I waited a while to see the Social Network, because I am a little nervous to see the scope of Facebook’s prowess. I, myself, have deleted my page a few times, untagged myself in photos, and adjusted privacy setting so that my family and co-workers don’t see all.
I was slightly disappointed that the storyline was exagerated, but all in all made for a great film. It showed the ways in which a friendship (s) are made public and without human contact in a hauntingly real manner. A little frightening to watch because it is one the the very first movies to present the psychological power and pull to the internet. Its extremely real- and a little painful to watch being a frequent Facebook user.

Project VOICE is one my favorite things that I’ve come across this semester. I think I may have posted about one of the artists involved in this project earlier in the semester, the Project VOICE is about working with children to express themselves through the simplest media possible- their own voice. The basis of this idea is that spoken word is becoming a sort of lost art and that self expression through speech is rudimentary in curiosity and growth.
This is theie website:

http://www.project-voice.net/

and this is my favorite (of yet) piece by spoken-word artist Sarah Kay:

I’m taking an illustration class and as part of the final project, a Movie project was sprung on us (during the finals week!). I used pieces of my Sound Project and my new knowledge of Final Cut Pro to put this together. It’s a little rough but it was last minute and I’d never have been able to pull this together without this Media class-!! The song is CocoRosie-Haitian Love Song and my sound project comes in at about 11 seconds at 40% volume.

Here is the soundcloud link to my media sound project. I chose to work with mass communication and play with the idea of the ‘mass’ and who that refers to. In this situation, I played with sounds that had been saved over Halloween weekend with a group of French filmmakes following a one-man band titled Birds are Alive.
The title was inspiring to me, as was his heavy, simple music. The name, I’m told, was derived from the feeling that as long as birds (an austere animal) are alive, the world is going to be OK.
This piece is a collection of interviews, party sounds, cell phones, and a charming Frenchman formatted to give the feeling of drunkenness. Towards the end I have included my roommates’ voice repeating Birds are Alive, Our Hearts are Alive.

To my gender and sexuality video:

To my sound project:

To my website:

webspace.newschool.edu/~trevm280

This is the link to my sound project: http://soundcloud.com/medialab2010/tun-tun-sound-project

my link to the video :http://vimeo.com/17892718

My video is about how there is a choice in terms of sexuality.

Nikol- Great utilization and interaction between the pages. Formed a great story and very visual.

Ashley- I loved the photos- especially in the inspiration tab. It would’ve been nice to have more of a story line, maybe some words or sentences- even abstract ones- to sort of guide you through your thoughts

Erica-  Incredible graphics- great composition.

Epiphany- really amazing guide through your thoughts. Perfect balance of text and image- definitely gave a great overall picture.

Urvika- very graphic, amazing graphics. Maybe more text, quotes, words, ideas on your opinions about identity.

Tun tun- I loved the photos. Maybe use more text to show your opinion of identity via a story line of photos or text.

Annie- amazing graphics somehow your story line of your art, your family, the Chinese symbols and your baby photos work as a composition and communicate your idea of identity differently than the other students have

Elisa- Graphics are cool and falling images are unique but I struggle to connect it with your concept of identity.

Sadi- great website- very humorous, very involved and honest and extremely enjoyable to experience!

Jami- even though there was no text- your graphics were very interesting and personal and gave a strong enough impression of your concept of identity that it all felt relative. I really enjoyed it!

Soujin- very beautiful and engaging,

Avery- Very well done and I enjoyed reading through your text

Angie- very interesting- a sort of satire about identity I think! I think it’s great!

David- very conceptual – could be interpreted many different ways.

Rachel- graphics were great

I chose to see The Social Network because as an avid Facebook user, I was interested in its creation myth. Just as a standard critique, I found the movie to be underwhelming and clearly over dramatized and exaggerated.

In the movie, it was interesting to see how the result of one bad relationship, the internet genius Mark Zuckerberg created this massive part of contemporary media. I also liked how the movie showed just how much the use of technology and media can turn into a tool of revenge. I often refer to the internet as a distant thing that I separate myself from. It’s something I use but not something I define or defines me. In The Social Network, it was eye-opening to observe how this virtual reality created so much drama in real lives.

The movie really exemplified the internet as the new standard instrument in how we represent ourselves and how we perceive others.

by Epiphany

Nikol- I love how this embodies the playful style of all the work you do. The balance of image and text is perfect.

Ashley- I love love love the images in the inspiration link- It would be exciting to see where these inspirations lead you in design. It might also be useful for YOU to blur the line between brookly and CA as “home” and the feeling/things a home means to you. You’ve collected some really fantastic pictures! I feel like you would be more effective to use less pictures to get your point across.

Erica- The index page could be a little more clear- its so dynamic that it becomes a little difficult to find the links but the collage is so nice! The explaination about travel conveys the feeling (I think ) you have about time, as though travelling is your way of moving forward and backward thru locations to stay in the present. OK- just saw your photo albums- really smart collection.

Epiphany- I love how clear this is! For someone whose first words are an apology for not being able to identify yourself, it seems like you wrapped it up pretty tightly. –on aestetics, you should name your index and at times the font is hard to read. The photos are gorgeous, I was excited about the one-liners like “but there are a few things I can articulate” and then presenting us with such a strongly ambiguous photo. That’s me being picky, I think this is a really great site.

Urvika- I love how the layers of identity are portrayed as layered images. Maybe you need a little more text to get your point across, this is beautiful work but it feels unfinished.

Annie- really good job! Makingyour links obvious by changing the color tones is a very smart idea.

Tun tun- really clean.. after seeing your unfashion clothing, I think this is very representative of your style . Because the hand and people are so graphic and styled, I think your text should fit in a little more cleanly, this is so strong that the blue color and font are throwing me off a lttle.

Elisa- cute cutee !

Sadie- love love lovveeeee! Also, it made perfect sense to click on the framed picture to bring me back to the menu, I didn’t have to look at all- good design work. I can see the connection between your work that I’ve seen here and the work you’ve done on your site. Ps- I think it seems like a good idea for you to switch to fine arts, it sounds like idc is going to be too ambiguous for your taste, but it’d be a shame if you don’t make clothing in the future.

Jamie- unorthodox, and something I wouldn’t have thought of doing but this is one of my favorites. The imagery really works and I feel like you make your point better than most without using any text. My only suggestion is that some of the pics can be scaled down.

Soojin- aestitically pleasing, and great design. The links didn’t work on my computer in class, so I’ll have to read more later, but it looks amazing

Avery- I enjoyed the writing –a lot- but the links are so hard to find, The treasure hunt idea is unique, but make it a bit easier. Also- expand! I think Avery Island is a place that could foster some really occult, tribal everythings. I love the feeling of history and the opportunity for discovery, very well-rounded concept. (the home link isn’tworking )

Angie- what! Get out, this is too good. Go miley. This was a really fun idea, and the pop-ups were super-annoying, the same way (it seems) you feel about popular media and their attack methods.

David- this is what the freeze screen is made of? Really conceptual and sophisticated. Feel better!

MJ- I enjoyed reading these, the factuality of your statements was refreshing after going through so many of these sites. The layered imagery makes your point very strong.

Anna- I like the color palate. This is really easy to work through.

Nikol: Interesting opening statement in comparison to the rest of the entries; it says you do not feel like yourself but then you present all the things that appear to make you who you are; like the format of the website, text then image, etc.

Ashley: Great concept, allowing the viewer to determine your own identity by only giving us images and allowing us to make up our own image of who you are. I really liked it.

Erica: I enjoyed reading your thoughts on what you feel your identity is and enjoy looking at the different aspects you consider important.

Epiphany: enjoyed reading your thoughts on your identity and viewing your images as well.

Urvika: your images were quite lovely!

Tun Tun: liked the way you categorized the things that make you who you are. And liked the initial image that you used with the hand.

Annie: you have a wonderful collection of images that really show those that are important around you; I loved your collage.

Elsa: Lovedd your concept!!! The fact that you did not reveal until the very end that these were in fact two separate people, aka your twin is amazing.! Great work.

Jamie: fun way of posting your images upside down and then giving a detail when clicking on it.

Soujin: your website presentation is really pretty. I liked the circles on white and the colors of the images.

Avery: its like a cliff hanger, leaves me wanting to know more! — wait. Now I know about the links. Your story is so interesting. Make a book.!! Love it

MJ: your collages were very beautiful and representative of the ideas you wrote about.

David: great sound piece to go along with the collage presented.

Anna: simple yet upfront with presenting the core values in her life! Loved the colors that you choose for the squares.

Rachel: great presentation and images; really enjoyed looking through.

Nikol- Even though it is really simple but I love it. Instead of having like a long paragraph or something… I really like how you have one short passage page by page.  It catches my attention.

Ashley:  I like how it is very organized but I don’t see a lot of your identity.

Erika: I like the colors and the pictures that you used in your page. Instead of having a lot of descriptions maybe you could do more with your page?  But I love the links on the map.

Epiphany: I like your pictures but I feel like the descriptions could be more organized or the colors so it is easier to read.

Urvika: I like the pictures you made but it was really confusing because I didn’t know where to click within the words. I thought there were only two pages.

Tun Tun: I like the idea of the hand, I thought it was really cool.

Elsa: your page is really cute; at first I couldn’t tell the difference between you and your sister.

Sadie: I love your website. It is really cool. I love how you put the pictures of yourself when you were young and have each little story behind it. It is really simple and organized.

Jamie: Your website could probably be a little more organized. It was really big and I couldn’t tell which one was your link and which one was just pictures.

SooJin: I really like it. It is really simple and clean. The pictures are very interesting.

Avery: The map was cool but I couldn’t find the links.

Angie: I thought it was really fun for you to put your website like that.

David: I like your background and I like how you did your links.

Anna: I think you could’ve add a little more stuff.

