Grids in Art

If we look at the most rudimentary forms of organization we can see resemblances to grids. Whether its the streets of Rome or the motherboard in a computer it is easiest for the human mind to line things up in a 2 axis linear fashion. We often see grids in art because it draws the human eye better than any other shape.

We find grids in a very tightly organized fashion in art such as the picture above. The grid gives the artist an ordered sequence in which to form their drawing or painting. In fact in beginning design classes all over the country students are being taught how to grid a smaller photo onto a larger canvas in order to keep proportionality. There are also grids in a much more abstract and disorganized fashion. The photo below illustrates such.

While this photo does not have the same direct order to it as the above painting we can still organize a grid. The form of the grid gives the viewer a pattern for their eyes to follow. In the second photo the eyes are initially drawn to the large white bar in the center. From there the viewer moves left and right in a linear manner following the many boxes created.

Flip Book Video

Here is the video of my 400 page flip book.

Art and Technology in the News

Technology has become so common place in our society we almost don't notice it. One way that we can use technology in an eye catching way is through art. Whether thats the use of a robot to paint a picture or using a microscope to view electron micro pictures we are advancing the integration of art and technology everyday. I recently found an article titled "Using a Laser as the World's Most Powerful Paintbrush" in the news.

This article talks about a man named Ben Tricklebank who was testing out new concept of art using a powerful laser projector on a California valley floor. Tricklebank bought the laser off of eBay for $600 dollars and the rest is history. He spent the next few months using the projector as a form of temporary graffiti that he could place on the landscape. Most laser exhibits are reactive to the environment such that if the viewer interacts with the lasers the exhibit will change. Ben had an idea of placing a new environment onto the existing one.

Blade Runner Comparisons

The movie Blade Runner is loosely based off of the book "Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep". The story places us in a dystopian future where androids are human like killing machines that have infiltrated society. It is the job of one cop Rick Deckard to find a band of Nexus machines that are in his city. The film is based in Los Angeles in the year 2019. The landscape is filled with high rise buildings and pitch black dark clouds. If we compare the depiction of society in the movie to what it is now we can see a few stark differences as well as some similarities. Because we are only 4 years from the setting of the movie we can make very accurate comparisons.
Flying Cars: While we are in the process of creating a self driven car we are far from the flying vehicles that are shown in the movie. The closest thing we have right now compared to flying cars is a overboard being developed by Lexus car company. This is one facet incorrectly represented.
Cultural Influences: In the streets on Los Angeles we find a mostly Japanese  influence on the cultural. Much of the side conversations are in Japanese. This isn't completely inaccurate as the U.S. has seen an influx of immigrants over the years. However the biggest representation is more Latino than Japanese.
Pollution: An interesting comparison that the film makers have is that of the pollution. In the film we see many of the buildings spewing dark fire and smoke from their roofs. While this is inaccurate as to what our buildings are like now it is a very interesting point on how pollutions is now. Global warming and the push for a more sustainable lifestyle is very prominent in todays society. Is the caused by the predictions in the film?

Photograph In Time

The first pictures ever recorded were done on a camera obscura. This was a small box completely shut out from light except for one pinhole. The back end of the box was fixed with a plate that had bitmen coating. This chemical coating would change color with the introduction of light. This camera had an exposure time of almost 8 hours. As we look forward in time we begin to see cameras with exposure times of only a few minutes and much clearer photos. This came with the revolution of the technology for the camera. New chemicals and wisely crafted camera bodies helped speed the process. Even in todays age we continue to see a progression of the technology involved in photography. In todays era you can take a photo with an exposure time of a trillionth of a second. The colors in the photo are incredibly vivid and you can store thousands on a small card placed into the digital camera. It is truly an incredible feat to see how far we have come in photography.

Vaudeville

Vaudeville is a genre of entertainment that was especially popular during the 1880's and the early 1900's.  The performances were stage based and usually contained multiple acts. The acts were unrelated. The performers were called Vaudevillians and included singers, dancers, jugglers, and magicians. The shows were very light hearted. The happiness of the show is what attracted so many viewers. By attending a Vaudeville the average citizen could release themselves from the plight of everyday life just like we go to view a movie to escape reality. There eventually became a chain of theaters around the country offering these variety shows. Their popularity reached its peak around the early 1900's. At this point the introduction of cinema spelled the decline of Vaudeville shows. Cinemas were much more affordable. The Vaudeville shows could also be filmed and have their acts replayed over and over. This exhausted an act that would usually go on tour for several years in a regular Vaudeville stage act. We still see the remnants of Vaudeville shows in the circus circuits that now travel across the U.S. Circuses offer much of the same feel as a Vaudeville show including the format of having multiple unrelated acts in one showing.

Alumni Art Exhibit

On the University of Tampa campus we are lucky enough to possess an art museum as a part of our art building. Often times the campus will offer an art exhibit for the students and public to attend. The shows change about once a month. This month the Bailey Art Studio is offering an exhibit featuring some work from the Alumni of the University of Tampa. There were pieces in mixed media options placed along the walls. It was interesting to see the different formats that the artists had submitted. The piece that caught my eye the most was the one featured left.
This piece was done on a canvas that was about 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide. This piece has a very powerful message as a piece of propaganda. It points to the elephant that is the U.S. economy. There are people of the world trying to hold this beast up while a monkey apparently dressed in very patriotic clothing that is orchestrating what the elephant must do. I suspect the artist believe the monkey is our government and that they may view our government as dishonest with the way money is falling from his pockets. All in all I enjoyed the exhibit I do however wish there were more pieces to look at. The exhibit seemed a bit limited.