camera and the viewer sees the images. Then I looked more into the works of Jason Horowitz and used them as my inspiration. What I have understood from my second attempt as well as from Horowitz works was that I had been limiting myself to a regular image in a regular frame. This led me to improve the quality of my images by using a higher quality camera (in conjunction with my flip camera that allowed me to film underwater), zooming in on my subject matter to capture the details, wrinkles, crevices, and the creases that personalize these parts of the body and make them seem more alive.

           

My overall process began as an almost frivolous attempt to characterize hands and feet and give them significance yet the effort in the execution was definitely lacking. I did not attempt to capture from a different angle or perspective, experiment with the lens capture or even quality of the camera, and I didn’t really make it as creative as I could have. After the feedback from my first project, I struggled with my concept and subject matter and there were many times that I had wanted to change my direction completely. Yet examining the works of Jason Horowitz and using them to inspire me really aided me in generating a stronger concept and executing it in a timely and efficient manor. For the second project, I experimented with stills rather than film because I wanted to focus on the experimental side of the media and I found a lot more joy in coming up with new ideas and ways of capturing an action. I also found that I spend a great deal of time shooting one action. I would constantly perform an action and experimentation with the camera lens until I was able to capture that exact image I was looking for. And so for my final project, I worked even more diligently in trying to capture interesting actions through various and interesting perspectives. I filmed in different types of light and I would film a shot over and over until I received the perfect image. In terms of editing and adding life to the piece, it took me several days to figure out how I wanted to animate it as well as a song that would fit perfectly with the piece without distracting viewers from understanding the theme. It was a long process in all, yet it was worth it because I paid more attention to details—the very details I was trying to signify and characterize.

Stepping back from the piece, I’d say that it does a good job of clear expressing and presenting the subject matter as different parts of the body. It also has a clear direction in terms of how it is organized. The piece begins in the day with the rising sun which the rising of eyelids plays off of. The morning routines are relatable and recognizable yet it is made interesting with the play on perspective of actions performed such as showering, brushing one’s teeth, applying makeup, putting on clothing. This play on perspective and obscuring of the lens follows through into the afternoon and night with scenes taken from the reflection of the computer screen on the eyes and eyeglasses and the view of food being consumed by the mouth and teeth. There is also a sense of feel and intimacy that is projected on the audience with the zoomed in view of a smile showing and each wrinkle and crease. The play on perspective and experiments with the lens are the strongest points of the piece yet where the piece lacks is portraying the theme of the “life” or personification of these various parts of the body. Though the music adds to a sort of liveliness in the portrayal of these parts, it just seems that these images are close-up views taken from different yet interesting perspectives. Yet the theme of repulsion and attraction is definitely accomplished through the way the scenes are captured close up. Perhaps what could be adjusted is the music played over the actual sounds of the scenes. If there were more natural sound effects, maybe even a dialogue over the piece, it would make these parts of the body seem like there were their own individuals. Also, the changes in different people and parts of their bodies may have also distracted or complicated the theme. Focusing on one person going through their whole day may simplify the image and provide a clearer portrayal of the theme of the significant lives and actions of one’s body parts. And with this in mind, I feel as though my grade lies somewhere between  A- and B+ because there was a definite organization of the storyline but the theme may have not been communicated as strongly as it could have been.

                                                                    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtJ4PXtzwm0&feature=plcp

Project Plan and Research of Jason Horowitz

 Upon beginning my work, I first focused on documenting the actions of hands and feet, so as to bring significance to what would otherwise be considered as mundane, routine actions. Though the some of the shortcomings of my first project were that the piece seemed to disjointed by focusing on different hands and feet doing different actions but at different points of the day. In addition to that, I also didn't quite zoom in enough to make the actions seem more so larger than life. There seemed to be this awkward repetitive nature of simply showing shots of feet walking or hands moving and I didn't at all intend for it to be repetitiveness and mundane. I also did not experiment too much with angling the shots and placing the camera in different environments.

 So with that in mind, I tried to improve my work in my second shot by experimenting in three different ways: a different or interesting environmental, obscuring of the camera lens, and angling. I also expanded the subject matter from being simply hands and feet to covering different parts of the body like the face, eyes, lips, fingers, etc. I also experimented with placing the camera on my hand or shin so as to capture the view of the world as if through the eyes of one's hands and feet. I took stills and videos of my face immersed in water, the inside of a hand shake, the view from my roller skates as I was skating around my room, and the image of lips fogging the camera lens.

 From this experiment, I learned of the artist, Jason Horowitz whose work I find similar to my goals for the project. The photograph and portraits that he literally zoom in onto subject and in doing so the features of the subject become the more significant subject matter of the piece. For example, I find inspiration from his "Drag", "Corpus", and "Corpora" portfolio collection because they take an extremely close-up look into the features of the subject and make them significant. He makes their features characters--he illustrates their lives. These vivid images depict regular people, routine actions, as well as perfectly unique styles and lifestyles and creates larger than life images that almost glorify such things that would be considered plain and ordinary in the subjects' lives.

