Reaper says:
what's your real name ? (that was a joke his real name is Ahmed Shaltout)
Reaper says:
what got into art in the first place?
Reaper says:
eih
Reaper says:
no answer
Reaper says:
walla (or) do you want me to ask all questions first
Passion says:
I've been drawing ever since I was very little
Passion says:
when I was very young I would do random sketches of blob like creatures
Passion says:
but at the age of 3 I copied Ernie and Bert from sesame screen off the TV as is XD
Passion says:
at least that’s what I am told
Reaper says:
hmm
Passion says:
I've been into art since forever... it’s basically what I do regardless of what everything tries to convince me to be XD
Reaper says:
why do you do your art right now?
Passion says:
wow how do u reply that?
because it’s the best way to express myself
because I feel satisfaction seeing the ideas or feelings in mind materializing... I prefer the art related careers because u create a visual product that u feel has a part of what u had come to life... rather than careers that involve no visual output. No offence to others I am sure they love their jobs but I find difficulty
Passion says:
doing otherwise
Reaper says:
what inspires you to do what you do mostly?
Passion says:
depends on what u mean by what inspires me
Passion says:
as in specifically or generally
Reaper says:
both
Passion says:
generally it’s usually a feeling I have. if I am doing something for myself like character artwork... it’s a feeling I am feeling right now from a person experience or just on the spot that needs to become an image might be a part of a bigger story...
in work though I have a process that I would follow in order to "inspire" myself when u need to under deadline... which isn't exactly the same as
Passion says:
doing it when u feel it XD.. but..eating well.. sleeping well.. keeping a positive attitude with urself and people around you.. which reminds me.. people inspire me allot.. just talking to them.. and seeing their points of view on an idea I work on makes my mind explode with ideas
Passion says:
so I guess what inspires me is my own feelings and others feelings
Passion says:
and Cilantro's (a coffee shop) Cheesecake flavored Latte
Passion says:
with extra cinnamon powder and chocolate powder
Reaper says:
oh cool
Reaper says:
what do you think is unique about your art than other people ?
Passion says:
I would say that this is a little similar to the inspiration question.. I would say it makes me unique and doesn’t at the same time because this, at least from my point of view.. is the core of artwork, and it’s the ability to express a feeling using expressions, lien strokes and color .. basically that I concentrate on creating images that shows how I feel more than how I think.. also related
Passion says:
to that.. a designer where I work once said "good designers copy, great designers steal" .. if u take that literally u'd be shocked.. but it isn't literal.. good designers learn from others by copying their styles.. great designers do their work by "stealing" the very essence and soul of the artwork they few and use it in their own way.. my style is always based on everything I feel and input
Passion says:
from others.. whether artwork or people
Reaper says:
hmm
Passion says:
me3ada2 Ana (am I being too complicated ?)
Passion says:
ma3a2adak*
Reaper says:
bel3aks (on the contrary) this is awesome
believe me this is 3ady (normal)
Reaper says:
I'm loving this
Passion says:
Reaper says:
do you think growing up in Saudi then going to Egypt affected your art/thoughts about art ?
Reaper says:
and did this change of environment affect the way you think in general ?
Passion says:
wow hard question
Reaper says:
Passion says:
well growing up in Saudi Arabia.. since implementing artwork.. at least in the form of character artwork.. isn't culturally popular or accepted there.. one would give up on it.. but I can't help it.. I just couldn’t' stop drawing.. growing up I didn’t' have much friends or appreciation for what I did but I never stopped XD.. as a child I ended up drawing on all the walls in the house.. till my
Passion says:
father had to repaint occasionally and ban me from drawing on walls .. growing up I would fill my homework notebooks with more drawings than anything else.. and if any of the assignments where "draw something" or a diagram or anything that would be
a happy day
Passion says:
coming to Egypt mainly put me in an environment where some people strongly believe in going for ur dream while others are completely against it
Reaper says:
do you have scans of megeed of the jungle ? (drawings he made making fun of a lab assistant)
Passion says:
I don’t think so that’s so long ago XD.. drawings where I made fun of lab assistants and professors at college may not be easy to find right now XD
Reaper says:
ah because you showed them to me once in a copybook I thought you still had them
Reaper says:
so continue about Egypt
Passion says:
Egypt I came to AUC at 1st.. I didn’t' stay their long but the one thing I got from there, is initial motive to pursue my dream.. 1st I found a job as a newspaper cartoonist within the university.. then heard people talk to me about following my dreams
Passion says:
then I was transferred to a public college where people had the exact opposite mentality.. as depressing as that was I still held on to it.. with time I learned to have good friends and learned to love.. which somehow made its way in my artwork in an unimaginable way
Passion says:
I wouldn’t' say I regret how I grew up.. because every event I went through my life added to what I do and in my artwork in a way
Reaper says:
true
Passion says:
even if it looks like I have two extreme styles in my art
either totally crazy or very serene
Reaper says:
what about your experience with fionkat, and was that ever published
Passion says:
that was one issue .. my experience with that.. although it took me an effort to do that back then.. was that I got allot of credit from my employer back then from my ability to get in touch with my "feminine" side.. capable of drawing something with a more delicate emotional content.. but back then I wasn't yet comfortable with that thought.. probably cuz of society's influence.. and because I
Passion says:
was going through a phase where I had a bigger urge to express the more "Crazy" feelings rather than the serene feelings.. but since I was the best at doing so they had a hard time letting go .. I hated it back then but for some reason everyone loved it
Reaper says:
does your gender affect your work at all or the output of it or the thought process
Passion says:
I am actually not sure .. I mean I know I am capable of both getting in touch with either a masculine or feminine feeling.. but I have seen female artists that .. obviously got in touch with that feeling at a level much higher than I could dream to .. and of course there are the male artists that get too in touch with their masculine side that their images reek of unwanted masculinity XD .. I would
Passion says:
say probably not.. if it did effect I would probably not be drawing what I draw
Reaper says:
hmm
Reaper says:
do you feel the internet is the best way to display your art (deviant art) would you use it in a different way to publicize your art and have you ever thought if putting your art in a real gallery or does tat not fit your work.
Passion says:
well a real gallery is a little difficult.. my aim is to reach a level where I can make better animated work.. perhaps I see myself as a digital artist.. maybe if that real gallery consisted of various LCD screens either with static images, animated work.. or series of static images integrated with music like a moving storyboard
Reaper says:
ah ok
Reaper says:
do you feel that the digital medium is more comfortable and versatile than traditional drawing ?
Reaper says:
oh and you didn’t answer how would you better publicize your work online ?
Passion says:
well I actually like a mixture of both.. digital drawing enhances our work but I prefer to do it in a natural way.. and by that I of course mean, WACOM even if that sounds like an advertisement .. I have always been impressed by new ways of inputting digital art in natural methods.. traditional drawing is very important to learn .. at least from my point of view, in order to take it to the next
Passion says:
level in digital art
Passion says:
well I would better publicize my work online by giving more time to finish my own work for I've been trapped in turmoil of corporate artwork not giving me time to great something to make a gallery out of
Passion says:
but soon
probably by.. on deviant art or other sites
Passion says:
creating high quality images to put online for sale as prints
Passion says:
rather than just an image gallery
Passion says:
I believe in the online world for one main reason
Passion says:
because I feel the artwork I create is something for the world to see
Passion says:
but at the same time the idea of a digital screens gallery is cuz I wish for the people around me to see what I have in store too
Reaper says:
some of the corporate if you are allowed
Reaper says:
I don’t think so
Reaper says:
assume I have nothing
Reaper says:
ok about animation
Reaper says:
do you think you would pursue it more ?
