Music Video

A video about dreaming of France and all of it's marvels.

Photo Lecture 11/1

Today our class had the special opportunity of seeing photographer Corinne Botz talk about her work. She graduated from MICA in 1999 and got her MFA at Bard later on. Very interesting presentation. She has explored the theme of women and domestic violence through her photographs of doll houses. These scenes of 50's housewife dolls are gorey and very startling. Lots of nice dramatic contrast in these shots. Botz also did a series of photos about agoraphobia. She was actually allowed into the homes of agoraphobics and took pictures of their living spaces. She explained that her current focus is on the home and its relationship to the individual. An inspiring concept and fascinating work. I enjoyed this presentation a lot.

Photoshop Self-Portrait

Here it is....Ohio girl in her own musical/artistic world. Tried some of the layer styles from class on this one.

Lecture 10/26

Today, we got to see a really cool presentation. I might even go as far to say that this was the best presentation I've seen. Ben Volta, an Academy of the Arts grad and mixed media artist, came and spoke about his work. His studio is different than a lot of artists. He takes it out into the community. Volta collaborates with middle school students at a local Philly school. Together, he and the students produce beautiful pieces that decorate the school and other parts of the neighborhood. These pieces include murals, sculptures, and other kinds of projects. He usually tries to relate these projects to what kids are learning in school, which is pretty neat. It is so nice to see art helping kids stay out of trouble and learn something in a new way. Very cool concept. Collaborative aspect is great.

Lecture 10/19

This week we had H. John Thompson talk. Wasn't really that impressed, however this guy did just graduate from UArts last year. He talked about his work in painting and sculpture (particularly wood sculpture). Some interesting pieces, but not my taste really. One piece I did like was inspired by the Flying Dutchman, it was a night light made to look like a strip of wooden shingles with different colored windows. The big discrepancy I had with the way he works, is his studio space. He works in the basement of the bakery where his grandfather works. No windows=no natural light! I feel like that would get so depressing, but to each his own I suppose.

New Composite Image Assignment

Went to a Hindu festival and just took a few street shots of Philly. Here's what I came up with.

'Cockamamie Current Event'

Here is my rearranged news image. Tried to use some of the techniques we learned- opacity changes, light feathering, contrast. Hopefully interesting.

Photoshop Controversy

Photoshop can be a wonderful tool for creating art, but it can also be used for other not-so-good things. There is a continuing debate over whether Photoshop editing has gone too far in the media. Often times, editors add/subtract things from an original image. They can also retouch photos to make models look thinner and more sexually appealing. The article, "Sex, Lies, & Photoshop" features the picture above. This model's waistline was trimmed down, her arms were made to look more toned, and her skin was airbrushed. Photos like this give people the wrong concept of body image. That's why some governments are considering regulation on how much Photoshop can be used and for what purposes. For example, the French want their magazines to state how much Photoshop has been used in their spreads. While it is nice to look at a visually pleasing image, the viewer should consider whether or not the message is positive.

Self Portrait in Illustrator

So, this assignment was a bit of a struggle for me. With my lack of experience in Illustrator, I wasn't really sure how to make smooth paths. Therefore, I have pretty choppy shapes going on. Gross. Hopefully I can work on some of this, and add more value.

Lecture 10/5

Doug Bucci came and talked to us about his work in CAD and jewelry. What an inspiration. By God, that man has been through a lot and look what he's done! Bucci had pancreatic cancer as a child and entered UArts as a freshman with a child. Not an easy life, but he managed to graduate from college and hit the ground running as a sculptor and jeweler. It was interesting to see the kind of work he does. His subject matter tends to focus around human diseases, because this has played a major role in his life. He still has Type 1 diabetes but continues to thrive through his art. Bucci didn't talk about the studio so much, because his studio is very much transparent. His work is done through computer programming and printing. But, very interesting. Unique presentation.

Warning Label

I always have crazy hair when I wake up. So that inspired this design. Kind of followed the standard setup of caution labels. Simple.

