Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Grades submitted
Thanks to everyone for a great term!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Stan VanDerBeek Exhibition
Work has a connection between them.
I also like the Poemfields, this is also very good. He use a very special way to project his art work. It is very creative and smart. I like the way how he arrange those frames and pictures.
About the images, I like the way he create a 3D feeling on that piece, he is a very creative man to use all kinds of technique to made those art work decades years ago, that is amazing!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Transitions Blog
As it was something new to me, I knew I'd have to experiment with platforms and construction. I considered two options. I'd been learning how to use PBWorks (a wiki platform) in another class, and I thought it might useful for something like this. I learned PBWorks technical limitations with my other project, and ended up abandoning it for the same reasons I didn't use it for this project. The other option was a combination of Flash and html. I envisioned links and other multimedia content to appear while I wasin the video blog. I thought the time for Flash work might prohibitive. What I found was that trying to use Actionscript to reference external html elements was blocked by browser security.
For content, my idea was to start with a standard video blog about the changes in my life, leading up to now and as they happen. Additional content would be items such as design projects I'm working on in school and at work, my own writing, some photojournaling of my literal and figurative journey, and links to outside online content that I reference in my narrative.
I've wanted to do a blog or video blog to document my year and a half of unemployment as it relates to the economic status of the country, as a whole. Though, I quickly realized that my content would be 95% angry and/or depressed. I think this project comes at an opportune moment for me to organize my thoughts and feelings as I come out of this state of being, hopefully into the type of life/career I've been hoping for.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Supermoon--
My friend invited me to watch the Super Moon on March 19th , and he told me a legend of Super Moon, he said the wolf man will come out on that day, human will feel different either spiritually or physically. I don’t believe the legend of wolf man but I feel upset and anxious on that day. So I decide to make a short video to express my feeling and my fear.
On March 19, 2011, the moon will be 3,56,577km away from the earth, its closest in 18 years. Its called Super Moon.
On that day, A handsome guy named Nathan is watching a movie < Wolf man>, he is very concentrated with the plot and imaging him self “changed” the same as the main character in the movie.
He is eating chips and ice cream when he is enjoying the movie. It is a horror movie , the music is creepy and the scenes are horrible, sometimes he feels not well and he can feel him self changing. After he say : oh my god, I feel puff up ! Then he become a fat guy.
Our Web, Our Growth.
Everything in existence has a beginning and an end. Whether they are living beings or inanimate objects, there are remnants left behind when we disappear from our sight. Although I have never been a fan of abstract art and usually take a literal approach to design, I feel more obligated to design something that has a cultural meaning and makes an impact on not only me, but life in general. This piece is not meant to be personal to me, but more of a personal message of how I view the world.
Our emotions, physical beings, and surroundings all start off as a clean slate. It's hard to imagine the theory of evolution bringing mankind so far from where it once was. Single-celled organisms...an Earth before technology existed...life before music...This is what I had in mind when starting the composition with a clean, white canvas. However, as time passes, the composition begins added random elements onto the canvas. They are random, and uncontrollable after their appearance.
The first piece, titled "Our Web", is a piece that starts on the pure canvas. Soon the first dot appears, and begins floating around aimlessly within the alotted area leaving behind a trail behind it. The trail is representative of many things: the materialistic and physical things that human beings leave behind, the emotional growth and connections we've established, and the seemingly growing number of people who contribute to it.
The second piece, titled "Our Growth", is the second piece that starts on a blank canvas. The random paint splashes in multiple colors build on top of each other, never allowing itself to go back to the initial pure clean state. It is about both the physical and emotional growth of us being individuals. Ultimately, we become the whole or sum of all these experiences which is what each individual paint splash represents.
The inspiration for this mini collection is from the need to leave my own mark in the world; I've often contemplated what happens to us after death and the impact we create in society. I wanted to create something that was abstract and expressed a theme with something beyond me as an individual.
I intend to showcase this piece on interfacing white long hallways (in an art gallery). The multiple display throughout the long hallway will show the random effect and be aesthetically pleasing. Unfortunately, due to technical limitations, I had to add in a reset timer to clean the entire canvas for both pieces so that the additional shapes would not crash the computer
Ceiling in Motion -- Dingnan Zhang (Paul)
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Human Interactivity and its influence on Creativity
For me there are three elements that I feel have influenced my work deeply. My life in college, I met my closest friends. These people I met in college are my friends, even today! I met my fiance' in college. I was a resident assistant in college and that had a tremendous impact on my life. I learned a great deal from students from different backgrounds and cultures. I was introduced to different foods. I found diversity at its best at school. I will never trade this experience for anything my whole life.
