w.o.r.d. v.i.s.u.a.l.i.z.a.t.i.o.n.

Classmate Presentation Comments

The first "mock exhibition" was presented by Emma and Radha. They introduced their theme of a "Sci-fi Nightclub" which would include installations from artists, Erwin Redl and Leo Villareal. I was very interested in hearing their idea for their exhibit because, I too, was researching Erwin Redl but on a different level which is why I loved the interview with him because I got to see him on a more personal level. Both of these artists worked with light - Erwin Redl leaning more towards cyberspace, whereas Villareal's attention was drawn toward the organic and geometric elements of light. Fused together, they would create a virtual reality using the medium of luminescence. "Living Computer," an exhibit curated by Michelle and Stephanie combined the works of Laurent Mignonneau and Christa Sommere with Raphael Lozano-Hemmer. I thought Raphael's installation of Pulse Park was amazing and installation of an interactive virtual species would be really fascinating. Liz and Keri proposed their exposition "Independence" that would take the two mirroring techniques of Q.S. Serafijn and Gerhard Mantz and fuse them together. This exceptional visualization would bring two artists who work opposite from eachother (Serafijn working from digital --> reality and Mantz creating his work from reality-->digital) and have them coexist to create a public digitally enhanced landscape that subliminally gets people to notice without imposing on their way of thinking.

Tim and Cristina presented a gallery that encompass the works of Gregory Scott and Oliver Wasow. "Perceptions" would alter the viewer's mood as they enter an undercurrent of loneliness, disconnect and isolation - all main themes of these artists' works. "Future Shock Love Sounds" curated by Keith and Renee was my favorite "mock art gallery." I find myself particularly indulged in the medium of music and sound. I have also heard of both Danny Deacon and Danny Perez and I think they are both brilliant, especially Perez's work with Animal Collective. I honestly wish this was a real exhibit because I would definitely be willing to pay a good amount of money to experience it. The final presentation that was done by Alayne and Kaitlin introduced "Mechanical Creations: The Integration of Mechanics and the Natural" exhibiting Ken Rinaldo and Ken Feingold. I feel that if these two artists worked together using their knowledge and experience with artificial life, robotics and integration with biology, they could create something completely original and find a lot of success with it.

Define: Structure.

Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture - founders of Asymptote Architecture, a decade old New York based architecture firm that has been highly recognized for not only their building designs, but also for their art installations that are exhibited throughout the United States, Europe and especially the United Arab Emirates.

http://www.asymptote.net/

Erwin Redl is an Austrian-born artist whose main medium is LEDs as he works in both two and three dimensions to give a new meaning to "space," interior and exterior throughout his installations that are both nationally and internationally known.

http://www.paramedia.net/

Elena and I proposed an exhibition that would take place in one of Asymptote's establishments, like the Strata Tower in Abu Dhabi. The exterior of the building would display an immediate fusion as the firm's usual use of outdoor aesthetic architectural lighting is installed by Erwin Redl. The interior would then be transformed into a perplexing atmosphere as guests reconfigure the overall meaning of edifice. Interior installations from Asymptote would include their award winning digital designs for upcoming projects as well as their groundbreaking use of virtual reality and digital space environments. Erwin Redl would contribute with his use of LED lighting to manipulate rooms making it an alternate interactive dimension.

Snow White, to the Prince

by Chris Tusa

Truth is, my life was no fairytale,
that afternoon, I lay, a smiling corpse
under a glass sky, a rotten apple
lodged in my throat like a black lump
of cancer, your sloppy kiss dying on my lips.

Did you really believe a kiss could cure
the poison galloping through my veins,
as you stood there, with your ugly white horse,
the voices of dwarfs buzzing like flies
in the apple-scented air?

I wish you could see me now,
how I take to the sky, a witch
without a broom, an empty black silhouette
with stars for teeth, spooking deer
into briar patches, swallowing the shadows of trees.

I wish I could slip into my beautiful white flesh,
just once, my pretty white feet stuffed into black slippers,
my poisoned-breath fogging up the smiling mirror.
If only you could see the light pouring from my skin.
If only you could hear the songs my bones sing.

MARCO!..........GREEN!

