Projects3 - New Media

Contents
• Due
• Museum

PROJECT OPTIONS
• Video
• Second Life
• Counterfactual Identity

• Artists
• Module 3 Changes






Due
When is everything due?

ARTIST PRESENTATIONS
Even though we're not exactly doing groups anymore, we will still use those groups to know approximately when you are presenting your artist:
• Mon 4 Apr - Group A, B
• Wed 6 Apr - Group B, C
• Mon 11 Apr - Group C, D
• Mon 13 Apr - Group C, D

For most groups I listed 2 days, you might go either depending on how things go. But our order of presentations will be from last names of "A" to last names of "Z" for Module 3. On Module 4 we'll go in the opposite direction.

MUSEUM TRIPS / ART PROJECTS
• Finished with final posting not later than Sunday 17 April.

ARTIST WRITE-UPS
It's 3 per week. Something like 1 on M, 1 on W, 1 on F would be great. Yes, I suppose I'll survive if you do all 3 on Sunday of that week. All 12 should be on your blog and available for grading not later than Sunday 17 April


Museum Trip
UCI / Beall Center for Art + Technology
Admission: Free
Parking: Varies
http://beallcenter.uci.edu/

The Norton Simon was "medium," LACMA was "huge," and The Beall is "small"... it's more of a "Gallery" than a "Museum" actually, but for a decade now, The Beall has been at the forefront of new and innovative media. Their current exhibition is:

Inflatable Bodies:
Chico MacMurtrie
Amorphic Robot Works

Feb 3 - May 7, 2011
Tue-Wed 12-5
Thu-Fri-Sat 12-8


Art Project
You have several choices for your New Media project. You do not have to do them all. Pick any ONE that you'd like to do:


OPTION 1 - ART VIDEO

Create a short fine art video. You may work in a group of your choice (may mix students from 9a & 11a) or you may work individually.

OPTION 2 - "LIFE DRAWING" IN A VIRTUAL WORLD
• Second Life Project - create a free account at http://secondlife.com and practice "life drawing" in the virtual world by making 4 or more different "shapes" for your avatar. Possible shape ideas include: very close to First Life Me, very different, fantasy "ideal," fantasy "bizarre," etc

For the "as close to me as possible" put a mirror next to your laptop or desktop and really try to "draw" the features of your face - how far apart are my eyes? How wide are they? etc


OPTION 3 - COUNTERFACTUAL IDENTITY

Sascha Pohflepp - The Golden Institute from Sascha Pohflepp on Vimeo.

Truth

I've commented a number of times that a work of fiction can often contain more truth than a work of fact. Cookbooks, gardening books, computer books - they all are filled with hopefully true facts, but they don't really contain the deeper human truths our souls yearn for. Bill Shakespeare's stuff is "made up," yet it contains some of the most powerful human truth we have ever known.

Identity

Meanwhile... you could argue that all art in the last 6,000 years is in some way about "Identity," but particularly in the past few decades Identity Art has been a major stream in the current of contemporary art. Many artists from many diverse backgrounds have created "Identity Art" that both critiques the hegemony of the dominant culture and celebrates Identity and Diversity.

Therefore it seems time that we... well... let's not say create fake personas... let's say... explore Counterfactual Identity! :-}

Narrative

In the Mixed Reality hybrid we live our lives in today, Identity Narratives are constructed by weaving content in the physical world and virtual content in complex and occasionally glorious tapestries. In this project you can hop-scotch across the 'net creating pages and virtual breadcrumbs... AND weaving, a RICH, COMPLEX Identity Narrative across these spaces.

"Make up" all the stuff you like... but try to make as compellingly "Real" a persona as you can in the process. Love and Hate. Poetry and Brutality. Your deepest secret fears. Your wildest, improbably dreams. Can you weave an identity that is more real than reality??

Part A - Pick an Identity

You may create any persona you like, start with a name, start with an idea, start with a bunch of objects you gather to inspire you...

Want some help picking a name? Here you go:

http://generator.chucklehound.com/

Part B - Work the Net

Here's a few ideas for how you could "express" your identity online:

1. Sketch out a Profile for your new persona
2. Open an Email account for them (use middle initials, middle names, name variants, or numbers as needed)
3. duh, they don't exist if they don't have a Facebook!
4. take a bunch of Pix of them & post to Facebook (pix of you or borrowed from web or shot in Second Life)
5. write up an awesome Bio/Profile on Facebook
6. Create any other accounts you like, like a Blog, Flickr, etc
7. Pair up with any other 9a or 11a student & make a video of the 2 of you at http://www.xtranormal.com/ (post to YouTube & embed on wiki)

• http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-%22Fake-Real-Person%22
• http://mjt.org

Artist to Research
We will each draw a name from the hat and receive an artist to research extensively and present to the class. As described below, we will also pick any 12 artists from this list for shorter viewing and analysis of their work.

HISTORICAL PEEPS 2
Edweard Muybridge
Robert Rauschenberg

VIDEO ARTISTS 10
Bill Viola
Gary Hill
Joan Jonas
Bruce Nauman
Nam June Paik
Mariko Mori
Matthew Barney
Tony Oursler
John Whitney
Toni Dove

SECOND LIFE ARTISTS 7
Gracie Kendal
Joseph DeLappe (first life name)
Four Yip
Vaneeesa Blaylock
Comet Morigi
Bryn Oh
Miso Susanowa

DIGITAL / INTERNET / HACKTIVISM 11
Scott Blake
Erwin Redl
Eva & Franco Mattes
Stelarc
Masaki Fujihata
Knowbotic Research
Jeffrey Shaw
Thomson & Craighead
Christophe Bruno
Harold Cohen / Aaron
Jennifer Ringley / Jennicam


Module 3 Changes
• No food in the classroom
• Attendance mandatory EVERY DAY - no more "discussion groups." From today, March 21, through May 18:
0, 1, 2 unexcused absences = your normal grade
3, 4 unexcused absences = -1 Letter Grade
5 unexcused absences = -2 Letter Grades
6 or more unexcused absences = F in course
Absences will be excused if you provide medical documentation for sick days.

• We will still have 2 weeks of "lecture" and 2 weeks of "presentations," but now everyone will attend all presentations. The presentations will be a 5-minute presentation on your artist. (I will grade your museum trips & projects online)
• Comments on each other's blogs are still appreciated, however they are no longer required. Instead, for each of the 4 weeks of Module 3, in addition to extensive research & presentation on your artist, you should look up artists from the list on this page. Look up any 3 you like each week. Post one example of their work (still image or video) and write TWO ANALYTIC paragraphs in response to the piece. By ANALYTIC I mean not a simple "description" of the work, nor an "I like it" or "I don't like it," rather an articulate attempt to READ the work of art in the context of the ideas in this course and your own life. Each thoughtful & perceptive analysis will receive 1 point for a total possible of 12 points.
• In addition to the 12 artist analyses, please blog on Your Museum Trip, Your Project, and Your Presentation Artist.

Points for M3
• Up to 12 points for your 12 artist analysis blogs
• Up to 4 points for your Museum Trip & Analytic Write-up
• Up to 4 points for your M3 Art Project
• Up to 5 points for your M3 Artist Presentation
12+4+4+5 = 25 points possible for M3