indeterminacy, part 2

Part 2 was using Aaron's methods to create art. His idea was a "comic book" using chance to supply us with the characters, their interactions and how they are visually represented... here is how his came out:

The following is taken from Aaron's blog, which is his step-by-step procedure on how to make his "Burden Vicar":

This Chance art piece includes:

1         18”x24” watercolor piece of paper that will be marked into 9 quadrants

Acrylic paints

Printed google images

Printed Microsoft word documents

Online generators

Follow these Steps:

1.       Equally Draw 9 quadrants on the paper

a.       Number them out: 1 (at the top left), 2 (at the top middle), 3 (at the top right)
                              4 (at the next row down left), 5 , 6………..etc

2.       Choose your first quadrant using the random number generator:

Using the random number generator: www.random.org   (making sure to make the min: 1 and max:9)

If it repeats a number, press it again until you use up all of the quadrants

3.       Use the random color generator to choose the color of the quadrant:

http://www.kareno.org/js/colors/

Then using acrylic paint, paint the whole chosen quadrant with the chosen color. Blend colors to your best ability to get to that color. Don’t worry if you cannot get the exact color. Try your best!

*Repeat steps (1.), (2.) and (3.) until you finish all 9 quadrants.

4.       Choosing subject matter (a)

Go to: http://watchout4snakes.com/creativitytools/RandomWord/RandomWordPlus.aspx to choose your subject. Make sure to make the “word type” is set to a “noun” and the “complexity” is set to “obscure”.

                                Then…………..

A.      Go to Google images and type your new randomly chosen word

B.      Then use Random number generator: www.random.org  with a min: 1 and a max: 100

C.      Then this number will choose your google image. For example: If you got a 1, then the first google image that shows up for your word will be your image. If you get 45, count down 45 pictures from the top to the bottom

D.      Print out this image

E.       Cut out image so there is no background, and only the subject (preferably use a x-acto knife)

5.       Choosing Subject matter (b)

Go to: http://watchout4snakes.com/creativitytools/RandomWord/RandomWordPlus.aspx to choose your subject. Make sure to make the “word type” is set to a “noun” and the “complexity” is set to “obscure”.

                                                Then…………..

A.      Go to Google images and type your new randomly chosen word

B.      Then use Random number generator: www.random.org  with a min: 1 and a max: 100

C.      Then this number will choose your google image. For example: If you got a 1, then the first google image that shows up for your word will be your image. If you got a 45, count down 45 pictures from the top to the bottom

D.      Print out this image

E.       Cut out image so there is no background, and only the subject

6.       Then…… use subject matter (a and b), put them into random paragraph generator:

http://watchout4snakes.com/CreativityTools/RandomParagraph/RandomParagraph.aspx

subject matter (a) into primary subject box

subject matter (b) into secondary subject box

7.       Then copy and paste the paragraph into Microsoft word.

a.       To choose the font of the paragraph:
 copy and paste the whole list of Microsoft word fonts from(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924623 ) 

b.        Paste the list into the random list generator ( www.random.org/lists  )
*HINT- Make sure to keep this website open in its own tab/window throughout your whole process.

c.        Use the first font in the list.

d.       Then use random number generator to determine the font size ( www.random.org)  with a min: 8 and a max: 28.

e.        Finally choose the color of the font by using the same random color generator http://www.kareno.org/js/colors/
***Again use the best of your ability to estimate the chosen color in Microsoft Word

f.        Print out paragraph

g.        Cut paragraph so there is no white border. (To the best of your ability)

8.       Place paragraph in the middle of the colored quadrant, then place the googled images on either side of the text but inside the quadrant.

*** Repeat Step (3.) (4.) (5.) (6.) and (7.) until you fill up all quadrants!

Then you’re done!

You just made a Burden Vicar!

Congratulations!

Below is step e. done all at once, to save myself time.... sorry I didn't do it the "proper" way!:

 

And finally, here is my own comic book came out:

indeterminacy, part 1

Project: Places We Go

My half of the project: I couldn't really think up a chance-based art piece until I dreamt this up! I believe it was inspired by BART maps, google maps, battleship, and those visualization maps we saw at GAFFTA. Anyway, I think it came out really nice. After my presentation and class discussion, my professor suggested it being transposed on top of any mapped location for a tour made by chance. (Which I did and will blog about in another post).

Supplies

1.     12x12 in. canvas

2.     Triangle

3.     Ruler

4.     Pencil

5.     Tape

6.     5 ultra fine tip sharpies in different colors  (One must be Black, which will be reserved for labeling coordinates)

7.     Internet access

8.     Microsoft Excel

Method

1.     Take the 12x12 inch canvas and make small 1 inch incremental marks along the four sides using a ruler, pencil and tape. 

