Defining beauty

I came across an article about how the store H&M photoshops heads of women onto fake ideal bodies that they create digitally. I thought this would be interesting to fit in with a big idea of defining beauty, and it also goes with what I made my video documentary about. You can read the article  here.

Video Game Article Responses

In our Technology in the Art Room class, we are going to be creating a project using the Scratch Software. Many people use Scratch to create their own videogames. The readings for this week all focused on videogames and learning.

In Paul Gee’s article, Video Games and Embodiment, he talks about different ways the player thinks while playing a video game. In many video games the player inhabits the goals of a virtual character, the player is acting as if the character’s goals are his goals. An example of this would be Zelda, you are playing as Link but you are taking on his persona and goals.

Simkins’ article, Critical Ethical Reasoning and Role-Play, discusses role playing video games and how they develop our critical and ethical reasoning skills. This article talked about the usual argument of video games’ effects on children, such as dehumanization and desensitizing violence. Many role playing games allow players freedom to act socially or antisocially. The example given was Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, where the player can become a hired assassin and either murder innocent  people and steal from their corpses, or they could become a servant of the law and defender of the weak. The game doesn’t require the player to take one route over the other but it does provide a set of plotlines and rewards for each path. The article goes on to discuss how video games are learning environments. Roll playing video games allow the player to learn to take on the role of character in either a realistic or fictional society. This reminds me of when  I worked at a camp once a little boy was talking about how he plays grand theft auto and kills prostitutes, but he said “Its ok I just kill the bad women.”

The Gill article, entitled Usefulness of Video Game Experience for Students Learning and Creating Digital 3-D, reported findings from research which investigated learning outcomes in a high school digital art class which used animation softwear to create short animations. The study was with two classes, an advanced class and a beginner class, where groups of students had the entire semester to complete a short narrative using the program Maya. The teacher provided only minimal lecture and demonstration, and allowed the students to explore Maya on their own. The students were motivated to learn because of their love of visual culture, video games, movies, and TV. Many students used their video game experiences while creating their animations. The classes benefited from teaching themselves the program. I don’t know if I necessarily agree with this. When we were introduced to Scratch, we were just given the entire period to explore it and learn it on our own. I found it very frustrating and hard. I’m not familiar with the Maya program, but maybe it is more straightforward than Scratch. Although I agree that it would probably be beneficial to give minimal instruction and let the students explore and do what they want, I feel that an initial introduction lesson on how to use the program is necessary. When we learned photoshop, garageband, and iMovie, we were given a small introduction to the program. With Scratch, we were just left on our own, and I found it very annoying and counterproductive. 

Video Projects

For the video remix project, I wanted to show how the media sometimes uses tricks to alter the meaning and context of what a person is saying in order to frame them in a certain way. I did this by altering footage from a Justin Biber interview to change what he was saying. I did this by using the split clip tool in iMovie. I deleted segments of his speech and also re arranged the order of some of his words. I also added in text to make my own interview questions for him.

For the documentary project, I focused on the effects of photoshop on women's body images. I was originally going to do this for my video remix project, so I already had researched multiple videos pertaining to anorexia and the medias affects on women. I decided to use the video sources that I found and talk over them to create my own documentary. I also added my own footage where I interview two of my friends to find out how the media has affected them through their lives.

Tim Lefens Lecture

Tim Lefens presented three of his theories during his lecture. The first theory he talked about was the deathbed theory, which was basically asking if you were about to die and the only thing in the room with you was white walls, what painting would you want to see on the wall? Tim's next theory, the double funnel theory, is that a person must drop their ego into a large funnel which is then dropped into a smaller funnel. Once a person is completely  devoid of their ego and of the material world, they will enter a more spiritual conscious. I agree with this because when your mind is free of thinking about trivial material things, you are left to ponder earth and the greater universe. Tim's third theory was that the art world is like a pyramid,  there is only a few great artists which are at the tip of the pyramid, and many mediocre artists at the base. and artists such as Warhol sliced off the tip of the pyramid so that now there are much more mediocre artist on the top of the pyramid. Honestly, I kind of agree with where Tim is going with this. I feel like Warhol is famous because he is the inventor of his movement, and at the time it was new, but now theres a million artists running around and copying him, and in my opinion, the product isn't really anything special. However, I don't agree with how Tim Lefens was contradicting himself when he first said that nobody can define what great art is, and then proceeded to name a list of artists who he thought were horrible. I thought it was interesting that his views totally contradicted the art education department's views of what art should be. Tim favored abstract art and said that art should not have any political connections. The art education department says that art should focus around big ideas. This is something that I struggled with last year in my intermediate painting class. I always wanted my paintings to have some sort of theme or idea behind them, and my teacher kept pushing me to just let go and do whatever came to me. At first I was scared and didn't understand what she was talking about. However, after I just painted without thinking about anything and being in a sort of trance state where I felt like something else was guiding me, or that I was just following my intuition, I made the best paintings ever. I think that Tim also contradicted himself because he talked about doing abstract art like I just described, but I feel that the disabled students who created the art did have a social message behind their art. Even though Tim contradicted himself many times, I really liked his lecture because of the personal stories that he shared. My favorite one was about the bones and how he left them in his room and forgot to close the door to the house, resulting in a swarm of raccoons. He was really funny and I enjoyed listening to him.

