DIGI Arts 104

Jason Salavon is an American contemporary artist. He is noted for his use of computer software of his own design to manipulate and reconfigure preexisting media and data to create new visual works of fine art.

One of his coolest pieces is his All the Ways (The Simpsons) video! He says, “The composition includes algorithmically mixed audio and combines both standard & high definition seasons. Reconsidering a promise to stop making these types of pieces (begun in 1997), the project belongs to a large suite of works (including murals, prints, books & video) reorganizing and manipulating episodes of The Simpsons – as data – in related, but varied ways.  The overall project represents the synthesis and unification of my amalgamation work (Playboys, Homes, etc.) with my color-averaged frame work (Titanic, EAO, etc). By varying parameters, a single software process produces compositions capable of a huge breadth (all the ways) of data representation.  Most importantly, it maps a contiguous space inhabited by these previously distinct styles.”

Something else really cool is his Baroque & Impressionist Painting he made in 2010. (shown below). 

“These two prints sample and reformat color taken from history of Western painting. Impressionist Painting uses Claude Monet’s 100 most expensive paintings¹ to derive (quantize) the 1024-color palette most representative of these paintings in aggregate. This palette is then used to generate the image where line-width is proportional to color frequency and position is based on color saturation.  The aim in ordering-by-saturation² is to introduce depth and a sense of sfumato to a rigidly geometric optical work.  The Baroque Painting work replicates this process using the paintings of Peter Paul Rubens.”

MY FAVE OF ALL HIS WORK IS THIS THOUGH::::

Howdy!

For my selfie project I decided to take 5 pictures of me playing my favorite sport- tennis! I thought this would be cool for the project because it could represent me running around everywhere and hitting the ball! I wanted to get the sunset in because I thought it looked really cool alone with the brightness of the tennis balls and racket! I really loved doing this project because it forced me to think over the net (ha ha ha *knee slap*)

Kelli Connell is a contemporary American photographer. Connell is known for creating portraits, which may appear as self-portraits, similar to the portrait work by Cindy Sherman. She was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1974. She received a BFA in photography from University of North Texas (1997) and an MFA in photography from Texas Woman’s University (2003), both in Denton, Texas. Since 2003 solo exhibitions of her work have been held at various exhibits across the country. Kelli Connell became a photographer to explore how photography can raise questions. In her series Double Life, she seeks to question ideas of identity, gender roles, and expectations made by society on the individual. The series, which depicts a woman in a romantic relationship with herself, shows the “couple” having intimate and private moments in their lives. Connell worked with the same model over a series of years to produce the work.

These are some photos from her series Double Life. She uses elements of private relationships she has experienced herself or witnessed in others to inspire these two-person scenes. She then uses Photoshop to stitch multiple medium-format negatives together to create the juxtapositions in the final photographs.

I use photography not as a means to show a truth but as a tool to question our thoughts about ourselves and our relationships with other people.
—Kelli Connell, 2012

Wafaa Bilal is an Iraqi-born artist and an Associate Arts Professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (MY DREAM SCHOOL I CRY), is known internationally for his on-line performative and interactive works provoking dialogue about international politics and internal dynamics. For his 2007 installation, Domestic Tension, Bilal spent a month in a Chicago gallery with a paintball gun that people could shoot at him over the Internet. The Chicago Tribune called it “one of the sharpest works of political art to be seen in a long time” and named him 2008 Artist of the Year. Bilal’s work is constantly informed by the experience of fleeing his homeland and existing simultaneously in two worlds – his home in the “comfort zone” of the U.S. and his consciousness of the “conflict zone” in Iraq. Using his own body as a medium, Bilal continued to challenge our comfort zone with projects like 3rdi and …and Counting. Bilal’s most recent body of work, Canto III, premiered in a solo booth at the New York Armory Show in 2015 and went on to be shown in the 2015 Venice Biennale.

I like his work because his pieces have a TON of emotional and political emphasis behind what meets the eye. For example his Iraq/Iran, pictured below, seems simple and just pleasant to gaze at, however there is so much meaning behind it which makes the piece interesting and innovative. His website explains, “Iraq/Iran is a text-only green neon sign that constantly switches between spelling “Iraq” and “Iran” in English, rendered in a handwritten fashion. The last letter is the only part of the sign to change, flickering back and forth from “Q” to “N” at a continuous rate. To the viewer’s eye, this transition between letters will be just a blur, and speaks to the simple ways in which societies view and make assumptions about cultures different from their own. The division between the two countries named in Iraq/Iran is here simplified to the difference of just one letter. The transitional act of this flickering character, in its minimal aesthetic, functions as a playful, provocative look at intercultural engagement and assumptions.” I think this is an awesome piece because of how the Q and N are switched to make a statement. http://wafaabilal.com/iraqiran/

I think it is also cool how he chose the color green. He explains, “The use of the color green for the neon sign has multiple associations. The color, while significant to both Iranian and Iraqi cultures, for instance, appearing prominently in both countries’ flags, also connotes the idea of openness. This, in association with the neon sign itself, lends an informal, playful air to the piece and places it in dialog with the neon signage of other artists such as Tracey Emin and Bruce Nauman. Finally, the neon sign is a format instantly recognizable to the viewer, and thusly is an object able to be interacted with in a manner that is immediate.” Some people might think its only a color, however to the artist it means So much more and I think this is a huge reason why his art is so cool. It feels like he has a backstory and a reason for why he always does what he does- that makes his art so much more meaningful and extraordinary.

Especially for what is going on in the world right now, especially in America, I think he is one of my favorite artist I have researched so far. For me, being a white Jewish woman in America who is dating a Muslim is powerful, and his art work is something I can strive to relate to and to understand one day. I checked out his other work and REALLY enjoyed it.

