Television Delivers People

This piece was simple but meaningful. I think its interesting that the presentation of this information was somewhat dark and dreary, it resembled one of those emergency announcements that come across the t.v. This could have been a representation of the fact that it is an emergency that we have become so consumed by the media, specifically the television, and we must acknowledge its occurance. I find it interesting that we are in some way funding the bombardment of media that we so often complain about. We complain about t.v, but then we want more, so they give us more and then its not enough, so we ask for more. It'll probably never stop.

We rely on the televsion to keep us connected with the world, the newspaper is slowly being phased out. We watch the news on the televison, the latest gossip, the latest issues or controversy we can observe on Oprah. I think that people, including myself, would be frightened if we acually counted the hours we watch t.v in one week.

The Residents

This avant-garde music group is recognized by their eyeball-tuxedo-top hat costumes that conceal their true indentity...I consider their music to be a bit abstract but a great example of combining visuals and music to create art nonetheless. Dmitry Mozheitov who writes for The Russia Journal says that The Residents claim that their concealed identity makes them a "virtual band," which they say is their invention. Mozheitov talks of the origins of The Residents, in 1970 a group of four musicians formed a group in Louisiana, shortly after moving to San Francisco to record a demo. Apparently, the demo was returned addressed "for the attention of the residents,"and this is how the band got its name, I thought that was cool! The Residents went on to create their own record label, Ralph Records.

The Russia Journal

For The Residents, it was not as simple as writing lyrics and composing music to match, they were quite interested in the visual art aspect of their music. A cool website I found titled WeirdoMusic, had a review of The Residents. According to this website, The Residents dabbled in photography, tape machines, and "anything remotely to do with art that they could get their hands on." I like this aspect of the group, I appreciate the fact that they really wanted to express themselves through as many forms of art as they could, they tested the boundaries of the music industry as well as fusing the worlds of art and music. I'm happy that I was introduced to this different musical expression.

Nam June Paik

The first to really do video art...his inspiration from John Cage I think had the most influence on his career. According to his website, he bought the first portable video recorder in 1965 and did his first solo exhibition, "Electronic Art." The 60's must have been a great environment for the experimentation in video art. I love his pieces with the small television screens stacked upon one another...that seems to be kind of "his thing," a signature style.

The robots made up of tvs and radios are especially interesting. The "Electronic Superhighway: Continental US," is absolutely beautiful. I wish I could put it in my house, it had 313 monitors! His installation titled "Jacob's Ladder" is amazing as well. I am drawn to installations that play on light and dark, I think the unique use of lighting is beautiful, and it seems Nam June Paik thought so too!

Goodnight Plant Park

So, here is my performance art piece. We have set up a sort of bedroom scene in Plant Park. My friend Heather and I are wearing nightgowns and we are sleeping on an air mattress with a pretty lamp bedside. I thought about doing this at a homestore such as Bed Bath & Beyond or Rooms to Go, however, I figured Plant Park would be more populated (especially today because of the date.) There were a lot of people walking back and forth. We got more stares when we were actually setting up the scene as opposed to the actual performance of sleeping. Looking back, people probably thought it was a good idea to bring an air mattress to the park, so they probably didn't see it as very strange. A security gaurd actually pulled up right after we started the performance and stared at us, I could hear his golf cart right next to my head. My friend ended up being in the park with other friends while we were doing it and I guess she thought it would be funny to steal one of our robes. I think the uncontrollable occurences make performance art experiences richer, it is interesting to see how people react to events such as these when there are no controlled boundaries, walls (such as in an art gallery), security, etc. I really enjoyed doing this project, I thought of a lot of ideas but I couldn't execute some of them the way I wanted to with my limited resources. But I'm happy with this final performance!

Theremin Instrument

The theremin is an instrument used particularly in electronic music, it was invented in Russia by Leon Theremin. In addition to electronic music, it has been used in soundtracks for movies, especially spooky movies. Robert Moog, an electronic musician, played around with the building of theremins in the 50's and he ultimately came up with a synthesizer, "The Moog." I think its so amazing to watch someone use it. It almost looks like magic, all they do is wave their hands over two different ends and it creates sound, an eerie sound. I think its neat because if you play it a certain way, with rapid movements it can actually sound like a voice singing.

The theremin can be heard in songs such as :

The Pixies: Velouria

The White Stripes: Little People

Pink Floyd: Echoes

Source for the songs:

bloglist.org:music playlists, songs with the Theremin

Jimmy Page and the Theremin on YouTube; Check it out!

The MoMa Article...

I never thought of this problem when it came to performance art. I guess I figured people were a bit startled by the art to begin with that actually approaching one of the performers would never even exist as a thought. You would think that the majority of people that visit art galleries would be of enough maturity, but then you have to factor in the tours and the field trips and the people who get unwillingly dragged along. Its a shame that this "touching" of the performers is even an issue, and it should be taken just as seriously as touching paintings or sculptures.

Xerox Project

I originally wanted to paste my images onto a lampshade but the ones I found weren't what I was looking for. I love these older phones for some reason, so this was a perfect pick for me. I did do a couple color xerox images but I chose to just use a small amount of the color images and keep it mostly black and white with a hint of blue.

I also used some black tacky paint to give it some texture.

Stelarc

Stelarc

This performance art is impressive. Stelarc's creations are the products of long invested time and effort. His third arm is amazing, he controls its movement with electric signals from his brain, wow. It was a functional limb, it was apparent through the example when he wrote EVOLUTION with his third arm. He loves robots. He pretty much turned himself into one at one point. He is an artist, a desginer, an engineer and a performer. He uses technology to improve his functions. The suspension performances he did were a little painful to watch but I have to admit they were impressive . I especially liked the suspension that he did when he was balancing his weight with a series of medium sized stones as he hangs from hooks attached to the ceiling, it was interesting to look at and figure out. I appreciate his suspension art because he adapted it from ancient Hindu Indian piercing. The piercings are very strategically placed in order to distribute the weight evenly. Moving onto the ear in his arm! That was so bizarre but really cool, I have never heard of anything quite like it. The things that Stelarc's mind comes up with is amazing...

Gilbert and George

Gilbert and George...their appearances do not scream abstract artists. I love that about them. I also absolutely love the "bend it" video, I can't help but smile and laugh when I watch it, it's great. I do think their blow-up images are a bit much for my liking, but hey it's crazy and different. Their signature grid-like setup is cool too.