Video Art - Decontextualization

The Art of Prayer

Decontextualization = removed from its context; no context

<<<VIDEO TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE>>>

The purpose of this video is that as this semester ends I find myself reflecting back on my past four years of college and realizing that I truly had the most stressful time in my life during this last semester. Whether it was dealing with school work, my job, or a personal issue, I had several times where I just wanted to break down and give up. However, every time I looked for advice from my mother she would always say, "you just need to stop what you are doing and say a prayer, ask God for his help." I found myself constantly stopping in the middle of something or right when I felt like I wanted to give up, I would begin to pray and ask for help.  My prayers made sense because of what I was doing and what I was asking for. However, in this video one can see that each individual is praying, but it makes no sense what they are praying for... such as saying a bedtime prayer while making your bed instead of laying in it or saying a dinner prayer while sitting in an art gallery where food is not allowed.

I personally find prayer very important in my life, but certain prayers are only meant for certain times. The art of the words coming from one's mouth and speaking to God is beautiful, but what happens when there is no meaning to it when it doesn't belong?

As I am graduating and entering the "real world" of having to find a job and every thing that comes next, I know I will look to prayer more than I ever have. This is more of a personal and serious piece that is about asking God for help and letting him be the leader of my life. Therefore, I wanted to incorporate Him in my last piece of art as an undergrad, because it is a big part of who I am, an artist.

Performance Arts Video

For this assignment we were to create a performance art piece that incorporated technology. After putting a lot of thought into it and coming up with several ideas... it hit me one night while running on the track and seeing sprinklers watering the field.. that something as simple as a water sprinkler is technology. It didn't have to be using a computer, phone, iPod, camera, tv or something that most people would first think of. But rather, to be different and use something simple and actually very beautiful. I knew right at that moment that I wanted to do poses in the water and having it hit my body and drip off.

I was very pleased with this piece but after having my professor view it.. I think it would have been even better to be covered in mud and having the sprinklers cleaning it off. Just like the song - come clean. He also stated that it would have been neat to be holding a speaker in the water.. but I like the simplicity of what I did. However, I do understand him wanting to see more technology involved in this piece.

Times a Flyin

It's crazy to me to think back five years ago today.. and how it seems like just yesterday. One of the biggest tragedies that my little town had occurred on this very day.. five years ago. wow. It will never be forgotten. nor will he. Loved and missed everyday, forever, and for always!

Five years later.. and I am getting ready to graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Digital Art/Design. Time goes by so fast. Sometimes I feel like I'm so behind.. because so many people are having kids.. or getting engaged and even married.. but then I have to stop and realize I am exactly where I need to be. I am so happy that I am accomplishing my goals and am very excited to begin my next. But it's also scary.. scary to think that the last seventeen years of my life have been in school.. but now I have to grow up, get a job, and get serious. I'm excited, yes! but just can't believe how the last eight years of my life feel like it all happened in one.

22 years and I'm still learning to never take a day for granted.. Count my blessings.. and let the people who matter most know it each and every day. There's still so many things I have to look forward to in life! and graduating from UT is one of them! 3 more weeks!! =)

Graphic Design - Symbol Sets

Second Project
Pineapple Symbol Sets
Created in Adobe Illustrator
Shown 3x3 and 1x1 for shrink-ability

FIRST BOARD:

Anomaly 

Curvilinear/Rectilinear

Direction

SECOND BOARD:

Focal Point

Gradation

Organic/Geometric

THIRD BOARD:

Positive/Negative

Radiation

Repetition

Graphic Design - Typography

First Project

Variable Plates

Created in Adobe InDesign

Color

Weight and Size

Weight

Proximity

Visual Punctuation

Size

Art and Technology - Xerox Project Comments

Some comments on other students works...

Rupert - your idea was really neat. I like how symmetrical it all was and how you hid your eyes.  Anyone who knows you would be able to tell that is you and understand that the piece has to do with your life.