Rachel: I love how simple it is but maybe you could do a little more for the pictures

URVIKA KAPUR
FEEDBACK FOR FINAL PROJECT WEBSITE:

1.RACHAEL:

I love the images used by Rachael and I feel it really integrates her perspective of doing things.

2.ANNA:

Even though it was not uploaded to the blog I did see it with her in person. I love the simplicity of shapes and form as well as the colors used.

3.MJ:

I completely adore and admire MJ’s work. Her website speaks to me of her identity with the strong use of images and text. I love the way the text and images relate to one another and even stand strong individually. I feel it has successfully explored her identity.

4.ANGIE:

I love the simplicity of her work as I feel it’s the simplicity, which is so interesting, and the centre focus. The simplicity makes it more attractive. I feel she is trying to portray her strong association with the United States, which is effective with the use of red text and the American flag.

5.AVERY:

I liked Avery’s approach to linking her identity with her family Island but I wish to see an association of how it relates to her identity.

6.SOUJIN:

What I read from the website before the critique is that the imagery and videos used projected her state of mind and her future she envisions. I love the concept.

7. JAMIE:

I see her identity in her pictures but I did not quite understand why she had up turned the pictures and turned them the right side straight.

8.SADIE:

I love the concept of a timeline and the way it has been put together makes it look extremely timeless and something that will stay for a very long time with her.

9.ELISA:

I had overheard Elisa talking to Shari about her twin sister and I love that she choose to represent her identity through this concept.

10.ANNIE

Pictures are a beautiful way to portray identity but I wish that the website had been broken down into a few pages making it visually simpler.

11.TUN TUN:

I love the use of the handprint on the main page.

12.EPIPHANY:

I love her website and this completely different take on life, very different from the mindset of most at parsons. I also really appreciate the honesty with the text and the images.

13.ERICA:

I like the images put together to portray an identity of a girl and the beautiful things that make her so special.

14.ASHLEY:

I get a very complete and holistic feeling from her website. I feel she has incorporated her entire identity and life in it that makes it exceptionally strong.

15.NIKOL:

When I was on the face page I thought it was going to explore a very serious part of her identity but the image with the food makes me laugh.

Rachel Young- I like that you have kept a horizontal format throughout your web space.

Soujin- Your pages are very unique in their aesthetic and format, and I can tell you enjoy photography.

Nikol- I love that your pages were so interactive; it made more of an exploration of discovering your identity.

Erica- I think its interesting that you choose to show your identity through writing instead of images.

Ephiphany- I like your exploration of indefinition.

Urvika- I really get the sense of your connection to your culture and its importance to you.

Annie- I think its great that you decided to collage your pictures together.

Elisa- the falling bears are cute and speak to your personality.

Sadie- I love your school pictures, and the way you use them as a timeline.

Jamie- I think your pictures are beautiful but I don’t know why they are upside-down.

Avery- I wish there was more about your identity

Angie- your page would open for me.

MJ- I like that you chose to integrate images, it made me have to look at them longer to understand the meaning and what they were of.

Anna- your web space was very easy to navigate through and it had a lot of information about you.

Tun Tun- some of your pages wouldn’t open, but I like the image of that hand that your page revolves around.

Nikol

I really enjoy Nikol’s website. It feels like a journey with all of the pages you travel through. It’s also user-friendly and well layed out because of the large text and straightforward statements.

The way it ends with the stop-motion piece is also rather conclusive. I think Nikol’s website is really successful. I feel like I know her identity more. (After your presentation of your site, I realize that it doesn’t just end with the stop motion–I really thought it was such a complete page that it was the end! My mistake, sorry).

Ashley

Ashley’s website is understated in a very beautiful way. I like how she just used images as images can convey a lot more than words. Each tab at the top is like opening up each chapter of Ashley’s life in a picture book. The images she chose are charming and simple. I get the feeling that she has a very fulfilling life and she has an engaging identity.

Erica

Erica’s website is so pretty and light. I like the collaged look of it and the beautiful words. I really get a feeling of identity here. There’s a lot of peacefulness as well as adventure. I like how the map of the world is hyperlinked to pictures of the places she’s been. That’s so cool and it really allows the user to travel with her and see her identity through the travels she’s been on.

Urvika

Everything about the look of Urvika’s website is very ornate and detailed. The pictures are so colorful and absolutely gorgeous. I also like the words that she chose to link to other pages. I really get a sense of identity here. While it’s confined to how a religion and a culture has defined her, it still has both a sense of freedom and mystery.

Knowing Urvika and how she works in the (Un) Fashion class, I can definitely say that her website exudes her identity.

Tun Tun

I like the hand print; it totally connects with the subject of identity. It’s interesting how each finger(print) leads to another page and the whole hand creates this singular identity—the parts create the whole. Not all of the links worked though but the ones that did are really cool. I like the collage of photos.

Annie

Annie’s website is really awesome. There are so many pictures and it must have taken a lot of time and effort to create such a site. Each link holds something interesting and the graphicness of the whole site is really wonderful. While there are tons of personal pictures, I don’t totally get “identity” from this site. I wish there were more words of explanation and self-expression. Also, I think naming the site “simplicity” on the home page and then having this incredible collage of dozens of photos is perhaps a bit contradictory but that’s probably just me being nit-picky. Other than that, the site is amazing!

Elsa

I really love Jiacheng’s site. It’s so playful and childlike that it automatically makes me happy. All of the images are so cute and really revealing about Jiacheng. I like how she made it about her and her sister because I think family is a huge part of a person’s identity. While I love what’s there, it only makes me wish there was more. (Okay so I totally missed the links to the other pages but I saw them in Jiacheng’s presentation for the class and I think they really enhance the site even though for me the highlight is still the page with her twin sister).

Sadie

First of all, the front page of Sadie’s website is to die for. I love it.  This is by far my favorite website. I really, really get a sense of her identity and I love the way she’s presented it. It’s so creative and visually appealing—the whole package. The “then” and “now” idea was well executed and the school pictures with each of their own personal stories are so great.

Jamie

Jamie’s website is so striking! I like how she used family photos from her childhood. I can conclude that her parents and the way she was brought up have a lot to do with her identity. It’s so interesting to see which repetitions of close up parts of images she chose to link to. There’s a lot mystery here bit there’s also a sense that it’s a baring of Jamie’s soul. Either way, it’s an awesome website.

Soujin

Soujin’s site is really beautiful and is aesthetically similar to Ashley’s in a way.  I like how all the linking allows the user to move through Soujin’s site in a narrative way. This site is beautiful in its simplicity. I like the filter or the effect on the photos–it makes them all feel very rough and homey yet modern at the same time. Good job!

Avery

Avery’s site is really interesting. I know Avery and she is very interested in history and stories so I think this site really attributes to her identity. It’s very simple yet so revealing. I did initially miss the other links on the map of Avery Island but I think it totally ads to the mystery of the stories and really who Avery is because she seems to me to be an extremely eclectic person and I think this side of her is definitely shown through her website.

Angie

At first, I was really confused by Angie’s website but after I understood how to work it, I love it! The feeling I got from it is that it’s really satirical and is kind of a joke about Hollywood and what famous girls at our age are doing. I think this shows her identity in an obscure kind of way. I like how she chose a totally different method of exploring her identity. Really awesome. This could totally successful as an art piece on its own. I hope she keeps this site and will try to promote it as fine art. It could go far!

MJ

MJ’s site is like a fairytale. I like how it moves you through this story about MJ accompanied by these magical collaged pictures. It’s really pretty and user-friendly. I also like how each picture is so well worked on and detailed that each could stand on its own. But when they’re all brought together, it still works in a wonderfully whimsical way.

David

I know that this is probably not David’s completed sight but I still wanted to comment on how beautiful I think it is. I think it could totally be a definition of an identity. It’s sort of like Angie’s site because it pushes beyond the parameters of the project and is perhaps a statement about something more–perhaps a statement about technology use or our dependency on technology. It’s kind of funny because I’m looking at the site as I type my thoughts and every time I switch tabs to David’s site I have a flash of panic for a second because that image on his page sort of looks like a computer crashing or something.

Anna

I think the best part of Anna’s site is her use of color. I really like her color palette and admire her ability to create a mood just through these simple blocks of color. After hearing what her (Un) Fashion classmates said about how the colors on her site are similar to the colors she uses in her clothes, I felt more of a connection to Anna’s identity. Perhaps this is something she could push more–maybe she could talk about her identity through colors on her site. I really do like her site how it is though. It’s very informational but I just wish it was more expressive and artistic.

Rachel

Rachel’s website is very well organized. I just wish it was more personal but it’s still very clean and I like all of the images. I can get a sense of identity here. I like the images she chose on her home page to represent what the links were about (bar code for identity-revealing pictures, security camera that links to her Vimeo video site). There seems to be a theme of surveillance and eeriness in the images on her home page and I wish that theme could have been made more prevalent throughout her entire site but that’s not something major or anything. Overall, I like the design, organization, and the fun, gorgeous images.

Nikol: Interesting idea but I feel like there is something lacking about the theme of Identity; however, it shows your personality. Also a bit hard to find the links at first, but I like the use of text.

Ashley: Photos as a whole represent who you are and the different aspects that are important in your life.

Erica: Love the layout of each page and the photos you used but also feel like the writing is very strong and gets your personal identity across.

Epiphany: A bit hard to read the red text due to the background. Your idea of your own identity is straight to the point and very linear.

Urvika: Links are hard to find and would help if there was a link that could take you back to home. Like the idea of collaging.

Annie: Page is a bit hard to navigate, at first I did not realize that there were more pages.

Elisa: Interesting to base your concept of identity with (I’m assuming) your twin sister.

Sadie: I love your concept and how you used your school photos. It’s quite eerie to see all of them together because at first glance they look like the same photo. It’s also interesting to see what you can remember from when you were so little.

