Electronic Music

As I remember from class, there was a huge uproar against electronica, punk rock, and the like. I however, will have to disagree. In my opinion, the invention of electronic music is quite genius. The whole process is so mathematical that one has to give appreciation to how much thinking has been dedicated to the creation of such notes. Of course, all musical instruments involve some sort of mathematical calculation to be created, but to be able go grasp these notes on a virtual level, place them beside one another, and create a melody for any amount of time is very intriguing.

Another reason I have a fascination with this type of music is the fact that the variations of sound are unlimited. Although there are only a few sounds available at the beginning of its movement, electronic music has since then exploded into dozens of genres, each promoting their own unique sounds. With traditional musical instruments, musicians are usually limited to only a few ways of playing, and it usually takes years and years to master those few skills. however, with the introduction of electronic music, experimentation is valued above practice, and thus this becomes a type of music that never stops growing and maturing.

I say that without a distaste towards the older music. I used to play piano and sing opera, and my brother plays the violin, so my love for these classical instruments are still deep rooted within me. I just wish there would be more acceptance on either sides towards each other.

Surveillance Art

 Although controversial at times, surveillance art is a topic that intrigues me very much. I say this because of my fascination with what goes on in someone else's mind. If we were to take everyone's inner dialogues and memories and project them to the world, how will the world be? The closest we can get to that would be, of course, through surveillance. This leads me into the topic of surveillance as applied to the everyday world. The movie was very informative. It was about something I already knew existed, but I never thought that surveillance nowadays has expanded to such a broad range of cases. Being a member of this society, I definitely see this as an intrusion of privacy, but at the same time, I feel like the constant monitoring of people's actions is something that can never be avoided. With the advancement of technology, there will be a higher risk of failure, and with the higher risk of failure, the higher end of the world will have to analyze the actions of those that work and live under them, due to lack of trust. Surveillance, in philosophy, is not the best way to resolve this mistrust between the higher and lower levels, but because of the state that we are in, getting rid of it would be a futile attempt.

Remix Manifesto

As a person who lives in a generation of remixes, my opinion is that it is perfectly acceptable to take information from different sources and incorporating that information into one's own creation, as long as a great part of that creation is not identical to the original source. Just as we have discussed in class, knowledge is never "original", since knowledge runs adjacent to experience, and experience is accumulated through one's interaction with the rest of the world. For example, there would be no calculus without the invention of the pythagorean theorem.

What I believe is the main problem of this certain topic is that both parties are still alive and in the same business. Therefore, due to competition of sales and popularity, certain companies and private owners have stood up against the situation, making accusations and establishing heavy fines in order to protect their own net income. What they should know is, though, with the existence and accessibility of the internet these days, what they do is essentially a futile attempt as a whole. Yes, they may be able to catch and fine one ripper, but there are still thousands more who remain anonymous and, in a way, untraceable.

History of Hacking

I was absent on this day due to a high fever. Sorry! :(

John Cage Reaction

I'm not sure how to react to John. On one hand, he is very innovative and avant garde. On the other, I always look at some avant garde artists skeptically and I do the same with him. It's acceptable if an avant garde artist is inventing new ways of thinking, but sometimes it seems like he's only finding excuses to make crappy work seem legitimate. The 4'33" is innovative, but at the same time, he's NOT DOING ANYTHING! It makes me question what is actually valuable anymore -- effort, or no effort, since, in his point of view, both could be appreciated equally at the same time. In that sense, it might take a while before the logic sinks in.

Sound Artsy Stuff

Hi Jason!!!!
Since you are an expert on sound art,  (I'm not a stalker lol TT___TT) you've probably encountered - whether you hate it or love it - dubstep. Personally, I'm obsessed with some of them, like this one

Massive Attack - Paradise Circus (Zeds Dead Remix)

or this one...

Chrispy - Inspector Gadget (Extended Dubstep Remix)

or this...

Reso - Onslaught

and this one is as of present my favorite one

Distance - My Demons

... haha ok I'll stop now >__<

SRL Reaction

Hi Jason! Ok, first, above all else, have you seen this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf-s-Po7Vx8

If not, you REALLY should! =D If you were fascinated enough by SRL to go to a live show, I'm pretty sure this movie won't disappoint you. AT ALL.

"Steamboy" pretty much sums up my initial reaction to the videos you showed us in class. My friend invited me over to watch this movie, I don't remember why, but we didn't get to finish. I've always wanted to finish, but didn't have the time. Now, however, after watching the SRL, I was a lot more compelled to finish. Mind you though, the Japanese/English sub version is much better in my opinion... English voice-overs always kind of sucked for any anime... these guys don't even have a proper British accent! What. >___>

Back to the topic though - you made it very clear that SRL wanted to have absolutely nothing to do with the art world. However, art and invention go hand in hand, and the line between them is so blurred that very few can see the difference. But if the guy doesn't want his stuff called art, why yank on his whiskers? It's quite ignorant of these art people. Lastly, I would say that technology has changed the way we view the world, not just art. At the same time, the way we view art is also constantly changing, with movement after movement after movement... it just so happened by coincidence that these two married somewhere in between.

