Removed

The removed series of photographs by Eric Pickersgill, is very accurate as to how people are in today's society. This series shows how two people can be right next to each other, but be so disconnected because of the distraction of technology. These photos capture real life situations very accurately and to be honest, it's kind of sad that this is what we look like when on our cellphones or hand held devices. Even though the actual technological device isn't pictured, you can immediately see that this is what Pickersgill was trying to make our eyes see. I can definitely point out pictures that I can relate to because I am one to be easily distracted by my cellphone. One picture in particular is where the man and woman are on the couch together, and both on their cellphones not paying attention to each other. There's been times I've been just hanging out with my boyfriend and we just happen to both be on our phones not really talking to each other and scrolling on instagram or twitter. Does this happen a lot? Absolutely not, however I know that if someone were to photograph when it did happen, it would look exactly like that. In today's society everyone is into media, texting, taking pictures, and just being on their phones, but this is such a bad thing. For example, we could be at a concert taking pictures and videos, however when taking those pictures and videos you're looking at your phone instead of watching the live performance. If you didn't take pictures, were you really there? This shouldn't matter because we should always be living in the moment and not looking at life through a six inch screen. These photographs depict reality, and how technology can make people closed off and distracted. I'm not saying technology is a bad thing, because to be honest it's one of our world's best creations, however we should only utilize it at the right moments instead of all day, everyday. Trust me I'm not one to talk because I know I'm on my phone a lot, however looking at these pictures makes me feel as if I should try to stay off my phone less and see the world for what it really is.

Fav video game

My favorite video game that I like to play is Mario Kart. This game was released back in 1992, however since I wasn't even alive then I didn't get to start playing this game until 2008. I wouldn't say this game influenced me in any way, but it was fun to play with friends and we would have tournaments. I played this game mostly on the wii because you could have an actual steering wheel which was kind of cool. I also wish that driving was actually like the driving in mario kart, and that rainbow road actually existed. LOL. I'm not sure if this game had any impact on the culture necessarily, but to young kids and teenagers, this game was so much fun and didn't really involve any violence. I say if anything this game had a more positive impact on children then games such as GTA or Call of Duty. No matter what this game will always be around, and it will continue to sell because it can be a game for all ages that doesn't involve violence, cursing, weapons, and so on like a lot of the games today have.

Internet Art 2&3

The first person I took notice of in the reading is Victoria Vesna. Victoria Vesna is an artist and professor at the UCLA Department of Design as well as Media Arts and Director of the Arts and Science center at the school of Arts and California Nanosystems Institute. She was trained as a painter when she was young, however her creative mind took her on the path of experimental research between "disciplines and technologies" (victoriavesna.com). Her work mainly involves long-term collaborations with composers, nano-scientists, neuro-scientists, biologists, and works with students. Victoria has exhibited her work in over 20 solo exhibitions, 70 group shows, and has been published for her works in many newspapers. One project that I viewed of hers out of a few is NANO. This project is on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Boone Children's Gallery. This project "seeks to provide a greater understanding of how art, science, culture, and technology influence each other. The various components of "nano" are designed to immerse the visitor in the radical shifts of scale and sensory modes that characterize science" (victoriavesna.com). For more information on her works, you can visit her website: victoriavesna.com

The second person I took notice of while reading is Natalie Bookchin. Natalie Bookchin received her degree of fine arts at the state University of New York in 1984. She also has her masters in photography from the school of art institute in Chicago. She now resides in L.A. where she works at the California Institute for the Arts. She works collaboratively and independently and exhibits, performs, and lectures, widely in the United States, and Europe on the Internet. Currently she is working on a project with "®™ark (RTMark) for DNAid, an initiative developed by Creative Time and dedicated to exploring the cultural and social implications of genetic research" (fondation-langlois .org). She also has many publications and articles on Internet Art, culture and theory. She is also very well known for her contributions and creations of "The Intruder." 

