Fun with Popcorn

[artistsrendering-blog]

Learning to dance

[smichels4d]

Nice performance, you looked like you enjoyed the process.

[la-ly-art-blog]

Half/Full 

I decided to do my performance piece on matters relating to things like optimism/pessimism, depression, and just the general feeling of fullness (literally and figuratively…I drank so much water for this I felt like I was going to explode). The “glass half empty or half full” saying is obvious, however I wanted to toy with the idea of having other people “fill your glass” when it gets to the half empty/half full point, specifically people that you love/love you. In this case, my mother filled my glass every time I drank it down to the halfway point in the top video. The bottom video portrays only me filling up my own glass. To me these simultaneous videos display what it feels like to be depressed or down on yourself; sometimes the people who love you are the ones that come in to “fill you up” again because they want what’s best for you and you may not have the strength or motivation to do it yourself, and other times there’s no one there to fill you up so you have to take the responsibility to do it yourself. It’s about being given happiness/fullness verses taking it for yourself. 

There’s another aspect of this piece that I thought about that wasn’t an original intention, which is the concept of gluttony or being overloaded. It’s possible to have too much of a good thing. However, is it possible to have too much happiness? To be too full of life? 

[smichels4d]

I don't think it's possible to be to happy or full of life.  I liked the concept of your video.

[edstedt-deactivated20190723]

Artist Present. Drawings Can Dance Too.

I always thought of abstract expressionism as a dance. Once I saw old video where Pollock throws paint on canvas. Spectacular, but not enough. I felt a need for music in order for the piece to be completed.

Now, I’m not Pollock, though I tried to accomplish the same idea of catching a momentum, living it with all the senses and finally capturing the mystic dance of a brush.  

[smichels4d]

Very nicely done.  I really enjoy drawing with ink, I will have to give it a try.

[smichels4d]

Performance

Theme: To Kneel, To Stare, To Write and To Wonder

This was the most difficult assignment for me, I am extremely uncomfortable in front of a camera, also I found kneeling for a long period of time to be very difficult.  This one minute clip came from several tries, the longest being 30 minutes.  I felt the message I am conveying did not require sound, in fact it would detract.  Over the past several weeks, months, years the senseless violence and destruction seems to be escalating.  I am sure many people are asking some of the same questions.  I wish I had an answer but sadly I do not.  The most important thing I can think of is to live life to the fullest and always tell the people we love how important they are to us.

I had to write this separately because it took forever to get this to post. 

[smichels4d]

[smichels4d]

Exercise #5

Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present

The question she was waiting to hear was “Why is this art?” she now believes that people get performance art.  Her early work which was replicated in the MOMA exhibit was both disturbing and provocative.  The patience and commitment to her art is phenomenal.  Watching Marina sit hour upon hour and look into her audience’s eyes was amazing, her commitment of time and energy.  Watching this piece, I began to wonder what both sides saw.  Was it a reflection of the individual, was it the ability to gaze into another individuals soul or was it a little of both.  Quite a few people were genuinely moved by this experience.  I respect people who are able to share their deepest joys and greatest disappointments, as Marina does.  I find her to be a fascinating woman.

Performance: A hidden History by Roselee Goldberg

Performance art seems to have been around for a while.  It is not surprising that it has involved video, dance, slides and narrative and that it is closely related to theatre, music, opera and mime.  No matter what drives performance art, it requires an audience/performer relationship.  I found it interesting that some artists used performance art as a venue prior to moving on to other mediums.  I see how performance may be a challenge to critics and the public.  I get the impression that a number of artists who migrate to performance do so for shock value.   There is the question, “Is it art?”

[smichels4d]

Verb List with Drawings

[smichels4d]

Husband of Paris Attack Victim

Antoine Leiris, a Parisian whose wife was killed in the Paris terrorist attacks on Friday, wrote in a powerful Facebook status three days after the tragedy. His wife, 35-year-old hair and makeup artist Helene Muyal-Leiris, was killed in the Bataclan concert hall on Friday, HuffPost France reported Monday. Muyal-Leiris leaves behind her husband and one 17-month-old son, Melvil.

The post was translated from French, and edited for clarity:

YOU WILL NOT HAVE MY HATRED

Friday night, you took an exceptional life -- the love of my life, the mother of my son -- but you will not have my hatred. I don't know who you are and I don't want to know, you are dead souls. If this God, for whom you kill blindly, made us in his image, every bullet in the body of my wife would have been one more wound in his heart.

