The Art of Procrastination.

As I write my final blog, I am saddened to see one of the best classes I have had at the UA come to a close.

With this, I leave some personal thoughts on Art, and how I define art.

I define art as something that is creatively presented, regardless if its dance, writing, paining, typography, or even typing. I personally, have a particular interest in the art of the method of how something is done. I am fascinated by the way things work, and how people come up with the creation and make many small things create one large whole.

As a final note, I'd like to add one of the most practiced arts, the art of procrastination. I find procrastination to be an art in its own. Its generated by the mind, and the idea that something else might be more aesthetically pleasing in the meantime. Sure, you personally may not see this as art, but who are you to judge what is art? Art is an expression, so some say, so with this last blog at 11:59PM, I express my gratitude and enjoyment of the ISTA 301 course, by holding on to it until the very last moment.

Thank you.

"If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him."
John F. Kennedy

Anything Looks Good in Helvetica.

I feel like the nerd inside me is exposed when someone learns about my obsession with typefaces. Its okay, I laughed too when a close friend and co-worker of mine told me about the entire philosophy behind typefaces. I mean, common, its just a stupid font right? Wrong.

The art behind typefaces is so incredibly interesting. My obsession with typefaces was originally fueled by the Gary Hustwit documentary, Objectified. The thought process behind every single letter, the angles, the spacing, and every object, from a Macbook Air to a toothpick, is a work of art. Cleverly designed, a typeface, particularly Helvetica, creates a standard of simplicity in a world that is often pure chaos. 

With this, I also pose another argument: Video games as art. When the subject was debated in class, I didn't exactly have a position on the matter. I pondered for a little while, and then moved on with my life. I was sitting in my computer science class later that day, bored as usual, and so I took out my iPhone and went to one of my favorite apps, Helvetication. The object of the game is simple: Pick what word is typed in Helvetica. The game flashes two of the same word on the screen, one in Arial, one in Helvetica, the goal is to pick the word typed in Helvetica. You have 60 seconds to get as many words as possible. 

At that moment, it hit me. Of course video games can be art. Type faces have been seen as a piece of art for years. If thats the case, wouldn't a type face based video game be art? I sure think so. 

Oh the Things You Can Think!

What is Art? You may ask on this delightful day

Is it dance? Is it music? Is it in words one may say?

Is it in the computer, where things are typed day and night?

Or is it up on a ceiling, created by a painter's delight?

Whatever your opinion may be, there is one I hold true,

and its the works and poems that have been read to you.

Oh, Dr. Seuss, you have always made me smile

and you taught me to relax, once and a while.

Your poems I find as art, you see

even though others here just might disagree. 

But silly people, didn't you know?

Only I can judge what is art, and what it shows.

So as you may laugh, remember this please

Art is defined as what the beholder sees. 

Don't You Wish People Would Break Out In Song and Dance? Oh, Wait...

Easily one of my favorite youtube videos, the T-Mobile Flash Mob is the foundation to the next medium that I consider a respectable art form.

Going back to my second blog, I described dance as a personally respected form of art. Although a Flash Mob doesn't necessarily have to involve dance, they often times do. A flash mob is described as a sudden gathering of individuals who perform an usual (and often, choreographed) act for a short amount of time.

It has always been a personal goal to be a part of a flash mob someday. Not only would being involved in one be entertaining, but I find that they have a much bigger and deeper meaning, which is why I consider them a piece of art.

Flash mobs are made up of a large number of individuals who come together to create something large scaled, which is viewed by many people. Once again (have you found what I find to be artistic yet?), the method to the madness is was intrigues me, but with a Flash Mob, I also see a representation of many people from various forms of backgrounds, classes, cultures and lifestyle coming together to work in unison with each other to create something beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVQorfIX84w

A Computer's Mind on LSD

Let me just start by saying that I'm taking a pretty big risk with this one. With other pieces I've blogged about, I have been able to find some stable background information giving me an idea of the history, meaning and method behind the piece I found to be artistic. With this example though, I've come up with next to nothing, but my own opinion of why I find the iTunes visualizer as "art".

A great tool for procrastination for a few minutes, the iTunes visualizer is a graphical representation of art that sends bright lights and colors across your screen as your favorite music plays in the background. Not only does the graphical effects give an interesting experience, but the way that the graphics mingle with the beat of the music makes it an even more aesthetically pleasing experience. The patterns are generated in a random way, with slight boundaries given the music that is accompanying the projection. 

I find the iTunes visualizer to be a piece of generative art that I have control over, since I can choose the music who's tempo creates the characteristics of the visual. 

pv zk pv pv zk pv zk kz zk pv pv pv zk pv zk zk pzk pzk pvzkpkzvpvzk kkkkkk bsch

Enjoy yourself for a moment. Take a few minutes and visit Google translate. Change the from language to German, and the to language to German, and copy and paste in the following, uh, words?

pv zk pv pv zk pv zk kz zk pv pv pv zk pv zk zk pzk pzk pvzkpkzvpvzk kkkkkk bsch

Press listen.

BOOM. Art.

As you are probably chuckling at this point, lets jump in to what this really is in terms of art.

Music, of course. Music is often argued to be a form of art. As always, there will be exceptions to this rule, and the exception is even further considered depending on the person looking or listening to the art. Since this is Dawn's blog on her opinion of art, she can come out and say that beat boxing is art.

Yes, I'll repeat, I find beat boxing to be a very entertaining piece of art.

According to Wikipedia, "Beat boxing is a form of vocal percussion which primarily involves the art of producing drum beats, rhythm and musical sounds using ones mouth, lips, tongue and voice. It may also involve singing, vocal imitation of turntablism, and the simulation of horns, strings and other musical instruments." Personally, I see beat boxing as a type of performance art, where the artist is creatively placing and creating noises to create an overall musical piece.

Watch one of my favorite beat boxing videos, here. 

Play On...

We've all been there. You know, at about 3 AM when you roll out of bed because you have to pee or get a drink or something of the sort? You stand up zombie like and begin walking to the bathroom or kitchen or where ever your final destination may be, and then, it happens. That jolt of excruciating pain in the sole of your cold foot, because you stepped on a lego.

As many of us have experienced this awful pain I'd consider comparable to a paper cut, we may have a dampened opinion on the popular child's toy. And that's what many see it as - a toy. But for Nathan Sawaya, he doesn't see toys, he sees art. A self proclaimed brick artist, Sawaya creates his creations completely out of lego bricks.

Once again, I find myself intrigued by the method for this lego art. The creativity in Sawaya's expression of art is astounding, and the intricate placement and planning of each brick is incredibly mind boggling. Another thing I find interesting in this type of art, is the medium the art is shown. Sure, we are familiar with art on canvas, glass or even through music or dance, but legos? Sawaya's creativity amazes me, and Im sure many will agree they feel the same.