Shanken pgs. 54-78

Reading about these pieces was a little frustrating. While obviously we are limited in a variety of ways from actually experiencing them as the artists intended there were several that really captured my attention. For many of these the line between work and viewer is nearly indistinguishable, like Dan Flavin's Greens Crossing Greens: To Piet Mondrian Who Lacked Green. In my mind I envisioned viewer's/participants wondering in this green discombobulating space looking at the deceptively white tubes that are not only illuminating the space but the viewer herself who also has joined in with the area's green hue. But reading online I get the impression that viewers did not have the ability to actually enter the gallery, leaving the piece to challenge the space without any influence from the viewer. I would love to truly see this, something I do not believe possible outside of truly presenting oneself to it.

Shanken pgs. 30-45

The past several decades (following the proliferation of electronic media in the general public) has forced us to reconsider the meaning of many, many things. Music and presence are the ones that jump out most to me. I was excited to see the section on John Cage, he was my inspiration for my video last semester of a blank screen, and how his involvement of the viewer in 4'33''forced people to be conscious of the sounds that surround them everyday.
The thoughts on presence, though, are the ones that grab my attention most. Countless examples of viewers-turned-performers on the www stage force us to reconsider what it means to "be somewhere". Paul Sermon's "Telematic Vision" demonstrates this so well. I'm not a psychologist, so I wonder what it says about our notions of personal space when I person moves away from another on screen because they feel invaded. I wish so much that I was able to see this piece in action, what an interesting case study it would be. I think as electronic media continue to spread we may find our global village becoming smaller and more intimate in ways we never thought possible.

This is an article about some glasses in development that make the wearer invisible to facial recognition programs.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/01/18/isao_echizen_and_seiichi_gohshi_s_privacy_visor_shields_you_from_facial.html

Slut Walks

In 2011 a police chief in Canada made this comment, "Women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized." http://www.excal.on.ca/news/dont-dress-like-a-slut-toronto-cop  A group of women in Toronto responded by launching the Slut Walk movement with this...

As the city’s major protective service, the Toronto Police have perpetuated the myth and stereotype of ‘the slut’, and in doing so have failed us. With sexual assault already a significantly under-reported crime, survivors have now been given even less of a reason to go to the Police, for fear that they could be blamed. Being assaulted isn’t about what you wear; it’s not even about sex; but using a pejorative term to rationalize inexcusable behavior creates an environment in which it’s okay to blame the victim. http://www.slutwalktoronto.com/

This spread worldwide with Slut Walks in Chicago, New York, London, even Hong Kong to name just a few. This idea that a woman can be "asking for it" is unfortunately not a new one but coming from a member of law enforcement was disturbing, infuriating, and heartbreaking all at the same time. As a women I felt as though all the advances made to educate people on the horror of rape was a big waste of time. Slut Walks were a way for others to express similar feelings but in a loud, public way. These walks continue, despite backlash from others against the idea of trying to reclaim the slang term "slut", and yet these types of comments continue. Phrases that I do not care to repeat only further illustrate how easy it is for ignorant people to gain an audience, interviewed over and over again as if their words have merit and a validity in the rhetoric of public discourse. While the walks are only, ultimately, only a show of solidarity, they have forced the issue to remain present in the public arena. Words like what that police chief in Toronto said should never be tolerated, and the more flamboyant the response the better.

Yeah, censorship is alive and well, at least people stood against it.

Maine Labor Mural Back On Display After Being Removed By Governor Paul LePage: via HuffPost http://huff.to/V5Uug1

Shanken pgs. 2-3

This piece really caught my attention so I looked it up and, in so doing, stumbled across this quote from Billy Kluver, one of the artists who created it.

  "The artist is a visionary about life. Only he can create disorder and still get away with it. Only he can use technology to its fullest capacity. The artists have to use technology because technology is inseparable from lives."

Intellectual property

Aaron Swartz, Internet Pioneer, Found Dead Amid Prosecutor 'Bullying' In Unconventional Case: via HuffPost http://huff.to/ZUVswN

Intellectual property is an issue that I feel we, as hopefully future practitioners in the realm of digital and internet based works, should spend a fair amount of time thinking about and discussing. We will not always be safely inside the "womb of academia" as Dr Mansperger put it to me once. What a sad, sad story.

Finding her inner voice,

Janet Echelman: An Artist's Portfolio Site

Art? Absolutely.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CDUQqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2Fartinfo%2Fdesign-to-save-the-world-_b_2425658.html%3Futm_hp_ref%3Darts&ei=xzjuUPzbAqL0iQLv84CACg&usg=AFQjCNGX16sNCiVFBG2z-SPGr63uKtVjLA&sig2=ho97w77K-rScdlaX8rak8A&bvm=bv.1357700187,d.cGE

Murry

This was my Christmas present from my nephew this year. A very short interview (it was Christmas morning after all) revealed that he named the work "murry" in honor of his "elf on a shelf" of the same name. The description he added on the back along with a photo of the entire painting. The idea for the gift was his own, his mom just helped him figure out how to make it work.

Picasso can again r.i.p..

Picasso 'vandal' hands himself in