Project 2

Remaking a Logo

I had chosen a simplistic Ravens football logo in spirit of being a fan. I not only changed around the colors to make the eyes pop and become more intimidating, I expanded some of the points on the edges. I then added purple mock-flames to portray a border.

Artist Post: Street Ghosts, Paolo Cirio

   "Ghostly human bodies appear as casualties of the info-war in the city..." (Paolo Cirio)

   Paolo Cirio is a media artist that dabbles in various fields. "Street Ghosts", specifically, is considered to be net-art. He is most notable for exploring the influence that information has on social, political, and economic factors. His work is meant to create a reaction (i.e. thought provoking) and it certainly does when legal consequences come his way. For example, in 2011, he "stole" 1 million Facebook profile pictures and republished them on a mock dating site, ordering them by facial expressions. Specifically, I wish to explore his work known as "Street Ghosts."

http://streetghosts.net/

   "Street Ghosts" is composed of people captured by Google's Street View cameras. They are reprinted as low-resolution, human scale posters. The images are intentional blurred as to create a "digital shadow." The printed posters are then posted on the walls in the original spot the picture was taken on the Street View camera. The art straddles two worlds: digital and real.
   Paolo notes that Street Ghosts is intended to explore the boundaries of ownership when it comes to personal lives. It is a war between public and private. The pictures taken on Google are without the person's permission, invading on their privacy but somehow in a legal manner. Paolo is reversing this by using the images without Google's permission.
   Street art is often in expression to a cause. Printed where all can see, it is a public statement and the artist may be well aware of the consequences. Paolo is no exception. His art may not be ascetically pleasing to the eye, but it packs in a statement....in public. Legal consequences may arise, but this only gains his work, and his view on society, more attention. Personally, "Street Ghosts" would be hard for me to grasp as a viewer unless I knew the background intentions of the project. I would more than likely pass by without even seeing it. Yet, maybe this is also part of Paolo's point. Many bystanders would also pass by these images, upholding the notion that they are "ghosts." In critique, I believe that by making the art larger than just human size would create a more noticeable effect. The viewer would, then, not be able to simply just pass by the image. They would be starring at a larger-then-life form, giving an omnipresent aesthetic.

http://streetghosts.net/
http://eyebeam.org/people/paolo-cirio
http://www.paolocirio.net/cv.php

Progress on Portrait Project

Original Picture above

Progress so far above

1) various skin tones

2) base of shirt

3) hair base

4) eyes, including detail

Manifestation of a Jazz Song

   A contemporary jazz song was played to inspire the class to create an piece based upon it. I immediately noticed the strong base beat, to which other instruments piled on top as the song progressed. The motion of the song reminded me of an underwater scene, but I did not want to go literal. I first created abstract bubbles to represent the base beat that started off the song. I then added a swirling pattern to mimic the song's smooth progression. Plants were then added as the string instruments picked up, but I wanted them to look faded so that it was cohesive with the rest of the image. I choose to use pastel colors to portray the "cool" feeling of the jazz song.

Portraits, Signature, Line Art

Portraits are a wonderful instrument to not only depict a person, but also his or her personality. The facial expressions produce emotions in which a viewer can immediately connect with. The above portrait is of the infamous Clint Eastwood. The bottom portraits are photo graphs of either myself of my friends.

The above photo was taken of myself during the Festival of Holi in Pondicherry, India. Hence, the bright colors.

Below is my signature that I then traced over using the pen tool in Illustrator. The original signature is in pink pen, while the tracing is in purple.

Below is a piece of line art that I had created in Illustrator. I wanted to keep it simple; starting with a simple right angle and then rotating it to make a different form. The forms are then pasted about the page in different sizes and different shades of grey.

Artisit: Pascal Dombis

    Pascal Dombis is based out of Paris, France but exhibits shows throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States. In Lyon, he had earned an Engineering degree, which gives brief insight to the aesthetic of his artwork. Using the computer medium as a generator for his designs, Dombis produces chaotic images that purposefully represent unstable and irrational environments. His installations may include wall drawings, light boxes, or video.

 

    The above image is entitled Antisana III and was produced as part of a collection in 2000. Upon closer look, recursion is purposefully used to create this organic-looking, large-scale "growth." Specifically, in Antisana, Dombis had taken broken ellipses and morphed them into different shapes and sizes, repeating his layering so many times that it is hard to tell the base unit. The digital line drawings were then presented as larger-than-life images.

    As a viewer walks into the art-space, the digital image encompasses one wall, while the rest of the space is left completely blank white. The white walls further emphasize the digital image. Even more so, Dombis is playing with the notion of simple vs. chaotic, stable vs. unstable. This ideal becomes clear to the viewer as they begin to process the space.

   His most recent work, entitled Eurasia, continues with his personal aesthetic of chaos. This specific installation creates as interactive space in which viewers enter the show room and are actually walking on it. Essentially, it covers the entirety of the floor. Composed of mass amounts of text set in close-knit lines and right angles, to the unfocused eye it can be perceived as a grey cloud. Yet, upon further look from the viewer, one can distinguish the specific lines of text. 

 

    For me, this installation is yet another example of opposites: chaos vs. order, stable vs. unstable. It is left up to the viewer to unravel its mysteries and contemplate what it may mean to them. With digital line drawings the artist wants to invoke a message or feeling through vision, yet with an installation that includes text, the importance of visual design is matched with the importance of interactive reading. Therefore, there are now two modes in which a viewer can make meaning of a piece.

   I, personally, found Pascal Dombis to be inspirational. His artistic vision matches my own. The images and installations seem so simple and so streamline. Yet, instability and chaos are their main medium. Not only are they pleasing to look at, but deep meaning perpetuates even deeper thought.

http://www.dombis.com/work/artwork.htm

http://www.dombis.com/info/info.htm 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal_Dombis