First Photoshop Contest Entry

I entered the Inanimate Object World contest. I wanted to take objects that we normally see on people and have them participate in the activity that people normally are participating in. I love dancing and it is such a physical and involved activity that I thought it would be interesting to see how it would look without the bodies behind it. Also it seemed like something relatively simple for me to do for my first time. Here is the link to my contest post. If you vote for me or make comments please be nice. lol : )
http://www.worth1000.com/view.asp?image=304132&contest_id=14275

William S. Burroughs "The Cut-Up Method"

The "cut-up" method that Burroughs talks about in this article lends itself to the idea of collaging and using existing work to create something new. It also suggests a way that everyone can get involved in the process. Anyone can take a favorite poem, type it up then cut it into pieces and rearrange the words to form a new or revamped piece of work. The "cut-up" method seems to be a way to take what we already have and improve upon it or give it new life. It also creates a randomness that opens up a flood gate of multiple possibilities. Burroughs writes about how many artists, photographer and writers say that some of theier best work happens by accident. The "cut-up" method provides the stage or opportunity for those accidents to happen. The whole idea relates very closely to human nature. People always have the desire to take the old and make it new again. This process gives everyone the ability to do that. I think the "cut-up" method frees up the creative minds and gives it room to randomly explore other posssibilities that may not have been attempted or stumbled upon in another incidence. I wonder though if this process provides validation for the theory that there are no truly original ideas left in the world?

Image for Photoshop

Man Ray: Dadaist Photographer

Man Ray was a Dadaist who used photography to express his ideas. He displayed images in an abstract way that allowed people to see things differently than they would normally in their everyday life. In this image of the female violin to the left you can see where Ray is displaying a woman in a way one would not normally see her. The images on her back could have been double exposed or drawn on for the photograph. Here a woman is being used to reflect an object, an instrument. Looking at the image one may think the woman is the instrument but the intrument for what? Images such as this one and many others were capable of making people ask those questions. The same questions they asked themselves when they looked at artwork hanging in a gallery. Man Ray along with other photographers found new and radical ways of using photography to capture images of the world around them.

The image below of the woman with her hands to her lips is an abstraction of the body. The image looks simple but Man Ray chose how to represent this woman. He cropped out her face from the top of the lips up and cropped her body from the wrist down. The lighting on the face, the gesture of the hand are all intentionally and meant to say something to the viewer. Just as other Dadaist used things that were not constituted as art to make their own art, Man Ray used photography to make his art. He took a medium that was seen to only have mechanical qualities and made art with it.

Dadaist Movement

I apologize for the delay but I have not been able to post my blog because the site is down and I have not been able to continue reviewing the Dadaist work.

The Dadaist movement shows an interesting twist on traditional works of art and started a technique or way of working that has continued into the present. The Dadaist work was new and experimental during its time but now I believe that this type of work is becoming more widely accepted and used today. The abstraction that is found in the work makes viewers think more about what the piece is really supposed to be saying. I think that is a concept that people want to see in artwork and that is why we are still seeing such work being produced. I think it is interesting how Dadaist never wanted to fall into the category of a movement or be tied down by labels yet anytime you start something with a goal or intent it will naturally come with labels. Also if it is meant to be continued by generations to follow there has to be something for them to follow in the first place. The Dadaist wanted to be free thinkers who were not hindered by the things that held back artist of the past but during that process they themselves created an art movement just as had been done many times before them.

Project 1: Sound Journey: Rainforest Photoshoot

http://www.smcm.edu/users/aamiller/rainforest.mp3

For this project I created a journey that captures the movements of a photographer traveling through the rainforest to get a shot of some of its amazing wildlife. The journey starts out in a canoe out on a river along the rainforest. The canoe meets with land and the photographer makes their way through the dense forestry. The footsteps are slow and accompanied by the sounds of rain dripping, frogs, and birds. As the photographer moves further into the rainforest the natural background sounds begin to increase in volume and move more to the middle ground. Briefly the walking ceases and listeners can hear the shutter of the camera going off. After the photographer captures their image they continue on to a new destination and all the sounds gradually fade out. Below is a list of the sounds I used in this piece and who the original creator was:

water paddling/canoe meeting land(crunching of underbrush):13792_reinsamba_canoe_in_flooded_forest

River sounds: 20787_wanna73_River_01

birds & bug: 13791_reinsamba_survicalcamp

jumping into water:22866_victorcenusa_MEN_RUNNING_WATER_SPLASH_3_

rain: 21091_inchadney_Light_rain

frogs: 18930_inchadney_Frogs

tropical birds: 19257_reinsamba_bird_in_rainforest

camera shutter:7128_Bram_camera_shutter_and_rewind_notch_compressor

walking: recorded by me