I remember being a kid and watching one of my (first) favorite video artworks (ever), Powers of Ten. Talk about new media art! Powers of Ten was created in 1968!! This internal/external perspective was directed and filmed by the brilliant duo, Charles and Ray Eames. Click here to view a contemporary (online/interactive) interpretation to the couple’s original video work. Enjoy, share, and be inspired!
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Image Source: ahumanright.org If you can ‘Like’, re-tweet, and/or respond to this, YOU are lucky. Are you able to imagine not being digitally connected to the world, to your friends, your family, and business partners and colleagues? What about your government disabling and/or prohibiting an internet connection? My mother has a Facebook account for goodness sake, which is great. Yet, there was a time and place where checking your e-mail, your Facebook messages, and updating your status was probably not a part of your daily routine. The world has changed. It is moving and evolving at an even faster rate. So, are you able to imagine your life unable to share so readily with the world? I admit, it would be difficult for me (considering my passion with the Arts and incessantly wanting to share with people). As we move forward in the digital age, old-fashioned wrist watches become vintage and final tweets memorialized, there is a disparity. An individual is unable to enjoy an app if they are far removed or unable to gain access to technology. In some situations, the digital world is rather exclusive versus inclusive. Wouldn’t you say?
A Human Right, organization founded by Kosta Grammatis, aims to help people around the world gain access to the internet. You may think this idea is incredibly idealistic. BUT it’s possible. It is absolutely worth giving people the opportunity to take part in a truly global discourse. Although an argument might be that the world would be glut with misinformation, well, it’s every single person’s responsibility to be both socially and intellectually conscious. Trust me, nothing great comes from exclusivity (some will debate me on this point, please do). A Human Right is moving in a great direction and have some really exciting things happening AND it calls my hometown, San Francisco, home (even sweeter)!!
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This past weekend was rife with art. First, the Get Lucky: The Culture of Chance exhibition at SOMArts Cultural Center on Friday evening. Then, Saturday, Disrupture at icTus gallery in the Mission District of San Francisco. Check out the shows if you are able. I will be working on a write-up for Disrupture so please be on the look out for something a bit more polished to follow.
In the meantime, here are a few photos I snapped during opening night! Enjoy!
Upon entering… 
An intro to the show 
A view of Jenifer Wofford's work for the show 
C. Ree's work titled, Overhead 
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Pretty exciting to blog on the fly! I’m currently at the Get Lucky: The Culture of Chance opening night. Many people and such a great line up of wonderful artists looking at chance while paying homage to art icon, John Cage! More to come…
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In certain types of engineering practices, there’s this idea that the computer and mathematics itself are sort of a-cultural. That they only exist in their own technical and formal world. Every computer system is built within a social and historical context of its time.
~Professor Fox Harrell
Last year, I delved into work and research of Professor Fox Harrell. He runs the Imagination, Computation, and Expression Laboratory (ICE) Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Click here for an introduction to the ICE lab.
The lab’s most recent work is the AIR Project, which stands for Advanced Identity Representation. This particular project looks at the ways in which end users can actively create a richer, dynamic identity within the virtual world. I’m oversimplifying here but I highly encourage you to visit the project site to read immerse yourself in the details. Although his work is based on computation and artificial intelligence (AI), the focus is on the human condition and our (virtual) interactions. This type of new media art helps shed light on the way we behave, perceive, and inevitably mesh and mold into identities we have created for ourselves. More to follow…
Currently reading: Toward a Theory of Critical Computing: The Case of Social Identity Representation in Digital Media Applications by Dr. Fox Harrell
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Yay for Shetland Ponies! ~ Image Source: Mark Kokke (2004) If I had to select my power (or spirit) animal for this year, it would be the Shetland Pony. Quite àpropos considering I was born in the year of the horse (if you believe in the Chinese Zodiac and Feng Shui). According to Wikipedia,
Shetland ponies are generally gentle, good-tempered, and very intelligent by nature. They make good children’s ponies, and are sometimes noted for having a “brave” character, but can be very opinionated or “cheeky”, and can be impatient, snappy, and sometimes become uncooperative. Due in part to their intelligence and size, they are easily spoiled and can be very headstrong if not well-trained.
~ Source: Wikipedia entry for Shetland Pony
Now, I don’t particularly see myself as impatient or uncooperative (or snappy, cheeky maybe, but not snappy) unless I’m met with such behavior but I can say with some certainty that such interactions are pretty rare. If I’ve learned anything in the past year, it is to know my boundaries, keep pushing the limits of my art writing, discover new ways to write and research new media artists, and draw upon connections (ideas, concepts, people, my roots in philosophy and psychology, and art history) to help in creating a theoretical framework. I know. I know. Ambitious but with hard work, dedication, and focus, I’m convinced this can all be done.
