justinnguyen

[justinnguyen]

Week 11- Artist - Choice

1. The first artist that I would like to talk about is Mac Miller.  He is an American rapper, songwriter, and producer from Pittsburgh, that unfortunately passed away due to drug use.  Mac Miller often relates to the youth of our generation, and releases subject matter that people of my age often heavily relate to.  This ranges from romance, mental health, to the pressures that kids our age feel every day.

2. The second artist that I will be talking about is Kendrick Lamar, who is also a rapper, songwriter, and producer but is from Compton.  His subject matter heavily consists of racial prejudice and the history of black people in the U.S.   As of recent, he has spoken a lot about the police brutality amongst black people in the united states.

3. 

- How are these artists similar?

These artists are similar in the sense that they use a heavy jazz influence when producing music.  In addition to that, their music and lyrical abilities do a great job in influencing and inspiring their listeners.  Both of them carry a deep message in almost all of their songs and are very meticulous that their music is perfect before releasing to the public.

- How do these artists differ?

These artists are different in the subject matter that they write about.  I believe they are equally as important, but different with mainly mental health as opposed to racial prejudice.  

- Do you feel as if one of these is more “important” in subject matter to the next?

I feel as if these two subject matters are of equal importance, and it is a blessing that we are able to have both of them in this world.  Those struggling with mental health will heavily resonate with Mac Miller’s music, while those dealing with the brutality of racial prejudice will appreciate Lamar’s applicable and encouraging lyrics.

[justinnguyen]

Week 11 - Art Activity - Choice

 For this summer, a couple friends and I have had a big project to build a table and design it ourselves.  Our reference was the Laker’s Kobe Bryant memorial court and we decided to recreate that and put it on a table.  We went to home depot and got all of the plywood, 2x4′s and sawhorses, and constructed the table then painted over it.

- What was the hardest part about building this project?

  The hardest part about this project as getting the paint to look nice.  We are not the most meticulous artists, and we really wanted to make the table look good so we were very careful when creating all of the aspects of this design.  We first sketched the design in pencil using various stencils and free handing some of it, then painted over it and put a clear protective coat over it.

- Are you happy with the outcome? What would you have done differently if you had to do the project again?

   We were all very happy with the way that the table turned out, but there are some things that we would have changed.  First, we would have added more details to the court, such as the staples center logo and other logos that we missed.  We chose not to implement these because they could potentially be difficult or ruin the design of the table.

[justinnguyen]

Week 10 - Artist - Joseph DeLappe & Micol Hebron

1. Joseph DeLappe is a UK-based American artist who is notorious for his art intervention pieces that deal with issues in politics through media installations and interactive gaming performances.  He is also the Professor of Games and Tactical Media at the Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland.

2. Micol Hebron is a video and performance artist who is also an associate professor at Chapman University.  She critically examines and employs modes of feminist activism in her art pieces.  Some of her art pieces challenge ideals that are instilled in today’s society such as homosexualism, hypersexualism, and more.  For example, one of her art pieces show two males with their genitalia tied together in a knot.  As old society thinks in a very homophobic way, Hebron challenges this old way of thinking and takes it to a very casual level.  In addition to that, she often depicts the women’s breast with nipples, something that is often hypersexualized in today’s culture.

3. The media that I see DeLappe and Hebron using include: photography, video games, online programs, social media, painting, and sculpture.

4. I believe that like most, both of these artists chose medias that they are passionate and skilled in.  The human nature of everyone is to gravitate towards things that they are good at, and I believe DeLappe and Hebron are no different.  In addition to the comfort that their media brings, there is an obvious skill level displayed within these two people’s art, which is another reason that I think they chose their respective media.

5. One media that did not ever come across my mind is the art media of video games that DeLappe masterfully uses, especially the kinds that he produces.  A number of his games include much gore or violence, one that I wouldnt really consider art, but to delve deeper into the meaning that he is attempting to convey, one can truly appreciate the talent it takes to convey such complex ideas in such a mannerism.  

