Psychic

A few years ago I went up north with my boyfriend and our friends. We were shopping at Mackinac Island and came across a psychic reading shop. My friend and I decided to try it out. It was my first time and I had always wanted to do this at least once in my lifetime. I usually think they are full of poop and just want money.

So I go into the room with the psychic and we sit across from each other. She starts telling me things that are actually happening in my life. I was very skeptical and making sure she wasn’t fooling me. I listened to what she was saying and answering her questions with very little words. I did not want to give anything about myself away so she could use it to convince me.

While she said a few things that did not relate to me she did say things that I was surprised she got right about me. She knew I was an art student and I wanted to create digital work. She also said I would move to California for my career in the movie industry and get a job on a movie set. She said I would become friends with a man that I worked with and get married and have two kids. This was interesting to me because it is a possibility.

At that point I was hopeful and excited of my future. I was wondering when would this happen and what can I do to get this started. I would love to work in the movie industry but California is not my cup of tea. I have been there several times growing up and it would not be where I would want to live. But if it takes me to where I want to be in my career that’s what I have to do. This is a huge step and I am horrible about taking that step. One of my friends mentioned that she was thinking about moving to California and it reminded me of that experience with the psychic. So maybe it is still an opportunity for me.

My Camera Phone

I recently got a new phone and the camera on it is very impressive. I have taken several photos actually 537 of everyday affairs in my life. I love to mess around with the effects and shooting modes. My favorite is the Mosaic shot because it breaks the image down to different shapes that I can manipulate and make abstract. I like to use the negative mode to get a darker and more dramatic effect.

There are many settings on the camera phone just like a regular camera. I can change the resolution, brightness, quality, focus, ISO, white balance, sharpness, contrast and saturation. Very different from the last phone I had from Verizon. I was surprised how well everything works in such a small package. I also get many compliments on how well the quality is on the photos.

It also has a video mode as well but I have not used it as much as I’d like. I plan on recording footage to make a video in the future with it but I have not found an idea yet. I’ve been having trouble finding my inspiration lately. I’ve been trying to capture images of random experiences but for some reason I have been missing the moment. Either I cannot catch the angle or the light or my timing is off with hitting the button.

The only thing I do not like about the camera is its timing from when the button is hit and when the picture is actually taken. It drives me insane, I have to tell people to wait at least 10 seconds before they can more away from the pose. I hit the button at the time I want to take the picture then it around 4-7 seconds before the picture is actually taken. By the time its taken the moment has past or its blurry and I get really mad. I also have a hard time with the flash because it gets really bright and blinds the eyes of everyone around when I use it. Besides those two problems I really enjoy it and think it can produce quality photos.

Senior Thesis

I am finally taking Senior Thesis! Yay! At last the day has come when I can say I am taking my last course and graduating soon. I have managed to hang on to a thread of sanity through these last few years and I can almost feel the freedom. It will be a huge accomplishment for me and a small boost of self-esteem. Even though it has taken me a lifetime to get here I will be relieved and a load lifted off my shoulders.

I am very excited to display my artwork at the final show. I have been thinking of ideas for a while now and I have a few cool plans. I do not want to give up too much information but they involve several items of bulky technical equipment and some sort of refection device. Another idea could involve me being on a ladder for a while. I should probably have a rough draft of what I want everything to look like and maybe price out a few things.

My life at the moment is stressful but could be worse. I have to be out of my apartment by the end of the month and find a new place with my boyfriend which that has its own difficulties. While packing and doing homework I am working 40 hours a week and searching for places to live in my free time. I wish I knew how to handle my time better so I would not have to rush everything at the last minute. This is how I have been all my life and it is about time to change.

I want the rest of this year to go smoothly and I will do anything in my power to make it that way. I will have a new place to live with my boyfriend and a constant work schedule. I am about to start looking for a job that relates to my major after I get settled into our new place. I am nervous but hopeful that I can do this. I just have to be positive and confident. I have been watching tutorials online to learn as much as I can about Photoshop, AfterEffects and FinalCutPro so hopefully I can handle anything as well as prepare for thesis.

Hoogerbrugge

Han Hoogerbrugge is an amazing digital artist with extreme talent. He has created several series online that are interactive. He is well known and a very respectable artist. He started as a painter and cartoonist from Rotterdam. In 1996 he started working with the internet creating his first series Modern Living Neurotica. This was the first piece I came across from him and I fell in love with his work.

On his website hoogerbrugge.com under Work there is an animation tab that has five online pieces, Nails, Hotel, Spin, Flow and Modern Living/ Neurotica. These series are interactive and flash shorts that have an experimental and slightly creepy feel to them. I think he is touching on life and death throughout his work. How people make choices in life and the consequences. He uses playfully creative ways to express himself.

Everything about his work is mesmerizing and makes me want to see more. I found his main site and saw he has also created instillations and videos. One of his instillations is shown as a dialog with instructions as well as a video that shows how it works. There is another on of his works is a projected animation on an LED-wall at the Museum Boymans van Beuningen. Where viewers can text words to him and then displayed on the wall. He manages to make each of his pieces as interactive as possible and playful so people want to see more.

