Optional Reading

Hello all,

I know I've already got some optional reading for you guys, but in the case that you're looking for a little more help on thinking sculpturally about our immaterial media (i.e. expanding cinema/video into space), I found a link to an essay by Vito Acconci that might be helpful. Also, it may be good too look back at the Gene Youngblood chapter on intermedia and refresh yourself on some of those concepts. See you in the morning.

Vito Acconci - Television, Furniture, and Sculpture: The Room with the American View

Also, you may find this reading illuminating to the other readings we've been doing about Peter Campus and a video of his we will watch tomorrow called Double Vision. Double Vision document.

U B U W E B - Film & Video: Peter Campus - Double Vision
- Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Bill Viola - Peter Campus Image and Self

I found it interesting that Campus got so deep into his own work of Self image projection pieces that he needed to get out. Campus piece, "Head of a Man with Death on His Mind," was himself starring intensely at the camera (the Viewer). I found this piece interesting because you have to rely on the title of the installation to understand what is going on. Peter Campuses pieces were so deep in the inner soul of existence portrayed in high contrast of black and white footage, I wish I could go see his works.

Uh-Oh It's Magic...

A Line Describing a Cone

I like the line McCall described between Avant-Garde film makers and film artists. "The two worlds sometimes seem like a Crick and Watson's double helix, spiraling closely around each other without ever quite meeting".

As a New Media artist I consider myself to be more connected with film than other mediums, but the question of "is it art?" always seems to be of concern. Is it art if it's a music video? What about a commercial? Many people would say no, I say yes.

The youtube documentation of A Line Describing a Cone makes McCall's written description of his work more understandable. Especially in that he gave a lot of credit to those who viewed his pieces and he described his works as an individual experience that is different for everyone. In this clip on youtube you can listen to the viewers conversations and see how they are experiencing the piece uniquely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vr_lYSTfIo

16mm Resources

Hi Everyone,

I just got tuned in to a new website that has several different bits of information you may find useful if you work with 16mm in the future. This is maintained by a filmmaker named David Tetzlaff (who recently answered a question for me about diy repairs on Eiki focus knobs.)

http://djt16.110mb.com/

Also, for all things experimental film, you should know about the Flicker website. It's sort of the hub for this kind of work on the internet: www.hi-beam.net

IARTA lecture

I went to the lecture on Thursday night and Friday morning in the music building. David Dunn and Paul Demannis were the speakers. David Dunn is an artist/scientist how has done extensive research recording small insects such as the bark beetle in their natural habitats. He believes that they communicate with each other in a much more complex way than people have perceived and he makes it a point to listen to the environment in ways that no one ever has before. Because of this, a lot of his discoveries are really quite groundbreaking.

Paul Demannis is an artist and musician who teaches at Stanford University. His artworks are incredibly interesting and beautiful. He is interested mainly in communication technology and how they actually separate people from each other. A piece of his that I found really cool is called the Pygmy Gamelan '73. It is some electronic conductor that picks up wavelengths from surrounding signals to create beautiful tones. He tried to sell it as an alternative to car radio and it became a sound art installation piece. He also has managed to do things like play holograms of records with lasers.

Seeing these artists/scientists/musicians just made me want to learn more about everything that i'm not currently studying.