Wonder Women :: Art & Technology

Christopher Bakers piece Hello World! or: How I Learned to Stop Listening and Love the Noise interests me on many levels. Upon approaching the piece I was overwhelmed by the visual and aural stimuli I was presented with. Chris managed to create a landscape of thousands of videos that leads one on a journey of experience. Hmm what do I mean by that sentence? I believe that the experience of this piece is always shifting -- one can attempt to view one video at a time-enjoy the videos as a whole - enjoy the audio- one may chose to look at this piece as a texture Chris has created tiling the white wall in the nash gallery. All of these experiences and more come from this single piece.

What really excited me about the work was the apprehensions I initially experienced when viewing the videos. I felt as though I was evading these peoples privacy looking into their bedrooms and offices. After a moment of unease I realized that these videos are all harvested from YouTube - they are intended to be public for the public to view... This transition from apprehension to acceptance lead me to think of the second part of the title How I learned to Stop Listening and Love the Noise

I mentioned above the texture that this piece creates on the wall. I found this to be very interesting. The varying brightness levels of the videos creates a depth it seems as though one could walk into these gaps that have been created on the white walls. Another interesting visual texture that is created can be experienced when you are close to the wall looking down the piece. It seems as though the videos are shingles on a roof--- they have a 3D layered quality to them. These visual tricks remind me that we too, like the poor Mac computer, need to process this information, and sometimes the overwhelming stimuli can trick our minds.

If anyone is interested in revisting this project Chris has it documented here Hello World... Documentation

Posted by Benjamin Faga at 10:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I attended as many events as possible during Wonder Women - I had a great time at all of them, but Leah's workshop was the most fun. Leah guided us through the basics of working with the LilyPad which is her elegant response to the arduino (an avr based micro-controller) --- the arduino is very familiar to those who have worked with electronic engineering--- the standard square with a bunch of electronic components laid out in the most efficient manner--- I italicize efficient because that seems to be an idea that commonly divides the art world from the engineering. Here is a picture of the efficient arduino.

Leah has taken this microcontroller and made something that is, perhaps, more accessible. She has broken the traditional rules of engineering and made something that is less efficient and more aesthetically sound with more intuitive interactions. Here is a picture of the Leah's LilyPad --

What I found really great about Leah was her passion for DIY (Do it Yourself)! She was very interested in empowering people to take control back from corporations and to no longer depend on them to fulfill your needs. Instead of buying an expensive light up biking jacket, Leah encourages you to make your own using something like the LilyPad--- What is really great is that throughout the time Leah was staying in Minneapolis I saw her around town sporting her own Light Up Biking Jacker--- She is a person of action- and someone I really admire---

Leah is great at documenting her work and helping people like ourselves jump into the world of DIY! Her website can be found at-- LINK TO LEAH'S WEBSITE

she has a wonderful collection of links for materials at LINK TO MATERIAL'S SITE

and you can buy your own LilyPad at BUY A LILYPAD!

Posted by Benjamin Faga at 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The presentation is intended to broaden everyone's awareness of
contemporary artists while providing you the opportunity to investigate one
artist and reflect upon her/his work from the perspective of your primary
discipline, English in your case, and perhaps poetry in particular.

Key facets of the presentation:

An introduction to the artist, including why you chose this person.

The presentation of 2-3 works by this artist.

A discussion of how your discipline-based perspective influences your
interpretation of this creative work.

A question that you pose to the group for discussion, highlighting an
aspect of the artist's work that you has peaked your curiosity.

Posted by Diane Willow at 08:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)