Project 3- Poetry Book Visualization

My concept for this project began with the poem "Woman Work" by one of my favorite poets, Maya Angelou. http://www.blogger.com/www.poemhunter.com/poem/woman-work/ I created a book to look like a busy woman's planner, with the front cover opening to show a lavender, lined pad inside the cover with a to-do list with accompanying line drawings for the first section of the poem. In the middle section of the planner there are pictures like a photo album that a mother might carry with pictures of her children, but here there are pictures of her dreams of being carried away to rest, by the forces of nature. In the last section, there is a closed envelope with a woman's secret treasures inside. It opens to reveal them in a hanging accordian format. The whole book stays closed with velcro to keep everything safe inside, each to it's separate compartment, much like a woman's responsibilties are separated in real life.

Self-Visualization Triptych

In the top panel, my past is represented by my walking down a path that is dimly lit, showing uncertainty and unhappiness, as I look back at the "ugly duckling", who looks different, being teased by the other ducklings, who look the same. The first book I read was "The Ugly Duckling", and as a child, I watched the movie "Hans Christian Andersen" many times, learning the song "The Ugly Duckling" from the movie. When I began early on to be made fun of due to my looks, I identified with the character of the ugly duckling, and fervently hoped that some day I would turn into a swan, and that a man would cone along and see the swan inside, regardless of how the outside turned out. In the left picture I am holding a mask of myself at age 12-13, before acne, but with wandering eyes and large crooked front teeth. I am dressed in monochromatic colors as I tried to be inconspicuous, so as not to gain negative attention. Farther down the path is a bright hopeful light, where there waits my handsome prince in my brighter future. The picture is of my husband who did see the swan inside and outside from the moment he saw me. He helped me see her too.
In the center panel, is my current life, with me no longer afraid to dress how I like, in bright colors, juggling my responsibilities, loves, and interests while trying to balance it all while standing on a board that is balanced on a ball ( welcome to my world). The objects juggled include husband, children, house, college student, religious school teacher, friends, singing, and chanting Torah. I could also have included cooking, creating art, creative writing, exercising, but I ran out of room in the picture, and no one would have believed me. Actually, I can't get to everything all of the time, hence the juggling.
In the last panel, on the bottom, my path takes me to the places that nourish my soul, bring me peace and contentment, and have been a part of who I am for most of my life. Loving the beach and hunting for shells, creating art (starting with drawing), dancing, and music. I have found through the years that when I leave no time for these things in my life, I am not a happy person, and not fun to live with. When I make time for them, I am at peace. Through all three panels music runs in a continuous stream. My father is a music teacher, and plays many instruments, my sister also plays three instruments, and my mother plays the organ and loves show tunes, so I grew up surrounded by instrumental and vocal music. Consequently I have a stream of music in my head all of the time, love to sing and dance, and listen to music a lot. However, I do not play an instrument, due to sheer stubbornness on my part, I think.

Word Visualization Exercise in Illustrator

Dia:Beacon Field Trip

I really liked the sculptures of Michael Heizer, which were "negative sculptures" that explored negative space, or the absence of a piece rather than it's presence. His pieces were holes in the ground cut in different shapes: a cylinder, rectangular solid, cone, and cube. They showed a very alternate, original view of sculpture.
Fritz Sandback's works were very deceptively simple. They were colored strings attached to the walls and floors in different areas. they created visual barriers simply by outlining with string, a rectangle, or triangle, or other shape. It gave a strong impression that there was a sheet of glass there, that you were compelled to avoid.
Sol LeWitt's mathematically precise drawings left me speechless as they looked as if they had been drawn directly on the wall, by pencil, by hand. The size of them, the time they must have taken, and the care with which they were done was inconceivable to me. When you stand back from them, you can hardly see the lines, but up close it is all too clear. When he combined them with huge circles, the sense of visual motion increases. When he uses more organic lines repeated, the whole wall literally comes to life. The effect in one work appeared as an intricate wood grain, and in another, as an ant's-eye view, at ground level, of a field of grass.
John Chamberlain made one of my favorite pieces of the day. He is an assemblage artist who uses car parts. His "Privet Hedge" consisted of a long row of twisting, metal, 10 foot tall spears. They were colored in many bright colors and patterns-often re-creating tie-dye effects.
The size of the piece made you want to stand back to take it all in, but the attention to detail, and the variety in the colors and patterns made you want to come in close to study each spear.
One of the last artists I saw, was Richard Serra's huge metal sculptures that look like smokestacks on ships. The room they are in is chilly, and the large shapes crowd into it. You can walk into them, and explore their interior. In one, you walk around a circular maze, with the walls leaning in towards you, making it a bit claustrophobic.

