Collaborative Projects

I enjoyed both groups that presented their collaborative projects the first day. Diana and Christine's exhibit entitled The Intolerable Truth: A New Take on Consumerism was very interesting. This presentation included the artists Toni Dove and Christopher Jordan. Both of these artists were new to me and I felt they would work well in an exhibit together. They complement each other on the central theme of consumerism and the importance put on it in our society today. I really enjoyed Dove's video pieces especially because they were interactive. I especially liked the one where the voices of the characters were automated computer voices. This voice always creeped me out as a kid, so to hear that in an art piece to me makes it a bit more intense and uncomfortable. I didn't enjoy Jordan's work as much because I felt it was too literal, especially the ones of the dead birds with their stomachs filled with garbage. This almost seemed like it was beating it's audience over the head with the meaning, while Dove's left some room to think about it. These two artists worked well together though, and were definitely a good choice.

I missed the title of Sara and Nicole's presentation but it dealt with the artists Jessica Bruah and Graham Harwood. I really enjoyed Bruah's photos of the faceless people in awkward situations. Since they were faceless, it left you with more to think about and the ability to wonder who this person was. I liked that mystery about it. Both artists worked off the idea of identity which made them complement each other in the presentation quite well. Harwood was a bit more intense but still played off this concept of identity by telling stories with photos of faces. Bruah's work appealed to me more aesthetically, but there's really no reason why.

Jess and Liz's exhibit was also interesting. It was called "Interaction Required" and all of the pieces involved the viewer's interaction. Rebecca Allen's pieces were interesting because she used modern technology for the viewer to actually physically control the piece. Usman Haque's pieces were also very interesting. I really liked how the viewers voice was the main component in making these works successful. Without the viewer, the art wouldn't exist, at least the way it was intended to.

I missed the name of Kyle and Ryan's exhibit but it was all about manipulation. The artists they spoke about took finished pieces of art and manipulated them to create new pieces. Artist Lillian Schwartz combined the Mona Lisa and a self portrait of Leonardo Da Vinci because there is a theory that the Mona Lisa is also a self portrait. Cory Arcangel's work was pretty interesting too. He changed nintendo games and made them do what he wanted them to do. I always found programming crazy and can't even imagine how he tapped into these games and created what he wanted to. I also like the fact that both of these artists changed the meaning of the previous things they are working with. It leaves you with the question, what is art really worth?

Liz and Jess's exhibit was about Repetition and it included Pascal Dombis and Terry Mulligan. Dombis works with algorithms and line drawing with repetition being his biggest component. Terry Mulligan's pieces use geometric repetition so these artists were good choices to compare.

I also liked Alfred and Brian's presentation that included artists many people overlook. Both John Lasseter and John Knoll have done important things in the digital world. Lasseter created Pixar and Knoll created photoshop. I'm sure many people overlook these people as traditional artists but they deserve a lotof credit. Both have pioneered new ways of creating digital art.