tianyidong

Hi, this is Tianyi Dong from Hangzhou, China. I came to the United States in 2011 for high school in California. I double major in International Affairs and Economics and also minor in Business Administration.

__** Week One Homework **__

Copyright has always been an important concept to consider in producing artworks. As our legal structure constantly improves, the protection of copyright has strengthened to a certain extent where protecting copyright becomes a double-edged sword. From the perspective of original artwork owners, the enhancements in protecting copyright benefit them with better control of their published work and reasonable compensation from those who steal art expressions. However, from the perspective of new artists, the strict overprotection of most artworks hinders them from collecting raw materials and dampens their enthusiasm for creativity. I agree with the comic book, //Bound by Law?: Tales from the Public Domain//, that establishing a well-balanced boundary between copyright-owned works and the public domain is crucial for future copyright law development. At the same time, all artists should strictly follow the rules of “fair use” if they need to adopt others’ work in their artistic creation. One of the important words mentioned in the comic book about “fair use” is “transformative.” In my opinion, the major difference between “bad use” and “fair use” is how different the purpose of use in the new artwork is from the use in the original work. The rapping music in hip-pop culture can be an example for both “fair use” and “bad use.” The case of 2 Live Crew was considered as “fair use” because the lyrics and the tune form “Oh, Pretty Woman” was adopted for parody. In 2013, Hotstylz sued Eminem for theft of their song his new song “Rap God.” Since Eminem neither contacted them nor mentioned their name, his use of Hotstylz’s song should be considered as an infringement action. Therefore, if you simply adopt other artists’ work without notice and does not generate transformative meaning in your work, you infringe other artists’ copyright. On the contrast, if you comment or criticise to create a different meaning of the adoption from other artists, you appropriately implement “fair use.” In addition, it is also important to consider how to develop copyright law. In the country I come from, copyright law was not well-structured until recent years. People can free download most of the popular songs and even most of the movies in China. Therefore, fragments of songs and movies are widely adopted in different contents from bloggers, variety shows, and other entertainments. Since most Chinese pop music and TV shows were copied from foreign music and shows, China was labeled as the biggest “cheap copy” country. However, the United States is in a totally different situation. The comic book illustrates a strict and comprehensive structure of copyright law in the United States, which also seems a difficult environment for artists to concentrate on creativity. I think there should be a middle ground between the case in China and the case in the U.S. where artists will control the right of their work and will not worry about infringement too much during art creation. I agree with Judge Kozinski on that ensuring the availability of raw materials for future creation is as important as allowing artists to protect their works.

__** Selection Activity **__











__** Museum Visit Notes **__

I watched the digital cinema installation //Face in the Crowd// by Alex Prager in the SAAM //Watch This!// collection. The film starts with a woman standing in front of the window to look at people walking around on the street. She constantly changes her focus on different people and their face of various emotions. Later, she goes on the street to walk among the crowd and she feels anxiety and fear. Suddenly, the image freezes and only the woman is moving. She escapes from the crows in the end. I feel really impressed by the film because it was displayed on three walls. Since the image continues to change on all of the three walls, audience's attention is directed to shift towards the crucial moment of each scene. Moreover, the perspective of the woman changes over time. When she stands in front of the window, she is delighted and looks forward walking in the crowd. However, when she walks among the crowd, she is anxious and afraid of so many people. I think the artist does a good job on his purpose to express a fear of crows and the desire to stand out among them. Moreover, the contrast of the woman's emotion successfully presents the inability to live up to expectation.