One of my favorite mediums used in art is film. When I visited the Whitney Biennial I recall spending a substantial amount of time viewing both Ari Marcopoulos' and Jesse Aron Green's video performance installations. Ari emigrated to the United States in the late 70s and has centered his work around the theme of American youth subcultures. This is apparent in his 7 minute, 32 second 2009 video Detroit. This installation also encompasses his other art

interests such as underground music and extreme rebellious behavior toward athletics. Two boys are seen in a child's bedroom creating a sense of "noise rock" using various amplifier pedals unattached to instruments. They throw a small mediocre concert of gritty, loud music by strategically combining the sounds of distorted sound waves. The video uses vibrant color and energy to assimilate with the feeling of youthfulness and freedom of expression.

Jesse Aron Green's video installation shows a large amount of contrast to Ari's dynamic performance. The 2008 80 minute loop Arztliche Zimmergymnastik which literally translates to "Medical room gymnastics" is based off of an 1858 book by the German physician Daniel Gottlob Moritz Schreber which describes a set of gymnastic exercises. Green uses this text as a choreography for sixteen male performers demonstrating forty-five

exercises to the manual's exact instructions. The setting of the film is in a neutral room with sixteen square platforms where grown men sporadically appear and demonstrate awkward or foreign movements. There is little to no sound aside from the noise of footsteps or bodies hitting the wood. Arztliche Zimmergymnastik also differs from Detroit in terms of performance because Detroit exhibited a less controlled execution whereas Arztliche Zimmergymnastik demonstrates a specific ritual.

I found that I continued to watch Ari's piece because it was continuously entertaining, but after a while you get the gist of children making noise. Green's video leaves the viewer with such a perplexed feeling that they proceed with watching as much as they can in order to grasp some sort of concept with what is being shown throughout the loop.

s.e.l.f. v.i.s.u.a.l.i.z.a.t.i.o.n.

My first concept for the self-visualization triptych was thrown out the window days before the final files were due. The only thing that stayed pretty much the same is the middle panel which was a montage of my old houses that laid a background for pictures taken throughout my younger childhood. I modified its appearance by putting the pictures of my houses through a black and white threshold and also putting the layered pics through either a color gradient or a negative color effect. I also accompanied the panel with lyrics from Regina Spektor’s song “On the Radio.” This quote just reflects my overall view of how growing up and aging works and also adapting to changes as you grow.

The idea for my left and right panel changed dramatically as well when I spent a few days taking negative pictures with my camera phone. The settings of these pictures were Washington Crossing Park and New York City. The pictures were amazing because of the coloring and also because the camera was only a three megapixel the scenes of urban and nature turned into more of a design. Unfortunately, before I had the chance of uploading these pictures to create my finished piece my phone was stolen. I was devastated but realized I loved the idea too much to not go through with. I was able to compile some pictures from my old camera of the city and Central Park and I also used some images I found online. I manipulated the pictures using varying gradients and color effects and I also used the smudge and gradient tool to make them flow together.

The left panel is a combination of photos that represent nature, the beach and wind. These are by far my favorite things in life and although they are simple, it is in these conditions where I am most serene. I used a lyric from Animal Collective’s song “My Girls” that reads: “There isn’t much that I feel I need; a solid soul and the blood I bleed.” I feel that this relates to the effortless beauty of nature and its impact that is has on my mood and emotions. The right panel is a culmination of photos from New York City. I wanted to incorporate this metropolitan jungle in my piece because it is where I see myself in the future. I have always been a shore kid and have spent my entire life on the beach with the tallest structure around me being a ferris wheel. I can really see my career prospering in the city and I can definitely picture myself continuing my life there. I used a lyric from Radiohead’s song “Bulletproof with Butterfly Wings” that states: “Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage.” When I say rage, I am not referring to rage as in anger, I pertain it more towards unreleased energy. Fully indulging myself into my career will allow me to hit my highest potential.

I scanned the childhood pictures into photoshop where I was able to use the quick selection tool. The house pictures were also scanned in and the top house picture was scanned in through Adobe Illustrator where I live traced and painted it. The rest of the work was done mostly through Photoshop and the finished panels went through Illustrator again where I added the final text. I wanted the panels to be poster size, so I decided to make them each fourteen inches wide and three feet long. I used the wide format printer and printed on Premium Luster paper because I really wanted the colors to vibrant and beautiful. I was ecstatic about the ending results. I plan on mounting them so that they each have a small black frame separating each from the panel next to it.