Jamie: Wish the photos were a bit smaller so we could see then better without scrolling. Would also like to know why you paired specific images together.

Avery: A bit hard to navigate and your home link does not work. Interesting concept though to base your identity on a made-up island.

Angie: Only one page?

MJ: Quite a creative way to collage your images.

Anna: Also very linear and to the point. A lot of information to tell the viewer about you.

Rachel: Like how you integrated the different images when you scroll over a link. Your page2 link does not seem to work.

nikol
The way the website flows is really good. The links are surprising. Maybe could have done more with the aesthetic. I like the clean white background and font, but the pictures could be all the same size and aligned, etc.

ashley
I like all your photos and think they say a lot about you. Maybe could have explored identity a little more, or added some text to explain why you consider these aspects of your life part of who you are. Maybe could have done more with the design of the website

Epiphany
I really really like the way you explored who you were and opened up about your personality and the way you feel about identity. I also think the way your website flows is great and the design is awesome as well, props!

Tun tun
Maybe making more of the links work, but the handprint idea is really phenomenal, I think the design really shows your personality

annie
I like the background in each website, but maybe make the links a little more clear. Your identity shows through, but could have been explored a little bit more

sadie
Design is awesome, looks really professional. Your personality comes through in the text

soujin
The design is really really pretty, and the writing is interesting and beautiful as well. Overall I’d say its great. I like that its not your typical identity, this is who I am type of thing. Navigation is a bit confusing

mj
Good flow, pretty pictures, ,maybe could have made it a bit more uniform. Seemed exploratory

rachel
Really good weblayout and design, I like all the button pictures and the cleanness of it. Abstract in a good way

Avery
The writing is really interesting and could easily be a book. I think this website says a lot about you and your talent. Maybe there could be more design, but I think it actually works well with the writing.

Angie
Very creative with the magazine covers. Interesting design, very cool!

Elisa
Maybe make the links more clear, but cute design, like the falling bears!

David
Extremely abstract but love the idea and design. I think the websites you visit most often show a lot about a person and you integrated it in a really cool way

Ashley- the site is very well organized and structured but I wish, it explored your identity a little more. I=right know it shows your personality more than your identity.

Erica- the website feels intimate which I fell is a way to show your identity through images.

Epiphany- I liked how she identified herself in 8 different points, enjoyed the writings more than the pictures.

Urvika- I liked the images, couldn’t find what to do after the first link…

Tuntun- could be more personal

Annie- that collage must have taken a long time, like the difference between color pics and b and w, nice idea for links

Elisa- wish she explored the concept a little more make it more personal.

Sadie- I really like the concept of the website and how its designed

Jamie: I like the upside down images, and how they correspond with different images when they clicked on. Its probably what they remind you of or how you feel about the pictures which is nice.

Soujin: I really like the design of the webpage!

Avery: I wish you could have described what was going on your webpage before I had to write this so I could understand your concept better.

Angie: the links opened up in a new page which got really confusing but like the concept of the webpage.

MJ: I liked how the images corresponded with the text and enjoyed the texts.

David: the concept of the index page is nice and really cool, they couldn’t have been linked to something more personal which explores your identity rather than WebPages.

Anna: couldn’t open the webpage

Rachel: I really liked how the images changed when you go on them. And the images are so you ! and shows who you are.

Avery
-I like the story about your family’s business. its was a good choice to make different parts of the photos link to different stories but, because it was such a small photo it was difficult to get back to the same links. Maybe if the photo was larger it would be clearer which parts linked to which stories. Overall an interesting way to view your identity through the identity of your ancestors.
Nikol
-I like that you used a video, it gave the site something special though it could have been a bit shorter. I also like how you where sort of led through with the links and could only go one way. really good picture of your family and of your friends.
ashley
-First off i’m from nor cal too so holla…Second I liked that you used pictures of your life and your interests and it does give a feeling for who you are and what you would be like to know. I especially liked the inspiration pictures.
erica
-nice color palette and layout. like the collages. I like the links to music. i have to say it was kind of a lot to read but, i was trying to get through everyones site so i felt rushed.
epiphany
-really liked your background. the sparse text was easy to read and not overwhelming. i though the first two pages where a more honest depiction of your identity than the ‘on paper’ kind of identity given on the last page.
urkiva
-i felt like it was a bit one dimensional and i would have liked to see more though the pictures where pretty and it was clear that you identify strongly with your religious back ground.
tun-tun
-liked the hand print falling off the bottom of the page. some of your links weren’t working so i didn’t get the full experience of this page but, i liked that you included where you are from and music you like because that definitely builds a persons identity in a big way.
annie
-i liked the simplicity opening page. also liked the drawings.
the site was very playful. your sister is obviously very important to you and a big part of your identity.
sadie
-RAD. really liked you your photos and lay out. the frames and the circular photos really caught your attention and i like that you left the background white. you obviously put a lot of time and effort into this and thought it through really well. your elementary school stories were adorable, especially the part where you got married. i don’t really have any bad feedback, i thought it was super well done and would be a great addition to a website showing off your other work.
soujin
-really liked your layout, really pretty colors. i liked the background colors and the font a lot. i like that you used a horizontal layout instead of vertical (i actually wanted to do the same but couldn’t figure it out so, i’m even more impressed by your use of that layout) the pictures went well together and i really felt a serene mood from the site.
angie
-loved it!, though it was a simple lay out the concept was really funny. I loved that you explored identity through what your not, very unique idea. also the fact the you referenced current pop culture made it relatable and humorous. the pictures were really fun and i kind of think the bad quality of some of them added to it. i liked that it was rough and didn’t take itself serious. a nice break from the normal moody somber quality that a project like this usually produces.
MJ
-the collaged where pretty. i like the last page that says identity.
anna
-liked the lay out and that you had a lot of different parts of your identity represented.
rachel
-unique take on the project. liked the lay out. likes the pictures that you used as links. liked the resume font. i liked the horizontal lay out.

http://webspace.newschool.edu/~maynj232/

Here are my sound and video pieces. Longer explanations to come; just wanted to get the projects themselves up asap.

http://soundcloud.com/medialab2010/fotz

http://webspace.newschool.edu/~kapuu647/

My identity project is related to my identity in India as well as my Identity here in New York. Being a Hindu Girl I am identitified by its customs and rules which I am meant to follow when at home and even when I am in New York. Hindus are recognized by their typical henna designs,jewellery,customs,finery,clothing,rituals and ceremonies.

I am also identitifed with the God I worship as a part of my caste identity. In india we have thousands of gods and godesses we worship and we identify each caste with their primary god of worship.

I incorporated all the elements of my identity as a Hindu through imagery on my website.

Here is the link to my website. It is based on my family’s island in southwest Louisiana. It means a great deal to me and I look forward to expanding on this project in the future.

http://webspace.newschool.edu/~ringa680

Sound piece

This the link to my sound piece.

I wanted to emphasize how english is such an important language and almost everybody in the world knows at least one or two words. Which means other languages get ignored but other languages are very important as well. So this sound piece is a girl who travels to somewhere that she doesn’t know and nobody around her knows how to speak english. She was having a hard time traveling, in the end she decided to go home.

Here is my finished Identity Blog. ashleydeshields.wordpress.com

Here is the link for my practice identity website. It’s nothing special, I already used up all my good ideas on the final identity project. Hope it works ok!

Sound Project

My sound project is stripping away the visual and only leaving the sound. Movies are viewed with the eyes but without sound, a lot is missing. This project is suppose to heighten your senses by using sounds to make you feel horror.

So some of you may have read the blog post I made about Dirpy.com which was a site that allowed users to rip audio and video from YouTube. Well, soon after I made that blog post, Dirpy was shut down. All hope was lost. Luckily after a few weeks and some intense Googling, I found another (and perhaps better?) website for YouTube clip conversions. Behold, http://www.clipconverter.cc/

This website is very much the same as Dirpy. It’s not as simple or aesthetically pleasing but it’s the best thing on the internet right now.

Steps:

1. Insert YouTube URL under “Media URL” and click “Continue”

2. Choose what quality of video you’d like to convert/rip under “Direct Media”. You can also change the file name at this point under “File Name:”.

3. Choose the format you’d like to convert the YouTube video to under “Conversion Format”. (There are many choices but be mindful that “MP3″ and “MP4″ are the most common choices for audio and video, rexpectively).

4. Edit “Conversion Option” (I always skip this step because this just seems like technical mumbo jumbo to me but you can edit the start and end time here)

5. Click “Start”

6. Review the information and click “Download”

7. The conversion begins!

I hope this helps you guys in the future with projects but mostly I hope this helps you to download music for free…shhh…….

I chose “Noise” as the subject for my piece. I thought hard about what I consider noise to be and what is conventionally thought of as noisy. What I consider noise to be is shown in the clip through the sound of George W. Bush’s speech, the ripping paper, the woman screaming “Pussy! Pussy!”, feedback, and Glenn Beck shouting. I also included some ominous noisy sounds like a solemn cowbell and various other ticking or rustling sounds. Here’s the link (clicking on it will send you to another page where you have to click on “Eller-Sound” again to get to the project): Eller-Sound

http://soundcloud.com/nikolbasoglu/signal-and-noise

here is the album in photobucket with the scanned images of the zine.

http://s169.photobucket.com/albums/u214/jamiemayne/media%20lab%20zine/

http://soundcloud.com/nikolbasoglu/nikolbasoglu_sound

in this piece i wanted to show how sounds signify different meaning for different people. a sound for someone can be noise for someoneelse. I explored the recent debate between politicians and the Turkish public, where the politicians are trying to shut down the clubs becuse they’re too loud. but the sounds from the mosques are louder than the clubs.

I have reserved room 403 in 55 west 13 street on Thursday, December 9 from 6-8:40pm. Please post to let me know if you plan to attend.

