Dadaism...In a bit more detail than My second post

Back in February, I wrote about the Avant-Garde and Dadaist movements of the 20^th century, but I talked very briefly of the Dada movement in favor of the other topics presented. Today, I'm going to expand a bit more into Dada and its relevance in today's age of art.

Dadaism, to me at least, is very fascinating due to the fact that it contrasts a lot of what the traditional definition of what "Art" really is. From the most famous example, "R. Mutt", to today's, dada continues to make an impact on the definition of Art. I didn't have to look far to find examples of dada in the contemporary. In the past 60 years, Dada has seen the implementation of computers and digital pieces that share the same ideas that Dada artists before have had. 

For example, in the 1960s, Andy Warhol's Campbell soup cans represented how a soup can could be art and still be considered "anti-art". Another example of Dada in the contemporary is the use of digital art in public spaces like the ones I described in my last two blogs. According to the classic definition of art, digital art and Warhol's soup cans are not art in any sense because some digital art requires the viewer to be a part of it while the soup cans represent the bourgeois. 

The actual Dada movement in the U.S. Only lasted within the years after the breakout of World War I and it's main purpose was to blame the bourgeois for starting the war. Marcel Duchamp and his "R. Mutt" certainly epitomized how Dada came to be in the United States due to the fact that World War I was heavily protested by many. Some believed the war happened due to bourgeois capitalism and greed, to which Dada exposed and mocked. The critics on the other hand, had a different opinion.

To some critics, such as the American Art News, explained that Dada to them was "the sickest, most paralyzing and most destructive thing to have ever come out of man's brain." In retrospect, they were spot on with this comment because if one takes a real good look at the art produced by Dada artists, one can say that these artists were just producing vulgarity rather than art, hence the term anti-art was coined.

Dada also influenced and created various new forms of music and art for the contemporary. These include photo collages, photo montages, assemblages, readymades, and etcetera. Next time you see a photo collage on Facebook or on any other Social Networking site, think about how this exist if Dada had not become popular in the early 20th century.

Conversnitch: NSA Material or Not?

I'm sure many have heard of the infamous NSA and their spying techniques on the American and foreign internet populous, but recently Kyle McDonald and Brian House have developed a benign lamp that actively "listens" to conversations that people have in public places. The Project "Conversnitch" is a small bulb that contains a small Raspberry Pi computer, a microphone, and an L.E.D. light encased in a plastic flower pot that can be screwed into any light fixture; it records conversations and posts them to it's Twitter page via a WiFi connection, demonstrating that one's everyday conversations can be recorded.

As far as art is concerned, this piece fits into the cybernetic category. Since it uses a computer to transcribe conversations to text, it satisfies the cybernetic aesthetic of the artwork, while the use of common objects in a public place makes it a digital installation. It also needs someone to actually have a conversation near it to cause the device to record.

The device itself is pretty intricate especially its versatility to be installed virtually anywhere, including a lamp post (as one video demonstrated). This project reminded me of my previous blog where I talked about "The Bay Lights" project in San Francisco, CA. Although the "Conversnitch" doesn't have blinking lights or makes any noise, it does stand out in the "tweets" that it transcribes virtually giving a stranger a peek into the lives and situations of other people. Many might say that the NSA is going to take advantage of this device and use it for their own personal gain, but in my honest opinion I highly doubt it since the device itself can only record a certain amount of conversations at a time. Also, the Conversnitch is large and bulky and can be easily seen if installed on certain types of lighting fixtures and I doubt the NSA would want something like that to be used. Maybe if this project is funded a little more, it's design could be improved and used in more positive ways than the government thinks of using it. One example could be in restaurants to see if a new menu item is liked or disliked by customers...at least from a technological perspective. All in all, this questions ends with those that are behind this project, are you one of them?

Digital Installation Art

The 20th century brought many new and often times called "radical" art movements to the masses. With computers, electronics, and automated systems, digital art emerged and has taken the world of art to new heights. Recently, artist Leo Villareal completed his recent piece "The Bay Lights", an architectural feat that installed L.E.D. lights on the sides of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

The piece itself was a breakthrough in the use of L.E.D. lights in a large scale and computer imagery. It goes through an orchestrated rhythm that practically "brings the bridge to life" from evening to morning. As far as the audience is concerned, all they have to do is observe the bridge from dusk to dawn (or in-between) and since it's unveiling in March of last year, more than 50 million people have seen this piece in person along with billions through other media and the Internet. This piece fits the definition of installation art because it's in a public space and it is interactive since it changes with the time and amount of viewers.


"The Bay Lights"

Another piece that caught my eye was Nota Bene's "In Order to Control". Now, this piece is a very unique experience to the viewer in itself. By using the premise "Everything legal isn't fair. Not everything fair is legal.", those who step into the installation, their silhouettes are projected as text that explains the barbarity of humans throughout time and to portray the "killer and victim" relationship. In the definition of Installation Art, the heavy use of interactivity from the person and the real-time projection gives the viewer and the critic a solid example of what Digital Installation Art is in the 21st century.


"In Order to Control"

Video Games as Art

In the past 30 years, the world has seen video games come in to the public eye as a way to relax and unwind from the pressures of daily life. Here's a thought, can they be considered as Art? Certainly, but as the saying goes, "art is in the eye of the beholder"; meaning, to one person a video game as simple as "Pong" or "Super Mario Bros." art while the other would say "it's just another video game". I see certain video games as art, but only certain ones that follow my own criteria as to what I consider "Art" and Jason Rohrer's "Passage" is no exception.

The main premise of this short game is to show the stages of life (at least that's what I experienced). The game basically starts with the sprite (you) in its youth. As you progress through the game, you might come across a female character and a heart appears signifying that you and her are in love or married. The female character then also joins you in your journey through the progression of the game. What struck me the most was how both characters began to age as time passed. While the game continued the male sprite began losing his hair and color, his clothes changed style and his overall speed seemed to become slower and slower as time went on (this also happened to the female character). Towards the end if you have the said female character, she unfortunately dies where you both were last signifying another life event and that the game is almost over. Once your character "kicks the can", all that one is left with is a gravestone and the memory of the main character's journey through the obstacles that life throws at us on a daily basis.

I thought Rohrer was trying to prove a major point through this video game. From my perspective, I experienced the realities of life and the obstacles that are in store. I really didn't expect to see the main character to go through the stages of life and experience what you and I can experience in real life. I understand that there are other games that are similar but have more intricate plots, but this game simply shows the player that one is born to experience life and be expected to die at the end. You just can't get that from other video games because it wouldn't appeal to players. Yes, this does include the late Roger Ebert and he had a wallop of an interpretation of the game.

When Rohrer released the game, many players praised Rohrer and labeled his game as "art", and some critics just wouldn't have it. Now, Roger Ebert in 2005 reviewed the movie Doom in which he gave it a rating of 1 star which prompted a few gamers to disagree with the rating. The gamer in question argued that the movie was based on the video game rather than it being an original piece, and well Mr. Ebert retorted  by stating that "books and films are better mediums than games". There is fault to this claim made by Mr.Ebert; video games during the time of the Doom review, were starting to emerge with complex story-lines and scenes, much like their movie counterparts. For example, Half-Life 2 was released in late 2004 and was one of the many successful video games to really capture the player's attention not only as a game, but as an intricate and well-planned story that could be viewed as an action-drama. Another fallacy from Mr. Ebert is his quote "As long as there is a great movie unseen or a great book unread, I will continue to be unable to find the time to play video games." Obviously someone here is a bit of a penny pincher, but with all that aside, I find this to be a bit of a cliché since many can say that they have the time to play. To me, Ebert sounds like a grumpy old man who is afraid of radical change and is too stubborn to sit down and try it. In the end, it's still his opinion and he bases that on his own criteria.

As far as my criteria goes, video games are art. This can range from the 3-D (2-D) characters, to the music, to the background or sandbox environment. For example, the indie Playstation-exclusive Journey is art to me because of it's attention to aesthetic detail and how the story line flows with scenery the player goes through. The musical score for this was also a masterpiece with it also following the story up to the end.

To me, Music and the masterpieces of Bach, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky influenced my tastes and inspirations for art. I think my musical palette is far better developed than my artistic due to the fact that I actually play an instrument. Of the video game scores that I've listened to, I can say that the ones for Halo, Journey and L.A. Noire are the best I've heard. They leave a strong impact in the gameplay and story and frequently change based on any decision made by the player. Now I ask you the same question, are video games art?

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