bits and peas

isadora exercise

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 22:34:00 -0500

To begin, I pulled the “movie player” and “projector” from the first column of actors. I then selected a video from the Isadora examples, titled “Dancer,” and entered “1” in the movie tab to enable it for future use. I then selected the “shimmer” actor to enable a shimmer effect on the dancer. I then selected the “colorizer” to vary the video color. I inverted the red setting to 100 for scale minimum and -100 for maximum and attached a “wave generator” to the red tab, to cycle the red levels of the image on a sine wave. To further incorporate the “colorizaer” I enabled a “mouse watcher,” setting the green levels to be controlled by horizontal positioning of the mouse and the blue levels to be controlled by the vertical positioning. Additionally, I selected a “video inverter” actor to invert colors in the video, altering the video color scheme to invert from a fluorescent purple instead of black.

curatorial addition

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 09:29:46 -0500

KESIGN’s audiovisual “Music Box” is an ideal addition to a few people’s curatorial projects, but I chose to extend that of Mally Darr’s focus on live performance using new digital media to construct an alternative, out-of-this-world environment. KESIGN’s Athens installation consisted of multiple video projections within a web of transparent fabrics in which visitors could experience a “loss of spatial sounds and infusions of sound frequencies.”

http://www.constantinapsomadaki.com/music-box.html

http://mallyd.wordpress.com/

photoshop mash-up

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:24:00 -0500

For this photoshop mash-up, I wanted to create an image both political and social, relevant and relatable, while maintaining a light and humorous quality. To avoid giving off too somber or cynical a sentiment, I chose two recognizable, consumer-friendly images: McDonald’s Chicken Nuggets and the federal agency’s USDA Certified Organic seal, two food icons from opposing ends of the food quality spectrum.

The combining of images can be open for interpretation, an irony that McDonald’s could never implement organic food, or that McDonald’s would go to extreme lengths to mislead consumers for the sake of mass sales. Whether that be falsifying the emblem or paying of the government, positioning the government in an equally corrupt tier, undoubtedly the livelihood of our children continues to be trumped by mass consumerism and advertising for profit. But then again, this is all completely hypothetical.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chicken_McNuggets.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USDA_organic_seal.svg

curated works exhibited on the web

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 20:55:00 -0500

As a fine artist having only really worked in classical mediums, but not necessarily producing classical works, the task of familiarizing myself with New Digital Media is a daunting one. Not only is it an unknown language, but an unknown culture in which I have to fight myself from getting too caught up in the details and vocabulary, resisting the need to decipher every particle of information detailing the process of a digital work. While I ritualistically follow the incredibly thorough website, www.behance.net, I have normally been drawn to the illustration and fashion photography pages and less so to the more digitized work. In search of inspiration I discovered an unbeknownst intrigue in Typography and the vast range of production, not only artist to artists, but also within an individual’s own body of work.

Typography artists and creators share a love of illustration, and can evolve their talents to pursue infinite concepts, sizes, degrees of realism or surrealism, themes, and expand to greater spectrums when experimenting on their own or having been commissioned for a project. This illustrative sphere provides artists and professionals the ability to advertise and brand at an incredibly sophisticated and visually appealing level, to correctly innovate and design to inspire and intrigue the consumer, or to merely offer aesthetic value to something. The practitioners are experts in tools like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and more.

Alex Varanese is a San Francisco based freelance artist who does commissioned work as well. Instead of beginning digitally, Varanese gathers inspiration anywhere from found objects to baroque pop music that echos a vintage, urban aesthetic that the artist calls “retrotronic” for his ElectroTrash typography. His predominantly red palate establishes an identity for his body of work, that while it is made of trash, it aims to not go unnoticed in its vibrancy. Varanese’s clients include Nike, Chevrolet, CBS, Advanced Photoshop Magazine, Jack Kerouac, etc.

http://www.alexvaranese.com/work/elektrotrash

Mark Bligh is a United Kingdom based typographic artist who specializes in design identity and brand communication for commercial businesses, independent practitioners, architects, and agencies. He aims for design that is engaging and effective. His first commercially available font, Faith, can be described as delicate in some areas and very heavy in others, while maintaining a very clean and elegant aesthetic. While hard to read, the characters and their neutral tones placed in conjunction with a model, as if they are in conversation, are almost futuristic, yet obtain enough recognizability to be appealing and embraced. Clients include Fine Moves Media Production Company, DP Interior Design, Breast Cancer Awareness, CBD Cellars, and more.

http://cargocollective.com/hereismark

Nik Ainley began messing around with Adobe Photoshop in college as a physics major and enjoyed it so much that he switched his concentration entirely. Currently, he continues to master as many tools he feels necessary to be successful at whatever it is he wants to accomplish at any given time. Basically - he is one incredibly driven individual. Ainley’s latest typographic work consists of bright pops of bubblegum pink, aqua blue, lime green, and white, adorned in all sorts of graphic, geometric figurines. While the colors an characters seem to fulfill a care-free aesthetic (maybe because they spell out “why not”), one cannot ignore the anal-retentive nature of a very careful, detail oriented, almost obsessive hand. The craft is executed with such enthusiasm, it radiates on the pages, jumping out at you, and could easily be picture on a snow board or other equivalent arena. As an illustrator, he has been featured in magazines as well as websites, books, and in exhibitions, granting him significant exposure.

http://www.shinybinary.com/art.html

Vincent Viriot is a French visual artist with impeccably neat work, as in his work is so clean that it feels real to the human eye. His typography work surfaces in the form of animation, mostly in short films, such as in campaign adds for MTV and music videos. Viriot’s incorporation of simple geometry and illuminating materials explodes into a commotion of aesthetically appealing, razor cut graphics in this video for musical artist MEDI. The Typographic work unravels in such visually appealing colors to the rhythm and beat of the music, a combination that resists becoming annoying when it could easily be its demise. While the song may not be as enjoyable, Viriot’s work takes center stage as a visually captivating narrative.

http://fmk7.com/

hello world

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 12:02:57 -0500

I hope to continuously inform you of all things I love and do