The MFA Integrated Media graduate showcase was eye-opening. All the work displayed was intriguing, but several stood out. Unique works that come to mind are the experimental films about Medellin, Colombia and the mother/daughter struggle with husband/father, in addition to the documentaries about taxi drivers, an aging man from Romania, and the playgrounds on NYC. These projects seemed especially thoughtful and engaging.
I liked each of these pieces because each director had their own signature. There was a resounding voice, and message, behind these creative presentations, and that's why they were embedded into my memory. I was able to learn a lot about the artists and their subjects. This made the presentation all the more exciting. I enjoyed the entire show from start to finish.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Listening vs. Hearing: The Soundwalk
I spent a soundwalk, invented by musician and former professor R. Murray Shafer, in a familiar place. I did so thinking it’d be more interesting to try this exercise in my own neighborhood where I don't always give full attention to the sounds surrounding me.
In some ways, West 96th & Broadway through 98th Street seems like it’ll never change. I’ve lived there all my life, and although the neighborhood has changed aesthetically over the past 19 years, the keynotes, signals and soundmarks remain the same, namely: bustling traffic at virtually all hours, hustling passersby and strolling tourists speaking countless different languages, along with blaring construction. I’ve always enjoyed these sounds, but none were new.
Though I haven't discovered new sounds, I learned that the above mentioned sounds are simultaneously keynotes, signals and soundmarks. For example, the ever plentiful horn honking is a background sound (keynote), a foreground sound intended to attract attention to either the person who cut you off or to call the attention of a pretty girl strolling along the sidewalk (sound signal), and a sound identified consciously by anyone who’s familiar with the area (soundmark).
After partaking in this assignment, I realize I often pay special attention to sound. Some days I make a conscious decision to listen, and not simply hear, this din. On these days, I don’t wear my iPod and observe and listen in order to clearly see and hear everything around me; to do, rather than then be passive.
I like soundwalks, and have apparently been doing it a long time before ever knowing who Shafer is.
In some ways, West 96th & Broadway through 98th Street seems like it’ll never change. I’ve lived there all my life, and although the neighborhood has changed aesthetically over the past 19 years, the keynotes, signals and soundmarks remain the same, namely: bustling traffic at virtually all hours, hustling passersby and strolling tourists speaking countless different languages, along with blaring construction. I’ve always enjoyed these sounds, but none were new.
Though I haven't discovered new sounds, I learned that the above mentioned sounds are simultaneously keynotes, signals and soundmarks. For example, the ever plentiful horn honking is a background sound (keynote), a foreground sound intended to attract attention to either the person who cut you off or to call the attention of a pretty girl strolling along the sidewalk (sound signal), and a sound identified consciously by anyone who’s familiar with the area (soundmark).
After partaking in this assignment, I realize I often pay special attention to sound. Some days I make a conscious decision to listen, and not simply hear, this din. On these days, I don’t wear my iPod and observe and listen in order to clearly see and hear everything around me; to do, rather than then be passive.
I like soundwalks, and have apparently been doing it a long time before ever knowing who Shafer is.
Monday, May 4, 2009
JUST DO IT
http://img.ffffound.com/static-data/assets/6/c46a2948274bf35958a010c5b97188b99251a3b5_m.jpg
Media design, “design that carries information,” is everywhere. It’s in billboards, television advertisements, posters, websites, and everywhere else one can imagine. It’s so imbedded in our way of life, we forget to recognize it. Take, for example, that Nike check the entire world has been familiarized with for the past 30 odd years. This winged goddess of victory has millions across the world sporting the famed logo. Regardless of socio-economic class, race, ethnicity, religion, and age – many share in common “the check”. So, one of many reasons I chose this ad is because, through its aesthetics and use of a prevalent logo, it makes a bold statement.
The composition of the ad is very well balanced. Aside from the large red check, its use of color is muted. The typography is simple: black, bold and sans serif. All these traits are what lie in the attractiveness, despite the boy’s action or setting, in this picture. A sickly kind of gray, with subtle tints of yellows and greens, make up most of the color. The black boy and the black writing, separated by the large check that’s discreetly placed almost in the center of the two, make the picture pop. The significance of the piece is the boy’s acting out the message in the text, and the fact that, symbolically, both share the only two colors in the whole picture that match. Given the criticism from human rights organizations that Nike has faced since 1996 due to its continuous employment of children in sweatshops, it’s not surprising that the artist chose a boy who resembles one of many destitute Pakistani children who toiled in the Nike, Inc. Pakistan sweatshops.
“Just do it”, we’re urged day after day, time and time again. With such persistently persuasive salesmanship, I can’t blame the kid for listening.
Media design, “design that carries information,” is everywhere. It’s in billboards, television advertisements, posters, websites, and everywhere else one can imagine. It’s so imbedded in our way of life, we forget to recognize it. Take, for example, that Nike check the entire world has been familiarized with for the past 30 odd years. This winged goddess of victory has millions across the world sporting the famed logo. Regardless of socio-economic class, race, ethnicity, religion, and age – many share in common “the check”. So, one of many reasons I chose this ad is because, through its aesthetics and use of a prevalent logo, it makes a bold statement.
The composition of the ad is very well balanced. Aside from the large red check, its use of color is muted. The typography is simple: black, bold and sans serif. All these traits are what lie in the attractiveness, despite the boy’s action or setting, in this picture. A sickly kind of gray, with subtle tints of yellows and greens, make up most of the color. The black boy and the black writing, separated by the large check that’s discreetly placed almost in the center of the two, make the picture pop. The significance of the piece is the boy’s acting out the message in the text, and the fact that, symbolically, both share the only two colors in the whole picture that match. Given the criticism from human rights organizations that Nike has faced since 1996 due to its continuous employment of children in sweatshops, it’s not surprising that the artist chose a boy who resembles one of many destitute Pakistani children who toiled in the Nike, Inc. Pakistan sweatshops.
“Just do it”, we’re urged day after day, time and time again. With such persistently persuasive salesmanship, I can’t blame the kid for listening.
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