Second thing that influenced me greatly is my military life. i love the military and I am proud to serve my country. The military really pushed me to explore my boundaries. I learned my weaknesses and faced my fear. I have learned to respect my fellow soldiers and understand leadership in its true form. Am I a perfect leader? I don't think i can ever be perfect. I think there is something new we learn each day. In that aspect, I am still very much human and yes I am a leader, a leader in my own way.
And finally, my fiance', Hong, who has always been there to push me forward. We have been together for a long time and the only reason we lasted so long is because she was able to stand by my side through tough times. I learned that even at my strongest point, in front of her I was very weak. She is much younger than me, but she is far more driven. She knows how to talk to people, she knows how to build her bridges and keep them. I still have a long way to go in that aspect.
These three pieces in my life have effected my understanding of creativity greatly. This is what my piece was about. I am glad that I got to share it with all of you. i hope that we all will continue to see each other in the future and we will continue to Network! I want you to all to know that you are now a very important and diverse part of my life! Thank you for being a part of it!
Final Project
Description: Interactive Display
For my final Time-Based media project I decided to design an interactive display piece for homicide victims from gun violence in Boston for the year 2010. In 2010 Boston has experienced a spike in gun violence and homicides. In that year alone 74 people were killed in cold blood. The youngest victim was 2 year-old Amani Smith who along with his mother was
one of the people killed in the Mattapan Quadruple murder.
Inspiration: My personal inspiration comes from being affected by gun violence as a young teenager growing up in poverty stricken Roxbury. In 1990 my older sister was one of four people shot during a dispute between her boyfriend and some neighborhood kids. A pellet from a shotgun bullet struck her in the eye and stopped a few centimeters from her brain. She survived her injury and her eye has healed 100%. Until this day I’m grateful that she survived this horrible experience. 21 years later gun violence still affects inner cities throughout the nation. Why hasn’t anything changed is beyond me.
As an artist I always want to give back to the community. When I have more time my goal is to work with at-risk kids teaching them the tools to become successful adults through art and design. I hope to inspire youth and young adults to make change in their lives and neighborhoods. When a community can come together to fight the problems effecting their neighborhood improvements can be made. We have to save ourselves because the government and politicians can’t do it for us!
Media: Flash I chose Flash because I wanted to make my design interactive with moving images and changing text but also give it a magazine article feel.
Ayumi never be alone
This is my first short film. Actually, during the last year of undergraduate, I once made a short film before but I didn’t want to count that one as my first because I didn’t prepare anything back then and finally it turned out not so good.
But this one, it is really my first. I wrote the screenplay and shooting script. I bought a brand new camera just for shooting this movie.
The story line was inspired by a short story written by a writer in Thailand. His name is Prabda Yoon. You can search his name in Wikipedia.org. He is well known among the readers who like to read sub-genre novels or stories, which are not mainstream. The theme in his works mostly about philosophy of living things or human life.
Ayumi Never be Alone was adapted from one of the story in one his books, Cleaning the Dead. The original title of the story is Ayumi never talk to herself.
I took the idea of a Japanese girl talking to herself because people around her seem mean to her in many ways. Her boyfriend rarely talk to her, sometimes leave her alone, and usually call her weird when she talk to herself. And at the end her boyfriend's friends rape her and her boyfriend got money from that. It is really a cruel story. So I changed it and came up with the twisted ending.
Yi Huang's final project
In the "Treasure Hunting Mode", you can click, drag to discover the hidden photos. You can imagine this is a messed desk with dozens of photos on it, you just use you hand to pick up every photo and view it one by one. Find it, pick it up, view it, put it down, and discover the other one.
In the second "Timeline Mode", you can just click on the three stages in the time line, and the related photos will be popped on the screen.
I consider this project as my appreciation or salute to my dear wife, she's one of the most most important person in my life. We have been married for three years, and now she is carrying our daughter. I just want to thank her from the bottom of my heart.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5056406/yi_huang_imomeries.swf
FAMILY
Penguin Cupcakes // statement
For my final project, I wanted to use time-based media to construct a cooking demonstration. I also used this project as an opportunity to test an idea for a component of my thesis project—an interactive cooking website.
In thinking about this project, I wanted to do a demonstration that was a bit more unique and a little more fun than a plain meal or dessert, which is why I chose to make animal-shaped cupcakes.
