Extreme Body Modifications

I never really understood why people modified their bodies so much to the point of looking completely different, looking to the point that people cannot help but look at you as you walk by, but maybe thats the point? I remember watching the show, Taboo, the showed the certain cultures and tribes in different cultures that modify their bodies. However, these people modify their bodies because it is considered traditional and even beautiful to people who are accustomed to it. For example, women in China would conventionally bind their feet to reduce the size of them and were considered beautiful to men. It would become so extreme to the point of having serious internal foot injuries that sometimes could last a lifetime, it even became illegal. With this being said, maybe the reason of being beautiful is the reason regular people modify their bodies in an unconventional atmosphere. Maybe, just maybe, even though their choices are not considered beautiful to other people they are considered beautiful to themselves and that is the most important part.

In respect to this, Maria Jose Cristerna is a perfect example of this. I remember over everything that she was a domestic violence victim and that can take an extreme toll on someone. She has not had the best life and the way she copes with things is completely up to her. So if dealing with this hardship is her modifying her body to an extreme, then so be it! I admire her for taking such a risk of portraying herself in this way because I know I certainly would not be able to regardless of if I wanted to.
In conclusion, don't judge people on the way they look. Maybe it was caused by their past, maybe they did it to feel beautiful in their own way, maybe they wanted to feel recognized in society, or maybe they are following a tradition they have always known. For whatever reason, they have done it because they wanted to and did not fear what people would think. That is something that should be greatly admired and appreciated since some of us do not have that strength.
So go Maria! You're a beautiful person!

Performance Art: "Purple Haze Down My Spine"

Directed by: Elise Gutekunst

Painter: Elise Gutekunst

Model: Natasha Grayson 

Audio Source: Youtube Free Music Archive on www.youtube.com/editor

Dan Eldon's PhotoCollages

I have never been a big mixed-media artist but after looking into some, I have been motivated to try it out. Dan Eldon uses disassociated photos in such a way that makes a photo with such unrelated images seem whole, which is certainly not easy. For my share of trying it out, it was hard to me to be able to place everything in a manner that compliments each other. It has to do a lot with mastering abstractionism and utilizing it in a way that makes the piece unpredictable, yet make sense in a way. I find it easier to make a successful piece by picking out the images, colors, and patterns that are desired to be used and then placing them on the surface of the work before using an adhesive to make the glued on. I found it the most challenging using paint with other materials to make a collage but it can be very entertaining to do so.
Viewing Dan Eldon's photo collages gave me a lot of ideas at how to utilize different materials in a way that make them all appreciated the same amount. I have realized he also uses consistency and duplication go images but not too much where they are over used. It seems that he also uses his culture to inspire his images, which is very much appreciated by me. I often find it difficult to channel in my cultural self and incorporate it into my pieces. This is why I look up artists who do this and see the techniques they use in hopes that it will make me a better artist. Dan Eldon uses a lot of abstract patterns, typically within the background of his pieces, but also utilize images of reality in a way that makes the viewer appreciate such a commonly seen image even more. Some of my favorite pieces of his art the ones that are very congested and make the viewer have to really look at it in order to be able to see all of the aspects of the artwork. I have also seen his use of water colors which motivates me to try and use them more as I don't think I am very good at it yet.

I have been showing pictures of my recent artwork to express the styles and techniques I use so I am also going to show a collage I made that was inspired by William Goodman. William Goodman often makes his pieces look as if they are graffiti or on some type of wall, but still is able to show that such unrelated images can make a full and beautiful whole.

Here is also a picture of one of William Goodman's most popular pieces, which can express the use of collage making. Hope you enjoy! 

Source of William Goodman's artwork: www.supersonicart.com 

The Nature of Surrealism and Its Impact on Me

Looking at the differences of periods of art it is quite interesting to recognize the differentiating factors between them. One that has always stood out to me was surrealism, which expressing dream like states and unrealistic scenes usually with a fantasized nature. Before surrealism took its flight, Dadaism was a centralized theme within art. Dadaism showed artists' expression and opinions of negative aspects of society that they thought should not be. It's incentive was on diminishing the artistic styles of the past into a way that showed an opinion on the present. It certainly gained its controversy when artists began using it as it was not a conventional and certainly not a positive expression of art.
Surrealism on the other hand was a positive expression of art and tapped into the untouched imagination of many artists. It was not a common expression of art and had heads turn all around the world. Surrealism not only taps into the artist's imagination but the viewer's imagination too, showing the power of the unconscious. Artists did not begin a piece of art with a pre-existing intention, instead it touched base with a part of their mind that was not typically shown appreciation. Through this, artists opened a gate way of showing unrealistic and dream like scenes that opened the eyes of their viewers. This is why I am so in love with this period of art. It portrayed artists' ability to put such unrelated objects into one picture and somehow have them make sense in an imaginative way. I for one enjoy going into a piece of art without a picturized motive but instead going with the flow.

