Massive Attack

Massive Attack is the 1988 English band from Bristol. This band rised up so quickly and became very popular. Their song "Unfinished Sympathy" was voted the 10th greatest song of all time by The Guardian. Below is the music video.

They are known for their popular songs without choruses, but more of the instrumental styles. The song "teardrop" is another one of their most popular songs, below is the music video.

UK Underground Music + Smiths

The Smiths

The Smiths are an English rock band of the 1980s. They filled a spot in UK music called independent music. They were part of the underground movement and influenced many. The Smiths could be considered anarchist because of the music they sing about. They are the "rebels" of UK.

Here is one of their songs, "How soon is now?" This song shows their political views as well as their views on others. They are singing about how they aren't getting where they need to as a person, and the struggles they go through. The suffer from the pressure of being different in the UK. This shows through their music.

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20130524-the-smiths-thirty-years-on

The Pogues

The Pogues are an Irish celtic band in the 80s in UK. This band is part of the folk punk genre. Below is a picture of their Irish band. Some of the music that they produced is also based on their political views.

One of their more popular songs is "dirty old town" and below is the music video about their performance. This meaning on this song is similar to the style of the Smiths, in that they sing about their struggles and how society is challenging them. During this time, UK is going through a revolution in art and that is why we are seeing so many bands with the same views.

Video Mapping

ALIVE PICTURE

Although this video is short, I think that it's awesome. I think that because it's more than just a performance piece, its a dance piece as well. This piece was used at what looks like a rave, and this is something that moves along to the beat of the music. I think that it is very well put together, and I would enjoy seeing something like this next time I go to a rave. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXWtO4Ltw9g

IBM CONFERENCE

This is not the best video mapping performance I've seen, however I like that it's used in a professional setting such as the IBM conference and not just for show. Although the performance is for show, it is also a way of showing off new technologies that IBM has to offer. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riySMkueB54

LIVE PERFORMANCE ART

This was my favorite video. I love that it is involving dancing and the dancer himself. Most of the other examples that we've seen of video mapping are great, but they are all projected on to a building or a flat screen. The projection is the main focus, however in this performance the projection and the dancer work together to make a great performance! 

http://vimeo.com/50197298

Videoartes.com

Videoartes.com is a website that has a bunch of videos that are made by video artist. There is so theme to what they do, it is just interesting to see.

VIDEOGIOCO

This is an interesting video because it reminded me of the flip books that we did. However this type of work is much more intense and requires a lot of planning. What really sold me on the video is the audio that goes along with it. It makes the video that much more entertaining and come to life.

PIXELS

This is so cool! this video combines real world and 3D animation. I have no idea how to do this animation, but we watched some videos on how they make video games and I'm sure its along those same lines. I know that it is very complicated and for the I give these artists a lot of credit.

BAD NEWS

Bad news was probably my favorite video. I liked that it has a meaning behind and it reminded me of the post that I posted previously about the difference between commercial and propaganda. This video is in a new paper where you see a lot of commercials and propagandas. This video has a political point they are trying to make and show that throw new paper headlines.

Unfortunately the video wouldn't load but here is the link to watch the video:
http://player.vimeo.com/video/7189740?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=ffffff

performance art piece

This is my performance art piece. The topic we were assigned was to create a performance art piece that related our university major. My major being math, this was very difficult to do. I had many ideas of things that I wanted to perform however could not find a way they related to math. Most of the ideas that I created were along the lines of technology or communications. Both of which I hate, by the way!

However, I thought that by going around a public area performing my art by allowing the users to be interactive with my piece would be a great idea since most math people are quite sheltered. Santiago even made this point that math people are usually alone working on paperwork, computers, or reading. This is very true, as I personally love to be alone and don't like being bothered my others or modern technology. What I love about math is that there is a very set in stone system of how things work. These ideas will never change, they may be applied in different aspects however the rules of physics don't change.

This performance was very nerve racking. I was so afraid to do this because I do not like being out in public being the center of attention. But I had my friend come with me and together we made the project fun. We asked people who were either running, walking, or biking down bayshore if they would like to participate in my art project. They were asked to make anything they wanted on my poster with the paint provided and a sponge.

A lot of people did not want to participate, most likely because they do not like being bothered while they are working out. Which is understandable, if I were doing my daily run down bayshore I probably wouldn't have participated myself.

However, those who did participate were very interesting. They all had different reasons for drawing what they drew. Most of the items were very cliche hearts and squiggles. Some people chose the color of paint based on their moods at the time. One man said that he wanted to paint with blue because he was calm, and then yellow because he was excited. Those contradict each other which was interesting and I sort of laughed when he said this. He clearly didn't know what he was feeling.

But I liked that piece a lot, and I think that it came out interesting at the end. Here is a picture of the collaborative painting after about 15 people worked on it.

Difference Between a Commercial and Propaganda

A commercial is a t.v. or radio advertisement intended to make a profit whereas propaganda is information used to promote or publicize a particular point of view, typically political.

An example of a commercial is a Ford F-150 t.v. advertisement. During a t.v. advertisement, they are trying to sell you their truck. They want to make their truck stand out from the rest and be so irresistible that you have to go out tomorrow and look for their truck!

A classic example of propaganda is posters of Uncle Sam trying to recruit U.S. soldiers for the war. These posters are propaganda and not commercial because they are not trying to sell a product, they are trying to sell a point of view, or convey a political message.

After comparing the two definitions with examples, it is clear to me the difference between the two meanings. It is also clear to me how the two could be confused. I think the best way to look at the two definitions is by defining them with examples. 

Sheryl Oring "I Wish to Say"

Sheryl Oring "I wish to say" is a really neat project that she's working on. She goes around and tells people to write out something they would like to say to the president on a post card from all different areas. She then actually sends them to the president! These letters were collected in 2004 when George Bush was president.

Some letters that I liked are:

I liked this letter first because its from someone from Boston, MA which is the area that I am from. But I also liked it because it is like the guy is reaching out to the President saying please, please do not lie to us. We are the people and you are suppose to have our back. I think that these types of requests are very common from the public as we feel we have no control and the President, along with other members of congress do not fill the public into all the details that they know.












The second letter that I want to talk about is from Tampa Fl. This man, Jim, is addressing his hatred towards the President. Letting him know all of the things that he does that bothers him and those around him. I like how he addresses topics such as racism, sexual preference, religion and class. These are all issues that were problems during 2004, however still continue to be problems today. This man is from the south and for him to be disapproving of racism and sexual preference is refreshing because most people are set in their beliefs in the south.










Overall after reading through several letters from all over the United States during this time period, the letters all say the same thing. No one is happy with the government and how things are being run. People are needing a change and feel they need to express to the President that they do not agree with how things are being run right now.

Although I believe that there no way to make everyone happy, and what makes one person happy will make another upset. This makes being president a difficult job, when you have billions of people that you have to please. Knowing that I think that it is interesting to see so many people with the same attitudes. Now I was too young during the time to remember or even understand the negative implications of what George Bush did to the people, however I do remember my mother being quite upset at points.

Looking back now, it is commonly said that George Bush was the most hated president, and based off of these letters I certainly would agree!