AVT 180

For my video project, I wanted to do something with a unique subject that not many people are informed about. It just so happened that on April 29, 2017, the dance troupe I’m in, Cambodian-American Heritage Traditional Dance Troupe, was having a performance for Cambodian New Years. This was a great topic since, no one in my class is Cambodian (to my knowledge), they probably don’t know what Khmer (Cambodian) dance looks like and how we prepare for the performance. I also thought it would be fun to do because so much stuff is happening though out the day and its always just chaos and panic. I wanted to video to be in a vlog like format because everyone knows what a vlog is and its somewhat easy to create. I also tried to make it a little bit expressive, but it turned out to be more of a documentary, I didn’t know to make it expressive.  

The the genre of writing, there are many formats you can take up, the question is how to have your reader relate to your story as well as the story itself. Emil Ferris’s book, My Favorite Thing is Monsters, is a mystery novel that has the protagonist try to solve the murder being her friend and along the way, she starts to uncover the secrets of her neighbors. I really like how the book isn’t in the typical writing format, paragraphs, but in a journal like for. It looks like that as she was solve the murder, she writes down her notes and clues in a journal, she also include drawings of people that look like she sketched them with pen and pencil. This reminds me of the journal someone like a police officer would have or Charles Darwin when he was taking notes in the Galapagos Islands. She also depict the people in her journal as monsters, which I find interesting, it can used as a metaphor that says as secrets are reveled, the outward appearance of a person starts to look more monstrous or inhuman in perspective. 

Technology these days have become so advanced with being able to search up almost anything on the internet and having access to it almost everywhere. And the thing that makes up these electronic devices is data, but did you know that you can physically see data, that’s what Jeroen Holthuis did and he called it Bitquid. Ok, you aren’t actually seeing the physical form of data more like a representation of it. The piece of work “is a complex system of about 800 meters of transparent hoses through which digital information will flow in the form of ‘analogue’ fluids.” This piece reminds me of those alien scenes where they have to “recharge” or something and be connected with some sort of device. The way that the fluid glows in the dark is cool, because it also creates a new perspective and design if you are looking at the art in the dark. Having all those hoses must be tiring to maintain.

So the Gala happened recently and all the celebrities came out onto the red carpet with style. But of course there’s always that one person who comes in the most ridiculous clothing ever, this year it was Russian artist Fyodor Pavlov-Andreevich. The only thing was that he came in a clear box...naked...curled up in fetus position...dragged out by the security guards...and was arrested by the police...I don’t know. This wasn’t only just entertaining and low key funny, because it was so random, he had to be covered and dragged out while he was still in the box, and he was arrested, it also had some kind of artistic meaning behind it. To me, I think that the artist did what he did to make fun of the Gala’s red carpet show. With all the celebrities being all dressed and looking fancy, Fyodor wanted to mock the whole red carpet show by coming in naked, not dressed up, and in a transparent box instead of a fancy limo. This is a performance piece that makes fun of beautifying the outward appearance, how people are very naked and valuable on the inside. 

So for my 3D project, I wanted to take the idea of how different cultures integrate other stuff from different cultures into theirs. I was also somewhat inspired by my professors art piece with the writing of ancient languages. So I looked into ancient civilizations that eventually died out but still had some influence in the modern era. So I decided to choose the ancient Egyptian civilization because 1: it was easy to create 3D pyramids in Photoshop and 2: I remember reading in a book about how modern architecture sometimes are influenced by the ancient Egyptians. So I did some research on modern architecture that are based on Egyptian structures and picked out the ones that I had the ability to recreate a model of it in Photoshop. 

Light shows have always mystified and entertained people for their magicalness and uniqueness they give off. The Light City was held again in Baltimore at the Inner Harbor. This light show was not a speculation to see from afar, it is a exhibit that allows the spectators to interact with the art. Visitors are able to practically walk on the lights and they are programmed to change with human interaction. Their are lights everywhere from hanging from buildings, on the water, installed into the floor, and etc. So sculptures were able to light up and the visitors were able to walk into it and just look up and be amazed. The city was a collaborate exhibit that involved local artist, performers, musicians, and food companies, making it “hyper” local and unique to the harbor. When I look at the photos that were taken, it made me really want to experience this city, it also reminded me of a rave since it took place at night, the lights were bright and colorful, and they were similar to strobe lights. In general, I thought that his light art show was super awesome and beautiful, but I feel like I would get really dizzy after awhile since I’m sensitive to lights and I probably get super excited, run around and explore a lot, then become exhausted, but I’m sure it would all be worth it.   

