artist Jennifer Steinkamp

Jennifer Steinkamp is a living installation artist. She mainly works with video and new media in order to explore ideas about architectural space, motion, and perception. Her work uses computer animation to craft immersive interactive projections. 3 dimensional computer graphics are the basis of her animation. She fully uses the advantage of computer modeling and rendering technologies to create motions and views which are not accessible by any other means.
Lighting is the most important element in her art. Since most her works are about architectures and spaces, she dematerialize architectures by using multiple lighting methods and combing the space and movement. Her lighting creates an illusionistic sense of space and dimension.
I like her because I feel that she and I share something common in the perception of light, and her work has evolved out of a deep interest in issues of feminism, since I consider myself as a feminism artist. About the technology aspect, she uses tons of software tools such as Maya, After Effects, and Macromedia Director. She likes to use particle dynamics and paint effects. Her work is very overwhelming saturated and patterns are complex.

here is her official website: http://jsteinkamp.com/
her video installation video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlRWxLB-CcI

after effects exercise

Assignment #2 text part

Asian style emoticon is more complex and detail on facial features. It has more expressions on eyes and action. Emoticon is very closely related to language and the Manga expression marks. Because it’s vertical orientation. Asian emoticon is more vivid and lively, and probably more effective associated with emotions and brain activities.
Western emoticon only contains three elements: eyes, nose, and mouth. It’s very easily understood.
They convey not only verbal messages but also nonverbal information--emotion and gesture. more directly points out sender’s attitude and make the metaphor more clear
What are emoticons? They are symbols for faces, usually used by teenagers and young adults in informal social writing.

assignment #2

1st Assignment

reading post #6

Invisible Cities is composed by conversations between Marco Polo, a Venetian Traveler, and Kublai Khan, an oriental emperor. The plot is very strange— there is no beginning, no development of characters (besides the two mentioned), no direct background reference to the reader. Calvino’s writing can be described as surrealistic. Towards the end of the book, cities that described by Marco Polo and told to the emperor are surreal: they are rarely built of bricks or mortar; they are full of aluminium springs, silver domes, crystal, bronze, seashells, etc. It seems that every time Marco Polo told Kublai a completely different city. They are strange, magical, invisible cities that nobody else ever saw. None of them are the same. But finally readers will find out that all the cities are exactly the same one—Zobeide.

The conversations structure reminds me the book of One Thousand and One Night. The emperor was bored of the stories brought to him by his messengers across the empire. Only the stories told by Marco Polo, of the cities that he met during his travels, keep him interested.

I think the point when the story comes into Art is visualizing the invisible city. After each short new description of the city, reader has to stop and to think; to integrate each piece of prose into a real living city. Just like play a puzzle.

reading post #5

Psychogeography, according to its founder Guy Debord, is “the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals”. It combines subjective and objective knowledge and studies. Psychogeography overlaps mental maps, having subjective analysis-mental reaction to neighbourhood behaviors related to geographic location. It encompasses diverse activities that raise awareness of the natural and cultural environment. “in discovering a small world we discover the whole world.” (Bill Humber)
The video TED gives a new manifesto to the map. I am so impressed by the imagery technology and augmented reality. Network with Flickr and video camera supports a fantastic possibility of a brand new future of mapping. This new imagery tracking and three dimensional simulation system has something overlapping the Psychogeography. Psychogeography mapping relies on the mental reaction/emotions to a place or the surrounding environment. The new research provides a more realistic and imagery vision to the viewer. Visual reading is more likely trigger an emotional reaction and provides a more specific measurement than a flat abstract map. Thus, I think, the new imagery tracking mapping method could be seen as a sort of psychogeography. Images provided by flickr comes from the people who has been there before, therefore, it’s about a personal experience and memory to a place.