6. I think the both DeLappe and Hebron show similarities in the sense that they are expressing very political heavy topics through their art, despite using two different medias to portray it.  I can admire the activism in them that it takes to discuss topics such as these, that can have a heavy impact on many people’s lives.  I see similar thought processes between the two, but I do not see many similarities in their media.

7. I would like to see DeLappe take a step further in his video game production, and hopefully venture into the virtual reality realm.  I feel as if he can take his ideas to another level as virtual reality brings a new dimension of feeling, and almost as if you personally are immersed in the scene set by the programmers.  

[justinnguyen]

Week 10 - Art Activity - Intermedia

1. I chose to create a rainbow colored spiral of multiple squares, that get bigger as the my program progressed.  This displays a high level of simplicity, as the whole picture is made up of squares that are strategically placed to create a spiral like image.

2.  Three media choices I chose were python, photography, and painting.  I am not a very good painter so paint was pretty quickly eliminated, and I did not come up with any good ideas for photography so python’s turtle module was the way to go for me. 

3. I thoroughly enjoyed coding, so I thought making a fractal would be a fun project to do using python’s turtle module.  This was made through an idea called recursion, which basically is a function that calls itself multiple times until a certain criteria is met.  In my case, I set a boundary for how many times the program will run, and increased the square every time the function was called, as well as changing color when a certain percentage has been reached.

4. See picture above.

5. I think the fractal turned out really cool and fun to look at.  Even though the picture is made up of repeating squares, you can kind of see a pattern if you look hard enough into the spiral, and it comes off as a “wavy” texture despite being made up of solely straight edges.  I think that the picture does a great job of my “simplistic” idea that I was going for.  I thought it was amazing how such a simple shape can be turned into something with so much more context given the right tools.

[justinnguyen]

Week 9 - Art Activity - Time-Series Photography

For this week’s blog post, I decided to take a photo of my dog every time he makes any noises.  This could include growling, grunting, barking, yawning, etc.

I selected this rule because I thought it would be fun to see my dog in various situations where he may be experiencing different emotions or thoughts in his head.  I hoped to create an album of different reactions from my dog.

My results did not really match my expectations, as the photos of my dog were not as aggressive as I initially thought.  Prior to creating these photos, I thought I would be taking pictures of him barking, being excited or afraid of things, but I realized my dog makes a lot more sounds for different emotions instead of just anger.  

If I had a team of 5 people coming up with a business marketing plan, I would make the rule to take a photo every time a client leaves happy or satisfied.  This would lead to us continuing to strive and make our clients happy, as well as learning what we are doing correctly as opposed to incorrectly.

[justinnguyen]

Week 9 – Artist – Eric Singer & Ewa Xebra

1. Eric Singer is not only a programmer and robotics engineer, but he also creates musical pieces with his robotics.  He is most known for his interactive art and technology works, and his electronic and robotic musical instruments.  He creates robotics that produce sound very similar to how musicians create music with their own hands.

2. Ewa Xebra is a doctor who also dabbles in photography in her “photo a day” project.  She typically photographs her daughter Luna, with various loved ones in the background of her centerpiece.  

3. Eric Singer’s musical robots are very similar to player pianos in the sense that they are fully automated and do not need a human musician to operate these instruments; However, they are quite different in the sense that Singer’s robots have a much more vast range of instruments to play as opposed to a player piano being one.  

4. Looking at Ewa Xebra’s photography, I think I am more struck by the beauty of the images.  She shows creative promise when she showcases Luna in various comedic and endearing positions, but it does not look professionally done.  The most beautiful thing that I see when I view her photographs are the true care and love the two parents have for their daughter, and it really makes me happy to see.  

5.  One parallel I see between Xebra and Singer’s work is that their methods of creating their art both involve modern technology.  Their artworks are also totally different in the sense that it takes two different mediums to achieve their ideal aesthetic.  Singer uses robotics and programming to tell his instruments which note should be played at which frequency and timing, while Xebra’s artwork is created by the click of a button.  Xebra’s artworks relies heavily on visual appeal, while Singer relies on the listener’s ears.

