Video Final Project 12/12

When I was younger, I remember seeing a video of a guy playing with his cat by hiding behind a wall, and the cat would creep closer and closer to the camera. So, usually when I play with cats I also do this. The grey one belongs to a friend of mine and the other one is my own. Both of these cats are quite familiar with this way I play with them, so for my project I thought I would make clips like the one I saw as a kid. I began the video by showing the calm, relaxing side cats have. Then, the second half showing how they could be predator-like. Using iMovie, I put the clips together and added some effects. The piano music is from the copyright free music link we were given, and the horror sound effects were either built into iMovie or from zapsplat.com, a free sound effect source.

Performance Art 11/28

Within the class examples and the other performances shown in class, everyone's goal seemed to be to get a big reaction. This reaction usually was shocked or surprised. So, for my piece I tried to go a different direction. I wanted to get the opposite reaction everyone else seemed to be going for, which is the reaction of instant rejection or just ignoring. I dressed up and acted like I was a person taking surveys, and went to the mall to ask questions. Every single person that passed me turned me down or just straight ignored me. I kind of thought at least one person would have stopped to take my fake survey, but I guess no one was interested! Even the people standing at the directory told me they didn't have time. I am seen in the top right corner in the blue shirt and tie holding a notebook.

Music 11/16

Kevin Wagenheim

11/16

Music

Dubstep:

From looking at the links posted to the site, most of the early dubstep tracks were nothing like any track I would hear today. I found this to be true with other categories as well. Being a fan of electronic music myself, I thought I'd share some songs I know in these categories and explain why I think they can fit into the category. To begin with, I thought I would use Bassnectar as a good choice for Dubstep. I specifically went with him because he is one of the few dubstep artists to produce some of his music live (not all) like the early dubstep artists. This is an extreme rarity now for the genre since everyone uses music producing software. When he is preforming live, he uses dj equipment, but on the side has equipment to make sound live. So, he kind of uses both together. 

Electronic:

For this category, what really stood out to me was the Infected Mushroom link. Ive actually had the opportunity to see them a few times live, and really enjoy their music. What is cool about this group is that they combine the music they produce on the computer with actual band instruments. Believe it or not, this is more on the rare side of electronic music. The majority of artists make everything on the computer and play it live. There's nothing wrong with that it is just impressive when someone can mix it in with live music. So, I decided to go with an artist that does the same thing. Griz is a producer/dj that plays the saxophone on top of his tracks. So, when he plays live, he actually mixes on dj equipment, and then plays the saxophone at the same time. I thought he fit into this category since he uses computer software to produce his music, but adds his own little live taste on top of it. 

Techno:

I really had to do some researching with techno. As it is not too popular now a days, I am not too familiar with any recent artists. So, I when looking through some old music of Tiesto, a popular club dj now. Some of his old music was pretty close when it comes to sounds, and it is identical when it comes to the speed of the beat. So, that is why I chose this track.

House:

The house category shocked me the most. So many links, and through them you can literally see the evolution of it. The difference between what is on the blog and what I know as house music is completely different. So, this choice was pretty tough. Most importantly I wanted to stay away from those who use production software (which is extremely hard). So, I chose Madeon. I really wanted to find someone with the similar beat pace as most of the links, and I thought his tracks mostly resembled those in the links. When preforming live, he uses equipment such as a drum pad hooked to computers to make sound. 

Disco:

 From researching the links, I found that disco was not really what I thought it was. I listened to a couple of the links and thought that I knew a few sounds that sound just like it. The only thing that shocked me a little was that I considered them jazz. Growing up, my dad always played jazz in the car traveling. So, I have a collection of jazz songs I like. This Herb Alpert song is actually almost exactly like some of the disco songs posted on the website. The trumpet melody is very relaxing, almost that you don't notice the upbeat background. The beat in the background sounds very similar to something that could be in this category, so that is why I chose it. After researching, I found the beat was recorded by a drummer, the altered electronically so speed would match the trumpet melody.

