Grid Project

I really enjoyed this project, I thought it was a great way to help us better understand pixelation and how many elements go into conveying a single image. I was unsure of what to do at first and the project I came up with is literally the result of me wondering around Michaels for about an hour and a half. I probably picked up thirty different materials.... and then put them back before deciding on this. I think my idea turned out pretty well, I'm definitely happy with it. It was incredibly time consuming but I still had fun working on it.

Joseph Beuys

Joseph Beauys was a German artist born in May of 1921. His main focus' were sculpture and performance art. Beauys was considered under rated throughout his lifetime but now is seen to many as one of the most influentual artists of the 20th century. Much of Beauys work was influenced by a plane crash he was in during WWII. Beauys claims that after his plane went to a tartar tribesman rescued him from the wreckage and wrapped him in animal lard and felt to keep him alive. Many witnesses claim the story unfolded differently with Beauys being taken to a German military hospital but regardless, much of his work involved these two materials. Personally of what I have seen so far I am not a huge Joseph Beauys fan. For some reason I feel a sense of arrogance in his work and am having trouble personally relating to the pieces.

What is and isn't art?

Rotary Glass Plates by Marcel Duchamp 

When the question was asked "what makes something considered art?" I didn't really understand it until the film we watched on Man Ray in our last class. I always thought that uncurling a lampshade and calling it art was ridiculous but I see that in a new light now. The act of taking something useful and making it not, or taking something ugly and making it beautiful is actually quite significant. Its not that these artists have taken so much time to create the object but the have inspired others minds to view it differently, like it isn't something seen or used in everyday life. They were able to make viewers appreciate the brilliance or even the simplicity of an object that is otherwise overlooked. Interactive art is also something I had formally overlooked. I love the idea that the piece is not art without an audience. At the first glance of the photo of "Rotary Glass Plates" I was pretty unimpressed, but as I said before, after the last lecture we had in class I have an entirely new appreciation for it.

Revolutionary Computers

When I look at all the different types of computers, and all technology for that matter, over the years I always think of how the people who invented those things would react if they were able to see what we had today. If you were able to walk up to the inventors of ENIAC or Steve Jobs in the 80's and hand them a fully functioning IPad what would they do? I honestly don't think they would believe it. The technologies we are now used to in everyday life are so over the top but were so accustomed to it we don't even realize. The fact that we have gone from million dollar computers that take up entire buildings to something the size of a notebook that is a million times faster and of higher quality is amazing.

Flip Book

After completing a flip book for the first time I know have so many ideas and things I would have done differently. Although extremely tedious, I really like the project and now wish I could do so much more with it. I found the books that told stories, as opposed to just having random things float in and out (like mine), were so much more interesting to me. The three pages I chose from my own book consist of a flower gradually losing its petals. This was definitely my favorite part, when flipping through the book I think that this is the most beautiful part. I do wish I would have kept the color in the flower because it does make such a huge difference but I still feel that this sequence was my favorite.

Skeleblogging

Until the presentation of the Experimental Skeleblog I was almost completely oblivious to the underground art culture that is present in Tampa. I was happy to make this discovery because it is so easy to overlook the fact that there is depth to this extremely shallow city. The dreammachine concept is fantastic, I loved that it is something you can sense instead of seeing (because you're supposed to close your eyes). I also thought it was so awesome how the group uses run down and unused spaces around the city to create something beautiful out of, what would otherwise be, junk. I think thats honestly what I appreciated most about this group; they find a way to make use of things and present them in a new light and the fact that they are so passionate about other artists works and strive to honor those and keep them alive through re-creation. I thought the sand project was awesome, it was pretty much a scale model but to be able to walk around and observe something of that magnitude as if you were a giant is so great. I would really love to visit this groups next exhibit so I can really get a grasp on what they're all about.

http://www.experimentalskeleton.com/

Old TIme Radio

The entertainment brought to the listeners of radio was something that people at that time had never experienced before. Not only was it something new but it was something that everyone could afford, no longer was entertainment just for the wealthy. Radio personalities were able to ignite the imagination and minds of their listeners by the power of story telling, acting and sound effects. I find the idea of radio fascinating, unlike television the audience is able to create the details of the story in their mind as opposed to being presented the entire story including what the characters and settings look like as in television. I feel that radios power to spark imagination is such a great thing. The modern day addiction to television has literally turned people into mindless zombies who are constantly taking in information without having to use any brain power or imagination to process it.