Book-Poetry Visualization Project

Woman Work
Maya Angelou
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/woman-work/
__________________________________________________________________
My initial concept is to make a book where the first page is like an open box holding a long strip of paper folded accordian style, with pictures of the woman's chores on each page. It would have a tab to pull to open it up. Then the following pages would have other images of sun and rain falling on a woman, wind blowing a woman across the sky, snowflakes with lips in the middle falling on a face with eyes closed, and the last page would have another open box with a long accordian paper that would open to show images of sun, rain, sky, mountains, oceans, leaf, and stone, stars, and moon, with two arms holding the pile shut. The arms would open with velcro. Maybe there should be arms holding the first pile of chores also.

Project 2 -Self-visualization

For this project I will use a figure of myself in each of three panels, exploring each environment in some way. Each panel will have elements of either personal history and influences, present life situation, or elements of my personality, respectively. Running through all three, there will be certain interests/influences that have not changed(music, art, dancing, writing) and important physical characteristics that have had a lasting effect on my self-image or self-esteem. However, I will focus on simplifying, combining, and deleting images and ideas to create a simpler, more powerful overall impact.

Frida Kahlo, Cindy Sherman, and Cui Xuiwen

While these three women artists used different media (paint, photographs, digital imaging), they expressed some similar themes regarding women in their work.
First, in Cindy Sherman’s work, in her untitled film series, we see glamorous women exposed in their private moments. The use of black and white film and sharp contrasts lends drama to otherwise everyday scenes. The expressions on the women’s faces are either carefully emotionless, fearful(as if they are being pursued), or despairing. The are crowded into the frame of the picture if the scene is set indoors, as if they are trapped in a situation or role that they did not choose, and are not happy with. In the scenes set outdoors, there is an element of danger, as the space around them seems large and empty, yet a threat seems to lurk nearby. This feeling comes from emptiness of the space and dark shadows in some picture, and fearful eyes of the model gazing around in others.
In Cindy Sherman’s fairytale series, she works in color, but instead of beautiful women, we see Beauty turn into The Beast. The colors are garish, the lighting full of contrast and shadows, giving them a feeling of horror movie stills. In her historical portrait series, Cindy Sherman uses traditional demure poses, colors, and at least a century-old period era clothing, yet injects partial nudity of the female figures calmly staring at us. Lastly, in her centerfold series, Cindy Sherman unexpectedly shows us cropped figures, dressed in rumpled clothes hastily put on, sleeping , or looking fearful, but definitely not sexy.
Cindy Sherman takes commonly-held expectations and stereotypes, and shows us another, less attractive side. For example, women are expected to dress fashionable, wear make-up, and always look their best, fit into a role that they are expected to fill, and to be brave and hide pain behind a mask of calm. In her portraits, we see women whose elegant masks sometimes slip to show their vulnerability and unhappiness with their role or situation, whose idea of sexy might be a good night’s sleep, or whose fairytales turn into horror stories. Also, in the historical portraits, I see the objectification of a popularly ogled women’s body parts, a feeling of being visually stripped bare that many women have encountered. In her portraits women are alone, isolated, and vulnerable. Cindy Sherman uses herself as the only model in her work, yet these do not feel like self-portraits, they seem to represent women as a group. Through her disguises she represents many different types of women, but also exposes feelings that all women share. So, in that way, perhaps she is also exposing herself to us, as well.