My goal for this project was not just to film myself making cupcakes, but to provide the viewer with something a little extra. I wanted to bring the recipe to life.
Though the video did not turn out exactly as I had hoped, I learned a lot from creating it and for me, learning from what I did not like and what did not work was more valuable than if everything had worked perfectly or gone according to plan. Because I hope to continue this project on a larger scale, I am able to better strategize.
Many types of media can be considered time-based media, and incorporating different media into a project allows one to create a more dynamic experience for the user.
Cooking television shows and channels exist, but I like the idea of bringing cooking to the web because it allows a user to choose the content on demand. Time-based media on the web also provides more options: viewing the video demonstration while looking at a list of ingredients or instructions, looking at photos, accessing a printable supply list, etc.
This project gave me a chance to further explore a niche area that has a lot of interesting potential!
Tonight's the night!
Some guidelines for tonight:
-- In addition to your project presentation, you should have a project statement. Please post those on the blog with using the exact tag 'finalproject'. Feel free to include in that post any links, embedded video or images.
-- I'm inclined to just run through the presentations with just a short leg-stretching/bathroom break in the middle. You'll each get 10 minutes to make your presentations and I'll be looking for each of you to facilitate a conversation. You will be graded on how you speak and present your work in addition to your work!
-- Regarding grades, I'm working through my grades for the entire term. If you are missing an assignment please let me know if you are planning to complete, else you will not get credit for that assignment. Grades are due on Tuesday and I aspire to be on time! ;-)
-- I also will aspire to bring snacks!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
River of Wisdom
My parents were in Hong Kong the year this was on exhibition - it's amazing!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Leave Me
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Animation videos
The Thomas Beale Cipher from Andrew S Allen on Vimeo.
thai insurance CM - "My Girl" with Eng sub
A good commercial that I want to share.
redo 20 40 60
Final Project
For my final project I want to make a PSA on youth and gun violence. The reason I chose this topic is because gun violence is not just a problem in the inner city of Boston, it's a problem that effects inner cities throughout America. I was born and raised in Roxbury where I still reside and there have been times where I'm sitting in my room doing my homework and I hear gun shots outside which is crazy. Why do people in the inner city who work hard had AND pay taxes not feel safe in their ow neighborhood. There was also another time when walking home from class one night two youths I had just walked by where shot one died from his injuries. After experiencing that I came to the conclusion that God kept me here for a reason. In that split second I could have been a victim. I know your thinking oh well why doesn't she just move and yes I can afford to live in the suburbs but why do I have to move away from my roots to a place where a lot of the times people look at me as if I don't belong. It's a sucky situation but I love the city so much. Anyways when these experiences happened I have vowed to dedicate some of my time when I'm done with school to work with at risk kids through art and digital media. For now I can settle with working on small projects like this to try to make small change right now because Superman will not save us!
I plan to design my project in flash. I want to make a simple interface with a slide show of moving text and images. I may add some music or a voice over reading statistics or a poem written by a good friend of mine. Time-based media will work well for this project because it adds and extra element that print can't convey. Using moving text and pictures can make a nice impact on the viewer as well. I'm looking forward to seeing what i can come up with using Flash. I don't have much Flash experience but this will be a good challenge for me.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
This is touching..
With everything going on in Japan.. my heart goes out to all the people of Japan suffering. But this video shows.. that people are not the only ones.. and friendship exists even among animals.. I saw this on Yahoo.. thought it was worth sharing.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
PhoneCall--Paul.mov
I changed it a little bit from my original story. I took tons of clips because my storyboard really didn't do its work well. Because I kept changing it when I was shooting. I found out sometimes the pictures that I draw on my storyboard are not so suitable for video shooting as I thought. So I kept changing it.
Then, I decided what If I just took all the clip, and throw all of them into the iMovie to see if it gonna work. The good thing is I finished this assignment. But the bad thing is also very obvious: because I didn't stick on my storyboard, so I have to figure out how to organize my materials from the beginning again after I finish shooting! That is really bad experience... It took me for ever...
I think I will take care of my storyboard more carefully next time. Because I learned how important it is this time!
Assignment for March 17, 2011
Here is what we are thinking for the Final Project:
- A time-based media project that is driven by personal content/experience (doesn’t have to be soul baring)
- A component will be a project statement in which you define time-based media – what it means for you. We’ll look at statements and their importance in the next class.
