Final Project Discussion

1)That I was/am not the only one who has issue getting an idea going and I am not the only one who has issues with Chris Evans playing Captain America and The Human Torch. Everyone is also shooting from the hip for this final piece as well. I think we are all a lil brain dead.

2) My final project is just the use of the word Strike and all its variations. I am going to have some fun with this one. Everything else I have do was relatively serious so I just want to enjoy this one. I think "strike" is also one of those words that is considered violent, and it is but it can be used for some good old slap stick humor. *shrugs*

3) I have no idea at this moment! I may have to change my project idea for this and the former to actually occur. Because I am illustrating to a certain extent, however, I do believe that if I put strike into context rather than just have it in its current state it may work.

4) A NEW IDEA! bah! Wait I can tell a story! I am going to animate the single words accordingly with images then produce a story from those base words. So I get my entertainment, the work was not written prior to the animation, and it can and may become some what serious (still doubtful on this one)

What did I learn?
I learned ALOT about layers, blocking the stage and that you can even take a crappy work of art and make it good! I wrote the Haiku in like 5 minutes with zero actual though put into it or meaning behind it, so the text itself is meaningless to me but the work put into the animation does have a lot of expressive power.

2-3days more.


I would defiantly get the text issue sorted out. The text that this computer converted my binary code to ruined those frames for me. I would add some more time into that section as well. There are small places where I made errors but unless you watch it 2-10 times you may or may not notice. The top of the human head is one of them. i cut part of it off without realizing it before I cut it up and did all the work.

start again.
Actually plan it out rather than just taking the idea from my head and putting it strait into the stage.

MOVIE

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1548385991041&saved

My Crappy Haiku

BIGGS

Part Uno
Art is a strange concept to discuss in any format. The destabilization concept works when you are dealing with things such as Dada, Cubism and other forms of modern art. In the Renaissance and Baroque era art was meant to represent images of life to the point of perfection, not to destabilize the items being produced. To destabilize a sign and signifier you have to take in account for the interpreter/interpret-on of the sign, and the culture in which the work is being presented. What could be considered destabilized in America may not be in Russia. Images themselves are somewhat destabilizing though if we do not have the correct text to go along with them.

In this work the picture of the slit drum looked like a septic tank to me. I had no idea what it was until I read about it. Therefore, my idea of what the image was originally was destabilized. Had there not been text to go with it I would still be viewing it as a septic tank.

Duo
How new is new and how new does it have to be to be different. Does this newness affect me due to how different or similar I am to the work? If the difference between the person and the work of art are not far enough apart then the difference is not apparent,and then is the difference becomes wasted.

“Innovative practice has pioneered not only new media but also new ways of perceiving through a given medium, a practice that has localized art not as a way of representing but as a way of making.” (173)

I am still a little groggy so please bear with me.

Hypertext like all mediums is new to the system. If one were to view animated literature through a historical lens then one would not have an abundant amount of data to use. Since this new medium is still a newborn child in the grand scheme of things. Yes, technology has evolved very rapidly and we are beyond the 8mp/8mb animation that made up Nintendo and the first apple computers. However, this art form only has heavy roots within the past 20 years or so. Unlike other art forms such as painting, sculpting and more traditional forms this medium can be sent from one place to another instantly. This removes the concept of localization. A painting can only physical be at one place at one time, unless it is a reproduction. This form of art can be anywhere and everywhere at once. Which is part of why it is unique, even compared to such easy to access thing such a film/movies. Yes, films are accessible via Internet but you may not be able to access the full work of art you want at any given moment. With this in mind I think it takes a toll on the artist due to the fact that once they publish a work it is out there for everyone. Therefore the artist has to be very critical of his or her own artwork through this medium. The art that is produced through this new medium is also one into its self. The text cannot be physical held in many cases. Unlike the written word that can be printed or the film that is recorded, computer based are has no real physical state of being. Which raises a question of validity as an art form since it cannot be touched. I find this to be rather perplexing since the work of art does exist. I guess for me it is art because it is labor intensive and can produce a reaction that unlike the soft arts (Arts the rely upon taste, smell and touch) rely strictly upon auditory and visual cues similar to a film.

Haiku

Brain Damage Control

Broken Face Officially

Be Friend The Wheel Chair

I honestly have no idea what I want to do as of yet. I obviously need to write something and go from there. Maybe I will try and do some animated biography. 

Fountain

Writing on the computer is far more complex in the concepts of authorship and artistry. When it comes to paper and pencil or pen you have to only give credit to those who made the pencil, the paper and the pen. Unless you are working on collaboration then you have to give credit to others. The concept of artistry or authorship is not as hard to decipher. In one of my classes we have talked about the Auteur theory or the idea that a director is solely responsible for the pieces of artwork that are put on film despite everyone else’s hand in creating the film. In this sense writing on the computer become a bit complex since you are using someone else’s creation to create. I guess the same thing could be said for sculpting tools, paint brushes etc. However, most of those devices were created by a single individual rather than a collective. I am assuming to some degree that the idea behind flash and other devices may only come from one person but they are developed by many. So does the creator of the project become a cog? Or is he the author? Or just the Auteur?

