HTML and Chapter 3

Well I have met my evil nemesis...HTML will be the death of me. Maybe it is something wrong with my brain or my patience, but I just can't get it right. It reminds me of math for some reason which brings me to where the reading talked about the SAT's, something I am also horrible at. I have always been a strong believer that testing someones ability to turn in a well crafted essay in a reasonable time frame such as a week, is much better than asking someone to write a 3 page paper in less than 40 minutes. I am glad to hear though that someone is trying to change standardized tests. This however will effect the next generation in a way that my generation has been slightly affected. My generation is one of which the youth were highly praised. Whether they were winners or losers, I remember as a kid receiving medals and certificates for just about everything even if my soccer team came in last in a tournament. Children these days are made to feel comfortable for who they are rather than forcing them to become what they "should" be. Like what Pink was talking about with this generation having more artists and free thinkers if you will. Rather than my parents generation when business-men and woman, lawyers, or even mechanics were more practical jobs. It was especially interesting for me to read that the Art Institute of Chicago has one of the best MFA programs considering I just transfered from there. This chapter has made me re-think grad school....maybe I really should go...as long as there is no HTML involved.

Chapter 2

In chapter 2, I really enjoyed the part about SAT, ACT etc. I myself have always been horrible at taking timed tests. I strongly believe that they do not show the strength in every student. I think that deadlines for essays and applications for college test a students time management skills a lot better than telling them to do x amount of math questions in x amount of minutes. 

I have always found it wonderful to be able to "strip mall shop" Its great being able to hop from one place to the next in a short walking distance while still being able to get everything you need. Recently when I was in the Mid west they had a similar type of shopping but instead of retail it was fast food places all lined up and the shopped could drive through each drive-through one after another...good for picky eating families I guess. Its amazing how our culture has evolved into making everyone only using a bare minimum of energy. It's even as simple as food these days. 30 to 40 years ago it would have taken hours to prepare a fancy chicken pasta dish, and now its a mere minutes before your microwaved meal is complete.

Chapter 1

Chapter 1 was an enjoyable read. It had a nice flow and was very engaging. The brain is such an interesting part of the human body. The way the author separated each section made the very informative chapter easier to digest and added a perfect amount of humor to keep me going. The part where he discusses the MRI and FMRI testing really intrigued me. I myself have had my fair share of MRI's to the head so I could relate in one way or another.

New Media Artists

The two new media artists I chose to research because of interest are Lida Abdul and Mark Tribe. I thought it would be interesting to choose a man and a woman to look at. 

Lida Abdul was born in 1973 in Kabul, Afganistan. She lived in Germany and India as a refugee before making the trek to the United States. She attended the University of California at Irvine and obtained an MFA in 2000. She has exhibited her art all around the world. Her mediums of choice are photography, video, film, installation, and performance. 

Lida Abdul: "There is the desire to speak in them, as if everything had to be spoken at the same time, the sounds of all the words simultaneously expressed but remaining intelligible, even to myself. There is a certain automatism about them as I am sure there must be to all true witnessing. Maybe I am wrong But I am convinced that the body has its own memory banks that the mind always use. This for me is the paradox, the pornography of a necessary act that would require of some women to reveal everything, everything in order to really know if they have suffered."

Mark Tribe the artist, curator, and Brown University professor, enjoys art, technology and politics in his New Media work. He has an MFA in Visual Art from Brown University. He currently lives in Providence and New York City. He has had shows at many museums including our close neighbor MASS MoCA. He founded Rhizome. org, an online resource for New Media artists. He is very involved in the New Media community. 

After looking over some samples of their work, I am more interested in Lida Abdul. I feel her history and her unique cultural videos are very intriguing and leave the viewer with a lot of room for interpretation. I have seen her video in person and at the time i was very engaged and interested in it. 

First Assignment

I have never been truly interested in the art of new media, however I didn't and still don't know much about it. Watching the clips of pieces in class last week gave me a better understanding of what it is. The first clip by Joan Jonas felt slow paced and personal. I didn't enjoy it very much. Also the second clip entitled "spin out" was too confusing for my taste. It was very distracting to hear about 7 different sounds all at once. I think that my favorite was definitly the yes men. I have seen a few of their other pieces where they used sculpture in their video taped performance. I loved the seriousness of the artist and how knowledge-able he was on the topic. I always enjoy art when it benefits a cause. The humorous piece about the bird was quick and sweet which was nice, yet I still don't really understand the piece's purpose. The clip about the text rain interested me because I have been experimenting in how art and text work together for a while now. I would be interested in using text in the projects we do for this class. 

When I think about new media I find it hard to describe, partly because I do not know much about it. I think it has something to do with how video and technology relate to human behaviors, cultures, and overall enviornments. While researching definitions of new media, I came across key words rather than phrases, they are the following...Music, Internet, Video, Interaction, Performance, and Behavior.