2.     Label the marks on the top and bottom in alphanumeric order (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K.).

3.     Label the marks on the left and right 1-11 (Start from the bottom with 1 and work up to 11).

4.     Use the raw lists excel worksheet I’ve made to import into random.org’s random sequence generator. Paste the revised lists into a new worksheet labeled randomized lists.

a.     The first list is of all 121 possible coordinates on the canvas grid. Copy Column A (cell 1-cell 121) into random.org’s sequence generator.

b.     The second list is of eight possible combinations of line types: thick solid double, thick solid single, thin solid double, thin solid single, thick broken double, thick broken single, thin broken double, thin broken single. This must be done 4 times (to make a total of 32 cells)—just copy and paste the new sequence in Column B of the new worksheet.

c.      The third list is of the four possible colors to be used. I’ve used fuchsia, salmon, chartreuse and yellow—fill in your own colors, reserving the Black sharpie for labeling coordinates). This must be done 8 times (to make a total of 32 cells)—just copy and paste the new sequence in Column C of the new worksheet.

d.     Coordinate #33-#121 in Column A of the new worksheet may be deleted to avoid confusion. There should be a total of 32 coordinates—each will be one of 8 possible line types and of 4 possible colors.

5.     Use the Randomized Lists worksheet to plot coordinates on the canvas grid. Once coordinate #32 is plotted, create the last line leading back to coordinate #1.  Label each coordinate (in black) according to its assigned number to avoid confusion.

      Below is an image of Aaron's project using my indeterminacy method. Personally, I like how his looks better than mine. I was so caught up with where I had left off with my lines that I ended up numbering them. This was not how I intended it to be. (I added that last part in Step 5 later on...) Aaron, however, totally made my mental image of this project come to fruition!

chance artists: bios and thoughts

Take from Wikipedia:
John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer, philosopher, poet, music theorist, artist, printmaker,^[1] and amateur mycologist and mushroom collector. A pioneer of chance music, electronic music and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde. Critics have lauded him as one of the most influential American composers of the 20th century.^[2][3][4][5] He was also instrumental in the development of modern dance, mostly through his association with choreographer Merce Cunningham, who was also Cage's romantic partner for most of their lives.^[6][7]

We watched a documentary called I have nothing to say and I am saying it. (The 1 of 7 videos is linked below. Thanks Youtube!) The general class reactions were shrugs, apathy, boredom, sleepiness... I thought otherwise. His work may be tedious, ritualistic... but I find that his processes, moreso than the actual productions created through processes, IS art. His art can be considered philosophy, religion even. There is a zen-like quality to his artistic intent that accepts what chance gives.

An additional chance artists I have been introduced to through internet searches is François Morellet. What I like about the artist's featured work below is how they feel very neutral and modern. The last one reminds me of QR codes. Don't they resemble 2D codes?! (Should we be giving him credit for those??) The following was taken from his biography from the Aras Gallery, which features his work.

6 répartitions aléatoires, 1958

Répartition aléatoire de triangles
suivant les chiffres pairs et impairs
d'un annuaire de téléphone, 1958

Répartition aléatoire de 40 000 carrés,
50 % noir, 50 % blanc, 1961

François Morellet was born in Cholet (France) in 1926. Morellet began to interest himself in geometrical abstract forms (usually uniform structures), towards 1950. His initial research led him to mostly two-tone surfaces and, in 1956, to the first superimposed patterns, painted or metallic, determining retinal effects of alteration. In 1960, in Paris, he was a founding-member of GRAV (Groupe de Recherche d'Art Visuelle) and his interest centered on kinetic perception investigated by means of geometrical lattices or grids, usually very fine, with the purpose of determining vibrant chromatic surfaces and new graduations of color depending on the intensity and quality of the rhythms of perception. This was the period of the series of silk-screen prints, which analyzed the influence of the context of the lattice on the luminous and chromatic quality of the color. In 1963 he became interested in the relationship between perception and environment, creating spaces which involved and surrounded the viewer by means of luminous projections on screens which could be modified by the viewer, as well as continuous images, superimpositions of emitted luminous rhythms (intermittent lamps, neon, etc.), undulatory movements, and complex visual itineraries. With other GRAV artists he investigated what could be called the eye's faculty of orienting itself in the labyrinth of perception. With GRAV, he took part in numerous exhibitions, notably important being "The Responsive Eye" exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1965. After the dissolution of the group in 1968 he continued his research on the aleatory nature of perception, the final objective of the research remaining the kinetic-perceptive-relationship between retina and screen and, starting from this experimental basis, space as the relationship between object and subject. These enlarged patterns are superimposed on architectural structures or public spaces, by means of painting or slide-projection, to promote an alternative interpretation of the support and of the intervention. Morellet's work has been included in numerous international exhibitions, among them, in 1968, "Dokumenta 4" at Kassel and the XIV Triennial in Milan. He has held exhibitions at the Palais Des Beaux Arts in Brussels, the Musee des Beaux Arts at Nantes and the Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. His works were included in the "Paris-Paris" exhibition at the Center Pompidou in Paris in 1981, in the "L'ultima avanguardia" exhibition at the Palazzo Reale, Milan, in 1983, and, in 1984, in a traveling exhibition visiting the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, the Brooklyn Museum in New York, and the Center for the Fine Arts in Miami.

