Video Art

Hatsune Miku

Hatsune Miku is a 3D animated character in Japan that sings artificial music created in a singing software. I think actually animating the character is pretty cool, something I might be interested in. But as to paying to listen to her, I don't think so. There are people who are willing to pay a ton of money to see her live in concert. The ironic thing is that she is not actually "live", and that they only payed to see a dancing cartoon. It's kind of pathetic if you ask me. 

Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk was a German band during the 1970's that essentially kicked off the use of electronic instruments. They used instruments like the vocoder to express a contrast between the electronic world and the human world, which was basically all in one. They are influential to many electronic artists today.

Scopitones

Scopitones are essentially the prototypes of what we see of music videos today. It's almost like a visual representation of a performance from a boombox (if that makes any sense). They feature a singer on a stage or in front of a musical backdrop that last only about 3 minutes.

Performance Art Piece

Flash Mob

Eva & Adele

Eva and Adele are a married couple who live as performance artists. They can be described as one unison masterpiece, even though they are two separate people. They are a man and a woman (even though legally the man is considered a woman) who both put tons of makeup on, shave their heads, and dress the same. Their claim is that they are from the future and rarely talk about their past history before the transformation. They both attend huge art receptions in their full performance attire.They remind me of the Observers in the TV show Fringe, who show up at random times at crucial events throughout the show, even though they are not the primary focus.



                                                                      Eva and Adele

                                                                       Observer

Homeless Tunnel Scene

Another 3D scene I'm working on

Iconoclastic

Iconoclasm is used to describe the destruction of significant icons throughout history, usually religious based, to represent a specific movement or ideology. It is a means to revolutionize classical icons and give them different and powerful meanings, so as to evolve our way of thinking. I believe this will become crucial in the future when it becomes necessary to let go of our religious ideals, which has always been holding us down from progressing in human rights and freedoms.

Tornado Scene Completed!

Done with the rendering of my tornado scene. Doesn't look good on here, but looks great on the blue-ray!

Joseph Beuys

Beuys was a German artist known for his performance art. Most of his works were politically driven. An example of his work was when he trapped himself inside a Gallery with a coyote, blankets, flashlight and a cane, which was supposed to give personification to our political system. His abstract acts let the viewer personalize themselves in a way that was unique at the time. Beuys believes that he is a guardian/shaman that enlightens the art world with his performances.

Brion Gysin

Brion is a "cut up" writer, which means he takes fragments from normal written works and pieces them together to create a new unique written piece. In 1961, he created the Dreamachine. It was a cylinder shaped object that had small slips around. The cylinder is then placed on a turntable and spun at a specific rate. The viewer would usually face the cylinder with their eyes closed. the effect was that the viewer would see specific light patterns that create images and sometimes different colors.

Scary Hall Complete!

Finally done with my scary hall.

"Medvetslosa Atanke"

This piece is a collage of some of my drawings in many of the notebooks I used for the last few years. They represent my dreams, nightmares, and oddities of my imagination. There are a few even that I don't recall drawing, as if my subconscious dictated what was being depicted. The piece is called "Medvetslosa Atanke" which is Swedish for "Unconscious Mind". I will be displaying this in my Senior Showcase.

Bauhaus

Bauhaus was both a movement in art history and a school, which taught this movement. The movement was the venture in crafting art, literally and contextually. The school with the same name was founded by Walter Gropius in 1919 and was closed in 1933 when pressure from the Nazis forced them to change their ideals. Bauhaus in general was a major step forward in modern art, expanding the horizons on what objects and buildings were considered to be usable in normal society and art of the same nature. The movement had a major impact of typography, building design, and other forms of creativity throughout industrial life. One aspect of this movement that was essential was the notion that everything built here was to benefit what was to come.

McCarthyism

McCarthyism is a practice of making wild assumptions and accusations of disloyalty, treason, and espionage. This term was used during the Second Red Scare in the 1950's, where people were constantly accused of being Communist spies. REPUBLICAN Senator Joseph McCarthy started this movement. This is no surprise that the Republicans were this nutty. If anything, what we see today with the war in Iraq, Afghanistan and Republicans stereotyping Islamic people, echos what happened during the 1950's, even though back then the Red Scare was a significantly larger issue.

Have the Lambs Stopped Screaming?

