Stop Motion

Okay guys, this will be my third post of the day, but I've had a lot to say and share with you all, and I hope I haven't overloaded you!! This one is going to be super short. I want to bring your attention to the art of "Stop-Motion" animation. Have you ever used a flip book? This is extremely similar. Merriam-Webster defines stop motion as follows, "a filming technique in which successive positions of objects...are photographed to produce the appearance of movement."

I've got a few examples for you, which I really hope you will take a break from whatever you're doing to watch. These are TRULY amazing works, and will blow your mind with their creativity, artistic abilities, and story-lines.

Here we go!

This one is one of my particular favorites. I come back to it every once in a while and literally sit with my jaw-dropped because my mind can't even understand how someone can be so incredibly creative. It's long, but its a perfect example of both stop motion animation, and regular stop motion filming.

Here, we have one that is stop motion filming. It's from Japan, and the story line is very intriguing!

And last - but most definitely not least - check out this purely animated stop motion. This one will tug at your heartstrings...I assure you.

That's all for now! Hope you guys enjoyed all the posts today!!

Artist Spotlight: Shirin Neshat

Hopefully I will get to do a few more of these in between the meatier posts - I wanted to do a spotlight on an artist who I admire very much, and who fits the description of an artist utilizing technology in new and different ways.

Her name is Shirin Neshat. She is an Iranian-born artist, who does powerful photography feminist photography, as well as video-and-sound installations. Her most notable photography series is the Women of Allah, done between 1993 and 1997, after her first visit back to Iran after the Islamic Revolution. Her technique is black and white photography, depicting women (either herself, or others) in typical Muslim-dress in motions of prayer, or with weapons. After she develops the photograph, she uses pen and ink to inscribe Persian calligraphy from Persian poets.

She also recently put out her first feature film, called Women Without Men. Here is the trailer for the film:

Her work is extremely powerful, and her techniques and style emphasize the points she attempts to convey to her audiences. Though she isn't a graphic designer, she incorporates and utilizes technology in important ways in her artwork and as a director.

I hope you enjoyed her work!

A Personal Touch: Student Interview

Hey all! After a mini-hiatus (thank you, Spring Break), I'm back with more posts about technology in the art world. While I have more information on Adobe and their advertisements coming soon, I want to start off this week with something a bit more...fun!

I recently sat down with one of my closest friends, Erica. A bit you should know about her:

She's a sophomore Art major at UMCP (just like me!) and recently was accepted to the very-difficult-to-get-into design concentration. While she works in the fine arts, too (and I've seen her work - it's truly amazing), she tends to spend most of her spare time working in Photoshop. Though it's not common to use Photoshop as a painting tool (it's mostly used for pre-existing image manipulation), she does so. She's been interning at a PR firm that works to create brochures, pamphlets, invites, and etc. for big events and programs. You can find her DeviantArt page here.

On to the interview!

Note: Since I took quick notes from talking to her, I've turned them into (coherent) full sentences. It's still all of her thoughts, though!

Question

Do you think that art has become more prevalent because of graphic design?

Answer

I don't think it's become more prevalent, but we don’t notice anymore how much art perpetuates so much of society. Logos and marketing are now part of every day society, in comparison to seeing paintings and other fine art in museums.

Question

Do you think that art has become de-valued? Is it not as important?

Answer

It's not really one or the other. I think art now is being used in a broader spectrum, because now it's in addition with whole other field of graphic design, which is used to create wedding invitations, logos, magazine layouts, etc.

Question

Is there still room for fine artists?

Answer

Yes! They take advantage of technology in different way. They use websites to host their exhibits or show their past works - they've adapted to a new technological age.

Question

Are graphic designers equally as artistic?

Answer

I think they do a different kind of art. They're related but still very different – they need to be talented at different things. The “best painter in the world could really, really suck at design.” So one is not better, it's just different.

Question

Any general comments?

Answer

There are even more new products to use art in different aspects of society (both mainstream and not-so-mainstream). I think products such as Photoshop and Flash have revolutionized both the art and design worlds. I don't think the fine arts will “die” in a sense, though. Art will continue to change and grow with the times – but instead of replacing each other, “people will always be finding new ways to make beautiful things.”

Social Networking - Part Two: The Art Version

So now that we’ve fleshed out some information about the basics of social networking sites – and some of my own opinion about them – I think it’s high time we talked about where art fits into all this. The plan here is to give you some links to what I immediately think of when I think social networking for art. I’m sure there are PLENTY more places all over the web, but these are ones that should not be missed, for starters.

