Art 2500:Projects
#1. Media/Social Critique
Because digital imaging is used in the production of media and advertising, it is particularly well suited for artistic critiques, parody or satire of these arenas. We will look at artists who are using digital tools to turn the tables on advertising, hype, consumer culture and the authority of the media. You will then create your series of 3 artworks, which function as a commentary or critique of the media - or related societal issue. An early precedent for working in this manner would be the German artist John Heartfield, who collaged photographs and magazines together (photomontage) to create anti-fascist artwork/propaganda during the 1930's. He was re-using media in order to create a new message; one which was not the dominant message of the time.
Related Artist links:
Art 2500: Project #2
Rinse, Wash, Repeat.
Though we experience time as linear our lives are composed of nested loops of activities. Each year we experience the same seasons, every 28 days the moon transitions from new to full to new again, and every day the sun rises and sets. We inhale and exhale only to inhale again. Our hearts beat rhythmically. We finish a project in Art 2500 only to be assigned another. Rinse, wash, repeat. Some find comfort in the repetitive nature of our days, in others the endless monotony inspires ennui, or even anxiety.
Your task is to create a narrative, or non-narrative work that considers the cyclic, the rhythmic, or the endless. For the proposal state whether the work will be narrative, or non-narrative. If it is narrative describe the story you wish to tell and why you wish to relate it to an audience. If it is non-narrative describe your concept and the experience you hope to give your audience. Students must turn in either:
Two 3 second (minimum) .gif animations that run at 15 frames per second or faster
-OR-
A two page (8.5 x 11) 12 panel comic strip
The projects may be composed of drawn images, digitally collaged images, stop motion animation(series of photos), or video footage converted and manipulated with photoshop. The gif animation must form a perfect loop. (The activity must look like it is continuing forever without interruption.) The comic strip must also end where it begins. The last panel should lead back into the first.
Image Resolution Settings:
.gif Animation: 72 dpi (pixels/inch) 5” x 7” max dimensions. No smaller than 3”x5”
Comic Strip: 2 pages at 300dpi (pixels/inch) 8.5”x11” Only size allowable.
Related Artist Links:
Project #3 THE IMAGINARY APP
The Imaginary App
Apps are placed at the tips of our fingers on mobile screens. They offer themselves as channels that navigate us through uncanny media networks and rhizomes. They are shortcuts that guarantee direct and immediate access to what we need beyond the screen. We live in the hope that ubiquitous computing will help us maintain our public and private lives – relationships, work, and leisure – and apps promise to make computation even more seamless and the media environment even more subliminal. If anything, apps reveal how much we depend on this promise when we imagine our being with each other as being with technology.
The goal of this project is to challenge the limits of technological assistance endorsed by the slogan: “There’s an app for that.” What are the most desirable, terrifying, or ridiculous apps that haven’t been and, possibly, will never be released? Formulate a concept of an app. Translate it in the language of design.
Submit:
1. app icon (4×4 inches, TIF, 300 dpi)
2. app concept (600 characters max.)
3. bio (100 words max.) + website, twitter (optional)
The works will be selected on the basis of the following criteria:
Concept: originality and critical potential
Design: clarity and aesthetics of presentation
Assignment for 2500: Come up with ideas for Two Apps that fit the confines of the call for artists above. For each App complete the “Submit” portion of the call. The Bio can be the same for both. For Each App Icon students will need to be prepared to show 3 drafts in class for the first round of critique. This is a total of 6 drafts. We will have a rapid fire critique where the class will vote with a show of hands as to whether or not the icon captures the essence of the concept and a vote for which of the three captures the concept best. The class will offer a limited number of suggestions for improvements to the best version of the icon. The student will have until October 15th to make changes based on class input and submit the App to the above email address. Making those changes is an important part of the grade for the project. If the student submits the unchanged icon to the call they can expect their grade to reflect this choice.
Project 4: Sacred Geometries and Ritual Actions
Complex geometric patterns exist in the art and architecture of almost every culture past and present. Often they have been used as an expression of the divine, or to facilitate the experience of the divine. Fractals are recursive mathematical patterns that are ubiquitous in nature and are built from the repetition of a few simple rules. Ritual can similarly be defined as the repetitive execution of a few simple actions . For Catholics the Rosary is a structure upon which ritualistic prayer is built. For certain sects of Buddhism a ritualistic form of practice is to complete 10,000 full body prostrations in a lifetime. Similar examples exist in all major religions.
You are free to define what is sacred, what is divine, and/or which ritualistic actions you plan to take.
Your task is to create a “sacred” geometric pattern in Illustrator based on a simple base element which could be a logo, an abstract shape, an image, or text ,or a ritualistic, iterative process. If you have an idea for something not mentioned please ask whether it fits the guidelines of the project. Your pattern must be printed on the large format printer.
Recursion Scroll Down to Recursion in Plain English
Images of La Sagrada Familia by Antoni Gaudi
Good mix of examples of Mosaics and patterns
Frank Lloyd Wright Stained Glass
Polygons, Tiling and Sacred Geometry I suggest looking at all of the pages on this site.
Tessellation Explanation and Instructions
Final Project
Proposal - Due Tuesday November 13th
Three paragraphs describing the concept behind the project, how you plan to execute the project, and how the way in which you plan to execute the project is relevant to the concept.
The concept could cover anything from the meaning of life, to experimentation and research into how the mind interprets color.
The paragraph on the execution of the work should include details about whether you plan to frame the work, create a small installation, produce stickers, a book, gif animation, etc. If the work is not meant to be hung on the wall describe how you would like to display the work.
In the final paragraph I would like you to consider how your presentation of the work functions with your concept. Why do you need to print stickers rather than a single framed image? Why do you want to lay your print on the floor rather than the wall? Why does this concept need to be shown as a gif animation and not a series of stills?
Why does the image need to be huge or tiny?
There will be a rough draft due Tuesday the 20th of November. And the final version will be due November 29th. More info will come about the Art and Tech show drop off times and requirements.
Resources
www.stickermule.com Stickers!
www.lulu.com Books!