My grid art project, Dr. Hannibal Lector.

I used different colored pictures of a lamb to create it.

 

The original photo is below.

 

Dada Manifesto

     Dada is a new tendency in art. One can tell this from the fact that until now nobody knew anything about it, and tomorrow everyone in Zurich will be talking about it. Dada comes from the dictionary. It is terribly simple. In French it means "hobby horse". In German it means "good-bye", "Get off my back", "Be seeing you sometime". In Romanian: "Yes, indeed, you are right, that's it. But of course, yes, definitely, right". And so forth.
     An International word. Just a word, and the word a movement. Very easy to understand. Quite terribly simple. To make of it an artistic tendency must mean that one is anticipating complications. Dada psychology, dada Germany cum indigestion and fog paroxysm, dada literature, dada bourgeoisie, and yourselves, honoured poets, who are always writing with words but never writing the word itself, who are always writing around the actual point. Dada world war without end, dada revolution without beginning, dada, you friends and also-poets, esteemed sirs, manufacturers, and evangelists. Dada Tzara, dada Huelsenbeck, dada m'dada, dada m'dada dada mhm, dada dera dada, dada Hue, dada Tza.
      How does one achieve eternal bliss? By saying dada. How does one become famous? By saying dada. With a noble gesture and delicate propriety. Till one goes crazy. Till one loses consciousness. How can one get rid of everything that smacks of journalism, worms, everything nice and right, blinkered, moralistic, europeanised, enervated? By saying dada. Dada is the world soul, dada is the pawnshop. Dada is the world's best lily-milk soap. Dada Mr Rubiner, dada Mr Korrodi. Dada Mr Anastasius Lilienstein. In plain language: the hospitality of the Swiss is something to be profoundly appreciated. And in questions of aesthetics the key is quality.
       I shall be reading poems that are meant to dispense with conventional language, no less, and to have done with it. Dada Johann Fuchsgang Goethe. Dada Stendhal. Dada Dalai Lama, Buddha, Bible, and Nietzsche. Dada m'dada. Dada mhm dada da. It's a question of connections, and of loosening them up a bit to start with. I don't want words that other people have invented. All the words are other people's inventions. I want my own stuff, my own rhythm, and vowels and consonants too, matching the rhythm and all my own. If this pulsation is seven yards long, I want words for it that are seven yards long. Mr Schulz's words are only two and a half centimetres long.
       It will serve to show how articulated language comes into being. I let the vowels fool around. I let the vowels quite simply occur, as a cat meows . . . Words emerge, shoulders of words, legs, arms, hands of words. Au, oi, uh. One shouldn't let too many words out. A line of poetry is a chance to get rid of all the filth that clings to this accursed language, as if put there by stockbrokers' hands, hands worn smooth by coins. I want the word where it ends and begins. Dada is the heart of words.
       Each thing has its word, but the word has become a thing by itself. Why shouldn't I find it? Why can't a tree be called Pluplusch, and Pluplubasch when it has been raining? The word, the word, the word outside your domain, your stuffiness, this laughable impotence, your stupendous smugness, outside all the parrotry of your self-evident limitedness. The word, gentlemen, is a public concern of the first importance.

Video Games and Bullying

Most parents feel that bullying has a direct tie to video games (mostly violent ones). this is iffy in my opinion. Yes, some video games contain violence that the player has total control over, but whether kids use their virtual experience as a stepping stone for real life violence and bullying is debatable. According to Harvard Health Publications, "Most youths are not effected by violent video games." As a gamer myself, who plays most of the violent gun games out on the market, I naturally know what is reality and fantasy. This is the case with 95% of the gamers out there. Bullying seems to have a more direct connection to the person's inner conflicts at home, whether it's an abusive family or just lacking something that makes them feel inferior. Video games might slightly elevate these inner conflicts, but are not the direct and only cause for bullying and real life violence.

More 3D Work

This is something I'm working on. I'm in the Halloween spirit. =]

Adobe

Adobe originally started off by creating fonts and software that could be compatible with it. Before their relationship with the Apple company, they were rivals in the font race. Eventually with the creation of graphic computers, Adobe made a program called Adobe Illustrator, which used vector shapes to create higher quality objects and pictures. This program was later used on the Apple computer, which they agreed on. A milestone occurred for both companies with the creation of Adobe Photoshop. This pioneered the evolution of graphic arts, and gave Adobe an upswing in the computer business. Eventually Adobe created a long line of software that make it one of the top companies today.