Photobucket –

Cool thing about this website is you can upload an image, and then you’re given ways to share it – either links, or embedding codes, etc. Two posts below this one, I posted two photos. How did I do that? I created an account. Uploaded my pictures. Copied the HTML codes and pasted them into my “New Post” – and voila, I have embedded photographs that I didn’t steal from anywhere! Yipee! Careful though, I’m not implying that just because it comes from your photobucket account means you didn’t potentially take it from somewhere you weren’t supposed to. But you catch my drift. Anyway, what’s new about this site is that you can share your albums with other people on the site and use their links. I’m not extremely familiar with how privacy settings work on the site, but it’s a really cool way to share photographs and possibly artwork.

LiveJournal (LJ) –

I don’t have one of these, nor do I know exactly how the site works. But one of my very best friends spends oodles of her time reading fashion and art LJs. So, I’m going to take it from her that it’s a fantastic place to spread the love – i.e. your creativity and your thoughts – all in one place! But nothing, in my opinion, compares to this next one…

DeviantART (dA) –

So essentially this place is one for art, art, ART! If you haven’t heard of this website, I’m genuinely surprised. Check it out. Seriously. Okay, after you finish reading this. DeviantART is a one-stop shop for up-and-coming artists, illustrators, graphic designers, and photographers, to create a profile and show off their stuff. I haven’t yet branched out to the site yet, myself (I’ve stuck with the lame-old photo album on Facebook), but I think it would be really cool and exciting to have people follow your stuff. Must be why the site is so popular!

And now, I’m fairly certain you all have had enough of me for a bit! Time for a breather!

Social Networking - Part One

Social Networking sites have flourished during my teenage years. I remember in 9^th grade I got a MySpace and a Xanga and I thought these were THE coolest things to do. I could talk to some of my friends, post notes about whatever was on my mind, and change my profile picture – on both sites. Little by little, it started to change. MySpace got a little weirder (sorry if this offends any users!), they started accommodating for a lot of music groups, and random people were friend requesting me. I just wasn’t convinced by the safety of it all. Xanga, plain and simple got the “uncool” stamp.

Then, the social networking gods answered my prayers – Facebook. Well, actually my best friend told me about it, because her brother was (is) a college student – and at that time Facebook was just beginning to expand to high school students. This was it. This was so much cooler, and so much more “in the know,” if you will. It felt exclusive. Maybe it was because not as many of my friends were on it, but soon they drank the Kool-Aid. Er…I mean, they signed up.

I can honestly say after four years, and the countless numbers of times Facebook has changed, I can’t even begin to explain what it looked like way back then. It was simpler, and maybe more boring. A whole lot less easy to “stalk” people, I’ll give you that. And when did “stalking” become a socially acceptable term, even, when it came to Facebooking? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I use it too – for lack of a better term. But I’m genuinely curious as to when it went viral. It must’ve been when the news feeds started…but I digress!

Anyway, like MySpace, Facebook was a place to share yourself and to connect with others. The security settings on Facebook, even this I can remember, far outweighed the options that MySpace offered. I’ve heard the MySpace has changed their game as of late, but I’ll be serious – no one is going to turn me off of Facebook. I spend more time connected to Facebook than I would care to share, and at this point, the only reason I don’t have a crack…sorry, Blackberry (or iPhone) is because I fear for the world if I were on Facebook even more so than I am now without one of those phones. But really, it may have made my life a little bit more distracting, but it gives us lazy people in the world a simple, easy way to keep an address book. Want to send your friend a message? No need to figure out their email or even their phone number. Just find them on Facebook.

Of course, I’m glorifying Facebook here (note of bias: I believe it’s rightfully so!), but I’m sure that these aspects apply on almost every social networking site that you find all over the Internet.

Anyway, what I really want to stress at the end of this post is: it’s all about connections! Whether it’s on a superficial level, or some sort of common interest. Maybe it’s something to do with music connections, or networking for your jobs. Maybe you meet a long-lost classmate, or become really close to a distant relative whom you didn’t have much contact with in the first place. Connections – it’s a pretty big world, and it’s nice to have something help make it feel a little bit more personal – a little bit more yours.

In case you’re wondering what this all has to do with art, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for installment numero dos!

Wait...is that an Adobe Ad??

So I was on the metro last weekend, going to the National Gallery of Art with a group of friends. All of a sudden, my eye caught the ad behind my friends' head. I was shocked - it was an Adobe ad.

