FREE Photo editing software

Alright folks! The word on the street is that the best freeware version of photoshop is called "Gimpshop." Give it a try and let me know what you think: http://www.gimpshop.com/

Wordpress

For those of you starting your own blogs or websites, here is another free service you can use:
http://www.wordpress.com

(Sorry blogger.com!)

FREEWARE

Hey Team,
Some of you were asking about software that you could use to animate, learn how to program, etc. Lucky for you, there is a huge open source software movement going on, and here is just a sampling of a few programs you can try out, use, and keep, all for free!

http://www.alice.org/
3D Program. Go through the tutorial.

http://scratch.mit.edu/
Really GREAT Flash-like program for storytelling. Download and click on the help button for a tutorial.

http://www.processing.org/
Programming/Animation (Advanced) program. Go through the tutorial.

There's also a free version of photoshop. I have to find the url, and then I'll post it. Every give a big cheer to the open source movement!!! Hip hip...hurrah!
Enjoy!

I just had a Crazy idea

I finished Berger's "Ways of Seeing" today and it left me off with lots of new ideas about the conceptual and visual forms of Art. All this cool artsy stuff went on today as well so I'm just really excited and motivated to create something.
The thing I want to create is a type of image projector: a tube of paper with stenciled with drawings from top to bottom. It would be hanging from the ceiling encircling some sort of light source (flouresant, lightbulb, don't know yet). The negatives of the images would be projected onto a larger cardboard cylinder which the viewer could step into. I was thinking Richard Serra-ish. The large cylinder "walls" will most likely be black to enhance the absorption of light while the paper tube inside of it would be white to increase the reflection from within.
The paper tube would be spinning from the ceiling, I was thinking of taking apart an RC car and using the wheel motor to create the force for rotation but I'm sure theres a better way.
While inside the installation, the viewer would be surrounded by rows and rows of images constantly rotating and creating the illusion of movement while the cardboard cylinder may seem to (hopefully) rotate around the viewer. The viewer will be forced to make the choice of either following the spinning images or waiting for them to come to him/her to create a frame-by-frame animation. It'll look like rows of long comic strips being dragged around a circle, like the center has some sort of gravitational pull.
I want to prove that a still image can be an image in motion (inspired by Berger) and that a still scene can create just as much detail as a 5 minute movie clip. Think of all the stuff going on in Wheres Waldo, its like watching a cartoon! I want to destroy the separations between the ways of viewing and digesting visual information. Reading books and comics are unique in that if you dont understand a section you can just turn a page or look back a few sentances or boxes. No technology required. With a movie you've got to pause, rewind, etc. I want to recreate this ability to look at past information to understand the present, thats part of why it'll be in constant rotation (maybe reversing once in awhile) allow the viewer to catch up to whats going on.
It may be an autobiography, illustrating my life to this point, that would be pretty funky: each row representing another stage of developement.
Any feedback or reccomendations on how to get this going? I'm going to start making a miniature.

Post Secret

Hey Team! Thanks for all of the hard work this semester. The class was so much fun, and your work was great-- fun, energetic, and thoughful! THANKS! I'll post some more details about getting DVD copies of your work when the time comes. This blog will still be available so keep using it to post your work and interesting links and to stay in contact, etc.
Happy Holidays! -Huong

ps. Here's a really great website that started as a mail project:
http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

Open Studio Today and Schedule for Next Week

Hey Team! Thanks for being so attentive to Marisa's talk and for all of the hard work yesterday. I just wanted to post the schedule for the next two weeks for reference:

Dec. 5, 4-6PM
Open Studio

Dec. 9, 4-6:30PM
Make-Up Class
Studio Day for projects

Dec. 11, 4-6:30PM
Last Studio Day
Projects need to be finished at the end of class, NO EXCEPTIONS!

Dec. 13, 4-6PM
FINAL EXHIBIT!!!
YAY! Invite your friends, family, etc!