Jessica - I loved your idea "Changing the World". She had a box covered in construction paper and then had her hands, coins, and watches all over it. The contrast and shading of the scans were amazing! My favorite were the two hands interlaced, that looking awesome.

Amanda - It was really neat how you used your longboard because anytime I see you you have that longboard with you. So I can easily tell that it means a lot to you. I like how you changed the sizes of your scans. Also, the way your hair flowed was different than everyone elses.

Kaitlin - She had a radio with fingers and ears all over the out side and then when she open the tape player her belly button was inside and when she opened the cd player her mouth was inside. On top were eyes. It was cool and all tied together with the radio... dancing, singing, touching buttons, listening... good idea!

Art and Technology - Xerox Project

For this project we were to scan ourselves and create a work of art with it. I decided that I would scan my face, hands and feet and put them all over my house (leaving marks wherever I walk or touch). We constantly are moving around and touching things, but do you leave behind marks and at the end of the night see where all you've been and what you accomplished?! This piece is showing that you may want to be lazy.. but it just isn't going to happen today, because you have too much on your plate.

Albert Pujols Collage

Mixed Media Class with Professor Chris Valle

8ft x 6ft

Linoleum Tile 

Medium - Paint, Ink, Charcoal

Inspired by artist Florian Nicholé's work

This piece meant a lot to me because not only is Albert Pujols an amazing baseball player.. and plays for my team (St. Louis Cardinals), he is also a great, genuine person. He has his own Albert Pujols Family Foundation for Down Syndrome. This piece has several articles about him and his successful career and life decisions, most recently being the unsigned contract with the Cardinals - leaving him as a free agent. I only hope he plays for the Cardinals because he has some major fans and it would be really sad to see him leave!!

I first painted a backwash onto the canvas, then laid it on the floor and threw red, yellow and white paint on it. After drying I began to draw the three images with ink. I wanted it to have an abstract feel to it. I wanted to give little detail, still knowing who it is, so that ones eye will complete the image. I then began writing the text and then completed with more detailing.

I would absolutely love to have this signed by Pujols or to even have the honor of giving it to him. We will see if this can happen :)

Working Progress

Showing Close-Up Detail

Starting to add details

All hand written

Finished Product (for now)

Work Area

Art and Techology - Joseph Beuys

Joseph Beuys - Infiltration for Piano 1966

Many of Joseph Beuys works consist of using wool felt and textiles.

Attached is an interesting site about Joseph Beuys

Art and Technology - Marcel Duchamp

Marcel Duchamp - Rotary Glass Plates, 1920

Marcel Duchamp's Rotary Glass Plates is one of the first interactive pieces because it has five glass plates that rotate around a metal axis, but from a far distance it looks as though it only has one. It was a motorized sculpture.

Grid Art

Art and Technology - Grid Art Project

I created a gridded pink eye from melty beads.

Back View

Front View

Art and Technology - flipbook

The class had an assignment to create a flipbook from a 400 page book. The animations are to do with the title of the book. My book is by Dean Koontz, Shadow Fires. My animation begins as a person with their shadow. The person leaves the scene and the shadow becomes human. It dances, plays with a ball, lays out under the sun, the sun then turns into fire, then the "shadow man" comes back and does more stuff.

Here are some images from my flipbook.

Art and Technology - NYT article

It is amazing how technology is these days. I mean, what can possibly be next is the question I have. One day people are going to be born and chips will be implanted in their brains so they will be a living computer/robot/genius. Answers to anything and everything are all a two second search from a phone, a computer, an iPad, etc. Who ever refers to books anymore unless it is strictly stated when writing a paper or something. 

I don't know the whole story with this computer on Jeopardy because I've only watched the show a hand full of times. So I don't know why they decided to do this, however I'm sure it is to test a computer against two people and see the turn out. This computer, Watson, on "Jeopardy" doesn't really surprise me that it is going to be faster and know the answers because it has all the knowledge. I would be more worried as the person going against it because it would make them look like they don't know anything. 

