Video Installation Art - Notes

• Video art isn't just about the video, the way it is shown is just as important as what is shown
• The term installation implies a number of things, it could mean that the original installation is one of a kind, never to be separated from it's point of origin, yet often this is not the case in video art.
• Installations require the artist to vacate their piece and allow the viewer to "perform" the piece
• Video art can be linked to the shift in art towards "liveness"  in the 60s
• Installation pieces often are less about the plain visuals of the piece and more about the experience as well as the physical nature of the installation
• two types of installation:
• viewer "enters" piece
• viewer stays in real world
• Pieces can be displayed wither as 2d or "3d"
• neither has a distinct advantage to it but each has their own implications
• 
  

Favorite Installation Piece

This piece by Robert Seidel is my favorite installation piece because it combines sculpture and abstract video art into a magnificent piece of art that wants to be looked at. I stumbled upon his work when I found Young Projects in LA. You should check out Young Projects: www.youngprojectsgallery.com/

Homework 4/16

• Film and video have always been interdependent in some way
• Film is often shown in a darkened room and projected larger than life, whereas video does not have this typically
• Video installations can be installed with split screens, with multiple projections or in a wide array of other ways
• Video in the 90's was greatly changed by the introduction of new technology that allowed for more varied formats of video to be made
• There is an "in-between" type of video that hovers between documentary and art, where the goal is to blur that line completely
• Mother + Father
• a collage of well known actors portraying the "mother" and "father"
• shown on 12 separate screens, 6 being devoted to "mother" and 6 to "father"
• Two glass office buildings
• two identical offices directly across from each other
• a mirrored wall in each reflecting real time life between the two mirrors
• a camera in each office recording with an 8 second delay
• the video in the right office is played in the left and vice versa
• this forces a one-dimensional viewpoint to become obsolete  
• Dispersion Room
• an office with two projections
• video of an office with seemingly no directive
• some form of chaos
• the way in which the piece is installed is just as important as the piece itself
• Getaway #2
• a head wedged under a mattress
• the viewer wants to help the person under the mattress but the head is saying "get out of here" and shouting insults
• this piece directly exists because of technology, and the technology serves no purpose without the art
• the artist  is making the viewer deliberately notice the way you see the piece

Dem Zambies

Alien video

Homework 3/31/2014

“Utopian Plagiarism, Hypertexuality, and Electronic Cultural Production."by Critical Art Ensemble

When I first started reading this article all I could think of was just how much of a thesaurus-loving condescending prick this author had to be. However, by page eight I was completely engrossed in what the author was saying. I had never considered what we call plagiarism to be an “art” or skill of its own. I got really excited when the article began to talk about technology, as what I do both academically and artistically is predominantly technology based. Being a computer science major, I am constantly working with others and often adding my own work to someone else’s. Prior to reading this article I had never really considered that to be odd, or even close to what someone might call plagiarism, yet if I had done the exact same thing in any art class, I would be called out for it. This article really opened my eyes to the fact that the clear line between plagiarism and your “own work” that was ingrained into us as early as grade school is beginning to fade. People who appropriate videos off of YouTube for example and produce their own videos are not strictly making something new. Yet their work can be called their own. I had never considered my majors to be completely related, but this article has shown me just how inexplicably linked the two are. The technology of today is built upon the work of countless other people, and in some way, shape or form, the same can be said for art.

Literally the best article I have read in a while.

This video is great.

Homework - Wednesday March 26th

Life Feed: Webcams, Art, and People

The introduction of the webcam to everyday life has had quite an impact on everyday life in addition to video art. This article address video as a means of expression and how it can be deeper than just images on a screen. The videos and pieces discussed in the article all share a commonality in the fact that they ask the viewer to think about what they are experiencing in a different way than they have before. Video art is discussed as an ever changing and evolving art for in which there are no limits. The art of the past as exemplified in Jennifer Ringley’s JenniCam is vastly different from the art of Jeremy Bailey and his thought-controlled computational art, yet this articles concludes that they are both attempting to represent “the self” and generate a true human interaction.

Shuffle

Miles the Great

Miles is adorable. He makes me miss my doggy.... Yup.

Performance Art

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLX2Lk2tdcw

While not a video of the actual performance, this always has had an impact on me because of how gullible and clueless people can be.

Article Notes - Feb 24 2014

Body Issues in Performance Art: Between Theory and Praxis

• Performance art is based on culture
• Only meaning give actions a purpose, a performance without meaning would have no impact and possibly become a joke
• Both the performer and the spectator are dependent on each other
• Performance does not mean the actual body of the performer has to move, sometimes the lack of movement is just as powerful as movement itself
• Performance art is becoming more oriented towards communication and globalization 
• Art is not something that that can be imposed on man like other things in life, it is a voluntary experience
• Performance art is one of the few forms of art that cannot exist without the human form
• In order for performance art to be accessible and tolerable a performer must never be artificial or pretentious
• Performance art is unique in the way that not only does it have an individual meaning and purpose but it can be interpreted and through of in many other ways depending on your perspective. 

