Art410: Post #21

Second community art event: The Inaugural Exhibition/Tenderloin Dynamic @ GAFFTA...

I went to this a few weeks ago (it might of been a month actually?) I just didn't have time till now to blog about it. Anyways, how have I never seen this art gallery before!? I've been to The Warfield so many times that I've lost count and I've never noticed this gem before. Thanks Paula for recommending this place as one of our community art events, I really liked the gallery.

On the main floor, there was tons of abstract artworks for the Inaugural Exhibition. In one room there was this flat platform that was created by triangle shapes and every few seconds different shades of colors would appear and then vanish. I stood there for a couple of minutes just gazing at all the illuminated colors. From afar the platform also reminded me of a DNA strand by just the way it was placed, but when I looked at it close up I noticed how all the edges seemed cracked as if the platform was made out of ice. I had such an urge to stand on it for some reason as well, but I wasn't sure if I could so I went along to another aspect of the gallery.

After spending time admiring the artworks on the first floor, I made my way upstairs to the Tenderloin Dynamic exhibit. The first thing that came to mind as I looked at all the maps and news clippings was wow there's a lot of information, they really did a great job with their research. Throughout this exhibit I wrote down a ton of notes because they really did post some useful information like if you ever need a cab make your way towards Geary St. because it's always in constant motion with cab drivers. In addition, the heaviest crime rate is in between Turk St. and Ellis St. after hours so be careful if you're in that area. They also mapped out where all the trees and parks were in the area and I found it interesting that between Turk St and Ellis St. is where the majority of the trees were located. Could that be the city trying to cover up their crime rate with greenery or is it an advantage for burglars/muggers since it's probably darker in these areas due to the trees or maybe both? I could go on and on because there was so much information given in the Tenderloin Dynamic, but that was one of the things I kept thinking about after I left the gallery.

Art410: Post #20

My Improbable Monument Proposal...

INTRODUCTION:

My monument will be based on the origin of The Summer of Love/Hippie Movement of 1967. The monument will reflect the emotion and spirit of the psychedelic experience of peace, love, and freedom.

BACKGROUND:

The Summer of Love/Hippie Movement blossomed in the summer of 1967 in San Francisco by a massive gathering of youth in the Haight-Ashbury district. The prelude to this significant youth movement was on January 14, 1967 at the Human Be-In: A Gathering of the Tribes phenomenon in Golden Gate Park. The outdoors gathering focused on four key ideas of the 1960s counter-culture: personal power, decentralization, ecological awareness, and consciousness expansion. Speakers at the rally included: Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert, Allen Ginsberg, and Gary Snyder. As well as comedians: Dick Gregory, Lenore Kandel, and Jerry Rubin. Also, the live entertainment of local rock bands: Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Quicksilver Messenger Service.

As a result from the Human Be-In gathering, as soon as summer arrived there were over 100,000 youth migrating from all over the U.S. into the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco and on top of that about 100,000 more tourists to see the historic happening. Many leaving their homes and parents, schools and jobs, all for their own values of love, peace, and freedom. The Haight-Ashbury district was the heart of the Hippie Movement; here the youth established a free health clinic and a group called the Diggers (a community-action group) organized shelter and free food for anyone. The Monterey Pop Festival of 67 was the official starting point of the Summer of Love. The three day outdoors festival held some of the most powerful performances of music ever portrayed on stage. Bands like The Who, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Grateful Dead, Simon and Garfunkel, and many more all shared the stage.

PROBLEM OF TODAY:

After looking around online, much of the enlightening experience of The Summer of Love/Hippie Movement has been blurred out of focus by the heavy drug use during the time period. I understand it was a huge factor of the era, but can’t it be done in a more positive way and appropriate for all ages?

DETAILS ON MONUMENT:

There will be holographic images and patterns that were popular during The Summer of Love like tie-dyes and peace signs illuminated by recycled bottle/glass spotlights, and projectors created by recycled electronics. At the same time there will be music coming from speakers built into each of the corner's streetlight poles. The famous clock on one of the corners will be improved with a built in music provider, like an ipod, filled with nothing but 60s music and will be played at random when ever the monument goes off. I was thinking of having the monument go off every hour, but then I felt like it would eventually get to an annoying point with the locals. As a result, I came up with a three time showing every day: the first show will be at 3:00PM, second at 6PM, and then finally at 9PM. I chose these hours because I feel like these are the busiest hours during the day and it wont be too early for people nor too late.