Passion says:
yes I would pursue it more since it’s my goal.. I feel I am a little behind but what’s making me feel ok about it is I am learning allot doing what I do now.. even if it's "postponed" whatever I learn now will help in what I wish to learn later.. but I definitely wish to pursue it more soon.. since I feel I can do it naturally
Passion says:
I just need to learn more and practice
Reaper says:
do you feel working in graphic design has helped your character drawing techniques
Passion says:
my more recent work gets colored more instantly.. sometimes I choose colors while doing the image.. my work used to be more monochromatic
Reaper says:
hmm
Reaper says:
what are your artist plans in the near future any projects you want to pursue or you are currently working on
Passion says:
ironically what I as thinking of currently perusing isn't pure artwork as much as it’s something that can help compliment it.. which is learning flash action script in order for me to have a chance of at least sampling interactivity with the animations I would create.. second is trying to get a stronger grasp of classic animation and try to get some more solid samples out there rather than test
Passion says:
runs
Reaper says:
have you tried looking at other net artists that have their animation and artwork interactive
Passion says:
I did .. I found some things I like.. but many are easily satisfied.. and the ones ii DO like have reach such a high level that probably requires me at least 2 years of training to get there
Reaper says:
you have recurring themes of emotions friendship and breaking free in your work as well as multiple personality do you believe those are the main topics you like to represent or are there deeper topics you want to portray in your work
Passion says:
there are deeper topics .. those are usually the topics that appear when I express myself for myself
Passion says:
but yes I would love to go further
Reaper says:
do you think you would want to use your art for controversial issues like politics masalan (for example)
Passion says:
no because in my point of view.. there are feelings behind what lead to the political issues in the 1st place.. I would probably see it from the point of view of a person who’s' misunderstood in the political process.. or the sad and twisted mind of a person that thinks he did the right thing and how he appears form the outside as a person that hurts many but deep inside he thinks he's a sad person
Passion says:
and thinks he's doing this since he's right.. rather than use it to express something that is "going on wrong with the world".. I prefer going to the source.. and for me
Passion says:
politics is a surface issue no matter how deep u go
Reaper says:
your recurring character buzz is always evolving and you told me before he is like a representation of yourself, do you believe the reason he looks different now than when you first invented him is because you yourself evolved into a more mature artist
Reaper says:
do you feel embarrassed or restrained to go into more adult themes with your art like making them dressed indecently
Passion says:
I feel it’s unnecessary
Passion says:
and if I was to express such a feeling I feel there would be a more creative way than the obvious
Reaper says:
in your work there is a recurring theme of technology did that come from your CS background
Passion says:
probably.. but generally I've always been fascinated by the concept of balancing nature with technology.. many people would be against that but I'm not.. probably comes from my background of being in Saudi Arabia
Passion says:
the way they build things there u feel complements the environment
Passion says:
people would say nature + technology = carcinogenic DNA engineering to create unnatural large fruits that are bad for u
Passion says:
I see a harmony between nature and technology something like creating underground water pipes that make plants grow in the dessert
Passion says:
rather than modifying the core of creation
Passion says:
desert*
Reaper says:
hmm
Passion says:
the idea of a futuristic reflective building.. a modest a grassy field has always fascinated me
Reaper says:
this brings us to another theory since you talk about the unity of nature and technology you also talk about being split on the inside though
Reaper says:
split personality
Reaper says:
cyborgs
Reaper says:
etc
Reaper says:
do you believe that humans should have more than one personality inside
Passion says:
I believe the concept of split personalities is not as pure as people think it is.. and sometimes I feel its something ur born with.. some people have a fixed way of thinking and feeling.. some people have various little personalities inside them.. both have its advantages and disadvantages. what I enjoy about having various mini personalities that all become one whole personality is the capable
Passion says:
I don't think people SHOULD have more than one personality although it’s naturally for most people to have that.. just not everyone admits it
Passion says:
I think people just need to be honest with them
3/10/2008
6:00:01 PM
Reaper
Passion
ok my professor is asking you do you have any new characters in mind right now
3/10/2008
6:02:50 PM
Passion
Reaper
buzz is every developing as usual.. but there is another character I seem to be more concentrated on recently .. the unnamed character I called Emotions :P.. I started seeing his personality more clearly and the environment around him.. opposite of buzz.. he isn't fueled by grief and rage as much as he is driven by a sense of innocence and the urge to be better.. he is a very excited person deep in
3/10/2008
6:03:13 PM
Passion
Reaper
inside but he has more childish emotions that I feel the other character buzz doesn't not connect with as much except in the form of crazy fun
3/10/2008
6:03:17 PM
Passion
Reaper
hmm
3/10/2008
6:04:53 PM
Passion
Reaper
anyhow the new character seems to be concentrating on more emotional feelings that people view as "feminine" but in fact they're more.. innocent .. and how to release those feelings in an amazing way how to relax and take it easy rather than explode and go crazy :D
3/10/2008
6:17:50 PM
Reaper
Passion
have you considered making a flash video game for you characters
3/10/2008
6:19:15 PM
Passion
Reaper
yes but not those specific characters.. but that’s the idea I wish to pursue at the moment with a few friends at work.. but we're taking our time cuz we want this to be fun not another source of pressure.. if it becomes a source of pressure.. how will we express ourselves properly :) anyhow yes.. we've been talking about it for a while and starting collecting the necessary resources to make a
3/10/2008
6:19:16 PM
Passion
Reaper
step :)
3/10/2008
6:20:40 PM
Reaper
Passion
thnx allot dude
3/10/2008
6:20:47 PM
Reaper
Passion
all the class thnx you too
3/10/2008
6:20:54 PM
Reaper
Passion
you've been live in my classroom
3/10/2008
6:21:35 PM
Passion
Reaper
ok :D
3/10/2008
6:21:43 PM
Passion
Reaper
thanks everyone it was an honor :)
3/10/2008
6:22:22 PM
Reaper
Passion
they already saw on facebook :P
3/10/2008
6:23:15 PM
Reaper
Passion
my proff thinks you should put more of your stories the work
3/10/2008
6:23:18 PM
Reaper
Passion
like buzz and emo
3/10/2008
6:23:29 PM
Passion
Reaper
I will do my best to do so :)
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
It's a Caveman's world
Interesting how when time progresses we revert to the past, when one grows up they start to act younger midlife crisis, peeing the bad later on in life just as they were kids. but never in my life have I imagined that civilization itself would revert back to old times. All the signs were right there but no one noticed, reverting back to polytheism of ancient times this time worshipping zeuses and heras that are better known as hollywood stars. and after this reading i discovered that we are back to the great age of the caveman, hiding in our little caves as dictated to us by the major dinosaurs better known as the corporations, or for a more closer concept the videogame corporations.
you see acording to the eye opening gamer theory, I discovered that the video game world is placing us (gamers) in a world in which we are blindfolded from the real world, better yet we were forced to live in a masked world, a world that resembles reality yet it just isn't the real world. with games resembling reality more and more it is no longer a matter of escapism, it has become a form of psuedo life in which the gamers live and thrive. and who wouldn't want to be an extremely awesome person that defies the rules of physics. well this can go overboard and take over their real life, making the virtual world real and the real world non-existent.
But the theory is even deeper than that, you see in a game, there are timekeepers, score keepers, judges, and written rules. life as it turns out deeply resembles the video game (Ironic init while games try to emulate life, now life is resembling the games, the irony is uncanny) with only minor differences, you don't know the score, you don't know the rules, you don't know "merde" (excuse my french), you're just pulled into it, slapped on the butt and off you go, you're on your own from then on out, the rules ?? no one tells you, the score ?? no one knows, the goals ?? you set your own.
mackenzie states that immersing oneself in a game locks you up in that virtual cave that venturing into the outside world afterwards seems next to impossible, and the real world isn't easy to venture into normally due to the vagueness of its objectives, no one knows how you should play in this life game, but it sure beats the hell out of any algortihm, so in my opinion one shouldn't focus on one game or the other but simply combine the two to reach optimum results in both. with moderation ofcourse in matters relating to military affairs (seeing as how most games tend to arch in that direction call of duty is only cool when you're blasting polygon based blood and guts aight)
you see acording to the eye opening gamer theory, I discovered that the video game world is placing us (gamers) in a world in which we are blindfolded from the real world, better yet we were forced to live in a masked world, a world that resembles reality yet it just isn't the real world. with games resembling reality more and more it is no longer a matter of escapism, it has become a form of psuedo life in which the gamers live and thrive. and who wouldn't want to be an extremely awesome person that defies the rules of physics. well this can go overboard and take over their real life, making the virtual world real and the real world non-existent.
But the theory is even deeper than that, you see in a game, there are timekeepers, score keepers, judges, and written rules. life as it turns out deeply resembles the video game (Ironic init while games try to emulate life, now life is resembling the games, the irony is uncanny) with only minor differences, you don't know the score, you don't know the rules, you don't know "merde" (excuse my french), you're just pulled into it, slapped on the butt and off you go, you're on your own from then on out, the rules ?? no one tells you, the score ?? no one knows, the goals ?? you set your own.
mackenzie states that immersing oneself in a game locks you up in that virtual cave that venturing into the outside world afterwards seems next to impossible, and the real world isn't easy to venture into normally due to the vagueness of its objectives, no one knows how you should play in this life game, but it sure beats the hell out of any algortihm, so in my opinion one shouldn't focus on one game or the other but simply combine the two to reach optimum results in both. with moderation ofcourse in matters relating to military affairs (seeing as how most games tend to arch in that direction call of duty is only cool when you're blasting polygon based blood and guts aight)
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
There's blessing in movement
The title is an egyptian Idiom (fel haraka baraka) which means there's is blessing in movement and by blessing it means bounty and benefits. which I thought would be really fitting of this reading http://www.critical-art.net/books/ted/ted2.pdf about nomadic power.
what the writers talk about here is how being a nomad and having no dependence on roots in one place or another can give you huge cultural power. and even though that is true it is not the only way to do it, but I agree that having nomadic properties would defintely give you a huge advantage in whatever you want to do. but the writers only focus on one aspect of nomads and kind of miss the big picture of the true power of nomads.
first I'll start with what they were trying to say, from their point of view the power of the nomad lies within their belonging to the road and nothing else, having no stable roots or location to belong to so that way no one can put them on the defensive, no one can attack them where they sleep or where their kids lie because it is everywhere. that is true a huge amount of nomadic power lies within their ability to up and leave whenever they wish to wherever they wish. where they stop they lay to rest. the writers mentioned the scythians which brought to my mind two other nomadic peoples that met their demise when they gave up their manuverability, the huns of mongolia once they setteled and strechted their empire too far for them to handle without settling down caused them to be kicked back to mongolia from the arab lands, also the hyksos which invaded northern ancient egypt (lower egypt) they were nomadic sheperds, viscous in combat and very fast riders, once they setteled in and started building palaces, ahmose (then pharoh of southern Egypt (upper egypt) ) after discovering the war chariot launched an attack that sent them going back from whence they came, so truly nomads gain their power from being mobile. and that can be turned into modern day society by using the technique of "keeping them guessing" basically being nomadic nowadays is simply being unpredictable enough so that your rivals won't see you coming as well as have the manuverability to be everywhere and anywhere at the same time (like Mcdonald's, I would have said starbucks but that isonly valid within the US starbucks just opened in Egypt last year whereas McDonald's can be found on Every street corner anywhere in the world, Although the taste differs from place to place, for instance in egypt and holland Mcdonald's actually has a taste, in New york city it is acceptable to eat anywhere else in the US it tastes pretty much like Cardboard paper and not actual meat, and I've actually tasted it in these places and I can verify my words).
