New Media Artist#6 Lynn Hershman

New Media Artist Lynn Hershman has worked in a wide variety of different media ranging from photography to video to interactive installations. Hershman's newest video released in 2002 is titled Agent Ruby's EDream Portal. This interactive video allows the viewer to communicate directly with the computer as if they were holding a conversation with an actual human being. The computer or Agent Ruby tries to learn more about the person by asking questions such as "What are your likes and dislikes?" "What is your occupation?" or "What is your favorite movie?" However, I found that for many of my responses the computer could not comprehend what I was saying and a disclaimer would appear stating that "The remark was either too complex or too simple for me" and then just jumped to another question. After awhile questions also started to repeat and re-filter through. Also at times Agent Ruby's response did not correlate with what I had said. I think that the idea behind Agent Ruby is very intriguing in that a computer can be personified to be able to hold a conversation with a human. However, I do not think that the quality of the conversation and understanding could ever compare to a conversation between two people, nor should it because people are by nature interactive and should interact with each other not with a computer. 

Agent Ruby

New Media Artist #5 Fab Lab

The ARS Electronica Center in Austria features the newest trends, focusing on what the future has in store for art and technology . One new exhibition entitled Fab Lab has redefined the meaning of on-line shopping. No longer will you have to wait days or weeks for your order to be shipped to you but rather you can have everything instantly. Simply print out what you want, wear it, and then recycle it! The creators of Fab Lab have engineered a 3D printer that uses a computer model to generate an actual object, while a computer-controlled laser cutter does the high-precision shaping of any chosen material. From gym shoes to clothing to even pieces of furniture FabLab can make it. However, although FabLab seems like the greatest invention since on-line shopping, one may consider the repercussions of such technology on our already struggling consumer-driven economy and industry. Could inventions like this lead us closer and closer to a job market ran solely by computers and machines? 

FabLab

Reflection on Digital Pictionary Project

I enjoyed working on the Digital Pictionary project. Although I did have a lot of trouble initially trying to come up with images that represented sarcasm, once I really concentrated on what sarcasm connoted to me I was more easily able to think of how to create a collage of images that related to my meaning. I also really enjoyed working with Photoshop and would like to continue to learn how to use it in the future and experiment more with the different tools. It was interesting to see how other people in the class interpreted their words. I thought it was fascinating how some people expressed not only the literal meaning of their word, but also how it can be expressed though formal elements. For example, with the word balance an image of a scale could be used, but also by just making a balanced composition the same meaning can be expressed. Same is true for the word abstract. One could show the literal meaning of the word abstract by showing an abstract painting or they could also cause an everyday object to be abstracted. 

Scapbook Entry#5 Receipts

Whenever I go shopping for groceries or clothes I always end up throwing out the receipt at the bottom of the bag. I do not think that a receipt is art but it has a kind of narrative quality to it. A receipt tells a lot about the person to which it belongs. For example a grocery receipt may tell someone what you are having for dinner that night, whether you are buying for a lot of people or just yourself, maybe you are buying ingredients to bake a cake for a birthday party. A receipt tells someone what you choose to spend your money on and where. It almost even acts as a tracking device that shows where you have been and what you did.

Analysis Writing of Jacqueline's Digital Pictionary Images

For our Digital Pictionary project every member of the class was assigned a different word at random. We were each instructed to use our word to create three separate collaged images that displayed our interpretation of the word's meaning. 

Jacqueline's Digital Pictionary images are each very eye-catching due to their use of vibrant colors, patterns, and a variety of textures. Each image also includes an element of nature and earth such as the ocean, the sun, or the sky. One image even has a series of pictures of butterflies, drawing the viewers attention to the intricate and repeated patterns of their delicate wings. While another gives a close-up view of what looks to be a shell or sea urchin, displaying the repeated textures and bumps. 

The first two images have a central focus point to which the whole image is drawn to. The audience's eye is involuntarily forced to the center of the picture by the illusion of depth created by the repetition of line pointed inward. The first image depicts a sun setting over the horizon line of an ocean. The rays of the sun bend and curl into elaborate spirals at the edges of the image. The second image gives off the feeling of a piercing blue eye starring intently back at the viewer. The pupil like form is located again at the center with the blue/green iris swirling around it. This image also creates the illusion of movement as the blue forms seem to be growing out of the middle. The movement of these forms also reminds of the very hot center of a flame on a stove top when the burner is turned on, the intense heat radiating out to the edges of the frame.

The last two images of the Earth-like figure and butterflies again have a strong element of line and pattern. Again the same theme of a central focal point is expressed by the body of each butterfly being the center from which its wings expand outward from. The center of the sea urchin and other aquatic creatures again create a focal point for the viewer. Color is also a very evident aspect of the butterfly image. The vibrant blues, greens, and oranges of the wings contrast nicely against their black middle and the white background. The last two images also have a very strong feeling of being science-minded. The butterfly image seems to resemble a person's butterfly collection where the butterflies are pinned to the background. The image of the Earth-like figure also has an image of some type of atomic compound and again has the feeling of a scientific study of nature. 

In conclusion, I am not sure of the exact word from which these images originated from but I feel that each is related through a strong sense of pattern, line, and texture; specifically those found in nature and science

Digital Pictionary

Collage