Final Project

         For my final project I did a video about time. I explored the ideologies of time and asked the viewer what time means to them, how they use their time, and what their own definition of time is. I wrote a piece about time in which I attempted to express the importance of it. Here is what my script said: 

“The definition of time is the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole.

Yet

What does time mean to you?

How do you use your time each and every day?

What does time look like for you?

Would you define time as a number,

something that ticks away on a clock?

Is time a memory

that reminds you of the past? Or maybe the future?

Is it a person?

Someone who is written in history’s ambient?

Time is a moment.

It is a precious gift.

Time is given to every person, every day.

But why?

Maybe so we can take the time to make a difference.

Not just in our lives, but in others lives.

Maybe time is taking a moment to give someone a smile

Or allowing a hand to help

Maybe time is listening to a broken heart

Watching tears stroll down their cheeks

Maybe time is treating someone the way they don’t deserve

Because we are all in the same battle

Time is living in the moment

And cherishing every day, every minute, every second

Because we do not know when our time is up

It could be today, tomorrow, or years from now.

Why waste time when there is so little of it?

Would you be unkind if you knew it was someone’s last moments?

Would you have regrets? Would you have guilt?

Would you be desperate for just another moment to whisper,

“I’m sorry”

“Please forgive me”

“I love you”

Take time to be brave

To shout these things

To open your heart

For you never know when your clock will stop ticking

One moment

One moment in time

Can change everything

For it is our memories that we leave that makes our time valuable

Someone will always remember the times when you are vile

Yet someone will always cherish the times when you were kind

Time defines who you are.

Time is now

So, I ask you again,

What does time mean to you?

How do you use your time?

Is your time valuable to you?” 

        Throughout my writing,I genuinely wanted to speak to the viewer with the message that time can truly define you. I wanted the viewer to connect to the video by asking themselves the same questions that I was asking them. I feel like so many people don’t think about their life as temporary. Even though this is quite a pessimistic view of life, it is true. That’s why I believe in living in every moment and always being kind to everyone…because that may be your last moment to express kindness to them. You don’t want to leave this world with people hating you or with guilt on your shoulders. I believe many people forget this mentality and try to speed through life, yet time is so precious. I feel that many people forget that the memories you lay behind you define you, and that the memories that lay before can change everything. I wanted to express how even though we have little time, we can use what time we are given to bless and serve others to make a difference in their lives. 

       During my video, I used a variety of gorgeous nature scenes that represented time. I thought that a great representation of time and beauty would be in time lapses of nature. I think that hearing words of inspiration, as well as viewing inspiring scenes, creates a significantly inspiring video. That was my whole ambition of this project. I find myself consistently inspired by nature, and I know that nature’s beauty inspires a lot of people so it seemed appropriate to include in this video. I believe that time is also represented in nature so this element also adds to my overall theme. 

      I think that reaching a viewer’s heart is essential for change and appreciation. Asking questions, hearing inspiring words, and viewing scenes of opportunity and serenity are essential to the importance behind the video. 

      In my video, I explore the ideologies of time and expressed the importance of every moment. I asked several questions that spoke to the viewer about time in their own lives. I wanted to stress this theme of time because it is so often overlooked. 

A6

Part 1 

Choose your three favorite performance artists and study how are they related. What do they have in common? Is technology an essential component in their work? Answer also this question “What is to be done” in the field of Performance Art.

          My top three performance artists are: Marina Abramovic, Petr Pavlensky, and Zhang Huan. Marina is an extraordinary performer, with extremely eccentric and unique sets and ideas. She is a strong female character, which I really enjoy about her. During her performance art, you can tell she has a very strong sense of individuality...she does not care about what others think about her. I think this characteristic alone makes her an outlier from the rest of society. Petr Pavlensky is another one of my favorite performance artists. I admire his courageous spirit for standing up for what he believes to be right in his country. It is so interesting that he does performances that "trick" the government or that make it difficult to stop the performance. I love how he is not afraid of being arrested or beaten for his beliefs. I think this shows how powerful personal belief is. I also love how he has inspired others to stand up for their own political beliefs in their own countries. Finally, Zhang Huan is another one of my top performance artists. He famously says that he "needs to express his powerlessness to the world" and he does this my exposing himself in dangerous situations and artistic messages. He uses his own body to express how he's feeling. He pains himself to express the message...even if it means a painful consequence or experience. 

           All these performers have an intense sense of bravery regarding their own beliefs. Each one of them separates from the conformity found in society. They all inspire and they all create. They create different, but they use their own bodies as part of the art. Marina, Petr, and Zhang all do courageous acts to draw attention to a certain area of their life. They all take risks and experience rejection, yet they all inspire others to engage to the inspiration of being confident in what you believe. 

