I wish I had a third eye...

As I mentioned in a previous post, the internet is changing everything and for once it's changing for the better. Internet art (or 'net art') in it's simplistic description is digital art made available via the internet, subsequently bypassing art galleries as a means of displaying your work.

Want to get your artwork viewed? Stick it online where millions of eyes can gaze upon it, more than a gallery visit will ever give you.Internet art can also be created outside of the internet as generally most internet art projects involve peoples interaction or multi-media.

During class we had the opportunity to create some internet art as a group. We were all given a post it and on which we had to write a secret (Anonymous of course). The secrets ranged from 'Taking the piss' to 'I don't even know what to say about this' and it was very interesting taking part. What we did in class is very similar to a popular website known as http://www.postsecret.com/ which people can anonymously send homemade postcards that are then posted on the site. As the website got more popular the creator Frank Warren got emails about how secrets on his website have changed either their lives or other peoples, it's interesting that such a simple idea can have such profound effects on people and could only be made possible by the Internet.

I think it's about time I mentioned the madness(or genius) of Stelios Arkadiou, better known as 'Stelarc'. Stelarc believes that the human body has become obsolete so he tries to give his body extra capabilities, usually involving robotics or some sort of tech attached to himself. An example of one of his robotic inventions is a third arm which I'm sure I seen a picture of him writing with all three arms at the same time. He's done alot of performances but the one I want to show is where he...wait for it... connected his body to internet while wearing electric muscle stimulators  where anyone could remotely control his body.

Did you ever say to yourself, 'Man I really wish I had a third ear, having two like everyone else in the world just isn't working for me?'. Well Stelarc must have because in 2007 he had an ear grown and surgically attached to his arm, again madness or genius? The ear has a microphone in it with an earpiece in Stelarcs real ear but the microphone can also be connected to the internet so someone could hear what his ear is hearing across the globe. I'd recommend visiting his website http://stelarc.org/?catID=20242 where he documents the whole surgical procedures needed to get an ear on his arm. 

Ear on arm

Robotic third arm

Stelarc connected to the internet

Did you see that sound?

Ah sound, the forgotten medium. I don't think it was ever a medium to start with for people to forget that is is one... but it is now with birth of VJ's... and no, I didn't mean to write 'DJ'. 
Before diving into VJ's first let's take the time to ask ourselves "What is sound? How do we hear it? How does it imbue meaning?
Well let's see;

• Sound has 3 elements to it: Vibration, Context and Pressure change.
• It also has 3 phases: The initial noise, the sustain and the decay.
• Sound is immersive, cannot be shut out and has no directionality.
• It can be physically felt- At a nightclub for example.
• For many, sounds can prompt memories and evoke emotions.

Sound can be alot more than just the noises you hear everyday; "All sound is music, music is all sound". You just have learn how to hear the sounds everybody else is missing, which is hard...

And now we can dive into VJing (Is that a word?)
VJ's or 'Visual Jockeys' create or manipulate imagery in realtime in sync with music using just about every visual tech going; VHS tapes, DVD's, Hard drives, computer generated visuals and even live camera inputs. Using an analog mixer to make the magic happen a VJ can manipulate all these inputs and blast them into your eyeballs via projector or moniter. The sky's the limit here as there is so much technology that you can make use, in fact there's probably so much that it would be pretty difficult to find somewhere to start.

An example of a video mixer

There are many VJ's out there but one of the few we looked at were the 'Light Surgeons' who operate as a multi-media production company based in East London. Say 'Light Surgeons' fast and it sounds the same as 'Lysergic' which if you don't know is what 'L' stands for in 'LSD' (Lysergic  Diethylamide). LSD is known for making you see weird, psychedelic things and during many of their performance the Light Surgeons attempt to recreate such things with real-time manipulation. 

Example of a light surgeon performance

A basic idea of how VJing works can be seen in these categories below;

• Source- As mentioned earlier; VHS tapes, DVD's, live camera feeds etc
• Playback- Usually a computer so the VJ can see what's being manipulated
• Mixing- A device which allows sources to be mixed e.g A video mixer
• Effects- Computer programs that can add special effects to source material
• Output- Displaying the manipulated sources e.g projector, monitors, LED displays etc

The technology used is constantly evolving with artists such as the Light Surgeons experimenting with new ways of  giving you visual LSD.

