Ideas and Things

Here's some sketchbook stuff of another idea I had for this project.  The other idea involved combining lightbox and shadowbox, but I decided that was too sick of a concoction to make, look at what happened to Frankenstein when he tried to combine all those body parts. 

Building Project 4

Here's some measuring I did while trying to get the image to put in my light box.

Artist Statement for Project 3

Stop the Insanity!

This work is a composition of found footage, the two components being a collection of infomercials and a sound recording of Alan Ginsberg reading the footnote to Howl.  The infomercials are intended to express an attempt to order and control the created objects in the universe.  They do this for two reasons, first because the infomercials chosen are of objects that are supposed to help order and organize domestic possessions, as well as due to the infomercial medium itself is very formulaic by nature.  The poem is a reference to the Zen Buddhist dabbling of the beat generation artists and how, as Kerouac puts it, "everything has a Buddha nature."  This notion seems to parallel the ideas of the monists, especially Spinoza, who comes to the conclusion that there is only one substance in the universe and since there is only one, that substance must be god.  Everything is an attribute of the one eternal substance, and trying to impose a system of order by creating categories and places in which to put the things in these categories, denies that there the one substance.  And thus by trying to organize objects one is denying not only god, but their own holiness as an attribute of god.


The formal qualities of the video seek to parallel this concept.  At the beginning of the video Ginsberg identifies the chaos (that is supposedly apparent before the miracle product) as Holy, despite the obvious discomfort people feel without a system to control their environment and make them feel safe.  Ginsberg continues to list holy things, but the volume of the poem decreases with the imposition of the products and ordering systems.  The work ends however with both the clutter and the products gone and him declaring "Holy the hideous human angels!" the fact that the objects have faded shows that one must accept their place within the one eternal substance to truly actualize their holiness, and in so doing give up the need to control other holy things, either by possessing them (which causes the problem of process in the first place) and by imposing order (which is itself a Tower of Babel). 

Another Project I Started to Plan

Here's as far as I got on an other attempt at project 3, it was going to be about folk-taxonomies!
Personal Inventory, March 9th 2011

