website links

portfolio site

behindthetype.com

behind the type process critique

http://www.stefanskicreations.com

Activity Paper: Deborah Aschheim’s presentation 10-26-11

Deborah’s presentation of her work was awesome! She first showed her piece titled “Neural Architecture.” Using hand-sewn bags, bath mats, bulbs, cord and other objects, Deborah created forms similar to what a nervous system looks like. The piece was in response to September 11^th, in which society became infused with surveillance and peoples’ every move was watched. Deborah posed the questions of what it means to be around machines and what it would look like if these machines grew a nervous system. Each installation was based around the five senses, where motion sensors were used to make the bulbs light up from human body temperature. She was interested in making the invisible visible as well as the interaction between people and machine. Through this, her work became art as research.

Next, she showed some drawings that were maps of her memories; everything from family members, friends, classmates, places and smells were mapped out. One drawing, People Who Are Interesting Because They Died, depicts people in Deborah’s life who died, drawn as red cells. The amazing thing as she showed these drawings was that some of the drawings were not labeled, and yet she could recite what each element represented, whether it was a certain person, feeling or place. The drawings were an exercise in showing what memory would physically look like; the theme of making the invisible visible comes up again.

We were shown a fascinating video of Deborah as a baby who is looking at herself in the mirror, capturing the very first moment that she learns of her own existence. Watching her reaction as her dad tells her that the person in the mirror is herself was quite interesting and the whole thing was profound on so many levels. I found it interesting that a machine was capturing this moment of existence and it ties in with Deborah’s interest between machine memory and human memory. They both can have the same memory, but are from completely different perspectives; one is artificial, factual, and indifferent. The other is emotional, lively and conscious.

Deborah talked about her work as autobiographical, but yet the work reminds people of their own memories rather than them focusing on her own feelings. Before she had said this, the very same thing happened to me. As I looked at her work, I kept thinking about my own life and how my memories would look as if they were on her drawings. The amazing thing about Deborah’s work is it not only makes a connection between her and other people, the idea of memory is something that everyone can relate to, thereby connecting all of us. Her work is not just an extension of herself, but also an extension of us, as if everyone was a part of it. This characteristic in art is extremely rare and difficult to pull off successfully and Deborah does this very well.

The theme of memory and memories lost or obscured is a fascinating topic for me. I am a nostalgic person at heart; I am always reminiscing about the good times in the past and remembering moments from my childhood. It is important for me to reflect on my memories because they help me grow into a better person and help me get through life’s difficulties. Deborah Aschheim’s work is a powerful reminder of the importance of memory for me and I am really glad I went to her presentation.

homework site

http://www.stefanskicreations.com

Against the Machine Chap. 5

Lee Siegel brings up some good points in this chapter. He discusses originality, how it comes from the inside-out based upon how someone reacts and responds to the environment around them. He does contradict himself however; in one sentence Siegel says that originality is impossible because we are overwhelmingly influenced by the environment and by others. He also wonders why anyone would want to take the risk of doing something original. Then, he goes on to explain that originality is an essential part of pop culture, and gives examples of originality from Elvis’ pelvis thrusting to Keith Jarrett’s piano playing style. If originality is impossible, how can he talk about it as if it exists? It left me scratching my head a bit.

The point about American Idol and how it goes against originality is a good one. The contestants sing other peoples songs, they are packaged and presented in predetermined ways and their fate rests in the hands of voters. It is a glorified popularity contest where the winner does not win solely based upon level of talent. Siegel makes an excellent point when he says that what makes American Idol unique is that it fuses privacy with publicity and exposes them for the world to see. This ties in with earlier points about how the Internet has made privacy public. Whether it is YouTube, social media sites or reality television, things that are probably left behind closed doors are put on a digital pedestal on display for all of us to see.

Siegel also brings up television shows and how actors are no longer characters who are disconnected entities from the viewer. Because of the Internet, viewer interaction via websites of television shows allows them to become part of the show, changing outcomes and participating in situations. In essence, they become the character and play a part in the narrative. Not only has the Internet drastically changed the way we view entertainment, but it also changes how we receive our news and what kind of news we want to receive, all because of user interaction and customization.

Behind the Type pages

The images on the home page and history page will be animated slide shows of various ancient writing/inscriptions. For the A page and every other letter page, the plan is to have an animation in the lower right section of the page showing how each letter evolved, starting with their original form in the Proto-Sinaitic alphabet, through the Phoenician, Greek, Etruscan and Roman alphabets. The idea is to do something like a shape tween in Flash so each form morphs into the next, showing the evolution of each letterform. If I can't get that to work, I will probably just do an animated slideshow showing each form. In addition, the words on the A page (man, primal energy, strength, etc...) are derivative meanings for the letter that were attributed to it throughout history. I plan to do this for each letter, but can't decide which type to use, Arial (man, primal energy, strength are in Arial) or Sujeta, the type used for the big red A and for my logo.

home page

letter A page (in progress)

the history page

Behind the Type Revised

Stuck making a "contemporary" navigation bar, could use some suggestions! The letters on the lower left will be gone and I want to put a slide show of images of various ancient inscriptions and writing