Artist 5

This is an image from the "Sensorium" project.  This seems to be a collaborative group based in Japan whose mission it is to "expand the potential of the internet as a circuit for sensing the living world."  This particular image is part of their "Breathing Earth" project which contemplates the Earth as more a living, interactive, relevant entity than we sometimes remember to be aware of.  This image portrays any and all seismic activity in most of the western hemisphere from March 14 1998 to March 27 1998.  The dates or on the bottom of the image.  The bubbles represent the actual incidents, and the sizes of the bubbles indicates severity of the incident.  The information was gathered from the International Database Center or IDC, and two days are represented within each second.  Under the definition that art is the tangible manifestation of a creative process, I don't know if this image would be considered art.  It seems to me to be more documentation than anything.  However, if one goes with the definition that art is something that provides inspiration for the receiver, the art is something that "takes you away from here", then I think this should count as art.  For it calls ones awareness to the power of the Earth and how small we really are.  And we are inspired by this project to become so aware, and therefore it is a creative human being that is inspiring us.  It is on purpose, and so is a work of art.

Scrap Book 8

The primary object in this photograph is the chain mechanism, rotating on the two wheels with protruding teeth.  Most likely this contraption was constructed in a factory, by machines.  The design perhaps, originally, was a work of art, a vision that enabled one man to forever change the world of transportation.  But is a coy of the Mona Lisa printed out on a piece of computer paper a work of art?  Or is it that when we consider the Mona Lisa, and contemplating that computer printout as a work of art, though our language may be understood to refer to the paper in front of us.  However, I believe we are in fact referring to the actual painting itself, and merely using this copy as a reference point, a vantage point.  But in essence, the copy is still just a copy, not in itself a work of art.  In this way I think the bike chain is not a work of art.

Scrap Book 7

This picture should actually be rotated 90 degrees to the right.  It is a crack stretching all the way across the road in front of Montgomery Hall.  It is not the result of any creative process, any force compelling an inspired individual to manifest a sentiment in some tangible medium.  It is the result of years of rain and ice and snow, fluctuations in weather, of hot and cold, stretching the pavement, thinning it, ice freezing and expanding, forcing a gap to form.  It was not on purpose, it is merely the result of passing time.  More likely than not, if a few years the crack will have grown, and then they'll have to replace the pavement.  The crack is only there because we have yet to develop a more effective way of paving roads.   

After Life Reflection

When I think about this film, all I come out with are questions.  Questions like, okay they're here now, but then they leave? Well, where do they go then? And where the heck did all those video tapes come from? And are the camera men and movie production people dead? Where do they come from?  When the girl goes walking in the city, is she invisible to the other "live" citizens?  And what about that sky hole in the hallway?  One day there's snow falling through the open hole, and another day the moon is painted on a hole cover that a weird old man suddenly lifts off, and receives no surprise from the girl?

I thought it was really interesting, and clever in terms of plot line, that those who could not choose a memory, or chose not to choose a memory, were the ones who facilitated the recording of the memories for the newly dead.  

I also really admired the way so much was said without any dialogue, or even music (brooding music when something bad is about to happen; swells of strings when you're supposed to cry) that are such cues in western movies.  So much was said simply through body language, in subtle facial expressions, and in the girl's anger on the snow covered roof.  This was especially prominent in the relationship between the girl and the guy who ends up leaving at the end, having chosen his memory.

And that brought up another interesting thing: well, one has memories after one dies?  And if that memory is all that one has afterwards, can one also remember all of their lives up to that point, for back when they were alive, at that moment, they could recall most of their lives surely?  Or is it merely that one instant and nothing more?  

That seems like it would be a bleak heaven, if that's in fact where they are going.  Although, if one is like that one gentleman, to be able to forget truly would be heaven.

Scrap Book 6

These are divots in the island in front of Dorchester.  I'm pretty sure that they were made by some type of tractor, in order to turn the ground in preparation for the arrival of springtime.  The divots are definitely made in a series of straight lines, and were probably executed systematically.  Again, like the brick laying, there is probably an art, a certain talent that allows one to most efficiently ad effectively turn the earth.  However, these lines of divots, like the brick wall, is not a work of art, because the work was performed in order to execute a job, not the manifestation of a creative process.  Perhaps if the tractor driver had taken the liberty to make some sort of design, abstract or anything, these series of divots could be considered art.  Maybe, my picture, if taken from a more unique angle, and given some poetic name, could be considered art in some circles.  However, still, the actual divots themselves are still just divots, made in order to produce greener grass on the island, made because someone told someone else to make them so that they could get paid.  A job, not a work of art.

Scrap Book 5

Especially here St. Mary's, we have the privilege of seeing bricks everywhere, and they are commonplace and sort of un-extraordinary because of it.  When we observe a good work of art, it is inspiring, as before, it "gets us out of here."  Can overexposure to a medium or a work remove the inspiring force that is present in said work? Yes, as is true of many things in life.  However, does that mean it is not art anymore? No, because the work itself still retains its ability to inspire, even if we are no longer receptive to it.  The difference between this section of brick wall and a work of art is purpose.  Whoever built this wall was working to construct a solid and safe shelter, inside which students at the college might practice their dance steps or something in the dance studio.  In truth, there is most definitely an art to brick laying, and in the act of constructing this strong and safe wall, but the wall in the end, is a wall.

Artist 4

Keith and Mendi Obadike have been creating a certain brand or interactive web-art for a number of years now.  The graphic to the left is an image from their web-game titled "The Pink of Stealth - The Fox Hunt".  According to the description given by the New Media Art link, the work focuses on and investigates issues and questions of race, age, gender, and sexuality.  They do this by weaving simple story lines through a complex combination of the web-based game, hypertext, and an audio mix.  When I visited the site, in order to see actually what it had to offer, I'm not sure I quite understood it.  I think perhaps my computer is not equipped with some of the correct technologies, in order to be able to view some of the aspects of the site.  What I was able to view on the site was the artist's explanation of what they were trying to do through their website, and I was also able to play the game.  Although the description of the game given on New Media Art implied a lot more going on than I saw.  As far as I could tell the trio of the horse and rider, the fox, and the hound progressed right, across the screen endlessly, passing pond, den, pond, den, etc.  If I clicked on the dog, he bit the fox, and the points for "unspeakable" increased by 20.  If I clicked on the fox, he seemed to become invisible, and when he came to a den he went inside, or at the water he was impervious, and "uneatable" gained 20 points.  This seemed to go on endlessly, and I did not see any hypertext floating across the screen as the description implied their would.  I think the idea behind Keith and Mendi Obadike's work is very interesting and important, because the questions raised in these issues is still extremely relevant.  However, I was less than satisfied with what I actually found at the website. link to the website