Culture Jamming Artists

Paul Insect, London

Shift Delete (Yeah, that's what he calls himself), London

Leo Murray, London

Roland Barthes on Semiotics

Let's start with the Panzani advertisement. It was interesting to me to see everything Barthes picked out from this that I never even gave a second thought.  One layer of the picture tells us someone just went shopping and left everything they bought out on the table.  Everything shown just so happens to be representing the colors of the Italian flag which makes a lot of sense since they are selling spaghetti ingredients.  They are many more layer than just this though, by adding in the fresh produce around these preservative foods we get the sense that it is all fresh, even what's in the can... but when you really stop to think about it we know this can't really be possible.  All part of a marketer's job to trick us.  This small article got me thinking, we should always take a second look to imagery, logos, or ads presented to us and to not just take it all at face value, because there is all sorts of trickery that goes into designing these "still lifes" and photographs.

Now onto the cover of the Paris Match Magazine.  The boy on the cover salutes to a culture that has destroyed his own and this angers Barthes (and myself).  He talks about how myths make history nature which I competely agree with.  This article reminds me of a mythoology class I have taken here at SFSU.  Professor Calkins told us that characters throughout mythology were probably based on real people. Such as Zues, he was probably a real king at one point that was looked to as a God and when stories are passed down so many generations it makes sense that the idea of this man was soon brought into a godly form.  The same thing happens with the way we look at the Presidents of our past here in the United States.  George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, we all think of them as great people who built our nation, but they owned slaves too.  It has been proven that Thomas Jefferson even fathered several children from one of his slaves... but people of this nation idolize our past Presidents and don't want to hear this horrible things about them so they simply don't believe it.  Creating a myth in their minds that these people of the past could do no wrong.  This article also makes me want to really give a second thought to images like this that I see in everyday life.  Semiotics is an important thing to study in this day and age when we have so many thrown into our faces on a daily basis, I'm glad we got to read these to look deeper into these issues.

Three Tourism Artists

For this entry I thought of an artist I really enjoy the work of named Doug Rickard and then for my other artists decided to talk about ones that also use Google Earth as a medium just as we did for our Tourism projects.

Doug Rickard
A New American Picture
Rickard uses GSV photographs to take viewers into the impoverished areas of Detroit, Memphis, New Orleans and Oakland from all sorts of vantage points.

Another artist that did a great job using Google Earth is Tom Jenkins. In this piece "Address is Aproximate" we follow a lonely desk toy on his three minute cross country trip through GSV imagery.  This work is also a great example of stop motion animation, which I'm a big sucker for so I had to include it. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

http://vimeo.com/32397612

To see the video simply click on this link and watch it on Vimeo.com, I had some trouble embedding it on here.

Mishka Henner 

No Man's Land

My last tourism artist  created a very powerful social commentary with the help of Google Earth.  His No Man's Land series is made up of GSV imagery of roadside prostitutes in rural Italy. Henner decided to publish his book of these photos when he discovered online communities that use Street View to share information about the locations of sex workers – one of the darker uses of GSV.

(Not really sure what's happening here...)

Third and Final Outside Event- The Possible at UC Berkeley Gallery

For my last outside trip I chose to see an exhibit called The Possible at the UC Berkeley Art Gallery.  It included all sorts of different works and even some research from a SF State Professor, Gwen Allen, who knows all there is to know on contemporary art.  It is an experimental exhibition that reconceives the museum as a site for creative convergence.  There were all sorts of workshops to be part of that included working with clay and weaving yarn.  As an open platform for shared creativity and the exploration of diverse artistic techniques,The Possible combines studio, classroom, library, gallery, and stage.  

One of my favorite parts of this exhibit was works displayed by Will Rogen.  Rogen works a lot with video and is also known for his work with artist John Herschend (who gave a talk on our campus this semester).  At The Possible my favorite piece by him was a video of a hearse blowing up in slow motion, I thought this was interesting because you could actually see the explosion breaking sound barriers in the air.  Also watching the debris fly everywhere like that was almost beautiful in a way... the way ballet is beautiful and intriguing to watch, it was hard to look away although the content seems a little morbid.  There were other video works but they all had a historic vibe and I like that this one was simple and still kept my attention throughout the entire thing. 

Here's a link of the video I found on Vimeo if you would like to check it out! Be sure to try to spot the sound waves from the explosion...very cool!

http://vimeo.com/95973743

Rogen had a lot of work there that was based on human mortality and the passing of time. Including a book full of magicians obituaries. So i think this video was a perfect fit for his body of work for his solo show here. 