           Technology is not an essential component in their work. All three performance artists use their own bodies to convey their own ideas to the public. Technology may be used to create some aspects of their performance, yet overall they do not use it when they are performing. 

         I believe that performance art is just beginning in the world of art. I believe that there are so many different people who have confident beliefs and are not afraid to take risks to achieve in what they feel is essential to society. I think an element that could enhance performance art could be virtual reality. A virtual reality performance art where they literally take an audience inside their performance instead of just watching a performance could enhance the feeling and the effects so much further than three dimensional  I also believe that more social issues could be addressed through performance art. 

Part 2

          For my performance art, I decided to put a brown grocery bag over my head, with a picture of an iPhone taped onto the front, wearing all black. My cameraman, Leah, was also wearing a bag on her head except her costume had eyeholes for filming observations. Wearing this attire, I knocked on doors in some of the resident halls to see what their reactions were. I knocked on doors in an upperclassmen dorm as well as a freshman dormitory. When I knocked on their door, I held out a sharpie to see if they would write on the bag. Through this whole experience, it was extremely interesting how people reacted. When filming, I started in Brevard. I knocked on several doors but only one answered. This could be that students were looking out of their peepholes and did not answer because they saw a creep dressed in all black with a bag over their head. The one that did answer, however was mostly confused…she looked over and asked her roommate what to do several times. Curious if freshman would be more forgiving in answering their door to a stranger, I went into Austin hall. Several people opened their doors, and several reactions were filmed. The very first door we opened, did not say anything and slammed the door in my face. Then we walked down the hall to where a guy was walking in the opposite direction. I stopped and he was the first to write on my head (he wrote ‘Hi.’). We had some more responses and some more writings after the first guy wrote. One knock led to a discovery of her own roommate’s name (which I thought was terrible that she didn’t’ even know her roommate’s name yet extremely hilarious). And the finale, the guy opened the door took my marker and then closed it. Overall it was a really fun and enlightening experience, yet it revealed many things about our society. Here were some common themes captured: people asking others what to do, extreme confusion, laughter to relief tension, lot’s of ‘hi’ writings, creepy vibes, and cautious actions. 

            Even though these reactions were expected, it is an extremely similar ideology to how technology hides who we truly are. When talking to one another via technology, we are blocked by genuine identity. Anybody could be anyone through the use of tech, yet if we get to know them through technology how are we going to understand the real them? Shouldn’t we be confused or creeped out that we do not know who we truly are texting? I thought it was very interesting that only when the first person wrote, other people wrote after him. It’s crazy how conformed our society is to where it takes courage to step out and do something against society’s rules: If someone else isn’t doing it, I wont either. When people don’t know how to react to a certain situation, they turned to other people to try and help them understand what was happening. I thought it was also interesting how no one asked me who I was or why I was doing it. Shouldn’t we be confused why we talk to people more through technology than face to face? It’s ironic that our culture is doing the same exact thing, yet we just don’t see it. With the bag over my head, unable to see people or their reactions built confidence in myself and created many perceptions on how different types of people deal with uncomfortable and foreign situations. 

            People try to find identify when confronted, yet we obviously see that it’s impossible when technology is in between. However, our society is becoming more and more technology based. Will we reach a point where no one talks to anyone face to face at all? This performance art project was enlightenment towards my view on the relationship between people and technology. 

B5

Considering the grouping I used for this module, choose 5 different music 

“movements” from the ones listed, and add one group/musician/performer to that 

category, especially related to the usage of technology. Why did you choose this 

artist? Why do you consider their work fits with technology and electronic music in 

their context? Post their works and your comments on your BL

DISCO- Earth, Wind & Fire- Boogie Wonderland 

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=god7hAPv8f0)

            One of my favorite genres is the disco. Along with this, Earth, Wind & Fire are one of my most favorite artists from the era. I love their song Septemberand Boogie Wonderland,which are two songs that are still popular today. I believe that their work fits with technology and electronic music because there are many digital layers that are conformed to create the disco vibe in their songs. The electric beats and the voice alterations make a groovy statement through the usage of technology.  

DUBSTEP- Borgore- Unicorn Zombie Apocalypse 

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyI4v5sxT54)

            Although I am not the biggest dubstep fan, this artist has some great examples of the genre. In Unicorn Zombie Apocalypse, there is an intense exaggeration, through technology, of repeating beats and sounds. From the beginning to the conclusion, there is a form of dubstep, while variations are in between. This song is a technology altered mix that is great for dancing and clubs. This song is an electric dubstep from the first second to the last. 