Homework Notes - Monday February 17

Video Art by Sylvia Martin

• Video art truly emerged in the 1960's
• Video is an instant turned into hours in front of a computer watching, editing, and re-watching
• 1983 saw the introduction of the camcorder 
• 1997 saw the digital camera
• Since the introduction of the digital camera the field of video art has been in constant evolution
• There is an ever growing and varied number of ideas about what video art should be about, with ideas ranging from the human body, action art to the mundane. 
• Video art is not entirely about the video itself and often is just a part in a much larger plan or idea. 
• Video art is unique in the way that it can be combined with so many other different forms of art.
• Unlike other art forms however, video art is an explicitly time based medium. 
• Early v.a. was often recorded in real time, where as new technology emerged editing and splicing of video became more common place.

Stop Motion Project

Stop Motion project is complete!

Hope you enjoy my video!

In class video

Aw yeah...

New Favorite Stop Motion

It's a lovable roll of duct tape!

In class stop motion with audio

This is honestly one of the creepiest things I have ever made. I apologize to the world.

I promise my actual stop motion won't be this disturbing. 

Homework Notes - Monday Jan 27

Final Cut Pro X Essential Training

Taking a tour of the FCP X Interface

• Final Cut Projects and Events folders must be correctly named
• Hovering and dragging shows what the media is in the viewer
• Audio Skimming is an option
• Can change the visual display of clips by length, as well as other properties
• There can be two viewers, one for the event library and one for the project library
• Window - Show Event Viewer
• Can change clip appearance
• Play/pause = space bar
• go to beginning  = function + left arrow
• go to end = function + right arrow
• frame by frame = right and left arrows
• clip by clip = up and down arrows
• select event library = command +1
• select timeline = command +2
• select viewer = command +3

Creating and organizing events from scratch

• Start by creating an event
• File - new event
• Or right click in event library
• Now import media
• File - import - media
• Or click big import media button
• Pop up window:
• Make sure you are importing to correct event and drive
• Organizing:
• New media will be placed in final cuts event folder if checked
• Importing folders will retain organization that existed outside of final cut

Playing and Marking Clips in preparation for editing

• Take notes! It makes your job easier
• j = plays in reverse
• l = plays forward
• k = pause
• i = set in point
• o = out point
• / = play selection
• slow motion = hold down k button and press either j or l
• f =  make selection favorite
• list : favorite

Understanding different types of editing tools

• w = insert edit
• command + '-' = zoom out
• e = append edit
• will always go to end
• d = overwrite edit
• ctrl + d = change duration 
• replace has no short cut, you have to use the mouse

Homework Notes - Monday Jan 20

Video For Photographers: Shooting with a DSLR

Understanding resolution for video:

• Resolution can be changed at will in photography, videos can only be shot in two resolutions
• 1080 HD and 720 HD
• 1080 HD means the video is 1920 pixels by 1080 pixels 
• 720 HD means the video is 1280 by 720 pixels 
• Megapixels have nothing to do with resolution of video
• 1080 is about 2 megapixels
• 720 is about 1 megapixel
• Both 1080 and 720 look good on HD TVs 
• There is no huge advantage to one or the other, though the case can be made that 1080 can be easier to work with

Choosing a video frame rate:

• Video is typically shot at 30 frames per second
• Keeping it simple? - use 30 fps
• Video is just still pictures, 30 frame per second 
• Film is shot at 24 frames a second
• 60 frames per second is often used for sports or smoothing out videos
• Still not sure? Just try 'em out!

Understanding the challenge of shutter speed:

• Shutter speed choice is very different from video to still photography
• Slower shutter speed = blurred action
• Wide aperture and high shutter speed used to stop action
• 1/30th of a second is the slowest possible shutter speed if shooting at 30 frames per second
• the higher the shutter speed during video the more "stuttery" the video will look
• If you were shooting video with the intent of freezing the action for a shot a higher shutter speed would be useful
• Normal video is shot between 1/30th and 1/90th of a second
• Some believe the ideal shutter speed is 2x the frame rate

Getting the right exposure:

• No RAW in video, so exposure is important
• Manual exposure for videos is typically better than auto
• Auto exposure might change the exposure inappropriately, making the video flicker
• It is not a bad idea to take a photo and address the exposure before you even start shooting
• Due to the small range of shutter speed on video you might run into problems
• If you want a limited depth of field in bight lights you are going to have to use a dark gray filter to cut the light
• If light levels are low you have to change the ISO settings (because shutter speed can't go slower than 1/30th of a second)
• Fast lenses can help in low light as well
• Zoom lenses are not fast (they don't have a wide max aperture)
• Prime or single focal length lenses are good for video because they offer a fast max aperture
• This means they let in a lot of light