A Small Showcase of Experimental 3D Cinema

A professor at Carnegie Mellon and an artist exhibited in top new media art galleries around the world, Golan Levin is definitely someone at the forefront of technology, and thus a fitting person to have do an AMA for Reddit. For the same reason, there is no way that the artist-hacker would do a traditional tread interview; of course he's going to showcase some of the crazy things they're doing up there in his STUDIO for Creative Inquiry.

One of the big things in interactive media seems to be the rise of the depth-sensing camera as a way to sense the user. As they are cheap and available, the cameras make for an ideal piece of modifiable equipment. In this video James George and Jonathan Minard have been working with depth cameras at Levin's STUDIO on what they refer to as "virtual cinematography" or "re-photography" in which a recording of the speaker is taken as a 3D image and, in post, editors go back and select different angles. I cannot believe what detail they were able to get from this camera! If you look closely, you'll notice that the image is made up of a lattice, but each part of the lattice is not one definite color. Each line is made up of several colors and, as he moves, the colors change accordingly. It is pretty amazing that you are also able to tell the depth, say from his nose, from angles other than direct side or top.

I am glad that Levin chose questions from users that really are about learning and less about his works. Since he is a teacher, and not all of us can get into or afford Carnegie Mellon, it is nice to hear what the artist thinks computer tinkerers like myself should know and whether or not a top-school education is really the most important thing, as professions such as doctors and lawyers like to believe.

Read the article on how James George and Jonathan Minard made the video here.

Video Art Reviews

Catherine - Good idea to do the time capsule video to yourself, and there was a very positive message, but I was really missing the 'art' part of the assignment.

Michelle - I really like the effects you got from the degradation of re-recording the videos! The way it blurred the motions together made it like 'artistic.'

Juan - Your video expresses a lot of what you think about yourself, which is what an artist should be doing. Like the cool text effects at the beginning and wish this had been throughout!

Lauren - Your piece was more akin to a slideshow than video art, but I can tell you put a lot of effort into the timing. Knowing the context of the assignment, your message is definitely present.

James - Loved it! I immediately got your message, so you were successful at that. By using the 8-bit images with that music, it helped make it even more cohesive. The credit were great!

Maria - Wish I was able to understand the meaning behind the video better, but having lived only in the US, I am ignorant. I know that it means a lot to you and that is most important.


Kim - Excellent job at telling a story without words. The video definitely conveys that this was an important event in your life. Cool outline filter effect!

Nakota - The clips you took were really good; interesting camera angles and sort of misty effect. Your credits and music were also great!

Erin - Good use of color with both the Photobooth filters and abstract art pieces.

Chris - Love that you wrote your own lyrics! Definitely above and beyond. Kind of felt that using a third-party software that created the backgrounds was cheating.

Arielle - By capturing a once in a lifetime event, you will always be able to remember how much fun you used to have.

Brian - Cool combination of sounds that you mixed in order to create the music. You did a great job of de-contextualizing voices that we all know immediately.

Sabrina - I liked your idea of making a digital letter to yourself. By putting it online, it will live forever unlike actual paper.

Cody - From what we saw in class, I am so intrigued! Not only was it a good idea to use 3D animation, but the images you are using, changing yourself to be different character, are just cool.

Video Art

Captured: Video Mapping in Orlando

As a kickoff event for Snap! Orlando, the Kress building in downtown was transformed into a piece of moving architecture thanks to some video artist. By using video mapping software, the production company showcased some of the photography pieces that will shown at the programs for Snap!

And here's another projection they did on May 4, 2011:

Snap! Orlando aims to exhibit the beauty of photography by presenting some of today's leading photography masters throughout the city. Programs will be held May 10-13, 2012.

Performance Art Comments

Kim - It was very interesting how the wax was transformed and revealed the phone from hidden, almost like an extension of your being. Also, the painting with a blower idea is really cool and the resulting product is great.

