What is the difference between a Museum and a Store?

And the answer is, nothing. Well, according to artist Borna Sammak and curator Thomas McDonnell. Sammak created videos that were specifically designed to be displayed on HD televisions screens for the best effect, and for an artist with little funds and museums with a lack of such technology, McDonnell thought of a better idea. Being the leading retailer of HD technology and TV's, McDonnell thought that it was the right choice to showcase Sammak's videos. Comprised of a montage of images really, his videos come from footage Sammak shot himself to actual commercials and advertisements Best Buy uses to showcase their TV's. Made into images of landscape, the vibrant colors and shapes were only on display for two hours in the NYC Best Buy store, but it certainly changed the way people showcase art.

What caught my attention the most was where this was showcased. I never imaged art exhibited in a retail store before, but anything can happen. I found it quite logical though, because in order to show the art correctly, or how it was intended by the artist requires the right technology or conditions. If Best Buy has everything the artist needs to portray his art the way it needs to be portrayed, then it should be held there. Not to mention the fact that this artists art uses some of the newest technology on the market don't hurt. In a world where HD is taking over, it is expected that art would be impacted by it. I have a feeling that this trend will continue and with this exhibit, Sammak is on the cutting edge.

Devo-Not just a Band

When most people talk about new media artists, they tend to think in the time frame of the twenty-first century. Fortunately for the world, DEVO, the 1970's and 1980's band can be said to be one of the earliest examples of media artists. Not only has the band been controversial in its lyrics and themes, but they were on the cutting edge of technology when people couldn't even fathom that technology ever existing, especially in the music industry. According to the article, DEVO reveals a "morbid obsession with the decay of technology and an uncanny aptitude for the graphic dissection of pop culture." How did they achieve this? Through video and other modes of media technology. DEVO was one of the first bands to create a movie and project that movie behind them while performing onstage. As well as movies for tours, DEVO was way ahead of the MTV music video age. While MTV was just starting, DEVO had already completed nine music videos. In those videos they started using techniques such as Chroma Key (like a green screen) and 3D graphics. Along with enhancing their music videos, former members of the band worked on MIDI technology, where a computer can regulate and sync other computer based musical instruments. Not only did they stretch the boundary when it came to music, they even created their own "point and click" adventure game years ahead of other bands signing on their music to video games, let alone create one.

First off, combining media art and music can only result in good things. Having grown up with atari, I can vividly remember how pixilated and how "high tech" the graphics were for the 1980's. What DEVO achieved was ground breaking. Not only were they ahead of the music video trend, but they weren't afraid to try new things, especially with all the new technology that was emerging in that time period. It might be hard to agree that they are new media artists but they did use computers in their music as well as using them to construct the various movies and videos they created. Back then, using the computer was very rare and they made it work, quite successfully. Unfortunately like their music, the technology they used didn't catch on right away, but nevertheless, they were pioneers both in the music industry and in the media arts.

"Open Source Embroidery"

"Open Source Embroidery," curated by Ele Carpenter, is a mix of new media art with more physical art forms, such as weaving and patchwork. According to the interview, this is more than just an exhibit; this also serves as a workshop for computer programmers and artists alike. In the article, Ele Carpenter explains that she created this "Open Source Embroidery" because she wanted to combine the open source context with older forms of collaborative production. Not only do expert artists work on this project, but amateurs as well. As for the more digital part of this project is the use of the internet, and how it is keeping communities connected and allowed people to network across great distances. With this exhibition being popular all over the globe, the internet has really jump started it's popularity. Ele Carpenter really puts an emphasis on "collective production" and "skill-share where each person contributes to part of the whole" in the creative process. As it moves from city to city, each city gives their own context to the body of work. That's what makes "Open Source Embroidery" so popular and intriguing. It changes constantly, like the technology changes constantly, the only difference being that physical art is being created, not digital.

I found this article very interesting. It caught my eye because I have never really thought about putting open source with a physical art form before. Plus, I recognized the term open source from one of my favorite movies, "AntiTrust," so I figured I would be more interested in the content of the article. What really struck me about this article is how accessible this is to everyone. The article mentioned that everyone is encouraged to participate, even people who have no background in HTML or embroidery. I also thought it was cool that each city where the exhibit visits puts their own spin on the project. It really gives it that new media feel because in the new media world everything is constantly changing, and that is exactly what happens for this exhibition. It may seem weird to combine the two art forms, but I think that Ele Carpenter has done a great job bringing the two together and making something interesting, not just for artists, but for everyone.