There are also his humorous stills and books that viewers can buy on his website. From pillboxes to posters and silkscreen’s, there is a little something for everyone. He is also on Wikipedia, where it tells a little bit about him and all the websites connected to Han. There is something special about this artist and a little addicting as well. I cannot seem to stop looking at his work over and over again.

hoogerbrugge.com

Vectorpark

I found the main site for the Feed the Head site I have talked about before. There are four more awesome sites to explore and play with. I was so excited when I found this! My new favorite is Levers because it is a mind game. At first there is a blue screen with water at the bottom and a handle bar type of thing that has loops at both ends.

The goal is to take the objects that drop and hang them by the ends. Every time you hang the object the circle at the top will measure the time the object is not touching the water. If it does touch the water the timer stops and nothing will fall until the object is above the water for eight seconds. Then the next object will fall. There will be a submarine, a snowman, more levers and many more objects. The tricky ones are the water bucket and the birdcage because you have to measure the water a certain way and the bird keep flying around landing on the objects pushing them down into the water.

Another one that I enjoy is the Park. There is a man sitting on the left bottom corner on top of a bunch of disheveled objects. This man has a binocular looking object and when you move around the screen he follows. There are things to touch on like the little forest in the middle. When clicked on a larger circle of an oval tree forest appears.

When you click on the ovals they fall over and there is a lighter colored object that when you touch it, it falls and runs down the hill and up the cliff. Then a large honeycomb object appears with little white holes. When rolled over a light appears around then hole and when you click on them, it takes you to another circle that can be played with. This site is simple in its appearance but everything is calculated and created in a puzzle playful way that is intriguing.

The other two are my least favorite but still interesting. Vectorpark has seven circles in the middle of the page and each has a little peak of what will happen when clicked on. There is a little screen that appears and each has an object that moves to the movement of the pointer. Like in Lake if the pointer stops the egg shape with legs on a tricycle stops rolling over the lake. The last and defiantly not least is Windosill. It starts out a dark screen but you can see little objects that are slightly lit. Each can be played with by moving them with the pointer. If you touch the light bulb the lights will come on and you can see everything you can play with are in a large divided box. This site is my favorite for its creativity and simplistic aesthetic.

Vectorpark.com

Web Art

I once again stumbled across this site http://www.larrycarlson.com/supreme_om/ and it is amazing. Larry Carlson is a very creative artist and she displays her artwork in many different ways on this site. That stretches to her own blog and other sites she has that shows her talent. This site is defiantly addicting because there is so much to experience. At every click hypnotic video and surreal multi media photos show her creative talent.

At the bottom there are many little cubes that have names of the piece pop up. When you click on them the space above transforms into a canvas for her corky psychedelic creations that mesmerize. Each cube has its own video stream with audio that she has created as well. She uses a mixture of 80’s visual techniques and hypnotizing surreal images that are looped. That makes it feel like you are part of a dream or on some very heavy drugs.

On some of the cubes there are different parts to it that give you a variety of patterns and shapes. Many pieces use text in many different fonts that pop up quickly. Some have a futuristic feel to them and sound very techy. Like in the cube called Saucer Soup located top right in the cubes. There is also an interactive part where if you click on the little screen it takes you to another part for a couple seconds then back again. If you scroll over the main part where the city is, the image changes and acts differently.

On her website there is a link to see her black and white photos. They are different from her psychedelic pieces and are more child like but still have disconnecting mix of images. There is repetition and in a very creative way and mirrored images. There are little details that give the piece character and make you look a step closer. Every part of Larry Carlson’s site is amazing and amusing and inspires me to explore more of his site and to create work of my own.

Labuat

I stumbled across this site Soytuaire.labuat.com one day and found it very fascinating. On the first page there is beautiful cursive Spanish writing:

“Soy tu aire es una cancion llena de muchos y pocos. de orquestas y de bilas de voz. de vendades y mentiras a medias. y como tiene arribas y abajos queriamos darte algo para que pudieses moverte con la cancion.

Un pencel

porque soy tu aire aqui se pinta en el aire

Muevete por donde te pida la cancoin

acabaras haciendo tu propia obra que pordra si quieres ver en video”

Which I poorly translated to this:

“I am your air is a full song of many and few. Of orchestras and hoaxes of voice. of truths and lies by halves and as it has you arrive and down wanted give something so that you could move with the song.

Pencil

because I am your air is painted here in the air

Move by where it requests the song to you. You would end up making your own work that can see some if you want to see in video”

Every word on this site is in Spanish, so I translated the main information but some things did not make sense. It was hard to read the cursive writing so I tried to figure out what the words meant. The mouse has Spanish words on it as well that changes in seconds.

There is a percentage at the bottom for the preparing page. At the top there is a tap that says “Pintndo una cancion” which means “Painting a song.” After it loads the next page has a play button. As soon as you hit the button the pointer becomes part of a song that begins and can be controlled by the movement of the mouse. The brush strokes change with the music and movements of the mouse creates an amazing visual piece.

The song is very beautiful and makes it easy to play with this over and over again. Every time is different and I notice things I did not the first time. With splashed of the ink or paint like substance that appear and fill the screen with shapes that quickly pass by. My favorite is when little fish follow the curser and when the song gets more intense the brush stroke gets thicker and more expressive. This site shows a great sense of imagination and creativity that is a fresh breathe to see online.

I believe this site is for a Spanish recording artist named Labuat. Not exactly sure but that’s what I understand so far. I think it is a very clever idea for this artist to show her music that is interacting. It’s a way to listen to her music and play with the beat and create your own music video. I think it is recorded apparently but I have not figured that part out yet. This site is an expressive experience that is memorable and beautifully created.

Labuat.com