Sabrina - I see your message that man is destroying the earth via oil and pollution, and that the paint was like a 'blood bath,' but I think it would have made a better statement if you had tied them together a little bit better. You were the only one that used music you  made though, and it was great!

Catherine - Using an 'unsafe,' current issue location was definitely the right idea for performance art. I think that the themes you explained in this are a little far stretch, as I don't know that I would have correlated forgiveness if it hadn't been explained, but your performance was the most meaningful out of all and it was amazing.

Erin - Even though you were critiqued for doing it in too safe of a place, I got your message right away. I think that saying people are now too involved in technology to notice their surroundings is however a little overdone as theme.

Michelle - Good for you to going to the casino! I would definitely have been afraid to get thrown out. However, the performance lacked the interaction from audience members. Even if you didn't use them actively, you must remember the ideas from ART 310 where you have to entice the user.

James - I definitely see your idea of the mini city that people destroy, but I could have been a little better if you had actually gone up to people and said, "Hey, wanna help me destroy part of this?"

Juan - I am surprised no one really came up to talk to you. Yes, you did have a camera-person so it was obvious you were doing it for a reason, but, I mean, you were laying on the couch with a pillow! For the video element, I think it would have been better without the voiceover.

Chris - You missed the idea of a performance art piece; it was too scripted and you might argue that there were some elements of improv, but there is no way of knowing it by just presenting a video.

Arielle - You wrapped you friend up in wires to make a statement, but Santiago is right: the dorm hallway is too safe of an area, and you didn't use yourself in the piece, just actors. Your message is also lost I think; all that is being conveyed really is that college students like to go to the beach, and they use their cell phones a lot there.

Cody - Really cool use of the keyboard, sending out sound that is never the same. It definitely added an element to your piece that made it interesting and unlike performances that people have done before.

Nakota - I like that this is akin to the 1950s idea of 'the end of the world' when people had to stockpile their nuclear bomb shelters in case of fallout. You had the technological element, but it wasn't all about the technology and I like that you did this different from others.

Interviews before 12/21/12

A performance art piece inspired by Sheryl Oring's 'I Wish To Say' project. Playing the role of a news reporter, I ask participants what they would be most disappointed to miss if the world were to end on December 21, 2012. Participants gradually veer from the questions as more and more people are interviewed. After only four interviews, we are asked to leave the park, as tables cannot be set up there.

Laurie Spiegel in 'The Hunger Games'

This is not the first time I have heard the name Laurie Spiegel. As one of the pioneer artists of synthesized music, her use of music has been influential enough for her name to be among the likes of John Cage. Although hearing her name may not be the biggest surprise, it is more bewildering that her piece from 1972, "Sediment," is featured in the cornucopia scene of The Hunger Games.

Though many may think this is most interesting part of the article, my mind wraps itself more around how she recorded the piece without having being able to use multitrack the synthesizers. She says, "I had to do the mixing with two stereo reel-to-reel decks...while one deck was playing audio while the other deck was recording the other machine." In the nature of recording sounds, each copy of the sound becomes more and more degraded, ultimately altering the music that the audience hears. In experimentation, this is really nothing wrong with this aside from the fact that the sound might not be what the artist had originally wanted.

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

Synthesizers Gone Wrong

Never before have I touched a synthesizer. I maybe be in a class called 'Electronic & Recording Music,' but all production has been done entirely on the computer. Today we have tools such as Logic and Cubase that allow users to use digital keyboard to make note patterns and modify then using thousands of types of synth plugins. They logic of these programs though weren't created just for digital creation; they are essentially synthesizers that have had their hardware stripped. Below is a look at some of the most influential synthesizers to date.

ROLAND TB-303

The Roland TB-303 was originally designed to be a replacement to having a bassist and to create rough demos, but soon musicians realized that the sounds produced by the machine were nothing like a live player. Do-it-yourself DJs used the 303 to create the genre acid house.