[Insert witty title about relevant blog here]

Ask anyone about what they think a 'moving image' is and there most likely to be describing Hollywood style movies or popular television programmes. It's easy to see why, this style of moving image has been dominating the market for decades and because of which has left people believing that it is the only type of moving image. In the same way that your favourite songs aren't the only side of music this is not the whole story of moving images. Take the Sony Pictures Entertainment company, a household name in the moving image business, profited $7.2 billion in 2010 from making films that were described as 'chewing gum for the mind'. Yes they can be revolutionary and inventive but only in their use of technology because you've seen the stories before, they're  just tweaked and repackaged ready to be sold again and again... and again.
Looking to break the mould and create a piece of moving image that truly original and is emotion/thought provoking? Then have a gander at these 3 guidelines that you should be thinking about before you start;

• Try to make it an aesthetic experience- If your going to blow someone's mind at least make it nice to look at...
• The meaning of the piece should be cryptic- Make sure not even Sherlock Holmes could work it out.
• The piece should be visceral (emotionally provocative)- If the piece has no narrative what-so-ever then start pulling on their heart strings and start provoking emotions... that'll leave a lasting impression.

Still from "The Crossing"- Bill Viola

There are a number of video artists out there that are pushing the boundaries but one man stands out in front of them all, Bill Viola. Bill is regarded to be world's greatest video artist, his works can be divided into three types; conceptual, visual and an unique combination of the two. Human consciousness and experiences (Life,death,emotions) are central themes in Bill's work along with his fascination with mythical traditions (e.g Zen Buddhism). Expect no Hollywood blockbusters here, Bill's work throws the narrative out the window and instead invites you watch his videos and discover your own meaning to them through his manipulation of visceral impact. In class we watched snippets of "The Passing" which is 54mins of Birth, life and death. To some it was emotionally distressing during the scenes of his mother(Wynne Viola) and I myself found it uncomfortable. After we'd seen some clips there were some that were furious that Bill would video his mother dying, yes I can agree it's a tad peculiar but this show's Bill genius in doing such a thing. All the emotions evoked during class were exactly what Bill wanted from us, we wouldn't be human if we sat there emotionless. How many times have you sat in the cinema and seen people physically outraged by what their watching? Not very many I'd think. Break the contemporary mould and start evoking emotions... but don't feel guilty for watching some Sony chewing gum, everyone's mind needs a break.

During class we looked at another video artist, Christian Marclay. Marclay is probably most famous for his work with sound than his video work due to him, in the words of critic Thom Jurek,  being the 'unwitting inventor of turntablism' with his manipulation of records using a turntable. But we're here to talk about videos and one of Marclays greatest works is "The Clock", a 24hr compilation of scenes involving clocks. The Clock is described as 'addictive' and 'mesmerising'  but when watching it you must be asking yourself the question "Why am I watching time?" That's exactly what your doing but you cannot deny that The Clock is a masterpiece, a masterpiece that sells at $500,000 a copy (You'll not be renting it from Xtravision I'm afraid)

These artists show that you don't need gripping narrative to have a great film, you just need to be clever and have a fondness for tugging people heart strings...

A digital Pocahontas...

Increasingly these days I hear stories from people about young children being able to use Iphones, IPads, computers and all manner of gizmos without ever been shown how to use them. I know a 3year old who can flick through a Ipod touch to find his favourite songs (He can't even read) and then when he's bored doing that goes over to YouTube and starts watching videos. I was even told of a 5 year old who can recite the first 13 digits of Pi, whatever happened to action man??...
Surely this is all nonsense you say... Nope, it's not. In an ever expanding digital community everyone can be placed into one of two groups;

'Digital native'(Post 1985) or 'Digital immigrant' (Pre 1985)

Born post 1985? Then you are part of the digital native group. Natives have a naturally adaptive attitude to technology, allowing them to easily operate new technology and interfaces based on past experiences with previous technologies. Digital immigrants on the other hand have difficulty at first grasping the concepts of new technology but do adapt, just not as fast as a native would. I find that anyone born as far back as the 50's or 60's generally either have no interest in trying to adapt or have greatest difficulty adapting.
I myself experience these two cultural differences all the time, I can easily learn how to work just about any kind of technology quickly and often find myself solving problems for people on a device I've never used before.