"TV Show"

Created by Antoine Catala, "TV Show" is an exhibit about the death of television. Brian Droitcour explains in his review of the show that the "demise" of television has come quicker than expected, especially with the conversion to digital broadcasting eliminating some of the population from the television stream, especially the elderly. Using TV Blobs, which are three dimensional objects that distort live feed, Catala turns television into art. In these blobs are news anchors, shows, even sound which is demonstrated through his Spongebob Squarepants blob that sings. Using both the physical television set as well as the "broadcast stream as readymade sculptural material," Catala puts these on display as historical "artifacts of the industrial age." This show "underscores television's identity as an industrial product" through comic like stills of television broadcasting.

Quite surprised that television is considered outdated, especially with the surge of HDTV's on the market, Antonie Catala makes an interesting statement through his work "TV Show". On the artist's website, there are video's of his TV Blobs which make more sense than just seeing a still picture of them. The blobs make the image both scrambled and decipherable. He doesn't discriminate from any image, including advertisements, news broadcasts, cartoons, etc. Instead of the typical two dimension images from the television set itself, Catala uses these three dimensional images to project the images onto the exhibition walls. It was an interesting take on t.v., especially since a three dimensional image makes more of a presence. Incorporating both television images and the physical body of the television is clever. People are familiar with television as more than an image, and Catala takes that into account in his work. Over all "TV Show" is quite an interesting subject, but in the world today, you are in one moment and out the next.

Charles Cohen Interview for Project 1

In an interview with Charles Cohen, the famous artist known for his "cut out" series Buff, the audience learned just what was behind this and other works of his art. According to Cohen, there are three elements when it comes to "cut outs." First, the viewer has an immediate recognition of the void. Second, there is an "abstract effect" and third there is a "reflective effect." The viewer's reaction is an expectation of the piece. The viewer then starts to question the type of imagery and the "effect of the imagery in general" which is the "abstract effect." The "reflective effect" is when the viewer understands the work through dissecting the experiences and possibly "assumes co-authorship with the artist" Cohen also talks about how Buff is an intellectual exercise to dialog with the viewer about expectation and imagery in general. Analogtime, which is related to Buff, is about issues of attachment and lack there of. It is an emotional narrative where Buff is more lust than emotion. Cohen also expresses how the white spaces in his cut outs "allows the viewer to project thought into both cases [both pieces of art]."

Not only is Cohen's art good but it makes the viewer become involved. For most art, people just look at it and walk away. Cohen makes the viewer really get attached and makes the viewer really try to understand what is going on and what the message is. What is nice about his work is that even though Cohen might have had a particular meaning in mind when creating it, the viewer may have another interpretation which is just as correct as Cohen's. This makes the viewer part of the art experience and the art itself. Taking images we already recognize, like porn or even pictures of couples and cutting out key pieces of them, gives the audience a whole new way of thinking about things they already know about. It is all about perception of what people see and what they don't and Cohen does a great job incorporating the audience into making that decision for themselves.

Damien Hirst

The article I read about in the Art section of The Independent was about a famous artist, Damien Hirst and hie fued with a another artist. It all started when the younger artist, named Cartrain, borrowed a very specific idea from Hirst and proceeded to have the pieces of art sold on a art collection website. Hirst contacted the website and the art works were taken off the market. In return, Cartrain went to Tate Britain where Hirst's Pharmacy was on exhibit and ran off with a pack of pencils. According to the article, the pencils taken from the sculpture are worth millions of pounds. Hirst has taken legal action and Cartrain was arrested and awaits trail. If he is convicted, this will be one of the "highest value modern art thefts in Britain."

This article was quite amusing. I am sure that Damien Hirst is not amused but obviously people will go to great lengths to save their ideas. I understand that what Cartrain did was stealing, in both Hirst's ideas and his physical artwork but I am sure this whole situation could have been avoided if they had only talked to each other. Like the article said, now a days there aren't that many art thefts in the world but they are always fascinating. If Hirst thought of it this way, the theft got his sculpture more publicity than it ever could have.

Project 1

This series is about branding. I took away all of the brand names of the products, the first being the Proactiv label on the bottles along with what the cream in each is. The second picture is missing the Starbucks logo on the chalk board. Finally I erased the "Aeropostale" label from the sweatshirt. Each erasure just makes the product an ordinary product or advertisement, in the case of Starbucks. Labels these days are good for only one thing- making things twice as expensive. Once you look past the branding, every similar type product is the same, whether the label is recognizable or not.

The second series was my erase/replace series. I took pictures of trees I found around campus and replaced the bark of each tree with a commonly used paper product. The first tree is a post-it note with ruled lines; the second is the comics from the Washington Post newspaper; the third is a paper towel. Each of these paper products are used everyday by millions of people and yet they can be taken for granted. By replacing the tree with products that come from a tree, I am expressing that people often forget where things come from and take them for granted. By visualizing where the paper products come from maybe we can start recycling more so trees don't disappear forever.