February 16, 2011

Computer Wins on ‘Jeopardy!’: Trivial, It’s Not

By JOHN MARKOFF

http://ut.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/courses/ART211-se1/On%20Jeopardy%20Watson%20Win%20Is%20All%20but%20Trivial%20-%20NYTimes.pdf

Mixed Media - 8x6ft Charcoal and Paint Portrait Continued

Finished Images of Katy Perry

Original Image

Art and Technology - Assignment Five

Assignment: 3 Frame by Frame Animations that interest me.

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyeg5qK3uZI&feature=related - Computer animation
This video interests me because I took a class on flash. This video demonstrates frame by frame. It keeps bringing the same character but with improvements in design for each time he drops.

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tge7HOEHMew - Video animation

This video was awesome because its starts out looking like this person on a skateboard is going everywhere, really fast, getting from one to the next. Then they start showing the people and it gets even better. It was well done!

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EudXs1r_-Ok - Drawing animation

This video is interesting because it was hand drawn. Something simple.. but shows how frame by frame works.

Bringing It

Day 16 of 90 (p90x) is completed! Plyometrics - yuck! No, I enjoy it. I actually look forward to just about every day getting to push play and feel like a million bucks afterwards. I'm so happy that I haven't missed a day yet and am really pushing it! I can already see small changes but can't wait for the overall BIG change that I hope happens. Kenpo is probably my favorite of the dvds so far. It's fun punching and kicking ;) It's really great after a stressful day!!

I finally finished Katy Perry! I will post the final images soon. I have a test to study for tonight so need to start focusing on that. We start our next project in my mixed media class on Wednesday and mine will be a collage of Albert Pujols. It should be really awesome. Again, very excited! But very nervous! This will mainly be done in paint and ink. Hopefully it will be a great success. I really have to start coming up with stuff for my senior showcase and I really hope to put this piece in it. Off to study vocab and slides...

Mixed Media - 8x6ft Charcoal and Paint Portrait

Mixed Media - Assignment 2 - Exploring Drawing and Painting

This is my first time creating a picture in such large scale. I was very excited to get started but very nervous because of the size. I chose to do a portrait of Katy Perry. I had several different actresses and singers in mind, but when it came down to it, Katy's photo had the best full range of values. I used the back of an 8x6 foot linoleum tile as my canvas. Acrylic Paint and water for the backwash and then topped it with compressed black and gray charcoal. Critique is next Monday so I will post my final picture by then! Here are the processes that I went through so far.

Picture 1: (Hard to see-sorry) 

 Have the 12" grid drawn on canvas and began drawing Katy

 Picture 2: Adding a backwash (watered down acrylic paint) for color

Picture 3: More backwash for highlights. Began Charcoal

Picture 4: More Charcoal

Picture 5: Displaying size compared to myself - began gray charcoal

Picture 6: Almost finished but still have detailing to work on.

Mixed Media

First Assignment - Charcoal

Picture 1: Finished Charcoal Eye

Picture 2: Shows assignment, difficult to see all the detail and true colors because its smaller.

Picture 3: The classes finished products. Find Mine! (From left: 2nd over, 2nd down)

I was VERY surprised with this assignment. I was nervous for this class because I don't think that I am the best at drawing/sketching. I would feel more comfortable with a computer in front of me, however, with the grid system I felt pretty comfortable after getting the eye sketched on the grid. I am very happy with the turn out and am even more excited for our current assignment... a 6x8ft drawing, mine being Katy Perry. Once it is completed (this coming week) I will put up all of the phases for the drawing. Hopefully it turns out just as well.

Art and Technology - Assignment 3 & 4

Assignment 3: What is the origin of jazz music. -post link -importance?








Assignment 4: What was the famous stock market crash of 1929? 2008? -difference?

The famous stock market crash of 1929 was on Black Thursday, October 28-29, when the Dow Jones Industrial lost 50% during the crash. Throughout the 20s stocks were skyrocketing and people were making large investments. But overnight in 1929 people who invested everything they had, lost everything they had and unemployment went higher. The economy weakened and it was the beginning of the Great Depression.

http://www.angelfire.com/co/pscst/stock.html

Within a week in October of 2008 the Dow Jones Industrial went through what would be the stock market crash of 2008.