Lecture 9/28

This week, Marianne Dages came to talk about her experience working at the Penland School of Craft in North Carolina and at her studio North Philly. Dages is a book artist and printmaker. Very cool lady who went to UArts and was looking for something more. She talked about three different kinds of studios- 1. Community Studio 2. Partner Studio 3. Residency. There seem to be benefits of all three. Her point was to make the studio "your own". The location and setup is a personal choice that solidifies how you work. She showed us a lot of mixed media and well-crafted books. Might remember this stuff for my work later down the road.

Text Assignment

So....yeah. Guess I was a little confused on the homework. I didn't know that we could use filters and whatnot. So, my attempts were pretty basic. Anyway, I decided to rework my emotional piece about sleepiness (the one with the Z's). It was pretty boring before so I added the spiral and black rectangle message at the bottom. Adds a little something more. For the next assignment I hope to be more inspired and better acquainted with Illustrator. Then maybe my work will have more direction.

Lecture 9/21- Candy Depew

A rather quirky and eccentric woman. Very cool work though. Depew works in installation art, printmaking, and mixed media. Her experiences take her studio into multiple environments. Working in factories in Wisconsin and Holland, she got to live and work around two different cultures. Both very cutting-edge. Her work is graphic and fun, lots of bright color and imaginative subject matter. But what amazed me most was seeing how elaborate Candy gets. She works with so many different kinds of media, and successfully! This inspires me to try a lot of new things.

Helvetica

This was an interesting film. I had no idea what a breakthrough this font was. It's pretty crazy to think about after realizing we see Helvetica EVERYWHERE. And it DOES have an impact on the way we perceive the world. I can't even imagine how the developer of this font feels, he definitely accomplished something big for design. As ambiguous as this movie sounds, I was actually quite fascinated. People don't think about how something even as simple as type, can define the world in which we live. And I think this documentary does a good job addressing this.

Lecture 9/14- Peter Hanley

This week, we had Peter Hanley come and talk. He works mainly as a graphic artist, but also collaborates with other artists on mixed media pieces. Neat guy, with a neat mohawk. Smart, too. He had an insightful opinion on the studio, what it means, and how it functions for the artist. I liked his idea of the studio being the artist's mind and the computer being a "desk in that space". I think that makes sense. Artists take the studio wherever they go, with initial planning and inspiration always taking place in the mind. He also said that "collaboration makes up the space". Working with others manifests a working environment.
Hanley's presentation was very conceptual, but very well done. Not to mention nice graphics.

Virgin Mobile Ad + TEDTalk

These were some interesting videos. Raised a few points about artists' image rights I'd never considered before. The Virgin Mobile scandal was actually pretty bad in my opinion. I know if I were that girl, I'd be upset about having my picture used in that ad. It's a tough thing because there are some great images out there that already exist. And these images can be reused to make great art pieces. But at the same time, this is not entirely original work. And look at what happened to the girl in the cell phone ad. She was totally offended because no one asked permission. When parties aren't asked to have their images used, it becomes like stealing or trespassing.

The TED Talk video also addressed how reworking existing media can affect artists. One example was the anime video montage on YouTube. Different clips were set to play with one song. (This was done by someone who did not originally create them.) For both the original composer of the song and the original animator, this video could be offensive. Or an unwanted portrayal of their work. In short, I wish there were better monitoring of art/media & its use. The internet is a great tool, but sometimes TOO great....

Summer in the City

So, yep. Ohio girl says Philly is pretty cool. Getting to walk around Center City and Chinatown was fun. It's just amazing how much there is to see! Strangest and most interesting things around every corner. During our adventure, my friends and I picked up some delicious French omlettes for breakfast and Chinese food for lunch. Diversity is beautiful. We also got to pick up some art supplies, generally just walking around & enjoying the scenery/weather. After that excursion, I kicked it down to NJ with some other friends. We went to the Red Bull Flugtag and saw some crazy water contraptions. Entertaining stuff and very creative! Have to say I've been enjoying myself here and sure there will be more fun times ahead.