Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Addressable Memory



Addressable Memory, by Michael Takeo Magruder, is an exhibit portraying the landscape of the digital world using it’s own instruments. Magruder installation deals with the mash-up and composing of video feeds, mobile phones, video screens, news feeds, computer image processing and virtual reality. He blows up the images until they are pigmented and pixilated in order to really examine our connection and dependence on these tools.

The project consists of three rooms. The first room has large-scale prints and projections of pixilated video and camera phone images. Words are blown out and the images are severely abstracted. The color is divided into grids. Even the placards are made from small video screens. This is a nice effect. The images themselves are quite pleasing. Some are still recognizable, yet others have taken on a completely different persona.

The middle room has generative art prints that are created by software that produces compositions from “reprocessed digital imagery.” This room represents the meshing of sound and image, a “microcosm of both social and media networks.”

The third room is only lit by projections and screens that remix the audio and visual imagery that represent the mass media. The media “re-maps” the facts accordingly, and in this piece Magruder turns the attention back onto the media. Addressable Memory is an interesting look into how the average person relies on digital technology. It is rare that you will find someone that does not own or use a cell phone, computer or other digitally based technology daily.

In many ways, these devices keep us connected; yet Magruder exposes the disconnections that make up these forms of communication. Addressable Memory “re-presents the representations of the personal and institutional products of this machinery in a more contemplative and more contextualizing way, intensifying the use of technology to the point where the presence of that of that pervasive technology is again visible but the content and operation of that technology is defamiliarised and contemplatable.”

too bad he got reelected...

Check out the journey...

video.html

I am reviewing the Bikes against Bush Campaign that occurred live, during the Republican National Convention, in NYC during 2004. The protest was interactive. The participants used wireless Internet enabled bicycles that were rigged with custom-printing devices. The messages were printed with water-soluble chalk on the sidewalks of the city as the volunteers rode their bicycles. The chalk naturally  away within fifteen days, so it should not be considered graffiti. The text messages came in live, via the net, and each rider had the final choice of what which would be used in the project. No profanity or obscene language was used in any of these. There was only one “printing” bike, but other cyclists rode in support.

Apparently the creator/activist, Joshua Kinberg, was under surveillance during the protest. He was later charged and spent five months in court. The case was eventually dismissed around the time that George W. Bush was being inaugurated for his second term. It was a bittersweet victory for Kinberg.

I think this is a very provocative way to protest one’s political views. Since the messages were printed all over the sidewalks, it is inevitable that thousands of people will read them on their respective journeys. The messages plant the seed that get the average joe thinking about the issues important in any upcoming election. Hopefully, this will stem valuable conversations and debates between people from all parties. This was a very socially conscious protest aimed at encouraging people to look into the reasons why Bush is not fit to run this country. I bet it was a lot of fun to do too.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

DISTANCE by Tina LaPorta


I am writing about an online art experience I found on turbulence.org.

It was called Distance: Disconnecting…

The series consisted of snapshots of the Tina La Porta's online communication. Text accompanied the images leading the viewer on a voyeuristic journey of the exploration of communication. This piece was interesting to me because we are doing a project in class that deals with the same topic. While the artist’s images seemed a bit outdated and uninviting, I think the concept works. The work investigates the “disembodied and dislocated nature of on-line communication”. To me, the disconnect between technology and people is getting wider every day. While the Internet is very instrumental in bringing people together, this work shows the loneliness one can feel when “connected”. Because the Internet is so readily available to most people, the opportunity to connect with others all over the world is virtually endless. When one is chatting online with another you are completely dependant on the other’s response for gratification. If they sign off before you are finished expressing yourself, you might feel a bit disappointed. There is also a sense of anonymity when on is communicating via the net. In some cases, individuals are only identifiable by codenames, outdated photos and so forth. La Porta distorts and pixilated some of her images to express this “disconnected” feeling. 

The online piece required the viewer to click through all the images. I think the artist utilized this instead of a streaming video in order to drive home the meaning behind the entire experience. I felt slightly disconnected from the entire piece. The images made me feel as I was a voyeur. This is a nice effect that La Porta captured through her work.