Digital Music

The synthesizer was quite a ground-breaking instrument for the music industry.  From what we viewed in class I would say that it was first introduced into the world by a bunch of nerdy guys.  This definitely turned the typical musician image upside down, changing a great deal about the music world alone.

Looking at the image I posted of a synthesizer above, makes my head hurt thinking about how to use all of the buttons and keys.  This is also a much older system, a lot less sophisticated than the synthesizers we use today.  How people are able to operate and create amazing musical pieces with this equipment is beyond me.  I am nervous enough as is about using programs like GarageBand for my own video art project.

Music is the core of so much in this world.  Especially relating to art music changes and defines everything.  Video art would not be where it is today without music, especially digital music.  None of the popular music we hear today would be the same without, that's for sure.

Video Art (Continued)

Video art is an interesting art form.  It's odd to see how seeming mistakes can create unique and creative art.  Effects like visually going out of focus and messing with sound quality can produce these works of art.  Video art is like watching a moving painting and interpreting what you see for yourself.  Distortions are a commodity in art and we definitely have seen many amazing examples of this during the last few days of class.

I found the videos we watched of "The Residents" to be particularly interesting and amusing.  Each song and video seemed to have very powerful statements and messages tied to them.  It was definitely experimental music and video.  They remind me slightly of the band "Gorillas" and how they are not about their own individual images, but more about the music and message they are sending.  True artists.

The Beginning of Video Art

Well I have to say that the video art pieces we watched today were not what I expected.  To be blunt, they were a little boring and juvenile.  "The Kiss" used the Paint Box program to draw doodles and what looked like finger paint drawings over the singers and in the background.  I found this extremely dull and repetitive in a way.  

Not to lie, but it was tough staying awake during the first few videos in class.  "Dave's Bike" was a similar film in my eyes to "The Kiss".  It seemed pointless and that the creation of it took little to no skill or talent.

One of the few videos that really caught my attention was the one by William Wegman and his infamous dogs.  I have one of his photography books and immediately recognized his work when it was shown on the screen.  I am an extreme animal lover, resulting in my devout vegetarianism, and Wegman's work is simply lovely.  It makes me happy and warms my heart.

Other than that, I was a little disappointed in what we saw today.  I understand that with each art form comes progress and has to start at the bottom, but these films were just too long and simplistic for me to understand.  I hope to see more progression in the future :)

Performance Art

My Performance Art Piece is titled "Blind with Technology", fitting for the lyrics to the song playing to the video.  When thinking about my relationship with technology the first thing that came to mind were cell phones.  It is rare to walk around this campus or anywhere else for that matter without seeing people talking, texting, or looking at their phones.  It has become a complete human dependancy.  I have sat in my dorm room and texted my neighbors regularly and talked on the phone to my friend who lives right below me for hours.  Why do I do this through an inanimate object instead of seeing these people who I love and care about face to face?  Cell phones have taken away our human identity.  We no longer look each other in the eye, we look at a phone.  

With this concept in mind I thought, why not put my friends in a costume where they are literally walking, living cell phones?  Why not film this and the interesting reactions given by other unknowing people around them?  Well here's my video depicting just that.  Hope you enjoy!

Oh ya and we did get kicked out of the mall for doing this...what a world we live in these days.

Cremaster Cycle

Matthew Barney's Cremaster Cycle pieces and exhibit were quite a different breed of art.  I find it very interesting that his work was displayed in the Guggenheim museum in New York.  I can't imagine seeing such work in a more conservative setting.  8 years to create the videos and sculptures seems like an insane amount of time, but Barney seems very satisfied and took the time to create the best work he could with his ideas.  

His reoccurring themes of ram horns and football goal posts to represent gender identification is very unique and fascinating.  A quote I found extremely poignant in the documentary was "the world is our prosthesis".  Definitely a quote to remember.

The Life and Death of a True Supermasochist

Bob Flanagan was quite a man.  I never really learned about or understood the masochistic world that is so hidden within our society before this class.  Although I find many of the things he did to be extremely disturbing and way too much for me to handle at times, I applaud his individuality and ability to do what made him feel whole and satisfied.  He also embraced his illness and long-lasting battle with Cystic Fibrosis and included this struggle within all aspects of his art and performance shows.  

What disturbed me more than all the gross mutilation he did to himself, were the photographs and videos his wife took of him while he was on his death bed along with after his death.  The images and final video moments were so powerful and heart wrenching.  His suffering and fear showed through his eyes in a way that was almost too real to watch.  I am amazed as to how she was able to document these time periods and images the way she did.  It almost makes it more disturbing and difficult to see knowing who took the pictures.

Sophie Calle was another artist who was extremely interesting to me.  I honestly wanted to run out and buy her book the second we were done with class and still plan on doing so.  She is unique in her visions of romance and all human relationships in general and lives her life in a very different way, one in which she has more control and power over.  Her photography is also powerful in context with her writing.  Her French-ness also bleeds into her artwork and personality in a way that I love, being French myself.  She is a romantic who sees the world through her own, very unique eyes.

The Walking Art Form

Two words... Leigh Bowery.

What a crazy, creative, unique, one of a kind, wild, boundary breaking, out of this world man.  The way he used fashion to make a plethora of strong statements and hardcore visual expressions is unlike anything I've ever seen or heard of.  The extent he went to use art through his clothes and body is truly astounding.  He was a "beautiful monster".  Leigh spit on cultural and fashion norms and embraced the bizarre and horrifying.  He used shock as he primary means of reaction through the public eye.  He loved to be seen and be the only one looking the way he did.  He was a neo-romantic who lived for beauty in the way he saw it.

He is definitely an innovator and I envy his ability to do what he wanted and not care about what anyone else thought.  He grabbed life by the balls and never let anyone fall in his path to self-expression.  Leigh was a character who acted his way through life.  My only concern for the life he led was how thin the line was between the real-Leigh and the art piece-Leigh.  When was it just an act and when was it reality?  Overall he was truly amazing and one of a kind, again unlike anyone or anything I have ever heard or seen before.

Flux Films & Performance Art

Well from what we've seen as performance art in this class thus far, I have to say it is all more than a little disturbing.  I get the significance and time-related importance of the pieces we viewed, but am still a little shocked by how far people are willing to take their bodies in the name of art.  A video that can't seem to leave my mind is "Expanding in Space" by Marina Abramovic.  It is so disturbing and yet fascinating at the same time.  I only wonder what effects the piece had on the performers after.

Chris Burden's "Shoot" film was also one that displays pain and endurance.  I found this one to be a little too ridiculous in my mind.  Just turn on the news or an action movie and you can see a man being shot in the arm any day.

Aside for all of these older performances and artists, the documentary "Beware Live Art" that we viewed gave a much easier side of performance art to watch.  This displayed art that is a little easier to understand and much less about hurting yourself, and more about showing endurance and making a statement out in the public eye, instead of in a theater or on just on film.

Stelarc, although a current performance artist, he is still one that chooses to work with pushing his body to harmful limits.  Using hooks to keep his body afloat or installing a third ear on his body just truly boggles my mind.  I think it is just taking it too far and asking for a lot of unnecessary attention.

Xerox Assignment

For my Xerox assignment I decided to use different images of my face and hands in a flip book-like interactive way.  I xeroxed 5 different expressions of my face using my eyes and mouth and then cut the image down the center horizontally, giving the viewer the ability to give my face different appearances with the flip of a page.  The same principles apply for my hands as well.  I also used highlighters to color my lips pink and my eyes blue, giving my project more contrast and life.  I hope you enjoy :)