The Beginning

Art Attendance Round Two: Arnold Hall is Dead

2008-05-20T00:42:00.000-07:00

Recently i performed in a presentation of the emails sent around campus about the public outcry to Arnold Hall's demolition. It was a form of Guerrilla Theatre where the turnaround from idea to performance is minimal. I have to admit that it surpassed my wildest expectations. I saw an outcome that Rich Gary predicted, but I had no faith in, and the mirth that rippled through the crowd every few lines surprised me too. Basically, it opened my eyes to a new way of performing current events for the campus, and showed me that Hartwick students can really get passionate about things.

The piece itself, as an organic thing, was impressive to watch come together (from an insider's point of view). We met twice and got very little direction before we brought it for the public. Basically, this entire show rested on our shoulders. Rich Gary let us know that, and so it was something that had to build up during the showm and off of one another. That sort of pressure was new, and I think we came together with it well. I think it's worth noting that the show was stil new to me when it went up, so I got to enjoy it almost as much as any member of the audience. Being a part of that buzz of "what's going to happen next?" just helped the culmination of the activity even more. I would do this again in a heartbeat.

Art Attendance Round One: Senior Thesees

2008-05-19T23:18:00.000-07:00

So I used to work in the Foreman gallery down in Anderson, so I was privy to all the exhibits that came to town. I have to say, though, that the most interesting exhibits were the senior projects. The first round was in the Gallery for a long time so I spent a long time staring at it. What stood out to me more than anything else were the individual messages provided by the artists. Despite the serious vision and time that obviously went into the amazing pieces around the gallery, it didn't seem like much effort was put into the exposition and explanation accompanying their works. I was most impressed by Chris Hausser, however, who created something he titled Stactel: a giant wooden creation of amorphous lumps hewn with a chainsaw and secured with Elmer's glue. His message was short and to the point. He laid out what his work meant to him and how he made it, and that was that. Some of the other artists, though, forged long, tedious, and rushed memos about their work.

Whenever I read these types of works, I construct the scene in my head of this person reading their explanation to me through their tone of voice. Basically, a poorly written exposition is one where the camera recording their scene is focused on the top of the person's head and has focusing problems (the camera keeps trying to focus the right amount on the scene- I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about). The point is that it just seems poorly done. But when someone does it well, I see the person is in full view and even in an interesting shot. Of all the things to notice, I know that this is something weird to notice and comment on, but I feel that if a statement accompanies a product of a semester of work (or more) that it should flow as smoothly as the art piece itself.

2008-05-19T23:17:00.001-07:00

And my former background,

20. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0804/orionwitch_guisard_big.jpg

2008-05-19T23:16:00.001-07:00

19. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0804/lmcdeepwide_beletsky_big.jpg

2008-05-19T23:15:00.000-07:00

18. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0804/moon15h_laveder.jpg

Try and find the moon.

2008-05-19T23:14:00.004-07:00

17. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0804/skydelights_heden_big.jpg

2008-05-19T23:14:00.003-07:00

16. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0804/Marathon8_abolfath.jpg

2008-05-19T23:14:00.001-07:00

15. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0804/foxfur_cfht.jpg

2008-05-19T23:13:00.000-07:00

14. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0804/LuneVenusMK_brunier.jpg

2008-05-19T23:06:00.002-07:00

13. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0804/M86HR_Morgan.jpg

2008-05-19T23:06:00.001-07:00

12. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0804/Tarantulamosaic_gendler.jpg

2008-05-19T23:05:00.002-07:00

11. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0804/ngc3582_noao_big.jpg

2008-05-19T23:05:00.001-07:00

10. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0805/OmegaCen_spitzer.jpg

2008-05-19T22:53:00.000-07:00

9. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0805/NGC6188_ebersole.jpg

2008-05-19T22:51:00.000-07:00

8. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap010408.html

Total Solar eclipse!

2008-05-19T22:49:00.000-07:00

7. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0805/ngc3256_hst_big.jpg

Colliding Galaxies!

2008-05-19T22:48:00.000-07:00

6. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0805/DarktowerL_gendler.jpg

2008-05-19T22:47:00.002-07:00

5. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0805/Triplets_zubenel_n.jpg

(I can't get over the fact that every single one of those dots is at least a star... every single one!!