CLOSING STATEMENT:

“Haight Ashbury was a ghetto of bohemians who wanted to do anything - and we did but I don't think it has happened since. Yes there was LSD. But Haight Ashbury was not about drugs. It was about exploration, finding new ways of expression, being aware of one's existence.” – Bob Weir (Grateful Dead guitarist)

Art410: Post #19

Ideas for Final Project: Creating a Monument/Memorial continued...

After much deliberation through ideas, I figured out what to do for the project. The idea I was most passionate about was creating something on the corner of Haight and Ashbury. Something that would truly capture the Summer of Love and the Hippie Movement without the use of drugs and instead be focused on what was all along in focus during the 60s. I'm talking about the passion for music and the experience that was (and still is!) only captured at a live concert. I want to create something that will go off at certain hours and will be something people will rush from wherever they're at to go witness it. I don't want to give much just yet, but I'll leave this entry with what I was inspired by...

has anyone visited the Old Vegas Strip before?

Art410: Post #18

Ideas for Final Project: Creating a Monument/Memorial...

I was thinking of maybe doing a bronze Aztec Statue and placing it right in the middle of the Mission District in San Francisco. Something along these attributes...

but with the second warrior holding the heart. Kind of simply signifying the heart of the mission district. I keep thinking of things to make, but then I think of it being a waste of space/money. I would really like to create something that is resourceful so it would have a purpose at the same time.

Dolores Park would be a great place to create a monument of good times too since there's always people having picnics and small get-togethers there. Again though, I feel like if I were to build something it might ruin the environment or be in the way of the beautiful view that the park has. Maybe it's fine if it's completely useless, according to the Barthes' article the Eiffel Tower is useless too...

Art410: Post #17

In response to The Eiffel Tower by Roland Barthes...

I think this article was one of the most interesting articles we had to read during the semester, it made me think from a different perspective on the way people view monuments. Instead of seeing, for example, the Golden Gate as something phenomenal, I imagined having to cross it every morning during rush hour. The bridge would most definitely lose some of its credibility for me in that circumstance, I would begin associating it with hours of traffic and high costs for crossing it. I was also intrigued when I read that "theres nothing to see in the tower, its empty, yet it still stirs up a crowd every year (p. 5-6)." How can something be so incredibly popular among the world, yet be completely useless? Sure the tower must have a beautiful view of Paris, must look amazing when lit up at night, and just simply gigantic but is this why people care about it so much? People must have an emotional attachment with the tower or associate it with something of great honor for Italy. Maybe what makes a monument or memorial long lasting is creating a significant presence that people can connect with, even if the monument/memorial is useless in reality.

Art410: Post #16

In regards to The Yes Men...

I was reading through an article online and I bumped into this short interview with Mike and Andy. I thought it was a fun read since I watched the film just a few days ago, but anyways check it out if you're interested: CLICK HERE!

Art410: Post #15

My Culture Jamming Project...

I actually ended up working with the Sabritas logo, a Mexican logo for chips, which are pretty much the Doritos of Mexico. The Sabritas company is under the PepsiCo corporation (Pepsi-Cola merged with Frito-Lay), which is one of the elite manufacturers of junk foods/fast foods in the world. PepsiCo alone is associated with so many brands and corporations like Starbucks Coffee, most carbonated soft drinks in America like Mountain Dew, and were even partnered with popular fast food restaurants like KFC and Taco Bell at one point. As a result, I wanted to expose childhood obesity through my version of the Sabritas logo since the logo is very appealing towards children due to the cute smiling face of it.

I will post my kmz file of GoogleEarth later on today that describes the locations I chose for posting my culture jamming logo. I chose these popular Mexican grocery/produce stores in Hayward that carry Sabritas because I knew they sold the product and because of its huge consumer impact in Hayward. These stores are always packed whenever I walk in for my usual pack of tortillas or what have you. Plus, I always notice how children give their parents hard times when they're at the cash register because they want an unhealthy snack like candy, soda, or chips (like Sabritas) and since the parents don't wish to deal with their child crying/whining in public they'll simply buy it for them. It's issues like these that are causing so much childhood obesity in the world and corporations like PepsiCo aren't helping one bit.

Art410: Post #14

First community art event: The Yes Men Fix The World @ The Roxie Theatre...

So this last Wednesday, I finally had some free time on my hands and was lucky enough to have class end early in order to go see the Yes Men movie. The film was amazing, not only was it heavily informative, but it was witty and charismatic as well.