In the last couple of years there as been a massive amount of people immersing themselves in social media (Facebook,Twitter etc.) and spending more time in the matrix (Internet) than they do in real life. It's becoming ridiculous where people feel that the whole world needs to see the entire life by photographing every drunken escapade and writing bullshit status updates. Did I also mention that people have forgotten how to speak English online? Fantastic grammar such as 'sumone' (Someone), 'reakon' (reckon), 'lyk' (Like), the list could go on for awhile...

Roping the blog back on track here's some interesting statistics about our ever-growing group of digital natives;

• There are 3 times more smartphones activated every minute than there is babies (Ever see a baby being activated? ...Me neither.)
• 30% of USA teens send 100 texts a day (Today I've sent 200... To one person)
• In 2010, 700 billion YouTube videos were viewed, that's a massive 1.9 million per day!
• 72% of under 25's comment on TV programmes via social networks
• 79% of students subjected to a media blackout reported adverse reactions ranging from distress, confusion & isolation

The last point in particular I can fully relate to, at any time of the day I can connect to the internet via my phone, tablet, laptop or computer. I never realised how attached I was to the internet until the power went of at home and I literally had no idea what to do with myself, until I got a smartphone with mobile internet... Problem = Solved. You cannot deny that the internet is easily the best thing since sliced bread but on the other hand the scale at which things are moving I fear that the line between reality and virtual will become so blurred that you'll not know if your a level 36 Warlord or not.... but on a serious note, we should be mindful of how the internet is inevitability going to starting affecting a social skills. We should try doing this ancient thing called talking face-to-face with real people (Deep breaths now) and experience social interaction in a real environment from time-to-time.  

Be careful of what you urinate into... It could be art...

In a traditional art world ideas can be outside of the box but you can't stray too far. Conceptual art on the other hand steps out of the box, laughs and proceeds to destroy the box...
Conceptual artists challenge the traditional artistic process, it's aim is showing that the art is not in the work but in the idea behind it. Marcel Duchamp paved the way for conceptual artists with his use of found objects or 'readymades'. Duchamps most famous readymade is 'Fountain' which was a urinal turned upside down and signed by Duchamp using the false name of 'R.Mutt'.  

'Fountain' (1917) - R.Mutt (Marcel Duchamp)

In the traditional world this urinal could not possibly be accepted as art, especially since the artist who signed it did not make it or even alter it.This is challenged by the notion that if you take an object outside of it's natural habitat and place it in an exhibition setting it then becomes 'art'. But where are the boundaries? Can myself as an artist take any object, place it an exhibitive setting and declare is as art?
My answer is yes you probably can but should you?As much as I'd love to go around taking objects and saying "I hereby declare this object as art!" I feel that if you were to produce art like this it would have to be provocative, disputing an ideal such as what 'Fountain' did or displaying the object in a way which is out of the ordinary. Besides that, how boring would it be doing that all your artistic career, very boring is the answer... very boring indeed.

"Score for a hole in the ground"- Jem Finer

A modern example of a conceptual artist is Jem Finer. One of Jem's site-specific pieces titled "Score for a hole in the ground" is a large 7 meter high gramophone horn coming out of the ground. The beauty of this idea is what's hiding under the ground, attached to the horn is large pipes that are struck by running water and droplets. The sound played from the hole is never the same. "Score for a hole in the ground" challenges peoples perception of what they believe to be music by showing that music isn't just made by conventional methods but that we can listen to the environment in ways we never realised. This piece has changed my pre-conceived notion of 'what is music?', it has challenged myself to think about interesting ways of making sounds using methods that anything but conventional.