This table will show the decline of the 

Dow Jones Industrial Average from October 1 - October 10, 2008.

Date	DJIA Close	Point Change	% Change
October 1, 2008	10,831.07	-19.59	-0.18%
October 2, 2008	10,482.85	-348.22	-3.22%
October 3, 2008	10,325.38	-157.47	-1.50%
October 6, 2008	9,955.50	-369.88	-3.58%
October 7, 2008	9,447.11	-508.39	-5.11%
October 8, 2008	9,258.10	-189.01	-2.00%
October 9, 2008	8,579.19	-678.91	-7.33%
October 10, 2008	8,451.19	-128.00	-1.49%

Information provided by: http://www.money-zine.com/Investing/Stocks/Stock-Market-Crash-of-2008/

The difference between the 1929 stock market crash and 2008 is that 1929 began with a fast rise but then had an over-the-night crash. 2008, however, happened over a week period and then at the end of the month a second decline began. Along with the Dow Jones Industrial, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite also fell.

Changing..

2011 for me will be a lot of changes...

This is my last semester as an Undergrad at the University of Tampa. I will graduate in May with a Bachelor's degree in Digital Art. This will be a HUGE change... 17 years of my last 22 years have been spent in school! Now, in 3 months I will be finished! That's big! I will finally (hopefully) get to start making the BIG BUCKS! (well definitely more than I make now lol)

Volunteering (Big Brothers Big Sisters): This past Sunday I spent a couple of hours with my Little Sister, Ki'Yana, who is five years old. I was so excited to get to know her and get to hang out. We first started out by showing her my school and taking her to the library to pick out a book to read together. She was very fascinated with the track when walking around, so I found out that she loves to run and she said she is very fast! We chose a classic, Dr. Seuss, book and took it to the park across the river. We played for a little bit and then took a break to read. Then I had a special surprise for her... We made bracelets that say "Sister Katelin" and "Sister KiYana" for one another. I know that she had a great time and I plan on surprising her at school one day this week to spend a little time with her and to let her introduce me to her class because she keeps telling me that she is telling everyone about me. :)

Another great way I am trying to change my life is by making it healthier and to be in better shape. I've done the whole trying to lose weight at the gym, but never see good results, if any. I started p90x this week and am so excited about it. Its a 90 day program but really can be a lifetime program. There are three phases, 30 days each. I can't wait to start seeing results and I'm actually hoping that afterwards I will be able to sign up as a coach for the program and help others. I will definitely be updating about these two things quit often I am sure! Tyler is doing it with me, the workouts anyway, so it will really help having someone to push me further and harder then I would if I was alone. Just keep pushing play! :)

Wish me luck!! and any supportive words are welcomed!! <3

Art and Technology - Assignment Two

Assignment: Watch animation of Opera Madama Butterfly and blog about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E387c5RAhK4

After watching a different version in class, I was not expecting this animation to have so much ?detail? in it. Not knowing about the story of this Opera besides what we saw in class, this animation displays a woman getting impregnated by a Sailor. He then goes off and returns by ship after the daughter was born. He comes back with a different woman and takes the child away. The mother no longer wants anything to do with her life without her daughter and the sailor and  end up killing herself.

This animation took an interesting/out there approach to the story. One, the child was first born as a fish.. then changed to a child hooked to the mother by an umbilical cord and flying like a kite attached to one another. The father breaks the cord from the mother and takes the child away. The mother tears her skin off of her body and then disassembles herself with tools.

Interesting... not my kind of thing but very interesting to see how people can think of such things.