This is the obvious facet of nomadic power one that non nomads see and think they can make out how to reach success through that nomadic power without even knowing the principles of nomadic life. I can't say I myself fully grasp it but while I was doing a documentary about the sights in the southern sinai desert (like mount sinai where moses got the ten commandments or the different canyons and oases) we spent our nights with nomads all the time, because the only good places to bunk in the desert would be with the nomads (known as the bedouins) those are your stereotypical run of the mill traditional dressing, camel riding, sheep and goat herding arabs, they live in the desert, and rule by the rule of the desert nomads in every aspect of their life even if they have a home base they go to (what the writers called the bunker). I'll stray off for a second to explain the bunker concept, the bunker is like a homebase or an HQ where you can hide and regrop as well as rethink strategy for corporations this would be where the CEO lies, for nomadic tirbes, this is their base camp where the tribal leader lies as well as the women and children. but staying these five nights with the bedouin people got me to know the other facets of their power that lie deep within their society that we are missing in ours.
Being tribal people the tribe lies first before everything (beleive it or not even the government they don't give a rat's behind about anything but their own tribe) the leader's word is the law, and it is always justice that prevails. Culture and tradition are highly respeced and NEVER minsiculed or ignored, they are always proud of their culture enforcing it and always maintaining their traditions (and I'm not talking about having cranberry sauce with turkey at thanksgiving I'm talking deeprooted traditions more than hundreds of years old, like weddings that last for weeks with certain rituals inbetween, or rules for vendettas between tribes) it is this unity and respect for culture that grants them the ultimate power. so really to reach ultimate nomadic power I would highly advise one to seek within himself/herself or within their organization find the cultures and traditions that created that organization (or themselves) and also find the unity within that organization that along with keeping people guessing aka being extremely flexible and mobile as well as everywhere and anywhere grants complete nomadic power.
what the writers talk about here is how being a nomad and having no dependence on roots in one place or another can give you huge cultural power. and even though that is true it is not the only way to do it, but I agree that having nomadic properties would defintely give you a huge advantage in whatever you want to do. but the writers only focus on one aspect of nomads and kind of miss the big picture of the true power of nomads.
first I'll start with what they were trying to say, from their point of view the power of the nomad lies within their belonging to the road and nothing else, having no stable roots or location to belong to so that way no one can put them on the defensive, no one can attack them where they sleep or where their kids lie because it is everywhere. that is true a huge amount of nomadic power lies within their ability to up and leave whenever they wish to wherever they wish. where they stop they lay to rest. the writers mentioned the scythians which brought to my mind two other nomadic peoples that met their demise when they gave up their manuverability, the huns of mongolia once they setteled and strechted their empire too far for them to handle without settling down caused them to be kicked back to mongolia from the arab lands, also the hyksos which invaded northern ancient egypt (lower egypt) they were nomadic sheperds, viscous in combat and very fast riders, once they setteled in and started building palaces, ahmose (then pharoh of southern Egypt (upper egypt) ) after discovering the war chariot launched an attack that sent them going back from whence they came, so truly nomads gain their power from being mobile. and that can be turned into modern day society by using the technique of "keeping them guessing" basically being nomadic nowadays is simply being unpredictable enough so that your rivals won't see you coming as well as have the manuverability to be everywhere and anywhere at the same time (like Mcdonald's, I would have said starbucks but that isonly valid within the US starbucks just opened in Egypt last year whereas McDonald's can be found on Every street corner anywhere in the world, Although the taste differs from place to place, for instance in egypt and holland Mcdonald's actually has a taste, in New york city it is acceptable to eat anywhere else in the US it tastes pretty much like Cardboard paper and not actual meat, and I've actually tasted it in these places and I can verify my words).
This is the obvious facet of nomadic power one that non nomads see and think they can make out how to reach success through that nomadic power without even knowing the principles of nomadic life. I can't say I myself fully grasp it but while I was doing a documentary about the sights in the southern sinai desert (like mount sinai where moses got the ten commandments or the different canyons and oases) we spent our nights with nomads all the time, because the only good places to bunk in the desert would be with the nomads (known as the bedouins) those are your stereotypical run of the mill traditional dressing, camel riding, sheep and goat herding arabs, they live in the desert, and rule by the rule of the desert nomads in every aspect of their life even if they have a home base they go to (what the writers called the bunker). I'll stray off for a second to explain the bunker concept, the bunker is like a homebase or an HQ where you can hide and regrop as well as rethink strategy for corporations this would be where the CEO lies, for nomadic tirbes, this is their base camp where the tribal leader lies as well as the women and children. but staying these five nights with the bedouin people got me to know the other facets of their power that lie deep within their society that we are missing in ours.
Being tribal people the tribe lies first before everything (beleive it or not even the government they don't give a rat's behind about anything but their own tribe) the leader's word is the law, and it is always justice that prevails. Culture and tradition are highly respeced and NEVER minsiculed or ignored, they are always proud of their culture enforcing it and always maintaining their traditions (and I'm not talking about having cranberry sauce with turkey at thanksgiving I'm talking deeprooted traditions more than hundreds of years old, like weddings that last for weeks with certain rituals inbetween, or rules for vendettas between tribes) it is this unity and respect for culture that grants them the ultimate power. so really to reach ultimate nomadic power I would highly advise one to seek within himself/herself or within their organization find the cultures and traditions that created that organization (or themselves) and also find the unity within that organization that along with keeping people guessing aka being extremely flexible and mobile as well as everywhere and anywhere grants complete nomadic power.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Fembot alchemy
As much as I like sci-fi and fantasy, reading the words cyborg or chimera in this article had a completely different meaning. http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/Haraway/CyborgManifesto.html harway's cyborg manifesto.
Now I claim to be a feminist myself, due to the way my life was growing up my major influences were mostly female, raised solely by my mom who was raised by hers, the closest parents I have till now remain to be my mom and grandmother (to whom I wish refer to by her nickname Zizi only and never as grandma or any of its synonyms). that lack of a male influence (other than my own) provided the balance within me to respect the finer sex (as we call it back home). but then again I do not completely agree with haraway's Ideas even though within her own culture and society her ideas might be the best approach possible.
Haraway talks about the cyborg, a unity of man and machine, sometimes of animal and machine or even all three together, like the chimera's produced by alchemy, the elements have been deeply infused that you can't recognize when does the human start and the machine begins or the other way round but they are simply on unit, one piece the ultimate singularity. she says the bature of the cyborg is that it refuses to see the differences within it (it's parts if you will) but only sees itself as a whole, and no one can blame it because if it did see it's parts does parts will conflict and fight each other forcing it to disentegrate, so unless unity is achieved NOTHING is achieved. Logical right, well that's the cyborg's luck that it runs on digital logic while humans run on the logic of chaos (and refuse to follow it even).
she says that when a person aspires to be a feminist they are faced by the problems of not using the sum of their parts to strengthen their position but conflict themselves by pitting their parts against each other. her main example was the when one says "woman" to try and fight for women rights, they mostly mean white adult females, so when someone says "black women" they just excluded all blacks by saying woman, and excluded everyone but blacks by saying black (I am using this just as an example and not to practice racisim for those of you who enjoy the backwater political correctness), a vague example that she gives but what she is trying to say is that in the modern american society one person is divided into so many parts of race gender and class etc... that they fail to unify and fight for their rights. so she is trying to say that the best approach for that is to reach cyborgism and become one whole without botering with the petty differences. it's like when people got mad at oprah for supporting barack obama because their both black but not hilary clinton while they are both females, IT IS THAT CONFLICT that makes everything within this society so godamn difficult, what is really the difference between black, white , yellow, brown, red or terrorist (since that last one is now the common refrence for the arab race), male or female, essentially there isn't any difference if we break it down to biology or physiology (except for the fact that men and women have different genetellia). exactly the same no difference what so ever, at least not enough to case such huge controversy between those properties of humans (race gender class... etc).
but no, humans can't leave it simple, they have to overcomplicate and then try to simplify, men have to be from mars and women have to be from venus, what about black men then ? jupiter since most of them are well built? what about native americans ? pluto since it no longer is a planet? why do they have to complicatre things so much for it to be unbearable to live among fellow human beings.