- Build upon assignments so far, but please push yourself. Don’t be afraid to “fail” – by that I mean, I’m paying attention to concept and to the fact that you only have three weeks to realize this project, so any short comings that are documented are acceptable.
- No restrictions on length or topic.
Don't wait to say "I Love you!"
Thank you to Paul Zhang, Vivianna Yan, Liu Dan and our other friends for helping me make this movie.
Yi Huang's Video: The Inside Man
Here's my video project, about a true story (or a true crime) in Poland. I made a documentary about this classic burglary, but also added some fun elements.
Thanks for watching!
Rough Movie
I wanted to write a story about how an object changes through time according to our perception of it. As you watch, imagine that the Valentine is the second character.
PS Thank you, again, to all those who helped me with my videos, last night!!!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Make up class is ON -- Wednesday 6pm
Update:
I've had to "park" my daughters down at my in-laws, so we'll wrap up more like 7:45. Don't worry, I don't have much to say, it's more about me being there for you guys in advance of tomorrow.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Just in case
Then use iMovie and go to File > Import movies > (find the .mp4 files)
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The Ice Book
Back on track!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Reaction for Stan Vanderbeek's art exhibition.
To visit an exhibition like this or to watch or to sense this kind of art form which is pretty extremely hard to understand, I think I need to be open that I don't have to understand, I just need to get to know them or just perceive them. It is like to get to know what one person or one artist think. To know what his mind looks like.
So he wrote his mind and his ideas into a movie like the girl in The Ring wrote her memory into the tape. They are both black and white, full of noise, and not continuous.
Also, the very first feeling I got when I entered the Poemfield part was like watching Tron. Not the latest one but 1982 version. Digital computer noisy sound, dark atmosphere, oppressed and uncomfortable feeling is like when you get struck in something small and don't know where to go.
Further, what show on the screens look like the third generation video game or 8 bit era, such as a Famicom.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
News Alert
Hopefully you get this before you take the ride into school tomorrow to do any work...library is closed.
Jenn
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Class Rescheduled!
I am going to see about rescheduling another session for all of you -- we're at a crucial stage with regard to your video projects and I don't want any of you to feel shortchanged. So I'll check on availabity of the lab and see if we can schedule a make-up class for another evening or even weekend soon.
Sorry for the last minute notice and I appreciate your understanding. We will be all meeting together again next Thursday, March 3rd. We'll pick up with video editing and post-production.
Revised Treatment
The alternative I've come up with is to tie in with the first project I did (A Journey in a Book) and my final project (the Norwegian Birkebeiner). So - this weekend I'm going to New Hampshire for a final peak training event skiing in the mountains. The film will go something like this:
The opening shot shows a map of the White Mountains, with the path I'm going to travel clearly visible. The camera 'flies' over the map, effectively tracing the route, and letting the viewer 'take a journey in a map' as it were.
The map fades away and is replaced by a shot of the real mountains and real ski trails. I start moving on the skis, at around sunrise. Different shots are interspersed throughout the day, as I pass the points previously seen on the map, while music plays.
The final scene is back at the lodge after the journey has been completed. The camera pans down to show the map, which has now been highlighted with the path taken.
1st Light, 2005
1st Light, 2005
Projected digital animation
Institute of Contemporary Art
Paul Chan’s 1st Light is a parable of religeon and politics for a post 9/11 world. A wedge of light is projected on the floor as if it’s streaming though a big window. The shifting colors from the projector make the animation looks as though the sun is rising and setting through the window at times. Silhouettes appear against the grey-white light making it look like light from the early morning. Tree branches and power lines anchor the scene making it look like it projects the city. Most of the shadows are familiar at first but as the animation changes it starts to look a little strange and creepy. Ojects such as cell phones, sunglasses, cars, clothing - ascend. Meanwhile shadows of bodies start falling downward as if they are falling into hell. Some religeons believe the faithful will be transported to heaven when they pass but in Chans inverted Rapture he reflects an era of consumerism and violence which often appears to favor earthly possessions over human lives.
All in all this was a great peice. The projection of the piece of to the floor was a good idea as well.
Field Trip
When I got back I found a official website of VanDerBeek. On this website, I found a lot of pictures and video clips. So I got a chance to review all these stuff again. And of course, I got some fresh ideas:
About his early work:
Most of the collages that are hanged on the wall are the early works of VanDerBeek. From those works, I found many interesting commons, such as the “combined words”, none or cut-face women, changed face men and the curved forks. Those textures show up repeatedly in our artist’s works. They also give me a strong feeling of “Continuous Changing”. For example, the artist always used “combined words” in his works. In those words, each letter of the words is also the part of the next letter. In my opinion, I think the artist was trying to tell the audiences that the end of each letter also could be the start of the next letter. There would be no ending, if you kept writing.