ROLAND TR-808

Again, this synth was discarded by the non-experimental musicians. It sounded like a machine when they wanted real drums, in which case the LinnDrum win out. However, early hip-hop artists found the device and began to use it as in live performances. The timing on the machine slipped from what it was reading, creating a distinct rhythm that was characteristic of its sound. Each machine can also create a unique sound; by opening up the enclosure, adjusting factor-set knobs inside produce different tunes.

TECHNICS SL-1200

This turntable might have been designed to play back records, but artists went to work on it, turning it into a music generating machine that alters the sound waves that it transmits. DJs discovered that they could hold and slide the record without causing the arm to stop, and, that by adjusting the internal knob, could speed up the playback.

NORD LEAD 1 KEYBOARD &

AMEX SYSTEM 9098 EQUALIZER

This keyboard was designed to produce sounds that emulate those of the original analog synthesizers, but techno artist Derrick Mays found out that it doesn't work with actual analog recording equipment. After creating sounds with this, he used the equalizer to increase the amplitude of some selected signals enough that they fell out of phase and created entirely new sounds.

AKAI S950 SAMPLER

Used to create the track "Cosmic Love," the Akai S950 sampler can allow for samples to meld into one another instead of being string together, side by side. Another way to use the sampler is to create fluctuations in the song by changing octaves using the value transpose knob. 

Basically all of these machines have contributed to electronic music because artists have used them in ways they were not supposed to; they experimented until they made appealing sounds that didn't match any other instruments. Now, granted, you can still use synths for production, and plug them right into these programs, but they can function on their own. Originally, it was more reverse; the computer was the amplifier for the synthesizer. However, the genre of electronic music has grown so much that the evolution of music programs was necessary.

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

The Masses bring Performance Art to the Mainstream

Improv Everywhere: No Pants Subway Ride 2011


With 10,000 RSVP on the Facebook page, Improv Everywhere has mass of people ready to whip their pants off in the spirit of being one in a sea of faces. Their comedic performances don't go along with the more common song-and-dance flash mob types, and their 'missions' are stated to cause 'chaos and joy. A provocative event, and probably one of the most well known, the No Pants Subway Rides have already completed ten performances, since 2002, and, this year, occurred in 50 cities worldwide.

Improv Everywhere: Gotta Share! The Musical

In the spirit of technology-driven corporations, the performance of Improv Everywhere at the GEL conference in 2011 really made the point that people need to be online 24/7. For the presenting company, Twirlr, the troupe definitely left a mark on audience members as performers proclaimed their love of sharing information from their seats in the crowd and extra flowed in from the exits. But lesson learned: don't ask them to turn off their devices, because they might attack you with song.

Downtown Disney Proposal

With over five million hits and at least a dozen remakes, the flash mob proposal is something you might have seen before. The soon-to-be-engaged Jamin takes it upon himself to coordinate a catchy dance proposal for his girlfriend outside of the Rainforest Cafe in Lake Buena Vista to the tune 'Marry You' by Bruno Mars. I know I'm a girl, but this warms my heart just to think about.

Others to Watch (or just Google 'flash mob'):

Sheryl Oring: Bringing the People to the President

Sheryl Oring is a live artist; she performs in public areas to raise awareness on issues having to do with language and the First Amendment. Very political in nature, she uses passing people to relay messages about American politics and the lack of personal voice in the American government. I Wish To Say is an ongoing project in which the artist dresses up as a 1960s secretary (big hair and all) and takes to the street with a manual typewriter and stack of paper. Audiences participate in the production by dictating messages to Oring who then sends these postcards to the President.

The Birthday Project is similar in nature, having audiences attend the traveling birthday party that Oring was throwing for President George W. Bush's 60th birthday. Birthday greetings and insight into what Americans thought of the President's roles thus far in his presidency were mailed out, and the correspondences helped get a better picture of the country's perception of GW.