The main reason I linked you the movie was because in one part of the SRL video, the creator (forgot his name) mentioned of the inevitable evils caused with machinery when operated by man, or something of the sort. Since this is the central theme of "Steamboy", these two immediately became connected. This is all I'll say though, you have to watch the movie for yourself! :)

Flux Reaction

Just as how John Cage called fluxus a gag, I thought the same. Most of it was really hilarious, and if I encountered the movement, I would never have realized that they were creating art. Even though the processes in this movement were extremely unorthodox (not meant in a degrading way), the processes and creation of each piece was extremely fascinating. It was like, no offence again, some people got together, smoked a bunch of weed, and decided to do something they thought were funny/awesome at the time, because we all know that high kids do the most random, never thought of things, lol.

I say that I find the processes and creation fascinating because of its concept and embracing of "anti-art". It is extremely ironic, in that case, to be considered an art movement. The whole act of exhibiting the works in galleries, especially in the room next to Giacometti's sculptures, seemed like a slap in the face to him when all the viewers went to play in the tire bin instead. At the same time, I admit I would most likely do the same, because hey, it's so much more fun~

On a level, I had a bit of distaste for the silent videos, because they went against my opinion of what "artistic" should be. This, and all the other art movements that we encountered in class before constantly puts me in a very undecided state of mind. I'm not sure if that is the aim, but I find myself constantly questioning what I should see as art and what I shouldn't. It's all so confusing!! ;___;

Blog reaction: Glass Jaw vs. William Wegman series

Because of the stark contrast of mood between the two videos, I couldn't help but compare the two as I was watching. For me, Glass Jaw started out as one of those "oh let's take random video clippings and narrate a random story for the sake of making a piece of art that would compel the world, since, after all, the best art now is the art that doesn't make much sense" type of deal, which made me "...-____-;" for the first five minutes. However, as the narration led on, I sensed (obviously) a much deeper and darker subject matter, which then slowly drew me into the video. It wasn't a meaningless collage - it was the video diary of some unfortunate man telling a story that he does not have the capability to tell fluently if you were to try to hold a regular conversation with him. I was suddenly living the life he described -- the sounds he heard, the ambiguous silhouettes of nurses and doctors, the pungent, decaying stench coming from the mouth that he had no ability of opening... the video immediately sprang into life, because it now served a purpose. This is a very successful utilization of the video to enhance the effect your work has on somebody, because the poor images and the overlapping of sounds...everything attended to this man's disjointed thoughts and disconcerted feelings. In a twisted way, I became him.

The mood the the class, as I observed, suddenly got lighter as silly old Willy's videos started playing. Oh gosh finger/stick is by far my favorite. All the while I was thinking, "WHY ISN'T HE  ON FAMILY GUY YET????" Well, maybe he is, I don't know. One thing's for sure though: we need to send Wegman over to Michael O'Rilley to cheer the poor fellow up. :)

This is what the Rist reminded me of. Lols

Rist Reaction:

Honestly saying, I had no idea what was going on within the duration of the whole movie... and I really did not enjoy it either. It reminded me of the video in The Ring, a horror movie where whoever watches a cursed movie gets a phone call and eventually dies in seven days. I didn't comprehend the explanation provided, and the effects on it gave me somewhat of a headache. Maybe that was the aim of the video, but my personality causes me to dislike it very much. I'm very technical with my things, I like everything to be black, white, or shades of gray,and I like my things to make sense. It looks very carelessly made, to the point where it kind of irritates me...

Theme for project

I'm planning on doing "the beautiful side of vandalism" as my theme.

Class#1 (19 Jan): Man Ray Reflection

After watching the biographical documentary on Man Ray, I immediately thought of Jean Aguste Dominique Ingres, Neoclassicism painter, for their similar appetite for beautiful women (mainly because a large section of the movie was about Ray and his escapades with the opposite sex). However, regarding his artwork, what stuck out most for me was the clothes iron, with nails down the middle. Ray mentioned that the art inside that work was that he completely obliterated the function of the iron, thus creating an object of aesthetic value. The whole time he was explaining his iron-nails hybrid, I was trying to find a use for that object. After all, it makes a perfectly good murder weapon... and it resembled soccer or track cleats in a way... which would give it a use... but enough with this nonsense!

Ray is extremely inspirational in that he is constantly seeking innovation in the world of art. I also particularly like him because much of his works were created in "the spur of the moment" without much previous planning, or through an inadvertent discovery. I find that endearing because I make my art the same way. Planning would be similar to setting up for an inevitable failure, but with that failure ten brand new ideas spring up, and so on and so forth, with the end product being like nothing I have ever imagined in the beginning. To me, that is the most honest way to create art. Even art scholars today debate back and forth over the true meaning of art. If just the definition is so intangible, then how is it possible that the art itself be as easily created as planning and carrying out?

So instead of carving my ideas for projects into marble, i tend to them like seeds, and watch each of them bloom into something amazing. Sometimes my projects will shift 180 degrees from what I had in mind the day before, but I let that happen because it is all part of the process of discovery. I let time and experience guide my hand. Only then would everything I create be considered true works with artistic value.