Why Apple?

The main reason behind the company name was because of an experience Steve Jobs had when he worked on an apple farm before opening the computer company. He wanted to name it something simple that everyone can identify with. Something that I knew before making this blog, was that the original logo for the company was to be an apple falling from a tree onto Issac Newton's head.

3D Cartoon Character in Progress.

What I am working on for Senior Showcase.

Raymond Kurzweil

  Raymond is an author, inventor and futurist. He is involved in fields such as optical character recognition, text to speech innovation, speech recognition inventions, and development of electronic keyboard instruments. He is also a big fan of life extension theories, so big that when he dies, he wants his body to be chemically preserved (frozen in liquid nitrogen) so that one day in the future, the technology could revive him. There are a lot of theories of his that are quite interesting, and then there are some which are a little too outside the box. He believes that one day in the future all humans will be able to live forever, using a ton of technology to do so.

War Of The Worlds/Listening to the Broadcast

Orson Welles broadcasted the story of War Of The Worlds as an experiment on the radio. No one truly realized the impact that this would have on the people, and the panic that it sent everywhere. Some people believed that aliens were attacking them, some believe that they saw spaceships in the sky. When asked why the broadcast was sent, Orson Welles apologised and said that it all was a joke. He realized that more people actually believed everything this "magic box" spoke, and wanted to see if people would believe that an alien attack was occurring if spoken from the magic box. It turned out sour for those who believed. Even weeks after the initial broadcast, firefighters and police officers were heading into the woods and mountains to tell the hiding people that there was no attack. This is what power the radio had during that time period.

After listening to the entire broadcast myself, I can fully understand why people would panic the way they did when it first aired. The first half an hour was a non stop commercial free intro for the story. It made it seem realistic, thus creating the illusion of a realistic alien attack. It reminded me of the broadcasts I heard on 9/11. I remember being picked up early from school, because I live on Long Island, and we had no idea what was going on. On the way home I heard the live coverage in the city via radio, and I could hear the screams and fire/police trucks in the background. It scared the crap out of me, and that's what I felt when I heard War Of The Worlds.

Artist Takes Every Drug Known to Man, Draws Self Portraits After Each Use

Absolutely brilliant!

http://cultso.com/artist-takes-every-drug-known-to-man-draws-self-portraits-after-each-use/

Earthquake

I asked my parents if they ever seen this movie, and both of them did. My father along with his four older sisters and younger brother went to see it together. My dad and uncle loved it, and my aunts were freaked out by the big booming sounds. My mother saw it with some of her friends, and they all freaked out. My mom claims this movie is the reason she doesn't like action/violent movies today. My dad says the movie is the reason he loves action/violent movies today. So as you can see, there was a big impact towards society back then when this movie first came out.

Wendy Carlos

 Wendy (Walter) was one of the first people to create music purely from converted synthesized sounds. She is famous for producing the music for Stanley Kubrik's films. She created the Moog Synthesizer, which was used to re-create an eerie version of the Ninth Symphony in A Clockwork Orange as well as the obscure music for The Shining. She also used a device called the spectrum follower, which recreated the sounds of musical instruments as artificial voice waves. I believe that her music influenced the dark tone of both Kubrick movies, and gave them both a unique sense of style during the 70's.

Singin' in the Rain

In the movie, A Clockwork Orange, the main character Alex sings Singin' in the Rain during a vicious rape scene near the beginning of the movie. The reason behind this usage of a cheerful song in contrast to the ultra-violence depicted was left unclear throughout the movie. Some speculated that it was used last minute to heighten the drama during the scene. It did prove to be useful however when Alex returned to the same house after his rehabilitation. He started whistling the tune while taking a bath, and the man who lives there suddenly remembered the attack. Some also believed it to be a metaphor for Alex's state of mind when committing ultra-violence. I don't agree with that, because I believe Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was the metaphor for Alex, not Singin'. Either way, using such a mood lifting tune for this violent movie was nothing short of genius. Whenever I hear that song, I immediately think of this movie. That is what I think they were aiming for.

