video idea: for relaxing times, make it suntory time

i stumbled upon this video of musical artist father john misty's fake promotion of suntory whisky (lost in translation anyone?), which is an obvious parody of a 1970's sammy davis jr ad for the same brand. 

amazing. i can't tell if this guy is a genius or a....genius.

anyway, despite it's simplicity and eccentricity, i think something along these lines could be a good option for the upcoming video project. or perhaps because of those two things, it would be a good option. who knows.

the great debaters

two words: election season. you can't escape it. it is difficult enough to stay in the house without hearing about the upcoming presidential election, and far more difficult to go out without hearing or seeing some reference to it. of course it is important, of course it matters that you vote, but similar to many other people, i have had my fill. and when i've had my fill, i have to find a way to keep things interesting and relevant. to do so, i began a photo series tentatively titled the great debaters, where i have manipulated a photo of the two presidential candidates and inserted pictures i have taken of friends between them. 

no more talk. here are the first few:

1.

2.

3.

these make me laugh, and i guess that's why i made them. i just don't get what's so funny.

dan deacon music video

roaming the internets for proposal ideas, i came across this music video for dan deacon's song true thrush. basically the two dudes filmed a scene in a room, showed their scene to the next two folks, and those two folks were to make a recreation of that scene. the those two folks showed their scene to the next two people and those people did the same, and so on and so forth. it's amazing to see how the video evolves each time the next couple comes in and performs. 

check it out:

anyway, i thought something like this would either be a great idea for my proposal or my video...obviously not exactly the same, but something that employs some of these ideas.

sufjan stevens christmas!

anyone who is looking for some nontraditional christmas music for the upcoming season, REJOICE! sufjan is releasing yet another box set as a follow up to his 2006 christmas release. oh baby, it's cold outside.

check out this lego stop motion video he released promoting the new albums:

NICE!

remember my presentation on michel gondry not long ago? well he made a similar video for the white stripes awhile back. check it out (the production value is a bit higher than sufjans..):

"the digital as an extension of the social"...

last spring semester, i took a class called "digital diversity" that explored the many different ways digital technology has seeped into and taken over different areas of human experience. this chapter in digital visual culture reminded me much of some of the content portrayed in that course. and i have read much about mcluhan and his contributions as a media expert.

specifically, i remember studying this idea of the digital realm becoming an extension of the social/physical. the world as we know it today, and the way humans communicate, is completely backwards from what it once was (unfortunately might i add). we are becoming consumed with digital forms of socialization, i.e. social networking, email, text messaging etc. personally, this move from physical to digital in a social sense is somehow uncomfortable to me. strange, you might think, coming from a student of digital technology. but i suppose the more i study it, the more i realize that sometimes all i really want is a good conversation with friends. perhaps somewhere in the mountains on a cold night around a warm fire.

francesca bifulco

italian artist born in 1986. francesca bifulco. she studied in rome and has worked in different areas of the arts. she started her first painting project this year, in the crowd. she has had a few different exhibitions, in places such as los angeles and tokyo.

cool. interesting. i especially like the electro crowd series, the ones that employ a gradient.

ascii art

following our conversation yesterday on the topic of ascii, i figured i would do a bit of further research on the topic. interestingly, the earliest known ascii art was done in 1966 by "computer art pioneer" kenneth knowlton. pretty crazy to think that it's been around that long.

han solo ascii!!:

read more on the wiki page here.

what is real? (erik johansson)

erik johansson is a digital photographer who manipulates his photos with software we have been using in class.

here is a ted talk he did on his process. really interesting, really bizzarre photos. but really cool as well.

"the only thing that limits us is our imagination!!"

anyone disagree?

abstract triptych

here is my abstract triptych:

deconstruction of s

having never much used illustrator before, this exercise was great in familiarizing me with the software. i began with three capital S's in font type futura, which i find quite aesthetically pleasing. i then chose two different shades of orange that i felt mixed well. with the idea of experimenting with positive/negative space, i found myself wanting to stretch the edges of each letterform to reach the boundaries of the canvas. i then manipulated the shapes on the inside of the squares to create some individuality within the shapes. the end result, to me, is something quite interesting to look at it and while it is rather simple, i am pleased.