I think Chuck Close would probably be the most famous artist working with Identity as a subject. His portraits are someone’s identity and the following link is what made me think on those lines :

http://www.artsconnected.org/artsnetmn/identity/close.html

So I FINALLY got my video uploaded. A little late I know. But here’s a blurb about it.

I guess the theme in this video was to celebrate different types of women. I don’t particularly think society or men expect women to be of a specific type or anything like that. I mean sure every guy has his fantasy that he’ll end up with a Victoria’s Secret model and every woman has something she’s self-conscious about, but I don’t think that means society “expects” us to look like 5’11″ models with six pack abs. So this video is to mainly celebrate those women who are credited for being more than just women, but inspirations and even heros to some. AKA mothers, soldiers, police women, cancer survivors, transgenders, etc.

I wasn’t trying to make a huge statement with the video simply because it’s not a huge issue to me and I just think people should get the respect they deserve for certain situations they’ve overcome (disease) or have decided to put themselves in to serve others regardless of the risks (soldiers, etc.)
LabMedia Gender Film- Erica Deutsch

The Sotheby’s is one of the oldest auction houses in the world located at 1334 York Avenue, 71st street NY 10021. I visited an exhibition on magnificent jewels on view in New York from december 4th-8th.The jewels were to be auctioned on december 9th. The jewels are from the Estate of William B. Dietrich sold to benefit the William B. Dietrich foundation. The centre of attraction of this auction are three spectacular diamonds illustrating superb quality-the first being a timeless 27 carat Tiffany & Co emerald cut emerald cut diamonds, a fancy pink diamonds both from private collections as well as a light pink diamonds from Goloconda mines. The collection mostly featured colored stones in beautiful vintage and contemporary jewelery designs.

As discussed in class, if you are interested in attending an open working session sometime between September 7-14 in the Computer Lab, post your interest and availability below.

Following are a bunch of net art examples.

Please Change Beliefs
Launch project

“Please Change Belief” is a project built for the World Wide Web which consists of several sections (be prepared to explore a bit to figure out how it works and how to navigate the site). It was done in association with äda’web, an experimental site now sponsored by the Walker Art Center.

There is a nod to interactivity in that you can take Holzer’s truisms and “improve” them or replace them with your own. Unfortunately, this doesn’t modify the basic exhibit, but simply adds the new slogans to a list which can be viewed separately.



Seppukoo, assisting your virtual suicide
Launch project

Seppukoo is the new artwork by Les Liens Invisibles. The website is designed to help people commit a symbolic, ritual suicide, killing their virtual identity. The main purpose of the project is to inspire a ludic introspection about using social networks, beginning with the most popular one: Facebook. The site also provide a memorial page on which users can write their last words. In the end, it all turns into a game, as you can score points by inviting your friends to commit a virtual suicide too.



ONLY THE GOOD.ORG
Launch project
A SOCIAL EXPERIMENT
Now in Public Beta the automatic newspaper that serves only the good news. An internet specific work by artist Antonio Riello and the artist duo Donnachie, Simionato & Son, which attempts to serve only the good news taken from the most popular international press agencies (eg. Google News, Reuters) The artists, with the programmer Reinier Feijen, have created an automatic newspaper which can algorithmically filter out all the bad news through the referencing of a constantly growing emotional database.



The Status Project
Launch project
Our identity can be thought of as a portfolio of
both private and public contracts both expressed and
implied with other people and organisations.

‘The system’ consists of the commons of our
collective relationships.

The status project is mapping these links on a
personal and national level producing maps for both
comprehension and mobility.

“Since 2004 artist Heath Bunting has been developing the Status Project, an exploration of the inter-relationships of UK status including citizenship, education, finance, identity, social security, work and utilities. The Status Project centres on an online database from which status maps have been generated and brought together in 0-9 The System Deluxe to create a unique A-Z of UK status.”



Blind Girl
Launch project
In Bindigirl (1999), Prema Murthy represents herself as an Indian pinup girl in a critique of the Internet pornography industry and the Orientalism found in Asian pornography.



Fuzzy Dreamz – ‘A journey into the psychogeography of dreams’
Launch project
A net.art project from fear to fun, drama, love, desire and a sense of wonder.
The moving images, soundtrack and voices are forming a ‘psycho-geography of dreams’. Work in progress since 1996.

Artist’s statement: In our minds we have private virtual museums, silent places for our memories, imagination and dreams – a provocative linking of nightmares and fuzzy logic.

Description of the work: In the beginning was the dreaming. In dreams we cross the borders of time and space. Time and timing is the medium of life. Fuzzy Dreamz consists of flashes from a constructed human gaze that emanates warmth and privateness, a provocative linking of nightmares and fuzzy logic. The medium is the messenger, and no longer the message. I use the cinematic syntax of montage in relation to synaesthetic dream experiences to discover our collective memory (a myth is a public dream, a dream is a private myth). Fuzzy Dreamz brings us closer to ‘who we are’, ‘what we want’ and ‘what we see with closed eyes’. The future never sleeps. . .

Although DADT was not repealed, a New York Magazine article shows that the Pentagon just released the findings to their study on whether or not the repeal of DADT would have a negative impact. The answer although obvious has just hit them on the head; obviously it would not be of negative consequences to allow openly gay military members to serve. I am sharing the article because I just found the idea of having to conduct a study quite ridiculous, at the end of the day we are all human beings, gay or straight.

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/11/official_results_of_pentagon_s.html

Here are the main highlights for the WikiLeaks mentioned in the previous post. How bad will this be?

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-11-28/wikileaks-documents-chinas-google-hack-un-spying-more-secrets/?cid=newsflash

Most of you have probably heard of WikiLeaks, the online community sharing classified government documents in an effort to reveal the truth behind the latter. This week it has been called the “9/11 of American Diplomacy” as it prepares itself to divulge classified documents that reveal the true assessments of US Embassies of foreign governments. The government’s hold over its “classified” matters weakens day by day as technology advances and they are the victims to hackers that leak out their information. I can see the point behind WikiLeaks, trying to exercise their right to freedom of speech and the public’s right to be well aware of what is going on, however this last move could hurt relationships with many important nations. The rest will play out this week…

During this past Thanksgiving weekend most of you were probably traveling back home just like every other year; the only differences might have been that this year there have been countless of stories of airports, TSA and full body scans. Although I still feel that the TSA is not prepared to handle this technology it could prevent grave disasters; however, how far will they go? How far will privacy be invaded and will it really make any difference? Hopefully for those of you who had to undergo this scan they will learn that the images must be deleted not stored and then leaked online (http://gizmodo.com/5690749/these-are-the-first-100-leaked-body-scans — see for yourself). Unfortunately for the TSA the media is to blame for the heat they have been taking; a California man able to take a video of his pat down and then leak it online created huge controversy (see here http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2010/11/15/am.flight.body.scan.cnn?iref=allsearch). The ability to spread news so quickly through the media has negatively affected the implementation of this new safety feature. Time will tell how this will end.

First of all, I would like to apologize for my blogging duties this week; I went to Dominican Republic and did not take my laptop; since there is no assigned blogger for Thanksgiving I will just continue to blog for this week!

Moving on.

Erica I just read your post on Facebook and Huffington Post and soon after went to CNN and the main article is titled “Social Media Making Us Anti-Social?”. It talks about Cristine Norine, an artists who for 30 days will be her own exhibit; she has set up camp in a gallery and has moved in furniture as well as her computer and a screen projection. She is trying to see if “technologies like social media and smart phones make it easier to correspond with others more frequently, but could these forms of communication replace analog interactions completely?”. She will only communicate through her computer and will not come outside for the entire duration of her exhibit. It is interesting to see that despite the fact that it seems to be everyone is on the social media bandwagon, some question its purpose. Take a look below and let me know what you think!

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/11/22/social.media.isolation.project/index.html?hpt=C1

This is the link to the blog she will be keeping for the duration of the experiment:

http://www.publicisolationproject.com/about/

Sorry for the consecutive posts. I saw this online right after I finished my last post…I guess I could have just edited it, but oh well. ANYWAY.

To go along with the Social Network/Facebook theme of my movie critique, I thought I would post this link to an article on the Huffington Post profiling Facebook’s new email server. WHICH I DO NOT GET. At this point, it’s really starting to just get ridiculous and is a reminder of why I deleted my facebook to begin with (Sidenote: this only lasted a month before peer pressure/lack of longdistance contact forced me to surrender my boycott).

THEN.

Right after I was finished reading the article, I realized that Facebook actually has an ENTIRE section donated to them on the Huffington Post. So I took a screen shot of the headlines for the “What’s Hot on Facebook” section. This whole concept strikes me as odd. On every news station/website/paper there are different sections regarding different countries, cities, and interests. Now instead of facebook articles being included in one of those interest sections…it IS a section, so does that make facebook it’s own world? I mean granted it sort of is if you ponder it long enough, but making this fact so concrete is sort of pathetic. Not only on Huffington Post’s part, but on the general public’s part too for living/fueling the facebook world.

Whoa, sorry that was a loong ramble.

ERD

So for my Lab Media outside activity last weekend I finally saw Social Network. I had been wanting to see it for a while, but sadly it didn’t really live up to everything I had heard. It was an interesting storyline, and the approached the deposition/flashback sequences in order to tell the story was cool, but I still just didn’t find it that exciting. Interesting? Yes. Exciting? No. I think Jesse Eisenberg did a really good job playing Zuckerberg and the shots of the “Harvard” campus (which I later found out was not actually Harvard) were really stunning in the beginning. I also enjoyed the witty remarks throughout. I don’t really have anything negative to say about the movie, but it still just didn’t live up to what I thought it would be.
I liked being able to see how facebook was created and I think the script writer hit the nail on the head when he wrote Justin Timberlake’s line that “you don’t have to make facebook just a company, you can make it a generation” (or something like that). To me, you can’t really sum up facebook’s impact any better than that. Also, at one point a girl mentions that it’s “freakishly addicting”. Now, it’s hard to even imagine not knowing what facebook is so it was cool seeing people act out the initial reactions to the site.
Overall, the movie was really excellent from many different perspectives which is why I’m surprised I didn’t enjoy it more. Still a great movie, technically speaking though.