So, no, I will not grant you the gift of my hatred. You're asking for it, but responding to hatred with anger is falling victim to the same ignorance that has made you what you are. You want me to be scared, to view my countrymen with mistrust, to sacrifice my liberty for my security. You lost. 

I saw her this morning. Finally, after nights and days of waiting. She was just as beautiful as when she left on Friday night, just as beautiful as when I fell hopelessly in love over 12 years ago. Of course I am devastated by this pain, I give you this little victory, but the pain will be short-lived. I know that she will be with us every day and that we will find ourselves again in this paradise of free love to which you have no access.

We are just two, my son and me, but we are stronger than all the armies in the world. I don't have any more time to devote to you, I have to join Melvil who is waking up from his nap. He is barely 17-months-old. He will eat his meals as usual, and then we are going to play as usual, and for his whole life this little boy will threaten you by being happy and free. Because no, you will not have his hatred either.

[rmills250]

Project 4

For my video, I chose Saturn and its rings for the visuals of reappearing and disappearing. The audio is actually the sounds of Saturn itself captured from NASA’s Cassini and then brought to human hearing range.

[smichels4d]

I liked the footage you used where the rings completely disappear.

[milehighandmighty-blog]

I am somewhat of a minimalist. For my 1 min video, i wanted to see how few actions i could get away with, and how minimal i could get and still meet the “disappearing” prompt, while simultaneously telling a story that was readable and actually made sense. I also wanted to keep it to just one shot. I got it down to 6 movements, 10 seconds each. 

[smichels4d]

I like your minimalist style. Well done.

[smichels4d]

Vanishing and Becoming

I chose to make a video of this lovely little stream that flows through our neighborhood.  As you walk along the path you can hear the stream and occasionally get a glimpse of it through the bushes.  As with many of the assignments in this class, this is my first time making my own video. (As you can tell I’m not very steady with the camera.) I made four videos on different days and times, I decided to make a final video after the snow on Wednesday.  Due to the snow melt in the afternoon and the leaves falling from the bushes I was able to get more of the stream “vanishing and becoming” as well as getting some of the fall foliage.  I accompanied the video with flutist Hiromi Motomiya - Breath.

[smichels4d]

I posted this early and did not know if everyone had a chance to see it.

[artistsrendering-blog]

[smichels4d]

I liked the way you mixed video with still shots. They worked very well with the music you selected.

[smichels4d]

Vanishing and Becoming

I chose to make a video of this lovely little stream that flows through our neighborhood.  As you walk along the path you can hear the stream and occasionally get a glimpse of it through the bushes.  As with many of the assignments in this class, this is my first time making my own video. (As you can tell I'm not very steady with the camera.) I made four videos on different days and times, I decided to make a final video after the snow on Wednesday.  Due to the snow melt in the afternoon and the leaves falling from the bushes I was able to get more of the stream "vanishing and becoming" as well as getting some of the fall foliage.  I accompanied the video with flutist Hiromi Motomiya - Breath.

[brittanyteuber-blog]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI2IPW3RwLA)

Pretty Lights audio x Emancipator video

[smichels4d]

This is great.

[artistsrendering-blog]

Music Video

Exercise 4

[smichels4d]

You did a great job, the music and video worked so well together.

[neldanze-blog]

I saw this video and immediately thought I had to do it with this song. I changed the speed in some spots to give emphasis. I also deleted parts of the video and audio so they would fit together better. I love how the little guy fell down at the end. I used IMovie on my Mac and had some struggles with it but once I figured it out, it was not too hard. I made another video using this song and a compilation of video clips from super hero movies but the copywrite laws wouldn’t  let me post it. 

[neldanze-blog]

Just realized this is not due to next Thursday. Sorry it’s a little early.

[sweetsnailprincess-blog]

It made my day anyway!

[smichels4d]

Ditto! You did a great job.

[smichels4d]

Exercise 4D

My last video stopped working, so I am posting this one.  The video is from WWII and the song is WAR by Edwin Starr from 1969. I believe it was in protest of the Vietnam War.  I used World War II to show the devastation that war causes.  WWII stopped the annihilation of groups of people, so the question is: Are wars bad?  .