action figure sized guns	1
adaptors	2
alarm clocks	1
American dimes	2
American dollar bills	1
American half dollar coins	1
American nickels	1
American pennies	104
American quarters	1
amethyst pieces	1
arrow heads	3
axis and allies pieces	204
backpacks	2
bags of brown sugar	1
bags of corn	1
bags of icing sugar	0.5
bags of seafood	1
bags of white flour	1
bandanas	7
bars of soap	3
bathing suits	2.5
beach glass pieces	19
beads	1624
beds	1
bike helmets	1
bike lube	1
bike pump	1
bikes	2
binders	4
blankets	2
boards	1
bolts	1
books	64
boots	4
bottles of conditioner	0.25
bottles of liquor	0.5
bottles of rubbing alcohol	1
bottles of shampoo	1.25
bras	6
bronze cross awards	1
bronze medallion awards	1
bull nose clips	3
butter	1
buttons	705
buttons (pinback)	51
calculators	1
camera	1
camping mattresses	1
camping stoves	1
candles	7
cans of apple juice	1
cans of fruit cocktail	1
cans of mandarin oranges	1
cans of paint	5
cans of tomatoes	2
cards	21
caribeaners	5
carrots	7
cartons of milk	1
CD drive	1
cellphone	1
cellphone cases	2
charcoal pieces	14
charging cords	3
cheese blocks	3
chess pieces	32
clay	1
coal pieces	1
coats	2
coffee maker	1
combs	1
composters	1
computers	1
condiments	8
containers	2
conte	11
cork balls	1
corral pieces	1
coveralls	1
crochet hooks	1
cutting mats	1
dental floss	2
dice	20
dimes	298
divacup	1
dog tags	1
dominoes	160
double boilers with wax	1
dresses	1
dressmaker's paper pieces	2
dymo label makers	1
earplugs	4
eggs	2
envelopes	9
erasers	3
eye droppers	1
face wash	1
film containers	1
fishbowls	1
fools gold pieces	2
foreign coins	9
frying pans	1
garbage cans	2
glasses	2
glasses (vision)	3
gloves	4
glue sticks	1
graphite pieces	1
graphite sticks	1
guitar	1
hammocks	1
hankies	12
hard hats	1
hats	3
headlamps	1
headphones	2
highlighters	2
items out from the library (public)	33
items out from the library (university)	5
jar of coffee grinds	1
jar of my grandmother's rags	1
jars	11
jars full of pantry items	26
jars of tomato sauce	2
key rings	2
keyboards	1
keys	5
knife blades	11
knitted socks	1.5
knitting needles	4
knitting patterns	1
knives	1
lamps	2
leggings	1
lighters	3
lino tools	1
long johns	2
loonies	3
magazines	6
margarine	1
mash models	2
mattresses	1
mechanical pencil lead cases	1
mechanical pencil leads	29
mesh bags	2
mice	1
milk crates	6
mirror	1
mixer	1
monopoly pieces	1
mp3 player	1
nail clippers	2
necklaces	1
nickels	112
Nintendo game box	1
notepad	1
nut	1
Oktoberfest coins	2
onions	9
pads	13
paint chips	7
paintbrushes	20
paintings	3
palette knife	1
pants	7
pastels	24
pencil	1
pencil case	2
pencil crayons	66
pencil set	1
pencil sharpeners	1
pendants	1
pennies	147
pens	6
permanent markers	2
perogies	12
pewter mugs	1
phaser replicas	1
picture frames	3
pictures	14
pillow cases	1
pillows	2
pitas	1
pliers	1
pointy things for knife	3
posters	2
potatoes	6
power bars	1
puzzles	2
qtips	136
quarters	11
quartz pieces	1
razor blades	5
razors	1
record player	1
records	54
recycling bins	1
reed pen	1
ring	1
roach clip	1
robot sculpture	1
rolls dymo label tape	13
rolls of American pennies	2
rolls of pennies	1
rotary knives	1
Rubik's Cubes	1
rulers	1
saint medals	3
sandals	2
sanding blocks	1
satchel	1
scanners	1
scarves	1
scissors	2
SD cards	1
seashells	1
sewing machines	2
sewing needles	2
sheets	2
shelves	2
shirts with collars	4
shoe boxes	1
shoe laces	6
shoes	2
shorts	9
skateboards	1
skates	4
sleeping bags	2
slumped glass pieces	1
smudge sticks	1
snowpants	1
socks	46
souvenir squished pennies	4
square rulers	1
stamps	4
straight pen nibs	4
straight pens	1
stretchers	1
styluses	1
suit cases	1
sweaters	5
T-shirts	21
tanktops	5
tape measures	1
tarps	3
tents	1
thimbles	1
tin boxes	1
tins	2
tokens	4
tooth brushes	3
tooth paste	2
tortillas	9
towels	2
tricorder replicas	1
tubes of paint	23
tweezers	1
twoonies	1
Ukrainian Easter egg tools	2
underwear	10
usb sticks	2
utility knife	1
utility knife blade container	1
utility knife blades	2
vests	1
viewfinders	1
walkman	1
wallets	1
war amps key tags	2
washers	2
waterbottles	1
watercolour pencil crayon sets	1
wax hotdogs	5
wet suits	2
wine bottles	1
wooden bowls	1
wooden nickels	1
X-acto knives	3
yarn balls	2
zip lock bags	9

Here's a post with some references to taxonomy and categorization

http://www.strayshoppingcart.com/shopping_cart/2_uts.htm
a taxonomy

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/science/11naming.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
on taxonomy

58.  There is Nothing Like a Nurse  (B-309)
     November 19, 1974
     Written by Larry Gelbart
     Directed by Hy Averback
     Guest Stars:  Jamie Farr, Loudon Wainwright III, Bill Christopher, Bobbie
                   Mitchell, Molli Benson, Jeanne Schulherr, Leland Sun

     The nurses are evacuated when the threat of an enemy parachute
drop arises.  Hawkeye and Trapper try to enliven everyone's spirits
with them gone.
Box labeled "Surgical Supplies and purple things"

Hurray!

I apparently now know everything there is to know about Final Cut Express.

Prelude to an Artist Statement

Here are some words I made a while ago to try and get this project rolling.  They're not exactly where it ended up, but where it started at least.  

This is what Project 3 is going to be all about

Project 3 Ideas and Stuff

-humans make systems to order their experience and to make sense of the world: empirical, analytical, theoretical systems:

-categorization=naming

-naming categories as a system of control

     -Adam and the animals

     -science (esp. psychology) just naming

          -Foucault

          -false control 

               -feel more in control?

               -be in control of at least something in the universe?

-humans make systems in order to control their world

     -even if it is not real control

Artist Statement for Project 1

How Beauteous Mankind Is!

This work is a representation of some contemporary saints, Henry Ford, Sigmund Freud, and Søren Kierkegaard.  These men were chosen because of the gears of society they were pivotal in starting in motion: Ford with mass production, Freud's influence on psychology, and Kierkegaard being the father of existentialism.

The inspiration to elevate these historically, yet secular figures to a religious level was inspired by Aldous Huxley's Brave New World where Ford, primarily and to a lesser extent Freud were referred to as the God of their dystopian society. 