Technicolor

    

    The history behind the revolutionary technicolor motion pictures was nothing short of astonishing. When it first began, the movie industry filmed a shot twice simultaneously using red and green filters. Then, they would take the colored strips and burn them into black and white film, overlapping each other. This was called the additive process. Eventually, the industry realized that there was a limitation using the additive process, and thus explored into the subtractive process using red, green and blue filters. This ended up producing a wider range of colors and did not require special color reels or processing equipment, and thus became the movie industry standard.
    One problem with technicolor was that it was expensive to produce, thus only large companies at the time had the money and resources to produce it. Also, it required a ton more lighting in order to catch images, so the sets were always very hot, and the electric bills were very expensive. The Walt Disney Company became one of the firsts to use technicolor, evident in their first animated movie, Snow White. Eventually, other movie studios were able to afford technicolor, and movies such as The Wizard of Oz and Singin' in the Rain were created.  It was definitely a stepping stone in the movie industry, and paved the way towards digital movie productions later in the future. 

Rosebud

In the movie "Citizen Kane" the primary character played by the late Orson Welles dies at the beginning of the movie. His last word before he dies is "rosebud". According to my research, the meaning of the word rosebud is that it was the name of the main character's red sled, seen near the end of the movie when it was burned. It is not only the name of his sled, it holds a bigger meaning, which is left to the audience to decide for themselves. I personally see the rosebud to be a metaphor for growing up, and the end of innocence. This was very evident in the movie. Also in the movie we see variations in camera angles as well as different forms of lighting that express the tone of individual scenes. The beginning sequence also reminds me of another movie that I love, "Memento". In this movie we start at the very end and go backwards in the time line to see what lead up to that point. I wish more modern psychological movies do this, rather than go with corny subplots that usually never make sense.

Character 3D Modeling

A character I'm working on.

South Park and Broadway

This is so hilarious, and true when it comes to the shows of today.

Napoleon 1927

Although there isn't much out there on YouTube that shows how groundbreaking this film is, I can tell you from what I saw, this is definitely legendary. From what seems to be underwater scenes to splitting the screen into 3 panels at the climax of the film, this movie drove the industry forward. This film broke the barrier of glorious battle movies, and showed the hardship and emotional truth of what war really was. It is unfortunate that there isn't much out there. I wish I could see the whole thing rather than bits and pieces.

The Great Train Robbery

"The Great Train Robbery", out of all the silent movies I have seen in class so far, was the most thrilling. I'm not exactly sure if this was the first action/thriller created, but it definitely was the best thus far. You also see for the first time the illusion of a constantly moving set (the train) on a grand scale, which wasn't properly done yet at the time. We already have seen the use of early color in the movie, but I feel the mix between the black and white, and the specific colors for the women's dresses and gun smoke were vital in dramatizing the scenes. Also, at the end where the robber breaks the fourth wall and shoots his gun at the camera, I thought this was ingenious. Not only was it sending a clear message to the audience about the life of crime, but it also makes the movie an interactive piece. That scene definitely reminds me of the end of the movie "Goodfellas", where Joe Pesci shoots his gun at the camera. It is the exact same message, from a different time period and a different scenario.

Fox and Friends Trolled

This kid is the man! this is what he said after the interview:

Rice said that the opportunity to go on national television “kind of fell into my lap” when “a friend of a friend” got a text message asking if anyone knew a recent college graduate who can’t get a job and is voting for Mitt Romney. “I’m like, hell yeah I’m a college graduate. Eff Obama!” he said. “20 emails later with the producer at Fox, they’re telling me what to say. It’s such bullshit. It’s so ridiculous.”

Rice told Raw Story that he in fact dropped out of college, but lied to Fox News about it just to see if they’d do their homework.

“The first thing that shocked me is that they were that desperate to find someone that fit that category,” he added. “What they were seeking is someone who voted for Obama in 2008, then somewhere in the last four years got disenfranchised and now is a huge Romney supporter…They were so happy that I fit the mold and that I was Caucasian,” he continued. “They were just casting a part in a show. They were so stupid. I’m a kid messing around.”