sources:
http://radicalart.info/AlgorithmicArt/grid/any/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Morellet
http://www.arasgallery.com/profile.php?id=29#bio

GAFFTA field trip

GAFFTA- Gray Area Foundation for the Arts
Located at 998 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94102
http://www.gaffta.org/2010/12/20/zimoun-solo-exhibition/

Thinking about our visit to GAFFTA, I am now kicking myself for consciously choosing not to take a photo of the interesting didactic posted on the wall at GAFFTA. It was all about ants. I wouldn't say I have a previous affinity for ants, in fact, I do not particularly care for insects... I can't remember what it said exactly but what I got from it is that ants have a consciousness that is not dissimilar from our own. I found it strangely compelling to juxtapose a didactic like this for (and seemingly unrelated to) the mechanized installations and sculptures by Swiss artist Zimoun. But I thought, maybe this served some sort of philosophic message: that there is life in the unlikeliest and ostensibly insignificant places.

Other than that, GAFFTA was a great place to visit. Like my other favorite places to visit, this had a meditative quality. Best of all, visits are donation only... so visit if you're in the area!

body, art and technology

Greg Fulco
http://gregfulco.com/pdfs/bodyTech.pdf

Dattoos by Hartmut Esslinger
http://news.discovery.com/tech/dattoos-body-art-melds-dna-computing.html

human photosynthesis

Before Modification

PROJECT STATEMENT:

In order to eliminate the need for food consumption and to eradicate world hunger, human photosynthesis is proposed. For this to be possible, skin grafting of algae, in which the algae allows for the absorption of sunlight and transformation of sunlight into nutrition. This commensalist relationship can already be found in nature, occurring in the green sea slug, which goes its entire life sans food and need only sunbathe for its sustenance. Obvious benefits of this proposed human photosynthesis is less dependence on agriculture, thereby lessening human land use. The meat industry would be eliminated completely, which would reduce our carbon footprint and be good for the environment. Also, society would greatly benefit from sunbathing rituals, done together at times regularly reserved for eating. Some complications include unknown health implications due to skin grafting, and risk of over-consumption of sunlight. The boundaries of biological categorization between animal and plant would be diminished, just as plant and mineral have already done, leading to the importance of questioning human existence. By adopting human photosynthesis, society will be confronted with a new perspective on what was once considered "necessity," which hopefully will translate into opening up to fresh new ideas that will lead to getting humanity on the right track.

I am one quite wary of any augmenting, nipping, tucking, modding--what-have-you. However, once I was faced with a hypothetical "what-if" using technology for my body, I immediately thought, "What if I never had to eat again?" My main problem is overconsumption-- I'd look AWESOME as a size 00 and no one could tell me any different. Not eating is usually called anorexia, but if there were another way to get my nutrients, I'd seriously look into it. This is what got the ball rolling for me initially. (Shallow, right? Okay, I already know!) I remembered hearing my husband's friends talking about this guy who supposedly was observed by NASA for a year and only lived off sunlight and water. I tried to find facts to back this up and sure enough, my trusty friend Google found it for me. Apparently, it's a load of crock. I  must admit, I am a little sad....

BUT SERIOUSLY, WHAT IF?
What if we could biologically engineer ourselves to absorb our food through sunlight? I began researching human photosynthesis; would we be green? would we lose our ability to move just as plants and trees? Would we still grow food for the simple pleasure of eating or would that not be compatible with our altered selves?

