Posts

Video Deconstruction: From The Outside Looking In

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL4YsTb7huA         I approached this project with extreme bias. Hip-Hop/Rap has always been a genre of music that has raised controversy; in 2018, that is no exception. However, increasingly, ignorance regarding the music and the culture of Hip-Hop/Rap has become acceptable. To showcase this sentiment in the video, I've made the clips where ignorance regarding the genre and its icons - specifically Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar - black and white. This conscious decision was done to showcase how narrow their view of the genre is - not because they are unable to understand the genre, but because they refuse to understand the genre. The talking heads/news pundits/terrible researchers that comment on the culture - solely to push whatever agenda they need for their show - clearly do not know what they are talking about. The problem is not that they are talking about the genre; the more people who talk about Hip-Hop/Rap, the better for the advancement

Music Movements & Technology

1. Funk Rock - Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Song: Californication Link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlUKcNNmywk - The Red Hot Chilli Peppers when they came on into the scene revitalized the rock world with their implementation of funk inspired musicianship - the same influence can be seen in popular bands like Sublime. However, I chose this group specifically to represent the genre of Rock (or Funk Rock) because of their music video for Californication that was released in 2000 - with the song being the title track for the album. The music video implements both real footage of the band performing the song in a heaven-like atmosphere while being juxtaposed by a video game(s) that involve the band members in video game forms. The video game within the music video seemed to be modeled by the video games popular at the time on game consoles such as Playstation 1. However, the use of technology is obvious; using the vehicle of a video game to relay the message of the song has an inter

Public Performance: Free Compliments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7TYU7Lj6M0 First thing first: this did not go as we planned. At all. We ventured to figure out how people would react to strangers - us - holding up signs with the offers of "Free Compliments" or "Free Insults"; we expected people to be receptive to the compliments rather than the insults, but both fell flat. People were not receptive to our offerings; however, we summarized it was for a couple of reasons. One of the biggest factors for the lack of reception can be relayed to technology. Most of the people we crossed paths with we're either talking to people who were on cell phones or on their own cell phones. They were disinterested in the performance, which then led to our eventual dissatisfaction and loss of energy for the project. Technology's impact on our performance cannot be understated. The next factor that led to our poor performance was the fact that we were two men. At first, we believed women would not be rec

Xerox Copies: Mayan Ruins - Tikal

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Artist Statement: As a descendent of Guatemalan heritage, my lineage traces back to the ancient Mayan civilization. That said, I thought it would be a cool opportunity to showcase the ruins - specifically Tikal - that were built in Guatemala. While this is not a traditional project - having to use my own body to recreate the structure - I thought it was pretty beautiful that I could use my own body to recreate a structure built by my people. Through the use of my arms, hands, and even face - along with the help of my roommate who wanted to be part of the project - each served their own purpose in the ruins. The arms served as the outline and base to the pyramid. The hands served as the steps/stairway for the pyramid. And, the faces served as comedic relief because they didn't accomplish anything with regards to the construction of the pyramid. Inspiration: Progress: Step 1: The arms and middle fingers use to create the outline and stairs.  Step 2: Hands were used to

Grid Art: Mike Kazowski

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Artist Statement: My favorite childhood movie is Monsters Inc. There was always something about Mike Kazowski that I related to when I was younger - maybe it was his smiley disposition to make up for his lack of confidence, maybe it was his drive to prove people wrong, or the relationship between him and Randall was reminiscent of my oldest brother and I. But, Mike Kazowski as far as this project is concerned, his eye is the main attraction in my piece. I saw wiggly eyes in the store and I knew immediately what I was going to create. With over 900 wiggly eyes, Mike's eye is the focal point. I think it was a great opportunity to make his eye to standout in the sea of smaller eyes. Also, wiggly eyes perfectly complement the goofy personality Mike Kazowski displays throughout the film. Inspiration:  Progress: Around 300 wiggly eyes. Officially 900 wiggly eyes. Added some giant wiggly eyes.  Added some color to it. It's coming along! Does it look li

Flipbook: The Chicken Or The Egg

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Artist Statement:        In the age of the internet, information is readily available. As we've seen in the recent political and social climate, the information found on the web is not always to be trusted; however, it's become the norm that people believe whatever is put in front of them. While this flipbook is not intended to be serious - rather whimsical and light hearted - its purpose is to convey this idea of questioning the information given to us. This was communicated by asking the age old question, which came first: the chicken or the egg? While there is no scientifically proven answer, the answer does not matter; what matters is that people will believe what they want and will believe what is told to them without verifying it - no matter how important the matter. This is the progress throughout the creation of the flipbook. Let's walk through what's going on in each frame.  This frame is the egg uploading its contents.  This is the egg

21st Century Technology: Bluetooth

Wires are such a bother. Nobody has time to navigate through metal and plastic lines that most of the time act as a hinderance in not only aesthetic appeal, but functional appeal. That is why the technology of Bluetooth - wireless connection between devices - was invented. However, it would not exist without the inventions that cam before it - namely radio. “Bluetooth uses what is now known as short-link radio technology. It operates at the unlicensed (but regulated) 2.4 to 2.485 GHz band and it uses radios to communicate and establish connections between two or more devices” (Pothitos). Without the radio, we would not have the all-so-valuable Bluetooth that at this point is almost a requirement on any new electronic device that comes out for consumers.   “It was 1999 when we launched the entire Bluetooth system to the world. And then we had the internet bubble [crash] in 2000, 2001, so it really didn't catch on until 2003, 2004” (Hardawar). Though the rollout of Bluetooth hap