FINAL PROJECT: Neverland Playground in Land's End and Golden Gate Park

Presented on Prezi.com. Please click the link below and then click on the button that says "Present."

http://prezi.com/tu3k1wddlwnp/neverland-playground/

Response to An Interview with Dean MacCannell

This article was very interesting for me even right from the beginning when Dean is talking about the way that the leisure class has changed since World War I but I really liked what he was saying about how people cherish their downtime.  In fact people today find their identities more in what they do as a hobby than they do from work or their families.  Reading this was very disappointing but I completely agree with it.  Its sad to think that we live in a world where that many people are stressed out by their jobs to the point where they don't even enjoy it anymore. Same goes for time spent with family, these shouldn't be seen as "chores" but in today's modern age they are which is why everyone strives for that hard to reach leisure time.

The next question disappoints me a little as well, Dean talks about how people when planning a vacation try to go for a package deal somewhere, so they can sit back and be entertained 24/7.  But I think vacationing should be about creating new adventures. Having experiences that you can't really plan out, they just happen.  So I guess I was leaning more toward the tourism side then leisure since the beginning of this project which makes sense since my Neverland had to be traveled to and discovered in Golden Gate Park and Land's End.  As Dean says just as much work goes into being a tourist as being at work; planning, organizing, physical effort and deprivation all take part.

The final part of this article that really resonated with me is when Dean was talking about how tourist attractions are becoming more aware that they're destinations are vacation getaways and taking control of that by outreaching beyond their own walls to heighten the experience of what they have to offer, this includes the architecture of their buildings and getting involved in any festivities happening around them.  Its just funny how its coming from both ends and tourists just eat it up.  Very interesting intreview that I have saved and will probably visit again in the near future, maybe even buy his book!

Bernie Lubell's Solo Show at Intersection

"Why Cant't the First Party Be Part of the Second Party and the Second Party Be Part of the First Party" is the name of the piece Bernie Lubell's showing at Intersection Gallery from April 9 to June 7.  Bernie had come in to talk to our Sculpture 3 class so on the opening night of this show Mike Arcega planned a field trip for us to see it!

When Bernie came to visit our class he told us about this piece.  He likes to use a lot of low-tech in his work, this large scale wooden and interactive installation consisted of a complex system of gears, pulleys, cranks, and wheels powered by guests.  When you first walk in you see a bench and a television screen displaying what hidden cameras are picking up around different parts of the installation. Above this there were some gears controlling the way a pencil was writing (or doodling) on a long sheet of paper being pulled passed it.  Here you can see a trail of wood on the ceiling leading to the contraptions in the next room, a treadmill powered by people walking on it and a bicycle like form that is powered by human pedaling.  So when these two parts were in operation together, the pencil began to write on the paper... that is until someone sits on the bench, halting the entire process no matter how hard the others are pedaling and walking.

This piece for Bernie was a commentary on politics, which I think is evident from the title he took from a Marxx Brothers skit. He brought up a serious topic and presented it in a playful way that hopefully made it easy for guests to understand and that is what I really enjoy about his piece.

Also, I remember how much he said he loved the ceiling of the gallery his work was in so I thought I would share this with you.  It will give you a better sense of what this piece looks like in person. He really incorporated the whole building.

Neverland Tour Photoshopped Images

Here are the final edited photos for my tour...

Jim Henson's Creature Shop

If you haven't already, and you share a interest in audio-animatronics or costumes, you should check out Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge on Syfy every Tuesday night at 9pm.

Here's a Behind the Scenes look at what the geniuses at the Creature Shop have created for some of your favorite films.

To me, its interesting to see how new technologies effect the classic art of puppetry.

WATCH IT, PEOPLE!!

Golden Gate Park and Land's End Photoshoot

So the other day I went to all the locations I plan to use for my project, here's what I saw...

Golden Gate Park
     This is where my fairies will live.  The garden next to the Dutch Windmill is so well maintained you'd think it was grown with magic, perfect spot for Pixie Hollow.

The Indian Village will be located in or near the Bison Paddock.

Near Ocean Beach in Kelly's Cove is where I see Captain Hook's Ship anchored possibly with a dock so that guests can climb aboard.

 And maybe some type of pirate themed treasure hunt can take place in this area next to Sutro Baths.

Land's End

     Here, I found a home for the Lost Boys. Lots of great spots for a hideout.

And last but not least is Mermaid Lagoon which will be at Mile Rock Beach.

This is also the area I imagine my monument Skull Rock being out in the ocean not far from where the mermaids reside.