NINETIES- *NSYNC- Pop

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWZKw_MgUPI) 

            This song is absolutely perfect for the nineties genre, as well as the indication of electric pop twists. There is an obvious usage of technology used for the band’s voices in Pop. There are some tech beats throughout the song as well. With the combination of both of these elements, the song is a classic ‘90’s song, that is great to dance and sing along with.  

ELECTRONIC – PRODUCER/DJ CULTURE- Slushii  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8hRRRJp1rQ)

            Slushii is personally one of my favorite artists. His sense of style is electronic, but he has a variety of different electro songs, which makes it favorable for all audiences. Slushii was one of the first artists that I define electronic music to. Almost all of Slushii’s songs are technically advanced in some way, with beats and sounds added digitally. Slushii does many remixes of popular songs in which he adds his own “flare” to it through the usage of technology.  

VIRTUAL: Crazy Frog- Axel F (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k85mRPqvMbE)

            I chose the artist Crazy Frog for Virtual music, because it’s a creative and unique way of producing sounds using a virtual animation. This artist uses an unsightly blue frog as their “face” when performing. I have been familiar with Crazy Frog since I was young and it is a great representation of this genre of music. Their work fits within technology and electronic music perfectly. Crazy Frog uses technology to create their famous animated frog as well as digitally designing backgrounds and different settings for each music video they create. The music itself is electronically arranged and altered by technology, as the artist voice is digitized. This makes a unique and recognizable sound that’s defined with the artist. 

A5

          For this assignment, I used an Epson machine to scan different areas of my body. At first, I was not sure how to approach this project. I know I wanted to do something abstract for I have always been inspired by abstract art. I used the abstract art movement, more specially semi abstraction, as my motivation and inspiration for this project. The abstract art movement began in the 1900’s and is still popular today. It includes a variety of visual elements to create a separation of reality. Several inspirations of abstract work went into the making of my own semi abreaction piece, yet I chose one particular work that really inspired me. From this abstract piece, I really enjoyed the symmetry indicated and the curves in the piece; therefore I decided to include similar aspects into my own work. 

(inspiration image)

            To create my own abstraction, I arranged my art according to the shape, color, and symmetry of each piece. I wanted to address the idea of technology and people around the world. On the bottom, I incorporated an abstract layer of various lines to suggest the idea of a computer screen. Since our world is becoming so dependent on technology, we treat it almost as a foundation in our own lives. This statement is true for all groups of people. Unintentionally, I printed out black and white copies of my skin. Though the printer was out of toner (which made the copies whiter than usual), it made the art have an increased ambiguity regarding diversity. I believe that the “different skin tones” in my piece can suggest that truly all groups of people are moving towards a technological foundation in their lives. I also used a variety of hand motions in the piece because our hands are a fundamental element in the creation of an obsession with technology. For the shape of the piece as a whole, I used a significant amount of symmetry. Yet as you can see, the piece swirls and stretches away from the main foundation. This was meant to reveal that if we don’t have a foundation of technology, we can roam free and find something more meaningful in our lives to create a new foundation with. 

            I wanted to suggest this idea of technology as our foundation because it’s happening all around us. Using ideas form abstract art made in the early 1900’s, I incorporated many of these abstract principles into my semi abstract piece. I used a fixed amount of particular items that you can define yet they are arranged to create an ambiguous message.  

A4

     My grid art project is constructed out of 950 of my own photos. I wanted something that revealed many of my best adventures, as well as something extremely personal. My mosaic piece was a perfect way of incorporating 950 different memories into one piece of art. My piece was inspired by Yayoi Kusama’s Love is Callingart piece and poem. In the poem, she writes about the memories of love throughout her life. Though Kusama’s perception of love in the poem was rather depressing, my version of all memories of life is seen throughout my grid art. 

      For the overall aesthetic, I was inspired by the construction, colors, shapes, and concepts in Kusama’s Love is Callingroom. I incorporated a brightly colored, swirl in the center of my grid art to symbolize the colorful, curly shapes within the exhibit. In addition, Kusama’s exhibit had dark “holes” within the colorful shapes. My perception of this was the representation of her sadness throughout her life and perhaps in her afterlife. With this in mind, I created something similar in which I incorporated memories within my mosaic that were both joyful and faulty. As Yayoi Kusama also included mirrors within her exhibit to influence the viewer’s look on their own life, I incorporated many personal memories to spark the meaning of life within my own viewers. I believe that the colors and shapes are essential elements to the artist’s definition of life; the good, colorful, the bad and the dark. 

