My Digital Arts in Context class was talking today about Synesthesia and if/how it's connected to why humans make art. This video was really interesting:



I really want to take a class in this sort of stuff now. I found the disorders he was explaining really interesting, like the part about facial recognition and how the patient didn't recognize his mother although he could acknowledge that she looked like her, he believed that she was an impostor because his emotional ties to her had been cut due to that particular part of his brain being severed. Yet, he still recognized her by voice if he didn't see her face. So that also brought me to this question, if the face is the problem, if she walked in with a mask instead, would he look at her other physical attributes and hear her voice and recognize her that way? Also, is it possible to re-develop those emotions once that part has been damaged in the brain or is it like starting from square one again or is it impossible to develop the same relationship again? Hmm...

Also, did anyone ever take notice of electronic warfare?

I read a magazine the other day explaining how the military is trying to use these sections of soldiers specialized in electronics/programming in order to have the option of turning a radio tower off from the inside using it's gadgets rather than going old school and shooting/blowing it up to get it out of commission. Imagine that? This is happening now. Cell phones, radios, car alarms, being rigged to be under the control of the military. It sounds cool, but at the same time, it also makes me a bit insecure. *stares at her cellphone* "Hey, is there a soldier listening to my convos!" XD

It's finals weeks so I haven't been around and classes have been a drag. By the end of the semester though, I hope to post more up here and on my Deviantart. So far, I've only recently posted some drawings from my Life Study I Class.

I got this link from my audio class but it's a custom made 3D script that reacts to sound/music:

200 Nanowebbers.com

I got some great links from my Digital Arts in Context class. They really make me want to take that Robotics & Physical Computing class next semester...

These first two artists make mechanical things that move without using electronics or anything digitally. It's all in the structure!

Arthur Ganson

Theo Janson

And this artist has a similar concept but his work is digital:

Choe U Ram



And this French 3D animation was shown in my Audio class:

90 Degrees



And this is a Vimeo album of my professor's Robotics & Physical Computing Class... Hmm, I wonder if I can take this class without pulling my hair out. XB I have experience with the Arduino board and Processing but it was a year ago and I really hated Processing but I liked Arduino. I also like the idea of building something with my hands- it's just programming it that I might not be crazy about hahaha.

To pull or not to pull the hair?

Wow, so Disney has finally dusted off their pencils, stepped away from Maya or whatever 3D programs they've been dealing with beside Pixar and are going old school and just the way most of us like it with a 2D movie The Princess and the Frog.

As if we shouldn't be jumping for joy at the fact that Disney hasn't released anything drawn and pretty to look at in a long while and voila- the Princess is not Caucasian, of course, people are never satisfied...

( Rant Rant Rant... )

Okay, new topic, I found this really cool project titled, "Personas" and it's basically a Processing project built to "categorize one's online identity" just based on your name. It's really odd. It literally breaks down how much you travel, how "famous" you are, how much education you have etc. I guess the point is to de-humanize your name bc once it's on the web- the internet comes with it's own set of opinions which are often wrong bc the computer is a machine. The point is to show "how the internet sees you."

Personas @ MIT

I knew my online results were wrong bc it said I traveled a lot. Hah. Not even close...

School has started again today! Ah, time to bring out the coffee and lose some sleep.

By the way, did you guys hear? Disney acquired Marvel Entertainment? What?

Marvel SOLD for 4 Billion!

I really don't see how Marvel can benefit from Disney besides having their animators one up their square looking cartoons, but at the same time, when was the last time Disney released a traditionally animated movie that made it big?

Every movie from what I've seen by Disney as of late is 3D with Pixar or real movies like Pirates of the Caribbean, Chronicles of Narnia etc. Other than that, they're either taking old classics and putting them on DVD, "digitally re-mastered with extras" Oh joy or taking these tween shows of some of the creepiest and perkiest teenagers you've ever seen from the Disney channel and turning their stars into movies. The last traditional movie out by Disney is not even Disney's, but Studio Ghibli's Ponyo- which I've heard wasn't as pleasing as as Miyazaki's past movies.

Ponyo on Disney

So yeah, and Marvel had to share profits on their Spiderman movies with Disney which I don't really see why is Disney had no hand in making them. *shrugs* Yeah, so last movie I've seen by Disney that was traditionally done and I loved was The Emperor's New Groove and Lilo & Stitch. I can't think of anything recent so I can only hope Disney's very purpose is to use this opportunity with Marvel to bring their traditional animators back from the dead and I can only hope that Disney will do no more than stamp their logo somewhere on Marvel's movies. Somehow I don't feel like Disney can pull off Marvel's Superheroes, especially since some of them aren't kid friendly...

Ah, so I had listed my many projects on DeviantArt and yet have had no inspiration to do any of them so far. However, I have been inspired to just play with backgrounds with minimal animation. So, I'm tackling a small lip syncing project with little animation and based off of the rhyme, "Mary had a little lamb," intending it as an inside joke between myself and my best friend who, guess what, happens to be named Mary. :3

My 2nd day working on it. Here it is in the works...

Hi. It's been an eventful summer so far. My mother's been sick lately and I have no way of coping. So a writer does what she does best. She writes... This is for my mother.

Note: I was a bit too lazy to re-format italics and junk when pasting this to LJ, so another time, another day. I hope to have one of my trustworthy friends beta this for me.

( My Barbie's Name is Emily )

Written by Rachel Vasquez 2009
This work can be shared with others and linked to with credit. No alterations of any kind or non/commercial uses.


My Barbie's name is Emily by Rachel R. Vasquez is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

The semester is over. Finally. Over.

I'm not completely satisfied with my Flash Animation final so I'm tweaking it before posting. For now, I've posted my piece for my class collab.

When Cholesterol Attacks

I would like to find an internship but I want to get my website up as well as portfolio together first. Now where to find an internship? Good question...

This blog response has to be our reaction to this reading: Digital Art real art or not?

( Read my reaction... )

Click clack on cement past the flip flap stand down past the heavy beats and la’s of the boom box.

The screech on the road pulls the leash on my neck, and I wonder how tires hiss.

Bopping and chewing my pop stick by the slick man who licks his lips as he mmm’s at swish and swivels.

Little girls hop and skip on chalk grids in the chain parks ‘cause big kids boycott swings.

And as they squeak and rust, I plug in my ear wires with a shrug to provide my mind with breathing support.

Calligraphy bricks line up by yellow cliffs where you can see the rats race.

Thunder rolls in trenches, sparks snap rails,

Noses lost in the grayscale paper.

The lifeless paper.

With my frost in a cup, hunger tugs my sleeve.

So I flip flop upon freshly drenched summer to where you can scream with ching in your fingers.

I tinker with the slurp bubbles, between jingling metal and my grease pod,

Over the stoop dwellers,

Sometimes guarding carnival bodegas,

Kangaroo pouched fellas shaking up copper dust on the bottom of one dollar coffee cups.

Finally through the turn and shove into the clock’s hug where I bend and shift up the light switch that flickers over the table where mail has fed and consumed.

My last move on this night’s end and day’s routine, is to fluffy snoozes where relief sings me soothing odes,

Tightly secure in my place of sighs, beside wailing windows,

This four-sided burrito roll, this place I call home.


Written by Rachel Vasquez 2007

Can be shared and linked to others with credit. No alteration or non/commercial uses.



Street Sounds by Rachel R. Vasquez is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Sugar peppered over inquisitive eyes
White linens down living room aisles
Porcelain would magically revive

Lipgloss gave me years
Plastic plugs pinched on my ears
A lollipop to evaporate tears

Balls of socks stuffed in my shirt,
Tiny toes rebel against giant shoes
Little pink frills upon my skirt
And a piece of rubber to chew

Magic tricks, vanilla spotted lips
Colds that a spoonful of cherries could soothe

Sunflower petals and golden wings halo
Where bare feet dirtied against glossy hues

Where words were value and candy was gold
Lies became truth to innocent guises

When a penny was a lot, money came in colors
Boy, was the world full of surprises

Cross hatches on knees, over cooked cheeks
‘Cause I’ve played in the sand too long

Graffitied walls, finger poked cookie dough
Bubbles made my laughter flutter

Sitting at the table humming off beat
My hands liked to spread peanut butter

Imagination was vivid and life had no limits
Clouds were fluffy in my palms

And now a decade later
I find my sight clearer
And I realize that this world is no fun at all


Written by Rachel Vasquez 2006/07

Can be shared and linked to others with credit. No alteration or non/commercial uses.


The World's No Fun by Rachel R. Vasquez is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

How it was built...

A video toying with the concept of control, big brother, and people's reaction to surveillance in a public place. Flash serves as a mediator between the installation and the internet users tracking these random strangers with light.

Concept

www.profedota.ru

This website is another language, but I still admire the whimsical design and the way they make it feel like you're moving through space when you click on one of the hills. :3

So my midterm animation is done (well not perfect but I won't have to look at it anymore if I don't want to) and I've posted it on youtube until I get my acceptance from DeviantArt's little film "club" or whatever. No audio and I used rigs for the animation.



I'll re-post when I get the DeviantArt version. :D

I am finally done with my Flash animation that technically was supposed to be due two weeks ago. I handed it in bc it had all the necessary requirements including 15 seconds over the minimum- but story-wise, it was only halfway. So now it is done except it has no audio and I'm sure there are still some bugs that need fixing. I'm hoping for the final, I can find an easier way around animating bc using the rigs and such took a lot of time. Maybe I'd rather just free hand it all and work it out into symbols afterwards?

Gah. I'm done. Hide it away. Moving on to my other Flash project...

PS: The animation probably won't be posted for a while. I need to get into DeviantArt's little film club to submit. O_o

Ooh I want to know how they did this! They used a video, Flash player and Actionscript 3 to make the video as it's playing, pan around in any direction you want with a mouse!

Panning with a video

They're calling it "Interactive Video" and Papervision is being mentioned. Hmm, maybe I'll toy with Papervision this summer. :-) It's looking more and more exciting as I see other people use it.

Papervision Blog

And I'm researching some video projects that have been displayed in either galleries or museums but since I don't usually go looking for videos in Museums and Galleries, I have no idea where to look. This is what I've got so far...

CamilleUtterback.com

EDIT:

Ah, found something cool on good ole' youtube! It's an interactive table that was featured in Liliesleaf Museum in Africa and was built using Papervision and using Wii controls.

LiliesLeaf Table

Pixel Project

I'm looking over Pixel Project's work and I really like it so far. From their installation in Africa, I really like how they went beyond a typical, "press here to read this page" interface that's boxed into a corner somewhere like other museums with just a touch screen or mouse- they actually enforce the user to get somewhat physical with the interface since it is on a table as they move these cylinders around the surface. And combining Flash/Papervision and the devices from Wii controls- now that's thinking about interactivity rather than just plugging in a keyboard with some keys. (I'm a nerd, aren't I?) DX

Muahahaha I have found already made Flash Preloaders I can use for my Flash animations. With some editing, it can become my own preloader and I won't have to know what I'm writing in the actionscript! Well, I might but maybe not.

Download Free Flash Preloaders Here

I already tried two from other places but were unsuccessful due to them being AS2 not AS3. The link above should work. New Grounds also has a lot of cool Flash animations. :D

I was deciding on how to create the background for my beta Flash project for my "Flash for Artists" class, and I came across these brushes. The feel of the brushes really inspired me so I decided to draw, scan them in, and make my own brushes for the project. These are the brushes that inspired me:

Scrawl PS Brushes

This isn't a Flash site but we're learning how to make a database in my web class, so here's one that's funny as hell, recommended by my professor. :3

Fark.com