Tourism- Neverland Island; Poster Idea

For my next project I would like to create a tourist package for the fantastic world of Neverland, home of Peter Pan, Tinkerbell and Captain Hook.  Originally from the mind of author J.M. Barrie; I plan to take his beloved characters and lands and create my own Neverland Island...once I find an empty island  to work with on Google Earth, or perhaps I will create my own island on Google Sketch Up that resembles the image above.

In my presentation I want to encourage "future guests" to explore the following places:

• Mermaid Lagoon
• Skull Rock
• Indian Village
• Lost Boy's Hideout
• Pixie Hollow
• Captain Hook's Ship

Not only will this project include references from J. M. Barrie's original text, I will also let modern interpretations inspire new ideas such as: Disney's Peter Pan, Universal's Peter Pan starring Jeremy Sumpter, and the 1991 classic Hook, starring Robin Williams.

Here's a mock up I made in photoshop as an example of what I would want my poster to look like. There's still a lot of touching up I want to do (like with the mermaid's hair and water areas).  I would also like to add some sort of border.

After the last class our friend Mariah informed me on Peter Pan's character in the popular show Once Upon a Time... Putting a twist on the original plot, Pan is now a kidnapper who brings his victims to Neverland.  Here he and the lost boys are about to steal the heart of the truest believer. I thought it would be interesting to play with some ideas like this to make Neverland my own new experience.

After giving it some more thought and our great discussion in class this Thursday, I decided to create a Neverland experience unique to the San Francisco area.  I will be placing Neverland in Land's End and Golden Gate Park.  I have ideas for Pixie Hollow to be near the Dutch Windmill and the Indian Village to be in the Bison Paddock, both in Golden Gate Park.  Hook's ship will be anchored near Kelly's Cove at Ocean Beach.  Then locations at Land's End will be the Lost Boys Hide Out and Mermaid Lagoon on Mile Rock Beach.  My monument will be Skull rock with I will place near the cliff that holds the labyrinth on the same beach Mermaid Lagoon will be.

My newest poster idea with a cutout filter instead of the poster edge.

Zombie Girl- Augmented Body

For my Augmented Body project I chose to cover myself in the full body tattoos of Rick Genest.  His stage name is Rico the Zombie Boy... so I went with a Vaudeville Circus theme and took on the name Zombie Girl.  Rick is featured in his own Freak Show where he performs tricks such as "brain flossing" with worms.  For more information on him check out my presentation in a previous post.

"I didn't do it because I wanted to be different; I did it because I wanted to be me.  Everyone has their own opinion, their own ideas on what beauty is." -Rick Genest

Freak Show Series: Zombie Girl 1 & 2 challenge sensibilities on what is seen as beautiful.  The world's perceptions are always changing thanks to those who push the envelope, a lot like how Rick Genest redefines the world of high fashion.

Original photos used for this project:

Partner Project Results

For Alyssa's project we (creepily) took photos of passengers on Bart that looked into the camera phone's lens as we took a snapshot.  I then took the pictures I got into photoshop and layered them with an opacity of 20%... This was my outcome...

Playing with Chance: My Results

For step one I started at the front of the pier and worked my way down asking as many people for high fives as I could, I probably would have gotten more if I hadn't tried explaining what it was for to each person I asked.  My high five race led me to the back of Pier 39, I got 11 high fives so I counted down my recent calls list to the name “Andrew.”  I used the ‘A’ in his name to lead me to my first store, Alpaca Fashion… But it was closed.  So, we moved onto the next shop with an ‘A’ in its title and that was Alcatraz Gift Shop.  

After roaming around the store for a while pretending to look at things, a man was leaving to meet back up with a group of his friends. We followed them as they worked their way around a corner and into the Bubba Gump Gift Shop, I continued to follow him around the store but his friends rushed him out and he never got a chance to notice me.  

Here's me being a creeper following my victim in the gray shirt.

This led me to option B in Step 3, going to the Sea Lion viewing area on the side of the pier.  Once I got there I was instructed to blow bubbles at passersby and was lucky enough to have some kids around me to react to them by running through and trying to pop them, a couple adults participated too.

Here's the photo I took of my surroundings from Step 4.

By the time my two minutes were up, I was at five people.  I counted down my contacts and came to the name Dalya A, I gave her a call but no answer… So I counted down five more names and landed on Carolyn B.  She answered and told me her favorite color was turquoise, the most turquoise building I could find was a shop called Bliss and the first turquoise item I found were these earrings for 12 dollars. 

This gave me 12 minutes to work on my drawing.  We found the nearest bench and I pulled the words ‘flying,’ ‘detective,’ and ‘fire.’  For my drawing  I had to incorporate these words as well as what I saw at the Sea Lion viewing area, this is what I came up with: