Video Proposal

      For this upcoming project I'll be working with fellow student Kathy Oke. We will collaborate on a video project that will be displayed on two monitors. Two separate videos will be worked on with a level of independence that will ensure a dynamic and maybe unexpected relationship between them. Since the nature of the project may involve being to some degree unaware of the subject matter of the other artist I will not comment on its theme at this point.

Video Crit

       The link to my first flash animation is posted below. While I found flash to be frustrating at times I still had fun making this and would like to try to animate using video next. What I've found most enjoyable is the power you have as an animator to be both the artist, the director, the casting agent, sound engineer, the whole movie company. You get to make all the decisions yourself which can make it harder at times when you'd like someones input on something, and easier at times when you dont have compromise your creativity for someone else. I tightened up the audio a few places before I uploaded it I think it has improved it.

Also below are some of the drawings I worked with and scanned on to animate.

The video is about friendship and youth, I thought a lot about playing in the bathtub as a child and just being really interested in the way things float in water.

Digital and Printmaking

     Lately I've been thinking a lot of combining the work I'm doing in printmaking class with the work I'm doing in my digital class. I want to modify some sort machine or device in a way that will give me more involvement in the digital printing process than simply pressing CTRL + P but less  involvement than using an archaic printing process like lithography. I want to make a machine that requires both my manipulation to function but has automated processes. The machine needs to have the intentions of a computer printer but with all the crazy variables and eccentricities of older print processes.

The Avalanches

   
     The Avalanches are two Djs who produce amazing narratives with samples. Their 2007 album Since I Left You is one of my favorite albums, it contains more than 3,500 samples. The album wasn't intended for wide spread release and for this reason the artists didn't keep track of the samples for clearance. This meant they had a few issues later on when the album got popular. I get the impression that these samples were carefully selected and organized because despite the volume and variety of source material they are tastefully presented. The songs a bright, cheerful, dancy, and thoughtful and Since I Left You flows seamlessly from song to song.

    This video for "Frontier Psychiatrist" is also very well done where actors embody the samples and bring them to life before your eyes. I particularly like the overweight space DJ who drops to scratch it up.

Halloween

    Over Halloween I've noticed a lot of posts on the internet about the "We're a culture not a costume" message being delivered from the an Ohio university. The campaign quickly became a meme that trivialized its message. I think that fact that the issue became a meme shows that there needs to be more dialogue on this issue. Imitation may not be the highest form of flattery in this case.

http://www.ohio.edu/orgs/stars/Home.html

     But I also thought about these issues and how they exist in the art world, were racial sensitivity is a contentious issue. Some feel it inappropriate to use the traditional art forms of from other people's cultures. At a certain point racial sensitivity reaches levels of extremism. The mentality circulating is that people who are not of a particular race or culture are not able to predict how offensive something may be because they do not belong to that group. I simply don't buy this, I think everyone is capable of gauging how offensive something is, but of course whether or not they choose to do so is the real issue at the core of racism.

Damu the Fudgemonk

Here's an interesting video from a really neat musician, producer, and DJ. His name is Damu and he's probably the only producer who's still using a floppy disk sampler. I first heard from him when I downloaded his free 2008 album Overtime. He seems absolutely obsessed with music, and has developed a unique sound by sampling in this old school way.

There are a few cool videos of him performing outdoors, he brings a small generator with him to power his equipment. The sampler once it's loaded is played like an instrument. I 'd like to try to get a midi controller or a sampler for the tactile advantages it brings. Sampling and making loops with a keyboard and a mouse is feeling a little hollow to me.

Here's one of my favorite tracks of his. I love the crackles from the vinyl samples, 80's sounding drum machine, and that watery voice. Very pleasant hip-hop sounds, great for long hours at the studio.

The Books

     Here's another band I've been really interested in since my sound art project. The Books are a folktronica duo from New York. They tend to use a wide variety of samples but mostly a lot of spoken word stuff. What I enjoy most about them is that their songs usually have a narrative and I get the feeling I'm exploring a visual space when I listen to them.

     I also think of them as being a group whose music weaves in and out sound art and music. They occupy a sort of grey area that challenges both genres.