Final Video Art Project

Attack of the Botello Zombie!

In my performance art piece, I envisoned a world in the not-to-distant future where zombies develop a hunger for technology. Since our brains are becoming more useless by the day due to technological advances, zombies also developed no use for our brains either.....

Leigh Bowery Homage

Here's a clip from one of my favorite TV shows, the British comedy "Spaced" from the late 90's...Pretty funny obvious reference to Leigh

Music Covers

I didn't want to go to current with this post, that would be to easy. I love all types of music from all different generations. So I did a little digging and came up with these cool cover songs that were made in the post-modern 1980's world....

China Girl - Iggy Pop (1977):

China Girl - David Bowie (1983):

Hazy Shade of Winter - Simon and Garfunkle (1968)

Hazy Shade of Winter - The Bangles (1987)

Keep Me Hanging On - The Supremes (1966)

Keep Me Hanging On - Kim Wilde (1986)

Andy Warhol at Burger King

A pretty funny and cool commercial Andy Warhol did for Burger King from the year I was born, 1981

Xerox Project

For my xerox project, I decided to use something that meant a lot to me growing up. I made 12 copies of my hand (left and right) to represent the 12 members of a basketball team. I then wrapped them around a basketball to represent that all 12 hands are needed to win championships. I then wrote the name of each college team that has won a national championship and the year in which it happened.

Orlan

Orlan was someone that I have honestly never heard of before this class. I really enjoyed learning something new about somebody so fascinating. Orlan truly was one of a kind. She pushed the envelope on nearly everything she did, with little to no regard to public reaction or perception. These types of people, to me, are inspirational. Rather than following the norm of society, Orlan did what Orlan wanted to do. That seems to be a very common theme amongst many of the artists we talk about in class. They are groundbreaking, game changing artists who leave a lasting impression on world society and culture. One of Orlan’s traits that left an impression on me was her obsession with plastic surgery and the “Reincarnation of St. Orlan” beginning in 1990. I mean, the girl had horns put on her head. (Although they weren’t intended to be horns, but ended up looking that way, so conservatives had an easy dig at her). Also, I could’ve have sworn that Orlan is the mother of Lady Gaga….their outlooks towards life and society, not to mention they look eerily similar (before the plastic surgery project, of course!)

Reincarnation in progress:

Lady Gaga tributes Orlan by wearing "horns" very similar to Orlan's plastic surgery:

The Beats Must Go On (Howl)

I am a writer by nature. Admittedly, I did not discover Allen Ginsberg until a few years ago. I would like to think that I found Ginsberg, but more than likely he found me. As I progressed through my 20’s and began searching for my true self, I developed an interest in Buddhism. I was still in the Navy at the time, but nearing the end of my tour of duty. The military isn’t really big on the individual developing thoughts for themselves, more like a mindless obedience without stray. That is why I am here in college writing this blog. That mentality is good for the military, and it works for what they want to accomplish.

It doesn’t work for me.

While my journey into Buddhism was beginning, I read an article written by Ginsberg regarding his Buddhist beliefs, and his style and flow of life spoke to me. It was then that I dug deeper into Ginsberg and his work, and I discovered “Howl.” Like many people that read it for the first time, it blew my mind. It was considered too obscene. It went against the happy, traditional American suburban “nuclear family” mentality that post war America was in love with. Ginsberg popped the top off the can of the “real” America. Life in America wasn’t always the perfect “Leave it to Beaver” family. There was an entire generation of youth that felt the same way as Ginsberg.

Now they had a voice.

Ginsberg of course led me to Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs and the Beat Generation. I read “Dharma Bums” and “On the Road” by Kerouac and was left speechless. The beat writers and generation went against the “norm” of American society. Their attitude and views were hard to swallow for stuffy, single minded America, who couldn’t deal with the fact that they themselves had given up on their dreams long ago, and that their lives were just shells of who they really were.

As I continue my education here at UT, I hope to integrate the styles and beliefs of artists like Ginsberg, Kerouac, and Burroughs, and apply them to the 21^st century and all of the new technologies that we have at hand. My generation needs a voice.

Why can’t it be mine?

Space Invaders Grid Art

After watching the history of video games documentary in class, I became inspired to build my project around one of the most classic video games of all time. This game typifies the classic arcade games and utilizes an old-school grid due to the year it was produced. It's also one of my favorite games, but it is impossible to beat, regardless of your skill level!

Original Game Image:

The image I designed in Excel:

The Great Watson

Jeopardy

What has the world come to? Now we have robots that are smarter than humans playing Jeopardy? That’s insanity! I am kidding of course, I think that it is pretty awesome. We were talking in class about the history of pretty much everything (media wise) and it is crazy to think how far computer technology has come since its inception. Heck, it’s crazy to think of all the technology that has come out in the past five years, and the stuff that is going to be coming out shortly. (LED TV projected onto your t-shirt? Really?) So Watson being on Jeopardy is indeed a very cool thing, but we need to be careful. First we let computers play Jeopardy and it’s all nice and cute and fun, and next, well…….just watch the video clip

Flip Book Animation

My flip book follows the life of a man in reverse. The book begins as he crawls out of the grave, and his life plays out in front of our eyes. From having children, finding the love of his life, living through a war, and childhood memories, the story of the man in the brown hat is a special one......

War of the Worlds

When Orson Welles produced the radio broadcast “War of the World,” based on the book by H.G. Wells, not even he could have imagined the cultural impact that this event would have on media broadcasting for decades to come. This, of course, was an entertainment piece, broadcast during the show “Mercury Theatre on the Air” on Halloween Eve. It was announced that the broadcast was indeed not real, only an entertaining fiction story. During that time, radio was the main source of communication, and the major source of mass communication. Some listeners turned in to the story part way through, and truly believed that we were being invaded by Martians. The broadcast production at the time was so detailed, so realistic, and so believable, it sent Americans into a state of panic all across the eastern seaboard.

This could not happen in today’s society, as there is an abundance of technology it makes it almost impossible to pull anything off of this magnitude. This was a special time for not only radio, by mass media and entertainment in general. The radio allowed the performers to produce a “theatre of the mind,” allowing the listener to envision their own thoughts and ideas based on the detail of the performance on air.

Welles of course went on to direct and star in what many consider to be the greatest movie of all time, Citizen Kane

Depression Era Radio

The great depression was one of the lowest points in American history. Unemployment rates and poverty were at all-time highs, and people needed something to keep their spirits up. The radio came along and help produce entertainment the likes that may not be seen or mean more to a country than during the depression era. There were no cell phones, no digital cable TV’s or Facebook. All Americans had to hold on to each day was the entertinament they would hear nightly on the radio. Families would gather around the radio in the living room and be entertained by shows such as Chase and Sanborn and Eddie Cantor.

"But the ultimate Depression-era zany was Joe Penner.

A forgotten performer today to most, and little more than a footnote to the average OTR fan, Penner was a national craze in 1933-34.   There is no deep social meaning in his comedy, no shades of subtlety -- just utter slapstick foolishness, delivered in an endearingly simpering style that's the closest thing the 30s had to Pee Wee Herman. An added attraction was Penner's in-character singing each week of a whimsical novelty song, especially written to suit his style. Like Pearl, however, Penner was doomed to early decline by the sheer repetitiveness of his format, even though he remained very popular with children right up to the end of his radio career" (http://www.midcoast.com/~lizmcl/rfy.html)

Experimental Skeleton

I thought that it was a really cool opportunity to learn about the Experimental Skeleton group. I think that the most impressive piece that I will remember is the indoor sand dune project. It’s amazing how much time is put into one work of art. It was also interesting to hear the struggles that local artists have fighting the city government in regards to using abandoned buildings as installation sites. It would be a great way to utilize old buildings around the area and actually bring in more of an art crowd and potentially more business to the area. Tampa and St. Pete both have great art communities, but the problem comes up when conservative old white guys get all high and mighty when someone thinks out of the box.

Speaking if thinking outside of the box….

Experimental Skeleton doesn’t know the meaning of the word box. After reviewing their blog, which is a great idea to display their artworks along with upcoming shows, I found that they follow the beat of their own drummer. In a world where so many people care about what everyone else thinks, or has, or doesn’t have, ES stays true to their creative as hell inner artist. (Much like the Beat Generation, which influenced ES and their giant Dreamachine concept. This idea of course was inspired by Brion Gyson and my man William Burroughs.)

My wife and I went to the Sensory Overload event at the Children’s Museum, and that was an amazing experience. There were so many different types of art, from performance, dance, music, and ES was there as well. We’ll be going back next year!

What DIDN'T happen between 1952 and 1971?

Between 1952 and 1971, the film industry went through various changes and rapidly grew through the advent of new, more modern technologies. There were also a lot of events in American society that helped shape and change the film industry as well. By 1952, movies were now filmed mostly in color. The silent picture gave way to “talkies,” however there were many troubles with getting the right audio levels on set. (Remember the microphone hiding in the bushes?) The invention of the boom mic helped balance out the sound and allowed actors more freedom and flexibility to roam the set worry free from the audio woes of the past. Directors such as Alfred Hitchcock incorporated suspense, never before thought of camera angles and usage, and an editing style made of legend.

During this time, America became deeply involved in the space race with the Soviet Union, and the fantasy of space travel took off on the big screen as well. Sci-Fi was born. Sci-Fi was unlike anything anyone had seen before. It allowed the audience to be immersed in a fantasy world, away from all of the distractions and problems outside the theatre, if only for 90 minutes.

The 50’s also saw the birth of the Hollywood star. Marylin Monroe and James Dean became the definition of Hollywood glam, and Americans became fascinated with the lives of their favorite movie stars.

The 60’s were a time of great change in America. With the civil rights riots in the south, the assassinations of JFK and Dr. King, along with a new generation known as the hippies, the 60’s were an action packed decade. The most popular movies at that time were the “beach blanket bingo” type movies as well as the James Bond spy movie series. The swingin’ 60’s were in full effect.



Towards the end of the 60's heading into the new decade, one of my favorite directors, Stanley Kubrick produced the ultimtate in Cinerama and science fiction in the 1968 classic "2001: A Space Odyssey.