Also, here are the links from Marisa's lecture: http://delicious.com/marisaolson/MOMAlecture

SORRY IT'S LATE-Why I Make Art

I don't know why I started making art, I just always liked drawing. I think I kept on drawing because I wanted to become better at it, and I've gotten a lot better since I was younger. I was interested in making movies when I was ten because I liked watching internet cartoons and I wanted to make them. When I was twelve I got Adobe Flash 7, and I was always making animations and putting them on Youtube. When I got my third cellphone when I was thirteen, and I started trying to make movies with the video feature on it, sometimes the videos I made would influence my animations with flash. Every time I try to make big and lengthy flash animations, it would be hard and boring when I was making them, but when I was done, I was always happy with what I made. I make art because I like the feeling of seeing the finished project I made, and it can still be fun while I make the art.

Some more interesting projects

Hey everyone,
So tomorrow, we will learn how to use the video cameras! yay! Here are a few more projects to give you ideas for the Digital Self-Portraits:

David Crawford's really nice and simple Stop Motion Studies
Ethan Ham's Face Recognition Self-Portrait
and Life Sharing , a project by the group called: 0100101110101101.org

Send me those artist statements!!!

Final Project

I've already told Huong my idea so far.
I have been really thinking about it, I want to try and make a video of how people perceive me, the things they say about me and who I really am using clips and pictures. I also want to include how those things affect me physically and mentally.
Thats just something I made up this week, I'm not concrete on it. I would like a bit of help on some more ideas....

Assignment # 11: Photograph a scar and write about it.

(SORRY, WASN'T ABLE TO GET PHOTO)

Back in about 2007, my friends and I were skateboarding at our local skate-spot in Brooklyn, NY. There was this little ledge that was there and we would never skate on it because there were pebbles lodged into its cement (like some sidewalks around there) so it was hard to do any type of grind tricks on it. That day, we found a drawer on the street and the front part of the slide out shelves were broken off. The front parts of those shelves were flat and easy to skate on, so my friends and I put them on an angle on the corner of that pebble ledge so the [three] shelf parts were laying on it parallel to each other. Now we were able to skate up and down on the shelf parts and do tricks.
I went up on the makeshift ramp we just made and I went back down on it. I didn’t do any tricks because I was making sure it was able to hold my weight. About a few minutes after that, I went up the ramp and tried to do a trick on it. But when I went on, the shelf parts slid off the ledge and I fell and scraped my left wrist on the shelf part.
When I fell, I was thinking I was going to get badly hurt, but when I got up nothing hurt. Then I looked at my left wrist because I fell on that first, and I saw a small cut on it. It was weird because it wasn’t very big, but it was deep. A piece of my skin was almost ripped of but it was still attached by a little part. I was scared because the piece of skin wasn’t like a small dead layer of skin that you can just peel off; it was a small chunk of skin that was the color of the rest of my skin, and it probably was more than one layer.
It started bleeding and I showed my friends and they looked surprised when they saw it. I knew I needed a bandage, so my friend, Sam, and I, went to his house, because he lived close by. I put alcohol on the cut and then put a Band-Aid on it. We went back to the skate-spot and I tried to skate, but every time I did something, my cut started hurting. I think it was like this because the cut was over the tendon that connected my hand to my arm, and when I skate, my hands move around a lot, and that might have caused it to hurt.
Over the next few weeks he cut turned into a small scar

Examples for Digital Diaries

Hey All, 

 Here are some other projects online that I want you to watch to get ideas for the final project. 

The first one is a project where the artist took the memory on his computer every day and turned it into video. It's an abstracted version of a digital diary. Click on this link and then select black and white or color. Click here to read about the project. Think about how this project is a "self-portrait," and how it deals with the line between the private and the public.

The other project is an animation with just text and music. Click here to watch an example. Pay attention to the pacing, use of sound, and narrative structure.

Next week, we're going to learn to use the digital video camera. Come prepared with ideas for your final projects! Also, don't forget to post your artist statement or email it to me at: monohaha@gmail.com

See you then!

New Blog!

Hey Class, Check out my new blog:
http://funfunfunfunfunfunfunfunfunfunfunphun.blogspot.com/

I'm thinking of expanding it for my final project. Tell me what you think!
-Huong

William Kentridge

Ezra was asking about making a hand-drawn animation for the final project. I think it's a great idea if you are up for the challenge. I wanted to post a link to an animation by William Kentridge for inspiration.
Kentridge is an artist from South Africa who creates animations by drawing and erasing over the same image. The results are beautiful.

