Monday, April 25, 2011

Triangulate (Idea) 4/21




Defined

triangulation [traɪˌæŋgjʊˈleɪʃən]
n
1. (Mathematics & Measurements / Surveying) a method of surveying in which an area is divided into triangles, one side (the base line) and all angles of which are measured and the lengths of the other lines calculated trigonometrically
2. (Mathematics & Measurements / Surveying) the network of triangles so formed
3. (Mathematics & Measurements / Navigation) the fixing of an unknown point, as in navigation, by making it one vertex of a triangle, the other two being known
4. (Group Games / Chess & Draughts) Chess a key manoeuvre in the endgame in which the king moves thrice in a triangular path to leave the opposing king with the move and at a disadvantage

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003



Quotations


"Many of them won't speak out publicly because they fear their commanders will be able to triangulate the complaints and identify them."

-Mikey Weinstein


Annotated Bibliography


Relates






Monday, April 18, 2011

Spencer Finch (Artist) 4/18

Work

Passing Cloud (394 L Street NW, Washington, DC, July 20, 2010)2010
Light Fixtures, filters, monofilament, and clothespins. This work precisely re-creates the light of a passing cloud at the street corner in Washington D.C. where Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln passed each other regularly during the summer of 1863. Installation at Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC





Thank You, Fog
2009
60 Photographs, 4 3/4” x 4 3/4” (each), Archival Inkjet Photographs. This photographic series was shot from a static camera at one minute intervals as a fog moved over the densely wooded landscape in Sonoma County.




Composition in Red and Green
2000
Dimensions variable, Apples, carpet, motor, wood, and Plexiglas. An homage to Isaac Newton, this piece drops red apples every five minutes from a motorized chute hanging from the ceiling. Among other things, this installation is an exploration of two subjects to which Newton devoted considerable study; gravity and optics.




The River That Flows Both Ways
2009
This project transforms an existing series of windows with 700 individual panes of glass representing the water conditions on the Hudson River over a period of 700 minutes in a single day.




2 hours, 2 minutes, 2 seconds (Wind at Walden Pond, March 12, 2007)
2007
93" tall and 14' in diameter, 44 fans, wood, computerized dimmer board. This piece re-creates the changing breeze experienced on Walden Pond's shore. The duration of the wind cycle is a reference to Thoreau's stay at the pond, which lasted two years, two months, and two days.





Bio

Spencer Finch is an American artist working in a variety of media, including photography, fluorescent light, video, glass and electronics. His work uses scientific methodologies to observe the world around him, and represent these observations by giving viewers an equivalent experience to the one he has when taking the observations. For example, in Moonlight (Luna County, New Mexico, July 13, 2003), Finch recreated the lighting he observed using meters of a night in Luna County at a certain time of the evening.


Quotations

"
Whether he is relying on his own powers of observation or using a colorimeter, a device that reads the average color and temperature of light, the artist employs a scientific method to achieve poetic ends. . . . Contrary to what one might expect, Finch's efforts toward accuracy- the precise measurements he takes under different conditions and at different times of day- resist, in the end, a definitive result or single empirical truth about his subject. Instead, his dogged method reinforces the fleeting, temporal nature of the observed world, illustrating his own version of a theory of relativity. In Finch's universe if you wait a few hours, the sun may very well change a leaden hue into gold."
Cross, Susan. Spencer Finch-What Time is it on the Sun? Mass MoCA.

" He traveled to Rouen to visit the cathedral painted by Claude Monet but found the building closed for renovation. Undeterred, Finch decided to make a series of paintings depicting the colors of various objects in his hotel room. By the time he had completed the arduous task of matching 55 colors, the changing light had altered every one. Thus the work grew into a triptych, a wry blend of Conceptual and Impressionist methodologies, representing the same set of colors in the morning, afternoon, and evening."
LaBelle, Charles. Frieze. 2003

Relates

The work of Spencer Finch relates to mine in that the idea of temporal and observed changes guides the making and the viewing of the work. Finch's work is grounded more in scientific method, as mine is loosely based on scientific research, this semester. Both work uses observed measurements or subjects to create a viewing experience which is meant to replicate the observation experience, with the same lack of permanence the artists encountered while creating the experience. Finch's process is more relatable to the work I made in the fall, however, the experience created for the viewer is more tied to the work I am making now.


Interview

(With Susan Cross)
http://www.nyartsmagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6221&Itemid=174




Gallery

Lisson Gallery


Website

http://www.spencerfinch.com/index.php

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Phosphor Dot (Idea) 4/14


Detour III

Mike Celona | Myspace Video


Defined

phosphor dot


noun

Quotations

"
If you have ever tried to point your video camera at your TV set or your computer monitor to record the image you see, you know that it does not work -- instead of the stable image that your eyes see, there is either incredible flicker or a black rolling bar. This short video file shows you what happens when you try it. The video shows two different frequencies for the monitor: 70 Hz and then 60 Hz.

