Video Collage

In my video art piece I wanted to bring to light the less than respectful, chaotic behavior that has become a social norm and even praised as a result of what is seen on reality television. People go on these shows act like complete fools and are getting paid millions. When did this happen? Although these shows can be entertaining I still think that the idea that I have gone to college and am working extremely hard to make a life for myself but I will probably never be as wealthy as these people is nauseating. The actual execution of this project was pretty difficult for me. I had never used Imovie before... and I couldn't even figure out how to download the movie in the right format at first. However, I did figure things out in the end and I think my project went pretty well. :)

Video Art Piece

Unfortunately I still can't get the video to load onto my computer but my video art piece featured three people that were dressed and posed as mannequins in the middle of Nordstrom. Because filming in the mall is not allowed (news to me) completing this project was extremely difficult. We began in the mac store where I positioned each person with one of the mac products. The position hinted to that persons dependency on the technology, however we were unable to capture this on film before being kicked out of the store. This getting kicked out trend continued in Bose, Forever 21, Wet Seal and Guess until we were finally able to set up a successful demonstration in Nordstrom. We quickly dressed each person according to the theme of the mannequins in that department and had them pose while customers carried on throughout their day. Some people walked by without out noticing at all, but others reacting by laughing, being startled and attempting to interact with the live mannequins. This having been my first video art piece I have to say the reactions and interaction are the absolute best part and I definitely understand why performance artists do what they do.

Xerox Project

For my xerox project I knew I definitely wanted to use an object instead of a flat surface. I had a few different things I was thinking of trying but I went to the thrift store with an open mind. I came across this stereo and I loved the idea of being to put things in the tape deck and the cd player, it made the piece more interactive. I went to Kinko's and literally copied every body part I could think of (that was legal) and went home with a stack of copies with no idea of how I was going to execute this project. As I began cutting and placing different things around the object the idea of giving the stereo a face and other body parts came to me. I think thats one of the reasons why I liked this project so much, I didn't have a plan it just came as I worked. The final product turned out to be the stereo monster, who my roomates and I have name Sheila the sound Sheeba, that I thought took on quite an interesting and quirky form. I love that some of the body parts have become abstract because of the repetition and others, such as the eyes and mouth, are used for their proper function. But with a closer look you can see that everything used is a in fact a body part.