On On Bodies and Shadows: Caravaggio and His Legacy

During my Thanksgiving vacation I got to visit LACMA and see the Caravaggio Show in the Resnik Pavilion. The show was compiled of influential pieces, as well as pieces that were influence by the genre and painting style Caravaggio developed. There was no photography allowed, but that did not stop me from taking pics in the exhibit. I think the most interesting thing about the body of work, is that it was laid out in a very grand scale. It felt cold and really spaced out. I've included a panorama picture of the event. 

improbable monument/ analysis

Taking iconic jewelry and constant silhouette of the ring to empower and elevate a lifestyle present in San Francisco today. 

 

Cock ring is a sign of continuos play. It is used in a kink and fetish form to prolong rigidity by slowing the blood flow to the penis. It is usually placed at the bottom of the penis with the scrotum through the ring as well. Since the cock ring is used for prolonging the party, I thought it would be a perfect representation of prolonging a celebration that is Iconic to the people who use them (the Folsom Street fair, as well as The Dore Alley street fair) are both part of many kink/fetish lifestyles, such as BDSM, nudity, gay, trans cultures (to name a few). 

on System association

Upon mapping the system of weight training, I started taking voice memos at the gym of words that described actions or thoughts that came to my head as i worked out. There are many contributing factors that come day to day to me making it to the gym. Lately, more often than not, I'm making it 4-5 times a week. The system of loosing fat and gaining muscle is complicated but simple. Complicated in a way you must muster up energy or ability to go. Simple as in following a diet, keeping to great workout form and developing a healthy lifestyle.

• how I get it done
• visual goals
• why I do it?

on GAFFTA

I went to the Urban Prototyping festival which exposed new ways of urban planning in San Francisco.  Some highlights of the show that I was quite fond of were the hanging gardens that were suspended from a regular aluminum fence. It reminded me of the hanging gardens of Babylon. Bringing green space into cities has always been an issue with all Large heavily congested and populated cities. 

http://www.gaffta.org

Smart bus stop enables users to text a question to the bus stop, it then replies to question using social media or historical data. 

Hanging with Jasmin, while checking out the hanging gardens.

QRC succulent scanner.  (part of the creation of green spaces created from reclaimed water in the city of SF in/near the areas with fire hydrants. )

Looking all kinds of Sexy... I was my bday! :)

on System Recognition.

look around your bedroom, neighborhood, city. Look for what might be a system by looking at elements and trying to discern relationships between them: 

• washing hands

• showering

• cooking

• weight lifting

• soap type

• temperature

• skin problems

• days activities

• type of product being washed from hands (oil, paint, grease, dirt)

• when the last time washed

• water pressure

• time spent washing

Showering:

• soap type

• shampoo

• face cleanser

• company waiting?

• thorough scrubbing

• luffa, sponge, towel, hands

• sore from working out

• sickness

• body temp

• temperature

• skin problems

• days activities

• type of product being washed from hands (oil, paint, grease, dirt)

• when the last time showered?

• water pressure

• time spent in shower

Cooking

• seasoning

• temp

• time 

• pan type

• portion cooking

• prep

• cleaning (how clean was the pot)

• fat used to cook?

• allergies?

• seasonality of food

• price of food

• diet

Weight lifting

• strength

• weight amount

• pre workout energy 

• day activities encountered

• injuries

• gloves

• blistering

• post workout diet

• reps

• time intervals

• consistency 

• stretching

• cardio beforehand?

don’t worry too much about figuring out how the system works in any great detail. Don”t worry about what the individual parts are doing, look at the system as a whole and think of ways you can use the output and/or ways inputs can affect it. Think of it as a black box





washing hands

Lewitt speaks about how


Craft fetishism is a term described by the other artist speaks of a system oriented culture. its less about the object and more about the relationship to the object or people to people to institutions and so forth. What things do and how do they do it as opposed to what they are.

On Augmentation

Upon learning about different Artists and their studies in body augmentation. I wanted to be a different person but still encompass something organic. With that said, I wanted to augment a part of my body that would not be easily hidden. A horn, much like that of a rhinoceros is what I came up with. My need for further exploration of what a horn could do probably encompasses fulfillment of some sexual desires.  Oral anal sex with the addition of a horn would probably be interesting and allow me to achieve a new form of intimacy with my sexual partners.   In doing so, there are a couple of questions that come to mind:

• Is this for them or for me? for both. There is a certain aspect of making someone else feel awesome that makes me feel awesome.

• Does this constitute beastiality? Somewhat. I dont know how receptive someone would be into having a horn near their nickel slot.

• Practical uses for the horn? defense? would it make me less approachable?