2008-05-19T22:47:00.001-07:00

4. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0805/retrogrademars_tezel_big.jpg

2008-05-19T22:45:00.000-07:00

3. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0805/m81deep_gallego_big.jpg

2008-05-19T22:44:00.000-07:00

2. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0805/soyuzdock_iss16_big.jpg

Mayday, mayday!

2008-05-19T22:33:00.000-07:00

So I realized that I've been lax on keeping this blog updated consistently. So here is my furious, last-ditch effort to make up my irresponsibilities. And I figured that if I'm going to do it, I should do it spectacularly. And what's more spectacular than the universe? So my final act for this class is (in addition to the two art exhibit reviews) is to post the best pictures of the day of the Universe that I can find.

1.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0805/NaturalSpirals.jpg

Garfield Minus Garield

2008-03-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

So, going back to the thread I started a few weeks ago, I bring up Garfield Minus Garfield. This strip is relatively new (February of ought 8) and relatively spectacularly hilarious. There's not much else to say other than look at this and experience it. Trying it out on your own is equally powerful.

http://garfieldminusgarfield.tumblr.com/

What ever happened to the mix-cd?

2008-03-18T05:43:00.000-07:00

I wasn't really a huge part of the "Mix CD Movement" when I was a kid. I sort of caught the tail end of it, but by the time I was of an age to appreciate it, everyone had moved into the ultra-digital age. Recently, though, I swapped CDs with a good friend of mine. I gave her some excellent music and she gave me some excellent music. It was awesome. We rock out to each other's music now. But this swapping only happens once in a long while. Back in the day though, it was like a greeting card, and I guess people passed them out like crazy. I can see how they phased out, actually. The digital music phenomenon (at least with iTunes music copyright crazyness) makes it less convenient to swap bits of music. I suppose then that it makes these occurrences all the more special. Ah well. Maybe next phenomenon I'll be all-up-ons.

Perfect Stars

2008-03-17T16:24:00.000-07:00

This comic is a part of Koala Wallop, a congrgate of comics that all kind of like each other. Actually, I don't understand those sorts of comic aggregates, but the point is that Perfect Stars is a part of it.

Perfect Stars has a very whimiscal quality to it. There is a general narative that the comics follow (kinda) and the flow is emphasized more top to bottom than left to right. I feel like the comic is up its own ass with its arty-ness, but generally I love it.

More than anything else this comic is unique. The art style is as bizzare as the words, and it all comes together into a very sick package.

(first comic NSFW)

http://www.perfectstars.com/

Dresden Codak

2008-03-11T05:44:00.000-07:00

The most specialized of all the comics, Dresden Codak is vying for my favorite-favorite comic. It is currently in the throes of an epic series, titled simply "hob," which follows the recurring protagonist of most of his comics, Kimiko Ross. I hate giving stories away so I won't say anything about the plot, but it deals with trans-humanism and other pretty geeky things. Aaron Diaz, the creator, is a very talented caroon artist. His work is done mostly on the computer and.. well, it's really exciting if you're into that kind of thing.

http://www.dresdencodak.com/

Dinosaur Comics

2008-03-11T05:39:00.000-07:00

Click on over to www.qwantz.com and you will be greeted to Dinosaur Comics. This site uses the same clipart for every comic with different words every day. Sounds awful, right? Well, not if it's done correctly, and this is definately done correctly. I don't know how it works, but the creator (who's name escapes me) is very funny. This comic is actually in some sort of co-op with the two previous comics, and they have a collected forum called "Truth and Beauty Bombs" (as inspired by this comic from asw http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=26). Very witty, very silly, dinosuar comics is sure to get a laugh at least once in a while. It is the most frequently updated of all the comics I frequent, so I fall behind pretty regularly. But good stuff, generally.

A Softer World

2008-03-11T05:31:00.000-07:00

I don't remember how I stumbled upon A softer World but I did.. and it's wonderful. There are two authors. One, Emily, takes a photograph (or several) and Joey, her friend, puts up text that goes with them. Sometimes it's a story, sometime just poignant thoughts, but it's almost always high quality. This site is best left explored by the adventerous, so sally forth and deal.

http://www.asofterworld.com/

It's also a really good idea to read the little blurbs that the authors post underneath the comics. Joey updates about four times as regularly than Emily, and he has a lot of interesting things to say. So go there. Now.