See Picture 1.
Picture 1 |
The similar ideas can be observed in his “forks art”. He always used forks to create other stuffs, like dancing people, running birds, and even the “hot smoke”. Among those works, which I like the most is the Picture 2.
Picture 2 |
From picture 2, I can see much more clearly about this “continuous Changing” idea. Firstly, the combination of pan and forks told me that they are definitely tableware. But if we focus on the twisted branches of the forks, they also could be seen as dancing people who were standing on the “pan” stage. I know it sounds silly, but this is definitely what I have now.
About his “Motion pictures”:
Motion pictures are very interesting. When I read the instructions on the website, I found more information. First, as what artist said, those “Motion pictures” called “Culture Intercom”, which has been combined by all kinds of audio-visual devices into a educational tool. VanDerBeek asserted that he thought the current culture and technology is far away from normal person’s capability of understanding. So he wanted to use a non-verbal way -- “Culture Intercom” to help people understand this world as soon as possible. See Picture 3.
Picture 3 |
For me, I think this invention is a little bit too ambitious at 1950s. But nowadays, if we look at how we are accessing information through our phone, PC, laptop and Mac, I have to admire our artist’s forward-looking though.
VanDerBeek @ MIT's List
Thoughts: My favorite part of the exhibit was definitely Poemfields and the Movie Mural. It reminded me of a Marta Minujín show I saw recently. At her show there were small rooms to walk through and one had projections on each of the four walls and even the floor and ceiling. (A piece photographic evidence below from a different room at the Minujín exhibit.) VanDerBeek's projection of multiple images in the Movie Mural was truly immersive. I was very happy with the use of space-- the very high ceilings really added to the experience.
The Poemfields were also very cool. I thought it was awesome that he used a technique that involved punch-cards to make those films. I also really liked the trippy feeling of the exhibit-- especially noticeable in Poemfields and the Movie Mural.
Art that involves or includes the viewer always interests me. It makes it more personal and you feel a deeper connection to the work.
In one of the videos VanDerBeek discussed the future of computers and television in art and he made some interesting predictions. For one, he said that one day art schools would teach computers and programming along with more traditional classes. He also predicted 3D televisions and the use of holograms that people would be able to control themselves. He was right about the art schools and 3D televisions so perhaps he will be right about the holograms, too. ((I think Wolf Blitzer hologramed-in Will.I.Am during the last presidential election.))
Visiting Stan VanDerBeek's exhibit
We saw five short films made by VanDerBeek. These films have never been seen before. This was the first time that they were opening it to the public. So, this was something the curator told us not to miss out on. Of the five, two films really stood out to me. One of them was from 1965, called ‘See, Saw, Seams’. It was 9:06 mins long in black and white with sound. It was a very interesting composition of images, because they blended in with each other very subtly, but when they transformed into their full image it was something that you didn’t expect to see. For example, a face of a young man would transform into a landscape, a woman’s breasts who very slowly and subtly transform into a landscape of trees and her neck into a castle, an eye of a bird would transform into a bridge. The background music was composed of drums and that kept me quite engaged as well. I got the feeling that VanDerBeek really understood his medium of choice at this point. The flow of the video, even though it was over 9 mins long, kept me engrossed. It really displayed what he wrote:
“Juxtaposed to what we see, is what we think we see... that is, the memory of the dream is as real as the dream itself, but it is completely different from the dream. This film is an experiment in animation, in which the eye of the viewer travel deeper and deeper and deeper into each scene, finding new relationships and visual metaphors in what appears, at first sight, a simple scene. Symbolic intention is the mother of symbolic retention... that is, sight you are... if you think you are.”
The second video was titled “Spherical Space No.1”. This was made in 1967, it was 5 minutes long and this one was in color with sound. The video was made with a spherical lens which took 195 degrees of sight on film. The best I could describe it was like looking at a large view through a peep hole in a door. Only, the view moved along with the dancer in the nude. The dancer contoured her body to the trees and the walls. She did her ballet around on the grass and just seemed intertwined with nature.