LinkedIn

LinkedIn account: www.linkedin.com/in/daniellajaconelli

REMIX

This remix project was by far the most difficult project ever and I mean EVER. I found it hard one because it was hard to think of an idea, two I had no idea how to work premiere, three it crashed on me three times and I lost my work, and four did I mention this project was difficult? ANYWAYS... it was also really fun and I'm glad I got to work with cutting videos and mashing them up to create something on youtube. The fact that a video of mine is on youtube is UNREAL. Okay so let me tell you about my video now. I happen to think Kanye West is an actual genius...of saying crazy shit, so I thought to myself why not get a bunch of videos and put them together to show just how bizarre some of the stuff he says really is. Oh and needed to throw in that he is running for president in 2020!! YA! Personally I think my remix falls under the category of a supercut because it's a bunch of videos of Kanye saying what he thinks of himself, and who he is, which apparently is a GOD, Warhol, Walt Disney, Nike, and Google all combined plus more. A supercut is a compilation of a large number of short video clips, typically showing examples of a repeated or clichéd action or phrase in films or broadcasts.I think my video definitely follows this definition because there is a lot of repeated ideas that Kanye says about himself and thinks of himself as a few different people, but apparently better!! So without further ado here is my supercut called "I AM....Yeezus." https://youtu.be/HiLzw2ZUVOw

RiP! A Remix Manifesto

RiP! A Remix Manifesto, is a documentary on copyright, and the fight between being creative, and following the rules of "copyright." Brett Gaylor, the writer and director of this film, breaks this manifesto down into four points. 1.) Culture always builds on the past 2.) The past always tries to control the future 3.) Our future is becoming less free and 4.) To build free societies, you must limit the control of the past.

My interpretation of this film is that Gaylor is against old ways (copyright) and wants people to have the freedom to use, download, and view content in whichever way they choose. He uploaded this film through Creative Commons because he isn't concerned with the fact that his video will probably be downloaded, shared, and remixed for free. To me this is notable, because a lot of artists who create music for instance want people to buy their music, and not just be able to listen to it for free, however Brett Gaylor, seems to think differently. America will always find a way to download, watch, and listen to content for free however, doing it legally is another story. Copyright holds the world back from experiencing works of art such as music and films, and to me that does hurt America's future. I feel as if we aren't experiencing some things we should be because of copyright laws. This film provides America and the rest of the world with ideas of reform against copyright, which I think is genius. We need change! Artists who are trying to share content such as, Elisa Kreisinger, can't upload some of her content on youtube for people to see because that goes against what "copyright laws" says is okay. Well how about it's not okay for you to delete a video that probably could teach the world something??? Take that copyright!! There are so many laws against who can upload what, what viewer can see this and what viewer can't, that it's almost ridiculous at some points. We are supposed to have freedom of speech, and expression... so why are there laws against that? VERY contradicting.

My overall thoughts on the film is that it had a well portrayed message, and it actually gives the viewer hope for our future becoming more free. I think this is a step in the right direction for reform against copyright and an advocacy for "copyLEFT." His points in the film are thorough, and if others had a mindset like this, our world on and off the internet would be more free and less constricting.

MEME

The word "meme" originated from a biologist, Richard Dawkins, in his book, The Selfish Gene. In it he states, "we need a name for the new replicator, a noun that conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation." The french word même that he references inside the book means "same" or "alike" and the greek word "mimeme, means something that is imitated (todayifoundout.com). Dawkins was hoping the word meme would be used as a type of human communication using melodies, and catch phrases. From this memes were used to promote products, provide laughter, and convey messages to the global market. Memes have become very popular on social media, and by retweeting, reposting, or sharing on personal account pages, they went viral.

Here are some of my favorites that I found humorous, accurate, and memorable.

This one describes a college student's life. We learn very quickly how to manage money when we are at school, and try to save just enough to go out on the weekends with our friends. There's times where we literally have to go through our change to see if we have enough for that chipotle bowl, or glass of wine.

This I found hysterical because back in my childhood pokemon was popular, however nowadays kids don't even know what this is so I found that I could relate to it, but at the same time if someone were to actually drive around in this it would be quite strange. It's funny how the times change.

I found this picture on twitter and I wish I could retweet it an endless amount of times. This stuck out to me because normally when a cop asks you to pop your trunk this is not what they find, however if I were in a situation like this, there would be puppies in my trunk. I love any kind of dog, and this also reminded me of one of my favorite movies, Bridesmaids, when Melissa McCarthy steals all the dogs and has them in her minivan. LOL.

Lastly, I just found this so funny because whenever there is a new trend, such as these gladiator sandals, everyone needs to have them. Personally I don't love these shoes, I do think it looks like you're about to play a part in the movie 300 or something so this just made me laugh.