There is a laundry list of problems when addressing online art work and the concept of author ship. Marcel Duchamp made a piece of art once titled Fountain. It was a urinal taken out of the trash and signed R.Mutt. It was put on display and still is considered a “great work” of art. Because it raises the question of “who is the artist?” The person who designed the urninal? The people who made the urinal? the manufactuer? Or just the person who signed their name to it?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_(Duchamp)

Where does the credit go is seems to be the big question this article is asking.  I kind of have to agree with the concept that the credit should be going to the application designer. I would have never even though to make the things if it had not been for this software. Hell, even the ability to create it would have been impossible without it. Unless we hand animated this stuff and even then you would have to argue do the people who invented the camera, the editing machine and everything else get credit for my work. 

Short Project

I think I am going to Animate some bad Haiku's and see if I can make them decent. I have to write them still. I just need them to be bad, as in dumb, tasteless, stupid NOT GOOD.  Such as
france sank in the lake
maybe they won't smell like poop
I love thier cheese
I just wrote this so I am not sure if it is even correct, but you get the idea.

 Originally I was gunna animate an inappropriate joke but I do not have the energy to deal with being ostracized.

http://www.marrowmonkey.com/lair/index.htm

• What writer or movement will you research?
• Orion 17
•  Why?
• There are a lot of interesting pieces for me to work with on this site.  I think it will allow me to have a load of room to play with when it comes to the paper.
• What do you hope to learn?
• These pieces vary from complex to simple. I want to see what the thought behind each one was. Is it context that matters? Form? Function?

What research do you need to carry out in order to develop the understanding that will enable you to produce 5–7 pages?

I need to hit up more critical theory on this topic. Plain and simple.

• What help might you need from me in doing this work?
• Names of theorists.
• Given the due dates (see the calendar) for this assignment, draft for yourself a schedule for doing your research (and how/where you will research) so that you will have a draft (of at least 3–5 pages) ready on time.
• I will have my paper done well before schedule more than likely. I do all my research in one week then write the paper in two days.  I only have 12 credits this semester as well as to where I had 18 previously. So this semester is a breeze. 

Nick and I are animating a conversation that has already taken place. We are using his animating abilities and my abilities to give words weight for this piece. The conversation we picked was from the court transcripts of the faisal shahzad trial. We have already for a lot of work done on the project and I will be up loading a sample of the work after class tomorrow. 

Responssseee

Anything from the feedback that surprised you?
No to be completely honest. I think that everyone got the message and the point of the work. Some asked for more time with my quote and for a lil more flare but over all everyone got the point. SO I guess that is a lil surprising....

What would you do differently had you had the time?
Just give a few more frames for my quote. I speed read so I judge time differently than most people. I felt there was ample time to get through it. Things happen though.

What more do you want to learn both about flash AND composing writing?
I am still struglling with the bitmap converting for images... As far the writing goes I guess I would like to see some more theory behind these ideas. I think it would help us all have a better grasp about the importance of the works we are creating.

“He manipulated the typographic form, paying close attention to its visual features, spatial distribution, and capacity to organize the text into hierarchical figural order. Anti material though he may have been in his intentions, his means, in this work, suggest the possibilities for a materially investigative practice.”

“Any attempt to deal with”Modern Art” or “Modern Literature” as if the phrases designated any single or unified area of activity would fall immediately prêt to criticism: the study of materiality within modern art and literature can only be sustained on the basis of individual artists. But in spite of the above caveat against just such activity, a few generalities will be sketched here with respect to the attitudes toward visual and literary materiality in modern art practices.”

These two quotes were huge for me. I am a historical nerd when it comes to the creation of art or machinery. Well nerd when it comes to any of those things. I like to have a basis in which to see how something has evolved. That way you can compare the beginning result to its current place in the world. I made a comment the other day on our paper that this class has not really discussed the theory or the history behind creative literature in motion. So having a scope and a lens in which to view the work is important to me. I think it will allow me to be more critical and open minded of my work in the artistic sense.

Outward Bound & Cluster+ Icon
These two poems are similar in the sense that they change the context of a word by changing its physical appearance. In Cluster and Icon we can see two words being created through with the combination of the middle letters. Outward bound is a morphing of letters into a statement. The letters trickle down the page and turn into a whole. There are words and statements in the trickle down but they are hard to see.

The differences are the relationships between the words used. "Concentration and Constellation." "Black and Block." "There is no frigate like a book." There is no direct correlation between Concentration and constellation besides the number of letters and the letters they share. The same could be said for black and block. The sounds they share are also similar. A frigate is a warship, so the statement means there is no warship like a book. Knowledge being power and power deriving from books. So if you going to wage war you need knowledge.

What do you think the person(s) who composed this piece hoped reader/viewers would think or feel or do in response?

