THE END OF TELEVISION: ARTIST ENTRY

THE END OF TELEVISION was a broadcasted artistic event. Essentially the event occurred when all televisions in the united states switched from analog television to a digital transmission. This change caused the analog televisions to become obsolete, however, Ian Page and a collaboration of artists found this change as a significant and useful time to collaborate and broadcast their own art. After the switch from analog to digital these artists broadcasted their own art on the analog signal within the Pittsburgh area. So, according to Rhizome, The End of Television was the only broadcasting program on Analog television at that time. I see this art piece as a type of appropriation. The artists appropriated the free space that the now obsolete analog television provided. Additionally, this art work is making a statement about the role of television in our lives. When you think about it, during the time of the switch there must have been a few people watching T.V. on analog televisions. They would have been watching a regularly broadcasted program and then suddenly would be thrust into viewing new media art in place of their regular program (i.e. a sports game). Additionally, there is this idea that many people had already switched to digital and so as THE END OF TELEVISION is playing and describing the pitfalls of T.V. millions of people will miss this program as the now obsolete and empty analog rambles on. I think this project is a great use of the empty space that analog would be taking up, and i think its neat to broadcast different new media artists' work. However, i think it would be great if the program continued...but because analog is obsolete now the artists' work might not be viewed. I also thought it was interesting that the program had pieces of art that highlighted problems with our society's habits of watching T.V. I think this should have been the essential part of the broadcast. It would be interesting if there was a posted video of the entire broadcast.

There is one part of the broadcast that caught my attention. The program featured a group called HiTEC, 5 mins into the video, which reminds me of a lot of the noise we here and see on television. I'm not sure if that was the intention of that part of the program.

LINK TO YOUTUBE VIDEO

ARTIST ENTRY~Maurice Benayoun

Maurice Benavoun created World Skin, a Photo Safari in the Land of War. This is a highly interactive art installation. Essentially viewers enter the art space where they can interact with a virtual reality. The viewers move through space comprised of frozen pictures of war scenes, which creates one giant war space. The viewer is instructed to "take pictures" with the "camera" provided. Every time a viewer "takes a picture" the subject of that picture becomes a white silhouette within the virtual reality space.

In this art work, Maurice Benavoun is commenting on photography's power in redefining space, events and people. I think he might be saying that photography essentially strips away the original essence of an event or person and makes that person or event more tangible to the person who took the picture. However, even though photography makes that event/person tangible to the photographer the event itself or the person him/herself become less connected with reality because now they are only associated with the photographs.

I think that Benavoun chose a war scene as the main environment for the art exhibit because there are many startling and memorable, emotional moments that come from war photography. However, i think his intended message becomes lost because of the intensity of war. I believe that the subject of war itself outshines the idea of taking photographs and essentially owning the moment. Although, it could have been his intention to chose a emotional subject matter, such as war, thus in the process of taking photos and stripping those moments away we are stripping away the realness of war and making it tangible and less frightening through photography. Also, the virtual landscape is rather eire because of the combination of the stillness and the seriousness of the photographs.

Artist Entry~ ACCESS

ACCESS by Marie Sester is a piece of installation art that truly blends the boundaries between internet, real time as well as modern day technology. This installation is one of many that address the qualities of surveillance systems that are ever present in todays modern world.

The public installation can be found in Karisrue Germany. Essentially, anyone with an internet connection can log onto the ACCESS HOME PAGE and interact with the installation. Upon entering the installation via internet, internet users can track individuals that walk into the installation space. The individuals are unaware that they have walked into the installation. The web user can track the individual by following them with a beam of light that receives information from the internet user. Additionally, the individual will hear targeted audio. The sounds that the individual hears are only audible to the individual.

This is any interesting project because it is a commentary on surveillance and the boundaries of privacy. My initial response to this project was that it sounded a little bit like invading privacy. But overall, the public has responded positively to the project. I mean, how neat is it that we can actively interact with people all the way over in Karisrue, and visually see their reaction to our actions?! I also think its neat that this installation creates a dialog between the person on the internet and the person in Karisrue. The installation is therefore worldwide. Not only does it stay in Karisrue where it is visible to multiple individuals walking through its space, but it is also brought into the homes of millions world wide. This is one of my favorite things about digital art. It bridges the gap between real time interaction, space, internet technology all the while commenting and giving a new perspective to the technologies (ie, surveillance, internet) we use everyday!

Bad Photos

What's On my Desk?

So i decided to scan a bunch of images of items i found on or in my desk. Just thought it would be a neat compilation of things i use/see everyday! So basically, i scanned these images at a 300 resolution, then on photoshop i reduced the resolution to 72 to make it more blogger friendly.  Anyhoo, i swear this stuff is organized on my desk haha.

Artist Entry: MISPLACED RELIQUARY~ PAUL CATANESE

Link to Rhizome:

http://rhizome.org/object.php?49318

Visit the artwork here:

http://www.paulcatanese.com/artwork/misplaced/index.html#

Misplaced Reliquary (2004) by Paul Catanese is a piece of digital artwork that combines the internet, gaming technology and a touch of old world nostalgia. The project was commissioned by Rhizome.org. Essentially, Misplaced Reliquary is a collection of images of animal bones. The bones are set up as if they were the prized collection of a well known biologist or field researcher. However, the images are displayed on a portable game system called a Gameboy Advance. In the gallery where this artwork was displayed a field journal is placed next to the game system, explaining and describing each item displayed within the Gameboy. The description of each item includes field notes, where the item was found, what the item is, and any other scientific description. The images are downloadable onto anyone's personal Gameboy Advance. Therefore, this artpiece is portable, and can only be viewed in the way the artist originally intended. Online the images can be viewed on a virtual Gameboy Advance. The fieldnote journal is also entirely visible and readable online.

What is most interesting is the combination of elements within this piece of artwork. While viewing the images one might think that they are looking at a collection of pieces that would be found directly in a Natural History museum. What works best about this piece is its portability as a piece. Its capable of being viewed in the context it was originally meant for. Anyone can own this piece within their own Gameboy Advance. I think that the artist is trying to bring a museum like gallery into a place that is usually meant for gaming interaction. But this alone brings interaction into the piece. The viewer controls which images to view and where to view them. virtually bringing a pocket collection wherever they go.

This exhibition brings many of the digital imaging elements such as internet and technology. Even the photographs are made through digital photography. Paul Catanese even remarks that he was interested in exploring the idea of gaming through the "hunt". In this way he searched for fragments of bone much like a biologist might do. I suppose what he means by hunting, is that in many games one is in search of something. So he incorporates a real life hunt, then displays his findings within a gaming device.

First Post

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