For my video art piece I designed a flash program that displayed 26 videos that were specially cropped to resemble a skull. I was inspired by Damien Hirst's diamond incrusted skull. I was also referencing some grid art elements as well.
It was painstaking to place each video, but I think the final work was very interesting.
I was originally inspired to do this performance art piece because of a video I saw years ago. In this video, the artist attached a camera to a balloon and viewed himself through video goggles. The point behind it was that he was experimenting with the idea of a soul and what it would be like to see yourself through your following soul.
I liked this idea and wanted to view the world through the lens of technology. I connected my two iPhones via Bluetooth which allowed me to look at the world through the iPhone's point of view. This was one of my favorite projects to create and perform and it taught me that maybe in our world, there needs more humanity and maybe less computers!
It's not surprising that Paul Allen is coming forth in his memoir saying that Microsoft's game plan was to emulate the competition. This idea was mentioned in the documentary, "Revenge of the Nerds" when Steve Jobs mentioned this same sentiment when competing with Bill Gates and company.
"[The competition] can be taken. But the only way we're going to take them is to study them, know what they know, do what they do, watch them, watch them, watch them. Look for every angle, stay on their shoulders, clone them, take every one of their good ideas and make it one of our good ideas."
- Steve Ballmer
While most people would look down on this type of strategy, I think it is actually necessary. If you think about it, if a company is copied in their work, they will be angry. When this anger passes, I think they would be motivated to rise above their competition to be better than them. With this, innovation is born. With this, companies are able to grow and evolve, which is always a good thing.
While this is fine and well, it would be nice to see some original creative content from one of the biggest companies in the world!
The original by Beethoven is rumored to have been written for one of his female pupils. In German it translates to "for Elise". It is said he gave it to her because she was struggling with learning piano, so he composed something easy for her to start out on.
Nas samples Beethoven's "Fur Elise" in this song. I think he chose this sample because of the idea that "Fur Elise" is a beginner's song, but if you keep with it you can achieve even more. I say this because, the beginning of Beethoven's piece is very simple, but it progressively gets harder. I think this is a metaphor for living in harsh living conditions, which Nas raps about. Overall, the message is positive, which I think plays into what the original song's story represents.
Tears For Fears - "Mad World" (Original)
In this heavily synthesized song, the band touches on looking out at the craziness of the world through the eyes of a youth.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_world
Gary Jules - "Mad World"
In this remade version, Gary Jules strips most of the accompaniment down and leaves the track bare, with only a little bit of voice modulation in some parts. I think this makes the track more poignant and compelling, allowing you to really focus on what's being said. They most likely used this track to represent the whirlwind and random nature of the world. If you think about it, in 2001, there were a lot of things happening that made the world seem like it was "mad".
Smokey Robinson - "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" (Original)
Smokey Robinson's "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" asks the obvious, will you love me? It's a love song about longing for someone's affection. As the song progresses, the singer seems to be more and more paranoid with the fact that their lover will leave them.
KanYe West - "Devil in a New Dress"
KanYe West's song is a more modern take on love and relationships. He quips about the fickleness of a female, and how they argue because of petty things. There's a sense that he is wondering if she'll leave him tomorrow, and that's a direct relationship to the meaning of Smokey Robinson's song. He definitely choose this sample because of what it represents, and that is the soul of a relationship. I believe that maybe he modified and changed the sample because he wanted to portray the fact that there is still this type of soul in relationships, but it's different from old soul.
For my Xerox project, I wanted to focus on my identity. I decided that I would scan all those things that made me up. For instance, if you have known me for a decent amount of time you would come to recognize the fact that I only chew one type of gum, or that I have used the same cologne for years, or that I love my iPhone and Xbox. Then I decided to place these constituent parts together in such a way that seemed to reflect a perfect symmetry. This is because I am always striving for perfection, but even if I don't achieve it, there will always be beauty in trying. I decided to keep it black and white, because I thought it gave it this "yin and yang" appeal. Finally, I covered the majority of my face because it would challenge a viewer to guess who it is, but it becomes easy once you clue into the surrounding prints.
Leigh Bowery was an Australian artist that blew the doors off the art world in the 1980s and 90s. To call him just an artist would be the undersell of the year. He was a man of many talents that resonate and influence to this day. A lot of Bowery's work seems rooted in the idea of fashion. In the beginning, he just seemed like and advant-garde fashion designer that was taking shots from critics on the front lines for his progressive designs.
His area of effect was so large that he influenced a whole generation of people. These were called 'The New Romantics', which were a generation of young people/club kids that dressed in a crazy and expressive manner. They are kind of reminiscent of what some people might call "ravers", in the way that they dress in a seemingly bizarre way to portray their varying personalities.
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One of Leigh Bowery's most famous works is his performance at the Anthony d'Offay gallery. In this performance, he was the piece of art. From a surface perspective, he basically sat on an old slab of furniture whilst wearing regalia that expressed his signature style. He was behind a one-sided mirror that allowed the audience to view his actions, but not the other way around. He could be seen preening and primping.
For me, it seems like an odd exhibit, but I have to praise Bowery's dedication to character. He has such a distinct way of presenting himself, and he's very consistent. That's why I can view him as an artist. It reminds me of Orlan in the way that he is presenting this unique persona, but instead of using plastic surgery, he is using his forward thinking fashion sense. Unfortunately, he passed away in 1994 from AIDS, which he kept secret until his death. While he is physically gone, his body of work still inspires artists around the world.
Orlan is a French artist who began her art legacy by introducing the idea that the artist can be the art work. Some of her earlier work showed her posing with a physical frame, where her face and body appeared to be the "art work". Later on she began wearing masks and posing as if she was a sculpture. There seemed to always be this underlying idea that changing some small details of the physicality of a human can lead to an interesting and artistic expression.
After this, she did a collection of works where she took on the appearance of a Nun, but it was not your typical nun. To me, it seemed like a sexualized Nun, with her breast exposed. This made me this she was starting to lean towards the idea of playing with beauty and vanity in regards to physical attributes.
This probably lead to her experiments in body modification by way of plastic surgery. I found myself so shocked by this area of her artistry. To paint of draw something is one thing, but to permanently change your physical landscape is something that kind of freaks me out! I laud Orlan for her commitment to her art, but there seems a point where it may be too much. If you look at pictures of her now, she looks like the bride of Frankenstein with small bumps on her forehead that are reminiscent of horns.
If anything, Orlan should be respected for her radical views on what's physically appealing, and what it means to be an artist. She has definitely blurred the lines between the artist and their art work, and she should definitely be heralded for her audacity in the face of criticism.
