Finally Caved in

What the simple Interface looks like.

I finally gave in and downloaded the photoshop application for my iphone. I didn't download it at first because I felt it was dumbing down such a complicated program with tacky filters and effects to please the majority of people who are not well versed with photoshop. It was almost insulting. How could a iphone app. replace of the technicalities and intricacies of the computer version. Anyways, I gave it a shot and I will admit that although it is very simple it is still really nice for just tweaking the small adjustments that take a okay photo and make it look really nice. I did a little before and after just playing around. Over not a bad application especially considering it was free.

Before

After

Snowy white out

While driving to Pullman today from Spokane I looked outside and noticed something very intersting. The rolling hills of the Palouse provided this area that gave me the feeling of being a in a void of empty space. I looked out my windows to see nothing but white. The hills are covered in snow and the sky was the same exact color. This left no division between the horizon and the land, the horizon line is erased. This gave me the sensation that in this spot there was really nothing else but my car and this empty white space.

I couldn't find a picture but this one on the right really does a good job visually of describing the feeling I was getting.

The Palace of Fine Arts

My favorite part of this architecture is in the third image. At the top of the columns you can see four women at each corner of the box. These women are leaning over covering their faces because they are weeping. The reason the artist depicted them weeping to describe a world without art. I really like this concept and the fact that most people wouldn't think that the women are weeping about this idea, instead one has to really know the artist to find the true meaning. I also think its cool that this idea that the artist created these statues on may have never been discovered by outside people.

Wave Organ

A cool art project I got a chance to see while in San Francisco last thanksgiving break.

First wall mural

I did this wall mural pretty quickly and it turned out pretty cool, but looking back at the process I didn't take nearly enough photos to make a cool time-lapse. 

Kites

 Waiting for my flight at the Spokane airport I noticed some interesting artwork hanging from the ceiling. The kite like figures all had the same triangular formation that made up the main structure of each respective item with additional fabric patterns that seemed to differ for each kite figure. I liked the color that the artists used, in my own artwork I always struggle to find color schemes that work well together and I feel that this pieces color scheme does work. I also really enjoy the curvy lines that the kites have, it adds an organic aspect to the rigid frame of the kits.  What I didn't like was the little geometric ball that were placed in between these objects, these items are children's toys and I have seen them on sale in stores. I feel like it takes away from this "hand crafted/scrap book" feel that the  fabric on the kites gives.
One thing that I looked at on this particular installation of art is if the area or setting that it is located in takes an effect on the work. This question really got me thinking about a conversation I had with my art teacher a few weeks ago;
The kites must have some kind of significance with aviation since the piece is located in an airport. Since the kites were hung from the ceiling to make them look as if they were in flight. Where the balls set to give the kites more balance between each of the jagged shaped kites? What would the piece look like without those balls that I dislike so much?
All of this being said it would really have dramatically altered the feeling of the piece if the setting were changed for example what happens if they were no longer clustered together and instead scattered throughout the whole airport? What would happen if as you walked through the airport you saw differing size kites starting with a really small kite and then the final kite you see is enormous?

mural sketch/ideas

SuperFlat

I have always been a fan of Takashi Murikami and his "superflat" art work. Superflat is a post modern art movement that is heavily influenced by Japanese Manga and Anime. Murikami himself founded this art movement. I really enjoy the depth it creates by simply using color vectors.

When questioned about it he answered, "I'd been thinking about the reality of Japanese drawing and painting and how it is different from Western art. What is important in Japanese art is the feeling of flatness. Our culture doesn't have 3-D," he says. "Even Nintendo, when it uses 3-D, the Japanese version looks different from the U.S. version. Mortal Combat in the U.S comes out as Virtual Fighter in Japan and it's different." 
I am interested in creating something similar to this in my wall mural.

Wall Mural

I found a couple video/projects similar to this. I find it really cool and interesting. I really want to do a mural like this on the inside of my house. I think Ill try to  document it in the same time-lapse manner or stop action so I can use photos and avoid having to use video.

Giant Branch almost crushed our house during the windstorm

No shave november fail.

 I just couldn't handle the grossness of my mustache.

got my nose surgey.

It's Basketball Season Again

As the Portland Trail Blazers end their road trip, I must say that I felt somewhat satisfied with theme finish just over .500 with a record of 6-5. It’s odd to be happy with a sub-par winning record considering we have lost a few close games. But there is a big factor that needs to be taken into consideration. Injuries have plagued the blazers ever since picking up Greg Oden in 2007. For the past 3 years I have been waiting for the Blazers to get 100% healthy so they can be the team I know that they can be.

So far 3 centers have had knee injuries that have put them out for deep into the seasons length. Brandon Roy, the superstar player on Portland is battling knee problems as well.  He was quoted on saying that his knees have worn down to “bone on bone” which makes me wonder how many more years he is even going to be able to play in the NBA. He is not in the lineup to play against the Memphis Grizzles. In my opinion, with Oden out due to injury, Roy is the one guy that is keeping us from being a competitive top tear team and bad team that is struggling to finish games with a winning record.

