New Artist Statement

my video went through some changes and so it ended up changing my artist statement, so here it is...

The most important thing in life is to understand where you come from, because it is who you become. This is in no way a restrait on the being, but rather a support, something that gives you structure and helps you along your path. This is what humans share with plants... the idea of roots. We all have roots, humans have their DNA that they share with previous family members, on a biological level we can relate far back and see our own heritage. Plants have their roots, they grow from a tiny seed into a complicated organism and their roots support them.

They journey of each is just as miraculous as the other. The roots guide the organism as it determines how large it can grow but in return the roots rely upon the survival of the being. The lifecycle is a common thread as well as the being grows from a tiny seed and along a complicated path towards its passing. The passing of the being is just as important as the birth as it allows for the beginning of some other beautiful being.

Well here it is... the Root of All Things

New Media and Anti-Copyright

I wasn't to sure what to think about the new media article. It seemed like there wasnt any debating or proving of any idea, it was more of a stating of facts, but it was still an interesting article to read. I was particularly intrigued by the part about new media becoming more available to more people. Its nothing new but its is still fascinating to think about how many people are creating art work and 99% of it will never be experienced as a wide as it should. Its sad to think that traditional art techniques are becoming more of a hobby, since they are the basis of our mediums today, but at the same time exciting to think about the endless possibilities. Its lack of physicality is also something to think about since it tries to decommodify art, but at the same times theres always a way to make money from any form of art. I would have liked to of seen the idea of oppositional media discussed more, its a big topic but its important to think about what can truly be defined as art and how far those boundaries can be pushed.

The article on Copyrighting was much more interesting to me since I don't fully understand whats "officialy" concidered to be copyright infringement. Personally I feel copyrighting should only be withheld on the very basic levels. It's important, as an artist, to use and reference the ork of earlier art. In order for one to grow as an artist you need to learn from the socalled "masters". Perfectionists in their own technique it helps artists to build their palatte of techniques in order to form their own and evolve into their own. I fully agree with his statement "experimentation and invention would be hindered by lack of access to the building blocks of culture". This statement pretty much sumarizes my feelings on the topic of copyrighting. All in all im not too convinced whether or not he is serious about the idea of copyrighting or if he's just mocking the entire situation.

More on Art 21

I was searching the Art 21 website again and was looking through the themes of some of the work. The theme of memory has always intrigued me and on the website the work in the memory theme section for me is really impressive. Theres a wide variety of styles and looks but they all function really well. There are a few that I specifically liked including the Sally Mann photo and the Gabriel Orozco Photo. Both of these had a very strange and surreal quality to them, that for me, really reflects the feeling of memory and its sometimes fuzziness. I myself have always struggled with portraying memory, especially in a 2-D format without any movement. I constantly think of blurry images, jilted sense of time, and pretty much everything out of proportion.

Video Proposal

I used the midterm project as a jumping off point for my final video project and since then some of my ideas have changed. The basic idea behind my project has always been about the idea of roots and exploring where everything comes from, not in a religious way, but in more of a tradition and family sense. MY desire is to explore these ideas using organic forms and growing root and plant systems.

This all stems from a grouping of artwork my grandfather created of a line of trees along the coast in south Texas. ever since I can remember my grandfather had inspired me and my artwork. This combination compelled me, and still does, to explore the idea of family. This idea along with my last name being Orchard, thought about in the idea of a grouping of trees, and the family tree all comes together in most of my work.

This idea will be explored in my piece as I create my own reality within my dreams and place it against organic forms growing over existing buildings and other man-made work. In my dreams I try and create a more confortable reality while the organic forms grow and overtake real space. This plays on the idea that there will always be change, but nature intends to bring everything back to the beginning. Throughout the entire peice there ill be time lapsed video of plants and roots growing to underline the idea of growth and organic nature.

Videos from 3/28

The videos we watched today were pretty helpful to me. They gave me some good ideas for my own project and a few more jumping off points. The music was also somewhat similar to the genre I want to use in my project as well as the overall pace of the film.

Monday's Class

Rae had a lot of really helpful websites. Its always helpful, as an artist, to see what other contemporary artists are doing in a similar field. Is especially enjoyed the art 21 website, ive actually spent a lot of time on the website since, looking at the artists. I also enjoyed the idea of process in the website, as well as some of the others. May times we only see a finished product of art, but don't get to see what it took to create it or some of the ideas that drove the piece.

MIdTerm Artist Statement

Recently in my work I have been including a lot of organic imagery. This stems from my desire to explore the idea of family and its relation to root systems and growth of plants. A few years ago my grandfather passed away and it made me realize how much influence he had on my artwork and how much I learned from him. This project is about me constructing a different reality within my dreams alongside organic shapes growing up and around existing man-made structures. The projects strsses the idea of everything will return to their original state because of human nature. I myself am able to construct real spaces in my dreams as well as plant the seeds of some of the organic forms.

Manovich Article

I thought this article was pretty interesting and found myself agreeing with a lot of it. I was a little confused by it, but once he got into discussing the difference between digital and analog photography and contradicting notions of what each mean I agreed with a good portion of it.

I found his first topic on the relationship between original image and copies to be very interesting. This is a topic I have thought about and discussed with others as well. Personally I feel that an original image, such as in analog, does carry a lot of weight and importance. this applies especially when its an original print by an artist, scans and copies made by labs don't carry as much for me as an original. When it comes to digital I feel a little different as digital's usfullness comes in when it makes work more accessable to viewers, to me thats the best part about digital art.

He also commented on how digital technology is changing both cinema and photography. Although I feel traditional methods will always be crucial to a well founded artist, digital technology makes the creation process a lot easier. In making creation easier it also forces the artists to push themselves even harder now that there is more available to them.

One problem I did have with the aritcle was when he was discussing the unmanipulated image. Where he feels there is no such thing as unmanipulated images, I feel different. While the photographer is forced to make choices such as cropping and exposure, he is creating his own image. That image is an exact replication of reality before it reaches either the wet or digital darkroom.

Leash Video

Video my brother created, thought it was pretty well done with some inspiring elements... not the original video, some editing was done to it in this version. I hadn't seen this one before, just happened to come across it... not too sure I like the changes as much.

RJD2 Video

I found this video and thought it was well done using still imagery in time based format

For me these videos were inspiring, especially the second video. The rhytm between the motion of the shapes and the music was right on and worked very well together. It did make me a little dizzy but if it were color than it would have been worse.

The first video we watched, SOS, was also very appealing to me as it incorporated many different images from modern culture. I understood it as a commentary on today's commodity culture and even touched on global issues.

Brent Hirak Video

My feelings about the Brent Hirak Video were sort of mixed. I feel the use of typed text to go along with the audio was successful and added even more chaos to the video itself. Im not to sure about the old video footage from a scifi movie, it seemed out of place.