"SYSTEMS" art21

Watch Systems on PBS. See more from ART:21.

a couple new sources

Great new resource learned of this even (thank you Shannah) http://www.artsonia.com/. Good resource, very interesting concept for ways of sharing students artwork.
Also worth checking out, downloading, and playing with http://scratch.mit.edu/. For me personally, reading about it made me feel a little wary, but once I started playing around with the scratch board found it to be really fun...and currently downloading it onto my own pc.

Video Documentary

Once again could not figure out what to do for this assignment. I was unsure how I'd make a video documentary of my use of technology in a way that it would be interesting for anyone else to watch, but I just began to take note of how often I use my cell phone and what I use it for and how that has changed my daily life per-say. I started to really considering how regularly I use it my cell phone for so much more than making call or even texting. I use it to constantly check my emails, the whether, I use it to quickly lookup and locate books in the library, to find word definitions, to make documents while on the road of thoughts and ideas for assignments, listin to music, watch youtube videos...to check the yankees game score when it was relevant...etc, (I'm about the last person not to have facebook, but if I did no question that would make it to the list), and so then I got thinking on high school students. When I was in high school our cell phones did not do all that, we could make phone calls, text, play a few games, but that was about it. So with the advanced technology our cell phones are capable and most all now come with, how does that, or should that change things for students in high school?
Cell phone use is banned in most every school. Cell phones are expected to stay turned off and locked away in cars, left at home, or kept in lockers for the duration of the school day and considered a distraction. So what do the students do, they sneak them in, they try to use them secretly. So what if instead of trying to figure out ways of keeping them out of the classroom teachers consider ways to incorporate them in, find ways to put these minute computers to use in a way that the students learn productive and innovated ways to cell phones to work...other than just using them to check their facebook statues and text their friends in neighboring classrooms. Technology is growing at a rapid pace, our students are growing with it, and as educators of the 21st century we must find beneficial ways to incorporate it because to ignore it would be it many ways holding our students back.
And that is the concept and ideas I created my video documentary on.

Run the World Remix

Got it! My Run the World movie mash-up.

But for whatever reason it is cropped on my blog so if interested here's the link to watch it at its full potential http://youtu.be/fRoJcGzuP20 

Music Video Mash-UP!

In Technology in the Classroom we have begun working in iMovie. For the first project we were asked to create a movie mash-up by “juxtaposing pre-existing audiovisual content as a form of interventionist expression”. After watching Johnathan McIntosh’s Right Wing Radio Duck movie remix(http://www.rebelliouspixels.com/) I was excited by the prospects. I first thought of Disney characters and how in almost every Disney movie the main character’s mother has died and how that loss seems to play a significant role in their unfortunate turn of events (Jasmine in Aladdin was going to be forced to marry some scummy old wicked man, Cinderella is forced to sever her step mother and sister, Snow White, The Little Mermaid, Bambi, ….and so the list continues) but aside from the fact I did not know how to go about approaching that topic and even so, what message would I be sending out (how appropriate of an assumption?), I also had to consider the fact that by Thursday evenings I’m usually quite sleep deprived and become rather sensitive….so overall bad topic for everyone. Ok, so the next night I went over to my parents to use their Mac with an excellent feeling of determination to get a strong layout for my movie mash-up concept/theme/plan, sat down in front of the computer, ideas…..blank! So I revisited http://www.rebelliouspixels.com/ and watch McIntosh’s Buffy vs Edward remix, feel re-inspired. Decided to research and focus in on the absurd way female action characters are accessorized and clothed when heading into battle such as Wonder Women, Xena Warrior Princess, Elektra, that girl from The Fifth Element (come on, really?), Resident Evil, Nikita (another endless list). I think where I was heading idea-wise wasn’t bad, I mean people hardly seem to change out of the clothes they slept in when going to the store - not necessarily passing judgment, or claiming I never do that – but these women are taking on the world in less material than a bath towel. I began watching one clip after another (anyone who has never watched Xena Warrior Princess, it’s so bad its almost worth an episode) but the longer I sat there watching these I started to consider, and then research, how the male action characters are dressed and start to lose hold of my argument since I’m not quite sure how much superman’s spandex one-piece really hides much, or why Will Smith’s (and many others) shirts always somehow seem to “fall off” during a fight scene…..I become completely frustrated. Consider writing a blog about my naive initial first reaction to the “exciting prospects” for this assignment and fill in my current attitude/feelings about the assignment…thankful my father brought me a cup of tea right then and I took a moment to reconsider that idea and began again. …….Four hours later (and way too many clips from Baywatch) my brother, with his hand on my shoulder, very softly suggests that perhaps it would be best for me and once again, everyone else, if I go to bed and try again tomorrow.