Links from last class

Hey all! Here are the links to the projects I showed last class:

TehChing (Sam) Hsieh's One Year Performances
Marisa Olson's American Idol Blog

We didn't get a lot of time in class to talk about these projects (though they definitely provoked some strong reactions), so take a look at them now and post a comment on this thread to tell me what you think.

Also, a note about the final project: The idea of a "self-portrait" is definitely up for interpretation. It could be a representation of your body, but could also go beyond that to talk about your life, your family, neighborhood, interests, etc. It can also bring up questions of what is a true representation. For instance, the blog format lends itself to being a journal of your real life, yet Marisa Olson's American Idol project blurs the line between what is a performance for reality television and what are her real experiences and true emotions. What is the line between fact and fiction for how you represent yourself?

Class Today

Hey Everyone, I'm starting a demo on IStopMotion and IMovie right at 4PM, so be on time to class today! Hurrah!

Just to say hello!

Hey Everyone! I'm loving all of the blog activity! I see we have some new bloggers and some great new posts. I wanted to encourage everyone to comment on posts. It's always nice to get feedback. I'm going to start doing it too! Also, it's a great way to get in touch with your animation partner if they are on the contributors list.

For this week, we are finishing up our animations and presenting them to class. I will give a demo of IStopMotion and IMovie in class, we will spend an hour working, everyone will present, and then we will talk about your final projects (!)

Until then, there's still loads of Learning To Love You More assignments to do. Aren't they fun?
Here's the link: www.learningtoloveyoumore.com

See you in class!

Assignment # 11: Photograph a scar and write about it.

I'm super late with this but I figured better late than never! I chose assignment number eleven which was to photograph a scar and write about it. I chose this assignment because I am amazed by how resilient the human body is. Some people might hate their scars or be ashamed of them, but I like to think of them as little reminders that I carry with me all the time. It is located on the the right side of my right pointer finger. The lighting in the picture makes it a little bit hard to see. One day I was walking home from school with my Mom and my brother. I was drinking a Snapple as I walked and tripped. The bottle fell to the floor and smashed open. I fell on top of that bottle with my hand. There was glass and blood every but luckily, one of our neighbors saw and drove us to the doctor. He had to remove the piece of glass and close up the wound. Because of that little accident, that finger is somewhat misshapen. When I tell people this, they think that I'm crazy for noticing such a small thing but I just being observant. Right now, I have another cut right next to the scar. I'm not sure how I got that, but I assume it was a paper cut. It's pretty deep so let's see if I'll have another one to add to the collection.

Happy Halloween

Here is a great exhibition that is only open for one more day!!! It's a fake pet store opened by Banksy, the graffiti artist. He uses animatronics (robots) to move around fake pets. You can read about it here:

http://www.woostercollective.com/2008/10/the_village_pet_store_and_charchoal_gril.html

No new blog assignment, but everyone who hasn't should catch up on their blog assignments and get ready to present their animations next week! I'll be at the MoMA today from 4-6PM for open studios to help anyone out. See you then!

Also, here is a fun event for Halloween at the MoMA tonight:

October 31
Figure Drawing Workshop
Come to an open drawing and art-making session. Costumed models dressed as famous political figures will be on hand to inspire. Music is included.

Happy Halloween!

Staring at the Sun

Hey everyone. So here's my Learning To Love You More post. There is actually a tradition of scientists and artists staring at the sun, including Sir David Brewster, the inventor of stereoscope, Joseph Plateau, inventor of phenakistoscope (pre-cinematic technology), as well as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (author of Faust, who also wrote a book about color) and the painter J.M.W. Turner. I only recommend it with the help of a camera though. Many of those who were curious enough ended up going blind.

See you in class!

Assignment #39 Take a picture of your parents kissing

This is my MAMA AND PAPA giving each other a nice kiss. How sweet. I figured since they both don't show much affection around the house, I can use this assignment as an excuse.

Various HW stuffs

Oh wow that last week went by FAST.