      From her work, I incorporated my own definition of life into my own piece. Within my grid art mosaic, I incorporated my own ideas of love and sadness within my life and the numerous memories conformed to it. 

A3

The History of Burnt Bread

            Have you ever wondered why we put bread in a piece of technology, burn it, and than eat it? Have you ever wondered how this idea came to be? The toaster is a commonly used piece of technology that has had it’s own outcome on the world. It is a prolonged historical idea that came to life, in which it could continue to influence future technologies to come.  

            The history of the toaster may be more interesting than it appears. What exactly is the history of burnt bread? In 500 BC, the Romans were inspired by the idea of ‘browning bread’ that the Egyptians used to keep their bread from growing mold. The idea then spread to the United Kingdom, when the Romans invaded in 44 AD (1). Since bread was a food that was easy to make and easily attainable, it was a common usage in people’s everyday lives. So, to maintain the quality of the made bread, they would ‘brown it’ in the fire. This ideology and method of maintaining the bread’s ingredients was used until the 19^thcentury, “…a hinged fork was used to hold the bread and prevent it from falling into the fire. With the appearance of wood and coal stoves in the 1880s, a new toasting method was needed. This led to a tin and wire pyramid-shaped device. The bread was placed inside and the device was heated on the stove” (1). The usage of simplistic technology was further upgraded to an easier way of burning bread in 1905. An engineer named Albert Marsh created an invention that contained shaped wires (or strips), electricity, wiring mesh, and a rack for the bread (1). This was the first electrical toaster. Yet even though this was a revolutionary way to the easiness of browning bread, not many people had access to electricity in their own homes. Following an increased demand as well as modernized technology achievements, the toaster boomed in technological advances. “Better models soon followed, some with sliding drawers, others with mechanical ways to turn the bread, but the real innovation was the automatic Pop-up toaster, conceived in 1919 by the mechanic Charles Strite. The incorporated timer shut off the heating element and released a pop-up spring when the slice of toast was done” (2). As time went on, the technological advances increased as well as our knowledge for strategic toast making. Therefore, by the 21^stcentury, we now have “smart toasters” using microchip technology not just for browning bread, but also for cooking other baked goods and frozen meals, some even at the same time (2). The beginning of the toaster’s history seems almost insignificant, yet we discover that through history it was extremely important in the simplification of life. 

            The toaster has had many technological advancement, in which there is possibility for more. The toaster could also inspire many new technologies. For an example, with the current technology from a toaster, there could be a machine that is a conformed microwave, toaster, and oven. This could simplify life complications, and it could decrease the cost spent on kitchen appliances. The toaster could also inspire technology more complex than itself. Using the idea of microchip technology in modern toasters, the same idea could be transferred into a technological ideology of a possible toaster that could read the owners mind. All you would have to do is think about how you want your bread or baked good cooked and the machine obeys. There could also be another attached setting in which you could think which topping you want on the product and inside the machine, it makes it for you so you don’t have to! With the many technological advances of the toaster, it is highly possible that we could reach many more levels of ingenious toaster technology. 

            A petite machine can make a tremendous difference. We see this throughout history and we can see it within the future. The toaster is a piece of technology that has impacted cultures in the past, but will also impact others in the future.  

MLA

1.  Advameg Inc. “How Toaster Is Made.” How Products Are Made, 2018, www.madehow.com/Volume-7/Toaster.html.

2.  Ramos, Ana Lopes. “The History of Toasters.” John Desmond Ltd., 20 May 2016, www.johndesmond.com/blog/products/the-history-of-toasters/.

X2

When looking at Christopher Johnson’s ASCII Art Collection, it wasn’t what I expected. I looked at several of his 23 different categories and within all of them they were extremely unique. I had seen computer images like this, but I had never seen it in an art form. It’s interesting how he could take his passion for computers and art and conform them. One of my favorites categories was the Mickey Mouse section. It’s crazy how similar it was compared to a drawn version of Mickey! When I searched through the animal selection, he didn’t have a turtle category ( my favorite animal), but he still had a variety of different animals. Out of the given, I liked the dolphin category the most. I enjoyed this one particularly because each of the 5 dolphin designs were so different from one another, yet they were using the same computer programing to achieve the desired effect. Each dolphin was made up of letters, words, lines, and special characters. The usage of them uniformly made a realistic outline of a dolphin. My most favorite of his work was the astronomy art. With multiple examples of different space sceneries, it was eccentrically interesting. I loved both of the Saturn designs and one of the Earth designs. The ASCII gallery was something I was not expecting, but it was super interesting and made me question the coding on how to achieve art pieces like his.