It is quite simple actually, when americans wanted to write in zero G NASA developed a very expensive pen in which the ink flows out regardless of gravity, russians just used a pencil. it is what I call the Old world VS the New world syndrome, The old world wise and aged have taken control of the surrounding environment (as well as surrounding peoples) and reached a point were no conflicts exist (mostly I mean darfur, palestine, pakistan and india, and others are just what we call a hurricane in a cup) through culture and tradition. whereas, the new world, just like the youth, is hotheaded, stubborn and quick to react at times, as well as abusing it's power, whenever possible. they started very early on, since the renegade oldworlders escaping the traditions and cultures that they felt opressing them went out to their promised land and started their own traditions and cultures, traditions of oppression starting with the red indians, to black slaves and so on and so forth but also culture of liberation, and freedom, which are essentially magnificent but still can be used for not really good terms ( the route to hell is lined with good intentions right). so with those overcomplicated conflicts of oppression and freedom over the mere 200 years of evolution of the new world, old grudges of the past haven't dissipated yet, from both sides. those bottled up feelings inside tend to now come up and divide the whole that makes a human. Newwolrdlers that escaped the old world claim it for themselves and reject their past, while newworlders that where brought by force or made there (latinos) still respect their original heritage, that's why you have african american and mexican american and asian american but never german american, irish american, english american or even french american.
The whites have reahed their unity but tend to forget that non-white folk are similarly humans and should be at the same unity, sure they do now (most of them) but it is kind of a little late so it will need sometime for te grudges to dissipate (or maybe not grudges between arabs and israillies within the general masses are still alive, but in most cases they do dissipate) so to that extent I agree that the only quick formula to reach this unity is to go for Haraway's cyborgism as it is effective.
another example of how these differences have been overlooked in the old world, haraway mention's a french theorist that says feminism appeared after world war II, while women cojoined men hand in hand in 1919 in egypt against the british oppresison and went down in the streets to protest the british invasion and the exile of Saad Zaghloul they also overlooked their relegious differences in that same riot/protest and the slogan of that protest was long live the crescent with the cross (recognizing the two major relegions in egypt which are christianity and islam). so it's not that hard to overlook the differences in the face of oppression, and since feminism appeared to give women their rights, this means their rights are being oppressed this means that they should cyborgify and forget their differences for the greater good of aquiring their rights.
what I don't like about Haraway's article though is that she wants to abolish the goddess status of women, and make them ONLY cyborgs, to which I disagree due to the fact that this status in my opinion is simply placing women on a high pedestal of respect, women are the givers of life and raisers of generations, that status shouldn't be slashed for the sake of their rights but merely used as a reinforcement, to provide levereage for the women rather than looked at as a weakness.
so really haraway's point about the cyborg is really valid although I really don't think the goddess status should be forgotten...
Now I claim to be a feminist myself, due to the way my life was growing up my major influences were mostly female, raised solely by my mom who was raised by hers, the closest parents I have till now remain to be my mom and grandmother (to whom I wish refer to by her nickname Zizi only and never as grandma or any of its synonyms). that lack of a male influence (other than my own) provided the balance within me to respect the finer sex (as we call it back home). but then again I do not completely agree with haraway's Ideas even though within her own culture and society her ideas might be the best approach possible.
Haraway talks about the cyborg, a unity of man and machine, sometimes of animal and machine or even all three together, like the chimera's produced by alchemy, the elements have been deeply infused that you can't recognize when does the human start and the machine begins or the other way round but they are simply on unit, one piece the ultimate singularity. she says the bature of the cyborg is that it refuses to see the differences within it (it's parts if you will) but only sees itself as a whole, and no one can blame it because if it did see it's parts does parts will conflict and fight each other forcing it to disentegrate, so unless unity is achieved NOTHING is achieved. Logical right, well that's the cyborg's luck that it runs on digital logic while humans run on the logic of chaos (and refuse to follow it even).
she says that when a person aspires to be a feminist they are faced by the problems of not using the sum of their parts to strengthen their position but conflict themselves by pitting their parts against each other. her main example was the when one says "woman" to try and fight for women rights, they mostly mean white adult females, so when someone says "black women" they just excluded all blacks by saying woman, and excluded everyone but blacks by saying black (I am using this just as an example and not to practice racisim for those of you who enjoy the backwater political correctness), a vague example that she gives but what she is trying to say is that in the modern american society one person is divided into so many parts of race gender and class etc... that they fail to unify and fight for their rights. so she is trying to say that the best approach for that is to reach cyborgism and become one whole without botering with the petty differences. it's like when people got mad at oprah for supporting barack obama because their both black but not hilary clinton while they are both females, IT IS THAT CONFLICT that makes everything within this society so godamn difficult, what is really the difference between black, white , yellow, brown, red or terrorist (since that last one is now the common refrence for the arab race), male or female, essentially there isn't any difference if we break it down to biology or physiology (except for the fact that men and women have different genetellia). exactly the same no difference what so ever, at least not enough to case such huge controversy between those properties of humans (race gender class... etc).
but no, humans can't leave it simple, they have to overcomplicate and then try to simplify, men have to be from mars and women have to be from venus, what about black men then ? jupiter since most of them are well built? what about native americans ? pluto since it no longer is a planet? why do they have to complicatre things so much for it to be unbearable to live among fellow human beings.
It is quite simple actually, when americans wanted to write in zero G NASA developed a very expensive pen in which the ink flows out regardless of gravity, russians just used a pencil. it is what I call the Old world VS the New world syndrome, The old world wise and aged have taken control of the surrounding environment (as well as surrounding peoples) and reached a point were no conflicts exist (mostly I mean darfur, palestine, pakistan and india, and others are just what we call a hurricane in a cup) through culture and tradition. whereas, the new world, just like the youth, is hotheaded, stubborn and quick to react at times, as well as abusing it's power, whenever possible. they started very early on, since the renegade oldworlders escaping the traditions and cultures that they felt opressing them went out to their promised land and started their own traditions and cultures, traditions of oppression starting with the red indians, to black slaves and so on and so forth but also culture of liberation, and freedom, which are essentially magnificent but still can be used for not really good terms ( the route to hell is lined with good intentions right). so with those overcomplicated conflicts of oppression and freedom over the mere 200 years of evolution of the new world, old grudges of the past haven't dissipated yet, from both sides. those bottled up feelings inside tend to now come up and divide the whole that makes a human. Newwolrdlers that escaped the old world claim it for themselves and reject their past, while newworlders that where brought by force or made there (latinos) still respect their original heritage, that's why you have african american and mexican american and asian american but never german american, irish american, english american or even french american.
The whites have reahed their unity but tend to forget that non-white folk are similarly humans and should be at the same unity, sure they do now (most of them) but it is kind of a little late so it will need sometime for te grudges to dissipate (or maybe not grudges between arabs and israillies within the general masses are still alive, but in most cases they do dissipate) so to that extent I agree that the only quick formula to reach this unity is to go for Haraway's cyborgism as it is effective.
another example of how these differences have been overlooked in the old world, haraway mention's a french theorist that says feminism appeared after world war II, while women cojoined men hand in hand in 1919 in egypt against the british oppresison and went down in the streets to protest the british invasion and the exile of Saad Zaghloul they also overlooked their relegious differences in that same riot/protest and the slogan of that protest was long live the crescent with the cross (recognizing the two major relegions in egypt which are christianity and islam). so it's not that hard to overlook the differences in the face of oppression, and since feminism appeared to give women their rights, this means their rights are being oppressed this means that they should cyborgify and forget their differences for the greater good of aquiring their rights.
what I don't like about Haraway's article though is that she wants to abolish the goddess status of women, and make them ONLY cyborgs, to which I disagree due to the fact that this status in my opinion is simply placing women on a high pedestal of respect, women are the givers of life and raisers of generations, that status shouldn't be slashed for the sake of their rights but merely used as a reinforcement, to provide levereage for the women rather than looked at as a weakness.
so really haraway's point about the cyborg is really valid although I really don't think the goddess status should be forgotten...
Monday, February 11, 2008
Tubers and Collossus
Yea the title is a hidden pun clever init.
So the third reading (to which this blog entry is LATE I hope i don't do that again), is about rhizomes interesting huh. well guess what that was probably the most messed up piece of litrature I've ever read in my short 20 going on 21 year life, written 7 years before I was even born two french philosophers/psychologists decided to go crazy on paper, it was in the 80s so i doubt they were high on acid, but the were french maybe that was the reason.
Anyhoo what I got out of that piece of litrature was that nature works like roots (not the tv show) while books (I'm assuming an analogy to human knowledge) work in a structured rigid way. And with books supposedly mirrors to nature, they're not doing a great job of that then. it's really simple when you dumb it down but how can you be a philosophiser if you don't use big words and sound holier-than-thou or rather smarter-than-thou because from what I understood they don't believe in holy (or ultima for that matter {inside joke don't dwadle on it you won't get it}). They start by explaining that nature and so does human knowledge are like trees and roots that spread out and expand to further and further reaches of capacities (hah big words, I am such a hypocryt). And go on explaining the importance of mulitplicity (not tha micheal keaton movie although that was awesome) in knowledge and that without multiplicity knowledge wouldn't be that much knowledgefiable (if I can use that as a word). and they explain that roots are a good example of multiplicity while a better example of that would be rhizomes (aka vegetables that grow out of their roots like tubers (a fancy word for potatoes) and carrots). how they went on and explained that was pretty interesting.
