"I'd rather have a beer."- An ART211 Flip Book

Cynthia Lawson

The Cynthia Lawson lecture as part of the Electronics Alive exhibit was very interesting. The initial art that she showed and discussed focused around a "thing a day" online event that she had done. The work focused around her at her computer doing a number of different things. While it was interesting to hear her thoughts on the project, I found it hard to call it "art". Watching somebody typing on a web cam is not entertaining to me. Once Cynthia progressed to discuss her newer photography work, I enjoyed the presentation much more. Her layered pictures examining time and spaces was very interesting and extremely cool looking. Also, when she put those images in a digital media and allowed them to merge together, the spaces became alive. I really enjoyed the layering of the courtyard outside of the art museum piece. The work Cynthia has done in Guatemala with native women was also quite interesting. The students on the trip must have had a great experience teaching computer skills to the villagers and seeing their different interpretations of electronic media. Overall, it was great to hear a successful artist discuss her work and the motivation behind some of her diverse projects.

Clockwork Orange

WOW! The clips from Clockwork Orange was quite different from any movie I've watched before. While not a movie I would seek to watch, it was definitely interesting. The music, sex, violence, and artistic creativity in every seen was overwhelming. It came across as a little strange and obscure for my liking, but there were some cool scenes. The film techniques used to capture the color and shapes were also intriguing. Also, the re-emergence of the singing in the rain scene was interesting. I always find it clever when a new film or piece of artwork references a classic. This happens all the time in movies, music, or nearly any form of art. While I much prefered the origninal singing in the rain, it was amazing how Clockwork Orange took an otherwise passive and calm song and turned into into an anthem for violence. Times had most certainly changed from the time of the original to the Clockwork Orange scene. The VW use of Singing in the Rain that we watched online was very entertaining. It was a great use of modern technology to re-make an iconic movie scene.

The Sixth Sense

The article about the MIT project to produce a computer that can act as a "sixth sense" for people was amazing. It was obvious that the technology was still a prototype, but still very impressive. The ability to interact with surroundings in a seamless was would revolutionize mobile computing. Looking up product reviews and reading the paper with video are some of the coolest features. If this product ever gets to the market, it could very well save the newspaper industry. It is clearly only a matter of time before the iPhone is obsolete, and a more intuitive technology takes over. This product could change many areas of how we live.

Opera?

Watching Opera for an hour and half sounds quite painful. I am not a fan of Opera, and it gets a really bad wrap. However, the clips shown in class were actually quite interesting. While there is no way I am going to start listening to Opera frequently, I could appreciate the technological advances that it took to put on such performances. The amazing sets, fireworks, and huge musical numbers were impressive. The coolest thing was the dinner performance for the king of France in the garden. The set and pyrotechnics were extremely elaborate. In conclusion, I sill don't enjoy listening to the long high pitch tones in a foreign language that Opera often consists of, but the talent of the writers and performers can't be ignored.

First Class Impressions

I was not sure what to expect at all when signing up for ART211. To be honest, I took it because I needed another honors class and it seemed interesting. After the first class, I know that ART211 is sure to push me creatively and open my mind to new types of art. It appears that we will be exploring some rather "edgy" works that will expand my horizons. I look forward to seeing the different videos and animations that will be presented. Overall, the class will be a far stretch from my Finance classes, but seems very interesting.