Second Life

I couldn't figure out why I couldn't hear the chatter with the class today.  But regardless it was fun.  I rode a horse, motorcycle, and got loads of free stuff! This is my avatar....  Don't be afraid of the scary joker smile.  And I assume that the reason my dress is so splotchy is because of a slow connection?

And, I am not sure why.... but my panda looks like a hybrid of unicorn and panda :/  Thats what I get for trying to mess with too many different items to wear.



Astists Paper: Norman White and Stelarc

I wanted to pick two artists that I felt I could write about with confidence, two artists whose body of work was something I saw myself questioning and exploring on my own. I found two artists who work in robotics and internet based media has influenced many and received recognition in their field.

Stelarc, a Greek artist living and working in Australia, work with the idea of body being an evolutionary, ever changing, canvas that he manipulates with medical instruments, implants, prosthetics, second life and robotics.

“In 1995 Stelarc received a three year Fellowship from The Visual Arts/Craft Board, The Australia Council and in 2004 was awarded a two year New Media Arts Fellowship. In 1997 he was appointed Honorary Professor of Art and Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh. He was Artist-In-Residence for Hamburg City in 1997. In 2000 he was awarded an Honorary Degree of Laws by Monash University. He has completed Visiting Artist positions in Art and Technology, at the Faculty of Art and Design at Ohio State University in Columbus in 2002, 2003 & 2004. He has been Principal Research Fellow in the Performance Arts Digital Research Unit and a Visiting Professor at The Nottingham Trent University, UK. He is currently Chair in Performance Art, School of Arts, Brunel University, Uxbridge, UK. He is also Senior Research Fellow and Visiting Artist at the MARCS Lab at the University of Western Sydney, Australia. Stelarc's artwork is represented by the SCOTT LIVESEY GALLERIES in Melbourne (stelarch.org)."

Norman White, born in Texas, currently lives in Canada as a teacher and practicing new media artist, has helped pioneer the world of electronics and robotics in art. Both Stelarc and Norman work with the idea of human interactions and actions, translating them into mechanical robotics. While Stelarc is a performance artist and offers his own body for his experimentation, Norman White is a sculptor who builds his pieces to be unusual and interactive.

“White grew up in and around Boston, Massachusetts, and obtained his B.A. in Biology from Harvard University in 1959. Originally planning to become a fisheries biologist, White changed his mind and decided to travel to places like New York City, San Francisco, London, and the Middle East during the 1960s. While living in San Francisco, he worked as an electrician at Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard, and developed a fascination for electrical switching systems. In 1967, White moved to Toronto, Canada, where he began to build and experiment with kinetic electronics. He taught classes such as "Mechanics for Real Time Sculpture" as part of the Integrated Media Program of the Ontario College of Art & Design from 1978 to 2003 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_White).”

In Ping Body: An Internet Actuated and Uploaded Performance, Stelarc wrapped his body with internet cables and electrodes, where electrically charged involuntary movements manifest due to the stimulation caused by the internet traffic. For a standard performance Stelarc, attaches a collection of the electrode muscle stimulators all over his body, each capable of delivering jolts up to 60 volts, and links them to the internet via the low level internet ping protocol. “The ping protocol sends out electronic pings and measures the round trip time until a response is heard back from a particular machine connected to the internet.” His body is redesigned by technology he designed. Stelarc then spends hours handing his body over to the internet. Fed up with what he calls "the obsolete body."

Stelarc added an additional robotic prosthetic arm to his already existing left arm, which is controlled with his chest muscles. During each show, internet traffic reveals itself to the audience as Stelarc’s entire body spasms. By the end of the performance Stelarc is often incapable of walking. Stelarc explains, "The Ping Body performance produces a powerful inversion of the usual interface of the body to the net. Instead of collective bodies determining the operation of the internet, the collective internet activity moves the body." Stelarc has provided a channel for the internet to physically jerk and defeat us for all of the circulation and abuse thrown at it every day. We create technology, and it mutually challenges us.