They used MATH, and me being and engineer by day artist by night (when I'm not out watching movies or playing video games) I told myself hey those are number you must understand this theory or else you'll be a failure and lo and behold I actually did (at least I think I did because no one refuted my explanation yet). you see the problem with multiplicity is that you can't have 1 so all multiples are (n-1) meaning that the only way for something to be a multiple is that for it to be greater than one (and they call that the only way to include one in multiplicity) and that's how it is for roots, you can never have a single root, you have to have a lot that branch out and spread for the tree to thrive. but with tubers the tree itself is a root so to speak, so no matter how many roots that tree has there will always be 1 hence it's (n+1) that one is the tuber itself hence multiplicity is more accessible when your core itself is part of it (at least that's what I got out of it), which is a really cool analogy of human thought.
now your defintely wondering how that fits into digital art well simple look again at my cleverly crafted title, we covered the tubers right what's with the collossus (well it kinda sounds like tubercolosis right ? well it's not just that). The collossus is our good 'ol interweb, or as people call it "that thing Al Gore invented", but really that many sided, many faced, many legged, well... many everything collossus that resides in each and everyone of us' homes is the perfect example of a blue ribbon quality tuber, it's roots spread further than fern gully and it's core massiveness can make all the developing countries developed (if it was a real potato) it spreads out to the corners of the earth (hah good luck finding that corner internet) and makes the world the small village we live in now. with the viral properties and things linking up to each other no wonder one gets youtube ADD, or The dreaded Facebookery. it is just a massive tuber with roots that are even more massive and branched, so really even though those two french dudes Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari (also refrenced as D&G and yet not related to fashion although french and have the right letter combination). writing a philosophy piece analyzing human thought, infact analyzed the beast that runs our modern 21st century lives (don't believe me try cutting off the internet from a whole country for a couple of days see what happens, no ATMs no Airports, no Anything, and that actually happened last wednsday in egypt check that shit out I'm not kidding) and their analysis was right on the metaphorical money.
so really even though it was a messed up read with an introduction talking about "anal sunlight" it really opens your mind to the potato possibilities of our brain (And I don't feel like making a Mr.potatohead joke). so there that's the word on this piece.
http://www.manovich.net/vis242_winter_2006/New%20Media%20Reader%20all/27-deleuze-03.pdf
So the third reading (to which this blog entry is LATE I hope i don't do that again), is about rhizomes interesting huh. well guess what that was probably the most messed up piece of litrature I've ever read in my short 20 going on 21 year life, written 7 years before I was even born two french philosophers/psychologists decided to go crazy on paper, it was in the 80s so i doubt they were high on acid, but the were french maybe that was the reason.
Anyhoo what I got out of that piece of litrature was that nature works like roots (not the tv show) while books (I'm assuming an analogy to human knowledge) work in a structured rigid way. And with books supposedly mirrors to nature, they're not doing a great job of that then. it's really simple when you dumb it down but how can you be a philosophiser if you don't use big words and sound holier-than-thou or rather smarter-than-thou because from what I understood they don't believe in holy (or ultima for that matter {inside joke don't dwadle on it you won't get it}). They start by explaining that nature and so does human knowledge are like trees and roots that spread out and expand to further and further reaches of capacities (hah big words, I am such a hypocryt). And go on explaining the importance of mulitplicity (not tha micheal keaton movie although that was awesome) in knowledge and that without multiplicity knowledge wouldn't be that much knowledgefiable (if I can use that as a word). and they explain that roots are a good example of multiplicity while a better example of that would be rhizomes (aka vegetables that grow out of their roots like tubers (a fancy word for potatoes) and carrots). how they went on and explained that was pretty interesting.
They used MATH, and me being and engineer by day artist by night (when I'm not out watching movies or playing video games) I told myself hey those are number you must understand this theory or else you'll be a failure and lo and behold I actually did (at least I think I did because no one refuted my explanation yet). you see the problem with multiplicity is that you can't have 1 so all multiples are (n-1) meaning that the only way for something to be a multiple is that for it to be greater than one (and they call that the only way to include one in multiplicity) and that's how it is for roots, you can never have a single root, you have to have a lot that branch out and spread for the tree to thrive. but with tubers the tree itself is a root so to speak, so no matter how many roots that tree has there will always be 1 hence it's (n+1) that one is the tuber itself hence multiplicity is more accessible when your core itself is part of it (at least that's what I got out of it), which is a really cool analogy of human thought.
now your defintely wondering how that fits into digital art well simple look again at my cleverly crafted title, we covered the tubers right what's with the collossus (well it kinda sounds like tubercolosis right ? well it's not just that). The collossus is our good 'ol interweb, or as people call it "that thing Al Gore invented", but really that many sided, many faced, many legged, well... many everything collossus that resides in each and everyone of us' homes is the perfect example of a blue ribbon quality tuber, it's roots spread further than fern gully and it's core massiveness can make all the developing countries developed (if it was a real potato) it spreads out to the corners of the earth (hah good luck finding that corner internet) and makes the world the small village we live in now. with the viral properties and things linking up to each other no wonder one gets youtube ADD, or The dreaded Facebookery. it is just a massive tuber with roots that are even more massive and branched, so really even though those two french dudes Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari (also refrenced as D&G and yet not related to fashion although french and have the right letter combination). writing a philosophy piece analyzing human thought, infact analyzed the beast that runs our modern 21st century lives (don't believe me try cutting off the internet from a whole country for a couple of days see what happens, no ATMs no Airports, no Anything, and that actually happened last wednsday in egypt check that shit out I'm not kidding) and their analysis was right on the metaphorical money.
so really even though it was a messed up read with an introduction talking about "anal sunlight" it really opens your mind to the potato possibilities of our brain (And I don't feel like making a Mr.potatohead joke). so there that's the word on this piece.
http://www.manovich.net/vis242_winter_2006/New%20Media%20Reader%20all/27-deleuze-03.pdf
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Video games with narrative
video games with narrative have been evolving imensly along with the evolution of the consoles themselves, it all started with the simple mario narrative of save the princess and evolved into the modern day complex fantasy scifi drama such as final fantasy, kingdom hearts, action movie style espionage plots like splinter cell and metal gear solid, demon and mythology games like devil may cry and god of war to modern day gangsters like the world famous grand theft auto. all these games while they provide immense and intese gameplay that is alone enough, provide the player with an intense story (narrative) the drags him into it that he even reacts to the happenings of the story, I remeber nearly crying when one of the main characters was killed off in final fantasy 7, and kept yelling at the TV "NO THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING", such intense emotional interaction can only be provided with a strong visual and audible narrative, because you can't just cry for a block in tetris.
for more information about the games mentioned wikipedia does a kick-behind job of explaining them and even providing a synopsis of their plots and twists if you don't mind spoilers.
also castlevania had a great narrative, and if we mention narrative we can't forget the comedic lucas arts games of the ninties spearheaded by monkey island and maniac mansion
for more information about the games mentioned wikipedia does a kick-behind job of explaining them and even providing a synopsis of their plots and twists if you don't mind spoilers.
also castlevania had a great narrative, and if we mention narrative we can't forget the comedic lucas arts games of the ninties spearheaded by monkey island and maniac mansion
Friday, February 1, 2008
Databasic instinct
Our third reading http://vv.arts.ucla.edu/AI_Society/manovich.html by lev manovic discusses an aspect of computer programming that I would've never thought it could be used as art; The Database.
In my pre highschool days i thought it would be cool to take a visual basic course, programming came easy to me and it wasn't really that much of a problem but then the course swerved into teaching SQL server and Database, the teacher wasn't that good and I ended up hating anything mildly mentioning the word Database (partially because I couldn't even grasp its complete meaning) so to me databases are simply programming "drawers" (if you will) where one stores and organizes chunks of data.
Now as an artist (or trying to be one) I just discovered how "inside the box" my thinking is and how small that metaphorical "box" is in my case. apparently my view of art is still the traditional way of drawing painitng and even digitally i make regular movies and shorts, and try to push my way through animation. I'm pretty openminded concerning new artforms, I myself consider comics and videogames to be arts themselves. but never would i have made the connection that the Database could be used for art and it was staring me in the face all that time.
Lev thinks databases are important as a form of new media because it opens new doors and possibilities into creating artwork, because similar to narrative and cinematic movies the database provides a person with a chunk of data that they recieve the only difference is that the database doesn't have to follow a narrative making it even more versatile as a form of new media.
To Lev really the only problem with narrative is that it had to be structured in a certain way and follow a certain direction (like begininning middle and end with a climax and a plot twist if it was really intersting) now that doesn't mean that the database isn't structured it's whole logic is built on being structured, but the way it's structure differs from person to person and from purpose to purpose because one can shape the database to fit their needs making versatile enough to be its own form of art and a narrative at some times even.