I am going to post a picture of a surrealist type of painting I have done recently. It is just a bunch of colors with a central point in the bottom of sunglasses. I have also created a painting that expressing the song, "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles. What makes it surrealist is how unpredictable it is. It is truly therapeutic for me to use the Surrealism that prevailed after that period of its beginning. I hope you all enjoy it!

One of the favorite surreal artists is Chloe Early! She is definitely worth checking out!

The Use of POP Art

Whenever I hear the word pop art, I immediately think of comic books and newspaper comics. But is this really all that it is limited to? Certainly not!
I have always been extremely interested by pop art and its ability to portray something that we are so familiar with, yet in bright colors and different formations. Although art expresses the technique and styles of the artist in an unfamiliar way to the viewer, pop art allows the person to connect to the artwork because it may be a can of soup in their kitchen or an iconic celebrity whom they admire. Interestingly enough, pop artists use bright vivid coloring so not only does the part of the title 'pop' come from the popular culture it portrays but also the colors really do POP out to you. Although I do love pop art, my interests are most associated with the American pop artist, Andy Warhol. Andy Warhol depicted campbell's canned soup in a innovative way that inspired many artists to use his form of technique. And it was just not one soup can he expressed.. but many of them. Each different can of soup was brightened with a different formula of colors, all of which compliment each other when put in one big exhibit. Aside Andy Warhol, I am intrigued by the pop art created by famous Rosalyn Drexler who has a bit of a different approach than Andy Warhol. This artist not only uses bright colors but take these forms in an almost geometric/abstract fashion. She mainly shows iconic people in popular culture, but she also expresses her opinion on issues in society through her art, which is daring and very impressive. Pop art was a revolutionary new technique at the time and soared through the United States, especially after Andy Warhol's road to fame! Art is most commonly made through representations of natural life, realistic scenes, and what not, but pop art paved the way to show popular culture as part of the nature of life. It recognized how pervasive consumer materials, pop icons, music, etc. were in our society so much that it often goes unnoticed. Pop art is what genuinely made the majority of people take a moment to appreciate what society offers in its popularized culture and pushed this even further by creating them in bright and fun colors.

In my design class, I recently had to create a design that showed my ability to make colors compliment each other. No other than Andy Warhol did I think of when I heard my assignment. He aligns the same picture together with different colors but keeps in consideration that some colors don't look so good next to each other. For example, most of the time I don't find the colors yellow and purple together but I guess it can be based on one's opinion. Pop art may seem as though it is just painting 2 different colors into an object and doing this consistently to make a whole piece but it is most definitely more difficult than one would think. With this being said, I will post my ending piece of my design to show how Andy Warhol exercised his technique. Here you go!

How to Create Grid Art Using Tissue Paper

Tools:

• tissue paper (any color is acceptable as long as there are two different colors)
• hot glue gun and glue sticks for it 
• a strong piece of paper

Steps:

1. First decide how big your columns and rows will be in order to plan out how much tissue paper you will need. (The picture above used a 30x30 unit grid system)
2. Take the two colors of tissue paper and begin break off pieces of it and rolling them into small balls. (The size of each ball is up to the creator but I broke off pieces of about 1-2 inches in length and width)
3. Begin placing the balls of tissue paper starting with your desired color and then place the other colored ball next to it.
4. Before going to the next tissue paper ball, take your glue gun and glue it to the surface of your paper at whatever point you life and persist with this for every ball that will be within your grid.
5. Continue a consistent pattern so that there is a cohesive nature within your grid as grids rely on a pattern to keep this consistency.
6. Wait for the glue to dry and eliminate any excess glue that was left from the glue gun to create the piece as clean as possible.
7. And Voila! Your grid system has been made

Tips:

• Keep in mind that these instructions can be used for any material desired such as flowers, toothpicks, any creative way to make a grid system!
• Do not overuse the glue gun as a lot more glue comes out than anticipated most of the time.
• Any form of adhesive can work to make your grid, depending on the weight of the material being used
• Have fun!! 