When we look at Cui Xuiwen’s digital images, we see some similarities to Cindy Sherman. In Xuiwen’s Angel Series, we see young women who are lonely, isolated, and fearful, as they are in Sherman’s work, though here it is probably due to their being young, alone, and pregnant. Again focusing on their appearances, as modern young women have been taught, they wear bright garish make-up, to emphasize their attributes, and are dressed in a fashionably modern, revealing white dresses. Xuiwen also uses herself, and possibly one other young girl as a model, making many copies of the one girl in her images. As with Cindy Sherman, it seems to me that Xuiwen uses herself not to give insight into her own feelings alone, but to also give voice to the feelings of all women. There is a sense of large, open, outdoor spaces around the figures, again showing their isolation, and their faces are often mask-like, except in one where they look fearful. Like Cindy Sherman’s work the contrasts are sharp, and the colors are bright, and there is a feeling of vulnerability in the poses. The girls also seem trapped both in the situation they find themselves in (pregnant and alone), and the role of a young, modern women. I find it interesting that in most of the portraits where there are many girls together, they seem lonely in a crowd, as if they do not know how to reach out to each other for strength and support. Yet in one portrait alone, they are leaning against each other, as if to support one another, and stand stronger together.
The use of color in Xuiwen’s images suggests contrasts. The inclusion of red in some images brings to mind strong emotion, the blood of childbirth, and the color brides wear for luck in China. Since these girls are young and alone, this contrasts with their status. The red color also seems reserved for traditional architectural elements, which contrasts with their modern dress and situation. The blue sets a calm mood, yet the girls
are not calm, they are exhausted, fearful, and dejected. The white dresses suggest purity and angels, yet the girls are hardly pure or angelic, in their state. And finally, though this presents no contrast, Xuiwen uses red and blue, primary colors, which are used in children’s toys, and to decorate baby’s rooms, which seems very apropos.
There is an element of hope in Xuiwen’s images, that is lacking in Cindy Sherman’s. In Angel #1, the girl is standing in water, under dark clouds, but there are bright white clouds on the horizon, on the way. Furthermore, in a couple of the images, the women are on a roadway or street that they continue to travel though they are frightened of the journey, showing their strength and determination.

In the work of Frida Kahlo, again we see some of the same themes. Frida uses herself very often as a model, yet in her paintings, she is not expressing an everywoman view, but exploring deeply her own self. Yet, like Sherman, and Xuiwen, Kahlo’s self-portraits show her with a calm, impassive expression. If you want insight into her personality, you look at her vibrant use of color and symbolism. Like Xuiwen and Sherman, Kahlo is always painted alone, seeming isolated, and perhaps trapped inside her own painful emotions. She exposes her vulnerability in those portraits that graphically strip bare the sources of her pain, such as her miscarriage. The graphic nature of some of Kahlo’s work recalls the horror-movie quality of Cindy Sherman’s Fairytale series. Frida Kahlo was also concerned with her physical appearance, as she is mostly dressed in elaborate Mexican clothing and hairstyles, with bright red lips, but for her, this is an expression of her heritage.
Like a couple of Cindy Sherman’s portraits, Frida Kahlo used devices like tears on her calm face to show her pain and hurt. In her portrait of herself and her husband, Frida shows how she feels about her place in the world as a women. Though she herself is a painter also, and has the support of her husband in her endeavors, she paints him holding a palette and brushes, and her with none. Perhaps she sees her efforts as less worthy than his, or she feels that to be a proper wife, at that time, she should not put herself forward. She is in a submissive, meek pose. She loved her husband, yet painted mostly herself alone, not many portraits of him. Is this because she had other love interests as well? Or that he was busy, and left her alone often, so she had no choice? Perhaps this is why she looks so stoic, and yet from her use of symbols, and her occasional gory revelation paintings, she shows us all the hurt and fear inside.