Lev moves on into how video games use databases to create artforms (which is the video game itself), you see a video game has a database of the several objects within it be it a story based VG (like final fantasy and god of war) or just your average solve the puzzle (like the legendary tetris or the ever growing bejeweled) this database is governed by "computer law", or as everyone else calls it an Algorithm. Now the word algorithm doesn't mean actions and saying made by Al Gore (like how he invented the internet, or how using hybrid cars will make the polar bears happy), it really means a code by which a certain computer program has to follow, it is as I mentioned before "computer law". everything in life is goverened by a hypothetical metaphorical algorithmand as one progresses through life one unravels to the code to proceed to the next level. Speaking of level video games are exactly the same, the only way to get through a level in a video game, or get the next high score, or beat the next boss, or save the next bunny is by simply trying to figure out how the game works, how the algorithm functions to proceed onto the following part that way the algorithm works, the mind creates a mental mirror algorithm to work out the compuer algorithm and surpass it.
now the difference between an algorithm and a narrative, is that all narratives have an algorithm within them that they follow to reach their end whereas the algorithm itself doesn't have to be a narrative like in tetris for example; those blocks aren't trying to save the princess, or struggle through life to be the ultimate pastery chef/ninja cat person, or even save the world from an incredibly evil and sadistic yet extremely gay and flambouyant looking supervillan with mother issues. they are simply random block that are rearranged to form a line to disapear, a simple algorithm with a simple goal that you follow without a narrative needed, hence all narrative can be algorithms but not all algorithms can be narratives.
this brings us to the next point, video games use algorithms to control their databases to create a narrative, meaning that a narrative is basically a method of arranging a database to follow through with a story. simply let's look at the arrangment of the novel, the novels database contains the characters, the locations, the events, and the plot twists such organization allows the author to swiftly go through from begining to end without getting lost or confused with his ideas, now the author arranges the relations between the objects in his/her database creating a novel that makes credible sense and follows a logical narrative in that way can a database can be a narrative, narratvie can't be databases because they always move forward, yet narratives can have databases (and more often then not they do) to maintian record of all the elements within the narrative.
Most hardcore gamers consider Video games as a narrative, and no one can blame them all the high selling videogames in the previous and current generation had strong storylines and plot twists, reaching the point of videogames becoming interactive books because they take a long time to complete and they require input from the audience (so they're more than just a movie or a book they're both combined with interactive responses) but with other companies reinventing the wheel and creating devices like the wee and the DS (i'm looking at you nintendo) more and more games started have no narrative again (reminding us of the puzzle games with computer bleeps of old) just maintinaning the concept of fun without haveing to have a narrative. so really video games can be a narrative but that is only one way to go with them.
Now this is easy to explain in digital terms because they actually use the computer database, but making the analogy to real life isn't that obvious to everyone, traditional painting and drawing for example uses databases and interfaces just like the digital world, it is simply called something else, your database is your ideas and your tools, while your interface is the canvas or paper, and the brush, pencil, pen, marker or even matchstick anything that you use to create an artpiece is your interface, it is basically anything you use to interact with your piece to create it.
so in conclusion Lev has opened my eyes onto a new medium that was absically being used all that time without being noticed, but now can be physically used by itself to create art a variable medium that changes as much as we change if not more and can be shaped according to our everywhim, making it the ultimate route to the future (to sound as cliche as possible), and providing us artists with new mediums to work with, because now i began to notice that once regular people (scientists engineers etc aka non-art folk) create something to work with, we artists have to take it rip it apart put it upside down and rewrite it's functions and call it art, creative? yes, beautiful? it takes time but everyone gets there. so really innovating with seemingly boring programming principles (like databases) can really lead is to newer fresher mediums, because art is about life so like life it should be ever changing and doesn't die at a certain form or another. and as long as people live there will be always people that think outside the box and put an upside down urinal in an art gallery and call it a founntain.
In my pre highschool days i thought it would be cool to take a visual basic course, programming came easy to me and it wasn't really that much of a problem but then the course swerved into teaching SQL server and Database, the teacher wasn't that good and I ended up hating anything mildly mentioning the word Database (partially because I couldn't even grasp its complete meaning) so to me databases are simply programming "drawers" (if you will) where one stores and organizes chunks of data.
Now as an artist (or trying to be one) I just discovered how "inside the box" my thinking is and how small that metaphorical "box" is in my case. apparently my view of art is still the traditional way of drawing painitng and even digitally i make regular movies and shorts, and try to push my way through animation. I'm pretty openminded concerning new artforms, I myself consider comics and videogames to be arts themselves. but never would i have made the connection that the Database could be used for art and it was staring me in the face all that time.
Lev thinks databases are important as a form of new media because it opens new doors and possibilities into creating artwork, because similar to narrative and cinematic movies the database provides a person with a chunk of data that they recieve the only difference is that the database doesn't have to follow a narrative making it even more versatile as a form of new media.
To Lev really the only problem with narrative is that it had to be structured in a certain way and follow a certain direction (like begininning middle and end with a climax and a plot twist if it was really intersting) now that doesn't mean that the database isn't structured it's whole logic is built on being structured, but the way it's structure differs from person to person and from purpose to purpose because one can shape the database to fit their needs making versatile enough to be its own form of art and a narrative at some times even.
Lev moves on into how video games use databases to create artforms (which is the video game itself), you see a video game has a database of the several objects within it be it a story based VG (like final fantasy and god of war) or just your average solve the puzzle (like the legendary tetris or the ever growing bejeweled) this database is governed by "computer law", or as everyone else calls it an Algorithm. Now the word algorithm doesn't mean actions and saying made by Al Gore (like how he invented the internet, or how using hybrid cars will make the polar bears happy), it really means a code by which a certain computer program has to follow, it is as I mentioned before "computer law". everything in life is goverened by a hypothetical metaphorical algorithmand as one progresses through life one unravels to the code to proceed to the next level. Speaking of level video games are exactly the same, the only way to get through a level in a video game, or get the next high score, or beat the next boss, or save the next bunny is by simply trying to figure out how the game works, how the algorithm functions to proceed onto the following part that way the algorithm works, the mind creates a mental mirror algorithm to work out the compuer algorithm and surpass it.
now the difference between an algorithm and a narrative, is that all narratives have an algorithm within them that they follow to reach their end whereas the algorithm itself doesn't have to be a narrative like in tetris for example; those blocks aren't trying to save the princess, or struggle through life to be the ultimate pastery chef/ninja cat person, or even save the world from an incredibly evil and sadistic yet extremely gay and flambouyant looking supervillan with mother issues. they are simply random block that are rearranged to form a line to disapear, a simple algorithm with a simple goal that you follow without a narrative needed, hence all narrative can be algorithms but not all algorithms can be narratives.
this brings us to the next point, video games use algorithms to control their databases to create a narrative, meaning that a narrative is basically a method of arranging a database to follow through with a story. simply let's look at the arrangment of the novel, the novels database contains the characters, the locations, the events, and the plot twists such organization allows the author to swiftly go through from begining to end without getting lost or confused with his ideas, now the author arranges the relations between the objects in his/her database creating a novel that makes credible sense and follows a logical narrative in that way can a database can be a narrative, narratvie can't be databases because they always move forward, yet narratives can have databases (and more often then not they do) to maintian record of all the elements within the narrative.
Most hardcore gamers consider Video games as a narrative, and no one can blame them all the high selling videogames in the previous and current generation had strong storylines and plot twists, reaching the point of videogames becoming interactive books because they take a long time to complete and they require input from the audience (so they're more than just a movie or a book they're both combined with interactive responses) but with other companies reinventing the wheel and creating devices like the wee and the DS (i'm looking at you nintendo) more and more games started have no narrative again (reminding us of the puzzle games with computer bleeps of old) just maintinaning the concept of fun without haveing to have a narrative. so really video games can be a narrative but that is only one way to go with them.
