ETGA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C621J6lp8fA

Performance Art Piece Critique

Kimberly: COnfusing, intense. Fits with all the shenaniganesque we've seen in class. Really interesting effects and multilayers, interesting execution, definitely creative.
Catherina: Supremely personal piece, clearly wellt hought out, maybne a bit going away from the point in the project.
Sabrinna:Repetitive and a bit bland, failed to follow instructions, but interesting concept;.
MIchele: Cponcept was there, but no performance art component.
Erin: Decint ideas, btu could ahve been better, felt incomplete.
Megan: Very good, a bit safe but solid piece, strong message.
James: Toos imple/safe, kind of effective point but lost because of setting.
Chris: Nice videoideas,end of world is there, but not performance.
Ariel: Uhh, wut. Kind of boring, not original, beyond save but ok.
Cody: Very literla, very intersting, creative but simple.
Nakota: Was confused, didn't see the point, dry.

Performance Art Piece

Ergh... The Audio/Subtitles:

December 21st, 2012
Dear Diary;

Today marks the start of the lame duck's Congress recently passed legislation. They called it the Protection Act of 2012. As of today, cameras are starting to be installed in every home everywhere, and all phones are tapped. They also claim they've invaded the world wide web with bugs to control not just the country, but the world's internet. How they're doing it we don't know, its been said that they've recenetly made breakthroughs that allow to perfectly spy on every citizen. Its scary how technology can rob us of our privacy like that. But the U.S. isnt alone .It's back by a UN order and multiple other associations around the world. In an effort to establish world piece and to protect the "Citizens of the World" from the "Worst of Humanity" the entire world has begun to pass similar legislation. The protection doesn't stop at communication - its physical, mental, and spiritual. We all have to follow and believe in the laws, if we show even the slightest hesitation we are branded criminals and sent to locations that the public yet doesn't know about. We're hearing that its mass execution camps, but news has become nonexistent since they silenced the internet. Even now as I write this, I do so with complete deference to the law, for I am a humble servant of the world. Those who protest are never heard from again, and its only just begun. Some say they are afraid, that its going to get worse as time goes on. We have no privacy, no freedom anymore. We have ceased to be individuals. Even the government is now controlled by a strict set of routines.

-January 1st, 2013
Dear Diary;

It's been a little over a week and already the PA is under full control. Many friends are no longer here, disappeared over night. The world is getting smaller, more and more laws are being passed aimed at "uniting the world" - Uniting for what, I wonder.

March 3rd, 2013
I'm done. I'm going to disappear tonight, Its not worth living like this, we aren't individuals anymore - maybe future generations will live like this, not I. I hear the footsteps outside my door now, my life comes to an end soon. This is how the end starts.

The idea was to make the technology invisible in the sense that it was simply what robbed the protag. of his privacy, of his life. The technology was invisible as it was meant to be but yet had a very profound effect on his life. The end of the world was simply taken to be the end of privacy. 

Hunger Games Cameo and Legendary Synthesizers

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/03/rare-electronic-music-hunger-games/

It's interesting to see that such an obscure piece from a time when such a composition being used in a major film would be considered blasphemy to come to light under the circumstances that it did. It opens the door to the possibility of other composers of the mid to late 20th century to show up in films when they're least expected. Having seen the movie and know the scene they're talking about, the piece was used as such compositions are to western sensibilities instead of going into the deeper possibilities of the composition, it just uses the buzzing and pulsations to create a scene where the protagonist is disoriented, scared, and for lack of a better phrase, hauling ass. It fits the situations, if not a bit too cliche.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.05/blackbox_pr.html

Going through the list of such groundbreaking synthesizers, it's interesting to see how they all began. Some were a mistake, others a gamble, etc. Overall it's interesting to see how these came to be, and exactly what they did that managed to get them a spot on this list. It's enlightening to see exactly how far back and how organic the history of synthesizers and music creation in the 20th century and beyond has been, how it's been less planned acheivements and more just strokes of luck,

Xerox Critiques

Megan: Trippy, creative, unique, above and beyond the call of duty.
COdy: Maybe too few variations of pieces of the body
Sabrina: under done? Could use more work/variation but really visually attractive and interestingly thought out.
Brian: Way too simple  COuld have challenged himself more.
Nakota: Amazing idea and production, attention grabbing, creative, a bit unoriginal but highly well executed.
Airel: INteresting work on the contrast, but lacking in contnet. COuld ahv ebeen more eleborative on the subject.
Michele: Texturized, creative, time consuming, personal, but might have strayed a bit from the objective.
Lauren: Relaly well done, insightful self-though provoking.
James: Too much negative space, intersting idea.
Kim: Really well done and executed, drawn excellently from the examples in class. Horroresque.
Erin: Really well done and beautiful
Maria: Chaotic, failed to understand.

Xerox

Grid Art Critique:

Lauren: Creative use of materials, effective portryal of idea.
Kim: Amazing, not much else to say.
Catherine: Good execution, maybe could be a bit more varied.
Sabrina: Interesting idea, solid grid.
Megan: Good way of creating the grid and creative usage of the flowers and colors.
James: Good use of the idea of the project
Chris: Amazing use of the material, nice way to work around limitations.
Cody: Solid idea and execution, flawless.
Maria: Failed to understand the project.
Nakota: Really good use of the source material

Adventures in Flipbooking and Failure

So, the idea that kind of gave birth to it was

And that evolved into

I'll post more details when I'm not exhausted and about to pass out from sleep deprivation and hunger. Again.