Big Brothers Big Sisters

After several months of going through the interview process and classes, I am finally a Big Sister! I chose this organization to volunteer at because I wanted to start volunteering with something that can be long term and really have an affect on someone and myself. I couldn't think of one better for myself then Big Brothers Big Sisters. I love children and I miss my family so much and especially getting to see my little sister continue to grow into a young woman. Although the process took a while I can tell that it was well worth the wait! I met my little sister two days ago, her name is Ki'Yana. She is beautiful and very outgoing. She really enjoys playing and baking. We decided that going to a park would be our first thing to do with one another. After the park I plan to bring her back to my place and bake some cupcakes with her to celebrate my birthday together. When she saw that my birthday was this week she was very excited! So I thought she would really enjoy baking cupcakes and making them all different colors. I also went to Michael's and bought some beads and string so we can make bracelets with each others name on it or say sister or something. I will let her choose. I can't wait to start sharing everything about my life with her and really getting to know her. I plan to help her with her reading and writing skills and just be someone she really looks up to.

Art and Technology - Assignment One

Today was my first meeting of ART 211 (Art and Technology) with Professor Santiago Echeverry. I have had a couple other classes led by him; Advanced Digital Art, Online Productions, and Special Problems. Course Description: Art and Technology is a lecture course that will provide a context for the development of art and its interrelations of technology. Students will explore the evolution of multimedia to hypermedia. Emphasis will be placed on the creation and transformation of technology used in the 20th centure, such as radio, computers, television, the internet, and networked environments. Developments will be related to historic art movements.

Class Assignment One - Create Blog - post feelings of the class, what I expect to learn and who I am.


After having Santiago as a professor before, I know and expect that this class will be intense. There have been some crazy experiences in the past with assignments and conversations, but I feel that this class will go above and beyond after hearing what will be presented to us through video and documentaries. We (the students) were "warned" that it may be quit gruesome at times. I guess we will see how that goes... 


I really look forward to being creative and going out of my norm with these projects. I want to view art in other ways, like Santi's example in class, Dada art. Some see it as art and others don't. I want to gain a respect for artists who go out of the ordinary and really see what they are trying to show or say. I want to learn to take my ideas further and challenge myself. I really hope to get the most out of this class as possible so I can learn more ways to be creative and be able to do so for clients. 

A little about myself... I will be 22 in 6 days and sometimes really wish that I was five again  because I am getting very nervous/anxious/freaked out/excited to graduate in May.  All these mixed feelings are a head ache. And I use to wish my life away saying, "I can't wait to grow up!" I can't complain, there are still several things I look forward to in life. This will be a whole new beginning and I have about 4 months to get ready for it! Ok, sorry, back to "about me". I have a wonderful family - my parents, Chris and Connie, 2 brothers, Garrett and Jordan, and a little sister, Allison. I have a boyfriend, Tyler, who also attends UT. I attended Saint Louis Community College at Meramec before attending UT. I didn't care a whole lot for the community college experience, but it was good for me because I really didn't know what I wanted to major in. I had changed my major several times, but I do believe that I am in something that I am passionate about; Digital Art/Graphic Design. 

A White Christmas and Amazing New Years Eve

I'm not sure when the last time I had a white Christmas was. I remember last year it was pretty nice out, however, this Christmas it was gorgeous... white powder everywhere. The view from our kitchen window was beautiful... looking out to the snow on the ground and covering the trees with the lake in the background was a perfect morning to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  After a nice breakfast my family gathered around the tree and opened presents.  Later, my sister, Allison, and I went out to do some sleigh riding in the snow. Then mom and Allison built a snowlady, Sassy Suzzy!

I got to spend a couple more days with the family and then headed back for Tampa. Tyler and I both had a lay over in Atlanta and actually had the same flight from Atlanta to Tampa. :) This was unplanned! I was so excited to see him when I got off the first flight and he was waiting for me at the gate. We sat together on the next flight and then grabbed a cab and headed to my place. We then enjoyed a wonderful meal together at P.F.Changs. We had a great night together, nothing crazy but was great being back together. 

Since then.. We went over to Tyler's aunts house on the east coast to spend time with his parents and sister. We had a great time, gorgeous weather and beautiful beach. We built an awesome sand castle.  

This has been a great month break, but now I have a week until school is back in session. Last Semester as an Undergrad!!! WHoooHooo!