Now this is easy to explain in digital terms because they actually use the computer database, but making the analogy to real life isn't that obvious to everyone, traditional painting and drawing for example uses databases and interfaces just like the digital world, it is simply called something else, your database is your ideas and your tools, while your interface is the canvas or paper, and the brush, pencil, pen, marker or even matchstick anything that you use to create an artpiece is your interface, it is basically anything you use to interact with your piece to create it.
so in conclusion Lev has opened my eyes onto a new medium that was absically being used all that time without being noticed, but now can be physically used by itself to create art a variable medium that changes as much as we change if not more and can be shaped according to our everywhim, making it the ultimate route to the future (to sound as cliche as possible), and providing us artists with new mediums to work with, because now i began to notice that once regular people (scientists engineers etc aka non-art folk) create something to work with, we artists have to take it rip it apart put it upside down and rewrite it's functions and call it art, creative? yes, beautiful? it takes time but everyone gets there. so really innovating with seemingly boring programming principles (like databases) can really lead is to newer fresher mediums, because art is about life so like life it should be ever changing and doesn't die at a certain form or another. and as long as people live there will be always people that think outside the box and put an upside down urinal in an art gallery and call it a founntain.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Replication Theory
The second reading comment (http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/modern/The-Work-of-Art-in-the-Age-of-Mechanical-Reproduction.html) :
No matter how you define a piece of art, that definition resonates a certain meaning within you that makes you appreciate (or not) that what you consider as art, be it a urinal placed upside down in a gallery, a large painting, a video game or even an Anime episode. However in our day an age where scientists are cloning goats, any piece of art can be replicated, copied, reproduced and recreated. which leads us to the ultimate question of authenticity ; is this the original piece ? hell, What is an original piece anyway ? what would really be original authentic art anymore ? would quantity kill the value of the single original piece ? would availability kill the art itself ? those are essentially the questions addressed in the second Reading article.
comparing himself to Marx and how he explained capitalism, the author begins from the start on how the reproduction began. through history mechanical reproduction of artwork was present; ancient Greeks making coins, woodcuts in medieval times ,lithographs; reproduction has evolved along with art to satisfy the needs of man (and woman) to bring the artworks to his (and her) fingertips. but the craft of reproduction back then was in itself an art form till it became over used with the invention of the camera and the battle began, the definition of photography as art was the main topic of that age but the author focuses deeply on his own thesis and asks if photography of an art piece as a reproduction ruining the authenticity of a piece. he doesn't completely reach a solution for that but he puts the topic out in the open leaving it up for grabs to whoever wishes to address it.
the author stresses on art being a cult form ever since it started with the ancient cave drawings, it was meant to be underground (to him) so that it can be properly appreciated. Art ( to him) has this certain aura that gives it that appeal that makes it it authentic. And with art reproduced and unleashed to the masses that underground movement is now mainstream and the layman proletariat can have easy access to that coveted from of aesthetic emotional expression and communication. and not only did photography replicate pictures, it did so multiple times making the images move forming what is known today as film another form of art in itself yet it is still a form of reproduction itself.
He goes on to the comparison between the screen and stage actors and how the differences appear between them like the fact that the stage actor reacts with the audience directly whereas the screen actor works with a machine (the camera) and has to make his wraith of a shadow resonate enough so that once it is reprojected his performance would appear alive. also camera angles tend to control the viewers input to that form of performance putting them in a critic's point of view without any physical connection with the actor unlike when the actor is on stage and they have to interact mentally with him/her to be immersed within the performance. this analogy is similar to an artwork and its reproduction, no one is saying one is better than the other, the author himself states that film is more tuned in to reality because it is directly recorded through a machine while stage (the metaphorical painting) is more of an artist's work into trying to replicate reality into art form. the layman contemporary person reacts to the object closer to his reality making the reproductions (film) more easy for him to access.
Reproduction then makes art more accessible to the masses. making ti easy enough to have a simultaneous release of artwork reproductions on several fronts, while a painting can only be at one place at one time. giving reproductions more appeal to the masses just because IT'S THERE.
he ends on a note that through history issues like that have helped art evolve into newer fresher forms to fit that current time, and it will keep evolving. but will the forming of more masses from bringing cults together through replication be useful. will the proletariat prosper. He is concerned about fascism in that case and and says
"Fascism attempts to organize the newly created proletarian masses without affecting the property structure which the masses strive to eliminate. Fascism sees its salvation in giving these masses not their right, but instead a chance to express themselves. The masses have a right to change property relations; Fascism seeks to give them an expression while preserving property. The logical result of Fascism is the introduction of aesthetics into political life. The violation of the masses, whom Fascism, with its Fiihrer cult, forces to their knees, has its counterpart in the violation of an apparatus which is pressed into the production of ritual values. "
He says that with technical aspects of reproduction conflict the authentic traditions of art making, that conflict is similar to a political war which would shape society into the next level, will they become the ultimate reproduction artists or will they revert to the old traditions in a scary Amish-like retrogression only time will till, but hey while we sit this war out just keep participating by creating your own artworks to see which would really prevail in today's world and tomorrow's universe.
No matter how you define a piece of art, that definition resonates a certain meaning within you that makes you appreciate (or not) that what you consider as art, be it a urinal placed upside down in a gallery, a large painting, a video game or even an Anime episode. However in our day an age where scientists are cloning goats, any piece of art can be replicated, copied, reproduced and recreated. which leads us to the ultimate question of authenticity ; is this the original piece ? hell, What is an original piece anyway ? what would really be original authentic art anymore ? would quantity kill the value of the single original piece ? would availability kill the art itself ? those are essentially the questions addressed in the second Reading article.
comparing himself to Marx and how he explained capitalism, the author begins from the start on how the reproduction began. through history mechanical reproduction of artwork was present; ancient Greeks making coins, woodcuts in medieval times ,lithographs; reproduction has evolved along with art to satisfy the needs of man (and woman) to bring the artworks to his (and her) fingertips. but the craft of reproduction back then was in itself an art form till it became over used with the invention of the camera and the battle began, the definition of photography as art was the main topic of that age but the author focuses deeply on his own thesis and asks if photography of an art piece as a reproduction ruining the authenticity of a piece. he doesn't completely reach a solution for that but he puts the topic out in the open leaving it up for grabs to whoever wishes to address it.
the author stresses on art being a cult form ever since it started with the ancient cave drawings, it was meant to be underground (to him) so that it can be properly appreciated. Art ( to him) has this certain aura that gives it that appeal that makes it it authentic. And with art reproduced and unleashed to the masses that underground movement is now mainstream and the layman proletariat can have easy access to that coveted from of aesthetic emotional expression and communication. and not only did photography replicate pictures, it did so multiple times making the images move forming what is known today as film another form of art in itself yet it is still a form of reproduction itself.
He goes on to the comparison between the screen and stage actors and how the differences appear between them like the fact that the stage actor reacts with the audience directly whereas the screen actor works with a machine (the camera) and has to make his wraith of a shadow resonate enough so that once it is reprojected his performance would appear alive. also camera angles tend to control the viewers input to that form of performance putting them in a critic's point of view without any physical connection with the actor unlike when the actor is on stage and they have to interact mentally with him/her to be immersed within the performance. this analogy is similar to an artwork and its reproduction, no one is saying one is better than the other, the author himself states that film is more tuned in to reality because it is directly recorded through a machine while stage (the metaphorical painting) is more of an artist's work into trying to replicate reality into art form. the layman contemporary person reacts to the object closer to his reality making the reproductions (film) more easy for him to access.
Reproduction then makes art more accessible to the masses. making ti easy enough to have a simultaneous release of artwork reproductions on several fronts, while a painting can only be at one place at one time. giving reproductions more appeal to the masses just because IT'S THERE.
he ends on a note that through history issues like that have helped art evolve into newer fresher forms to fit that current time, and it will keep evolving. but will the forming of more masses from bringing cults together through replication be useful. will the proletariat prosper. He is concerned about fascism in that case and and says
"Fascism attempts to organize the newly created proletarian masses without affecting the property structure which the masses strive to eliminate. Fascism sees its salvation in giving these masses not their right, but instead a chance to express themselves. The masses have a right to change property relations; Fascism seeks to give them an expression while preserving property. The logical result of Fascism is the introduction of aesthetics into political life. The violation of the masses, whom Fascism, with its Fiihrer cult, forces to their knees, has its counterpart in the violation of an apparatus which is pressed into the production of ritual values. "
He says that with technical aspects of reproduction conflict the authentic traditions of art making, that conflict is similar to a political war which would shape society into the next level, will they become the ultimate reproduction artists or will they revert to the old traditions in a scary Amish-like retrogression only time will till, but hey while we sit this war out just keep participating by creating your own artworks to see which would really prevail in today's world and tomorrow's universe.
Monday, January 21, 2008
The Bosma interviews and net art
So this is the first assignment, We had to comment on three interviews conducted by Josephine Bosma to "Net Artists" about how their work would be exhibited in a physical gallery. The most interesting part of the whole "E-terviews" is how every artist personality shows in the way they answer the questions. The questions were exactly the same for every artist so I would simply summarize their opinions on the topic as a whole. Now I chose three artists Cary Peppermint, Mez, and Tina LaPorta.
So as I said the purpose of the interview was to see the artists' opinions on exhibiting their work in a physical exhibit so the obvious first question was how they feel about turning net art into a physical medium. Cary Peppermint started a long and tedious paragraph that i had to read three times to try and comprehend where the point of that paragraph was, but apparently she was fairly satisfied with the Internet as a medium in and of itself without the need of ever going physical because in her opinion with the Internet being the living beast that it is, it gives her work the life she want s to put in it making her own work alive. Mez thought they dilute the property of net-works because they inhibit the work in a geographical location and physical space (least that what I made out from his old Skool version of 1337 (leet) he chose to speak in). Tina LaPorta Thought it would be interesting as long as the artist himself/herself intiated them.