Xerox Project 11/14

Kevin Wagenheim

11/14

Xerox Project

Picture:

For my Xerox Project, I decided to go with a style from the Dada art movement. When I was looking at other Dada pieces to try and get inspiration, I came across the photo shown below. I thought the extension of the guy's fingers was really cool, and I thought that I may be able to create something like this using the scanner on my printer. So, I scanned my face, hand, and eye. To add a background and a little detail, I decided to scan my foot and my hair. Since my scanner was not cooperating and scanning in black and white, I adjusted the photo using Photoshop. The pieces are glued to a piece of cardboard.

Inspiration:

Original Scans:

Photoshop Screenshots:

Pixel Project 11/2

Kevin Wagenheim

Art 211

11/2

Tie-Dye Pixels 

Project:

For my pixel project, I chose to use cotton balls, dye them, and arrange them into a tie-dye swirl. A couple years back I was very into tie-dying, and used to dye many shirts, bandanas and tapestries. So, since I am familiar with the material I wanted to try and use them for this project. Using a picture of one of the shirts I dyed, I made a solid color 30x30 grid using Adobe Illustrator. I then took cotton balls and dyed them using the dye I used to use. Then using the grid I made in Illustrator, I arranged and glued the cotton balls to a piece of cardboard.

Shirt:

Reference Picture:

Illustrator Process:

Dye Process:

Electronics Assignment 10/18

Kevin Wagenheim

Dr. Roundtree

Art211

October 18, 2017

Skype

Skype is an instant messaging application that can be downloaded to many different devices. The app is mainly used for instant video sharing or video chatting. Since the software is available for many devices, people can talk to each other no matter what the device. Skype was initially released in 2003, and bought by Microsoft in 2011. In the current version, one can actually make phone calls and send text messages on devices that isn't a smartphone, like a desktop computer. 

The idea of video chatting could very easily be influenced by two inventions - the telephone and the camera. Phones can send one’s voice to another phone instantly through the phone lines we see on the street. The authors of Skype took the idea of the telephone one step further and made it possible to send our live images to another device. However, Skype works through the internet which is a little different than the phones. Skype can reach someone around the globe without having to pay long distance. Now, instead of just being able to share voices with one another, we can now communicate face to face. Skype can also function as a telephone to make voice calls using phone lines; so Skype is basically an upgraded telephone that is comparable with many devices, and can reach around the globe using the internet. Video chatting could also be connected to the camera. As devices became more and more equipped with cameras, and the front camera became a normal thing, it was only a matter of time that people were going to want to share live images. Instead of just taking a photo, we can call someone on Skype and instantly share our own image while seeing the other person’s. 

In the future, the idea of Skype and video chatting may also develop into a different invention. As cameras are developed stronger, and devices gain the ability to project images, maybe a virtual hologram chat could be made. Since there are devices that are projecting keyboards, I could see these projectors developing to be able to show a detailed portrait of someone live. Hologram chatting would be pretty realistic in my opinion. Another invention that could also come up is with the Virtual Reality (VR) headset game consoles. When these devices develop, maybe there will be a way we can use these VR goggles to enter a virtual room with someone, and have our own images projected into the room. Lots of amazing technologies could easily branch off of the original telephone, and inventions after it such as Skype. 

ASCII Art Assignment 10/18

Kevin Wagenheim

10/18

ASCII Art Assignment

When browsing through Chris' collection, I had to go right to the cartoon section. I found all the illustrations to be pretty funny and interesting. These images seem so simple to make, yet I know for a fact I could not sit there and carefully place characters like that. It would drive me up the wall! I have never looked through a collection like this one, but I remember making very small ones when I was into Instant Messaging software in grade school. These images are fun, and easy to share with friends.

When looking more into the collection, I noticed that some of the images were fully filled in with symbols, and some of them were just outlined using the symbols /,|, \, and (). I even found a few that were outlined, and then the next image was the same but filled in using a symbol. Some of the symbols were meaningful to the image as well. For example, there was a Micky Mouse image made of the letter M. I also ran into a calligram of a poem shaped into a dolphin, which I thought was pretty clever. 

In my Art 210 course, my instuctor shared a link with us that lead to a website of an ASCII art piece. Someone has an ongoing project to make a stop-motion ASCII art animation of the whole entire first Star Wars film. Every detail, including the setting and dialog is shown. It was pretty amazing to see that people are really into this art form I couldn't imagine the patience it must take to create a project so long and detailed. Then again, when its just made of text, copy and paste is a good tool to have.