6. If I were to make a musical robot, I would definitely have it play the drums.  Ever since I was little, I was always drawn to the beats that drums produce, and I find myself enjoying drums in today’s music as well.  I feel as it it really gives music personality and tempo, and I would love for my robot to play exactly what I want, when I want.  

7.  If I were to take a photo every day for 10 years, I would definitely photograph my dog.  I have had my dog since I was in 7th grade, and I feel as if we have a really strong connection.  Looking back at the growth of my dog throughout the years is something I would really like to see, and wish I had the idea of doing it a long time ago.

[justinnguyen]

Week 8 – Artist – Addario-Cardiff-Miller

1. Lynsey Addario is an American photojournalist who focuses on conflicts and human right’s issues.  She typically focuses on the role of women in traditional societies.  

2. Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller are a husband and wife combo that work together in sound and sound installations.  Cardiff gained national recognition in the art realm with her audio walks in 1995.  They are stationed in British Columbia, Canada and often work together to create their art pieces.

3. Cardiff-Miller and Addario’s work share similarities such as  storytelling.  They implement storytelling in other ways, but both do an excellent job in telling the story of a subject or setting.  

4. The two’s work heavily differ in philosophy and theme.  I feel as if Cardiff-Miller really highlight nature and mystery, while Addario carries a heavier moral theme with human right’s issues.  

5. I do not believe that that either of these art forms are more important than the other, as many people choose to interpret both the works and get different takeaways from each.  I do believe that whimsical mind explorations can potentially fulfill deep human ways, and it is entirely dependent on how the viewer chooses to mentally interact with the artwork at hand.  

6. I personally would prefer to choose a career such as Cardiff-Miller’s if I were to pick up cameras and microphones to pursue a career in storytelling.  I really enjoy looking at their works and would be unable to deal with the harsh realities that Addario paints.   I believe it would take a heavy toll on my mental well-being, and would choose otherwise. 

[justinnguyen]

Week 7 – Art Activity – Headshots & Environmental Portraits

[justinnguyen]

Week 7 – Artist – Nan Goldin & Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz is an American Portrait photographer that is most known for her portraits of celebrities who are often in intimate settings.  She does an outstanding job at highlighting themes and personalities of these celebrities.  My favorite portrait of Annie Leibovitz is her portrait of Kendrick Lamar, a rap superstar whom music I enjoy.  Her portrait includes a photo of Kendrick Lamar, with himself as a background portrait.  Lamar is seen wearing a shirt that blends into the background portrait.  Kendrick’s main subject matter outlines racism, oppression, and love for oneself, all that I believe is portrayed in this photograph.  His album “To Pimp A Butterfly” was recognized enough to be the first hip hop album to win a Pulitzer prize for music.  

Nan Goldin is also an American Photographer who often highlights LGBT models, intimate moments, the HIV crisis and the opioid epidemic.  She portrays such a heavy subject matter, and her photographs can hold a ton of deeper meaning than meets the eye.  My favorite photograph of her is titled, “I wanted to get high from a really early age,” one that references the opioid pandemic as mentioned above.  Her photograph depicts a man smoking what seems to be a cigarette with a young boy lighting it for him.  This photograph really hits home as I have had family members experiment with hard drugs and it has turned their lives upside down.  

I do not believe that either of these artist’s works are more ‘manufactured’ or ‘authentic’, because they have different ways of expressing their themes.  Nan Goldin’s works may seem more heavy and serious than Leibovitz’; However, I believe Leibovitz does an excellent job at making the viewer ‘read between the lines’ for their perspective on the art.

If I had to hire one of these artists to photograph my environmental portrait, I would pick Annie Leibovitz.  I am usually a pretty optimistic, upbeat guy and I do not think Nan’s talent would shine in photographing somebody with my background.  In addition to that, I really like how Leibovitz is very creative in choosing the scenery in which her models are photographed in, and it is something that  I would want for my personal photograph.