The Infamous Dial Up Sound

As long as I can remember, specifically at my grandma's house, to connect to the internet wasn't just a push of a button. After pressing the on/off button, her computer would have to use the phone connection to dial up the internet, making weird sounds that are oh so familiar to many of us. However, this sound scared the heck out of me when I was little and don't even get me started about if someone called the phone while you were dialing up the internet. Not only would someone's call interfere with the dial up but completely crash the process of starting up all together! I definitely do not miss this dial up just to get to the internet, it was long and dreadful. With this being said, I don't think children today realize how much the internet has advanced since their time. It used to not be such an easy process pressing the on button and searching through the internet with complete ease. I guess you can say people of my generation got the best and the worst of both worlds.This noise was more than just a static nuisance to the ear, but it was also the sound of the start of the internet.

Moving forward... if you don't want your kids on the internet, play this sound for them...

Here is an article that really touches base on the remembered dial up sound and how it was something heard often within earlier generations:

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/06/the-mechanics-and-meaning-of-that-ol-dial-up-modem-sound/257816/

Computer History Museum

Although I have never visited this museum, it certainly looks intriguing enough to be considered for a visit. In preparation of this, I have looked at this museum's website in hope that an exhibit would really catch my eye enough to motivate me to visit. I am more interested in non-digital art but have always had an open mind for it. With this being said, I am looking into visiting museums that are themed by more digitalized art rather than a paint brush and canvas.

One of the main exhibits in this museum that caught my attention is the simple representation of the evolution of computers. I believe that being able to see the differentiation of eras of computers would be so thrilling as the distinction between them cannot be overlooked. Along with this, it is not only computers that are just portrayed but also the software, devices, and technology that is used to create these long cherished machinery. When first looking into this museum, I thought their exhibits would be solely computer, but I was wrong. They also portray any object that uses a computer software such as the computerized dogs that I particularly remember from my childhood. Moreover, they put on exhibit specific games that have evolved through computer software such as the Pong. Another exhibit that is worth looking into is the exhibit of Ada, Countess of Lovelace who was proficient in mathematical softwaring, portraying Lovelace's childhood history as well as the letters written to various tutors.

If you would like more information, check out this museum's blog or their general website to see more of their exhibits!

Blog URL: http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/

Grid Art!

Grids are an important part of society in many aspects including just setting a structure a city such as New York. Regardless of grids being used far back into the past, grid structures are still prevailing into society, but they can range in different elements by the ways they are being used. The modules which establish the rows and columns of whatever unit is being used is the most obvious aspect of grids that can make them so easy to read. Although some can be simple and some can be complex, grids have a consistent pattern of structure where if observed enough they can be understood. For example, New York City is make with a grid structure and without knowing this, it was very difficult for me to know how to get around without using public transportation. However, when aware that NYC was simply a grid it was a lot easier to see how the streets crossed each other and were placed.

As a graphic design major, I am aware of the importance of grid systems for this career path. Although it is significant to go beyond using just grids for graphic design, they importance still cannot be undermined. A grid system can give graphic designers the ability to place images in the exact place desired along with experimenting with how well these grids can be utilized for projects. Much of the time a project is made graphic designers use a grid system in order to create harmony and constancy within their projects and it is helpful to remember in this career paths hat their are various units or materials that can be used to create the image that wants to be represented.

Here is an example of grid art that was created with post-its. Simple, yet awesome!

Photo by: Peter Hellberg

"Fantasia" by Walt Disney

Walt Disney movies have been a part of my life since I can remember. One of the most notable is the movie, "Fantasia", and I am speaking of the one that was originally made in the 1940's. My parents and grandparents have always exposed me to previous generations' cultures of music, art, entertainment, etc. I guess you can say I have acquired an old soul taste for the past because of this. For example, I like the representations of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, created by Walt Disney, in black and white rather than the newer images of these characters and others. "Fantasia" is such a enjoyable movie to watch as there is so much attention to the music and the movements of characters and the setting being in sync with each other. It uses phenomenal orchestra music and is accentuated with the entertaining characters that are within it. (My favorite is the part with Mickey and the walking brooms) If this movie has never been seen by you, I would definitely recommend seeing it as it is still a classic to this day. It was Walt Disney's dream to combine animated characters and classical music, especially to have children be shown these two together. It was Walt Disney's attempt to gain fame and surely worked for himself as it was one of his most well-known productions. It depicts Mickey Mouse as a wizard who has powers to make objects come alive. (Hint, Hint), just like Walt Disney does!

Here's a small segment of the movie that is one of my favorite parts: 

Flip Book: "New York City Skyline"

Reverse:

Can it be valid to say that not all hackers are bad?

It is apparent that hackers have preluded society for a very long time with the advancement of technology and the acquired knowledge of successfully decoding an encryption to get to some sort of information. People are constantly having their card numbers taken from others or social security numbers stolen in order to gain something out of it. With this being said, they are definitely not people who would be considered the idea "good" person.