After Modification

I thought I was pretty smart for thinking about human photosynthesis, but apparently, I am not the first. Scientists and regular people have been talking about this subject online for a while now, however whimsical and far-fetched the idea. If human photosynthesis were to happen, it would probably be something similar to this creature, the green sea slug, which eats algae allowing the sea slug to go years without the need for food. "All it has to do is sunbathe." Then it just replenish with more algae to keep the photosynthesis process going. It does have some "algal photosynthetic" gene, though. Maybe with genetic mapping we could somehow tweak our DNA to have that same ability to process algae. Also, somehow the green sea slug embeds the algae in its' cells. People online have discussed maybe being able to graft this onto our skin. (Mixing with blood would cause our bodies to attack the foreign thing, thus eliminating the catalyst for photosynthesis and its' benefits.)
In relation, skin grafting is a bit tricky. The body could still attack the algae as a parasite, especially when this initially gets introduced into our bodies. It could cause all kinds of health problems.

Initially, I thought we would be green, like the sea slug. Others online have alluded to us being more pigmented since apparently, melanin acts as a photosynthetic agent (hence the darker skin tone in my after photo). We would all be brown, not green. Were this biological technology possible, the advantages would be great. Hunger and quite possibly poverty would be wiped out. I'm sure obesity would be close to non-existent. The racial and color-divides would cease. (Can you imagine skinheads adopting "brown is beautiful" rather than "white power"?) Also, instead of grabbing a bite to eat, we could just go outdoors and absorb sunlight together.

References:
human photosynthesis blog post
human photosynthesis thread in physics forum

vannevar bush and predictions for the future

"Vannevar Bush was a formidable man."
Indeed. The man had a long list of accomplishments and accolades: He was a leader in his field, an advisor to the U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development. Oh, and I should probably add, one of the dudes on the Manhattan Project that helped make the Atomic Bomb. Yeah... that.

I suppose it's one thing to be a genius and another to be an empathic human being. Nonetheless, the past is passed. Our human history foreshadows how our knowledge will eventually lead us away into our own oblivion. Like the aliens in Slaughterhouse-5 who spoke of how it was actually us--WE pressed the button to end the world. I'm paraphrasing of course. And I digress a bit.

There are a few points I took with me from reading Bush's "As We May Think," which is an article published in the Atlantic in July 1945. In it, Bush writes about his predictions regarding technological advances. His future has many fantastical inventions to assist in human progress and in the acquiring of knowledge.

Gem 1: Bush's predictions about photography were pretty interesting. Photography is still an integral technology we use today. Bush was interested in the further development of photography and wrote extensively in his predictions about different features like being worn on the users head and being as small as a walnut. He knew that progress in photography was not going to stop-- and he was right. In fact, he wondered about dry photography. Little did he know that 65 years later, we'd have digital photography, with the added benefits of instant gratification (seeing the image right after taking it) and being able to take hundreds of photos at one time without the need for film.

Gem 2: Gem 2 is not so much a gem as it is something to ponder further: Does our imagination shape reality? I think putting ideas out there and believing in their potential does wonders for the real world. Now, if we can make our thought-lives great... that's another story for another time.

Gem 3: Technology is a tool. The development of it may very well become easier and easier to speed up, but we as a people should be wary (not fearful) about the implications on the future. I say not fearful because I may come across as some paleolithic person who doesn't know her way around a cell phone. I am not Thoreau and I do not hate technology. In fact, I probably would become depressed without my trusty iPhone! (That's just between you and me, dear internet...) My opinion is: technology for technology's sake is stupid. It should be for something meaningful. The disparity between society's progress and technology's progress is so vast, it's ridiculous. Bush addressed this at the beginning of his article, "...man's use of science and of new instruments which his research brought into existence... have increased his control of his material environment. They have improved his food, his clothing, his shelter; they have increased his security and released his partly from the bondage of bare existence. They have given his increased knowledge of his own biological processes so that he has had a progressive freedom from disease and an increased span of life. They are illuminating the interactions of his physiological functions, giving the promise of an improved mental health." It sounds great, in theory. Yet for billions of people around the world, how true is this?

Now for my predictions for 2076 (65 years from now). Brace yourself, they're pretty dismal:

#1. We will have genetically modified plant-based food. Meat eaters will be shunned. In fact, cow, pig, turkey and chicken populations will drastically decrease. TSP (texturized soy protein) will be used in lieu of chicken.  And no, we cannot grow our own food, silly. We will be completely reliant on corporations who own patents and original seeds.

#2. Entire populations will begin living underground. First we had urban sprawl, then we built skyscrapers. This is just the next logical thing. Hopefully the overpopulation thing will be taken care of... oh, wait. That leads to my third point.

#3. A third or fourth world war. The middle class becoming wiped out. And the continued genocide of all indigenous people. If you aren't white or part white, sorry for you. Oh! Actually, I take this back. White, part white or filthy rich. (I'm accounting for the wealthy families who are currently in power in most countries.)