ERD

For my sound project, I was interested  in the individual/mass language; I realized that every day I check the news, and sometimes watch it on the tv. The news media is a big part of my life and at the same time it influences the lives of many other people. The news becomes the voice for everyone because they disseminate the ideas that they are trying to push people into believing; the language of the individual is then lost and becomes a mass language. We all have our own individual language yet sometimes it is just easier to gather with the masses and agree with everything that is put forth.

http://soundcloud.com/user6780583/angie-marie-r-fernandez-caillou-imlab

Last year, I used to go to coffee shops to study, and get away from the noise of New York. I thought of it as an oasis, until I started to realize how annoying it was to constantly overhear other peoples conversations. I don’t know what is worse- having to actually hear and comprehend a persons conversation, or the noise of different groups speaking to a point where all of the conversations happening at once becomes static and incomprehensible. I recorded three different conversations over the course of a week and used it as the noise that starts distorting the song ‘Claire de Lune’ in my sound piece. The song starts out sounding nice and calm, but over the course of the three minutes it becomes smothered with chatter making it both frustrating and annoying to try to listen to. There have been so many times where a good song plays at a coffee shop, but I can’t enjoy it because of all the other noise and conversation my ears pick up on, and I wanted to exaggerate that feeling through this piece.

This is my video project I made for the gender/sexuality project. I decided to show the stereotypical housewife and how there can be double standards to someones personality. Just because a girl likes pampering herself and going to the nail salon doesn’t mean she can’t have a tough side as well.

Gender roles in India are very much in favor of the patriarchal society where women are objects of desire and often treated as sex objects. Even though things have changed the man seems to dominate the scene and hold on to his ego as the one in power. the man is the dominating one who controls a woman’s life,behavior and circumstances. I wanted to portray this situation through my video on gender roles.

We often don’t realize how sounds alter our behavior and reaction to our surroundings.I chose scary sounds and how they create a different impression when we hear them in the day time and at night. I found the different impressions funny and chose to make a sound clip exploring the different sounds and their impressions.

Please be sure your 3 projects are posted to the blog along with a concept statement of each. This sgould be done no later than next class.

Posting Sounds to the Blog

To post your sound project to the blog, first upload the file to SoundCloud. Feel free to use the account I set up.  The username is: diamons1@newschool.edu and the password is: medialab2010.  Once the sound is up, copy the URL and use the following format in your post to put in on the blog:
Posting Quicktime FIles to the Blog:
To post your videos to the blog, first upload your quicktime file to Vimeo simply by clickiing “upload a video” and locating your file. Once your file is located, and uploaded, copy the url and paste it in your post.  It will look like: http://vimeo.com/xxxxxxxx (the x’s represent a 8 digit number).

Erica\'s LabMedia ProjectStatement

The main idea I was trying to convey in my Audio project was the struggle that many people go through when trying to figure out their faith and beliefs in religion, or whether they actually have any or not. I was inspired by the idea when a close friend’s brother was abruptly killed in an auto accident and a lot of mixed feelings where kind of going on in my head. I sat in a sanctuary for a bit and listened to all the sounds of the church. Although it was silent, there was still a heavy aura in the room. It was this feeling I was trying to get through in my piece. It didn’t turn out exactly as I had it in my head, but I didn’t want the piece to be too boring so I added some more concrete sounds.
I guess if I had to choose the subject this project would go under would be individual/collective sound. Just because religion is a worldwide thing and there is an endless amount of views on the topic. No matter what religion someone is, or if they have one, I think many people can be empathetic of questioning of one’s own beliefs. Hope y’all liked it!

Erica\'s LabMedia Audio Project

In my piece i wanted to show how women get affected by gender issues and how there is always a pressure on women to look for the outside world. the first part of video shows the body image of women through the ages and hw it changed. the second half of the video is an abstract piece i created showing my feelings on the topic.

this is the statement i wrote to go along with my audio file.

This piece expresses the universal experience of parental figure as well as the ways in which that experience is heavily individual. The topic is explored through language and voice.
The following audio clip is a mash up of audio of my father in an interview of a few years ago speaking about his experiences as an alien abductee along with audio clips of my father, my mother and I when I was 3 years old. The poem you’ll hear is titled ‘This be the verse’ and is read by the poet Phillip Larkin. The song playing throughout is titled ‘Honey Baby your papa cares for you by Elizabeth Cotton.
The juxtaposition of the recent audio of my father and the audio from my childhood is mirrored in the conflicting song and poem. This dual and conflicting message expresses the discordant feelings I’ve had in my relationship with my parents.
In my experience, speaking to others about their upbringing, these mixed feelings are universal but the experience that produce them are unique and individual.

I chose not to post the actual piece here because I feel it’s too public a forum but, if for any reason anyone wants to hear it again I’d be happy to e-mail the file.

OurPlanetEarth

check this video out!  I really enjoyed the visuals too !

This is the first UK presentation of the award winning sound art installation Yokomono by Staalplaat Soundsystem. The installation is inspired by the experience of driving in a car close to the Funkturm (Radio and TV Tower) in Berlin, passing quickly in and out of different radio signals.

Yokomono consists of four toy car record players and a corresponding set of FM radios. The cars, known as vinyl killers, have been customized with wireless FM transmitters. As they spin around the vinyl, they transmit their signal to the radios which are tuned to a special Yokomono frequency.

By arranging the radios in groups it is possible to explore the architectural dimensions of the gallery space. Some radios are also mounted on a miniature train, literally driving through the interfering frequencies. An unstable sonic space is created as the vinyl killers run on batteries that will slow down during the installation, but not necessarily at the same rate.

Described as an ‘eclectic mix of techno culture and sound art installation’, Staalplaat Soundsystem use radio technology in a playful way to create a unique and adventurous installation.

Dirpy.com is a great website you can use to convert YouTube videos to MP3s. Simply go to dirpy.com, enter the URL, and click “dirpy!”. You will be directed to an editing screen. Here you can edit which parts of the video you want to download under “Record Audio” by selecting the start and ending times. The site is extremely convenient in that it posts the YouTube video on the right so you can figure out which part(s) you want. You can also edit the sound information (Album Name, Genre, Title, Artist, etc.)  under “Edit ID3 Tag Data”. If all you want is the audio, you can hit “Record”. If you want to download the audio and the video, you can click one of the links on the bottom left according to what quality of video you want.

I’ve been using this site for years to (illegally?) download MP3s for my iPod so I’m pretty experienced with it. If you have any questions or if I didn’t explain something clearly enough, please ask me anything!

This weekend I went to a sound and light instillation/exhibit in Tribeca. The show is a collaborative environment made out of symmetrical visuals on the walls and symmetrical audio pitches and frequencies. The sound piece, called  The Base 9:7:4 Symmetry in Prime Time When Centered above and below The Lowest Term Primes in The Range 288 to 224 with The Addition of 279 and 261 in Which The Half of The Symmetric Division Mapped above and Including 288 Consists of The Powers of 2 Multiplied by The Primes within The Ranges of 144 to 128, 72 to 64 and 36 to 32 Which Are Symmetrical to Those Primes in Lowest Terms in The Half of The Symmetric Division Mapped below and Including 224 within The Ranges 126 to 112, 63 to 56 and 31.5 to 28 with The Addition of 119, uses different frequencies played at the same time to give the listener a balance between a super high pitch and an extremely low tone at the same time. When I was in the room, I actually thought that my head was going to explode. Some of my friends on the other hand were completely relaxed and thought that it was a very cleansing experience. What freaked me out the most was that when you turn your head just a little bit, you hear different pitches and frequencies- so really there are hundreds of different sounds bouncing off the walls that you can hear in different positions of your head. My ears are still sore from the experience.

Here’s a link to their site for more information: http://www.melafoundation.org/DHpressFY09.html

Here are some sites:

SoundBible.com

thefreesoundproject

Partners In Rhyme

Project 2- Gender and Sexuality

This is the link for my project. I wanted to portray how everyone of us are socially constructed. The media have this “ideal women” & “idea men” and those who do not fit those requirements are count as the odd ones. But we tend to care about what others think and I think media affects us a lot.

My 3Min Assignment is a critique on how sex is used for advertisement and to sell a brand’s product. I chose American Apparel as the target company, considering how much backlash and controversy has surrounded their advertisements in exploiting the models and what goes behind the scenes. However, I believe that due to their advertisements and the controversy, they now have an image that they are known for and attract customers regardless. I think that nowadays we are indifferent to all these sexually stimulated ads. And sex does sell.

Stephen Vitiello is a visual & sound artist. He was actually a guitarist before.Two of his most famous projects are the Four Color sounds, which includes the colors red, blue, yellow and green and each of the colors have different sounds. For example the green would have sounds of a forest or bugs. Then his other project which was installed recently at the High Line called “A Bell for Every Minute. ” During park hours a bell will ring each minute from the speakers placed throughout the tunnel where he installed it and as one bell starting to fade out the next one begins.

The link is from his Four Color Sounds=> Four Color Sounds: Green

urvika_gender and sexuality

urvika_gender and sexuality

I chose androgyny as the subject for my video because I am absolutely fascinated by it. To me, androgyny is a personification of surrealism. In other words, it’s a total mindfuck. Our brains are very attuned to three possibilities in living beings: “male”, “female”, and “animal”. But there is a fourth. Androgyny is the in between.

