Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Questions for reading 2

Manovich states that "New media is interactive. In contrast to old media where the order of presentation is fixed, the user can now interact with a media object." This idea is broad to me, I have a hard time strictly clarifying what is considered old media versus new media. If new media is interactive, is he referring to computer programming and technology such as photo editing programs and technology that allows you to alter art, or is he referring to art work that requires audience participation in galleries and such. My question would be, how does one clarify the "interactiveness" of a new media project compared to an old media project, and what is important about interactiveness that distincts old from new media?

My second question is based off of his statement, "..new media technologies externalize and objectify reasoning, and that they can be used to augment or control it, are based on the assumption of the ismorphism of mental representation.." if new media externalizes reasoning, does this mean that there is no definite purpose in the artwork, or objectivity behind the creation? OR does this statement mean that because of new technology and programs that can alter and help produce artwork and digital media, the product is less meaningful and internal purposes and intentions are out the window?

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

EMBEDDED VIDEO ASSIGNMENT



link to original-----http://www.ubu.com/film/wegman_deodorant.html


I chose this video because as I was looking through the hundreds of videos my brother happened to be sitting next to me on the couch and I looked at him and was like, take your shirt off, we are filming this just for fun, let's see how it goes. And surprisingly it worked out pretty well. I chose to do this video even before we watched it in class, and when we did watch it in class I was slightly disappointed because I didn't want everyone to think I just copied it after class because it looked simple and quick. I chose this prior to the viewing in class because of it's irregular humor and approach by focusing on his armpit rather than his face. I am familiar with William Wegmen's other works and I really enjoy his style and approach with film and abstract visual art. He tends to focus more on the object than the human, and I think that is so unique and unusual because in nearly all of his works there is a person in the film speaking or acting, yet they are rarely the focus of the piece. In this particular film the deodorant is the focus and the camera is directed at the armpit and the deodorant spraying onto the armpit rather than the man's face who is speaking.

Due to the small amount of time I had my brother for, and his negative physical reaction to the unpleasant effect the cheap body spray we used had on his armpit (basically that spray was not meant to go on the body as much as he did...whoops) Overall, I tried to make the angle and approach the exact same as that of William Wegman's and creating the video effect of "old film".

Video Assignment

http://youtu.be/fdqK6avYqd0