the (incidental) art of long distance

being in a long distance relationship has both advantages and disadvantages. mostly disadvantages. but thanks to our technology driven society, it's not quite as bad as it used to be. at least i feel like it's a bit easier to stay in touch than, say, in 1912. one of the advantages of new technology in long distance relationships is the ability to stay in contact with your significant other 24/7. basically. i'm not saying that's how i personally handle it, but it's possible. that said, one of the ways my girlfriend and i stay in touch is through video chat. it's nice because it's like talking on the phone, but you are able to see the other person. since i'm sure you've never heard of it.

anyway. all that to say, we ran into an interesting phenomenon the other day during one of our conversations. she is currently suffering from "slow internet", which usually makes for a very irritating and frustrating conversation that gets interrupted about every 2 minutes. the video and audio feed stop anywhere from 10 seconds to a minute. on a couple of the freezes, she screen capped the photo on her end (of me). i think they're pretty rad and might make a good series or perhaps inspire something in that area. see for yourself:

1.

2.

let me note that i have in no way manipulated these photos. interesting, right?

dan flavin 2

fresh off my recent post about dan flavin and his exhibition i saw in vienna, i was interested to find an entry in our art and electronic media book. his work that is featured in the book is called "greens crossing greens: to piet mondrian who lacked green" (1966). i did not have the pleasure of viewing this specific piece, but i find that it is very similar to some of his other work. while i don't see there being much versatility with the limited amount of colors he worked with, i still find the pieces visually appealing and somehow satisfying. i guess i just appreciate the clean, minimalistic aspect...

here you go, if you don't have the book:

greens crossing greens (1966)

rip dan flavin.

mona lisa

i saw this the other day and thought it would have been a good addition to our most recent project:

hilarious, but also ridiculous. i wish i would have thought of it.

dan flavin

over the holidays, i was lucky enough to visit the mumok in vienna and the current artist on exhibition is dan flavin. he is  was a minimalist artist  who works worked with fluorescent lights. sounds kind of boring, right? but it's not really. it was actually very visually appealing. the part i found most interesting were that many of the installations were designed in the early 60's when flavin was first beginning. 

check out some of his other work here.

late summer jam on a cold winter evening

Pure Bathing Culture - Ivory Coast from Sean Pecknold on Vimeo.


here is another by the same director as from my earlier post. he's got a really great eye. these are really beautiful shots and interesting to look at as well. and look at that hair!

great song. great video. great hair.

short history of the gif!

check out this totally rad video directed by a local pacific northwester on the history of the gif. really simple and clean, but also looks and sounds great.




A Short History of the Gif | Moving the Still from LEGS MEDIA on Vimeo.




pretty interesting topic and relevant in todays culture. i should like to do a bit more research and learn more about how the almighty gif came to be.

VIDEO GAMES ARE ART!!!! apparently.

so i know we have briefly discussed this topic in class and had a few presentations on it before, but now it seems video games as art AND design are now being legitimized. 

MoMa in New York is including a group of 14 video games in their art collection. Pac-Man, Tetris and others among them. Listen to the NPR story here.