PS>Illustrator Project

Finished Photoshop Project 1

Photoshop Project 1- Original

Adobe Illustrator Exercise

Photoshop Compositing Exercise #1

Digital Imaging Project 1

Digital Art- Birth and Developement

Digital Art uses computer technology in the creation of both traditional and non-traditional art objects. The history of Digital Art has been shaped by the steady development of computer science and technology in academic and research environments. We could not have the one without the other. We can trace the roots of Digital Art from the earliest(1945) conceptual Memex, a desk with translucent screens that would browse documents and create its own trail through documentation, and allow for microfilm reading and direct data entry. Though never built, it was the conceptual ancestor of the Internet, and it led to the creation of ENIAC(1946), the first digital computer, and UNIVAC(1951), the first commercially available digital computer. In the 1940's Norbert Weiner's "cybernetics"(ie: computer+brain/different communication and control systems) studies formed the basis to understanding the man-machine symbiosis. In 1961, around the time the Internet originated, Theodore Nelson coined the terms "hypertext" and "hypermedia" to describe the space of writing and reading where texts, images, and sounds could be electronically inter-connected by anyone contributing to a networked "docuverse"; a hyperlinked environment where users choose their own path. In 1968, Iavn Sutherlan and Douglas Engelbart introduced bitmapping(connection between electrons flowing through a computer processor and the image on the screen), windows, and direct manipulation through the mouse. Finally in the 1970's, Alan Kay created the Graphic User Interface and the "desktop" metaphor (made popular by MAC).
Digital Art is connected to the Dada movement, Fluxus, and conceptual art in that these movements emphasized formal instructions, and focused on concept, event and audience participation. These ideas of rules as a process to create art resemble the algorithms that from the basis for software and computer operations(formal instructions that accomplish a result in a finite number of steps). The ideas of interaction and 'virtuality' in art were explored early on by Marcel Duchamp and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy in relation to objects and their optical effects. Duchamp's optical machine invited viewer participation to see the effect unfold, while Moholy-Nagy's kinetic light sculptures, and his idea of virtual volume (outline of a trajectory presented by an object in motion) influenced numerous digital installations. Duchamp influenced a shift from object to concept; his work a predecessor of the 'virtual object' as a structure in progress, and the appropriation and manipulation of copied images that play a dominant role in digital art. Raymond Queneau and Francois Le Lionnais of OULIPO, the French literary and artistic association founded in 1960, would argue that all creative inspiration should be subject to calculation and become an intellectual game, experimented with concepts of combination, and compare to reconfigured media elements in later computer-generated artworks.
The events and happenings of Fluxus (international group of artists, musicians, and performers)in the 1960's also were often based on execution of precise instructions, and used a fusion of audience participation and event later seen in some interactive, event-based computer artworks. John Cage, an admirer of Duchamps', composed music in the 1950's and 60's that incorporated pre-existing, "found" sounds. (called sampling today?). An element of controlled randomness emerges from all of these(Dada, OULIPO, Duchamp, and Cage)points to one of the most basic principles of digital medium : random access as a basis for processing and assembling information.
Earliest computer art included Michael A. Noll (Bell labs) (Gaussian Quadratic) exhibited in 1965 in new York with works by Bekla Julesz, Goerg Nees, and Frieder Nake (digital abstract drawings). John Whitney, Charles Csuri, and Vera Molnar investigated computer-generated transformations of visuals through mathematical functions, with Whitney considered the 'father of computer graphics' and a pioneer of computer film-making (experimented in creating effects). Csuri in Hummingbird, created a landmark of computer animation(used IBM with punch cards; amazing).
In 1966 Billy Kluver founded Experiments in Art and Technology(EAT), which led to collaborations between engineers and artists(and scientists, programmers, and researchers). Such collaborations became characteristic of digital art. Artists such as Andy Warhol, Robert Raushenberg, jean Tinguely, John Cage, and Jasper johns created some joint projects(seen at World Expo 1970). Bell Labs became a greenhouse for artistic experimentation.
Predecessors of today's digital installations(what is a digital installation?) were first exhibited in the 1960's, ranging from plotter graphics to light and sound environments, and sensing robots. Some focused on machines and transformations (painting machines, pattern or poetry generators); others explored interaction and open system as a post-object(translation please). American art historian and critic Jack Burnham explored a systems viewpoint focused on the creation of stable, on-going relationship between organic and non-organic systems (ahh, english. in other words fusion of man plus machine?)
Using new technology (video and satellites), artists in the 1970's experimented with live performances and used networks, which anticipated our "streaming media" broadcasts of video and audio on the Internet today. They ranged from the use of satellites for mass dissemination of T.V. broadcasts, to video teleconferencing and exploration of real-time virtual space that collapsed geographical boundaries. Throughout 1970's artists, musicians, and dancers used interactive satellite transmissions of events and live feed composite performances.
In the 1970's and 80's, painters, sculptors, architects, printmakers, photographers, and video and performance artists increasingly experimented with computer imaging. Work ranged from object-oriented work to pieces that incorporated dynamic and interactive aspects(process-oriented virtual object). Expanding on Fluxus and conceptual art the work challenges traditional notions of artwork, audience, and artist. Artwork is an open structure in process, and relies on a constant flux of information and engages viewer/participant like a performance would.
Digital art collapses boundaries between disciplines-art, science, technology, and design. Science Fiction writers imagine things that compel recreation in reality. In Necromancer by William Gibson(pub. 1984), 'cyberspace' is coined to describe a data world and network that people experience as an organic information network. Also, Neal Stephenson's novel Snow Crash
inspires virtual spaces being created today.
In the late 1990's, Digital Art made its official entry into the art world in museums and galleries, and new exhibition spaces were devoted solely to the art form. Digital art is expensive to show, requires constant maintenance (what and why?), and therefore the success of an exhibit depends on the efforts of the institution to maintain it. Yet art created for the Internet does not need a museum, so should Internet access to art be in public places? or in private?(Internet art requires privacy over a long period of time-explain?) It should not be separated so it can be seen in context with traditional art?
The idea of collecting Digital art is problematic due to its availability to all. It can be sold if it consists mostly of software. If a museum collects it, it stays on view for all. ?????????
Digital art has been called ephemeral and unstable as it requires so much effort to maintain. Preservation strategies include emulators(you can recreate software or operation systems) and migration (upgrade to the next version of hardware/software). Preservation will require standardization. Will Digital art have a permanent home in museums and art institutions, or exist in different contexts?