The flicker is caused by two things:

  • A difference in the scanning frequency between the TV and the camera
  • A difference in the way the phosphor dots are perceived between the human eye and the camera's image sensor"
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question336.htm


"
Banned

Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 63
line on the tv screen

when you record a tv or computer screen there is a God damn line that goes up and down it and I WANT IT TO GO THE FUDGE AWAY CAUSE IT MAKES ME SAD!!!!! BOOOOO FRICKITY HOOO! So how would I go about doing that?"

http://forum.camcorderinfo.com/bbs/t130455.html



Annotated Bibliography

Railton, Renee Caron Richards, T. Mary Foster, and William Temple. "Transfer of stimulus control from a TFT to CRT screen." Behavioural Processes 85.2 (2010): 111-115. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 14 Apr. 2011.

This article was about a study done on hens to determine their response rate to stimuli presented on a CRT screen as opposed to a TFT screen. The purpose was to see if the flicker caused by the refresh rate on the CRT screen would cause the hens to react later or with more delay than to the TFT screen presentation. The scientists studied the response rate at multiple decreasing refresh rates and frequencies of CRT screens, and found the hens reaction time was significantly delayed as the rates decreased. This is interesting because humans see a continuous picture on CRT monitors, and I wonder how much of that continuity is derived from the uniqueness of the human brain, as opposed to the brain of a hen. I am really interested in humans not being able to see the phantom flickering on a CRT screen, which other living organisms, as well as technology can easily render.


Relates

I am really interested in the way CRT screens behave when they are captured on video. The flicker and inconsistency in frequency that results in the lines that move down the screen when watching the video, are not visible to the human eyes because the human brain compensates for continuity. This phenomenon, in relation to my work, reveals another life, and set of functioning, of the aging technology that we don't see because of the translation of old tech into the language of new tech. More and more, I am seeing these CRT screens as relics and I am digging up virtual clues in the archaeological study of an aging media. The video captures what the still image leaves behind, but additionally, what the human vision leaves behind.


Monday, April 11, 2011

Nikolas Maigret (Artist) 4/11

Pure Data read as pure data - 2010 from Nicolas Maigret on Vimeo.



Standard 2005 [circle + tone version] from Nicolas Maigret on Vimeo.



Between 0/1 2002 from Nicolas Maigret on Vimeo.



CORPUS - Maison Latapie - 2009 from art of failure on Vimeo.





Bio

Nikolas Maigret is a French artist who creates experimental work centered around the automation of digital media. He often works in performance, installation, sound, radio, programming, etc. In contrast to artists deriving something other from extrapolated data, Maigret concerns himself with the automation of the data into its own form, unaffected by alternative modes of conceptualization. One of his works is titled Pure Data Read as Pure Data, and depicts the moving trip through the binary code structure to uncover its "hidden" aestheticism.



Quotation

"
In his creations he experiments the possibilities of contemporary technologies to auto-generate aesthetic forms, sound or visual languages and specific behaviors. His work is as well a micro-laboratory as a point of view on the technological tools and there influences on our way of thinking and of acting. "
"About : Nicolas Maigret." NICOLAS MAIGRET. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. .

"Pure Data read as pure data, a trip through the back of the binary code, and its hidden qualities: Structure, logic, rhythm, redundancy, composition..."
"2010 Pure Data Read as Pure Data : Nicolas Maigret." NICOLAS MAIGRET. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. .



Relates

Nikolas Maigret's work relates to where I started with my work. I was really interested in the similarities between binary code and genetic sequencing. My earlier work differs from Maigret's on a fundamental level since I was manipulating the automation of the binary system to comment on an conceptual motivation, instead of allowing the pure code become the aesthetic object. Now, my work is more centered on myself as the creator, with technology as my influence. Form and design is important to my work in addition to the conceptual framework of technology and its functioning. That being said, parts of my work are pure videos of the way technology behaves when captured in a recording device, like my camera, or sound recorder. A CRT TV screen or computer screen takes on a different lifeform when translated into video, and that part of the installation is unaltered and free from additional manipulation in conceptual motive.



Interview












Website

http://peripheriques.free.fr/blog/




Thursday, April 7, 2011

Installation (Idea) 4/7


Defined

installation [ˌɪnstəˈleɪʃən]
n
1. the act of installing or the state of being installed
2. a large device, system, or piece of equipment that has been installed
3. (Military) a military establishment usually serving in a support role
4. (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Art Terms) an art exhibit often involving video or moving parts where the relation of the parts to the whole is important to the interpretation of the piece

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003


Quotations


"On the day of his public installation he took off his insignia of office before the astonished notables, and, laying them one by one on the table, made them a profound reverence, and quietly withdrew."

Cranmer-Byng, L. "L. Cranmer-Byng: A Lute of Jade: Tu Fu - Free Online Library." L. Cranmer-Byng - Free Online Library. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. .


"An era in which we see ‘[…] humans in fact integrating with the fiction
of their imagination as conjured up digitally by the computer’, and in which ‘the
digital arts emanating from the cosmology of number are also a link between digital
finality and infinity imagination, defending man in his impossibility to be simulated’
(Weibel 1999: 222)."

Ribeiro, Clarissa, and Gilbertto Prado. "Complex installations: sharing consciousness in a cybernetic ballet." Technoetic Arts: A Journal of Speculative Research 8.2 (2010): 159-165. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 11 Apr. 2011.