Flipbook Critiques

Maria: Humorous but nonsensical, confusing, simple. SHort by like 70 Pages.
Sabrina: Simple, chaotic idea, no cohesiveness. Interesting start but highly boring mid and end.
Lauren: Funny, cool, pretty, solid idea and execution, pretty short.
James: Smart, concise, cohesive, at first glance seems chaos yet flows really well
Christopher: Funny, well thought out, simple but gets to the point and cohesive.
Michele: Creative, entertaining, keeps the reader attention with a solid story.
Nakota: Amusing, appealing and narrative.
Erin: Simple but artistic with a real good flow.

The Great Train Robbery

The Great Train Robbery - 1903 


Speaking from a current point of view, the movie is quite normal, if not a bit boring (ignoring time)

However, the fact of the matter was that this movie was the first long piece that was painstakingly put together with a view that made people believe events that were happening in the movie were also happening to them! The effortful coloring of specific scenes and people serves to show importance and draw the viewer'sattention, with an albeit humorous (though I'd imagine it'd be viewed as somewhat macabre in it's heyday) storyline.

MUTO - BLU

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

This piece is if nothing else astonishing. The detail, preservearance, effort, and planning that went into is just mind-blowing. The inter-connected scenes across different areas of the city alongside the thought-provoking imagery was amazing. Although, at least, personally, the meaning of it is kind of, lost, if there is one, on me. Perhaps it's because of cultural differences but the most I can take out of it on a level beyond the art is the inter-connectedness of mankind, how silly we are, and how dangerous we are to non but ourselves. But truthfully I think you don't need to understand the meaning to understand the beauty of this work. The detailed and beautiful art on such an unconvenient medium (Stop-motion graffiti) is amazing. Truly blown-away.

Mozart in Pop Culture

Pjotr Sapegin's Madama Butterfly

This piece is a shortened version of the opera with the same name, Madama Butterfly. It's about a Japanese Geisha who falls in love with an American navy officer, and then gets pregnant with his kid. Eventually he leaves her but promises to come back for her and the kid. When he comes back however, he's married to an american women and has kids with her, but takes Madame Butterfly's kid regardless.

This particular rendition of the story is a highly insightful one. Basically it gives a more literal rendition to the titular character's name, and gives a more literal meaning to the story. She falls in love and enjoys her "spring time" with the American, losing herself to the lust and joy of the experiences and lets herself let loose. She doesn't want it end and is torn when she finally has to part with him, but finds hope and comfort in the child that's left with her. She raises it as a memory of what she once had, what she'll have again. It's a memory of him that'll stay with her. Eventually when he comes she regains her hope, before it's pulled away with an agonizing quickness and nonchalantness when he introduces his wife to her. He seems to have no issues with introducing her to the wife, nor taking the child from her right in front of the wife. This further wrecks the girl's psyche, being led to believe that all they had was a fling. That he doesn't care about her at all and all this time she spent waiting has been for naught. Eventually she can't take it and carves herself to pieces until nothing remains but a butterfly, all that remains of a memory of happiness long gone. The piece might have been going for the effect that she hoped to leave with a happy memory, because it ends with a return to her first meeting of the American. That or it might have gone even further back and she might have wanted to wipe herself clean, forget everything there was to do with the American. Point is that it's a story of love and misery. Unrequited love with a string of hope that's laid across time before snapped (Quite literally) painfully.

Juan Carlos Delgado - Critiques

Cuarto Norte

Mechanically the piece is copper-wiring set up in such a way to mimic the works of a refrigerator, and it's encasing supports/finalizes this effect. The freezing effect makes the piece look like this in a matter of a few months:

The drastic change is not only part of the intended design for the piece, but it enhances the meaning and the beauty of the piece. While still in it's original form, it looks like a traditional art piece, that although well made, it doesn't seem to have much if any meaning. The warm colors on a neutral face could make it a meaning of the start of life, unsure and expecting of the future, despite however we may take it we're all looking forward to it on the inside. But then as time passes we become jaded, cold, the world around us makes us bitter and strips of our happiness, of our hope. And the piece does an amazing job of showing that in a most literal form, the object freezes through time and as the design becomes enhanced and more detailed, showing how one's journey through life is always going to define us, it doesn't change that we're all changed into a more stiff, colder form thanks to our surroundings.

An Introduction to the Wild World of Santi's 211

About Me?
My full name is Juan Raul Sedano and I'm an aspiring gfx-designer/coding-geek thus finding myself in a major that's quite suitable for both. Not big on talking about myself so thats enough for now right? Right. Onwards!

First Impressions?
Amusing. After a uh, small mishap, the class was quite amusing. A bit daunting to finally be in it, but I'm already well aware of the time constraint and dedication the class requires so it wasn't a surprise. I'm actually kind of looking forward to what this semester will bring. I've merely watched and heard from people who've taken the class before, so it's going to be interesting to be able to take it. Yeah, definitely anticipating a lot of chaos this semester, but who doesn't need chaos every now and again?

Expectations?
Uh, a new-found appreciation for what little sleep I will be getting. Lots of challenging work that'll probably make me think in ways I can't comprehend at the outset of this class. A lot of new information and viewpoints that I probably haven't even begun to think of before. And lots of hard work.