(SPOILER! Don't say I didn't warn you haha)

I thought it was great how Mike and Andy would always ask people if they were angry with their stunt. Like when they asked the people of Bhopal, India if they were angry with Mike and Andy for telling them that the Dow company was actually going to pay them back for their wrongdoings and then have it turn out that it wasn't true. Every time Mike and Andy would ask, they would get the same response, "no, we're actually happy you did it." People were grateful for the Yes Men's actions because it brought forth awareness to their devastation.

Another aspect of the film that I enjoyed was The New York Times stunt where the Yes Men and a group of others got together and successfully printed a mass amount of newspapers (labeled as The New York Times) with nothing but good news. The stunt was something purely positive and enlightening. With headlines like "Iraq War Over," people were left confused yet excited. I would love to get a copy of that newspaper, maybe it's online? I'll definitely have to look for it. Overall, the film is a definite must see, I've recommended it to my friends not in our class and they've responded truly intrigued.

Art410: Post #13

Ideas for Culture Jamming Project...

Although I still think my favorite assignment will probably be the Indeterminacy one, I'm really excited for this assignment. We have to choose a logo to work with for tomorrow, so I've been brainstorming some of my favorite ones. A few that I've been debating over have been: Nasa, FireFox, WWF (World Wildlife Fund), Tapatio, Sabritas, Columbia Pictures, and TriStar Pictures. I'm leaning towards Tapatio just because that's the one I'm most connected to since I've used it all my life. On the other hand, the Columbia and TriStar Pictures logos would really be fun to work with for this assignment. Decisions...decisions...

VS.

Art410: Post #12

In response to Culture Jamming: Hacking, Slashing and Sniping in the Empire of Signs by Mark Dery...

After reading the article I couldn't stop thinking of all the advertisement that surrounds us on an everyday basis like on a bus or even on here. There's actually an option on here that I remember coming across where it asked me if I'd like to have advertisement placed around my blog for money (depending on how many clicks the ads get by people who visit my blog or something of that sort). Anyways, I really enjoyed this article. I found it interesting how Michael Deaver (former Reagan advisor) said "[the Reagan campaign staff] tried to create the most entertaining, visually attractive scene to fill that box, so that the cameras from the networks would have to use it." Similar to pretty much every reality show (or any show actually) by the way they attract viewers today. By ending the show on a cliffhanger and then showing the previews for next week's episode, editors for the program edit the preview with only the most ridiculous/hilarious/scandalous thing that happens on the episode. This way not only will they keep the grasp on the original viewers, but will venture out and hopefully grab hold of new viewers as well.

I still don’t understand media hoaxing, I don’t know how people can buy into such ludicrous stories. For example, in the article where it said “that hormones extracted from mutant cockroaches could cure arthritis, acne, and nuclear radiation sickness.” How could anyone believe that news broadcast? I find it hilarious, but at the same time it worries me that the public can be that gullible.

One last thing, can semiotics still be effective through audio? I thought semiotics was only a visual/physical thing, but after reading the article it seems as if it could still be used in audio snippets. Well, I guess the McDonald's musical tone of "bah bah bah bah bah" I'm loving it, could be an example of semiotics right?

Art410: Post #11

Round 2 for Indeterminacy (Chance) Project...

My Partner's (Bobby's) Recipe:

1. Write numbers 3-11 on a piece of paper. Tear up paper so each number is on its own paper. Do step 12 last.
2. Put papers in a container, shuffle papers. Don't Look. Choose one. Write first word that comes into your head from that number or take a picture of the first thing you think of when you see that number, it might be the piece of paper. Then abandon those pieces of paper with numbers because you are not Using Them.
3. Pick up the first book you see. close your eyes and shuffle the pages, stop on a random page. Find the last word on the page. Write it down and write the first word that comes to your mind or take a picture of how you feel after reading that word or representation of it.
4. Count how many letters that word has in it.
5. Hug yourself for that many seconds. Take a picture of you hugging yourself or of what you see or feel after, the first thing you see or feel. Or write the first word that comes into your head.
6. Find the number one less than the number in step 4 (one less than the number of letters in the word).
7. Travel that number of steps, feet, meters, blocks, until you come to a place you feel right. Take a random picture of it, or write down the first word that you think of.
8. At that spot do something good for someone else or the Earth, pick up litter, open a door for someone, let some one get on the bus first. You will know what to do when you get there. Take a random picture of the scene or moment after, or write the first word that comes in your head.
9. Turn on your mp3 player or musical device at home, listen to your favorite song or choose a song at random.
10. Spin around a number of times equal to the number of minutes the song's length is while the song is playing, example 2 minute song spin twice. Take a picture of how you feel from the song, a representation, or take a picture of the first thing you see after spinning. Or write the first word that comes in your head.
11. get in a lotus position or sit down in a comfortable meditative pose. Breathe in a number of times one more than the word in step 4, and exhale Om. Do this at home or a comfortable place where you can really breathe deeply and exhale with a good amount of sound "Ohhmmm". After write the first word that comes in your head or take a picture of the first thing you see.
12. Assemble all these words or some of them if you do not thing they fit, or pictures, or pictures and words, create a work of art or album or some representation or not with all the different parts (words, pictures, or both). Can be simple or complex. You choose. May you continue to help yourself and help others. May good karma flow your way. You just made a brighter day. Hey, hey, hey , hey. OK.

