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. 

A Whole New Perspective on Finger Painting

Take a look at the picture above....

Beautiful right?

The girl has very lifelike attributes. Her hair looks naturally set, the veins in her hands make her appear lifelike. It is obviously a piece that took the artist, David Kassan, a bit of time to complete. 

What if I told you he drew this picture using his fingers?

Crazy huh? He's sure one hell of a finger painter!

What if I told you he drew this picture on an iPad?

Thats one hell of a piece of technology. 

Brushes, an iPad app, gives a whole new perspective on the kindergarden days of finger painting. Crossing the boundaries or computer generated art and human generated art, the artist, whether it's you or David Kassan himself, controls the paintbrush using the tips of the fingers. The app features different types of brushes to help the artist unleash their creative potential.

Well, ISTA 301, what makes this piece of art so personally appealing is the reality of the situation. Think about it, have you ever tried writing your name on a touch screen with your finger, or even with your mouse on paint?! How unpleasant is that signature? The talent and skill that it requires is an art within itself. And the output can potentially be a much different expression of art, where a creative piece is generated from the movements of the artist's fingertips. 

:) :] :D ASCII Art

ASCII art is the nerd of all art forms. A form of graphic design, ASCII art uses 95 printable characters to create visual forms of art in the output of picture like structures. In order for ASCII art to be done, it must used a fixed-width typeface, where the most commonly used typeface is courier. 

Why ASCII? according to the truly reliable source Wikipedia, ASCII art was created because there was not much of a method to print out art, which led to the typeface generated art form. The oldest known piece of typewriter was created by Flora Stacey in 1898, who created a butterfly using a typewriter. 

As this is my blog, I get to tell you why I see ASCII art as an art form. It is easy to see the big picture of ASCII art, where a large picture is exposed. But what makes ASCII art so artistic to me is beyond the big picture. ASCII art is a large picture, generated by single symbols, cleverly articulated in a way that create something more than the symbols themselves stand for. I see a representation for many different things in life. Like a flower or the human body. A flower, is a beautiful creation of nature, but broken down, the flower has many components that make the flower live, and without those components, we wouldn't have the final output. Same with the human body. And same for ASCII art. 

There is a whole separate art in the method that something is created. 

Sources:

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

"You Don't, You Don't Take Me With You"

Dance is a form of expression that is very near and dear to my heart. Growing up, I spent at least 20 hours a week in a dance studio, as I was a competitive dancer for about 12 years. My dream was to be a professional dancer, like both of my cousins. Kyle, danced professionally with the ballet company Joffrey Ballet and landed the role of A-Rab in West Side Story on Broadway a few years back, and my other cousin, his sister Sonya, dances professionally in Las Vegas as an aerialist. For me, ballet was my thing. I spent hours upon hours dancing on pointe, not satisfied until my toe nails were on their last bit of life. When I was fifteen, my dream was shattered when both of my arches collapsed during a rehearsal. I haven't been on pointe since.

As defined by our youtube author, lowerbunk, art is a form of expression, or creativity, or both. For me, dance was a form of both. Between the ages of 13-15, I went through some very traumatic experiences that left me in a dark place, and dance was my only outlet. It was a way that I could express how I was feeling when I couldn't find words to explain it. Through music and the art that my body was making, I was able to channel the feelings I had into a somewhat tangible form. Now, as I sit here and tell you why I feel dance is art, I ask the question: Is all dance art?


I'll be quick to jump in and argue no. Not all dance is art, but of course, this is my opinion. When I think of artistic dance, I think of ballet. The art is shown through the power of the dancer's bodies, their grace, their strength, and the story they tell through movement. The Anaheim Ballet shows a great example of an artistic dance with their youtube video Ballet:Dancers.

So, let me tell you what I do not classify as art in dance. Dance is defined as a successive group of rhythmical steps or bodily motions, or both, usually executed to music (according to dictionary.com). Upon the early days of youtube, the very first youtube video I ever watched falls into this definition of Dance, but I personally would not define as art. The english translation to this song goes "You Don't, You Don't Take Me With You", but we are all much more familiar with the romanian translation of Numa Numa.

Lets Start with the Big Question: What is Art?

As I think back to the first day of class, I can't help but wonder if this question is the cause of many famous artists mental issues. Try Googling "Artist's suicides", you get quite the response. About.com has a nice list of suicidal artists, with deaths by daggers, gravity, guns, pills, or even psychotic episodes, and with this it's hard not to question whether or not these people were driven to suicide because they couldn't even put a definition to who they are and what they did.


When given a question that can't exactly be answered it is frustrating, but at the same time, it can be interesting to hear different perspectives of others on the matter. So, for the purpose of this blog dedicated to various forms of art, I again ask the question: What is art?

Unfortunately, this may be a question that even the Googles cant help us with. It's one of those questions like, What is love? A question that even the suavest of tall dark and handsome men cant answer. But why? Why can't we answer a question like what is love? or what is art? The reason is simple: because we cannot put a definitive answer on a question that is based off of opinion.


When I asked Google about the definition of art, I stumbled across this interesting youtube video. Simply titled, "What is Art?", it is a video describing a person's opinion about art, and how he may perceive something as art, but the person next to him might not. In this video, he came up with the simple definition that "art is form of expression, or creativity or both." But then asks the question: what is creativity? Then the infinite loop continues...


With this blog, I hope to look at various things that I find to be artistic, so I can express my personal opinion on what is, or what isn't art. As lowerbunk from the youtube video says, "The only thing that keeps your chair out of an art gallery, is a pedestal"