The Helpless Robot, by Norman White, is robot without a motor that responds to the behavior of humans by using only its synthesized voice. The dialogue that is delivered depends on its present and past experience of "emotions" ranging from boredom, frustration, arrogance, and over stimulation. The Helpless Robot attempts to create a simulated personality. Creating a simulated personality is impossible, because you can never achieve anything that is as intricate as a living human being. Norman took this on simply as an act of wonder. He started out asking himself “can a machine which is fundamentally a product of the intellect also model emotions? And how does one even begin to build a conceptual emotional framework? Are there primary emotions, like primary colours, from which all other emotions evolve?”

This robot is controlled by two computers with tasks automated by White. One is in charge of sensing movement, and the other analyses the data. This robot seems unable of doing anything other than interacting verbally. The Helpless Robot asks for help in order to understand the only option granted to it: movement. White gave the robot a specific disposition, making it to be a self-centred, “never-to-be-satisfied grumbler” that is primarily polite when talking to the person interacting with it and asking for help. When you approach the robot, he asks is “one might be of assistance to him.” When you agree, the robot will ask you to turn him in a specific direction. But when the robot is not satisfied, even though exactly what was requested has been done, he will change the tone of his voice becomes very short and rude. The same rude demeanour will continue if you decide to ignore his repeated requests. If you follow the robots prompts, he develops an increasingly dictatorial attitude and demands more actions to be completed by the participant. “If one leaves the work alone – probably somewhat irritated – Helpless Robot laments the fact that he is lonesome and comments on human beings’ unreliability.”

Its easy to see the parallel between these two artists.  Both are successful with manipulating the human either mentally or physically.  Stelarc, as a performance atrist, manipulates his body physically with the use of muscle stimulators.  Norman White, with his helpless robot, manipulates a person into working to please the robot. 

Websites Used:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_White

http://www.normill.ca/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stelarc

http://stelarc.org/testForFlash.html

Participation in Crowdsourcing!

The first crowd sourcing project I chose to do was PostSecret.  I am a HUGE fan of the site and have submitted more than once! I have a  secret that I submitted via the PostSecret app before it was taken off the app store.  

Add caption

Second, I drew a picture for the Johnny Cash project.  I submitted under the name, April Beavers. 

Original Frame

My Frame

Last, I took a picture for myamazingbutt.com.  

Does this make me look gay?

I knew this was the idea I wanted to use.  I needed to find a way and design that didn't make this site seem like a joke, or could be discredited.  I decided the best host site to start this idea would be Tumblr.  I created a "Does this make me look gay?" Tumblr.  The more I thought about what I needed to say, the less I found I had to say.  I figured with less instruction, it gave the submitter more options to do as they choose.  The design, like most of my projects, its very minimal.  I didn't want giant rainbow banners, interlocking gender signs, or anything that might make this blog seem like a joke.  My intention for viewers, and those who choose to submit, is to feel good about being homosexual, see others just like themselves, and to join in a community that understands and does not have to be stereotyped. 

Crowdsourcing Readings

From the Book Reading-

1. Would you say that crowdsourcing is collaborative, participative, or interactive?  (in the reading, I felt it was saying it is best described as collaboration) 
2. What are common human interest subjects for crowdsourcing? (my own thought- random) 

From the Internet Reading-

1. Does crowdsourcing art always have to evoke empathy?
2. What makes crowdsourcing successful?

YouTube Mixer

I created my mixer based on "How to..." videos.  In my five videos you see, how to get buns of steel, how to put on eyeliner, how to tie a shoe, how to make hash browns, and how to moon walk.  I tweaked the videos to get the same messed up quality in all five.  One video I saw but did not include was how to salsa dance.  Instead of adding that video I chose to have my music be Latin based.  The title, made famous by Larry the Cableguy, was to play off of the "how to" idea of getting stuff done.  The five videos are lined up in a single row, it is like this as to not confuse the viewer all over the place.  I like the clean design and succinctness about it. 

  



Tactical Media Questions

Tactical Media Questions:

1. Which subject, taken and changed by tactical media, do you see recreated most;  politics, social studies, or religion?
2. How important is objectivity in viewing tactical media projects?