[justinnguyen]

Week 6 - Art Activity - Drawing II

After seeing the real image of the campus map for my old high school, I realized that there are so many more buildings and spaces that I did not remember was there.  I only remembered the main parts that I went to, which was the classrooms, lunch tables, and the gym, but I totally forgot about the other areas.  I was pretty surprised at the power of the automatic drawing, and it was kind of fun trying to remember what buildings were there and the location of it.  I did not see much of my partner and mine’s mood in the drawing, as it was a pretty relatively simple drawing even though our mood was very light and joyful.  I did feel like we definitely experienced flow, but not so much being in the zone.  This week’s drawing activities were the same in the sense that we are creating an image of something we have seen/are seeing in the past or present, while differing as one of the drawings were drawn from memory as opposed to seeing the object in real time.  

[justinnguyen]

Week 6 - Artist - Camille & Sarah Elgart

1. Sarah Elgart is a famous choreographer, director and producer stationed in LA and has been a part of many famous numbers such as Howard the Duck(1986), Red Riding Hood(2011) and Star Trek Into Darkness(2013).  She also has done site-specific projects and has commissions from organizations including  the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles World Airports, The Getty, BodyTraffic and more.  Her main content stems from videography, where her typical style includes short clips of humans in various ‘cryptic’ positions, in a way that looks very elegant.  

2. Camille Elgart is a French singer that focuses on sounds deriving from the French language.  Her 2005 album Le Fil was especially cool because it was all strung together by the single note “B”, something that I thought was very impressive.  

3. I definitely believe that both Sarah and Camille Elgart have Flow in their art, as their pieces seem elegant and free flowing in a way.  I also believe that there are moments when these artists or other dancers are in the zone, focusing in on their performance and the results are definitely shown.

4. I know this isn’t very academic but it seems that these two artists give off a certain “vibe” that are very similar.  It is almost as if the songs that Camille produces can very well be played while displaying Sarah’s art in a show.

5. My experience with the automatic drawing was pretty similar to Sarah Elgart's in a way that it was both very sporadic and random to me.  The randomness of Sarah Elgart’s videos was a direct connection to me since I have not been on my high school campus in quite a while.

[justinnguyen]

Week 5 - Artist - Kara Walker & Russell Crotty

The first artist we are looking at this week is Kara Walker.  She often depicts race, gender, sexuality, violence, and identity in her works, and I definitely do classify a lot of her art as drawing.  One of the themes that I believe she is attempting to explore is individualism and to not judge a book by its cover.  For example, some of her most famous works, she outlines black silhouettes of people, where none of their features are shown.  She is able to tell a story without drawing any features on the characters, and leaving the rest up to your imagination.

The next artist we are looking at is Russell Crotty, an artist who I definitely would describe as using drawings to depict a different assortment of things.  His artworks include sketches that look more like your classical “drawings” that one thinks of when you say the word.  His style helps communicate many different nature sceneries all on a sphere, which I think gives it a really cool looking effect.  These spheres are hung up on a string attached to the ceiling which makes each scene look almost like a planet, which looks really appealing to the eye in my perspective.  

[justinnguyen]

Week 5 - Art Activity - Drawing

I thought this activity was a little bit of fun, even if I am not a very good artist in the drawing realm.  I thought it was a little frustrating because the final products do not turn out as I imagined them in my head beforehand.  I do believe that if I practiced more I would be significantly better, directly correlated to the amount of hours that I put in.  My major is computer science, and I believe that simple sketching can definitely be useful in my major.  For example, if I was designing a front-end web page, it would be very useful to be able to sketch out a prototype to show a potential client or a programming team for them to get a better idea of how I would like the web page to turn out aesthetically.  I believe drawing can definitely be a language, and the old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” could not be any more true.