These two examples in this blog show an importance in the choice of how and where an artist chooses to exhibit work. Would Duchamps 'Fountain' have had the same the effect on people if it was placed in the middle of a forest? Would Jems Gramophone challenge your perception of music if it was stuck in the middle of a gallery? No...

Darling, how delightfully PoMo...

The term 'modern' is used to describe modern thought or practice. This means that everything that is now historical was once considered 'modern' and anything created in the present day is also 'modern'.
In this case we are using the term 'modern' in reference to 'Modernism', the rejection of tradition. Modernism waved goodbye to the traditional forms or art,politics, literature, religion and even daily life as they were outdated in the newly emerging industrialised world.


Society began to believe only in progress, developments must be in technology and the economy otherwise there would be no point in existence. A 'grand narrative' such as the bible (or as I like to think of it as; Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth) was used to highlight the pitfalls of the past and why progression is needed. Marxism was an influence to this new way of thinking, the theory of Marxism is this; 

Thesis --> Anti Thesis --> Synthesis

According to this theory, when an idea is created it is then presented with 'anti-ideas' which leads to a review of the pro & cons of the idea which results in the creation of a better idea(synthesis). This sounds all well and good but there is the chance that the idea can be stuck in an endless loop between 'thesis' and 'anti-thesis', ideas end up being constantly bounced off each to no resolve. 
So if there's no ideas being created to further development society then is there no point in exsisting? Well have no fear, POMO IS HERE! (I apologise for the cheesiness, I couldn't resist...)  


Pomo (Post-modernism) is as the name suggests the movement which came after the 'Modern' era. Post-modernism in a way became almost like an anti-modernism, reacting or rejecting trends from modernism thus rejecting the whole point of modernism, progress. Post-modernism juxtaposed old and new styles, combining them as it seen fit in an "art for art's sake" approach. 
I was flicking in through YouTube looking for videos that would enlighten me for this post and I came across this; 

Moe's summary of Post-Modernism 

In layman's terms that's not a bad summary of Post-modernism. Post-modernism thrives on  parody and irony, doing 'weird for the sake of weird' and I like that because sometimes you have to smash all of what's traditional and get in touch with your random side.

Why so generic?

In previous classes we have discussed many aspects of 'What is visual culture', the main aspect that has stuck out for me is about music influence. At last weeks class we were played a mix of music and news headlines from past to let us see how music reflects the economic climate that it is in; for about 80% of the track I barely had a clue who the historical speaker was and I vaguely knew what song was playing. This is either a reflection of my ignorance to historical events or I was still half asleep in class... Or both!
My excuse is I wasn't born so how would have been involved in such historical events?
It's only in about the last year or so that I've actually payed slight attention to whats happening in the world.I rarely watch the news and I certainly don't read newspapers but people will say that I'm a mature adult now and I should take interest in these things... I disagree, I'm like peter pan(Minus everything except the growing old part)



Veering slightly away from the historical element of music and my undying love of world news we also looked at the progression of art in music. Way back when phones where still attached to cords music was available to buy on large black disks called records( Yep, I've never heard of them either). Well back then music was a case of 'it is what it is', you bought the record purely of the musical content and not because of the artwork on the sleeve. I have noticed that as the technology that the music is recorded on changed, so did the image of the musicians; seems obvious but I wonder about how many people don't realise the effect CD artwork has on them or even how an artist/bands dress sense influences whether or not it's there kind of music. Now I myself do enjoy the artwork but I buy music because it sounds good not because it looks good.
I look at the music scene of today and I all I can do is shake my head, it's awful to say the least and that's my opinion and probably the opinion of many. Previous decades before us can be defined by single movements but today there is simply too many movements and styles to really nail it to one thing. In away this is good, it means that everybodies doing there own thing and anything goes but then why is the music these days all sound the same no matter what artist it is?
It should be a new genre of music, Generic crap. Have noticed how many songs follow this formula- Electronic beat with vocals, a rapping section in the middle then a key change with the same lyrics in an attempt to make you think the songs not exactly the same?
There's possibly another one but it doesn't spring to mind.