I am not sure how many people in class follow Greek mythology. However, this particular video made me think of the Bacchae/Maenads. Bacchae women were a cult that celebrated and worshipped the god of wine, Dionysus. They were also known as Maenads. Part of this worship or celebration took place in the woods. The Maenads would dance and revel in a sort of a trance after they had much wine and following that they would they would kill a wild bull, tearing it apart from its limbs and eating its body parts, raw. A ritual called ‘Sparagmos’. So, its not so much the ritual, but the pre-cursor to that ritual, the dancing and being inter-twined with nature that this video captured, that really took me back to my classical mythology days in college. Overall, it was a great exhibit.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Baby update
Field Trip: ICA Boston
So I decided to go to the Institute of Contemporary Art with Nikia last week. I've been to the MIT art gallery in the past but haven't gotten a chance lately to visit the ICA. There weren't as many things currently on view in the exhibitions as I had last seen it, but nevertheless there were still some interesting pieces. Many of the art installations were abstract and heavily conceptual...thank goodness for the exhibit descriptions! Mark Bradford was one of the featured artists, where most of his work consisted of abstract, oversized paintings with mixed mediums. He uses many bright bold colors and all of his paintings have repeating motifs like grid-like patterns and adding several layers of different mediums. What was interesting was each new layer was dissolved or cut away at certain places to reveal what was underneath it... it was an interesting way of showing "class, race, and gender in American urban society". He also had a video on display where he was wearing MC Hammer-esque pants with a giant tube wrapped around his waist and he was attempting to play basketball. By hindering his own movement he said it represented society's expectations/stereotypes as pressure for weighing people down from what they do...
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Stan VanDerBeek's Visual Arts
Yup, I love the surrounded, overlapped montage, or whatever it is called. It's compelling when so many frames appearing in front of your eyes simultaneously, especially they have connections somehow. Sometimes I even felt there was fewer frames on one screen, I knew that was illusion though. Really smart idea! I was amazed how he arranges the clips and frames. Woo... What a genius!
About the posters or images, I also like the nude woman one. But I really want to talk one of his drafts in the other exhibition room. It's a draft or something, looks like a drawing or a sketching on a paper. He used simple horizontal straight lines, with vary little turns or bents in each, to create a embossed and 3D appearance man on a flat paper. Remember, that was created decades ago, and far before computer graphics were invented.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
VanDerBeek Trip
I think the movie showing I caught was "Astral Man". It reminded me a lot of "Dr Who", "The Tomorrow People", and other 60's sci-fi shows and movies. The audio when I first entered the theater was also typical for the genre, odd sorts of underwater-sounding noises, which I think were used in sci-fi at the time to give the feeling of a submarine in space. At this time, the dancers were prone, I think having restless dreams. Then, the dancers stood up and were more active. As the dancers sped up and started interacting with each other, the music changed to a peppy classical violin. I think the movement of the dancers, the music, and the psychedelic backgrounds all interplayed well. The next movie started with some blurry shifting figures and what I think was an audio track from a therapy session talking about an uncomfortable dream. Slowly, the blurry shapes focused into macabre human figures that visually expressed the tension of the voice describing a bad dream.
Unfortunately, several of the projectors in the room with the 360 movies weren't working. Technical/electrical difficulties at MIT. Go figure...
Before reading the description of the project, I sort of saw a historical progress through the movie clip I was watching the most. The entire piece was an attempt to summarize the totality of human history in a multi-movie piece. So, it made sense to me.
The other projection piece, I didn't like as much. I got the idea of "Poemfields" giving a multimedia styling to lines and words of poetry. I like the idea, I didn't like the execution. I didn't think it was visually appealing, and I didn't watch it long.
Wow, this is getting long. I'm going to do a bullet list of the pieces that struck me:
- One of the Dali-esque collages featured a man holding a woman's hand, but her face had come off and was falling. I at first thought this was perhaps about dehumanizing women in romantic pursuits. I looked closer and noticed the man had a watch, and was thus taking her pulse. Now, a statement on the impersonalization of the medical industry.
- Variations V - I didn't like the piece, but I like the idea of an audio-reactive environment to play in
- Panels for the Walls of the World
- Audience feedback in ongoing art
- Fax machine art!!!!
- Nixon & "If no tyrany exists, invent one" - This seems relevant, again.
- "On a treadmill" & a Southeast Asian about to be shot - Makes me think of the 'War on Terror'
- A comment about finding few Communists in Cambodia (which no doubt involved killings during the search) combined with a comment about legalizing abortion made me think a lot about what of many possible messages was being expressed. The hypocrisy of killing some people is bad but some people is okay? That we will always make up justifications for killing another human being if we really want to?