Storyboard for Documentary

Boyd – Why Youth (Heart) Social Networks

Boyd – Why Youth (Heart) Social Networks

This article discusses social networking websites as they relate to teens and other young people. The article focused mainly on myspace, but can be applied to facebook as well. The difference between myspace and facebook was that myspace seemed to be more personalized. I remember learning basic HTML coding so that I could change my myspace layout. I even still remember some of it! (</img src=”” for image, I think #FFFFFF is black or white?) I remember myspace as a personalized page where you can put pictures of all of your favorite bands, movies, and interests.

I liked how Boyd described the concept of a public network with this example, “Thus when I say that I embarrassed myself in public by tripping on the curb, the public that I am referencing includes all of the strangers who visually witnessed my stumble.” I think that it is important to remember that everything you put on the internet is public, and can be found. I think that if you are going to have the profession of a teacher, that you should either not have a Facebook or change your name and keep it extremely private. I do not want my students trying to look me up on the internet and finding pictures of me or any information about my personal life. I know somebody who upon completing her student teaching, added all of her high school students to her Facebook, which is basically just an online log of the fact that she is an alcoholic. I would never do such an unprofessional thing. I also think that it is important to educate students about online privacy as many students tend to overlook the seriousness of sharing personal information over the internet.

Some art making concepts which relate to this article are:

-Web design

-Lesson about sharing information online

-Create a MySpace profile for a famous artist. (art history)

-Identity performance online vs. real world

Jones & Fox - "PIP Generations"

The reading for this week shows data about internet usage for different generations. The adult population of internet users is 30 % Generation Y (age 18-32), 23% Generation X (age 33-44), and 22% Younger Boomers (Age 45-52) . However, there is an increase in older generations using the internet. In 2005, only 26% of ages 70-75 were on line. In 2008, 45% of that generation is on line. Ages 64 and older use the internet mainly for sending e-mails, while ages 18-32 use the internet for entertainment and for communicating with friends and family. 12-17 year olds use the internet most for playing online games. The older generations use the internet less for social use and more for searching, e-mailing, and online shopping. This data proves true in my own life. My mom, who is in the Younger Boomers generation, uses the internet for e-mails and online shopping. Her friends always send her chain e-mails. My grandma also uses the internet for e-mails. She is always sending me chain e-mails which I never read. I use the internet for entertainment, communicating with friends, researching, and online shopping, while my 17 year old sister predominately uses the internet for entertainment and communicating with friends.

Popplet

We Make Money not Art

http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2007/01/passively-multi.php

Justin Hall is working on a concept called Passively Multiplayer Online Games. This concept is based on a point system that gives points for searching the internet, reading emails, texting from a mobile phone, and other activities which are not directly linked to an online game environment. MyWare will track and catalogue online, and then will assign a point system for different actions. For example, checking email will give points for "wisdom" and reading a science journal online would give points for "intelligence." Many people are saying MyWare sharing personal information about computer usage with other players is an invasion of privacy. However, Justin says that Passively Multiplayer is a system for turning user data into play, making work into quest play.

Justin's design sketch, found here

Justin's Passively Multiplayer concept relates to the many of the new literacy skills found in Jenkins' article. Players in Justin's game will actually gain points for using these skills such as transmedia navigation, networking, multitasking, and distributed cognition. In his article, Jenkins talks about how important it is for people to acquire new literacy skills. Justin's design sketch illustrates the use of new literacy skills as a person explores the internet. His Passively Multiplayer game will motivate people to explore and exercise their new literacy skills.

