Improv Everywhere

Improv Everywhere is a group that consists of actors and pranksters that works in New York City. They have done a bunch of different videos that consist of them coming into different populated places and putting on these shows or skits in front of other people. Anybody (18 and older) can join the Improv Everywhere group. These skits often make people laugh but sometimes they can be frightening. Their videos have consisted of them going pantless on a subway train, dressing like star wars figures, and pretending to be the actual King Phillip IV. These acts are done to bring joy to people. They take pride in creating an awesome scene that is really funny. They are out to prove that pranks don’t have to be humiliating or embarrassing.

In this scene, an actor dressed as King Phillip IV pretends to be signing autographs by his painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This painting done by Velazquez is 400 years old. It appears as though some people actually believe that it is the really King Phillip.

Andy Goldsworthy

Andy Goldsworthy is a British artist who works with land art. He has done a wide variety of pieces that work with almost every naturally existing material in the earth. He has done sculptures of rock, clay, ice, leaves, and twigs to name a few. He creates art during every season. He just changes what materials he uses depending on the season. I think that’s really neat because Goldsworthy can create art anywhere, anytime.

This piece is an arch of slate stones that he created. It was his fourth attempt at this piece. I think this is really amazing for a couple reasons. First, I admire the sheer difficulty of creating this piece. This seems like no easy task, especially considering there was just one person working on it. Second, I think it’s really neat that he took something that exists in nature but made a creation that nature could never do. It really puts a human touch on nature. Archways can be found throughout the British countryside. However, none of them are as fragile as this one.

Farm Lab

My trip to Farm Lab was kind of a disappointment. I went there on a Friday at noon just like we were suppose to. Unfortunately, I found out that they no longer have the guest speakers or any kind of activities on Friday afternoons. They haven't done that since around August, 2010. In fact, there weren't even that many people there. So I just basically walked around and took some pics. There were some interesting things on display. I found out that they have been working on a few different projects at farm lab. Their art projects usually have something to do with preserving society or the Earth. Their "farm project" was when they spent a a few years drawing the toxins out of the ground in the plot of land that they purchased. The car in the picture below also represents an urban garden. Taking an old beat up car and making it into a garden.

It was somewhat difficult finding the farmlab because it was off in a corner with no real signs showing where it was. This sign that said "Not A Cornfield" was the only way I knew how to go. It was kind of in an underground parking area.

I liked the sign that said, "Artists need to create on the same scale that society has the capacity to destroy." This reminded me of the post-impressionism movement a little bit. Wars and pollution are destroying our world and artists need to create artwork that negates that. Art that brings life while these other things are bringing death.

Second Life

I finally did my second life art project! I think that Second Life is a really cool way to express what you think you really look like (much like Gracie Kendal) or just to create a fantasy person. It's really cool but really confusing in my opinion. I had a hard time figuring the whole thing out. Is it just me? Or is Second Life kinda confusing? Anyways, I created just a few different images. The first one was an avatar of what I would like to look like. He's tall and really buff. I'd like to think thats the person I am. In reality, i'm a lot shorter and not quite as strong. For my fantasy avatars I created two very scary looking people. One with big poofy hair and blue eyes and another short, bug eyed creature.

Knowbotic Research

Knowbotic Research is a German-Swiss electronic group. They have done many works in the technological and virtual reality settings. They have worked with robots and computers especially. Most of their works represent the interaction between the real and virtual world.

This picture is from their work called “My Black Cat.” It consists of 30 black balloons filled with helium. They are floating in a space with the help of a small fan. It is interesting because those viewing the piece are able to interact with the balloons. They can hit them or move them. The coolest part of this is that they installed a system that tracks the positions of the balloons and releases a different audio sound as the balloons move. This piece combines the visible and audio worlds.

This is an interesting piece because we are allowed to interact with the piece. The audience can be creative and play with the balloons to change the sounds coming from the self-calibrating audio system.  We can see that this type of art is the kind that represents something. Although that is cool, I am drawn to the intereactivity of the piece. The Knowbotic Research group is known for using really technologically cool pieces.

Tony Oursler

Tony Oursler is a multimedia and installation artist. Many of his works are composed of eyes, lips, faces, and other body parts. Many of his works are done by taking inanimate objects and using a video projection to put lips or faces on them. This brings the object(s) to life. They can be somewhat strange looking. Strange, but it really brings the pieces to life. Some of his pieces include different currencies with lips added to the president’s faces.

This piece is one of Oursler’s more famous ones. It is called “Purple Resonant Dust.” It looks like a purple crystal ball with different body parts in it. They seem to be coming out of the fog. It’s somewhat strange. When I look at this piece I am drawn to the lips, eyes, and feet. I don’t focus on the fog at all. It makes me feel like a human is trapped inside of this ball. Perhaps it is supposed to represent our feelings deep down inside of us, trying to get out.

Erwin Redl

Redl’s works use LED lighting to distort the viewer’s perception of space. It makes the viewer look at the detail to each shape that is found in that space. These works are very pleasing to the eye because of the brilliant lights but they are much more than that. They are abstract works that bring attention to the world of graphics and 3D animation. Redl’s interest in the virtual reality also influences many of his works.

This picture is from Redl’s work called Matrix V. The lights in this space distort the image a little bit. It looks like the shape on the inside of this room could be bowing inward or outward depending on how the viewer looks at it. Anyone can appreciate this piece because of its bright, pleasing color but I think Redl wants people to look deeper than that. It’s not about the colors, but rather about the space that the colors are lighting up.

Nam June Paik

Paik is one of the most famous new media artists. His works were all strongly influenced by his love of music, technology, and communication. We can see from all of his works that he had a great fascination with telecommunication. TV’s are common in most of his works. Paik experienced the rise of the technology advancement throughout his life and I believe he was trying to sum up 50 years of this technological advance.

In this particular piece we see television screens shaped like the United States. It’s called the “Electronic Superhighway.” On each of the screens there are images of things associated with American culture. I believe this represents both American culture and how telecommunication has influenced this nation. It represents these things but it is also aesthetically pleasing because of the neon lights and bright colors.

John Whitney

John Whitney was an American digital animator and music composer. His vision was to create digital art that influenced the world of animation and the world of music. Many of his works were created to sort of convert the world of music into digital form. Those were his two great loves and we can see that in this piece of art if we look carefully.

This piece makes me think of a song. I think that the swirls are meant to represent the different notes played in a song. By themselves, they are like different colors (or notes) but all together they make a perfect circle (or song). The circle is pretty and complete much like a song in its entirety.

Bruce Nauman

Bruce’s work in the field of art spans many fields. A few of the fields he works in are as a sculptor, photographer, and video artist. The piece in this picture is one of his most famous sculptures. This particular piece is known as “One Hundred Fish Fountain.” It features ninety-seven actual fish cast in bronze and then suspended in the air. They also shoot water out of their mouths.

It’s a very violent sculpture because it’s as if the fish were all turned to stone in their natural habitat. They are all there just suspending with metal hooks in the air. At the same time, it’s a cool piece to see because of the shine in the bronze and the noise coming from the water being shot everywhere. If there was no noise from the water it would probably be like a graveyard but I believe the noise adds to the beauty of the piece. The noise, shine, and the sheer number of fish all come together in a frightening but beautiful piece.