A Trip To The Moon

For a far fetch fantasy, this movie is quite outstanding. There are a ton of breakthroughs when it comes to the plot of the movie. For the first time in cinema history, there is a clear beginning, climatic middle, and a satisfying conclusion. Also, this movie made some breakthroughs when it comes to editing, or what Georges Melies calls "Illusion Magic". You see for the very first time the use of effective overlays and transitions, which during those days could be considered true illusion. In the fantasy movie "Hugo", Georges Melies is portrayed by the great Ben Kingsley, which I find outstanding. In it, Georges is depressed about his life, and how the world didn't need his movies in order to move along through life, and so he put them away, intending to never speak of them again. In the end, the main character Hugo influences Georges to find his old movies and once again demonstrate their uniqueness to the world. I loved "Hugo" and hope a lot of other people feel the same way.

Technology on Broadway

1) Crazy for You: "I Can't Be Bothered Now"

Just the fact that the dancers pull off the jammed packed clown car illusion had me. I thought that was amazing for the Tony Awards.


2) Peter Pan "I'm Flying"

I saw the original production of Cathy Rigby's Peter Pan when I was around 10 years old. I always thought that the flying was the most amazing part of the show, even though now I see that it looks a little silly to see a 60 year old woman swaying back and forth in the air.


3) Tony Awards 2012 Opening Number

Although this opening number was a poke fun at the actual mechanics and technology that the theater produces, it was still funny and amusing.


4) Nice Work If You Can Get It

I like the scene change from the streets to the club. It demonstrates quick scene change, which is essential on Broadway today. I'm not a fan of the show, although I can see why some people might.


5) Porgy and Bess

Being an artist, I find color to be a great way to demonstrate the mood of the scene. This is exactly what happens in this show. It went from a dull yellow, which I find sad and depressing, to a bright blue and white, which to me is cheery and nice. This was always essential and still is in a show on Broadway.


6) Evita

I love the set design for this show. I think this is crucial for a show like this, as it demonstrates once again the tone and mood for the act.


7) The Apple Tree

The costume design stood out for me in this excerpt. Although not a crucial aspect to the mechanics of Broadway it still demonstrates the personality of the characters, which is needed for a show.

Wicked Mechanics

The smash hit, Wicked, demonstrates some of the most unique and original technology I have ever seen on a Broadway show. I'm use to the simple mechanics of shows like Showboat, or even the Sound of Music, because of the simplicity of the story. Wicked however needs to show the audience that Oz is magical. As we all know from magic performances by Penn and Teller or even Houdini, the illusion of magic is one of the most technically difficult medias to perform. Wicked, even though is not a magic show, requires some of the same illusions and pieces of equipment. For example, I found the technology behind the Wizard of Oz's head to be fascinating. They use bicycle brakes to open and close the mouth of the head, along with the movement of the eyes. Also, they use a base drum pedal to move the eyebrows of the head as well. Another piece of technology I found interesting was the bat wings of the flying monkeys. I didn't realize how many artists it took to design this piece of cloth, just to only express the opening of the wings maybe once in the show. They designed a harness that goes around the actor, and attached a string that the actor pulls to spread the wings out. I thought the whole process in creating the wings was fantastic.

History of Jazz

The influence of Jazz began with the formation of ragtime, which was an organized form of African American folk songs developed in the late 1800's and remained popular until the 1920's. It evolved into Jazz when ragtime styled music combined with European instruments. The Blues is considered another form of Jazz.

Maya 2013 3D Animation Work

Some Snapshots of what I'm working on for Senior Showcase.

Madama Butterfly

What a beautiful piece of animation. At first this reminded me of one of my favorite musicals, South Pacific, of which a similar romance can be seen. I thought the use of two different types of dolls (Barbie and Japanese butterfly doll) exemplifies the stereotypical differences between the Americans and Japanese, and how the clashing cultures don't particularly mix with each other well. The suicide of the butterfly doll was much more pleasing and wonderful to witness, rather than the original suicide in the Opera. It gave it metaphorical purpose to the ending.

First Impression

I'm a Senior Digital Arts Major born and raised on Long Island, New York. My dream is to become an Animator for the Disney company, specifically Pixar. I love to golf, run, swim, play video games and chill with friends. My first impression of the class was really not much, because I wasn't sure what exactly we would be learning. I'm not a fan of 2 hour lectures, I need to be doing something hands on like working on projects. I know Santiago, and I had him as a professor from a previous class last semester. If this class is anything like that one, it will be intense but equally educational and fun. I'm expecting some great projects to add to my portfolio, even my Senior Showcase.