[justinnguyen]

Week 4 – Artist – Molly Soda & Girl Talk

This week, we analyzed the art from Greg Gillis and Molly Soda.  I believe that Greg Gillis’ work should definitely not be illegal, and it certainly would stifle creativity if it were banned; However, I do believe that if you use somebody else’s intellectual property, you should first ask for their permission for use.  Fore example, almost every song in today’s day and age use samples from past songs, and it is something that is very creative to me.  For example, Kanye West’s “Gold Digger” song sampled Ray Charles “I Got a Woman,”  both songs I thoroughly enjoy.  

Molly Soda is an internet based artist from Brooklyn, who utilizes web based performance arts such as Gifs, videos, and more.  I believe that her and Greg Gillis are pretty different in their oeuvre's, and are both using mash ups to create art but are attempting to  create different bodies of work.  I do not believe that these two artists are similar to the works of  Mozart or Picasso or Warhol, but instead are a different entity that can be respected on its own.  It can be connected in the sense that they use similar techniques and overall ideas as the other but I do not believe that they can be categorized as “similar”.  

[justinnguyen]

Week 4 – Art Activity – Remix

This is an example of a data mashup, where I merged two different data tables in order to retrieve information that could be valuable to an application.  This example is for an online recipe website, which does a lot more than just house simple recipes.  One of the data tables includes the recipes that are submitted by chefs on the website, while the review table contains reviews of each recipe that food critics write.  It also includes a data table for the chefs that are in charge of making these recipes.  One of the tools I used was a subquery, which is used to find data from multiple tables by using “inner join” or in a sense “mashing” these tables together.  I thought this project was very successful, as it is a real life application and tool that almost every company utilizes.  Lastly, I believe that the app “Girls Around Me” was very creepy and was rightfully taken down, even if it did not technically violate anybody’s terms of service.  The ability to make this application as indeed “cool” but I believe that a much more useful, moral application could be produced from these skillsets.

[justinnguyen]

Wk 3 - Artist OTW

The first artist who uses computer science and mathematical computation to create art is Waclaw Franciszek Sierpinski.  He was known as a famous Polish Mathematician who made several important discoveries in set theory, number theory, analysis, topologies, and what I will be focusing more on: fractals.  His two most infamous fractals include the Sierpinski triangle, the Sierpinski carpet, and the Sierpinski curve.  In fact, one of my assignemnts for CECS 328 last semester was creating this known Sierpinski Triangle, so its safe to say he was pretty well known.  These fractals are created using a computer science method called “recursion”, which I find super interesting because you can accomplish so many possible things with very few lines of code.  Recursion is also not limited to just fractals, but has many practical uses in computer science.  The second artist I will be talking about is Alan Turing, the British computer science who is responsible for creating the Turing Test, a test that examinee's a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to that of a human.  Countless Artifical Intelligence products are responsible for creating art, and those are tested using Turing’s test.  In particular, I will be talking about using AI for songwriting.  Programs can be built using AI to create entire orchestral scores for songs, as well as small bits of melody.  Almost all of the music created today use AI to synthesize or produce melodies and beats to accompany lyrics, which is one of my favorite genres of art.

[justinnguyen]

Wk 3 - Art & My Major

For this week’s art activity, I am demonstrating how just a few lines of code can create images in Python’s turtle module.  This is a very simple example, but using an idea called “recursion”, many complex fractals can be created using little lines of code such as this.  I believe my project was successful for my purpose, meaning I do not want to overwhelm those who do not know how to program while still demonstrating how images can be created by code.  For a larger scale project, I would like to create my own rendition of “sierpinski’s triangle”, which is a self-similar fractal that consists of an equilateral triangle that contains smaller equilateral triangles recursively removed from its remaining area.  I would like to add colors and outlines to make it look prettier, and it should be a fun project to do.  I believe that art can definitely enhance someone in my major, depending on the route that I take.  For example, if I were to go into computer animation, this project is a great starting point to learn how to use code to create images, and eventually be able to create larger scale, more complex images.  This is a large project because even if there is few lines of code, recursion can be very complex in itself and it takes a while to really get the results that you want, ensuring all of the parameters and syntax is correct.