- Social Imagestics: Somewhat accurate predictions about Year 2000 culture's use of technology and social media being international and reactive and the resulting lack of privacy. "We will get the future we learn to expect", or, perhaps, are taught to expect.
- Vanderbeekiana: I really liked the still images transitioning into structurally similar but very different content images. My favorite was the nude woman turning onto a landscape with a road and castle, then back into a woman.
- Strobe Ode: Ow! My eyes!
Exhibit
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Stan VanDerBeek Exhibition
omg!!
first time i was thinking, ok, at least i just done 1/3. so i started again.
the second time i was like omg not 1/3 again! but it was.
im to tired to begin over again today. my eyes burning. and sorry i need complain here........so sad....T_T
tomorrow, plz dont play with me.....
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
24 hour piece
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/arts/design/17christianmarclay.html
Monday, February 14, 2011
Field Trip!
I think this show at the List sounds good.
I like the List for a number of reasons:
-- small enough space that one doesn't get overwhelmed by the work
-- T accessible
-- I've always had a thing for MIT
So please head over to the show and report your reactions on the class blog. Doesn't have to be a term paper, just a few paragraphs highlighting your reactions. I haven't been to the show yet myself, so it's on my schedule to do soon as well.
Happy Valentines Day!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Story treatment: The “Mailed” Thief
The “Mailed” Thief
This is a true story in Poland. The smart thief mailed himself to the warehouses of the package delivery companies, then he climb out of the package after employees left for the night, and steal the valuables from other packages or the workplace. How does he get away? He makes his getaway by sealing himself and his stolen goods into the same box, which addressed to his Warsaw home.
After many customers complained about lost items in their packages and the untraceable missing valuables in workplaces of the delivery companies. The police didn't find him out until his partner got caught because of other crimes, whose job was to deliver him to the delivery companies.
This was a true crime in Poland last year. I am going to make a documentary that is mainly unfolding this story by adding some created funny elements.
Scene 1. The thief, Muchy, is a man lives in poverty. One day he finds out the “Trojan Horse Story” in a comic book, which inspires him the plan.
Scene 2. Muchy discusses with his best friend, and they decide to this. His friend packs Muchy in a large box as a package, and sends it to the delivery service.
Scene 3. After the staffs go home at night, Muchy climbs out of the package, opens the packages waiting for delivery in the warehouse, searches and collects the valuables, and seals all the packages he opened including himself. (Uses fast motion to speed up this scene.)
Scene 4. Muchy’s partner opens the package, pulling Muchy and the stolen goods out of the delivered package. Apparently, they succeeded in their first try.
Scene 5. Two consequences might occur if they do the same thing in the US and China. In China, the package might be thrown and kicked when being delivered to the warehouse (because the delivery companies often treat packages badly), he is badly hurt and passes out, and misses the chance and time for stealing.While in the US, the package is being transferring all the time in the automatic machines, and finally stacked on the rack in the well-equipped and computer-controlled logistic center. Of course he is stuck and couldn’t make any move.
STAR TREK vs STAR WARS (Theatrical Teaser Trailer)
The view angle shifts so we are looking from the point of view of the Star Destroyer. The USS Enterprise appears, first pin-point size, but gradually becoming larger as the Star Destroyer bears down on it. Beams of light from the Star Destroyer’s weapons shoot out towards the Enterprise.
The screen goes black. The lettering appears, STAR TREK vs STAR WARS, followed by COMING SOON.
20 40 60
Don't wait to say "I LOVE YOU"..
In their junior year Anna decides to take a leap of faith and ask Joe out for a date. She waits for Joe at the library and Joe never shows up. She looks for Joe and finds out he is in the hospital. He get’s into an accident when he goes out to get Anna some flowers. Anna finds him lying in the hospital bed and one of their friends gives Anna, Joe’s diary and the bouquet of roses that he bought for her. Joe had been writing a love letter everyday since their freshman year to Anna proclaiming his love for her. It was Valentine’s day and he was going to ask her out for a date.
Anna holds Joe’s hand in hope that he would wake up. She hears a beep and rushes out to get a doctor. The doctor asks her to leave the room and attends to Joe. Later, the doctor comes out and tells Anna that Joe has died.
The End.
I guess the moral of the story is, Don't wait to tell someone that you love them, because you never know what may happen tomorrow. Wish you all a Happy Valentine’s Day!