So, what will change in 2012 for this work horse? Glad you asked 😉
- Increase in ZERO1 Blogging! ~ With a fresh new design and some exciting events on the horizon, you will be able to find my musings and observations here.
- Asterisk HQ!! ~ Now that Asterisk SF Magazine has found a cozy home in the Mission district of San Francisco, I will be spending some time at the Asterisk HQ. I will continue to write about local artists and art spaces/places and help the team as much as I can with setting up shop, cleaning up, and making it an awesome new spot! Go Team Asterisk!! [Pardon the rah-rah but I’m excited!]
- Amazing opportunities!!! ~ The new year presents me with an incredible opportunity to work on some major new media arts projects with artists, Matt Ganucheau, Cullen Miller, and Jonathan Barcan. I can say anything yet but some really great stuff is in the making!
- Looking forward to finishing up some pitches this week for possible publication!! Cross your fingers and send me those virtual warm fuzzies.
Hmmm, perhaps, the Shetland will be for freewrites, explorations, and time I’ve set aside for discovering new artists and artists-technologists BUT when working on the bigger projects of 2012, my jockeying skills may look a bit more like this…
As always, if you’re willing to share some things you’ve got lined up for 2012, please feel free to comment or message me. I would love to hear what is going on for you! Cheers and all the best to you!!
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The year 2012 It has been an amazing year filled with productivity, energy, and promise. This time last year, I was hoping and wishing for my writing to take me a few places. I had no idea I would be a contributing writer to some really wonderful organizations (i.e., ZERO1, Asterisk, and Hyphen – to name a few). I’ve also had the pleasure of meeting some phenomenal artists, gallerists, curators, bloggers, and writers. I even took part in The People SF!! Making connections and finishing up some major personal writing projects has been both challenging and engaging. Working with some of the best editors in the world that help make my voice stand out and be heard is the reason 2011 has been a fantastic year.
Friends and Family, most importantly, your confidence, support, and guidance in all of my endeavors has been immense. Even to folks who are friends from afar, I thank you. Trying to live out my passion as an art writer (on top of a 9-5 job) is taxing but it’s your kindness and encouragement (comments and feedback) that I’m able to improve and continue. You will definitely see some changes in 2012 and an even more motivated and driven Dorothy. Promise.
Again, cheers to you, your family, your success, and everything you hope and wish for in 2012. May it all happen and if things don’t pan out exactly the way you envisioned, please remember that you are exactly where you need to be. 🙂
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Call for Bloggers!! Click the image above!! ~ Image Source: Art of Hustle Website If you’re a writer and blogger, you know the challenges involved with coming up with new content while staying motivated and keeping yourself apprised of what is going on out there. The emergence of bloggers all over the world, many perceive blogging by many as “…Not writing but graffiti with punctuation“. However, the truly serious stick with it, learn from their mistakes, open to constructive criticism, and reap the benefits of their hard work. It’s been a truly productive, energetic, and inspiring year (to say the least). Yet, in looking forward to 2012, I’m also trying to find opportunities to tighten my writing practice, find some new readership that will not only read but engage with me, and continue writing about my passion – art (specifically, discovering and writing about emerging new media artists).
That said, do you have a success story or tips you would like to share with writers and bloggers out there in the blogosphere? Consider submitting a blog pitch to the founder, Anthem Salgado, of phenomenal resource Art of Hustle and get your writing seen and read. 🙂
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It’s been an incredible year. I’ve learned a lot about art writing, criticism, curatorial practice, art practices, new media arts, and reminded that art exists just about everywhere you look (both good and bad art). I wanted to post some of my favorites from 2011.
January – Corpo Ilicito show at SOMArts Cultural Center
February – Reflections on Ken Lo’s work here and here
March – Turning Data into Visual Representation
April – Discovering Julien Berthier’s work, Love-love
May – Zi Won Wang’s, Buddha Z Illusion
June – US Show at the Fivepoints Arthouse
July – Notes In/troducing Englyph by Tim Roseborough
August – Look Art by Ars Virtua
September – Ever After Exhibition at the Chapel of the Chimes
October – My New York trip! From the padlocks on the Brooklyn Bridge to the NY MOMA to our visit to Harlem to see Tim Roseborough’s show, Pan-African, October was a pretty eye opening month!
November – The Matter Within: The New Contemporary Art of India @ Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
December – Meeting Aaron Koblin and John Gage at GAFFTA’s Galvanize Gala!!
Please feel free to share with me. What were some of your favorite things in 2011? 🙂
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Dorothy R. Santos, Ph.D. 