So first, I want to share this awesome site/video/thing.
It's a short film/animation thing called Food Fight by Stefan Nadelman and it reminded me of the animations we're making in class.
"Food Fight is an abridged history of American-centric war, from World War II to present day, told through the foods of the countries in conflict. Watch as traditional comestibles slug it out for world domination in this chronologically re-enacted smorgasbord of aggression."
It's so awesome and amazingly done and has a really interesting concept.
GO WATCH IT XD

As for the Learning To Love You More assignment thing, I found several of them interesting.
Assignment #49 Draw a picture of your friend's friend.
Assignment #45 Reread your favorite book from fifth grade.
Assignment #33 Braid someone's hair.
Assignment #30 Take a picture of strangers holding hands.
Assignment #27 Take a picture of the sun.

I went with an easy one at first, take a picture of the sun.
It's more like a setting sun.. but here it is,


I want to reread my favorite book from 5th grade, once I remember what book that was. The drawing of a friend's friend is a lot harder than I thought at first. And I also want to try the taking a picture of strangers holding hands thing, once I get the courage to ask two complete strangers to hold hands with each other...
I'm going to find someone's hair to braid tomorrow and take a picture of that.

Hw <3

I chose assignment #34 Make a protest sign and protest.

I made the sign and taped it on my locker in school. I am protesting cruelty towards animals, particularly chickens.

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n316/DngrslyEvl4/HPIM1005.jpg

REPair SOmething

So far I,ve only fixed a desk but instead of adding or creating something new I sawed right into it. I needed more leg space.
Maybe that counts. If not, whatver. I'll fix someother stuff before the week is over. I'm sure.

27. Take a picture of the sun.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s70/sweet_lips291/photoshop%20stuff/sun015.jpg
33. Braid someone's hair.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s70/sweet_lips291/photoshop%20stuff/O019.jpg
50. Take a flash photo under your bed.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s70/sweet_lips291/photoshop%20stuff/O021.jpg

Best flash animator EVER

http://pascalcampion.com/

Blog Assignment for Next Week

Hey Everyone, Here's your blog assignment for next week.

1. Visit the website: Learning to Love You More

2. Do one of the assignments.

3. Post it on our blog or...

4. Post it on the learningtoloveyoumore website and post a link to it on our blog.

5. We talked about interaction a little bit in class. This project also deals with participation. How does participation change an artwork?

Also, since some students have had trouble logging into the blog, I've changed the permissions so that anyone can view it for right now.

Thanks! -Huong

Random Things

I think it's a bit late but here's some stuff from throughout my week.

I remember going through the Eyebeam website and their exhibits. I found one of them very interesting and it's.. a special shoe. It's incredible the things they come up with nowadays. New inventions are amazing, especially if they have a wonderful story behind it, such as how it was inspired. You can read more about it here.

A friend also introduced me to a song called Handlebars by The Flobots. I originally found it amusing because it starts with the lyrics "I can ride my bike with no handlebars.. no handlebars, no handlebars." and goes on to list other things like "I can see your face on the telephone." Later, he explained to me that it has a deeper meaning and to watch the music video. It's actually a song with a political message that we, as human beings, have so much potential and we've come up with so much incredible new techonology, but we squander it on trivial things and ignore the more pressing matters like world hunger.
Lyrics and Music Video for Handlebars by The Flobots

One of my favorite stories ever, Queen of Glass by S.J.Mass. It's an incredible take on the traditional Cinderalla tale. Like amazingly creative and "page turning", incredible. It's divided into three "books" with the first covering a backstory, the second telling the tale with the Cinderella scene, and the third as a tying up the loose ends of the whole thing, and ending with an epic scene that earns the story it's title, Queen of Glass. It's an wonderfully addicting 82 chapters of captivating stuff that I absolutely recommend.
Link to the prologue/beginning
Link to 6654 reviews proclaiming it's awesomeness
Link to the author's page

Oh and of course, there's my favorite: overheardinnewyork.com
If you haven't been there yet, IT'S AWESOME and totally hilarious. It's a great way to wind down after a long day and have some nice laughs.

I know there was other stuff, but I seemed to have forgotten. I hope this is enough?