Watching Roy for the past couple games has been really disheartening. He has had to come off the court and go into the locker room on several occasions due to knee pains. We can see him icing his knees almost constantly on the bench throughout the whole game. Announcers are saying that he has been taking pills to numb the pain. On our most recent game against the New Orleans Hornets, Roy left the game assumingly due to knee pain. Roy only played about 20 minutes and the Blazers lost 87-107. 

I really hope for the best for Brandon Roy, he is a tough smart player. I enjoy watching him play a lot and I cannot picture a Portland Trail Blazer team without him. What bugs me the most is the fact that we went from “the young team with huge amounts of potential” in 2007 to becoming a consistently hurt team that is struggling to stay afloat. It’s hard to watch a team I like so much have such a rough season so far, but I am a die hard fan and can't wait to get back to Portland and going to a game in person.

Double functioning book

Cardboard madness

I spent way too long working on the legs of this cabinet. I think that it is fairly sturdy seeing how I re-enforced it so well. I also posted my rough draft ideas for my cabinet  I described in a previous post.

This is very similar to what I want to achieve with the idea of multipurpose objects. How does the fact that I want to create this object add and detract from what I want to make is a question I need to address.

So, for my final project I have been kinda stuck on the idea of using cardboard as the main material. I wanna do this for a few reasons, two of those reasons is the fact that it is completely free and I can get as much as I want. I initially wanted to emulate a physical webspace. The idea of my project was to create a drawer/cabinet out of cardboard. The drawers would have a bunch of different size and shaped drawers that people are physically able to open up. The people opening the drawers represents the interaction with a website.
I worked on this project for a while but I just wasn't really liking the outcome. After a chat and some advice with my teacher, I decided to change my idea. My new concept looks at multipurpose objects. I want to create something out of cardboard that can be used in multiple ways.

Interesting thought

This is a interesting call to action by a student here at WSU. All day friday a student hacked the schools servers and had the projectors play this message to classes in Todd hall and Sloan. Overall, I am just impressed that this person has the hacking skills to pull this off. The hacker also gave instructions on how to reverse all of the damages on his/her website which proves that they had no intention to harm the school and only to inform. I had to watch "V for Vendetta" to realize that this idea is based of a call to action against the school and its unfair policies/rules. I really appreciate the fact that someone has the balls to step up and shove these issues into the faces of many WSU's students. One of the issues that I find particularly alarming that the video infers is the concept of RDA (residence dining accounts) and the dorm systems. The school requires that freshmen live in dorms and get RDA which are both incredibly over priced. The food we have to buy is priced by the school and any money not used is kept by the school, a very vicious cycle. The food isn't healthy and is also expensive. WSU also requires freshmen to live in the dorms which compared to living in an apartment is incredibly expensive. I think students should have the option to use RDA or live in the dorms if they so choose to. The school also tacks on stupid fees onto our tuition that go towards our sports teams, which I think is stupid because I don't ever go to football games.
All while they are charging us up the yin yang with mandatory fees, they are also cutting classes in the art department and also in my major, DTC (digital Technologies and Culture). Interesting food for thought.

Silly Apple

I can't deny the slight amount of stupidity of playing a board game on a ipad, but then again, there is also a side of me that is "geeking out" about the thought of playing a board game while having to use your iphones and a ipad. Mac has released a application that allows the user to play scrabble on ipad and the players keep track of their pieces on their iphones.
I guess some of the advantages of having an electronic version of board games would be:
1)Never losing pieces
2)Having set rules
3)Eliminates most cheating
4)Opens the option of playing with others via internet
The price of buying iphones, the ipad, and the application to play the game would be absurd. None of the advantages of having an electronic version of the game would outweigh the cost, so as cool as the idea seems it isn't very logical.

Wow, My roommate Lance successfully completed the "Gallon Challenge"

Lance drank a whole gallon of milk in one hour and didn't throw up once, he is truly a man among boys.

Iphone 4 megapixel HDR photo

Iphone released the HDR photo option as the iOS 4.1 update. So far I have had mixed feelings about the results. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range, the way it works is it takes a handful of the same photos but at different exposure levels. It then takes all the photos and combines them to give the photo a even level of exposure. Some photos turn out really nice, but other times the layering of the photos gives it a "ghosting" effect were the photos don't properly line up.

Project 2:

For this project I really wanted to explore the idea of taking a digital element and morphing that idea into a physical state. The final product shows a layered abstract shape that emulates the way one would explore and interact with a web page.

Up and down perspective

Decay

I found three objects that have "died" then "decayed". All of the images have formally died and I really find myself longing to create a narrative or reason for their death.