Coke
COKE
Dan finally decides to go home, go home to what ever he may face. He lets himself in, goes to his girlfriend who is sleeping and whispers, “I promise I'll change.” You see him look at the dusty bible on his night stand. He grabs it, opens it to a page that seemed right. He finds a small bag of coke, that he had forgotten about. The camera focuses on his face, and then to the bag. He clenches it. His girlfriend's eyes open, she lets out a gasp of air...fades to black.
The whole movie is done as a montage. A lot of quick cuts, fast paced, like a drug trip.
A Wrong Number, a Right decision
But he still has no idea about that strange phone call, so he checked the number again, that's a strange number he has never seen before. It seems like somebody made a wrong call.
Our love in the house
A girl name Stephanie standing in front of the apartment door. A sticker on the door:This is not my fault, I will never say sorry! She knocked the door with anger, but no one answer. She opened the door with the key and walk into the apartment, no one in there. A sticker on the living room floor says: Go this way, your baggage are ready. An arrow point to the bedroom.
She is speechless and depressing, she followed the arrowhead to the bedroom. A sticker on the bedroom door: If you open this door, it means you agree to break up with me. Her hand staying on the doorknob for a little while and opened it ,then she slammed the door.
A sticker on the wall: Luggage here, leave! Stephanie says: "Ok, I got it, you wanna break up with me long time ago!" 2 baggages are under the sticker, Tina is so mad at her boyfriend and carryed her baggage walking towards the door. The baggage are too heavy and one of the baggage dropped. She kicked the baggage with anger and she found a sticker on the back side of the baggage,the words are very small : Your baggage only have 2, but our love is full of this apartment, so please don’t go , I need you.
At this moment , Stephanie wants to laugh, but she lower her head ,sniff and cry. A soft voice appears: "Babe, Don’t you know you look very ugly when you cry?" She raise her head, her boy friend John standing in front of her, and hide his hands at his back. She is so upset and shoving John. John blocked her way, suddenly a bouquet of roses appears in front of her face, John says: "Don’t go , today is the 365th day we’ve met, don’t and never say goodbye, I love you , and happy valentines day!" Stephanie burst into tears.
Doggy daydream
Diego the Bogle (Boxer Beagle) has a daydream during one of his 19+ daily naps. He dreams of his love, Charley the Puggle. During their waking hours, Charley is not a big fan of Diego's. She is older and can't be bothered with his puppy energy and excitement.
In the dream, Charley wants to play. She and Diego go for a doggy walk together, play in the snow, eat bones and share a meal in the style of Lady and the Tramp.
When Diego wakes up, Charley is sleeping next to him.
In honor of the upcoming holiday
We see someone’s face smiling wistfully as they work on something below the level of the camera. After a few moments of that, they stuff a valentine into a red envelope, lick it, and seal it happily. They seem satisfied with their accomplishment.
They get a phone call. Their face brightens even more as they answer. “Hey, you’” we hear. “Nothing important. Yeah, I can chat.” Their smile turns mischievous as they gaze lovingly at the red envelope.
Then, their expression changes into one of surprise, then dejection. “Ok. Bye, then.” They now stare at the red envelope with a combination of sadness and spite. We next see the red envelope thrown into a recycling bin.
Treatment Assignment: Parody
So here's the idea/breakdown of the story:
The story takes place in a school similar to a high-school. However, it is a school which specializes in training celebrities and artists on improving their performances. The protagonist of the story is Christina Aguilera, and she’s the “new girl” in school. On the first day of school, she meets the “mean girls” clique which is Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna. The mean girls immediately befriend Christina but are gossiping behind her back and making nasty remarks.
All of this takes a turn when Cher, the music teacher, offers Christina a chance to redeem herself by performing as the lead in a school production of Burlesque. The mean girls decide to stop being “nice” and let their cat claws come out. They tease Christina by constantly mocking her appearance and feeding her “diet granola bars” which actually fattens her up. One day, when the girls are walking down the hall together, Britney drops her pink diary. Christina picks it up accidentally to find out the nasty things the girls have been writing about her which infuriates and motivates Christina to give the best performance of her life in hopes it will gain their respect.
On the day of the performance, the girls have one final confrontation on stage and have a dance-off. Christina in a final attempt to show off her dance skills, begins spinning so fast until she explodes into confetti. The End.
Assignment for February 10, 2011
1. Write a treatment for a story that can be realized through motion imagery (video, animation, hybrid) with a duration between 30 and 90 seconds long.
2. Post on the class blog. Please use label "treatment".