Interesting Pix found online =D

So throughout this week I've been working on a mixed media collage so I was looking online for examples of collages. i came across some amazing pieces of various artworks! check it out =D sry I still don't know how to hyperlink

http://www.artistaday.com/wp-content/marumiyan_67867678.jpg

http://www.francesduncan.com/inspireme/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/to-the-tune_web.jpg

http://stpaulswired.org/media/images/2007/Oct/15/PassionateWorshipDamotte.png

http://www.jeffreypaulstudios.com/images/2005-03-04-16-21-43.jpg

http://www.pomegranita.com/images/posts/reed-danziger.jpg

I love studying other people's artwork! I get so inspired ♥

Ghosts I-IV Film Festival

Well, I'm pretty obsessed with the band, Nine Inch Nails. They released an album called Ghosts I-IV in March 2008 which consisted of 36 tracks, all being instrumental.

The album was released under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license, so the band has encouraged fans to remix the music and share it with other fans. There is even on online community that is part of NIN.com where fans can download some multi-track files to get started mixing, as well as upload their finished work for all to hear.

Another great thing the band has started is a Film Festival in which they asked fans to make short films based on a track off the album. The film festival is taking place on YouTube and there is no deadline for submission.

Great music and interesting film? You can't get much better!

Here's a link to the Ghosts I-IV official page.
Here's a link to one of my favorite Ghosts I-IV Film Festival Submission.
Here's a link to the YouTube group where you can find more submissions.
Here's a link to the NIN Remix Community.

This week at Eyebeam

In preparation for our field trip to Eyebeam Art & Technology Center this week,

1) Make sure I have your parental release form so you can go.
2) Visit Eyebeam's website: http://www.eyebeam.org
3) In particular, visit this page for after-school and summer programs in which you might be interested: http://eyebeam.org/learning/learning.php?page=school
4) Bring your sketchbooks and your "web of wonders!"

Lotte Reiniger

Here's another artist to look at.  She used multiple layers of highly detailed paper silhouettes on a light table to create her animations.    Pretty awesome. 

  

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lotte+reiniger

My Account, I put all my flash animations here (and a couple of other stuff)

http://www.youtube.com/user/jokamund

Making a Hyperlink

Some of you asked about making a hyperlink on the blog. Here's how.
1. Write the text that you want to turn into a link.
2. Select the text.
3. Click on the button above the edit box that looks like this:


4. Type the url and press OK.
5. Keep typing and publish as normal.

You can explore the other buttons for posting pictures, videos, changing the look of your text, etc. Another tip: if you are curious about what the HTML looks like, click on the tab that says "Edit Html."

Videos from Class Today

Here are links to the videos from class today:
Norman McLaren's "Neighbours" from 1952
Martha Colburn's "Meet Me in Wichita" from 2006

Here are some other animations you might like:
Paper Rad
William Kentridge's "History of Man" from 1996
Stan Brakhage's "Mothlight" from 1963
Jan Svankmejer's "Darkness, Light, Darkness" from 1989
Ivan Maximov's "Fru 89 From Right to Left" from 1989

When watching these animations:
1. Ask yourself if they fit into the "Web of Wonders" and how. Are they talking about digital culture?
2. How do you think they were made? How would you make them given the tools that we have in class: Camera, Computer, Cut out shapes, Paper, Pencil, etc.
3. If you could ask the artist a question about the animation, what would it be?

Ladislas Starewicz

Hes the guy I mentioned in class, pretty funky stop motion videos using dolls and other objects

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-mkGqcvKPM&feature=related
Thats part 1 of the mascot, its creepy.

yitiutgikmugjkyf

Blah Blah Blah

www.blogger.com

http://www.moma.org

Martha Rosler and Shigeko Kubota

Here is some information about the artists that we discussed in the museum last week:
Martha Rosler's website
An interview with Shigeko Kubota

Neighbours by Norman McLaren

We will screen part of this animation in class on Thursday.

Welcome!

Hey Everyone! Welcome to the In the Making: Digital Culture Blog. Here are some links to check out:

Eyebeam Art & Technology Center (where we will take out field trip)

Marisa Olsen (our guest speaker) Please note that she will be visiting in December rather than this month as the calendar says.

Also, for a great database of Net Art, go to RHIZOME

and a great collection of art videos go to Ubuweb.

Don't forget to write and/or draw observations about your interactions with technology in your sketchbooks and bring in an object that represents you for class on Thursday! See you soon!