In the beginning of my video, I focus on the oppression women experience based on the way they look or wear or were “supposed” to be as indicated by a man. The first part deals with 1950s womanhood and the ideal housewife. The second part of my project has to do with modern day oppression and harassment. The last part focuses on androgyny.

This is my practice exercise in Final Cut Pro. I just played around with different effects and transitions.

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/public/magazine/article389697.ece

I found this article fascinating. Lady Gaga, while she is the epitome of the situalationalist notion of ‘le spectacle’: a creature driven and produced entirely in the face of her consumers. I think that Camille Paglina, however, is far too harsh and judgmental on the pop star, focusing more on her open sexuality in the context of the spectacle, rather than the message.

Personally, I think that Lady Gaga is brilliant. Her music is fun and catchy, but would be absolutely irrelevant without her star personality to back it.

I did some brief research on Camille Paglina, and was surprised that she sounded so bitter in this particular article. She has written some really fascinating stuff and, judging from her past reviews, has very good taste in the arts, and usually isn’t so uptight. She even wrote a rather flattering review of Swimming Underground, Mary Woronov’s speed freak memoirs of her time at the Warhol Factory (anyone interested in that whole scene would dig the book – I just finished it, it’s great), so I was a bit stunned to see her being so critical, and frankly, bitchy.

I researched Ulrich Eller (initially because we share the same last name). It was hard to find information about him but his “Talking Drums” installation kept coming up in my research. For the version of “Talking Drums” seen in the video above, Eller hung snare drums in a large room. Some drums were at eye level and some were above. Inside each drum were speakers emitting the sound of short chalk strokes. This sound is then mixed with the normal sound a snare drum would make.

I find the exhibition rather haunting and surreal in the way that the drums are playing such a loud sound seemingly all by themselves. And then added to that, there is the factor that the sound is of sharp chalk strokes which gives me flashbacks to elementary school.

With further research, I found that Eller is more than just a sound artist. He studied at the Braunschweig School of Fine Arts and the Berlin University of the Arts and he is also a sculptor, a fine artist, and a photographer. I’ve found very limited information on Eller but one thing I did find intriguing is that he does a lot of outdoor sound installations. One example is Hörstein (‘Hearstone’) in which a boulder was split in half, speakers were put into it, the boulder was put back together, and the speakers played sounds from the interior of the rock.

I’m a bit miffed that I can’t find any information about him on the internet (there’s absolutely nothing of his on YouTube and only two videos of one of his works on Vimeo) because I really have an interest in his art and he also has a really great last name.

To post your videos to the blog, first upload your quicktime file to Vimeo simply by clickiing “upload a video” and locating your file. Once your file is located, copy the url and paste it in your post. It will look like: http://vimeo.com/xxxxxxxx (the x’s represent a 8 digit number).

For this weeks assignment, I decided to choose John Cage. I remember seeing his work 4’33″ in a class one day and thought it was extremely intriguing. Cage composed 4’33″ in three different movements and they consist of the artist to sit in front of a piano and do absolutely nothing for those 4 minutes and 33 seconds. No notes played. Nothing. In 1952, David Tudor did just that and it became one of the most controversial compositions in history. “In one short piece, Cage broke from the history of classical composition and proposed that the primary act of musical performance was not making music, but listening.” As I sat in class watching this piece, with no knowledge of what was to happen or what was suppose to happen, it was quite fascinating. The awkward silence that first filled the audience in the video and also in the classroom. Then the other sounds that filled the room were what the piece was really about. To listen to what goes on during a performance. The sounds of the everyday.

John Cage 4\’33\” by David Tudor

As promised, here are the other class blogs links. Have a look at their conversations!

Cynthia Lawson’s Class

Leigh Davis’s Class

Have a listen. This is a piece by John Roach, full time faculty member in the School of Design Strategies. More of his work can be heard at last.fm.

Below are the two videos for our Gender & Sexuality assignment!

***

After recently reviewing the work of Christian Marclay for another class, I decided to pick him as the sound artist I would research. I for one had not heard of him so I will give you guys some background information on him. Here are the basics: born in California in 1955, raised in Switzerland, currently living in New York. Marclay has been exploring the possibilities and different uses of sounds over the past thirty years, specifically the use of turntables. He creates sounds that result from the atypical use of an object. For instance in the video Guitar Drag (2000) he records the sound of a guitar that is being dragged along a pick-up truck. If interested in getting the full understanding behind his work, watch the video below in which the artist’s actual process is shown.

image via www.blog.some-assembly-required.net

….
Check out this link for a video on Marclay!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yqM3dAqTzs

I first heard of Bruce Nauman last year in my lab class when we studied Please Pay Attention Please. When I saw him on the list I thought it would be interesting to learn more about him. After even further investigation I found out he is from Indiana (HOLLA) so then I definitely decided to research him. From what I could gather after reading some essays and reviews and looking at his work and listening to his sound pieces, Nauman is definitely a man who likes to make a statement even though he is considered to be an extremely quiet man.
One aspect of Nauman’s life that I found very interesting was his interest in behavioral psychology and Skinner’s experiments with rewards and punishment being used to shape behavior. Apparently this interest creeps its way into Nauman’s life on a daily basis. Nauman works with Ray Hunter, who is known to have a special gift with horses, while alternatively training the horses on his ranch in New Mexico. Together the two analyze ways that humans, animals, and nature are all intertwined. He focuses this idea, along with the thought that humans are constantly acting as antagonists but always longing for harmony, into much of his work.
Another approach Nauman takes is the idea behind this quote: “If I was an artist and I was in a studio, then whatever I was doing in the studio must be art.” This being said, he has media works of him playing the violin in his studio and also stomping around his studio. Clearly his work is conceptual.
Nauman has won two Golden Lion Awards at each Venice Biennale exhibition in 1999 and 2009. He has been honored with numerous other rewards, which he quietly accepts and returns to his life. He lives in New Mexico with fellow artist and wife, Susan Rothenberg.

THE OPINION
It’s hard to briefly describe Bruce Nauman because he seems to be a man of many different angles and facets. His self-reflection on life shows up in every piece of work, which I admire and find confusing at the same time. After reading reviews and excerpts about some of his pieces I can see why he is such a renowned artist, but looking at the works myself and trying to figure out his statement on my own proves to be difficult. I enjoy his work with text and drawings the most. He has clever wordplay and I like the message he puts in each work.

EXAMPLES

SOURCES
Sperone Westwater
Modern Painters
Art News Blog
Wiki

ERD

I found this article online at the Huffington Post to go along with the article below about anti-gay bullying. It basically talks about how the Facebook is partnering with GLAAD to organize a sort of “spirit day” for anti-gay bullying.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/15/facebook-glaad-partner-to_n_764123.html

This is an interesting article that discusses the recent string of technology-related attacks that we all have been hearing about in the media:

“Technology has unleashed ugliness in us

There is another story here.

That it has escaped us thus far is not surprising. After all, the primary story, the obvious one, is compelling and sad.

In recent weeks, a string of teenagers have killed themselves after being tormented by classmates because they were, or were believed to be, gay. That includes 13-year-old Seth Walsh, who hanged himself, 13-year-old Asher Brown, who shot himself, 15-year-old Billy Lucas, who hanged himself. It includes Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old freshman at Rutgers who leapt into the Hudson River after his roommate secretly “webcammed” him making out with another man in their dorm room and streamed it live.

Add in the bizarre case of Chris Armstrong, a gay University of Michigan student who is the target of ongoing harassment by no less august a personage than Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell, and it’s not hard to understand why the headline here is about the bullying of gay young people. In a 2005 Harris Poll, a staggering 90 percent of gay students (versus 62 percent of straights) reported being harassed or assaulted in school. So, yes, the headline is appropriate.

But separate Tyler Clementi from the others and you’ll see: There’s also another story here.

Imagine an alternate scenario. Imagine that instead of a guy, Clementi was making love with a girl when his roommate, Dharun Ravi, went to another dorm room, remotely activated his webcam, and broadcast it to the world. With the distracting filter of homosexuality removed, a troubling question emerges.

Forget gay or straight. How do you do that to someone? Anyone? How do you broadcast someone’s moment of intimacy or private indiscretion for the world to laugh at? And why?

As it happens, the Clementi tragedy was roughly coincident with a video that has been making the rounds in journalism circles. It takes place in a television newsroom. As a news reader is reporting in the foreground, an intern behind her, oblivious to the live camera, picks her nose and appears to eat what she finds. A link to the video reached my inbox with a note calling it hilarious.

I disagreed. After all, this wasn’t a clip from some sitcom. This was a real person, a young woman, finding herself reduced to a national punch line, a laughingstock, all because of one ill-considered moment.

What she did was distasteful, yes. But the decision to share it with the whole wide world was worse.

Proof that these are not isolated incidents is as close as YouTube. There is always some video going around whose calculated effect is nothing more or less than humiliation on a global scale. Technology, it seems, has unleashed an ugliness in us.

In a Facebook, iPad, automated teller, self-serve, smartphone, e-mail, voice recognition kind of world, it is increasingly possible to make it through an entire day without the bother of having to interact with other human beings. Maybe as a result, we are forgetting how.

No, there is nothing new about pulling pranks.

What is new is the distance we now have from other people, this tendency to objectify them.

What is new is the worldwide reach technology now affords us.

And what is new is the cruelty, this willingness to casually destroy someone else with a few clicks of a mouse.

It is as if we have forgotten or never knew: people are not objects. They have feelings. They have intrinsic dignity and worth. And each of us is bound to respect that. There are things you just don’t do to other people, and the fact that technology makes those things easy to do doesn’t make that any less true.

So yes, there is another story here, and it is wrenching, simple, and self-evident: Tyler Clementi was a human being.

And he wasn’t treated like one.