Oring's performances are important because they draw attention to the fact that the individual American doesn't often have the chance to be a part of policy making and is often overlooked. With current legislation, such as SOPA, avocation for the First Amendment is that much more important so that the citizens of a free country do not lose the right to trade information and opinions freely. Negativity can be the spark that gets a revolution going, but expressing opinions is an important right that history has taught us that we must hold on to.

Xerox Project Comments

Cody - Cool idea to make something that is wearable on the body and made of other body parts. The best part was the expression on the face.

Sabrina - I love how you got a xerox of your crossed knees. Must have been hard! I would have liked to see you do something with the body parts in a non-body part way though.

Brian - Like the use of fingers for the branches, using your arms for the hillside works perfectly.

Nakota - It is really cool how you used the locks of your hair and cut each one out to make individual waves. Using the bark as a texture is cool too; I never though of using any other textures besides my body parts, but this adds a great contrast next to your skin.

Arielle - Wish there had been more to see, but I liked that you matched body part names to parts of the racket and used a face on the face of racket.

Michelle - Love how the plastic turned out on the Xerox! Don't think I would have known it would turn out that way if you hadn't used it. The graphic pattern that your image created was great.

Lauren - Using this project as a way to overcome an issue you have with yourself makes it all that more inspiring and interesting to the viewer, and you were the only one that did this.

James - Love the contrast in your images, the different hand forms that you included, and how the appendages went beyond the poster board edges.

Kim - Cool weaved fingers! Not sure why, but I am really into the overall shape of your collage. It is really appealing.

Catherine - My favorite part of your boombox is that you used your name tag for the logo; it makes it that much more personal.

Erin - Love the symmetry in your piece. It also reminded me of a cool finger painting!

Juan - Making a story out of the pieces is an interesting idea. Not sure that I completely understood the story. It would be much better in a sort of animation and if you could make the entire character's body slowly "walk" across the floor.

Chris - I really like the repetition in the waves, and although someone else make a sun from hands, its nice that yours was constructed in a completely different way.

Maria - Good use of scaling, but you were the only one who really incorporated facial scans and refrained from failing back on the use of hands and feet for construction.

Xerox Project

Pixelation in 3D

The assignment for 'The Grid Project' was to take a picture and recreate it using a pre-existing grid. All around us we can see grids, in the construction, calendars, and curtain patterns. For my interpretation, I  chose to go with the some sort of image in the style of art nouveau, as that has been influencing me recently. Below is the image of a stained glass window of which I chose to convey in my final piece.

You can see that it has a lot of curves and this was completely intentional. The biggest difficulty with pixelating something is figuring out how to make curved lines while conforming to a grid space and using straight objects. My grid space was green mesh netting on top of a black poster board which I then used as the canvas to apply different colored fake flowers as pixels. The netting was small, but the flowers are laid out in such a way that they still follow the rows and columns of a grid. Though a difficult process, trying to lay out pieces on the same plane (not to mention keeping the kitten away from it!), but that were next to each other, I think the end result is a fantastic piece and I will be using is as my own wall decor.

Grid Art Reviews

Lauren - Her beach scene created from beer bottle caps had lots of colors and plenty of variety. The different logos on the caps added texture to the scene, taking areas such as the sand and palm fronds to another level.

Kim - Using square rhinestones, she turned a photograph into a 3D object. The piece was amazing, varying blues in the skin tone to create shadows like a normal face would have. Because the objects were small, it allowed for better shapes. Before I knew the eyelashes were painted on, I thought this was the most incredible feat, making those contours. It would have been nice to see it done with the straight edges.

Catherine - Using one of the iconic symbols we talked about in class was a great idea. The construction of the face was very accurate, and the use of cursive really did something difficult.

Sabrina - I think your choice for a background material was really interesting! Although I've seen it in construction before, I never would have thought to use a peg board as a grid. Its especially interesting because the holes aren't necessarily what forms the grid; the spaces between them makes a large grid of squares too.