Because these works reference Huxley's dystopian, physically and emotionally safe society a digital candle is the most appropriate votive object, there is no danger of fire, or of being burned, yet the emotional reaction to a digitized candle is by the same device watered down.  This work, by referencing Brave New World (even when viewed without the original context, but especially with it) portrays the same anti-dystopic warning as the book. 

The title is a quotation from Shakespeare’s Tempest that occurs just before the line that gave Huxley the title for his work. 

          O, wonder!

          How many goodly creatures are there here!

          How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,

          That has such people in't!

                    The Tempest (V, i)

These Words: Haptic Visuality, Variable Media

Here are some good words and what they are supposed to do:
-Haptic Visuality
This one is about describing vision, not in the traditional way as a gaze, but instead as a sort of touching with the eyes. This reflects the idea of perception as a liaison between the object and the perceiver, in fact is perception on a more intimate level. Rather than perceiving things at a distance, as is typical with vision (where you stand back to admire something) one is intended to perceive things under the sensation of physical closeness (as it is necessary to get close to touch something) while actually using the sense of sight.
-Variable Media
Variable Media refers to works of art that can change format without compromising the original work, it especially refers to preserving audio and video works that were created and stored on outdated technology that are in danger of being lost. An example of this would be to store video, not on the 8mm tape it was originally created on (which doesn't allow much convenience in displaying it) but to update to perhaps a more conventional (contemporary) format. This will allow the work to be experienced in the same way even after the means to display the work as it was originally produced become obsolete and unusable. The Variable Media Network website defines this as "defining the work independently from the medium".

Artist Statement for Project 2

Still-life with Bottles, Photograph and Bananas

With the exception of the film footage of the moving water all the images used in this work were captured using a scanner.  This use of the scanner is intended to capture the items more as autonomous objects without including setting, and even minimizing the role of perspective.  This is also paralleled conceptually with the idea that a scanner can literally reproduce something in a digital form, a scan of a paper document is the document in a digital form, so it follows that a scan of the object is the object, only in a digital form.  The problem comes from the fact that essential qualities of the object are compromised in the digitization process, that is to say a photograph still fulfills the same role when scanned, however what is the role of for example a piece of food, if it cannot be eaten?  The work then denies all the practical and physical purposes of the object and only the symbolic remain.

 This work is intended to be read as a vanitas, this is alluded to in the title which names the work as a still-life despite the transitory nature of video.  This is just one of the conventions borrowed from the vanitas of Dutch still-life; others include the inclusion of over ripe fruit to symbolize decay and deterioration, as well as the use of chiaroscuro and having a collection of individual, symbolic objects.  The photograph is included to induce nostalgia and feelings of loss, and the money and bottles are included as a probable cause.  The film footage of the water is intended to make time apparent, and reinforce the feelings of futility against its invariability. 

Sound was not included in the work as it is intended to be an allusion to still-life painting portrayed using the conventions of video, the inclusion of sound would weaken this allusion as the work would be read exclusively as video.  This work is intended to be presented projected onto a conventionally prepared canvas. 

Here's a Hint about Project 2!

 

A List of Links about Candles and Other Things

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_can
http://www.walmartphotocentre.ca/album/gift_landing.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Votive_candle
http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/OQRLd4SD0Ar/Obama+Votive+Candle+Stirs+Collectors+Critics/0QjOxfzw6q3
http://www.circle-of-light.com/Spells/religious.html
http://www.bartleby.com/210/
http://www.catholicsupply.com/christmas/saint_meaning.html
Jerry Seinfeld - Patron Saint of Nothing?

Love is Dirt Biking.

Here's a dirt-bike-riding-kite-flying valenties day gift I made for you all.

Cigars are Cigar-Shaped

While tracing a cigar today in Illustrator, I realized that cigar-shaped refers not only to the shape of UFOs, but also to cigars.  The world is full of wonders.

Turns out the term "cigar-shaped" might be a little more ambiguous than first expected. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cigarshapes1.svg

Blogonisty

The blog is a fundamentally dishonest medium.  In the same way that reality TV can never really be reality the fact that a blog is infinitely editable render all blog posts innately dishonest.  Way around this: do not strive for honesty.  How to accomplish this: irony, or, being sincere with your dishonestness. 

This is the first image that comes up when
"honesty" is Google-Image searched.

This is a post.

This is a new post, but I don't like serifs so I'm not going to post in times new roman. That's better, good old Arial, much more efficient than all those wasteful serifs.  The irony is that arial is bigger and therefore more wasteful generally, but I suppose space on the internet isn't really at a premium, so I can go on and on and you have to read it.  Blog-out.