My end result...

Art410: Post #10

Round 1 for Indeterminacy (Chance) Project...

My Recipe:

1. First things first, find a coin and flip it. This will be the deciding factor of whether you'll be taking horizontal photographs or vertical photographs for this project. Heads will be Horizontal and Tails will be Vertical.
   
   
2. Now for one entire day, take a couple of photos whenever you find yourself waiting for something (it could be anything: waiting for the bus, your class, dinner, laundry, ect.). The photos should be taken of things that you find visually appealing! The first thing that catches your eye and that you find interesting after looking at it for a bit (it could be a piece of gum on the ground, a person, a building, ect.). Also, don't worry about your photos being perfectly composed, meaning not to worry about composition or framing. Simply take a photo!
   
   
3. By the end of the day you should have compiled a good selection of photos. Open them into photoshop or any other photo editing program.
   
   
4. Now, depending on what you know how to do on photoshop (for example, if you know how to make a collage or working with masks or layering images and then flattening the image to create one image, ect.) tear that many pieces of paper. Then write "1" on one piece of paper, "2" on the second piece of paper, "3" on the third and so on. It's up to you to choose which editing option corresponds to each number. Here's what I did: (1)Collage, (2)Layers, (3)Simple Masking, (4)Panoramic/Stitching, and (5)Simply working with Filters. Once you've done that, mix all your pieces of paper in a hat and choose one piece at random.
   
   
5. Once you've selected your option of editing, CREATE YOUR MASTERPIECE!! Depending on which option you choose, your result can vary from one single photograph to a series of photographs. It just all depends on how much time you want to spend on the project. In addition, it's up to you on how many photos to use! You can use all of them or only your favorite ones, but try and select at least one from each time period of the day. This way you'll have at least one photo from the morning, afternoon, night, or anything in between rather than only having a series of photos from the morning. HAVE FUN!

Here are all of the photos I took:

My end result...

Art410: Post #9

My Hybrid Project...

I found it truly strange how well all three of my images meshed so well when I chose each of them so randomly. The reason behind the Rasputin photo was only because I've always appreciated his long beard, the owl was chosen simply because of my admiration towards them, and the mechanical heart was selected after doing a search in google for "mechanical".

In return, the story for my hybrid is going to be based on the Rasputin legacy. He was going to be the second coming of Rasputin in the year 2012, when apparently the world is going to "end". After placing all the images together, he reminded me a lot like Jesus in the above photo so that was where "the second coming of Rasputin" came from. Since Rasputin was known for his mystic healing powers, I figured he was going to save the world come D-Day by resurrecting everyone after the enormous collapse.

Due to his mechanical heart he will be able to live forever as the first ever robotic human and his owl eyes are from where his healing power roots from. Similar to Cyclops from the X-Men series, but instead of killing people he will be able to heal people with the laser beams coming from his eyes.

Art410: Post #7

Research on Google Earth...

Interesting Google Earth project #1

Interesting Google Earth project #2

Artists working in mapping:

http://www.saulgallery.com/chronicle/uncharted_territory.html

http://www.speronewestwater.com/cgi-bin/iowa/works/record.html?record=1206&large=1

GeoSpatial Message:

http://www.geogreeting.com/view.html?yGyyUkBDOLKa

Art410: Post #6

Google Earth Project...

