Week 3

            I found this week’s guest lecturer to be really interesting. Michael Salter, being a digital artist himself, spoke about the digital arts. Not only did he speak about what is going on in the digital art world today, but Salter also gave us a really great, brief history of what he had experienced in the digital art world himself. He called himself an “obsessive observer” and showed examples of why he felt that way. He showed us ads, signs, posters, logos, ect. and walked us through the dialogue that went on in his head as he observed each one. I found this really interesting, and also hilarious, because after each one I thought to myself “yeah he has a good point” or “he’s right., that picture of two boys sharing an ice cream cone in their underwear is kind of weird”. I really got the sense of his over-analytic mind and that he really did not take anything at face value. Another thing I found interesting was when Salter was showing multiple iterations of the same thing. He showed us Star Wars remakes, Planet of the Apes remakes and a whole breadth of others. The question he raised was “Do multiple iterations of something get more diluted or can they get better?”. I feel that the answer to this is dependent on the specific case but the question that he brought up really struck me.  In terms of his own work, he also said some interesting thoughts. He kept telling us that when creating his pieces he would ask himself “How brief, concise and confusing can I make it? How can I create unclear logic in a fast way?” and that really showed through in the work he showed us.

            I also really enjoyed the reading from this week. It brought up some really great and valid points and also asked some really interesting questions. The overall message of the reading, I thought, was the exploration of the cartoon as something simplified, quick, relatable, and universal. One of the first points brought up that really made me think was when the author said that one of the reasons that cartoons are made simple is so that we can imagine ourselves in the character. It makes us more engaged as readers and makes the story relatable. By creating faces that don’t have very distinct or real characteristics, we then can see ourselves in them whether it be on a conscious level or not. Another point that really struck me and stayed with me throughout the reading was when the narrative cartoon asked halfway through the article “If I looked like this (a realistic, more detailed version of himself) would you still have listened to me?” (pg 36). And I actually thought to myself “No, probably not”. It was such a valid point and yet something that I had never thought about before.  The multi-media for this week was a little hard for me to understand. I am not really sure how to interpret it but I thought the “Points of Volatility” piece looked really cool. The way the lights interacted with the mountains that passed by was visually stimulating and kept my attention for quite a while. It is also pretty cool that they are actually the Colorado Mountains.

            One connection I made between all three of the materials is the idea of taking a complex concept and translating that in a very simple, quick and universal way. Michael Salter explained to us that his works are all about taking some sort of unclear and confusing logic and portraying it in a brief, concise and fast way. Similarly, the idea of the cartoon addresses this as well. A cartoon takes a detailed, realistic and complicated concept or idea and turns it into the most simplified and relatable form of that idea, that in turn is also very brief and concise. In one of Chris Coleman’s works titled “Taking Sides” he has a piece of cloth and on either side of the cloth are fans that change speed depending on the volume and intensity of someone’s voice. These voices are talking about very heavy and loaded political issues. This piece of art is taking complex words and ideas and creating a very simple and understandable output: the flowing of the cloth from fans. Regardless of if you can understand the speaker, you can understand their passion or lack thereof by just watching this cloth move. I think one the overall themes between these materials is the idea of portraying a strong complex idea in a very simple and accessible manner.

            The piece of artwork I chose to include in this weeks blog is something I feel goes along with the idea of communicating an idea in a short, concise and visual way.

(By: Boris, "The Bermuda Triangle of Productivity")