Michelle - Good idea for the image; KONY is such a hot topic right now and is completely relevant.

James - Like Santiago said, the grid is a little too tight in some areas, but I really liked that you chose an image that was almost all curves. This is personally what I strove to do, since making curves from square piece is difficult.

Juan - Unfortunately, this one also had issues staying within the lines of the grid. Star Wars, however, is such an iconic image that I really think this is something cool you could hang on a wall later.

Chris - The best part of your project was that, although it was essentially two dimensional, the use of colors allowed you to capture the dimension of the buildings, and this is AMAZING.

Arielle - Using Cheerios and M&Ms was a great idea because it transforms something that people have seen throughout their entire life and puts it into a context besides 'Let me put this in my mouth.'

Cody - OMG. David Bowie. Besides choosing an awesome image, I think you nailed the areas of color in this piece like the blue makeup. It would have been nice to see more color dimension, but we all know Post-Its only come in so many colors.

Maria - Your image was really well crafted, but I don't really think that using glitter glue qualifies as using grid objects. The specs in the glitter may be able to fit into a grid, but the way they are applied does not do this.

Nakota - Using a placemat was really innovative idea! It goes along with the idea that Santiago was trying to make us think about with this project, that there are grids everywhere.

In Case You've Never Heard...

As the predecessor to television, radio programs have many commonalities in structure and content to TV programming, although the way program storyline is presented to the user. On OTR.com, all of the Internet audience is able to listen to a variety of radio programs from decades ago. After listening to Captain Midnight - The Perada Treasures, Episode 1, it is interesting to look at the program's characteristics that are still a part of popular entertainment.

Aside from the obvious variance in visuals, there are plenty of things that radio and television share characteristically. Without the visual presentation of the scene and setting, it is essential that the announcer set up the scene and give story background at the beginning, just like how television programs recap the previous episode at the beginning. Character stereotyping is something done in entertainment to help the audience immediately 'know' the character without having to say very much, but in radio, the stereotyping is even stronger. The Spanish character in this episode has a terrible accent, most likely not a person of hispanic origin at all, as there is no need anyway because the audience cannot see the speaker.

Advertisements are still prominent, except, in radio, the ads are done by the announcer and are at the beginning and end of the program, instead of throughout the program. A fifteen minute show, Captain Midnight ads feature one sponsor and a plug for the show's fan club. The ending ads do not introduce new commercials, but recap the same sponsor. Interesting enough though, programs has fan clubs and free incentives for fan viewers, just like we have today. Although now one can go online and register for these, the announcer tells the audience that to join the Captain Midnight club, all you have to do is go down to the local store to sign up on paper.

First Impressions of Earth

As a child of Generation Y, the Internet has been the technological consumer product that has played an integral part in my personal development. I may be partial in saying this, as I am going into a computer-based field, but this medium has exposed me to a world I would not have seen otherwise. Web sites like YouTube have made production more accessible to the American population and have enabled whole new genres to emerge. Its so hard to believe how far the Internet, and the computer, have progressed in their short lives. While this was my helper in cultural development, for generations before me, the television was the invention that changed how people got their information and entertainment.

After interviewing my grandmother, the 81-year-old Dawn Frojelin, I have come to connect the relationship I have with the Internet to the relationship she had with the television when she was young. TV was not something that everyone could originally afford. The first time she saw a broadcasted video  signal was, like many, in a department store. In 1947, all that was available for consumers were televisions with seven inch screens that displayed on black and white images, but she still "couldn't believe it; we expected it to be something on the wall that used a projector," just like the way the movies work. When her family for a TV for their own home, approximately one year later, the set only received one channel from the Chicago area, and the only programs available were about news and wrestling. The most famous early programs were produced in New York, too far away from the signal. Only on a trip to the big city was she finally able to see shows such as 'I Love Lucy,' which was one of the ones that was making up pop culture at the time. Color television was the next step in innovation, and in 1967 when the family got their first full color set, the Ed Sullivan Show and entertainment & situation comedies were now available to the American audience. "None like them today!" she exclaimed over the phone.