For this project, I had an idea after learning about some of the artists I did blogs about.

I really liked how Matt Siber used logo appropriation and had those flying logos. I thought it was really cool and this project was inspired by him.

What I did was I had my main picture that I wanted to start on- sort of my beginning canvas. The first picture I used was a high quality picture of graffiti I found on the internet. My plan was to layer different logos on top of graffiti. The logos I picked were things that had to do with how we communicate today- mostly the internet. I took 5 logos: the Twitter icon, Kylie Cosmetics icon, Starbucks logo, and an Emoji, and also a picture of a text message and slabbed them on the graffiti wall. I wanted all these logos to be appropriated with graffiti art because I think of communication as art, even though some people might not think so. I believe that sometimes we think of communication as just a way to talk or interact with others, and I believe that is art. I liked this project and what I did was create new layers for each logo, used the clone stamp for some of them, and then used the magic wand tool to select and make it transparent so I could place them wherever I wanted.

Cory Arcangel is a New York post-conceptual artist who makes work in many different media, including drawing, music, video, performance art, and video game modifications.

He is an internet artist and computer programmer who works with video, installation, music composition, sculpture, print media, and mathematics. In this workshop, families explored digital media in Arcangel’s work and created computer-based work inspired by the artist’s process. Kids and parents made their own desktop icons, using a drawing program to make images of celebrities, self portraits, and abstractions.

Ok, so Cory Arcangel is basically amazing. Below is his Raw Youth, 2014, which is Foam pool noodles, wristband, tailored Bravado Justin Bieber Vertical Hoodie, Skullcandy headphones, Apple iPod classic and charger, Apple iPhone 5 case, Skrillex “Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites” MPEG-1 Audio Layer III file. PRETTY FREAKING COOL IF YA ASK ME. ESPECIALLY THE JB HOODIE. 
Below is his famous hand modified hacked Super Mario Brothers cartridge. Characters and backgrounds were erased and replaced with abstract shapes/colors/patterns – an investigation of game aesthetics and human memory.

http://post-data.org/beige/abstract_project.html

Rashaad Newsome is a multidisciplinary artist whose work blends several practices together including collage, sculpture, video, music, computer programming and performance, to form an altogether new field. Best known for his visually stunning collages housed in custom frames, Newsomes’ work is deeply invested in how images used in media and popular culture communicate distorted notions of power.

One of my favorite pieces is Cognitive Dissonance (2016) which is a mixed media collage on paper. (photo below)

He received a BFA in Art History at Tulane University in 2001. In 2004, he received a certificate of study in Digital Post Production from Film/Video Arts Inc. I think his pieces are very innovative because of the way he uses mixed media. It also are images that are very one of a kind and I LOVE his style.

I also really love King of Arms (2015) and it can be seen below:

His website has so many things of his and I really enjoyed scrolling through it and looking at all his art.

http://rashaadnewsome.com/#work/performance/shade-compositions-sfmoma-2012

I had so much fun with this project!

Photo #1:

*Before*

*After*

For my first photo, I took a picture of Rihanna I found online and decided I wanted to alter the color of her jacket. The tool I used was the Color Replacement Tool. I picked the color I wanted the jacket to be and then I drew over what I wanted to change. I thought since this was originally a black and white photo that making a pop of color would look super cool. After the Color Replacement Tool I used the Sponge Tool all over the photo to make it a little more darker and to alter the contrast.

Photo #2:

*Before*

*After*

For my second photo, I took a paparazzi photo of Kanye and decided to make a “poster” like picture from it. I took The paparazzi photo and used the Magnetic Lasso Tool to edit all of Kanye solo out of the picture. Using the “PABLO” image, I layered the two images and then I was able to Transform, then Scale the background photo (PABLO) so then the picture now looks like a poster instead of the typically paparazzi photo. This picture took me like half an hour because it was really difficult to learn how to layer and combine basically two images to create one.

Photo #3:

*Before* 

*After* 

THIS WAS MY FAVORITE I EDITED. LOOK HOW COOL IT IS. Anyways, I used the Clone Stamp to make a funny picture of Kylie. So as you can see I did two pictures using the Clone Stamp because I liked experimenting with the tool. I think these two pictures (especially the second picture) came out SO COOL. I really like how it looks like cartoon-meme like. I think this was the funnest tool to use because I could be super creative and have a vision for what I wanted the picture to turn out and look like.

I wanted to include Matt Siber’s bio that I found on his website because I thought it was really cool and spoke a lot about himself and the type of art he works with. I think I can relate to him a lot because I like to distort photography, but I like to create art that has an effect or purpose on popular culture or just every day humanity.

A piece of Siber’s that I thought was really interesting was his Floating Logos project, which aims to draw attention to signage placed atop very tall supports by digitally removing those supports.

Below are two photos from his series:

I thought his logo project was pretty unique because I love how he incorporates our everyday American culture into his photography. I liked how it looked as if the logos were floating in the sky and I wonder how he went about editing the poles out.

Another project of his that is pretty awesome is The Idol Structures project that was installed at the DePaul Art Museum in 2015.

According to his website, “Idol Structures focuses on the three-dimensional elements of the systems of advertising in public space while evading or obscuring the two-dimensional messages they carry.” The project often plays between 2D and 3D interactions with the viewer as a means to subvert the commercial 2D messages. This work is driven by a personal resistance or protest against the influence and omnipresence of corporate messaging. This is interesting to me because it has a mix a contemporary art as well as a mix of his personal human expierence mixed in.

I really like Siber’s art because not only does he have a talent for photography, he also has a really good well rounded ability to do all sorts of art. His work is admired around the world, and he could be called the renaissance artist (since he is so well rounded on so many art mediums.)