Natalia's+Page

=NATALIA CASTILLA= I'm a sophomore majoring in International Affairs and minoring in Fine Arts. = = =**Homework 1: Response Comic Book**=

To be honest I had never put much though into the public domain and copyright issues. I have always been the consumer rather than the producer when it comes to film making. The comic was extremely captivating and entertaining, the author took a subject that is considered to be somewhat boring and made it fun and easy to read.

I personally believe that copyrights are vital when it comes to producing a movie, a short film, a commercial, or anything that has to do with taking possession or making use of someone else’s work. For an individual to take credit over something you worked hard for, which took tons of energy and dedication, can be extremely disappointing and frustrating. That is why it is crucial for producers and documentary makers to be aware of small details. However, in my opinion, the vast majority of artists find themselves limited by copyright and trademark rights and prevent them from actually creating art. The comic sets the example of when “a cell phone started ringing during the filming of Marilyn Agrelo and Amy Swells’ ‘Mad Hot Ballroom’ and the ring tone was the Rocky theme song.” I believe that this kind of careless mistake should not cost $10,000. In other words, more laws should be implemented in order to allow low-budget filmmakers to freely document without being charged.

The comic sheds light to issues that are typically ignored by young generations. In my opinion, the internet has played a key role in the weakening of the law. Individuals have such easy access to pictures and pieces of art that belong to other artists and so they are constantly being recycled without the initial owner’s awareness. I believe that this is a problem that little can be done to be solved; once a picture is uploaded to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or any social media platform, it does no longer belong to the person who uploaded it, but to the platform. Moreover, since the platform is public, anyone can take possession of the image.

In conclusion, I believe it is fair to say that the copyright system may be considered somewhat flawed and the comic book makes a good job in pointing that out. It is a very engaging source of information which not only informs the reader, but also entertains them.

=Project #1: REMOVALS=



=Project #2: NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY VISIT=

Notes:

 * The video I liked the most was John Baldessari's "Walking Forward-Running Past". His work consisted on pictures of himself walking towards and away from the camera. I thought it was an interesting piece since it depicts both stillness and movement. In other words, he video tapes his photographies, which makes me question what were his intentions for this project? what was his hypothesis? what message did he want to give out? From what I interpreted, he wanted to learn more about perspectives. He wanted to capture different angles of the same figure, and he let that figure be himself, which I thought was even more intriguing.
 * The videos of the different characters talking was quite interesting too. I loved the way each one had their own space in the projection room and they all had their own time to speak. What I liked the most about this exhibition were the visuals. The screens were so large that these images filled my entire brain. In my opinion, this work of art represented diversity. Every character was different, in terms of race, age, gender, etc.

=PAINTINGS=

=Project #3: OLD NEW BORROWED BLUE - Original Picture=

=Project #3: OLD NEW BORROWED BLUE - Progress= =Project #3: OLD NEW BORROWED BLUE - Progress= =Project #3: OLD NEW BORROWED BLUE - Complete=

=Homework 2: Response to Krauss' "Video: The Aesthetics of Narcissism"=

Throughout her article “Video: The Aesthetics of Narcissism”, Krauss argues that the main //medium// of any art video is narcissism. Narcissism is considered to be one of the main sources that lead to growing issues in the contemporary world, even though we don’t put much thought into it. Krauss points out examples from works created by other artists such as, Vito Acconci’s //Centers// and //Air Time//; Richard Serra’s //Boomerang//; and Lynda Bengli’s //Now.// All these pieces of art share the same concept of narcissism and that the medium of each art work is based upon oneself.She describes how video art is usually comprised by the human figure and enhances the importance of the “self-reflection” that is depicted in video art.

In my opinion, if Krauss were to write about this topic in 2017, she would definitely have a lot more material in favor of her argument, especially with the rise of social media. She could focus on //Instagram,// which is a platform used solely to display pictures. The majority of the accounts are centered in pictures of an individual. The interactions between the person who is posting the picture and the person viewing the picture are based upon likes and comments (the comments usually say how good looking the person posting the picture is). Moreover, people tend to manipulate the image in various ways using Photoshop or other editing applications, in order to meet certain physical and even artistic standards set by society. This manipulation creates the expectation of how many likes the picture will have, and thus, it is fair to say that the interaction between the individual and the million other accounts, comes from a narcissistic place.

It is crucial to mention the massive influence technology has endured in the video and film industry. Back in the 70’s and 80’s the availability of recording devices was completely reduced in comparison to that of today’s world. Almost every cellphone comes with a camera by which one can record long periods of time of good quality footage. Following Krauss’s thesis, she would definitely argue that smartphones and many other technological devices have created a growing narcissistic society. Millennials are continually worrying about their looks and how their image is portrayed on social media; that constant need of wanting to feed their ego comes from the desire of loving themselves.

That leads me to add a counterargument; maybe people don’t really love themselves as it is portrayed in today’s platforms. In fact, the reality may be that they try so hard to love themselves that they allow people to understand that they are narcissists. From my “millennial” point of view, I believe this is a subject of controversy; I would agree with Krauss’ argument, but then again, it was written in 1976… a lot has changed.

=PROJECT #4: Cinemagraph=



=Homework 3: Response to Lev Manovich's "The Poetics of Augmented Space"=

In his article //“The Poetics of Augmented Space”,// Lev Manovich talks about a term he coined for spaces where people greatly interact with technology and information multimedia, he calls it //augmented space.// He uses as an example the streets of Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul, where buildings are completely covered with screens full of advertisements or different types of propaganda. I believe that these types of technologies serve as useful platforms for the economic market and growing businesses. There are many tourist-centered places such as times square in New York City where people are surrounded by massive dynamic screens, which can be considered part of the //augmented reality//. In this case, I believe that it is a considerably intelligent way of advertising different brands and businesses given that people interact with these screens, they not only look at them, but they take pictures because of its aesthetic appearance and share these in social media. In short, augmented space plays in an advantageous role in the human experience. The author talks about how augmented reality has both cons and pros. He further argues that it can be presented as a challenge to some careers, including architecture, but it can also be helpful. He claims that augmented space research “gives us new terms with which to think about previous spatial practices”. The question becomes, how to combine different spaces together? How to layer contextual and dynamic data over a physical space? How to work with them in order to avoid a clash? All these questions are dealt by young architects who are greatly involved with technology and augmented space. In my opinion, if they are not able to catch up with the evolution of augmented reality, they will experience a huge step backwards in the industry and stay behind. Manovich also talks about works of art that can be considered augmented reality. He mentions Janet Cardiff’s //‘audio walks’// and how even though very little technology is used to create this piece of art, it is a perfect example that represents what augmented space actually is. In my opinion, this type of //art// betters the human experience. It makes the viewer use their sense of imagination by thoroughly connecting with their senses. I believe that artists should view augmented space as beneficious and work with it in order to create new and different works of art. Even though I personally love art and everything that has to do with it, I regard it as a very //intimate// or even //selfish// type ofcareer. Art is a very introspective way of expressing oneself and there may sometimes be no interaction between the artist and the person viewing, hearing or touching the art. However, augmented reality opens the doors into a more interactive path between the person creating the art and the person experiencing the art. Going back to Cardiff’s work, I believe that there is quite a personal connection between her audios and the person listening to them. She is personally giving instructions to the listener and creating a unique experience between the individual and the artist. It then becomes something she intentionally wanted them to experience. This sort of indirect communication amazes me and I believe that it genuinely makes the human experience a more dynamic and startling experience.