You might imagine my shock, since I've already done a blog post about how I've never, ever seen an ad either print, or multimedia for the Adobe programs. Anyway, before I continue here's the two ads I found (I apologize for the sub-par quality - it's my phone's fault):

You may notice, this isn't an ad for Adobe products. So, I guess I was right in the first place. I'll be posting about what these ads are and what Adobe's doing in the future, so keep a look out. We can say now, that Adobe is at the very least, getting their name out!

Cell Phone Use in Public - Response

Alright, guys, we're going to detour just a bit and talk about a study I recently read for class. Hope you find it as interesting as I did!

Cellphones in Public: Social Interactions in a Wireless Era, by Lee Humphreys, explores the ideas of how “Singles” and “Withs” interact in public (813). Singles are those that are by themselves in public – often feeling vulnerable, leaving them to fidget in any way to occupy them. Withs are those that are in a couple-setting, having someone to talk to. Sometimes, a With can become a Single, if a With leaves for a moment (maybe to use the restroom), or if one person engages in another conversation – particularly, on a cell phone (814).

There were many parts of the study that I related to and with because they I’ve experienced them so many times before either first hand or in observation. When [the study] discusses how one reacts when one half the “With” ends up on the phone, leaving the second person to fidget in the meantime (816). In my experience, when I’m the one who gets the call, I feel really bad that I leave my friend with no one to talk to. So usually, in those situations, I cut the conversation as short as possible and most likely suggest that I will call that person back (and I do, as soon as I am by myself). The reason I feel bad is because I know how awkward it can be, if only for just five seconds, to be left with no one to occupy your attention. When I’m in that situation, I usually look to my phone. And even though I have no texts to respond to, or a missed call to return that that time, I still click around. I might even send a text to someone, even if unnecessary, just to occupy myself. The study also references how we listen in to conversations if in this situation, even though social norms dictate that we shouldn’t (818). I have experienced this more times than I could even begin to count – we don’t really mean to listen in. It’s just that we don’t have anything else to distract us, so we listen.

Usually after a friend gets off a call, after having listened in for most of it, I ask whom they were talking to. Sometimes we end up talking about their phone call – depending on how close of friends we are. Sometimes we also talk about it, because either me or the other (whoever was on the phone) just felt bad about being on the phone and wanted to explain why we made the other person walk, sit, or stand with no one or nothing to distract them.

The most interesting assertion of the study is of the “caller hegemony” (822). It’s preposterous – and yet, not completely unbelievable – that a person in a heated discussion would still pick up the phone if it rang in the middle of said discussion. Maybe it provides a much-needed breather from an argument, an idea that the study doesn’t really address. However, since Caller ID was still not as prevalent at the time of the study, it seems like they do not address some aspects also (823). Again, when one is in an argument, you might be more inclined to pick up the phone just to take a break. But, as the study suggests, most people look at their cell phone when it rings, then decide whether or not to answer (824). The study writes that if the Caller ID is unavailable, like it might be for a landline, people feel more inclined to answer it (824-825). However, in response to screening calls, I believe I would take a moment to decide whether or not to answer. When I’m by myself – and this is something the study does not address – and I’m not busy in another way, I’m always okay with answering the phone, regardless of who it is. I’d also rather answer a call at that moment, because I’d feel bad if I forgot to call them back. But I know that if the person calling had something important to talk to me about, they would either leave me a voicemail or text me afterwards to let me know.

More posts about the uses of technology in art are coming soon!

Andy Warhol and Technology

I promised you wonderful readers a post on Andy Warhol, the Pop artist who experienced the height of his fame in the 1960s. Warhol explored the ideas of Pop Culture and the ways it was changing in the time period that he was working. How was information being transferred? What was society like? It was an incredible period of change. But what's his connection to technology?

Warhol, as well as being a painter and sculptor, experimented with the form of printmaking called silkscreening. This is defined as "A method of reproducing colored artwork using a cut stencil attached to a stretched, fine-meshed silk screen."This was just one way, though, that Warhol incorporated new technology into his artwork - this would be the literal sense.

As a Pop Artist, Warhol's artwork became a social commentary. One site on Warhol put it as such:

"...that in a culture glutted with information, where most people experience most things at second or third hand through TV and print, through images that become banal and disassociated by repeated again and again and again, there is role for affectless art."

So, instead of a literal sense, Warhol shed light on the way our society was changing in reaction to technology. In his painting, Marilyn Diptych, Warhol quite literally prints Marilyn Monroe's iconic image over and over and over again, till the colors become dull and muddied. And in that way, Warhol was saying, with her image (or the Campbell's soup, or the Billow Boxes, etc) being fed to the public eye so much, is it even special anymore?

I wonder what Warhol would think of our society today?