By Leonard Pitts

LPitts@MiamiHerald.com”

The topic I’m focusing on for my project is androgyny. When I think of the androgynous look and its origins, the first thing that pops into my mind is Yves Saint Laurent’s Le Smoking suit jacket. Le Smoking was created in 1966 by YSL and was the first tuxedo jacket made for a woman that gained major attention from the fashion world and popular culture (yes, all that was from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Smoking).

This is a picture by Helmut Newton that I’ve been carrying around with me (in my flashdrive) for a while now and has served as inspiration for many of my projects in most of my classes this semester. I could write a book on this image. I think it’s amazingly powerful in what we think a woman is and what a man is and then the depiction of this “something in between” look–or androgyny.

Androgyny has gained a lot of popularity in recent years and I think that has a lot to do with the absolute access to all things that we have now.

This is my favorite “It Gets Better” video. It’s very sarcastic and funny yet heartfelt and extremely intelligent. And even a heterosexual girl like myself can appreciate the good-looking, scantily clad gay men at towards the end :)

I think these videos are spot on for our project topic of “Sexuality and Gender” and its connection to media, not forgetting the unfortunate circumstances that have led to the production of these videos, of course. Watch & Enjoy!

Following on Angie Marie’s last post, here’s another related article worth reading:
http://www.thenation.com/blog/155219/against-bullying-or-loving-queer-kids

I know someone in the class was looking into the Tyler Clementi case as inspiration for their video; I thought this article on CNN might be relatable as well.

Chris Armstrong, the first openly gay president of the University of Michigan is being cyberbullied by Andrew Shirvell, a lawyer in the Michigan attorney general’s office. He keeps a blog called “Chris Armstrong Watch” in which he accuses the student body president of imposing a radical homosexual agenda.

Read Full Story

Even in the Subway Stations!

Often when in the subway I feel frustrated about not being able to use my phone because I have no service; according to this article within the next six months six main subway stations will be wired for access. How far does media go? Do we really need wifi access while moving from one station to the next? I for one think it is not completely necessary, but if the MTA thinks we need to be wired all the time then I guess we do.

Click on this link for the full story about Wifi in New York City subway stations.

NY Daily News

Such a sad story but seemed appropriate to post and discuss in our media class.
click here to read

thought this photo shoot was an interesting turn on the usual ‘male dominating female’ shoot seen in magazines and especially seen in a lot of the photos we used for our video.

the green shows at new york fashion week 2010 was the premiere fashion show committed to eco-friendly, ethical sounding, fair trade fashion during the event .Having volunteered for it gave me a completely different perspective on eco-friendly fashion and how it could be beautiful. Using second hand raw materials and yet giving the products a high end finish and appeal.

the Green Shows produced a comprehensive canvas for full-length runway shows featuring an edited selection of designers. All invited designers were given the oppotunity to show their entire collections to an audience of influential editors,buyers and fashion VIP’s. 

It was effort to show that fashion can be considerate of the earth,animals,mankind.

Gender and TV Production

Television still perpetuates traditional gender stereotypes because it reflects dominant social values. In reflecting them TV also reinforces them, presenting them as ‘natural’. As one might expect in a society still dominated by men, men dominate TV production and, influenced by these stereotypes, unconsciously reproduce a traditional ‘masculine’ perspective, perpetuating dominant gender stereotypes. Many narratives on TV are still implicitly designed to be interpreted from a masculine perspective. Viewers are frequently invited to identify with male characters and to objectify females. This has been called ‘the male gaze’. This mode of viewing is called ‘unmarked’: it is an invisible and largely unquestioned bias – the masculine perspective is the ‘norm’.

Girls learn from most TV that it is a man’s world, and learn to displace their own perspective. In recent years there has at least been a notable increase in the number of women news presenters. Formerly, TV directors (largely male, of course) had argued that women were less likely to be taken seriously by viewers. However, one could perhaps argue that physical attractiveness may play more part in their selection than for their male counterparts.

There is in fact some evidence that girls (aged 8-12) may tend to find a male newsreader more believable than a woman newsreader, whereas the newsreader’s sex does not seem to influence boys’ ideas of their believability. Girls may grow used to being presented with the male on TV in general as more powerful and knowledgeable (see Durkin: 94).



Numbers of males and females on TV

Whatever its limitations as a TV research method, content analysis does at least provide us with basic data about the prevalence of gender images on TV. The number of women shown on TV is far smaller than the number of men shown. Men outnumber women in general TV drama by 3 or 4 to 1. 70-85% of those on children’s TV are male, and in children’s cartoons, males outnumber females by 10 to 1. Even in soap operas women can be outnumbered 7:3. There are also more men than women in starring roles; the exceptions are notable only as exceptions. In contrast to this dominance of the screen by men, we all know that in the everyday world, women in fact slightly outnumber men. In this sense, TV does not reflect observable demographic realities, although it may well reflect the current distribution of power, and the values of those who hold it.



Gender vs Sex

Most social scientists distinguish gender from sex. Gender roles are not biologically determined, but vary acording to culture and epoch, and even for individuals during the course of their lives. Gender roles are consequently described by social scientists as socially constructed. Most of the behaviour associated with gender is learned rather than innate. People learn what sorts of behaviour and personality are regarded in their cultural context as appropriate for males or females.

Even within a culture masculinity and femininity may be defined differently by various groups, in particular according to ethnicity, age, social class and sexuality. In this sense there is no single masculinity or femininity, but rather multiple masculinities and femininities. Not all men are ‘leaderlike’, ‘aggressive’, ‘assertive’, ‘independent’, ‘risk-taking’ and so on; and not all women are ‘affectionate’, ‘gentle’, ‘sympathetic’, ‘dependent’, ‘emotional’, ‘nurturing’ etc. Such qualities are found in varying degrees in most people.

But all men and all women are aware of the cultural prevalence of traditional gender stereotypes, and television contributes to this awareness. Sex roles involve cultural expectations, such as that men will seek achievement and dominance, and that women will be compliant and supportive. The relationship of individuals to these expectations often involves tensions.



Occupations by gender

The majority of women on TV are restricted to a few roles. Male roles are far more extensive and more exciting. Women are often shown on TV in ‘traditional’ roles such as housewives, mothers, secretaries and nurses; men are shown as husbands and fathers, but also as athletes, celebrities and tycoons. Marital status on is more often revealed for women on TV than for men. Men on TV are more often portrayed in employment, tend to have a higher status and are less likely to be shown in the home. Where women are shown as successful outside the domestic sphere they are frequently portrayed as unhappy in their personal lives. Once again, such a distribution of occupational roles lags well behind current realities in the workplace (however limited these may still be).



Stereotypical representations of gender roles

Though not as strongly as in earlier years, the portrayal of both men and women on TV is largely traditional and stereotypical. This serves to promote a polarization of gender roles. [With femininity are associated traits such as emotionality, prudence, co-operation, a communal sense, and compliance. Masculinity tends to be associated with such traits as rationality, efficiency, competition, individualism and ruthlessness.]

Meehan has shown how on TV, ‘good’ women are presented as submissive, sensitive and domesticated; ‘bad’ women are rebellious, independent and selfish. The ‘dream-girl’ stereotype is gentle, demure, sensitive, submissive, non-competitive, sweet- natured and dependent. The male hero tends to be physically strong, aggressive, assertive, takes the initiative, is independent, competitive and ambitious. TV and film heroes represent goodness, power, control, confidence, competence and success. They are geared, in other words, to succeed in a competitive economic system. There is no shortage of aggressive male role-models in Westerns, war films and so on. Many boys try to emulate such characteristics through action and aggression.

There are few women in the heroic role played by Sigourney Weaver in Aliens. Men tend to be shown as more dominant, more violent and more powerful than women. Men on TV are more likely to disparage women than vice versa. They drive, drink and smoke more, do athletic things, and make more plans. They are found more in the world of things than in relationships. Women on TV tend to be younger than the men, typically under 30.

So TV images largely reflect traditional patriarchal notions of gender. Stereotypical masculinity, for instance, is portrayed as natural, normal and universal, but it is fact a particular construction. It is largely a white, middle-class heterosexual masculinity. This is a masculinity within which any suggestion of feminine qualities or homosexuality is denied, and outside which women are subordinated. The notion of ‘natural’ sex differences help to preserve the inequalities on which our economic system continues to be based.



General advertisements

In television advertisements, gender stereotyping tends to be at its strongest because the target audiences are frequently either male or female. There has been some lessening of this in recent years but the general pattern remains. In adverts, men tend to be portrayed as more autonomous. They are shown in more occupations than women; women are shown mainly as housewives and mothers. Men are more likely to be shown advertising cars or business products; women are mostly advertising domestic products. Men are more likely to be shown outdoors or in business settings; women in domestic settings. Men are more often portrayed as authorities. As far as ads go, with age men seem to gain authority, whilst women seem to disappear.

Voice-overs represent the programme-maker’s interpretations of what is seen: these are the voices of ‘authority’. They are overwhelmingly male (figures of up to 94% have been reported). There have been more female voice-overs in recent years but mainly for food, household products and feminine care products. Male voice-overs tend to be associated with a far wider range of products.



Adverts for children

Most modern TV ads feature both girls and boys, but boys tend to be the dominant ones. Ads aimed at boys portray far more activity and aggressive behaviour than those for girls, and tend to be far louder. Boys are typically shown as active, aggressive, rational and discontented. Boys ads contain active toys, varied scenes, rapid camera cuts and loud, dramatic music and sounds. Girls ads tend to have frequent fades, dissolves, and gentle background music (Welch et al.)



Children’s programmes

Up to 85% of the characters in children’s TV are male, even in cartoons, and with animal characters – the sexual distribution of which is roughly as for Homo sapiens. Similarly, the occupational range for female characters on children’s TV far more limited than for males.



