Mapping/Data Visual Representation Ideas

So far I've been brainstorming about a lot of different ideas and how I want to execute the project. So far I've found a cool looking thing called a gastronomy map. I just like the way it's designed with the way the words are shaped and how well they fit in with each other. I've decided to choose a set of food entries and cover them with words that are in Spanish. It will allow me to express my art and culture into the piece which is very exciting. I'm also thinking about providing a key so people can participate and learn Spanish. I will try to go with more of the simple words that aren't too difficult to pronounce. All that's left for me is to execute it the way I see it in my head. Wish me luck (:

Shanken 78-96

What was interesting to me in the reading was the piece by Charles Csuri and James Schaffer creating the hummingbird because I'm very interested in animation and how to create movement (80-81). I've learned how to create motion with words in Adobe After Effects known as "kinetic typography" but their is still so much for me to learn. Another program that I've experimented with was the program called blender and I've seen many tutorial videos and with more experience I would hope to create a short animation but blender is still very challenging. Another piece that was very interesting to read about was the piece by Adrian Ward entitled Autoshop because it's like a different version of Photoshop that parodies it but I would like to try it out just to see what the program can do (94). I also thought that it was interesting that their might be a patch that does not allow the person to save as which is interesting because then it gives the person using the program a sense that all the hard work cannot be saved for later.

Mapping and/ or Data Visual Rep Project

For this project I'm very excited to dip my feet so to speak in adobe illustrator again and to further add to my knowledge and experience using illustrator. The project I did before that utilized illustrator was my cologne collection but this time I want to try something a bit different. I'm still in the brainstorming process of the project because there are so many things in the world I could map but I'm trying to decide if I want to map something else that I have a collection of or something in the real world. One my ideas would that I thought of would be to create a visual representation of my music collection where I could make a collage of all the album covers or something like that but I want the viewer to be able to distinguish the genre so that might be a challenge. Another idea I was thinking about was doing a visual representation of an imaginary refrigerator of all the food I would want to have. Other than that I will be thinking about various concepts in my mind until I have a concrete concept.

Shanken 54-78

The piece by Gyula Kosice entitled Estructura Luminica on page 59 is an interesting piece to look at because traditional neon lights are either words or images but it defies the way we look at neon lights by bringing them into the art realm. Also the piece has a lot of movement due to the diagonal lines which bring really bring the piece to life. Another piece that caught my interest was the piece by James Turell entitled Catso, Red because it uses light to create what looks like a hologram shape floating in the air and it interesting because the viewer can simply walk around the piece and actual reveal two different perspectives (65). The piece by Mario Merz is very similar to Kosice's piece because they both use neon lights except this time it uses words instead, but it comes to life because of the round like structure enveloped by the neon words which gives it sense of unity (65).

Shanken 45-54

The section involving art and technology was very interesting because at times artists didn't have access to high tech computers plus they were very expensive and not very user friendly but the Universities had access to the advanced stuff(48,51). So combing both art and technology back then was a challenge because the best equipment was at the schools and now it's readily available for everyone to use that is if you can afford it or have access to it. On page 50 it talks about the different challenges that come with electronic art and I agree there is a lot of various issues but nothing is perfect, technology is always improving.

Shanken 30-45

Upon reading I was very intrigued with the section about telerobotics and the art piece by Norman White and Doug Back entitled Telephonic Arm Wrestling because if all the problems in the world could be resolved by arm wrestling than it would all depend on who has the stronger arm based on physical power rather than military power (35). I would also like to see how it works and how it accurately measures the force in the machine to determine who wins the wrestling match. Another section that intrigued me was the section about the Ornitorrinco Project because I myself have wondered what the life of a dog would be like and how they communicate with each another or if they speak a certain language among themselves (35). It would also be so cool to create a realistic robot dog aka terminator dog that could act like a dog and interact with other dogs which would allow us see and hear what other dogs are saying to it so we could understand the type of life they live.

Troubleshooting Project 1

Now that I'm pretty much finished with project one there was some minor setbacks related to Photoshop. My first idea was to create the image montage slowly layer by layer disappear, but sadly it was not be possible becuase there would be way too many layers to load up on Photoshop. When I barely finished editing one of the images in the painting it took about 5 minutes to just save it. So in the end I just decided to merge the layers that I worked on into one and make each parts of the image in the painting disappear one at a time and add each of my personal values in place of each piece that I edited. Overall, this was a fun project to work on which helped to sharpen my editing skills and it was fun editing someone else's art piece:)

Shanken pg. 15-30

From the beginning of the reading I thought about stop motion because photographer Eadweard Muybridge did just that (16). Stop motion is something my brother and I are really passionate about because creating motion with still images can be challenging but when it is finished it looks pretty awesome because artist's can give life to inanimate objects. The section about created shadows is also something I find intriguing because shadows can give the illusion of space and whenever I see paintings I notice how accurately they pay attention to detail even including shadows (17). This also reminded me of supper-realism which is pretty awesome because it looks so real and it's mind boggling how much detail can be seen in a painting that it looks like a real-life photograph. On page 23 Walter Benjamin stated that images made technologically didn't posses the same aura that a hand painted one would. I agree with him but then again I also see that art paintings done on a computer or a canvas are pretty much the same thing but one is digital and one is tangible.

Digital Recreation Montage & Frame Animation

For this project I am very excited because I enjoy using Photoshop but my first step was to find an art piece that I could have a meaningful concept. Upon surfing the web I found various art pieces that I thought about choosing but for some reason all of the art pieces I saw I felt like creating a parody for. It was difficult because I didn't just want to create a parody of an art piece because it would lack a meaningful concept. All of a sudden I remembered the example Peter showed us in class about the table with the cell phones. So I decided to switch up my search on google to include a large amount of famous artists with a lot of their famous work they've done. Finally I found the art piece I wanted to recreate that also had a meaningful concept which was Rene Magritte's "Personal Values". I'm still in the editing process but my concept is to edit each of the personal values and gradually replace them with my personal values which I can't wait to get done.

Shanken pg. 1-15

The small history lesson accompanied with the very large font was very enlightening because it shows how far technology has advanced which has forever changed our lives for the good (14-15). This goes hand in hand with art because without technology there wouldn't be any new media artwork for us to enjoy and create. At times creating art using technology can be challenging, but to me it's worth it because I learn new techniques in the process. For this class I'm very excited to take on new assignments and take on the various challenges that accompany them. Each of us posses some form of "artistic alchemy" that we can all display when completing each project which is something I'm very excited to see (16).