Flip-Book Project Comments

Chris - I liked how you used a silhouette of a man as your character; it made if feel real, but like a cartoon, fitting with this project. He seems to be eaten alive by the cloud and then end and I was wondering if this was one purpose.

Erin - My favorite part of your animation was the circles that go up the page, and the transformation to a bird and then a tree. Good use of the flip-book transformation idea.

Maria - I really liked the classic use of the stick figure motion, like when the character is on the skate ramp. It calls to mind the common form of flip-book animation which is the stick figure on post-it notes.

Brian - Good use of storyline. Love the colors of the music notes and the idea of them being dissolving objects that we can actually see.

Juan - Your piece did well in getting a message across to the viewer, although I am not sure what that message is meant to be. I like how there are only 3 colors; this also seems to help the message get across because the color was obviously thought out to emphasize certain elements.

Cody - Your animation was my favorite. The small figures make it seem like they are more integrated with the media, coming to life from the text on the page. The writing on the edge of the pages added something to the notion of using multiple pages and the sparing use of color really made things pop.

Sabrina - Liked how the bucket empties the water into the scene! Like Cody's, this seems to help it seem like the animation is more a part of the book, coming from the pages.

Kimberly - Liked yours, but I wish you had done more with the writing of the text! This was probably the most interesting part because it was text overlaid on the text of a book.

Arielle -  Your animation also used a text as an animation, which I really liked, but it was hard to tell what you were trying to write. The letters should have held for a few frames longer so that the transitions didn't happen so quickly.

Michelle - This is the perfect medium to have a person live in a fantasy land! Love the writing of your name at the end of it; makes it feel like you are more connected to the piece.

Lauren - I like your spray can character! Wish he had been brought back at the end. The graffiti characters were really well done and work great with the text on the book pages.

James - The flowy brush strokes were what really made this animation for me. Your scenes did seem to change rather quickly and I wish you had held onto one idea for longer.

Nakota - Your animation did something that no other animation did: perspective. The use of the landscapes really helped with the notion that the people were walking about on the plane, and that some people were on different planes.

On-Screen Debauchery Emerges

When talking pictures first began, many people didn’t believe that the medium would become such a big part of American culture. But, the technology progressed, cinema started to have narrative stories that played on people’s fantasies or their own realities, and Americans went to the movies by the hordes. The first color picture, The Wizard of Oz, told the story of the fantasyland that a young Midwestern girl dreamed of. It had elements of the unreal mixed with the actuality of the Dust Bowl and depression that Kansas’ residents were dealing with in 1939. Likewise, thirteen years later, Singing in the Rain let viewers into the more-relative fantasy of the movie production.

Then along came A Clockwork Orange, and Stanley Kubrick threw a reality all too real into the faces of his audiences. While he follows the fantasy-mixed-with-reality mold, the reality he shows is not the reality that your average moviegoer encounters on a regular basis, and it is most certainly not what he or she is used to seeing in cinema. Although a completely unplanned connection (watch McDowell explain the scene below), the infamous ‘Singing in the Rain’ scene calls upon the first musical film in such a way that would never have been imaginable even when the song was composed. As the Droogs invade the home of one English couple, they proceed to rip apart the home, although looking for nothing in particular. Alex and his goons proceed to rape the wife in front of her husband while both victims are bound, gagged, and beaten. Reality of this scene is that there are members of society that commit these crimes, but these occurrences are ones that are pushed to the backs of our minds, kept under wraps, and not openly displayed to the public. Controversy was maybe a part of Gone With the Wind, but even this controversy was written for film—it was published years before. Kubrick rode the success of his previous film, 2001: Space Odyssey, to break the boundaries of what moviegoers can handle visually. It is no exaggeration to say that he is the one who blazed the trail so that programs depicting gore and violence, such as CSI, can now be show to the American audience. He is the one who allowed for true reality to be shared with America.