What I felt was confusion with the frigate poem. I had trouble understanding what exactly was going on. I had to read it multiple time to understand it as a whole. The trickling down shows how weak letters are apart but when they are whole they have a meaning. In the outward bound piece I just felt mathematically perplexed. I would have never thought of creating a word of that form.

Why do you think the composer(s) of this piece chose not to use a “traditional” approach to putting the piece together?

For the frigate piece I think it was to show the power of the letters and how the produce that power. The second one I am not able to figure out. Maybe it is just to show the beauty and relationship of words within themselves.

What does a reader/viewer need to bring to this piece in order to make a meaningful relationship with it or to read it with some understanding?

Just an open mind. If you keep your mind closed you would not see what is in front of you.

In what contexts does this piece do its work?

Both pieces show a different aspect about how words and letters create beauty. We typically do not view a word as beautiful or as a piece of art. We simply see it as a tool to answer a question of convey knowledge.

What about this piece would you like to hold onto in your own

I like the trickle down I think I may use that on my next piece.

Sep 30

What does this reading suggest for reasons why one would experiment with the shape of writing? What does the reading suggest for why people haven’t experimented much with the shapes of writing?

1.“The Greek alphabet was, in Havelocks words, the ‘first and last instrument to reproduce the range of previous orality.”

2.“That is, the Homeric epics embody in writing an-alphabetic modes of language storage.”

3.“The means of language and cultural reproduction always becomes a means of production and variance, as what is “stored” is transformed by the means of its imagined storage, so that it is a matter of morphing more than storing.”

These three quotes stuck out while reading the assigned article.

The first quote states that the alphabet, or written word, was the simply created to capture spoken words. It was used to reproduce what was said rather than give it any form of artistic meaning.

The second quote dismantles Homers epics. These were meant to be epic tales for the ages. The beauty though is not in the story but in the fact that the story was stored.

The third quote is analyzing how we store language. If you think about the different mediums that can be used for literary storage: microfilm, flash drive, computer, book, record and so on. You would have a different reaction a single work depending on which platform you chose to view it, this is what would cause the “morphing.”

So the purpose of experimental literature is not simply to challenge normative ties that go along with the written word, but to challenge how the written word is stored. The storage of the written word defines the context in which the word is viewed. This context then shapes the reader/viewers perception. This perception is what matters. If we simply produced literature in a simple linear format it would be ok, but we are not. By adding motion, color and life to the words we are giving the words its own space in the world.

The Grey Line

What I find curious about this poem is the number of times the word grey is used. I am not sure if the author wrote grey out a set number of times and decided to go from there or if he just had written a certain number of things associated with the word grey, and just formatted them in this manner. This poem structure is abnormal. The lines of grey run down the center of the pages and provide the structure for the poem to be built around. Most poems are just written free verse or have another form of fixed style that deal with pentameter. This style is different because it forces the writer to focus upon one keyword and build upon that. It forces the reader to focus in on the word grey as well and everything else seems to fall into the background.

With the lines of grey centered and fixed it also makes the readers eye jump around on the pages. I found it a little hard to read because of this. I think that was part of the point here as well. We are used to reading left to right up to down. This poem follows that tradition but it does not have set margins. This makes the reader go to way left sometimes or way right and you have to search for the beginning of the next line. This challenge of standard constructs was nice to see. I think we often forget how regimented everything in life is including reading.

The different forms of grey he addresses in the poem are interesting as well.  When I think of grey the only visuals I get are suits and cloudy skies. I think myself and most reader’s associate grey with depression and thing are typically sad. In this poem he expresses the wonders of grey so to speak. He presents visual images that are typically not associated with the color and many items that are not commonly associated with grey.

All this being said this poem works. It takes a boring standard color and with the application of creative structure and though he has brought it to life. Brining grey to life is damn near impossible. If I were to paint a room grey, hand you a grey crayon or a grey piece of paper it is doubtful you would get excited. But here we are shown mountains, birds, silver and many other things we cherish and enjoy. So yes grey is boring but it is art and it is creative.

In Class Uno

I did not focus on form as much as function for this work. I spent a full hour and a half exploring Flash and the commands needed to operate the program. Once I felt comfortable with the interface I moved on to creating something very simple. All I wanted was to have the letter rotate and expand as smoothly as possible. I toyed with with frame rate, how much movement was needed for effect, how many frames are needed to create the desired look. I really spent more time learning the program than creating. Once I did learn the interface I was able to create a second project far more complex in a matter of 3 mins.

I enjoyed the butterfly animation. It flowed very smoothly and did not look rushed. It showed a great amount of technical and artistic skill. I think what I took away from all of the works was the creativity that was produced.

The Letter P

The letter P is a fun letter and is often forgot. It has many fun words that go with it. If you flip it it becomes a d a b a q. It also reminds me of the military. The the strait line is the body standing proud, the curve is the chest of a person pushing out presenting itself for the punishment that is to come.