•Why not a snout?

on body augmentation and modification

Orlan has become a media sensation in Europe. I like her work and understand her thoughts behind her actions. She has no shame, and she is honest from the beginning.  Although her shows are in your face, they are thought provoking. Using her body as the main text/subject/vehicle in her work, has made it more interesting to me. He hybridization of sculpture and body via digital format is something I might look into for my project in class. 

Some thoughts that came to mind while researching this topic were of self image and identity. People always make a decision about how they look or like to present themselves to other people.  Taking into consideration that inaction is an action itself.  Everyone has their own way of portraying themselves on a regular basis. It seems that these people/artists all want to transcend their original body blueprint to be different then the rest for social awareness, whether it be political or psychosocial. Stelarc with his suspensions, implants and Virtual Reality processes has lent him to learn more about his personal relationship to the physical world. 

•interesting conversation I had with a classmate was how someone that has a specific hairstyle, gets caste to a specific group sometimes. Stereotyped if you may, and inadvertently thought of as a certain kind of person. A person fights stigma both negative and positive traits that really have nothing to do with the person sometimes based on just a hairstyle.  A person maybe once thought the hair would make them different, but in doing so, made them part of another group. Or at least a part of a group, of people trying to be different, which logically just makes them part of another group.

Culture Jamming

The symbol of Obey used in clothing line is synonymous with youth culture in present time.  Upon asking people wearing obey, if they know who the image is about or the artist who created the image, I usually got a blank stare or stupid face back form them.

So i just changed the words to don't from obey. Because frankly, thats exactly what i think in my head when I come across these "contemporary" fashionites.

Indeterminacy Assignment

1) Post on facebook.

2) Paint a swatch of the color(s) the person has chosen. If the person comments on the conversation, but doesnt not post a color, leave the color blank, but still acknowledge the post with time and persons name.

3) make a grid and chart chronologically in order by time. all the posts on team mates facebook post and self post.

on AS WE MAY THINK by Vannevar Bush

Vannevar's writings of technology and the future capabilities it holds is quite extraordinary. The writings although printed in 1945 are true to todays technology and how we see the future with products being created around the world. One of the most fascinating points he brings up is just how so much research and study goes into creating and developing, and how much time gets wasted in the process. Just like with anything else, development of a product whether its Art, prose or even the cooking a meal yields inferior products in the beginning. Its after practice or debugging of a product, that we are happy with the results and truly get closer to what success looks like. 

A couple of thoughts on some quotes in the writing.

"The world has arrived at an age of cheap complex devices of great reliability; and something is bound to come of it."

•extention cords, coffee machines, printers.. all now. 

"All our steps in creating or absorbing material of the record proceed through one of the senses - the 

tactile when we touch keys, the oral when we speak or listen, the visual when we read. Is it not possible 

that some day the path may be established more directly"

•more true now than ever. with objects being created like the google glasses, complete immersion of transmitting data with senses is the new frontier. 
•I get a mental picture of a human plugging in to computer directly by means of a port. Just like a blood transfusion. 

It's pretty remarkable to see Vannevar write of about all the growth and potential the world has accomplished. I'd be more interested to read what he would write today. Since many of the things he writes now are just as true as it was in 1945. Makes me wonder... Would it just be the same?

On panorama.

Although I dont really comprehend the science or the purpose of the installation, It seems to me that Job Koelewijn's work of trampolines and cut holes in a space are a bit funny or meant to be fun.  It reminds me of a picture I read about in a blog once when the Iron Lady came out (with Meryl Streep). It's called the Margaret Thatcher Illusion. Perception keeps us from deciphering some information when its mirrored or turned upside down. Its until we see it right side up, that we see the facial expression information changed.

on Conquest

Olga Kisseleva is an artist known for her use of scientific methods to create pieces of art. In one of her most recent works, Kisseleva created a new kind of map which shows the invasion of companies currently present in the Arctic. Its geopolitical and corporate powers, are shown through a series of company logos such as Shell Gas company and Esso. 

Arctic Conquistadors, Olga Kisseleva

As research and data progress, more and more oil and government company logos are placed and overlapped to show how deeply saturated the Arctic has become with private company acquisitions of land and government property.

It's interesting to see such a beautiful landscape be decimated by imagery of corporations from around the world. It looks almost as if there was a map spread out on a coffee table and a toddler just came and dropped hundreds of corporate stickers and paraphernalia on top of it. creating an obscure image of the natural looking map to a cluster of repetitive symbols.  With that said,  one of the answers as to why Kisseleva creates these maps is highlighted. Enlightening the viewer of what is actually going on in the world is the main focus. The Geopolitical and corporate struggle extends to cities in many ways. Political unrest in forms of demonstration and war have been breaking out both nationally and internationally and I feel this is just one more avenue in which activist or artist are achieving the spread of knowledge to their audiences.