Internet Identity vs. Real Life Identity.

Recently in class we have been talking about people's online identity on social networking websites versus their identity in the real world. Today during our discussion, Joe mentioned that a person's online identity is only a fragment of their real life identity since it is impossible to fully represent yourself as a person over the internet. I stumbled upon an interesting article about a web service called rep.licants.org, which is used to enhance your virtual self. People can use this website to install a bot onto their facebook or twitter account. The bot recognizes the user's activity on other websites such as youtube and combines that with a set of keywords that the user enters in to simulate the user's activity on their facebook or twitter page. The bot posts frequent updates, adds people to the list of contacts, and even interacts with facebook friends. Here is a quote taken from the article.

"The bot does not provide a fictitious identity, but will be added to the real identity of the user to modify it at his convenience. Thus, this bot can be seen as a virtual prosthesis added to an user's account. With the aim to help him to forge a digital identity of what he would really like to be and by trying to build a 

greater social reputation for the user."

So far, feedback suggests that users are happy with the results. One user commented that the bot chose to re-connect with an old friend which the user would have never thought of doing. This lead the user to have a real conversation with the friend. Another person stated that he could not remember if some of the postings were done by him or if they were done by the bot. 

An interactive twitter post by bot,  in grey.

I find it very interesting that it is possible to install a bot to your social networking website which essentially knows your interests and acts as a prosthetic of your virtual identity. The bot interacting with humans over these social networking websites further blends together the world of humans and the world of machines. Some people do not even realize that they are in fact talking to robots. 

Using the Smartboard

Today at my internship at  the Anderson Center for Autism, I left the art room for a chance to observe in a special education classroom. This observation really made me re-think learning how to use the smartboard. The teacher used the smartboard exclusively through out the day to teach all subjects. She made interactive slides which were engaging to the students. The students were even allowed to explore the smartboard on their own at free choice time. Before observing this class I thought that there was no purpose of me learning how to operate the smartboard since my concentration in art education is studio art. However, this observation experience has changed my mind. Students in this classroom were extremely engaged and motivated, which I believe in part is due to the lesson being taught on the smartboard. I think that students who are interested in playing computer or video games pay closer attention to the smartboard than to a regular white board. Using the smartboard also gives the teacher a chance to make the lesson more interactive, like a computer game. Using this technology in the classroom is a great way to get students to be engaged, and I believe that every future teacher should take advantage of this opportunity.

Jenkins – Media Education for the 21st Century

According to a study conducted in 2005, more than one half of all teens have created media content, and one third of teens have shared their content over the Internet. In a participatory culture there are low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing creations, and informal mentorship. The way that teens use the Internet in these participatory cultures suggests evidence of learning.

It is true that many teens spend more time and engage more deeply with popular culture than they do with their textbooks, but instead of looking at this as a bad thing, educators can look at this as an opportunity for learning. Within this participatory culture, students of all ages, races, gender, and education levels depend on peer teaching and feedback, creating an ideal peer-to-peer learning community. This informal learning experience is different than formal education systems because it is less rigid, experimental, innovative, and has the potential to evolve and respond to temporary interests. Teens are interested in this type of learning because they have power and they matter as individuals.

People are realizing how important participatory cultures are. Some low-income cities are beginning to provide high-speed wireless Internet access free of charge. Obviously this is not a solution to the fact that millions of people cannot afford a computer in their home. In order to take full advantage of technology, people also need a wide range of skills which include literacy skills, research skills, social skills, play, performance, simulation, appropriation, multitasking, distributed cognition, collective intelligence, judgment, transmedia navigation, networking, and negotiation.

We should encourage youth to be participants of this culture by developing their skills, knowledge, ethical frameworks, and self-confidence.  One major concern that we should educate youth on is making ethical choices on the Internet and the impact that their choices have on other people. We as educators can help students develop the skills necessary to be full participants in participatory culture. We can also use educational simulations, alternative reality games, blogs, or other technologies in our curriculums. 