__** First Project Draft **__























__** Reflection on "Video: The Aesthetics of Narcissism" **__

In “Video: The Aesthetics of Narcissism,” Krauss argues that the medium of video is narcissism. According to her opinion, video art should be defined by the psychological condition of narcissism instead of its material techniques. She adopts Jacques Lacan’s theory of the mirror stage, in which one comes to terms with the realization that they are an object of his or her own. At the same time, Krauss disregards Freudian theory which states that narcissism is related to a fear of death rather than a discovery of oneself. In order to support her argument, Krauss used several examples to illustrate that the performer is led to narcissistic obsession through seeing themselves. In Vito Acconci’s Centers, he positions himself in the video while pointing at viewers. In Lynda Benglis’ Now, she displays displacement of the self through juxtaposes live performance with her own prerecorded image, which has the effect of transforming the subjectivity into the mirror. Krauss also argues that video cuts the self away from external objects, which creates self-alienation and despair. Her definition of narcissism states “narcissism is characterized, then, as the unchanging condition of perpetual frustration.” However, in our present day situation, the development of new media transformed the function of camera and deepened the value of video. Instead of disassociation, I believe today’s video plays a more important role as narrativization. Nowadays, platforms like Youtube provide users with open access to both upload and watch videos. Thousands of people use these platforms to broadcast themselves for most purposes to gain fame. Therefore, intimacy and self-reflection would no longer be concerned. The most significant role of videos today is network and socialisation. In addition, the alienation of oneself would not occur since the technique can edit the content of videos in various needs. In the essay, Krauss argues that videos are not overtly emotional. I partially agree with her on that most performers act their emotions, which are not genuine in reality. However, today’s techniques and social networks allow performers and viewers to establish create interactional relations, in which videos can deliver real emotions. Therefore, if Krauss were writing this article in 2017, I believe that she would argue the medium of video is communication. The technology such as front face camera has the ability to capture attention and bring communication to a person to person level. It allows people share their stories with the audience in daily life. Moreover, the creative ways to display video arts rather than simply on the wall provides the audience with more sensual pleasures. For example, the video Face in the Crowd by Alex Prager is displayed on three walls, which shifts audience attention constantly in order to make the audience feel being part of the scene. In conclusion, the development of new media gives video art more possibilities, which stimulates people’s inspiration to create videos with various meanings. The medium of video will constantly change over time.

__** Cinemagraph Short Project **__



__** Reflection on Manovich's //The Poetics of Augmented Space// **__ In the article, Manovich defines augmented reality as “the laying of dynamic and context-specific information over the visual field of a user.” Also, he describes the augmented space that AT create, which is the physical spaces that are overlaid with dynamic information that are filled with electronic screens. The newly developed AR technology has incorporated within people’s daily life on the apps of our smartphones and on the facilities in public places. On one hand, AR betters human experience with more advanced entertainment, more convenient guidance, and more diversified social communications. On the other hand, AR also worsens human experience through lack of in-person communication, distraction from the reality, and neglecting of the beauty in the real world. From the most aspects of human experience, AR provides positive possibilities for people to view the world in a different way. For example, people can use AR apps on their phones to play games such as Pokemon Go, in which they can find Pokemon through screens in the actual environment that they are physically present. Also, AR allows people to live their daily life in a more convenient way. GPS location helps people to drive the shortest way and avoid traffics. Some shopping companies have the app to let people see how they look like with the clothing on their body. With these technologies, people can save more time to enjoy their life on other things. In addition, the most applicable AR technology that almost everyone uses is the AR added to our photos. Snap Chat is one of the most successful apps that uses AR to enrich socialization experience. People can add masks or even makeups through the app and share with their friends. AR benefits our social experience by allowing us to interact with the environment, even though in an animated way. From the perspective of reality, AR worsens human experience. As Manovich mentions in the article, new technological developments illustrate how unrealistic the previous existing images were. However, it also implies that current images will also be viewed as so unrealistic in the future. People are obsessed with these AR technologies now. Most people do not talk to their friends face to face even when they are in the same room. Instead, they send AR picture of each other to communicate. Moreover, people are so attracted by the AR effects on their screens that they do not look at the real world that they actually belong to. For example, they would rather follow the GPS and never look at the road sign or surrounded environment to drive. There was an interesting new in Japan that three college students followed the GPS and drove into the sea. Also, we tend to focus on the AR images on our screens without taking a look at the beautiful landscape in our real life. I n conclusion, AR has both positive and negative effects on human experience. The importance to balance the use of AR must be addressed to remind people not to walk away from reality.