Day three. While driving back over to my parents I decide. I decided I was going to make a music video remix. There are so many music videos that portray the male singer surrounded by numerous scantily clad girls who flock to “him” (you pick) while he sings about how awesome he is, how he gets all the girls, can’t pick, can’t stop cheating, sorry he cheated, etc! Began searching youtube for the footage and, finally found the fun! I had intended to just get it going and then attempt to sleep, but could not stop. Ended up getting an hour and a half of sleep that night and not because it was due the next day, but because too entertained and too excited about seeing it finalized to sleep. One of my sisters came in, I showed her what I was doing, then my brother came to check on what we were laughing so much about, we all ended up in tears.

…..and, techniques learned in GarageBand proved to be very useful in this project! Really want to post it here but unable to get it to load.

……sorry for the length of this but that’s how long it took me to get there!

For my music video mash-up used clips from

LMFAO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyx6JDQCslE&ob=av2e

3OH!3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdB3Oyd5HtU

Cobra Starship: Guilty Pleasure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGs9Su2Dbic

Purple Haze

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UPGWvAzRJA

Tray

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZACMBbyEkU

Chris Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGLOE9LVNmc&ob=av2e

Lady GaGa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niqrrmev4mA&feature=artistob&playnext=1&list=TLSA1p7l5HsUA

Beyonce

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBmMU_iwe6U&ob=av2e

414: Right to Remain Silent

While discrimating videos are being posted daily on youtube, lets not forget the power of simple old school voice recordings! On Sunday morning two weeks ago, just after having wrapped up our segment of working in GarageBand (Technology in the Classroom) where we used voice recordings to create interviews and narritive biographies, I turned the radio to NPR and became immidiately immersed in a story about a New York police officer Adrian Schoolcraft who had recorded himself being framed by his supervisor in his bedroom at his own appartment. I was so dissapointed to have missed the beginning (and apperently the middle and thhe beginning of the end) of the story. I was even more so dissappointed when I searched for it on NPR's website but could not find it. Then, two days later, I logged onto This American Life (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/) and guess what was being featured on its home page....."414: Right to Remain Silence".... and the story is so much bigger and frighteningly intriguing then I could have possibly imagined.

"Growing Up Online"

And as a follow up to the investigation of using social networking, as well as technology in general in the classroom, here is a very interesting documentary from Frontline on that very topic.

"Growing Up Online"

Watch Growing Up Online on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

Networked Publics: New Mediated Space

 “Although many (Social Networking) sites include other common features, the practices that take place through the use of the most prevalent three – profiles, friends, and comments - differentiate social network sites from other types of computer-mediated communication. Furthermore, what makes these three practices significant for consideration is that they take place in public: Friends are publicly articulated, profiles are publicly viewed, and comments are publicly visible.” - Danah Boyd

As we have spoken about at great length in our class Technology in the Classroom, the reality of social networking among teens and the seemingly important role it has taken on as part of their peer interaction and social status is one that cannot (and should not) be ignored. Rather than ignoring it in the classroom, or perhaps even more so banning it in the classroom, teachers should take advantage of their student’s obvious interest and come up with ways in which to incorporate them into a lesson. So often it happens that students post pictures and comments without thinking twice about the fact that once posted online, it can never be taken back - you can “delete” it, but what does that actually mean? Where does it go? Does it ever actually go away? Has anyone ever tried deleting their facebook account? And if so do you believe it has really been erased? I can answer that one. Several years ago I made a facebook account, connected with many friends, uploaded photos, commented, tagged…etc. But after not too long deleted it and thought little of it again until about 8 months later when I received an email saying that someone tried to login to my facebook account! Now, aside from the obvious sketchy fact that someone else had an interest in a account that neither belonged to them nor no longer existed, the fact that I was being notified about an account that had been “deleted” was also somewhat discomforting to me. So, entering in my initial login name and password on facebook I found that absolutely nothing had ever really been deleted, simply silenced. All the people I had added as friends reappeared with their most current statuses and updates…
Slightly disturbed, I once more “deleted” my account.
This past summer it happened again, I received a noticed that someone had tried (or did?) login to my account (my “deleted" account) This time I went back into facebook, changed my password to something so obscure I myself do know (or care) what it was (is), and then for the third time in three years “deleted” my account.
So, to wrap it up, the lesson is folks as Boyd discussed, as we have discussed in Technology in the Classroom, and as should be discussed and learned in every classroom, when it comes to entering information into cyber space the definition for erasing/deleting no longer applies.

