culturelovesus.blogpsot.com

i typed in the address wrong and got a weird bible site. are they trying to use our immense popularity?

culturelovesus.blogpsot.com
Incredible Testimony
The Bible is True
THE BIGGEST SKEPTIC IN THE WORLD: IT COULD HAVE BEEN ME

To the best of my memory, before I came to the saving grace of Jesus Christ, I did not believe the Bible was true. I doubted whether God, Satan, heaven, or hell even existed. I believed that we were born, lived so many years, and then died. I had my own business and thought that I had succeeded by my own wits...?

50 people see...

50 people see the Eiffel Tower

http://flickr.com/photos/brevity/sets/164195/

this guy averages 50 photos in flickr with the same tag.

i know this is off subject, but...

Alright, is everyone registered to vote?
i don't know if everyone is aware of what's going to be on the ballot...

Dirty Work Robot

I have to say, this is pretty intense. I guess this life like robot created by the government is supposed to start replacing manual labor? It's neat to just watch it, but the best part is when the guy just kicks it and it slides across the ice. I felt bad for it....but should you "feel" for a machine?

Yes We Can

Financial Crisis effects World of "High" Art

CNN news video piece on how the financial crisis has effected the world of art buying and selling. I think this is probably actually a good side effect of the crisis, at least in terms of bringing more interesting and effective works into the market.


http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/10/27/shubert.uk.art.freeze.cnn

Unusual Hotels...

The pictures that Fielding posted reminded me of an article I read once on unusual hotels. I don't know if you've ever looked into it, but there are some WIERD places to stay out there. Most of them are extremely expensive but they still look really cool. I wonder what it is that attracts people to places like this? Is it just a fasinaction with the wierd and unusual? A desire for new experiences? Why were places like this buildt in the first in the first place? Are they anything more than tourist traps?

The first two are from a hotel that is underground in a cave; the next two come from ice hotels and the third one is from an underwater resort on the ocean floor.

No Girls allowed.

so what do you think?
is this Art?
or is this just a Tree House?
what do you think?

Coming Apart (1969)

The video we watched in class (black and white couple spies) reminded me of this movie. I have only seen part of it but it is this guy who records all of his sexual encounters... its kind of dirty, but really interesting. It stars Rip Torn. I wish Youtube had something but it doesn't... here is a link to an article about the movie.
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F06EFD71031E73BBC4F51DFB6678382679EDE

NEW SHOW at KAYA COFFEE

"'Charlie Rose' by Samuel Beckett"

Check out this brilliant piece of video manipulation somebody made from the Charlie Rose show. This is something that can be appreciated whether or not you are a fan of Samuel Beckett or Charlie Rose. Watch and enjoy.

Ref gives QB a Shot

Check out this clip of a referee putting a hit (accidental?) on a running quarterback. Not the way things normally go!

Nick Arcade!

Do you guys remember the show Nick Arcade, where kids got to "go" into the video game? Here is a clip I found on youtube. I think they just used a green screen and some props and had the kids look into a monitor. Obviously this kid was having trouble with the concept. This is a cool idea for the green screen project

Mail Order Wife (2004)

I caught this movie late at night on some premium cable channel at my friend's house over a year ago and it has been on my mind ever since. It really fits with the candid project. It is a movie that some might call a "mockumentary" but some argue that its not funny and therefore should be called a "fakeumentary" but you get the point. A film maker wants to document the realtionship between a NYC doorman and his Asian mail order bride. The doorman turns out to be kind of evil, the documentarian gets more involved with the bride than he should... and it has some humor, some very dark humor. The skope of the documentary widens far beyond the original intent of the film maker and toward the end the story gets a little out of hand, but the first 3/4 of the movie is actually very convincing. It has fooled many people. I was unsure from the begining, always asking myself "is this real? no it can't be, can it?" I think it is easy to make a boring video and pass it off as real... people doing realistic things that might as well be candid... but to pass of the rediculous stuff that happens in this movie as real takes hard work. i really recomend it. i included a clip from youtube that someone must have taped off of his TV... so it is a weird quality. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VgQMUhVOV0

Jenn's Candid

I worked hard to get this done by today (since I've been putting it off for so long) so I'd like to get it out there for you guys to see.

Robotic Fishy?

I found this clip on youtube completely by accident but I still thought it was pretty cool. It made me think about that video we watched a while ago on robotics. I can't say that I see an actual purpose for a robotic fish, but it's gorgeous and fascinating to watch, especially when it is swimming. It moves just like a real fish.

bizarre green screen video...kinda funny

Speaking of commencement speeches and art...

Los Pixadores

*Pixadores. - A youngster, generally from an underprivileged social background, frequently living under precarious conditions in the outskirts of the city. A pixador uses pixação a form of protest, but at the same time, as a way of expressing his esthetic impulse.

Recently, a group of pixadores (basically graffiti artists) stormed a gallery in Brazil to decry the "marketing, institutionalization and domestication of Street Art" by the galleries and media.

Damn straight, viva la revolution.

First day of my life

I feel that this is more than a regular MTV music video. This a good work of art, seeing a lot of these people open up to the camera was a very moving thing to see. What do you guys think? Trashy MTV work? Of work of art?