Nowadays, technology has become really advanced and evolved. For example, cameras can be found practically almost every where, on our phones, computers, tablets, game systems, cars, and in buildings and hallways. Usually the camera is used for either taking pictures, such as selfies and photography, and or security measures, such as in a bank and company. In Asia, we call these security cameras, CCTV’s, which can be found practically everywhere. Not there are those who use these CCTV’s not for security, but for art. Hwang Kim installed CCTV’s on a structure that he can walk and carry around with him, without the use of his hands, and called it CCTV chandelier - Virtual Doppelganger Simulator. I thought that this art piece was interesting because with the use of CCTV’s installed in different angles, you are able to record things in many different perspectives, similar to those mirrors in dressing rooms. It allows to see things differently in a third person perspective, which isn’t only interesting and invitational, but also allows the viewer to experience themselves in a different way. 

In every piece of art, you have use certain materials to create it called mediums. And you can use those different mediums with different properties to create a whole new feeling to the art. The medium can not only reflect the subject in which the artist intended, but as will as he or her the life and life style. For example, if you create a piece of art with very earthy materials, that could mean that you value nature and or live in a very natural like area such as the forest or in the country. There are many other ways to describe the artist through medium such as their family, culture, social standing, government, and etc. You just have to look closer and find the meaning behind the art.

The whole entire thought process of religion is very questionable to me. Its nice to have a belief and all, but one shouldn’t push their beliefs on others. And to use a person to “experiment” with them something religious is one cruel without their consent, offensive to certain people, and just plain weird in general. Like how in the Irreverences of images part of Simulacra and Simulation article, the story about how the military took away the senses of a homeless man to see he could talk to “God”...yeah. 1: that could be a traumatic process for the subject in general, 2: don’t bring religion into science, and 3: if you want to see if you can talk to “God” do it yourself, don’t hurt others in the process. 

We all know that stereotype that artists are poor and are always struggling to get ends meet. But in fact, that can apply to any professional and the solutions are the same through out, but for artists, its more related to art. You should be nice and make some connections that can help in the future, not have any major negative events happen to you, for artist make stuff even if its horrible (that can be edited later), and always be active. Never stop doing what you like, because who knows that project or “hobby” might be your golden egg.

Though it isn’t as popular in America and Europe, Korean Pop (kpop) is an influential music genre all over the world. In places such as countries of South East Asia, China, and Japan, they are very well known. I personally, love kpop because of how well they sing their songs, their amazing choreography, and record their artistic music videos, they do better then American music at least. An example of a kpop group that became really popular worldwide is BTS (Bangtan Boys), their album, Wings, was iconic all over the world, especially one of the songs called Blood, Sweat, and Tears. I also know that BTS and other groups have world toured in America, Europe, all over Asia, and even in South America. And slowly people in American are watching more and more kpop videos, reacting to them and posting on youtube, and just getting into the fan base. But you should only getting into a specific fan base if you’re really into them, because they are very hardcore and dedicated to their group.

Not every piece of art has to be from scratch. An idea cane come from anything, from in your mind to even other artist’s work. By taking in ideas from many other artists, you are combining the ideas that appeal to you and making it your own. You can also say that you are complimenting the idea’s original artist, making the work you created a tribute to them. As long as you don’t just copy straight up and add your own style to it, the ideas that you gathered and combined will become your new idea and a new piece of art.

In the world, many different cultures exist based on where a group of people live, what they believe, and how the people progress through with their lives. Though these cultures may have many different variations, it isn’t unheard of that one culture may consist of bits and pieces of other cultures, aka a Frankenstein like culture. So many call it “cannibalistic” considering they talk parts from something and make it their own, but even so, by adding in and including many different culture and mixing and blending them together, a new culture was created, regardless of how and what it was made of. 

The way people create are changes throughout the ages. Before people would create something by hand and that piece would be completely unique and be the original. But as time passed artists start to reproduce their version of the “original” adding new concepts and aspects, you can also say that they made that piece theirs. But even so, I believe that the aura of an object will always be the same in the core, even if its a replica and the exterior is covered up or changed, “A blue paper covered in dust is still blue. No amount of dust can change its color,” Gi Hyeong-do. 

New Media is always constantly changing. It is basically a new form of Dadaism. It changes the way a person may see art and also enlightens them in certain aspects that the artist may want to convey. Before, Dada was created in WWI to reflect the situations at the time and that was mostly on paper, paintings and other more materialized mediums, but now New Media basically took the aspects of Dadaism and converted it onto a digital platform, talking more about economic, political, and other factors of the modern times.