Then They went on discussing the implications of having a physical exhibit of their work (will extend the work, or be another medium, how do they want it to be and what if they wanted to make it more experimental) Cary was all about integration between the physical and the digital, but not just leave the physical be a representation of the digital work but allow it to "live" like its Internet counterpart and "network" itself to the people, which is really not a bad idea although I have no idea how is that possible, she wanted her experimental gallery to represent destruction and even better to try to encourage it, a Part i personally liked because hey everyone likes to smash things into bits, hell there's a whole market dedicated into that it's called VIDEO GAMES. Anyway Mez seemed to also enjoy more the nature of his "Net-Wurk" in how it has a viral nature of spreading around the Internet. He thought though that adding the element of space in a physical exhibit would add more variables in his work making it more unpredictable and therefore keeps the critics guessing, his idea of an experimental gallery was utilizing a live connection that would make his work more interactive. Tina though thinks that the transformation of her work from Internet based into physical would be a remix of her work and not just a representation of it, her ideal exhibit was a live net performance and to make it experimental she would try to make remote participation leaving a trace of the event as a form of documentation.
For their exhibition catalogs cary wanted to go all out and exaggerate commercial advertising and commercialism in her catalogs with multiple languages mediums and formats, to her this is a form of "overexposure" that is also useful in archiving her work and be available for future research. Mez wanted his to be made out of old fashioned LED embedded screens, he said he wanted them in the PANS I have no Idea what the PANS are but old fashioned LED embedded screens seems like a cool idea. Tina wanted hers to be a website.
In terms of their individual work they were asked about how would they approach their physical audience differently than their online counterparts. cary said that to her, she considers her work as a performance that is an enactment of her living ideas aka a performance showing her different concepts. she calls that her faith in her performative process making her online performances "faith of greater distances" and her physical ones "faith of proximity". Mez on the other hand thinks there is a difference between his online audience and his physical ones. The online audience he says have more of an understanding of the medium and their interaction with the medium (the Internet) proves that they have that understanding. while the ones in a gallery space might not and the gallery itself might be the element that inhibits their interaction with the work as it is possible online. Tina basically mentioned that her physical presence was imperative in a physical exhibition, on the other hand her physical absence was as important in an online exhibition of her work.
An interesting topic indeed, these interviews opened my eyes to a new medium that was out there virtually unheard of at least to me till now. i heard about internet art but to me internet art was simply posting your artwork at personal websites or websites like cgsociety.org or deviantart.com the sort of online outlets i used myself both to expose my work and get my online artistic exposure. being a traditionalist the prestige of being in a gallery or a physical exhibit is more than amazing but it IS restrictive in terms of fiscal and physical inhibitions. online is a huge medium to get more and more exposure and the viral attributes of it make it even simpler to reach more audiences, because the online world is the only place where a bunch of guys having tea and crumpets in england can be checking a piece of artwork alongside a bunch of college kids on hallucinogens in california, while three japanese girls are printing a screen cap of the artpiece to hang it up on their walls, it is this kind of exposure that make the online medium such a powerful and universal medium, and it makes this medium also prone to illegal replication and dilution of a piece of work. you see an original art piece is valuable both in terms of the effort and value placed in the piece of work as well as its scarcity, while an online piece being readily available to anyone can be easily copied and pasted, which might also mean the artwork can be stolen and claimed by other people that want to bask in the glory of the original artist. So I think unless artist rights are more strongly established going online is really dangerous at first. But for established net artists like the ones interviewed "remixing" Their work to fit in a physical gallery is just a mere challenge to make it as successful as their online creations, and from their replies they seem to have pretty good ideas of transferring their work to our physical realm.
just in case you were wondering here are the three interviews :
Cary Peppermint : http://laudanum.net/cgi-bin/media.cgi?action=display&id=993983043
Mez : http://laudanum.net/cgi-bin/media.cgi?action=display&id=993982495
Tina LaPorta : http://laudanum.net/cgi-bin/media.cgi?action=display&id=993982766
So as I said the purpose of the interview was to see the artists' opinions on exhibiting their work in a physical exhibit so the obvious first question was how they feel about turning net art into a physical medium. Cary Peppermint started a long and tedious paragraph that i had to read three times to try and comprehend where the point of that paragraph was, but apparently she was fairly satisfied with the Internet as a medium in and of itself without the need of ever going physical because in her opinion with the Internet being the living beast that it is, it gives her work the life she want s to put in it making her own work alive. Mez thought they dilute the property of net-works because they inhibit the work in a geographical location and physical space (least that what I made out from his old Skool version of 1337 (leet) he chose to speak in). Tina LaPorta Thought it would be interesting as long as the artist himself/herself intiated them.
Then They went on discussing the implications of having a physical exhibit of their work (will extend the work, or be another medium, how do they want it to be and what if they wanted to make it more experimental) Cary was all about integration between the physical and the digital, but not just leave the physical be a representation of the digital work but allow it to "live" like its Internet counterpart and "network" itself to the people, which is really not a bad idea although I have no idea how is that possible, she wanted her experimental gallery to represent destruction and even better to try to encourage it, a Part i personally liked because hey everyone likes to smash things into bits, hell there's a whole market dedicated into that it's called VIDEO GAMES. Anyway Mez seemed to also enjoy more the nature of his "Net-Wurk" in how it has a viral nature of spreading around the Internet. He thought though that adding the element of space in a physical exhibit would add more variables in his work making it more unpredictable and therefore keeps the critics guessing, his idea of an experimental gallery was utilizing a live connection that would make his work more interactive. Tina though thinks that the transformation of her work from Internet based into physical would be a remix of her work and not just a representation of it, her ideal exhibit was a live net performance and to make it experimental she would try to make remote participation leaving a trace of the event as a form of documentation.
For their exhibition catalogs cary wanted to go all out and exaggerate commercial advertising and commercialism in her catalogs with multiple languages mediums and formats, to her this is a form of "overexposure" that is also useful in archiving her work and be available for future research. Mez wanted his to be made out of old fashioned LED embedded screens, he said he wanted them in the PANS I have no Idea what the PANS are but old fashioned LED embedded screens seems like a cool idea. Tina wanted hers to be a website.
In terms of their individual work they were asked about how would they approach their physical audience differently than their online counterparts. cary said that to her, she considers her work as a performance that is an enactment of her living ideas aka a performance showing her different concepts. she calls that her faith in her performative process making her online performances "faith of greater distances" and her physical ones "faith of proximity". Mez on the other hand thinks there is a difference between his online audience and his physical ones. The online audience he says have more of an understanding of the medium and their interaction with the medium (the Internet) proves that they have that understanding. while the ones in a gallery space might not and the gallery itself might be the element that inhibits their interaction with the work as it is possible online. Tina basically mentioned that her physical presence was imperative in a physical exhibition, on the other hand her physical absence was as important in an online exhibition of her work.
An interesting topic indeed, these interviews opened my eyes to a new medium that was out there virtually unheard of at least to me till now. i heard about internet art but to me internet art was simply posting your artwork at personal websites or websites like cgsociety.org or deviantart.com the sort of online outlets i used myself both to expose my work and get my online artistic exposure. being a traditionalist the prestige of being in a gallery or a physical exhibit is more than amazing but it IS restrictive in terms of fiscal and physical inhibitions. online is a huge medium to get more and more exposure and the viral attributes of it make it even simpler to reach more audiences, because the online world is the only place where a bunch of guys having tea and crumpets in england can be checking a piece of artwork alongside a bunch of college kids on hallucinogens in california, while three japanese girls are printing a screen cap of the artpiece to hang it up on their walls, it is this kind of exposure that make the online medium such a powerful and universal medium, and it makes this medium also prone to illegal replication and dilution of a piece of work. you see an original art piece is valuable both in terms of the effort and value placed in the piece of work as well as its scarcity, while an online piece being readily available to anyone can be easily copied and pasted, which might also mean the artwork can be stolen and claimed by other people that want to bask in the glory of the original artist. So I think unless artist rights are more strongly established going online is really dangerous at first. But for established net artists like the ones interviewed "remixing" Their work to fit in a physical gallery is just a mere challenge to make it as successful as their online creations, and from their replies they seem to have pretty good ideas of transferring their work to our physical realm.
just in case you were wondering here are the three interviews :
Cary Peppermint : http://laudanum.net/cgi-bin/media.cgi?action=display&id=993983043
Mez : http://laudanum.net/cgi-bin/media.cgi?action=display&id=993982495
Tina LaPorta : http://laudanum.net/cgi-bin/media.cgi?action=display&id=993982766
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Of Purpose and Reason
Ok, so in case you stumbled on this page by complete accident or by passing through an unidentified purple wormhole that smells like cheetos during a tachyon storm and popped up on the interweb by mistake on this glorious representation of how human beings like to say their minds even if no one cares, and post it blantly where everyone can see it, THIS IS A BLOG.
Now why would I endorse blogging the reason is simple, I am taking a course about the history and theory of digital art and we are required to blog about certain articles for grades, also it was about time I shared some input to the world.
Now that we got those introductions out of the way let's get down to business My name is Marwan Imam and from now on you shall know me as The Warman (which is a clever anagram of my first name, genius I know I get that allot) and This is The Warman's Mind.
Now why would I endorse blogging the reason is simple, I am taking a course about the history and theory of digital art and we are required to blog about certain articles for grades, also it was about time I shared some input to the world.
Now that we got those introductions out of the way let's get down to business My name is Marwan Imam and from now on you shall know me as The Warman (which is a clever anagram of my first name, genius I know I get that allot) and This is The Warman's Mind.
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