Homecoming Weekend!

So for those of you who absolutely LOVED my narrative because of how much you enjoy the sound of my voice (Hahah)you're in luck. This Saturday (homecoming saturday, yayyy!) I'll be doing the annual alumni takeover show on WMHW with my Dad and my brother. That's two whole hours of Boscarino madness folks!

So if any of you are tailgating, or just in the vicinity of a radio, feel free to check it out. It's always good for some laughs.

Warning: My Dad and I tend to be pretty uncensored ;)

Stan Brackage

I mentioned this guy a while back as making a film that someone could look at formally quite easily (even if it is very conceptual). And since no one was assigned to him, I decided this was a good place for him. He actually attached the bug and plant matter to the physical film to make this. He also painted directly on to the film to create the title screen. This film is called "Moth Light" from 1963. He did a lot of different kinds of films but I like this one most of what I have seen. Film is interesting to me. He uses film here in its most film like way. A lot of films could have easily been made with video (yes there are differences, of course) and it would not have changed the works conceptually. This work is completely rooted in the fact that it is film. I think it would be really interesting to look at the film itself, not running through a machine. This also seems like it could be a really cool type of project to make. I really enjoy meticulous art projects. I just don't find the time to make them for classes. Too many deadlines. I think it could be a fun collaborative project. Maybe when I'm a teacher I'll look into that.

Jan Svankmajer

This film is called "Meat Love" (1989).

I have been meaning to post about this animator for a while and after stumbling across this film, right after the eating contest post, I figured now was a good time. I was first introduced to this film maker through the film "Alice" (1988). "Alice" is a surreal and very creepy adaptation of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" that, like all of the works I've seen by him, mixes live action with stop motion. I have also seen the more recent film "Little Otik" (2000) where a couple who can't have children raise a piece of wood as a child. It is very creative stuff. It is also cool because it uses some very basic filming techniques- stop motion instead of CGI. I used to watch Frog and Toad on PBS as a kid, and Wallace and Grommet, and I guess I miss that way of animating. It was cool because they were actually real... they weren't flat drawings, they had form, like real frogs and real dogs. What do you guys think about different animation techniques? What do you think about this guy's work?

My modified narrative

Less color, more fun

Kobayashi

I'm sure a lot of you have probably seen Takeru Kobayashi, the hot dog eating champ from Japan. I was first introduced to him a few years ago on Thanksgiving during the annual "Glutton Bowl" on ESPN. I have to admit, the first time I saw him eat I was completely repulsed but I've seen so much footage of him now that I've gotten used to it. Last fall I watched a documentary that had been made on Kobayashi and I was really impressed. This guy actually trains for these competitions, like any athlete would.And there is aactually a lot that goes into training for eating competitions, in terms of building of your stamina and metabolism and all of that stuff. Now I watch these things and I still think it's disgusting but it's like an art form...one that is so grotesque and horrible to watch that you can't help watching. I wonder what it is about human nature that attracts us to the grotesque like that?

Man Gets Double Arm Transplant

This is a pretty amazing story. The world's first double arm transplant. Check it out.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081008/ap_on_he_me/eu_germany_double_arm_transplant

FACEBOOKING

Liz posted an interesting article from adbusters about Facebook.
I thought I'd share a project that one of my classes did last fall at Whitman, which we titled "Facebooking".

Here is a description of the project, and a link to watch some video documentation of the event.

http://www.benbloch.com/media_files/Facebooking/facebooking_js3.html

In this performance, students from my new genre arts class set up an 8' x 8' projection screen on the side of Penrose Library on the campus of Whitman College, where they projected a live voyeuristic websurf across parts of the popular social networking site, Facebook. Only their real-time voices could be herd over a PA system, as they were hiding around the corner in some bushes on a laptop computer using wireless. They commented casually and humorously on the pages as though they were in their dorm rooms at personal computers, except that anyone could see what they were looking at and talking about. We referred to the activity as a public Facebook sports-cast. The act of further publicizing an already public domain served as a clever and simple reminder that what is written and posted on such sites is much more public--and therefore sociologically fascinating--than users tend to assume.

SLEEVEFACE

I thought this video was awesome- really creative!

My Seven Dollar Green Screen Project

This is a video I made for motion graphics. It was pretty much the first time I've ever tried to use a green screen. It's purposely corny.

Pedal Walk with Me

Not to totally get hung up on David Byrne, but his work just appeals to me so much. I'm really into music, noise, and equipment, and he always manages to incorporate those elements. Here, he strung together hundreds of guitar effects pedals and spread them across the floor of a space, and basically forced the audience to participate by walking across them, turning pedals on and off, creating a wash of noise.

Quit Facebook

I found this article on AdBusters.org, I thought it was an interesting article because I have contemplated deleting my facebook many times because often I feel like it is a negative thing I waste my time with. But then I start to think about all the contacts  and connections I will loose with deleting it. 