Within the past year, the once repressed fear of terrorists and the destruction they can cause has once again arrived since the unthinkable moment of 9.11. Paris was bombed by ISIS, which erupted that fear, especially for American citizens, once again. Because of this, hacktivists, who call themselves Anonymous, leaked videos threatening ISIS and strongly stating that they will get revenge. When I first saw a video of them, I though they were some sort of secretive army force that would get the vengeance almost all anti-terrorists dream of. However, this is not the case. By definition, hacktivism is the use of computers and the internet in order to promote a certain agenda for political, religious, social, etc. reasons. In Anonymous's case, they were hacking into the information (videos, photos, threatening movements, etc) put into the media by ISIS themselves and deleting it from the internet entirely.

Within their videos to make a public broadcast, the hacktivist group wears masks and changes the voice into a monotone pitch so that their identities are not revealed. Their main goal was to take down any information of the sort so that people who are vulnerable do not join ISIS's terrorist movement as well as to inflict fear on the terrorist group of ISIS, who has caused destruction and loss on far too many parts of the world, even their own. It is easy for people who do not relate to any community or group to see something like ISIS as an appealing and easy way to feel like they belong to something. It most definitely sounds messed up, but happens every day. Anonymous has even owned up to being responsible for harassment against Donald Trump!

Here is a youtube video about the impact Anonymous really has: 

Flower Power

"The flower which is single need not envy the thorns that are numerous."

- Rabindranath Tagore

My 3D Printing - Flower Power

For 3D printing, our class had to create a toy weapon with your own individualized touch to it. I decided to make a ninja throwing star that had an innocent look to it but is still dangerous with its use. The ninja throwing star is a hand-held blade that is generally used to be throw at an enemy. The weapon has multiple blades on it and has a very intimidating appearance. I 3D-printed one of these weapons; however, I created it into looking like a flower with the petals as blades. It looks innocent but can be very deadly. It was a diffiuclt process for me to figure out how to use the software the library has to print items. However, with much dedication I was able to figure out how to do it and was actually very pleased with the outcome of the toy weapon. I made the weapon into a pink color as the structure of it is shaped like a flower. It’s called “Flower Power”.

The Evolution of Television

Through technological advancements, the television has had various designs from big boxy structures to widths as thin as a pencil. Not only have televisions become more convenient to transport in relation to its weight, but they have also gained incredibly realistic visual experiences for the viewer. The quality that televisions can portray nowadays would have been unthinkable before advancements created this possibility. When televisions first came into existence, it was not easy for everyone to afford it as it was more of a luxury for the wealthy. As said in a previous blog, people would crowd around stores that had televisions playing outside of the door. However, it was apparent that the television would become a huge part of people’s lives in the future and therefore owning a television became an option for people of less class, proliferating its popularity all around the world.

“The TV has become a piece of furniture as commonplace as the dinner table and far more worshipped.”

Televisions developed into better quality visuals, the structures became slimmer, and other advancements that made the television a machine that became a part of almost every household. It furthered and made easier communication for the public as well as another source of entertainment. Although it made public communication more available, especially to the less wealthy, it can be debated that the television can royally taken away the cherishment of family time. The television had changed the atmosphere of family life in homes, some can say for the better and others can say for the worst. It used to be that families sat around a dinner table together and discussed their lives and experiences. However, it transitioned into families sitting around a dinner table and watching the television, droning out cherished moments of family time. It is controversial but I for one think it is important for families to keep the television off during dinner and watch it together afterwards.

Source of Quote: www.fastcodesign.com

Norway is turning off FM ?!

In 2017, Norway has decided to completely eliminate FM radio from its country, a true example of how technology is changing drastically. It will be a new period of time in Norway and possibly in time for the rest of the world. People in future generations are going to be unfamiliar with a radio that is not digitalized... "FM Radio? What's that?". I am not exactly sure how Norwegian citizens will think of this transition to completely digital radio, but I for one would not what to think of it. I do love satellite radio as it does have many more advantages than FM radio does. However, FM completely disappearing from society in the United States would really make me think about what the future has to come in regards to technological advancements.

I am sure the transition will give listeners better quality of the radio and what not but why not have both? There may be people of older generations who are not aware of how digital radio works. Although I do not listen to the radio much because I put my phone into an auxiliary cord to listen to my own music, I wouldn't know what to do without it if I did not have another option. With that being said, I don't know how I would feel if the United States did the same as Norway is doing in 2017. I guess we'll just have to wait and find out!