Tuesday, October 20, 2009

INfluence

The Halbeath piece will influence my project because of the way that a place (Halbeath) is described by different ways. The beginning shows you a product of the place (the Motorola phone) while giving you directions to the place. Then the piece goes on to show you current images of the place while listening to an old folk song about the place. The end describes the place with more info written down in loose paragraph form. I am going to try and describe my original place in multiple ways such as text, images and the “character” that is there. I will also be thinking about Shredder 1.0 when thinking about how my character is going to be. I want to use familiar things and transform and combine them in different ways so that they are almost unrecognizable when re-assembled. Shredder does this with websites…I will use that same logic to create a character.

B R A N D O N

Brandon is a piece that doesn’t really keep you guessing. The subject matter is blatantly obvious to the viewer immediately after they see the opening animation. By using universal symbols the artist is assured that the viewer understands what is going on. It is interesting how the artist uses universal, common, everyday symbols to represent something that is virtually unknown and unaccepted to the majority of society. By using the universal symbols it seems as though the artist is trying to say, “HEY, I’m just like you…!” The artist is seemingly trying to explain the person that he is, which is an extremely complicated and unfamiliar subject, in a way that is uncomplicated and familiar to the average joe. Once you go into the project the mood is similar to the intro. The artist is bringing you into their world slowly by revealing pictures as you move the mouse around. The images are probably difficult to look at for the average joe so each time he rolls over the image it changes. The constant changing pictures, as opposed to stationary ones, make the piece as a whole easier to digest. The artist is really concerned about getting their point across; however, they also understand that their point is difficult for people to understand so he uses his piece to cater to those that may usually have difficulty understanding people like Brandon.

A Visitor's Guide to London Heath Bunting, 1995

A visitor’s Guide to London created by Heath Bunting in 1995 is a unique website because in form it resembles a children’s coloring book while the title seems as though the site is going to be strictly informational. When I think of information a children’s coloring book is the last thing I think of...so the site is already interesting before you even start clicking around because you are expecting information and you are presented with child-like drawings. After you make it past the title and opening image you realize that you have the power to go to multiple places from the one picture. This is where this visitors guide is different because of it’s medium. The Internet allows the audience to decide where to go…the pathways that are available (jagged lines, person walking, letter “A”, and intersecting lines) are not exactly indicative of where you are taken next. It’s kind of a surprise! Unlike a traditional map or book, the website allows you to explore London in a new order and way every time you visit the site. I also think it is interesting how the artist uses black and white images to represent an old place while using a medium that allows for such vast interaction and many different color combinations.