Final

In class I presented the technology of the Virtual DJ software. With this software, one can easily create music by combining different beats and songs to make one song. To start using this software, you would go to http://www.virtualdj.com/ which is the website. The home version is completely free to download so you could go ahead and do that. When you run the software it should look something like this: 

Now you can start playing music and adding it together to make your very own. This relates to my project because it not only inspired me in my project with Bryan for our own dj booth, but I used it to create the music made in my final project with Ana. 
Our final project is entitled "Tornado Cats", which came to us while looking at the product of what we have created. Our original project was based on cats playing pong with a baseball. It required a user's input to play the game and did not really envision art as a whole. So we decided to keep with the theme of cats and baseball and created our final project. Ana had photoshopped the baseball players to have large cat heads instead of their normal, human ones. We randomized small circles on the screen to bounce back and forth to create a sort of disco scene for the baseball players. When we had put a baseball background in it, it looked out of place, so we replaced it with a space background to tie the whole thing together. Looking at the finalized product we realized that something was missing, and that thing was a title. These "disco" balls made the baseball players look like they were in a tornado, which gave us the name "Tornado Cats". To tie the whole piece together I created a disco theme song and played it in the background. 

For this project, Ana and I both coded. The part that took the longest for me to code was the bouncing balls, I couldn't get the randomization of the colors and balls to work. I kept getting an error code. The song was probably the most difficult part for me because I had to get the children's voices to sync with the music. I had to add the children's voices because it was incredibly unique and hilarious, they keep saying: "... with the funky beat I move my feet, I'm the foxiest disco girl you'll meet". In addition to that, you can hear the two songs I added together, the jazz and the very 80s song in the background. But the minim library did help with the addition of this song to the finalized project. 

to download click here: 

Final Project

Project Ideas

I had multiple ideas on what I wanted to do for a project. But thing that seemed to stand out the most for me was something that was less interactive because of the limited amount of resources.

One idea would be using a wide variety of music, making snippets so that the whole track is maybe at most 5-7 minutes long and having some sort of animation that interacted with the music changing to change with the music.
(that one is my favorite).

Another idea that is of course less plausible was to have something similar to the kinect and have it see where you are, the closer you got to the screen a panda (of course) would peek out more and more behind the bamboo brush. The farther people walk away from the screen, the more pandas disappear. Insinuating that the less people care, the less pandas will be alive due to them becoming extinction.
(you said to incorporate my pandas idea Angus..)

The more I think about this project, the more I get an anxiety attack. I can't think of anything that is my skill range that would be good enough to put into a exhibition. I am at a loss of words and generally need assistance in the matter.

Artist Statement

Marie Wilcox has a very unique outlook on art and how it impacts everyone who interacts with it. She takes things that are most important to her and incorporates it into her artwork. Her most recent piece is entitled “Bamboo Forest”, which combines her love for pandas and Japanese culture into one magnificent artwork. Her natural knack for technology are shown in each piece, especially in her first piece entitled “The Path Taken”. The technology used tracks the viewer’s positioning as they move and when they go down a certain path things would change. Marie does all these things while staying eco-friendly and contributing to the environment. ¼ of all the money made is donated to the World Wildlife Fund, which is her favorite charity. Not only will going to Marie’s exhibitions be an experience that one will not forget but it is good for the world around you as well. 

Projects

Bamboo Forest

Bamboo Forest is a display of extinction awareness. It has multi-colored paint splattered in an abstract manner on top of a cartoonist version of bamboo on the wall. There are pandas hidden in the dark shadows of the above. Depending on where you move the pandas will come cascading from the ceilings and come towards you. They then rise back into the darkness as if never there.  

The Path Taken

The Path Taken has a tile like flooring which in reality has a movement sensor underneath it.  The floor will then light up when you walk over it. There is a preferred path outlined on the floor, if you are to step outside of the path it will light up red and red lights will flash everywhere. It demonstrates the complexity of choosing your own path and following your dreams 

Homework 2

So here is the problem with my homework 2. I did it more complicated than I should have. Which resulted in  hascanvas.com not reading my code saying P2D is not defined. (proof below). So here is what I am going to do. I am going to screen shot my work. Add the code so it displays and add the original art piece that I did it from. If that is a problem, I'm sorry. Please let me know how to fix it.

My artist was Blaise Cendrars.
I chose her by complete accident. I accidentally clicked on her name and when I saw that she was born in Switzerland I was immediately interested. The amazing thing about the work that I chose, Binding for the book Les Paques (Easter), is that it was one of the earliest abstract collages. It was created in 1913, Delaunay-Terk simply enjoyed gluing fragments of colored and textured paper onto bindings of books. The first one that she started on was the cover of Blaise Cendrar's poem Les Paques. Delaunay-Terk exhibited 13 decorated book bindings (her first exhibition) and it was in Berlin, Germany. That of course also made this piece that much more special to me. "This range of mediums demonstrates how her practice cut across the traditional hierarchy of fine and applied art" (moma.org).
Another thing I really love about this piece is that it looks effortless yet it was so crucial to the abstract art movement.

