Extra Blog - Canstruction.

I visited the World Trade Center a couple of weeks ago, before Thanksgiving. My godmother told me about an event called Canstruction, that takes place at her job every year. It was exactly as it sounded; A bunch of exhibits made entirely out of recycled cans. The exhibits were nicely done, and they had a point to them. They were bringing attention to the suffering of the 9/11 victims and letting the people know that they could still use our support. The exhibits I saw were a replica of the infamous art piece "The Ponderer" or "The Thinking Man", the upper body of an astronaut, a "water" fountain that relied solely on different can colors to depict the water, and a couple of other ones. It was nice to see creativity and to see what people could come up with. Art could be made out of virtually anything.

Blog #4 - Clip Analysis

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

The scene I chose was the "Sandstorm" chase scene in Mission Impossible. The main character is chasing the antagonist while having his vision almost completely obscured by a sandstorm. We don't have much vision of the antagonist at all, and we must rely on the clips of him viewing his radar for us to "know" that he's near his target.

After the first gunshot around 0:35 main character loses his target and the chase music dissipates. Once he views the radar, confirms his locations, and restarts the chase, the music resumes and sets an urgent tone. The sound helps us understand how important it is for him to catch his target, and without the music, we're left with a guy running & driving blindly through a sandstorm with no sense of his progress.

The music also changes drastically around 3:00, once the character has affirmed a new plan in his head (which the audience can quickly grasp). Clips keep switching between him driving, and the radar displaying the two arrows moving towards each other, with the music constantly building up. The music ends right before the two cars crash into each other, and signal that the action has ended.

Audio Interview with Mikhail Valentin

https://soundcloud.com/user65517430/medp160-project

Blog #3 - MOMI Trip

I've always had a love for museums. It's nice to connect with the past and to see how much we as a species have evolved, sometimes in a very short amount of time. When I first entered the museum and walked up the stairs, I felt like I was given a chance to watch a little movie. The museum has projects playing scenes. I got to see the progression of cameras, from going to big,bulky, sometimes inconvenient cameras to the much sleeker and more compact cameras that we have today. I feel like seeing the old televisions that people used to watch was important, because television was (and still is) one of the most important sources of media, advertisement, opinions, and more.

The difference in the size and functionality of our technology from the 1950's to the 1970's was very notice-able. I hadn't considered it before hand, but the Arms Race and the Cold War were very good for the progression of our technology as it pushed scientists and inventors to the brim to be better than the other countries. Just looking at the raw difference in size at MOMI really helped to put it in perspective.

I felt the most joy simply seeing the old arcade games. They brought back memories of actually wanting to go to the Laundromat as a kid just so I could put in quarters and play Galaga and Pacman. Video games are simply code with image representation, and I've grown up with them my entire life. I'm curious to see what will be in that exhibit in 50 years.

What I Hear

I decided to take my soundwalk and walked a path from my house to a friend's house about 6 miles away. It was interesting because I actually had to cross several neighborhoods and the sounds alone were a blatant representation of all of my surroundings. It was around noon, so everybody was awake and active and there were a lot of people about doing their own thing.

The start of my soundwalk took place at 179th street, Hillside. Nine different buses, the F train's last stop, three schools and a bunch of fast food restaurants are over there so it's generally busy regardless. I could hear constant traffic and the footsteps of a lot of people. There were some high school kids outside filling the air with various conversations of their classes and studies. The biggest source of chatter was probably from the lines of people waiting for the buses.

As I eventually left that neighborhood the sounds started to fade and it became much more quiet. As I reached a more residential area I mostly only heard the wind. A couple of people sitting outside their homes either talking on their phones or their neighbors or getting ready to drive off were pretty much the only other notice-able sounds. I also became increasingly aware of the sound of my own footsteps.

The house is located in another residential area, but this area was noisier than the previous ones. A family in one of the houses I passed was having a very loud prayer ceremony. Leaves rustled loudly and I could hear the traffic from one block over. The final noise heard on my soundwalk was the ringing of the doorbell as I arrived to my destination.

Defining a Space

https://vimeo.com/108687121

Artist Statement

My artwork represents the freedom and chaos that I personally believe is the foundation for our very existence. I believe that we, as people and living beings on this planet are not truly meant to live in such structured society. Ultimately, any piece I choose to create has no single, definitive point to make, and it is up to each individual to perceive them as they wish. My only goal is to have people enjoy my art and to fabricate whatever meaning from the piece that comes to mind. Hopefully people will think of something that I myself would have never even considered.

My artwork will often have little bits of extremely random content thrown in, sometimes almost completely hidden. Whether they send a message, or what that supposed message may be, will depend entirely on the view of the person who views the art. I draw inspiration from the simplest things such as a fleeting thought during a walk, and events on a macro scale such as the world’s ever changing situations. It’s important to truly study and understand all of your surroundings while still keeping an open mind and still being able to focus on what is most important to you.