I decided on documenting the Blink 182 concert for the project, I knew how busy I was going to be that day so it worked out well when it came to tracking a nice set of placemarks. The day began early due to the fact that Blink was going to have a meet and greet at the T-Mobile store in Sunnyvale before the show. As a result, my friends and I wanted to guarantee ourselves the opportunity in meeting the band so we got to the T-Mobile store at around 6:30AM. In addition, my friends Isaac and Juan had a soccer game that afternoon so we had to be back just in time for the game. Then our plan was to find a place to eat and head over to Mountain View for the concert because by then the first band would have been already playing. Anyways, I don't want to give too much away so check out my Google Earth tour for all the details. Hope you enjoy!

My kmz file for the tour:
click here and take the tour!

You will have to have Google Earth on your computer. If you don't have it, go to:
Google Earth Download


In brief, I guess the perfect way to describe the way I used Google Earth for the project is as a daily planner or album type.

Art410: Post #5

Experiences on Google Earth...

I haven't really had any trouble with Google Earth yet, I've worked with it before in my Geography class a few years ago. We mostly looked at the terrain and elevations back then though; also, I think we were using the older version of Google Earth too because I don't remember it having that many options under "layers". Although I haven't had any struggles with Google Earth, I have had issues with Panoramio. Is it suppose to make a completely new "placemark" when you add it into Google Earth? I just don't get it, it's too difficult for me. I tried using Photobucket and luckily it worked fine. If you guys are having a hard time with Panoramio or Picasa just use Photobucket! They provide a HTML code and all you have to do is copy and paste it into your already made "placemark" in Google Earth.

Art410: Post #4

Update on Ideas...

Turns out we're not going to the wedding, Francisco realized he is on a tight budget and can't afford to take a trip (completely understandable). Well, I guess that crosses out mapping down our trip to Three Rivers, CA. You know what? Tomorrow should be packed with interesting "placemarks" since I'm going to see Blink 182 at The Shoreline Amphitheatre. Plus, I just found out about a meet and greet in Sunnyvale, CA that Live 105 (the local radio station) is holding for Blink. I think I know what I'm going to do for my project!

Art410: Post #3

Hmm... ideas for my Google Earth project...

My friend Francisco and I might be going down to Three Rivers, CA for my friend Natalia's wedding this weekend on the 12th. Perhaps I could map out our route to the wedding along with all the pit-stops we're bound to make. That could be a good presentation, right?

Another idea that's been floating in mind has been a Google Earth presentation on my favorite top 10 shows I've ever been to. I've taken photos and videos of practically every concert I've been to, so it'll only be a matter of gathering everything together. It'd be nice to have something visually organized, I've always wanted to create some sort of scrapbook that contained all of my ticket stubs, photos, and souvenirs from over the years. This could be a small step towards that goal of mine. We'll see what happens!

Art410: Post #2

While searching for a conceptual artist from Mexico, I encountered Francis Alÿs from Antwerp, Belgium. Although he isn't necessarily a native, he has lived in Mexico City since 1986. His preferred medium tends to be installations of videos, photographs, writings, paintings, and animation. One particular installation that I enjoyed very much was his short film named Paradox of Praxis 1 which is centered around a block of ice that he kicks around Mexico City until it melts completely. I haven't been able to find the actual film, but I've seen screen shots and it's truly magnificent. Apparently, Alÿs' intentions were to measure time and existence. Here is a couple of screen shots from Paradox of Praxis 1:

p.s. if you're interested in seeing more of Alÿs' works I'll post links on my Delicious account, so check that out!

Art410: Post #1

In response to Paragraphs on Conceptual Art by Sol Lewitt...

Although Lewitt was incredibly condescending with many of his statements, I agreed with much of his ramblings in regards to conceptual art. When talking about the importance of having a meaning behind an art piece, Lewitt said, "Different people will understand the same thing in a different way." In return, no matter what the artist initiates the meaning behind the artwork to be, it's never going to be confined to only that meaning. I completely agreed with this statement because I thought of it in relation to lyrics; although a songwriter will have his/her own meanings behind the song, the fans will always connect in various ways with the song. Now I know lyrics wouldn't really be classified as conceptual art, but this idea stretches far beyond only conceptual art and can be said about any type of art.

Another statement that stood out when reading Lewitt's writing was how not only the final result of an art piece was of great importance, but as well as the process that was taken in account when creating the artwork. I remember assembling a mosaic for one of my art classes a few years ago and taking photos of the art piece as I went along in completing it. I thought it would be interesting to see the steps that I went through to create the final result of the mosaic, and I cherished them just as much as the final result. I thought I'd share them just so you'd get a visual: