Veronica+Callahan+-+Fall+2016

Veronica Callahan's New Media: Digital Art Student Page

Comic Book Response: I am studying interior architecture & design and as designer it is always a struggle to come up with something new. If you create a design you are always wondering, “did someone already design this?” whether it be within my class or in the greater design world. You may be excited about an original creation, when in reality there are already several renditions of this seemingly unique idea, product, building, etc. When studying abroad in London last semester we we had a copyright/patent class before we delved into our first project. We were talking about image use specifically (we were designing our own wallpaper), but also design in general, and how if you create something you should copyright your design. Thinking about that idea compared to this comic book it seems like copyrighting is a maze that creative individuals need to learn to navigate.

It is interesting that as young designers we always need to be thinking about whether we are stealing someone’s ideas or not, or creating art with other peoples’ images/videos. If we are inspired by something that already exists are we violating these laws or are we still creating something individual? It is similar to that video series “Everything is a Remix.” This series is centered around the concept that there is nothing original, and when you create music, art, etc. you are always pulling from an idea or concrete form that has already been created by someone. I think copyrighting is so fascinating because like this series says, you are never truly making something that no one in the world has done before. There are around 7 billion people in the world, and odds are that one of these people has the same idea that you have. If “Everything is a Remix” it is interesting to think about what is violating copyright laws and what is actually a unique piece of individual work.

As the comic book says this process can be time consuming and a pain. The filmmaker character is struggling with the idea that within her footage there is always something that could be liable for copyright infringement. When I design something I don’t spend hours looking at similar ideas to see if my idea is unique enough, but is that something that I need to do? It is easier with songs, images, TV shows, etc. to understand when you are taking someone else’s work because these are concrete enough and sometimes famous enough that you can understand that this is a creation that is under someone else’s name. With this said, how does this work in more abstract scenarios? I think that this question can be answered by the comic book, you need to be careful and understand that you can always be held accountable for stealing someone else’s idea, so it is important to understand what is your idea and what is not and be careful not to stray from these boundaries.

These copyright laws push designers and artists to be as original as possible, and to move forward instead of looking back. I think these laws are really important to keep in mind not only so you can avoid being sued, but because you need to respect the creations of others and seek to create your own work.

Exercise 1: Presence, Absence

Progress Photos: Final Image:

Reading Response to After Effects of the Velvet Revolution: The article //After Effects of the Velvet Revolution// written by Lev Manovich is an article that sheds light on how seemingly fast the digital age came to be, with technology that transformed from an entire office sharing one color raster display to people creating digital art at home with Adobe software and surfing the web effortlessly on compact devices. From the 80’s to now the technological changes are astounding. To me, this transformation seemed to happen naturally, as I grew up with the internet in the age of Steve Jobs and the invention of the iPhone. I cannot imagine a world without the convenience and all-encompassing presence of technology and all of the conveniences that come along with it. My life was not always digitized, but now the world around me is heavily reliant on technology to the point that we don’t even seem to notice it anymore. It is interesting to read Manovich’s article and delve into the timeline of how this digital revolution progressed with each new invention especially the invention of After Effects and how it changed the art world.

Manovich mentions that the technology revolution was made up of smaller computer revolutions, including the rise of the World Wide Web as well as lesser known revolutions such as the revolution that bore hybrid media as the norm. I have never really delved into the timeline of technological advances, specifically within film and it is interesting to examine the breakdown and how it affected the art being produced. To me, this revolution seemed to happen overnight, for when I was mature enough to start using these devices they were already quite advanced. Manovich acknowledges that the technology revolution moved at an “almost invisible place.” This is exactly what I mean when I say that it seemed to happen naturally. For those of us not working with film throughout the early nineties to now, this change in technology would be unrecognizable. I am not familiar with After Effects, and find it so interesting to read about software that was so influential on the film world.

Although advanced technology seems so natural now, it wasn’t always a huge part of my life. During my childhood growing up in the 90’s the media that I was exposed to was much more primitive in comparison to the advanced hybrid mixed media that is being produced today. Commercials, for example, are so much more leading-edge than they used to be. It’s interesting to compare commercials from the Super Bowl 20 years ago to ones that would be released today. The difference is astounding. As Manovich says, computer animation is just one part of the graphic landscape of film, that includes live action, computer animation, typography, and design. This ability to use mixed media in film is a relatively new development, but the way that people are using these techniques now seem so natural. We are constantly exposed to the reaction of the invention of After Effects on digital media, but most of us would never know it.

Cinemagraph:

AR Project: I have created gifs of well known pop art pieces by Roy Lichtenstein and Eduardo Paolozzi to examine mass media and pop culture in America and the obsession with material items and what they represent. An art piece is an ornament in itself, becoming a larger representation of our need to have items of value and the way in which we believe they make our lives fuller. By owning paintings we are using this as a form of ornamentation in our lives, just as we covet material items in order to make our lives more complete. This becomes a larger representation of our need to have items of value and how we believe they will make our lives better. I chose pop art because artists of this movement created art from mass media and elevated pop culture to the level of fine art. In an age of social media this is highly relevant, we celebrate images of people in their daily lives, elevating ads and social media images to the point where we need a constant feed of this media. I chose the Roy Lichtenstein's "I...I'm Sorry" because his paintings are always have a element of societal shallowness. I ornamented this figure with jewels having her thought bubble say "How sickening" commenting on the emotional need for material things. My second piece is a collage by Eduard Paolozzi "I was a Rich Man's Plaything." I took his other collages of ads and created a montaged gif to represent the constant feed of social media white noise that is present in our lives.