 So for my final project, I plan to focus my subject matter on different parts of the body and zoom in on them as they go through the daily routines starting from the morning and ending at night. I want to show how their actions and interactions with other parts of the body and the objects they are coming into contact with. I plan to use a lot of angling and zooming to capture the essence of the subject matter. I also plan to experiment with the camera in different environments. For example, when one is washing their hands, I want to capture the action from the perspective of the sink looking up at the hands. Another example is when one is breathing, I want to show the nostrils and how they flair and allow it to fog the camera so that there is a sense of feeling invoked. I will use angling so as to show the insides of hand shakes, the embracing of lips when they kiss, the tango of tongue and teeth when food is being chewed and swallowed. Like the work of Horowitz, my work seems a bit disturbing with such an enlarged and intimate view of actions but again, this is simply meant to bring life to these actions that are overlooked, mundane, simple. To make simple subject matters into people and give them life and significance as well as possibly a story--that is my goal.

Weekend Experiments

A Magical Experimentation

Magic is something I have always been fascinated by and it is something I'd like to explore and experiment within my works. The manipulation of the camera and distortion of perception to create illusion. Magic is all trick of the eye so I would need to find a way to "trick" the camera or distort its perception in such a way that it then also distorts the viewer's perception. Apart from studying the tricks of past and contemporary magicians such as Houdini and David Copperfield, some of the elements I would like to explore with in my experiment are the effects of a damaged, tampered, or broken camera. I would like to particularly explore the distortion of image using a broken lens or capturing a scene through broken and stained glass. I also want to explore and look more into reflections and the manipulation of mirrored images. What I hope to achieve is the creation of a series of images demonstrating a type of kaleidoscope and illusionist effect on images. In doing so, I'd like my works to portray a theme of a "designed distortion" or a beautiful yet false reality. It is a demonstration and display of the world as it exists but in sort of a new dimension as seen from an imaginative, slightly deformed perspective. My inspiration for this works comes from the techniques that produce solargraphs as well as the vivid imagery formed from scanographs and quasioptics. I hope to use and possibly combine these different camera techniques in hopes of creating something new that plays with the mind's eye and creates an illusion of reality for the viewer.

Graffiti Inc.

Christian Guemy
 "C215"

Christian Guemy or by his pen name "C215" is a french graffiti artist who focuses his work on stenciling, portraiture, and images of romance and horror. He has been hailed as France's own Banksy and his works can be seen all over from the streets of Brooklyn, New York to exhibits in Paris. What is interesting about this work in particular is the fact that he exhibits such a broad range of subject matters in his each of his pieces. Best of all, the subject of most of his works happens to be his daughter to whom he is very devoted to. His works are absolutely gorgeous and incredibly eye catching with his illustrious detailing and usage of color in the portraits that he creates. He is also not as secretive and discreet as other street and graffiti artists are which I like because I hold this belief that the world is our canvas and who is to say what part of the earth that we all share is private. We should be free to express and communicate and create works that establish a dialogue between ourselves as the artists and the public that views it.

      Street art and graffiti are something I have recently come into interest with. The whole idea of public expression and dialogue I find to be incredibly fascinating and worthwhile to the point that I want to focus my a part of my life career on. Art and expression should never be silenced and if we are trying to advocate that then we should then redefine its boundaries. And in doing so, graffiti and street art would not be seen so much as vandalism, given that there would be guidelines as well as more governmental programs advocating and alloting space for it. Graffiti would thus been seen as public art commenting on the societal norms and limitations in which we live and with such comments, progressive and positive actions maybe could be taken to better the society.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8-3jjEdF3o

http://c.215.free.fr/
http://us.fotolog.com/c215/58092200/

Experimental Video Shoot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKZbfkula1I&feature=plcp (with music)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsLHYZ8SGIg&feature=context-cha

Vertov's Dataset

      It is amazing to see the progression of digital media from the early 1900s to the current day. In the its earliest form, cinematography was edited and translated as scene by scene documentations and images dictated by time with the use temporal and montage techniques. Within the article, Vertov addresses the idea of technology and its relationship to as well as its effect on the progression of humanity by discussing the fact that technology has allowed for advancements in knowledge, survival, and thriving. Yet technology is also beginning to dictate the state and survival of humanity.

     Vertov asks an interesting question of "Whose vision is it?" Is it the computer's or the person's vision or message that is represented and being translated to the people? It is interesting to see that technology, although allowing for faster, more efficient communication and interaction among people around the world, is in some ways beginning to mask the human identity in that face to face interaction is dwindling since everything one could need is already so accessible online or through some other form of technology. Yet it makes life for us easier in that it breaks up complex tasks into simple algorithms and performs them nearly perfectly. There are even shortcuts that allow for effects to happen faster or more efficient.

     All in all, when a work is presented to an audience using digital based media and mediums, is it the person or the machine that can take credit for the work? This article triggered more and more ideas on the validity of artwork especially with the idea that people can copy artworks, duplicate, distribute and use them as their own work with the help of a computer but this takes away from the effort of the actual artist. And if technology allows for the replication of works, does the original artwork begin to lose its meaning after it has been copied so many times? And who exactly is progressing? Man or machine?