Early Motion Pictures

The Great Train Robbery (1903) is a cinematic feat in many respects. There had been many innovations in the in film-making up until this movie, since the first 'moving pictures' were showcased by Thomas Edison in 1891. Going back to the classical invention of the perspective, you can see in the film that the director was trying to include the audience in the scenes. The camera is placed focusing along the lengths of the train and to a slight offset in the opening scene. Towards the end, horses run toward the camera, as if they're coming out at the audience. Depth is created when the bank teller appears through the wall, letting up know that there is more to the building than just the room we are shown.

Technologically, this piece embraces the "slight-of-hand" tricks that were coming of age in film. An image of a passing train can be faked by overlaying the image of a passing train in the style of Georges Melies, who can be considered the father of modern day special effects. Other tricks including faulting film for a second to replace a human with a dummy to fake a death and smoke tricks for fired guns.

Using these elements in the production allows for a better story to be told. By suggesting that the environment extends beyond the screen, the audience becomes part of the production, embracing the characters and the narration. The robber at the end really hits home with this idea when he breaks down the 'fourth wall' that separates the audience with the story on screen.

The Impossible Feats of Stop Motion

To start with a disclaimer, the following post is written by my good-girl self.

As I started watching this animation, all I could think was 'How did this guy get away with it? Its broad daylight and he is working with graffiti that stands three-stories tall.' Although I am sure this is not what the artist hoped viewers would take away from the piece, he can rest assured that these thoughts were heavily outweighed by the emotional response that always happens whenever I view a stop motion piece.

Street art is genre in its own right because not only are the pieces unique in their images and ideas, but the surroundings of the piece work in symphony with the paintings. The textures of the surfaces, such as worn cement and brick, can give life to simple images. Often painting are done on top of each other, adding even more to the piece along with a strong sense of craftsmanship. As you will see, part of the captivation can lie in faint effect that a paint trail can leave behind; you can literally see when the character has been.

Blu is an Italian street artist who creates large-scale painting on the sides of buildings. One of his most famous pieces that has gone viral in the Age of the Internet is Muto, a stop motion animation that transforms still graffiti paintings in living creates, able to accomplishes feats impossible by man. It is evident in the character's way of transformation that the artist has a sort of fascination with surfaces and how they can make up objects. Boxes multiply into an elaborate honeycomb design, spewing out into the streets of Buenos Aires.

Blu not only uses the surface textures of these South American buildings, but he really integrates the 3D environment when the character interacts with paper. Biting and tearing at the pieces, it is hard to not imagine how all of these was accomplished. Taken still by still, the seven minute and forty second long piece would have taken months to complete.

SIDE BAR: These two were probably my favorite, and deserve to be shared.

Origins of an American Rebellion

The origins of jazz music can be traced back to the African-Americans in New Orleans. Originally, the city was split in two, with black Creole musicians and higher class citizens on the east side of town, and freed black citizens to the west side of Canal Street. The Creole musicians had been classically trained in the Parisian conservatories. When segregation laws forced the Creoles to move with the American musicians who performed blues, ragtime, hymns, and spirituals, the two types of music eventually fused together to include some of the more classical instruments, such as the violin. The proclaimed inventor of jazz, Jelly Roll Morton, has been recorded talking about how classic European dances such as the waltz and polka were able to be transformed into jazz. In his article "The Origins of Jazz," Len Weinstock discusses how the transformation from ragtime to jazz was to simply add an underlying 4/4 beat to ragtime's 2/4 rhythm.