XKCD

2008-03-11T05:15:00.000-07:00

Today marks a day where each post deals with a web-comic-favorite of mine. I went through a phase last summer (the summer leading up to senior year of highschool) where I just wanted to find a bunch of things on the internet (in their relative infancy) that I could continually check up on and, of course, thought were amazing. These are the ones I check as often

To start things off, I mention "xkcd." The word itself is meaningless, as an unpronoucable word made by the creator in his youth. But the comic itself is inspiring (sometimes). It's "a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math and language." It also pretty much speaks for itself. Here are some of my favorites:

http://www.xkcd.com/385/

http://www.xkcd.com/374/

http://www.xkcd.com/150/

http://xkcd.com/96/

This site is really good so explore it and.. well, read them all. You won't regret it.

Facebook

2008-03-02T21:14:00.000-08:00

I was going to type up a long drawn-out post about how dependent I am on Facebook and how disapponted I am with that fact, but I decided this song would be better:

Also:

Tim and Eric

2008-03-02T20:55:00.000-08:00

Okay, so, I'm kind of obsessed with Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job, a 15 minute show featured on Adult Swim. Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim are geniuses. I'll just say that.

First, Dr. Steve Brule.

Casey Tatum

Alternative Art

2008-03-02T20:48:00.000-08:00

As if it were an omen, I went to YouTube not thirty seconds after I posted my last note and saw this:

And don't forget the 1957 German film by the same name:

Pennies

2008-03-02T20:47:00.000-08:00

So, for those of you who don’t know, I cut pennies. There’s no hidden meaning there or anything, it’s just my hobby. I use magic to separate various copper particles from a penny, and in the process make them look like… well… I haven’t really decided what they look like. The point is that I started doing it this summer and I’m getting better at it. Over the course of this ‘project,’ I’ve undergone a few of what I like to call paradigm shifts. I mean that I discover something that revolutionizes the art form in some way. The first paradigm shift was that the copper curls in different degrees depending on how much you were cutting, and the most recent is that I can attach them to one another. Actually, I can attach them in two ways (this is exciting). But the reason I mention this is because of the class that this entry is for. Digital Art and Design (Art 213). On the surface, this class looks like it’s about Photoshop, but in reality it’s about looking at things in a different way and saying, “well, what if it was this way?” Or, “is this really the truth?” So this alternative art form that is becoming a passion of mine (and the cause of carpal tunnel syndrome), seems like the perfect way to open the blog assignment for this class (almost two weeks late, but hey, I’m very particular about what I put on the internet for the world to see)

Everyone sees pennies every day, and most people are willing to discard them without a second thought. But there’s something hidden underneath the surface of the penny that makes them incredibly cool. I only cut pennies made from 1982 or earlier because that’s the last year they were made completely out of copper. The oldest penny I’ve split is from 1959. That’s older than probably half of my friends’ parents. I digress; the outside is a little faded and worn, but when you open them up, that is, cut them, the shine like they just came from the mint. This formation of the copper is older than I am, but with a simple movement of my hand, I expose something that’s been locked away for almost fifty years, that looks like it did the day it was cast. And, oh yeah, these things look stunning.

The sculptures are growing. I have three sculptures made with two or three pennies “tied” together, and three sculptures made with at least six. I also have around thirty that are just single pennies, from before I could connect them. There are also ones spread throughout my extended family, I’m not sure how many. None of them look much like anything concrete, but they flow in a way that makes them look like abstract ideas. I have one that looks like celebration, one that looks like growth, etc. I have accumulated around 85 uncut pennies in my possession that should double my collection. Barring a crippling muscle stupidity, they will all get cut. But, as is probably evident in my jumping around from topic to topic, I have currently exhausted my thoughts in this right now. I’ll post some pictures once I gain access to a digital camera and am 100% certain this isn’t illegal (I’m hoping this is no different than those smooshed pennies you pay fifty cents for at Six Flags or something). Let’s see if this doesn’t get interesting.