Traditional/New Media

After seeing that photoshop can create portraits that seem to be painted with oil paint, water color, and other forms of media, I came across this piece. This is a piece that seems to recreate digital media  in a way that captures the original feel of traditional forms of media. I am unsure if this piece was created with photoshop, but needless to say, it looks like a digital masterpiece. I believe that this piece is titled Gravity Ryan Stone, and it was created by Zeronis.

Retrieved from deviantart.com.

Installations

I really enjoyed reading the section that Mary Stewart wrote about installations in art at the end of her textbook Launching the Imagination. I mainly liked it because I too agree that installations allow artists to be innovative in ways that I never thought possible. Installations really have "expanded means of expression" (Stewart 359). For example, this installation pictured, is three dimensional, huge, and it resembles an array of different objects. One viewing the object may think of a porcupine or a wave, while the artist may have intended the piece to resemble a sea urchin or a dragon fruit. Moreover, it is important to note that an installation packs many clues into an area that are visually stimulating and thought provoking.

Image retrieved from: LatianoInstallation.jpg

Emotion, Imagery, and Dogs

Mary Stewart in her textbook, Launching the Imagination, wrote a section about ad narration and useful strategies. These strategies include appealing to rationality, emotion, seriousness, humor, realistic connection, or exaggeration (336). As an example of an ad that plays on emotion, Stewart uses an example of a commercial that is meant to evoke emotion about a product that isn't an immediate need for people. According to Stewart, this commercial (which is displayed in Figure 14.29) evokes emotion because it shows the food from a dog's perspective, which is then meant to show that the food is "a manifestation of love for the dog" (337). There is a commercial that quickly came to mind for me which conveys emotion to a depth that shows not only the love directed from the owner to the animal, but also love is conveyed from the animal to the owner (because the owner buys the food). I really like this advertisement because it is so effective at an emotional level. The imagery is bright and enlightening while the communication is short, simple, and compelling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNUdeXKd6QU

Animation of Raccoons

Since I posed about animation yesterday, I wanted to study just how animation works. It is a phenomenal avenue for the creation of art, and after watching the video linked here: http://www.cgmeetup.net/home/making-of-raccoon-dance-party/
I have a vague understanding of the process each animated component undergoes in an animated video. After watching the video, it is clear that the raccoons start out resembling rats as the animators chose their placement and movement for certain scenes. Then the features of the raccoons and the backgrounds were elaborately created, which helped create a 3D effect due to shading techniques, and in the end, the animation process is artistically awe-inspiring. Additionally, I believe that this animation is new media art, because this was computer generated, and each detail of the final product is so refined that this is definitely a harmonious marrying of technology and art.

This image is copyright and was retrieved from: Computer Graphics & Digital Art Community for Artist: Job, Tutorial, Art, Concept Art, Portfolio.

Lilo&Stitch | Old&New Media

I remember seeing Lilo&Stitch when it came out in theaters in 2002. Since I saw it, it has been my all time favorite movie (leave it to Disney right?). I also remember that I always tried to draw sunset pictures for my parents (signed by me, of course) that resembled the sunsets in Lilo&Stitch. After researching the movie, I learned that there was both traditional media, and new technological media used in the creation of the movie. The background of each scene was created with watercolor, which is considered traditional media, while the characters were digitally animated by a computer and therefore are a new media creation. I think that the incorporation of both of these elements are what allowed the movie to be as visually successful as it was. Not only did the use of watercolor make the movie seem timeless, the use of computer animation made the characters come to life.

Multiple Image Structures

For this post, I would like to analyze an exemplified work in Mary Stewart's textbook titled, Launching the Imagination, that appears in the section that addresses "Multiple Image Structures" (322). On page 323, Stewart provides three works that were produced in a calendar and each picture pointed toward the same theme: a frog (323). She states that photos can be grouped by content, such the grouping of works that contain similar shapes, and the order of the photos can be unimportant (Stewart 322). Stewart does point out that the similar shapes that unify works, for example can be a pyramid pattern that is conveyed throughout each piece, however her example titled, "Frog Folio" (Figure 14.6), shows a frog at different angles, therefore the frog does not convey the same shape, but does convey the idea of the frog, which is meant to be the unifying point. In conclusion, both unifying shapes, ideas, and even implied shapes cause connections to meanings within images that would have otherwise gone unnoticed if not for the other images used as support.

Another New Media Artist: Anna Schuleit

Anna Schuleit creates an array of different works using more traditional forms of media, and installations. One of my favorite works that she has crafted is an installation called Bloom in 2003. This installation was "Created to address the persistent absence of flowers in psychiatric hospital settings" (annaschuleit.com). Schuleit blanketed the floors of a psychiatric hospital, which had recently closed, with over 28,000 potted blooming flowers, with assorted colors on each floor. Even the swimming pool contained flowers, while the basement was covered with a layer of sod. The intercom system played the recorded sounds of the hospital in the days leading up to its closing as viewers experienced the installation. 

I find Bloom intriguing because I don't see the installation as eerie. From my perspective, it seems as though Schuleit had created an atmosphere to be respectful and honorary of the people who had been patients or employees at the facility while it was in use. In a way, it seems like she intended to recreate the original feeling of the hospital with the recordings, but she was also showing that even that sterile and sometimes troubled atmosphere can enjoy bright colors, and natural beauty, which she represented with potted blooming flowers. 

 

Photo Courtesy Anna Schuleit

Photo Courtesy Anna Schuleit

Photo Courtesy Anna Schuleit