New Study Says People "Love" Their iPhones

We all know a person who is attached to their iPhone. No, seriously, their iPhone actually appears to be superglued into their hand. Many people call this an “addiction”, but a new study has been conducted which proves that people actually “love” their iPhones. A team of researchers measured subjects’ brain activity while subjects viewed images of Apple products and religious images such as a photo of the pope. Brain activity was the same in both instances. A second test was conducted on sixteen men and women between the ages of 18 and 25. The researcher wanted to find out if people’s brains showed signs of classic addiction to their iPhones. Studies showed that while looking at a picture of an iPhone or when hearing the phone vibrate, the insular cortex of the brain was activated. This part of the brain is not associated with classical addiction, but with love and compassion. People responded to seeing the iPhone the same way that their brain would respond to seeing a significant other.


To read the full NY Times article, click here.

Lesson Plan: Social Networking Digital Collage

Here is a lesson that I wrote which is based off of the digital composite project that we did in class. Instead of exploring a big idea in Sweeney's article, high school students will explore either an advantage or a disadvantage of social networking websites which they encounter or use on a daily basis.

Self Portrait Manipulation Project

 Self Portrait Manipulation Project

Artist Statement

This portrait was inspired by the conversation that we had in class about how Photoshop is often used to erase people’s imperfections and to make people appear younger. This made me think of the concept of beauty in relation to aging. As people get older, more flaws begin to appear. Women are constantly buying anti-age beauty products to try to prevent the inevitable. Nobody wants to think about how they will look when they are old and decrepit, with wrinkly flesh that eventually decays after death. I wanted to show the aging process by combining the stages of life into a single portrait.

Compositing Big Ideas Project

Compositing Big Ideas: The Cyborg

Artist Statement

This digital composite was inspired from the big idea of cyborgs in Robert Sweeny’s “Lines of Sight in the Network Society.” In his article, Sweeny discusses how humans and computers are merging. People create alter egos on the Internet and computers take on human characteristics as technology advances. In this picture, I have a cyborg rising from a graveyard of old computers. This is supposed to show obsolete technology of the past in contrast to the technology of the future, being the cyborg. In Japan, holographic pop stars called vocaloids are all the rage. This to me is the definition of humans and computers merging into one being. In my composite image, I have an image of a holographic performance art which takes the shape of a halo on the cyborg’s head. There is also a woman on the top left of the image who is being engulfed by a green light, which symbolizes technology. The woman is reaching towards the matrix as she is being transformed into binary. This symbolizes mankind’s constant searching for new technological advances as we become more connected to computers. I find this process very unnatural and a bit scary, which is why the background of my image is apocalyptic. 

Magazine Cover: The Gaze

Emme and Kirova - Photoshop Semiotics: Research in the Age of Digital Manipulation

This article discusses digital art and the advancements in digital manipulation. Manipulating an image allows for the impossible to be seen as possible. In one part of the article, the authors make an interesting comparison while talking about a digitally manipulated picture, which can serve as an ideal type of image. They compare a manipulated image to a diagram of a cell in a science textbook, which is the ideal image for its purpose since a picture of an actual cell would distract from the information in the diagram.

Programs such as Photoshop allow artists to take an image and alter it for a specific purpose or to make it more ideal. For example, a photograph of a model can be altered to not only enhance qualities of the model, but to give the photograph  a certain feeling that changes the relationship between the viewer and the photograph. Here is a manipulated photograph which I feel is an example of this. I found this image here.

Clusters

"Big Idea" of Cyborgs in Sweeny's Article

Description of how a prosthetic arm works

In the article Lines of Sight in the "Network Society," Sweeny discusses today's digital visual culture. From this concept comes a the big idea of cyborgs. Cyborgs have always been an interest to our society. Here is a list of the top 10 cyborgs in popular culture. In today's technology driven world, it seems like humans and machines are merging like never before. People create profiles on social networking websites such as facebook, blogs, and online dating websites. A person may choose to personalize a webpage to show aspects of their identity or may choose to create a new identity all together. Machines are also beginning to take on human characteristics. Cars are being made with bluetooth technology, cars who have voices and who answer to verbal commands. Even pop artists today have auto-tuned voices. Advances in the medical field also explore cyborg concepts as scientists are developing artificial organs and more advanced prosthetics.

In Japan, it seems as if the concept behind the movie S1m0ne has been brought to life. The company Crypton Future Media  designs holographic pop stars. Hatsune Miku is a holographic pop sensation. People actually pay money and go to a concert that is performed by a hologram. Tell me I'm not the only one freaked out by this.