After the abolition of slavery, black men were able to find work as performers in dance and marching bands, and these instruments also became the standard for jazz music. Ragtime and jazz worked its way into the vaudeville acts the travelled the country as well, and as prohibition was enacted, jazz became the music of the rebellious crowds within the speakeasies of cities such as New York and Chicago. Now hearing the music in entertainment venues around the city, the genre took off, becoming part of popular culture and the Jazz Age was in full bloom.

Classic to Commercial

The Super Bowl is the event for commercial advertisers. Usually, there is no other event that draws more television viewers, and commercial time slots for this event cost millions of dollars. However expensive, advertisers take advantage of the massive audience and create commercials that they think will win over the audience's attention from their surrounding food and friends, and use lots of wit to come up with ads that stick in American's minds.

For the event last year, there are a number of ads of ads that feature classical, some operatic, music. Here are a few with tunes you might recognize:


Verdi Dies Irae:


Beethoven Ode to Joy:


Rimsky-Korsakov Bumblebee:


Rossini Barber of Seville Overture:


Williams Imperial March:

Madama Butterfly

Following the storyline of the classic opera Madama Butterfly, Pjotr Sapegin's animation of the opera seems to include much symbolization that allows the viewer to understand the premise of the entire narrative better. Of course, having not seen the complete opera yet, this is only a hypothesis. In the beginning of this piece, you see the female lead give herself to the love interest. The lover than leaves her behind as he continues his service to the U.S. Navy, and, following the plot of the opera, Madama Butterfly becomes pregnant with the man's child. Here the story deviates though and begins to show my symbolism in the story. When giving birth, the born child is first a fish that transforms into a baby. I am unsure of what the artist was trying to convey with this and other scenes such as the ending 'suicide.' However, after the birth of the child, it is apparent that the umbilical connection of mother and daughter is supposed to represent the strong relationship that the returned sailor severs. In this, there is a strong sense of the hardship that the woman feels when the man takes her daughter that only nonverbal communications can translate.

Castrati: Rock Stars of the Eighteenth Century

During the Middle Ages, there was no form of entertainment to which citizens could focus their attentions. With the invention of the Gutenberg printing press and exploration of knowledge once lost, people began to take pleasure in the arts again. The Renaissance returned people to books, art, and music. In the musical world, the opera took center stage and this became the place to socialize. Great amounts of money, talent, and sacrifice were put into these productions and singers singers underwent a lot of hardship for their craft.

Under the reign of Louis XIV, the group of men known as the castrati became the greatest operatic stars. As prepubescent boys, these singers would endure the painful procedure of castration, so as to achieve the upper levels of the vocal range that would not normally be possible. I think this provokes an important topic: human mutilation for art.

Many artists practice self-mutilation, but in the case of the castrati, the procedure was done on young boys who most likely had no say in whether or not the procedure has done. Most of the boys who undergo the procedure have been offered up by their families in exchange for financial reward (source).

Multimedia Art

The sculpture pictured below is actually not what you think it is. In the style of the baroque era, the face draws on the angelic features of the ancient Greek artists. Even if you know your art history, looks can be deceiving. The cooper sculpture done by the twentieth-century art Juan Carlos Delgado. In fact, its not even just a sculpture; its an installation piece that took over the entire display room.

Although takes the form of a simple bust, it is actually a case for a refrigeration unit. Kept in a below-freezing environment, water molecules form on the surface and create unique ice formations. Depending on heat from the lighting, air circulation, and human interaction, the ice is never the same. It transforms over time, and targets multiple senses, thus making this a piece of multimedia art.

To me this piece in an excellent example of what can be done when old and new worlds collide. The figure has the romantic form, while being controlled by a twentieth-century invention. In the era that sculptures like this were created, refrigeration was an idea that was not feasible, and to apply it to a work of art would never have occurred. Furthermore, the idea of having a something look immutable and then change without showing any signs that it will transform is an idea that will definitely capture an audience's attention.

 

Read an article on the piece at http://www.revistaexclama.com/cuarto-norte/.