I also think about Cindy Sherman's ideas about photos and the idea that pointing the camera at someone is a violent action and a form of emotional rape because you don't have the control anymore because the weapon (the camera) isn't in your hands. And people are ALWAYS posting pictures of other people that I'm sure they wouldn't want being exploited on the internet especially on such a wide used "journal" of sorts like Facebook. 

Tell me what you think. 

http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/80/quit_facebook.html

Here is a snippet from the article - 

"I became despondent. What, then, was I? If my time was spent changing my profile picture on Facebook, thinking of a clever status update for Facebook, checking my profile again to see if anyone had commented on my page, Is this what I am? A person who re-visits her own thoughts and images for hours each day? And so what do I amount to? An egotist? A voyeur?

Whatever the label, I was unhappy and feeling empty. The amount of time I spent on Facebook had pushed me into an existential crisis. It wasn’t the time-wasting, per se, that bothered me. It was the nature of the obsession – namely self-obsession. Enough was enough. I left Facebook."

speaking of archetypes...

borrowed from changingminds.org:

I. Separation / departure

The first section of the story is about the separation of the hero from the normal world. Separation has symbolic echo of infant transition away from the mother and so has a scary feel to it.

	I.1	The Call to Adventure
	I.2	Refusal of the Call Acceptance of the Call
	I.3	Supernatural Aid
	I.4	Crossing of the First Threshold
	I.5	Entering the Belly of the Whale

II. Initiation

In the main part of the story the hero is initiated into true heroic stature by various trials and rites. Through daring and battle, the true character emerges.

	II.1	Road of Trials
	II.2	The Meeting with the Goddess
	II.3	Woman as Temptress
	II.4	Atonement with the Father
	II.5	Apotheosis
	II.6	The Ultimate Boon

III. Return

After initiation the hero can cleansed and return in triumph to deserved recognition, although this in itself may not be without its trials and tribulations.

	III.1	Refusal of the Return
	III.2	Magic Flight
	III.3	Rescue From Without
	III.4	Crossing of the Return Threshold
	III.5	Master of the Two Worlds
	III.6	Freedom to Live

Why dont we all have one of these

why dont we have one of these?

The Infinite Wisdom of Picasso

I really enjoy reading about Pablo Picasso. He is definately someone that I look up to as an artist, not so much his style, but rather the way he felt about and spoke about art. I keep a list of quotes on my computer and I read them from time to time when I feel like I need inspiration. Here are a few of my favorites. I'd challenge you to really think about them. There's a lot of wisdom in these simple phrases.

"The purpose of Art is to create enthusiam."

"The chief enemy of creativity is good taste."

"The important thing is to create."

"The hidden harmony is better than the obvious."

"Art is a lie that helps us to realize the truth."

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."
(That's one my favorite, it basically sums up my entire narrative piece)

So what do you guys think of this stuff? I'd be really interested to hear your responses, especially to the first one. Do you agree of disagree?

The Cottingly Fairies

Two girls (ages 16 and 10) from England took pictures of themselves with fairies (or at least paper cuts outs or fairies), proving that fairies were real once and for all.

I find it really interesting to think about for a mechanical reproduction of something (photo, film, video, audio recording) can stand as documentation of the real thing when we often see examples of mechanical reproduction trickery. Movies use editing and special effects, Photoshop could have certainly made these fairies more realistic, and mixing boards can even make Paris Hilton have a hit single. How is a photograph different from a painting when it can be so idealizes?

Also, as our belief in mechanical reproduction wanes, i wonder what movies will have to do to keep us entertained. When Chaplin was doing stunts they were real, that was something to see... but why do we care that Harrison Ford (in his latter years) can beat the aliens when he is clearly not doing much of anything?

a poster for a art show... a very nice poster

i feel the image is a nicely designed poster,
and enjoy its overall appeal and crisp white writing

Title

here is something new...

line at flat gap

filmed in 2007 by christopher shields
in bay city during a bay City skatepark
contest, and skate jam....

a book about the hindu religion.
i adore the illustrations...check them out at gheehappy.com

111,000

look at this bike!
more and better pics here.
http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2008/sept/2/EricTotten.htm#image_4

"whats up! I happened to stumble upon this on the internet, thought it was pretty sweet and that everybody might like to see it. its a gold plated bike with "600 dazzling Swarovski crystals" (whatever that's supposed to mean) and apparently sold for 111,000 dollars, this is the first of ten, I doubt this is going to be anybody's work horse, but it looks good!"

I feel this goes along with what we are talking about in class, I really like to ride my bike and if had this bike I would never ride it its worth too much money.

Fielding

Futon Fight

To further add to the discussion of art vs not art...

My former neighbors at the His House Men's House (that's the 'Jesus Dogs' place for any of you who don't know) had a little game that they liked to play called "Will it Break?" This game consisted entirely of them going up onto the roof of their third story house and dropping things to see if they would break while filming it. (Like everything. TVs, dressers, old computer monitors) Note: If you think this sounds stupid, it really wasn't as dumb as what they eventually came up with, a little called, Will it hurt? Think volleyball spikes to the head, etc, Jackass type stuff.

Two years ago during exams, they decided to destroy a couple of old futons that they had lying around. The result is a 4 part Youtube video. Here are parts one and two. Is this art?