Children on TV

In general on TV, boys tend to be shown as active, aggressive, rational and discontented. They tend to engage in traditional male activities such as sports, travel and causing trouble. Even now, girls are often shown talking on the phone, reading and helping with the housework. This pattern is even found in educational programmes for children.



Gender and genre

Many commentators argue that viewing pleasures may be different for men and women. This is partly a question of programme genres, and partly of style of engagement with TV. Some theorists distinguish between styles of programmes which are broadly ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’. Those seen as typically masculine include action/adventure programmes, Westerns and factual programmes; those seen as more ‘feminine’ include soaps, sitcoms, romantic fiction and melodrama. Action-adventures define men in relation to power, authority, aggression and technology. Soap operas define women in relation to a concern with the family. It is largely in sitcoms and soaps that men may sometimes be seen as caring, loving and expressive rather than dominating and authoritative.



Soaps

Soaps in general have a predominantly female audience, although prime-time soaps such as Dallas are deliberately aimed at a wider audience, and in fact at least 30% of the audience for this soap was male. According to Ang, and hardly surprisingly, in Dallas the main interest for men was in business relations and problem and the power and wealth shown, whereas women were more often interested in the family issues and love affairs. In the case of Dallas it is clear that the programme meant something different for female viewers compared with male viewers.

The audience for soaps does include men (and probably more men than are prepared to admit it), but some theorists argue that the gender of the viewer is ‘inscribed’ in the programme so that soaps address women in particular. Soaps appeal to those who value the personal and domestic world. Dorothy Hobson argues that women typically use soaps as a way of talking indirectly about their own attitudes and behaviour. There is no doubt that viewing and talking with family and friends about soap operas is experienced by many women as a pleasurable experience, and the dismissal of the worth of the genre by many commentators, including some feminists critical of gender stereotyping, is open to the charge of cultural élitism.



The openness of soaps

Some feminist theorists have argued that soap operas spring from a feminine aesthetic, in contrast to most prime-time TV. Soaps are unlike traditional drama which has a beginning, a middle and an end: soaps have no beginning or end, no structural closure. They do not build up towards an ending or closure of meaning. Viewers can join a soap at any point: there are built-in devices to recap on aspects of the plot. There is no single narrative line. In this sense the plots of soaps are not linear. Narrative lines are interwoven over time. The structure of soaps is complex and there is no final word on any issue. A soap involves multiple perspectives and no consensus. Ambivalence and contradiction is characteristic of the genre. This leaves soaps particularly open to individual interpretations.

Modleski argues that pleasure in masculine narrative forms focuses on closure, whilst soaps delay resolution and make anticipation an end in itself. She also argues that masculine narratives ‘inscribe’ in the text an implied male reader who becomes increasingly omnipotent whilst the soap has ‘the ideal mother’ as inscribed viewer – a sympathetic listener to all sides. In ‘realist’ soaps female characters are portrayed as more central than in action drama, as ordinary people coping with everyday problems. Christine Geraghty argues that viewers see events in realist soaps through the eyes of such women (in Dyer et al., 1981). There is no single hero in soaps and no privileged moral perspective.

Easthope argues that the masculine ego favours forms which are self-contained, and which have a sense of closure. ‘Masculine’ narrative favours action over dialogue and avoids indeterminacy to arrive at closure/resolution. It is linear and goal-oriented. Dialogue in masculine narratives is driven by plot which it explains, clarifies and simplifies. John Fiske has argued that ‘masculine’ programmes are less open to multiple interpretations than ‘feminine’ programmes, which tend to be more open and ambiguous. Certainly women frequently report the importance to them of talking to others about the situations and characters in the soaps they watch. The characters in this sense become part of the viewers’ everyday lives.

In soaps dialogue blurs and delays. Soaps make consequences more important than actions and involve many complications. Not much seems to ‘happen’ in many soaps because there is no rapid action. In soaps such as Coronation Street and Brookside what matters is the effect of events on the characters, This is revealed through characters talking to each other. Viewers tend to feel involved in interpreting events from the perspective of characters similar to themselves or to those they know.

Women who are housewives and mothers need to be able to do several things at once, to switch from one task to another, to deal with other people’s problems, to be interrupted. Modleski argues that watching soap operas habituates women to interruption and fragmentation. As Livingstone puts it: ‘through narrative redundancy and repetition they make it easy, through dramatic tension and delayed gratification they make it pleasurable’.

However, it is easy to oversimplify gender differences in interpreting TV. Social class, ethnicity, age and education are all complicating factors, and there are considerable differences within gender

This article is very interesting especially in relationship to our conversation on gender and sexuality.

Click here to read and also be sure to view the slide show.

My technology map was a portrait of how technology makes me who i am , showing my dependance on it. It is now a part of me which makes me feel complete and hence I have projected it as a part of me in a way that

For my media map I decided to use paint as my medium. I chose to represent each different type of technology I was mapping as a painted app. Each painted app has six paint drips coming off of it with numbers representing my use of the technology. I also added bold white text, that uses words I associate with my reasons for using the technology.

For my media map I decided to represent my week’s findings as a doctor’s prescription. I found that the idea of representing it as required dosages would show my personal opinion that media is necessary and needed to cure all “illnesses”.

However, after presenting the work in class it became obvious that the project could be read two ways: a sarcastic commentary on the negativity of media or as mentioned before, the needed media. After hearing the class comments I must say that the prior perspective is the one that works most effectively. Although intended to be a positive note on media, the project reads more as a criticism on media and its effect on society.

Below is an image of the medical chart. The needles each represent a different type of media; the amount of needles is proportionate to the amount of time that was spent on each activity.

yea i know the image is small but click on it (twice) and it gets bigger

Technology Usage Map Explanation & Key 

I wasn’t in class last week so I’ve posted my technology usage map and the explanation:

  What I noticed about my map and my technology usage is that I’m constantly 

using technology. The only time I’m not using the internet or my ipod is when I’m 

asleep or in the bathroom. Even when I eat I watch television. This really disturbed 

me. I don’t like my dependence on the internet and I find my addiction to Facebook 

very unhealthy.  

Using my iPod or listening to music on my laptop is the technology I use the 

most. I’m not bothered by this usage at all because even though it’s constant and 

depended on, it’s still music and that’s something I find to be less related to 

technology and more related to art and creativity. At least, that’s what I tell myself 

Tie dye watercolor=Music 

Red stripes=computer/internet 

Warped or blurred text=Text messaging 

Blue & yellow outlined boxes=subway 

Black ties=facebook 

Teal boxes=phone calls 

Music

•Tie dye watercolor b/c to me, music, like watercolor, is: 

Soothing. Blends together. Relaxing. Something I love.

Computer/Internet

•Red stripes b/c computer usage is to me: 

A powerful force. A “stream” or “line” of constant information. Dominant.

Texting

•Warped text b/c text messaging to me is: 

Confusing. Annoying. Potentially dangerous/hurtful because of miscommunication. Annoying. Taxing. Awkward. Something I really hate.

Subway

•Blue & yellow boxes b/c: 

MetroCard is yellow and blue. The subway is a constant “loop” or “box”. Boxed in and bombarded by technology.

Facebook 

•Black ties b/c: 

Ties me and my friends together. A connector.

To go along with our study of Gender and Sexuality in the media, the first example I could think of were the Old Spice commercials I saw this past summer. They’ve been getting a lot of attention on youtube and are extremely funny because of how blatant they are. If you haven’t seen it, watch it, I laugh every time. It basically consists of a man being the epitome of all men because he uses Old Spice products. It’s really funny…so watch!Old Spice Guy
Old Spice Guy 2

For my own media map, I used the familiar image of a dreamcatcher and used the center to represent my phone, which had been my major source of media/technology while I was without internet. From there, I linked the phone to 8 of the most used features of my phone, then linked those to a symbol I chose for internet, and finally to all the real-life people and machines I had been using my phone to keep in touch with. I didn’t like the disconnect between myself and the world I was trying to reach through my phone and tried to represent that in my map.

Some Christians, Jews, and Muslims are abandoning Google and Yahoo and turning to search engines like SeekFind, Jewogle and I’mHalal that yield results they believe are more likely to have God’s seal of approval.

Inclusive or exclusive? Listen and read about three new religiously centered search engines and post your thoughts. What are the implications of them? Is this censorship and leading to a more intolerant society or is this a case of “selective inclusion.”
Stumble Upon

read here

Follow this link to read and listen to designers discussing the design of the new ballots and voting system.Top Designers Speak Out on the Ballot – WNYC.

When i was keeping track of my media usage, i realized that most of my phone, bbm, internet, skype, facebook usage was towards me trying to stay in touch with my friends and family back in Turkey. So i realized that by using media i was trying to be at two different places at the same time. While i was researching i found out that electrons can be at two different places at the same time. So at the center of my map there is a electron, i used nickel its symbol is NI which is the first two letters of my name, which symbolizes me. On the left side there is a map of Turkey and photos of family and friends, on the right side there is a map of Manhattan and the logo for Parsons. I used the thread, the tape and the pencil lines to show different usage of media, and towards which place i use them. the turkey side is more dense.

One of the things that the internet is flooded with is blogs.  Most people look at them and lots of people have one.  So I wanted to look at the DIY technology free alternative; the zine.  So here are some zine maps.  I plan on doing a zine style mapping of my day and when i use technology in it.

The yellow parts represent facebook, right?

This is a map drawn by Jules Verne. I just love old maps.

I also really like playing with the idea of juxtaposition; using an old world map with a futurist vision to chart modern media usage. In a way, cyberspace is as mysterious a place (at least it is to me) as these uncharted territories were for cartographers and explorers back in the day.

powers of ten :: charles and ray eames from bacteriasleep on Vimeo.

The top, is a three dimensional image map by Diana Cooper.  The Bottom, is a promotional poster for the 2008 World Fair.