Media Literacy Projects

In Technology in the Classroom we just wrapped up creating narrative and sound projects using GarageBand and I have to say, this was an awesome group of assignments. I was nervous when I first heard what the expectations were, but I quickly found it to be so much fun in all ways (making my own, but then also listening to others). Learning, and then putting to use the editing tools (something that just sounded sort of daunting when first introduced) became the assignment I looked forward to working on and would have to save until I did all my other work first.
We started this segment by creating sound collages mainly as an exercise to make sure everyone understood how to find sound effects on the Internet, download them onto GarageBand, and then use the sound and editing tools to control them. Again, this was intended as a sort of warm up exercise, but as we all started finding different sounds and realizing the endless possibilities of stories that can be created simply by collaging sounds together, I think most everyone in the class would agree, we all seemed to become quite involved with creating them and had a lot of fun creating our own sound collages, as well as listening to the ones by our peers.
Next came the interview.
We were asked to arrange and record an interview with someone where we would discus the topics related to using technology in the art classroom. The assignment that sounded like the one I'd enjoy the very least became the main source of instant entertainment for one of my sisters (who I attempted to interview) and I. -We have since decided we need to start recording and saving our conversation on a regular basis (although I can think of a few who may disagree).
Last we created a literacy biography. Very interesting some of the memories it brought back...like me wanted to be like my oldest sister so bad I'd pretend I could read just so I could curl up on the couch next to her (while she actually read). I would just stare at the letters in front of my nose, staying as still as possible so she wouldn't ask me to move, or worse leave.
Again, very entertaining process, but all of a sudden, after creating a Interview piece that was 7 minutes long, having to create this literacy biography to be no more than 3 minutes long became the challenge.....

An excellent broadcast site with all sorts of narrative stories, http://www.thisamericanlife.org/

Media Literacy

we-make-money-not-art.com

From the few Chinese artists I do know, one theme that tends to appear often is an interest in their own language (as well as how they notice others interest in it) and in particular, the written characters of it.

During the Cultural Revolution chairman Mao set out to destroy the old in order to bring in and recreate a new China. This meant the destruction of the traditional ways of art making, literature and much more. Old villages were torn down and replaced with new ones, even there traditional characteristics of their writing were simplified, this resulting in many feeling as though their history and tradition were being torn away with it.

While searching through we-make-money-not-art.com I came across the work of Hung Keung, I found myself instantly interested, but there was not so much information so I decided to research him further.

Hung Keung, a well renowned Chinese artist as well as an assistant professor of the School of Design in Hong Kong Polytechnic University, in 2004 founded innov+media lab (imhk lab). Hung Keung’s imhk lab focuses on new media art and design research in relation to Chinese philosophy and interactivity.

The work that caught my attention in particular, BCSL Project (Version III) is an interactive, digitally created, interactive installation. Projection screens are set up so that visitors are recorded and see themselves in real time and at the same time Chinese characters that are floating around the screen then gravitate to the visitors projected image. It is designed in such a way that the visitors (audience) can interact and play with the characters.

Hung Keung

“Today’s Chinese cities are transforming from a traditional model into today’s high-tech areas, just as Chinese characters transformed from traditional characters into simplified characters…on the one hand, you want to know more about this new China, always want it to move more quickly, but on the other hand, you want it to be nostalgic, and only move forward slightly. Therefore, my work wants to invite the audience to come into the situation of change, development and innovation. Let them use their body to experience the dilemma of whether change or not, what is should or should not and what response is the definition of should.”

 http://www.hungkeung.hk/

Hung Keung, BCSL Project (Version III)

http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/art_from_china/