Frame By Frame

Here are a few of my very favorite frame by frame stop motion videos from the web. Enjoy!

Toy War

Western Spaghetti

Tony vs. Paul

Gance never had a chance

Abel Gance could be considered the first “blockbuster” film director. His epic film “Napoleon” in 1927 was well ahead of its time in terms of camera work and technology. Gance used a three-camera panorama process, using three projectors and a curved windscreen to create the total panoramic view, a first in film at the time. He was also the first director to film in color, and this was well before the classic Wizard of Oz came out. (More people should know that it was Gance who first shot in color, but that seems like a long tasks going door to door to pass that information along. Perhaps a mass worldwide e-mail will suffice?) The problem with Gance’s Napoleon was that it was a smashing success in Europe, of course, because Napoleon ruled France and France of course is in Europe. Needless to say, Napoleon bombed in America, but not as bad as Michael Bay’s Transformers 2. Gance was primed for a shot at greatness, but America, being the film snobs that we are (see classics such as Big Momma’s House and Justin Bieber 3D) shut out Gance because he didn’t “connect” with us. Maybe he should have done a movie about farts or a buddy cop movie, America usually loves those!

The New Depression?

Many people think that the economy and state of America now is worse than the great depression ever was. They like to blame Obama and say that he’s not fixing things and it was his fault and it was a mistake to elect him. Those people are called idiots.

You can only do so much if you are given a shit sandwich. Bushie handed Obama over a shit sandwich and rode off into the sunset. Regardless of how much cheese or lettuce or mustard you put on that thing, you are still screwed. It is going to take years to fox something that took idiots months to destroy. The economy now is bad, don’t get me wrong. But there are people with jobs, places to live and sleep, and food to eat. The difference between America then and America now is that back during the Depression era, America was largely a hard working country of industrial revolution steel and factory workers, a lot of them immigrants who would do anything for a job and to live in America.

In today’s America, you have people complaining about not having jobs because it doesn’t happen to be what they want to do for money. We have become a society of me, me, me, I, I, I, caused mostly because of the bailouts and honestly the ass backward way Republicans ran the show. It happened when Reagan was in office in the 80’s, we turned into a bunch of greedy, materialistic superficials who would kill their own kids if it meant having the newest BMW.

The era of the Depression had a huge effect on Broadway. Just when it seemed that Broadway was at its peak and shooting higher for the stratosphere, the depression came and wiped everything out. People could not afford to go to shows, and the lack of ticket sales put most of the companies and performers out of business and in a hole they could never recover from.

All That Jazz

Jazz music has long been one of my favorite styles of music. I started playing the saxophone when I was 11 years old in the school band. I ended up playing until I graduated high school, and contrary to popular belief, I was not a band geek. Actually, I ended up marrying the captain of the cheerleading squad, so that right there should tell you how cool I am….

Jazz was formed out of the perfect storm of musical styles and cultures. The roots of jazz stem from black folk music sung by slaves, ragtime, and classical European and Blues music. To me, jazz is the ultimate form of musical expression and freedom. Playing in a jazz band myself, I was able to improvise and go with the flow of the music rather than following a specific line of notes and music. That’s what jazz is all about.

New Orleans is really the epicenter of the jazz revolution. With the passing of prohibition in the 1920’s, speakeasies became a popular destination, and jazz was the soundtrack of America. Artists such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong and Glenn Miller were some of the pioneers of “big band” jazz that was a wartime refuge for those looking to take their minds of the battles going on overseas.

Perhaps one of the best known jazz musicians is the legendary trumpeter Miles Davis. Davis was the father of “cool jazz,” and is one of my favorite artists. It also happens to be around the time that the beat poets were beginning to take the stage at coffee shops and jazz bars, setting of a revolution for the mind during the late 50’s and 1960’s.

Madama Butterfly deleted scene.....

Madama Butterfly (In a Nutshell)

My first thought when the video started was that the animation reminded me a bit of Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas." That quickly changed when handsome hunk and the geisha wasted no time getting "down to business." My thoughts immediately switched to the love scene from "Team America" (which I will post, of course). Let's get back to the story here. The creativity and concept is pretty awesome, and I really couldn't stop watching. The attention to detail and the way the opera and characters interacted was really masterful.
Then there is the fishbowl.
Who thinks of that? That was a great metaphor, using the fish as the baby, and breaking through the glass to break the water. Very symbolic stuff. As we all know, the captain left town, vowing to return. That day finally arrives and our poor geisha is filled with joy and happiness now that he is returning. Little did she know.....
The scene where he finally returns is priceless. He shows up with his new family, his wife "hot barbie," and takes the baby and splits. The cord he detaches symbolized more than just mother and child bond. It symbolized the geisha being disconnected from everything that she has ever loved, everything she had held dear to her.
The strongest scene is what comes next. She is left alone, no child,  no lover. She wanders off screen only to return and physically dismantle herself. This to me symbolized that there was nothing left of her, no reason to go on living.....pull the plug, turn out the lights, sleep forever.