Gregory Crewdson

Something about the light makes Crewdson's work look like paintings instead of photographs. He uses sharply controlled lighting, with a spotlight on one area, and the rest in shadows, which helps create a dramatic mood. In each of his works there is a frozen moment in an ongoing story. There is plenty of detail in the shadowed areas to help you figure out what came before, and what comes after. His use of large spaces with cool, dark colors, and figures that do not interact, add to a feeling of loneliness and isolation. The nude figues in many of his works seem like they indicate the vulnerability we feel when we open ourselves up to people, as well as when we take a good look at ourselves with open eyes.

Teun Hocks

Hocks seems like the opposite of Crewdson in his use of mostly warm, bright tones as opposed to Crewdson's cool, dark ones. With the warm colors and the playful look at the absudities of daily challenges, I can identify with the model, and see the humor in my own challenges. Hocks himself is the model, and I like that he always wears a business suit, while obviously not taking himself too seriously. Maybe we should all follow suit.

Jeff Wall

I see simple scenes of everyday life in Jeff's work. He sometimes uses sharply contrasting light and shadow, but the scenes feel somewhat unemotional and matter-of-fact. I like this one due to it's unexpected milk explosion that captures the unpredictable organic splash pattern of the milk. As in Crewdson's work, we don't see the model's faces much and they don't interact with each other, suggesting isolation.

Cindy Sherman

Her work is very theatrical. Like Hocks, she uses herself as a model, but in a much more serious way. Her controlled use of light adds to the feeling of carefully staged drama. Her portaits make me feel as if I am getting a sneak peak into a troubled, confused, and unhappy, yet glamorous, movie star. Many of the portaits are closely cropped to show the figure with little detail in the background, focusing all of your attention on the emotions of the model. It also makes it feel as if the model is trapped in some way, and permanenetly on display for all to see, even in her private moments.

Monet Son

This work by Monet appeals to me as I have visited Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, where they have re-created this work in 3-D outside. I like Monet's use of color and his brushstrokes, which suggest light and movement. He uses this style in many of his works. He captures very calm moments in time.

I am inspired by viewing various art forms by many different artists at Grounds for Sculpture, as the setting is peaceful and beautiful, with artfully designed hills and water features, and many species of creatively landscaped trees, plants, flowers, and fauna.