Annotated Bibliography

Ribeiro, Clarissa, and Gilbertto Prado. "Complex installations: sharing consciousness in a cybernetic ballet." Technoetic Arts: A Journal of Speculative Research 8.2 (2010): 159-165. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 11 Apr. 2011.

"Considering this panorama in the contemporary artistic context, it could be stimulating to think about interactive digital art installations as systems in which the elements are both organic and artificial, both physical and virtual, interconnected like they were performing a cybernetic ballet."

This article investigates the functioning of digital art installations at a practical and conceptual level. The author develops a system of mapping the installation in relation to its parts, as well as its environment. Although I found the article very brief, I felt the author did a great job defining an installation as an art artifact, as well as a system through which a connection occurs and understanding is developed. The language used in this article was very interesting, and I especially appreciated the use of this quotation from "the Archigram’s architect David Greene’s in his 1969 poem, where ’[…] deer stroll peacefully/past computers/as if they were flowers’ (Greene 1969: 239)."
I find the article really important because I am trying to understand the design of a digital art installation by doing and have not before really researched the design and communicative elements of such systems.



Relates

This topic relates to my work because I am attempting to create an installation to communicate it. I used this opportunity to research what I am doing to become more informed about the media and the message it brings to the discussion of my concept.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Christian Rattemeyer (Lecture Response)

Quotation

"When an exhibition is installed, hopefully it becomes something other, or something more than the sum of all the works."

This quotation was the clearest response I heard answering a line of questioning about the "art" of curating. The quotation is supposed to comment on the discussion of the object which is created during the curating process.


3 Words

1) Analytical
2) Informed
3) Relational


About

What I did not know about Rattemeyer before the lecture was that his family was rooted in the art world to the point that is seemed he was predisposed to such a career.

Answers

My first question regarded the differences in Rattemeyer's training from Berlin to his career in the United States. Rattemeyer did not quite hit his, however, his discussion of German exhibitions made his mastery of German art culture apparent.

My second question concerned Rattemeyer's curating for a specific space or location. Rattemeyer explained this indirectly when describing the two German exhibitions that were the focus of the lecture. He sought to explain why one succeeded moreso than the other and a discussion of space, location, name, and curatorial approach offered evidence.

Compelling Piece

Rattemeyer spoke mainly about the two German exhibitions which competed in the sixties. A very compelling part of the discussion of one's success over the other was the question of form versus anti-form. The success of the anti-form exhibition was based on the spatial anti-form as well as the lack of formulaic curatorial process or planning going into the exhibition. This curator "gave up control of the curating to the artists."


Trevor Paglen (Lecture Response)

Quotation

"I am interested in the contradiction between the abstract notion of secrecy and the physical materiality of [its institutions]...all matter reflects light."

This quote was really interesting to me because this contradiction is parallel to the contradiction I noticed in the materiality of Paglen's physical art objects. He uses the term "photography" in quotations, hesitant to label his work this way. The reason is that photography implies a documentation of some truth and the tools which Paglen uses physically manipulate that truth by being almost too true. He has lenses he can use to photograph something 40 miles away, which seems as though it is true documentary photography, however, the distortion creating artistic interest blurs the line between a document and an abstraction. I think this quote is the conceptual equivalent of what Paglen's work is doing in a physical (process) form.


3 Words

1) Truth
2) Abstraction
3) Collapse


About Paglen

What I did not know about Paglen before the lecture is that he drew inspiration from the early Department of War photographers, who scouted the American landscape. He made an interesting comparison to himself as an artist and his inspirational predecessors by saying that their work was a metaphor to today's spy satellites, which he is exposing by acting like a spy "photographer." The question is then suggested: "Who is the spy?"


Answers

My first question about the specialized equipment Paglen uses and how it affects the work was discussed above. The concept of the work is furthered by the functioning of the materials used. Paglen really sidestepped the questioning of his image capturing tools, making it seem as though they are a means to an end. However, it was clear the way he discussed the "collapsing into the abstract," that material process affected this contradiction between the abstract and the true document.

My second question concerned Paglen's definition, and what defined his work as fine art. The answer to this question was obvious just by listening to him speak about concept and implications of materiality and the cultural landscape contextualizing his work. At the end of his lecture, Paglen answered a similar question about his purpose by saying, "What I want out of art, science and scholarship is to show stuff that helps us see who we are now."


Compelling Piece

Paglen's "Limit Telephotography" work, I found to be really compelling. I discussed the materiality of this work above, in the discussion of abstracting with truth. I find the photographic roots of this exploration fascinating and timely. Paglen's "documentation" "collapses" the document into abstraction, "making the viewer encounter their own inability to make sense of something." This work is so compelling because the same way we encounter this inability with viewing the physical work, we are looking at an institution designed to make us unaware of this inability. In business, we often say the most threatening knowledge is that which we don't know that we don't know: the unknowable. In a lot of ways, Paglen is representing this awakening to the state-imposed unknowables.

Chemical and Biological Weapons Proving Ground
Dugway, UT
Distance ~ 42 miles
10:51 a.m.