3 Artists - ISTA 401

Katsushika Hokusai. 

He is probably one of my favorite artists. I made a previous blog post about him (if you would like to see/read it click here). What I like the most about his work is just the depth and time that went into making it. I am obsessed with anything relating to Japanese culture and his photos are the epitome of their culture. The crazy thing about his work is that he made them through wood block printing. If you take a look at his most impressive work 'Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji' he literally spent the end of his life creating these. The website that I am going to link says that there are 46 prints but in actuality, they were added after the first publication and should not be counted into the sum. (so there :P) 

Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji

Katsushika Hokusai's Memoriam Website #1 (it's not actually his website because he died in 1849..)

Katsushika Hokusai's Memoriam Website #2

Metropolitan Museum of Art's article on Hokusai

Os Gêmeos. 

So with these artists (they are twins), I was looking through the Google Art Project and found this artwork. It really caught my eye and was so different than all of the others. I will link the photograph so whoever actually reads these posts will see what I am talking about. It is very kitsch and interesting, yet I don't know what to take from it. I think that the most important art does not have a specific implied meaning but it is the meaning you take from it when you personally look at it. What I personally find the most interesting about these two guys is that they take their inspiration from Brazil's hip-hop scene and mix that with the community. After looking more into their work, it's quite amazing what these men have accomplished.
Os Gêmeos Official Website
An article on the twins

William Wegman

This is one of the artists I heard about through my Art Education course last semester. We never really learned about him in the lecture but we had to use him as a comparison in my discussion. The group I was in for my discussion was trying to make ironic photographs and that is something William Wegman prides himself on. I personally love animals and am quite obsessive over them. Something about them warms my heart. So when I see Wegman's photographs I automatically have to smile. It just brings a sense of happiness. But he has so many other photos that are not dogs too, so it is something for everyone. I will attach my favorite photo below.
William Wegman's Official Website

Media Artists:

When looking through media artists, two works specifically caught my eye.
Valence by: Ben Fry and Proximity of Needs by: Lia

Ben Fry had more information than Lia did so I thought I would dig deeper into his works. What I find the most interesting about media art is that it can look so simple on the outside but be so complex on the inside. A fun fact about Valence is that it was used in the movie Minority Report. What he did with the project is that he uploaded the contents of the book "The Innocents Abroad" by Mark Twain and then made the program read it and add each word into 'three-dimensional space'.They more frequently words are found, the farther they get moved to the outside of the circle. He states on his website that using this program can help you understand a large body of information, whether it's a 200,000 word book, usage data from a website, or financial transaction. It simply adds a qualitative slice into how the information is structured.

Valence
Information about Valence
Aligning Humans and Mammals

Proximity of Needs
If there is anyway we can find out more about the Proximity of Needs work, that'd be great!

Initial Post - ISTA 401

So basically in this post I am suppose to describe how I feel about certain topics, i.e. programming, art etc. But there is so much about one person that this would be hard to sum up in a simple post. But I will try!
I have always a small child enjoyed computers, quite fascinated actually. And the weird thing is that I think I just understood them. I could always figure out what was wrong, as if it was a patient and I the doctor. This fascination continued through school and eventually turned me into a 'gamer' in high school. I then decided to move into a Criminal Justice career putting computing on the side while I pursued that. Criminal Justice is my passion and SISTA is my minor now. If I can hopefully go into some kind of computer security field, that would be ideal. So that's a quick overview of that.
Programming and I have a love-hate relationship. We both are not too fond of each other. I took the required python course for the minor and well I scraped by on the cusp. (The professor wasn't too great either, so I don't blame it all on myself). I find programming interesting but sometimes I can not make heads or tails of it. 
Last semester, I took Kelland's ISTA301 course and a tier II Art elective by requirement of the University. I was constantly thinking about art. Basically 24/7 and everything somehow related to art to me. Music, grass, driving, pizza, anything. So the history behind art would be interesting to dig into. 
In middle school I was assigned (by my father) to make him a website for his business. Strange that he wanted a 15 year old doing his website but okay. I was all about doing this for him. I had books piled upon my desk for days. Let me just say that his website was pretty amazing when I was done with it. Some of this information still sticks with me but is very hazy. But I had some knowledge of it.

Hope this helps you get a feel of who I am and my knowledge before entering 401.

<3 Marie

ISTA401

First day of class today for ISTA401.
So we are going to reuse this blog for this course as well! :)

Hello Prof. Forbes or fellow ISTA class mates,
and welcome to my blog!