Holiday Express

So this goes practicly right by my house! I will be down there one night, or more taking pictures if anyone is interested in coming!!

By 1975, all the isms were wasms.

As hard as Jeff Jahn's lecture was to follow I feel like he had some very interesting things to say about art history, and the comparisons he made between different art pieces were things I would have never thought about.


(I will continue this post later, I am at work and have a costumer....weird.)

Breakdown ... it had to be done

On Wednesday i had a break down over our whole project and the review coming. I guess I just got to the point of being so frustrated that I had to breakdown. Im glad I had that talk with Colin though, he really helped me understand where I am, where I should be and what I can do.

One thing Colin pointed out was that the project I was working on for Zara really was similar to my big project, so maybe I have a better idea of what I am doing than I am letting myself know. If even said to show both projects at the review.

For Zara's class I am actually happy with what I am making (which happens VERY rarely) I think they will live on the wall at my house! The other good thing is they really have made me think a lot about design, myself, and our big project. They even gave me another idea that is kinda a mix of the 2 I am working on right now. Who knows if I will actually do it or if it was just a nice idea just to think about... but what if I took this idea of postcards, and when you think of postcards you think of the grand canyon, new york city, statue of liberty, lake Tahoe, and so many more tourist sights that people want to share with their friends and family. So what if I got topo maps of all these types of areas and "abstract" them a bit and make them look more like art then maps and present that as a postcard of wherever... they still could have your normal description of the grand canyon or what not on the back but that is the only way you would know what famous place you were looking at...


just an idea, we will see.

Now my house is full of awesome chairs.

There are also 2 white and green tulip chairs at the same store. I want them, but they werent 20$ I will add a picture soon!

OK OK I bought them, how could I not! If I dont want them I could sell them for twice as much on EBAY!!! They are just so cool!

TWENTY BUCKS? SOLD

I got myself a Herman Miller chair today! I might be using it for our final project, we will see.

So COOL!

http://www.coraline.com

if anyone figures out the other keys let me know!

Almost forgot

Oh I also had an idea while trying to fall asleep last night, Im really just writing it here so it doesn't disappear forever.


A series of photos, ice, figures, melting.


That all I need for now.

Stressin'

Our big review is rapidly approaching and I HAVE NOTHING!! Im stressing because I thought I would have some postcards by now, but as I discussed in my last post, things just arent working out. So, I have been thinking, what am I going to do?!? I had one idea but I dont know if I should do it, remember my SK4 Port-o-potty. Well it was a lot of fun, so what if I kept running with that idea, just to do something fun. I could take a few more items that are "must haves" and turn them into port-o-pottys. Someone has got to do it, right? Then I would have a collection of these designer bathrooms that I could make a whole product line for....

Just a fun idea, that has nothing to do with my final project, and who knows if there is even time...

Am I screwed?

Prototype, Prototype, Prototype.

So for the last week I have been trying to get my prototype postcards out but I am having the hardest time getting them printed. Originally I was going to print them on individual 4x6 sheet but i can not get the photo tray on my printer to work, and ALL photo paper has the brand name printed on the back! So, I decided to print a few on a larger sheet then cut them, not ideal but I need to get these out! After searching everywhere for card-stock paper that has a gloss front and A BLANK back I found some that I really thought would work but the ink isn't printing right. It looks kinda blotchy!! Anyways, I am still struggling to get these post cards out, next attempt.... school printing.

Unfortunately because of all the problems I am running into with printing I am starting to stress about our review! What am I going to show?!?!

Missing Nike

Unfortunately I missed the talk from Nike, it was definitely something I wanted to see... On the other hand I'm sure the reading from last week wasn't as good as the talk. As we all know and probably have done is have a compulsion to collect. This reading talks about this compulsion as well as institutional collections. I know when I was younger I felt the need to collect frogs, not real ones, but anything with frogs. The line form the reading "What we have begun to suspect is that the collection is never really initiated in order to be completed" seemed to perfectly summarize compulsive collecting for me. You never really think about it that way but it is very true that when you are collecting frogs, shoes, fiesta ware whatever you never have an end in sight.Today there are so many things people are interested in collecting, toys, figurines, comics, antiques and so on, but how many of these things do people really care about and how many people do it just to collect?

Science Pub tonight!

Science Pub tonight!!!!


When: Portland Science Pub is the last Tuesday of the month, (unless otherwise noted) from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Doors open at 5:00 p.m.
Where: Mission Theater & Pub, 1624 N.W. Glisan, Portland, OR

Epic Failure

After my talk with Zara and Colin about my project I have realized I have a lot of things to think about. I also realized my idea isn't as unique as I was thinking, but nothing ever is I guess. Hopefully by the beginning of next week I will have my first set of test postcards out around Sellwood, and ideally it will show me a lot about what design was most eye catching and how people respond to the task. Who knows this could all just be an epic failure! But lets hope not.

The most important thing I need to think about right now is what will I write on the back of the postcard. What am I asking for from the people? Do I want them to respond to my image, the city, the neighbor hood, anything...??? Or maybe I just write a few and put different ones on some postcards to see what the turn out is... i dunno but I have to think fast! I need to get these out!

On another note I just got the most ridiculous coffee job ever. Good news is they know I am looking for an internship and have no problem if I end up leaving soon! In the mean time at least I will be making some money.

Slacker.

So I feel like I have been a total slacker lately but I have been dealing with these migraines that are seriously kicking my ass! It might be time to go see someone...

Anyways, I have been thinking and working on my final project a bit and have come up with a new idea for the final installation. Ideally I will get plenty of postcards returned to me so I can make this possible but I might put a Portland map on he wall and post a postcard from each neighborhood on the map then connect it with all the places they have been sent from and back to me. Then with all the remaining postcard I have been thinking of making a large screen like thing... At home I have one of those clamps that put the grommets in when you punch a hole, so i could do that to every post card and attach them with the metal binder ring looking things. Ha, such technical terms! Who knows if this will even make sense to anyone but me, but at least I have it saved somewhere now so I can refer to it when I am lost...


As far as the images on the post cards go I have been playing around with a few and am getting closer to something that might work, we will see. I have images of Sellwood, Old town, and part of Hawthorne/Belmont so far, I am kinda waiting for the new camera before I get too far along with images!

Understanding Comics

Last week Ken came in and talked to the class, which I was excited about. Ken was an animation teacher at the U of O and retired the year I started. I took art classes from his wife at my high school and only ever heard great things about his classes. The only thing that really bugged me about his presentation was not his fault at all... it was the whole video communicating thing! I did really enjoy how he encouraged us to sketch tho, and I made notes of some of the artist he showed!

The book we read before Ken's presentation was Understanding Comics, a book I have read before. This is a great book that breaks down different story telling techniques and visual communication all in a comic book style. If it weren't done in such a creative way I would probably have lost all interest in it. Although McClouds book focuses on comics it realates alot to just basic design and what I do everyday!

Too much fun!

HA! So I found this site and it made me laugh, so I thought I should share it with you all!

http://www.yearbookyourself.com/

this is what I have been doing with it....




haha im way to easily entertained...

Sunday thoughts

I am working on 3 projects and while 2 should be pretty much done I am still struggling. My vinyl project has never become something I have really gotten into because I havent come up with an idea I am in love with yet. Then Colin sent out that email and now I am really stuck. Lindsay had a good idea (since we share a wall) but I still havent met up with her about that... If I dont do a joint one with her this is my incomplete thoughts on one idea



My design remix is coming along I still need to work a few things out and polish it up a bit but it has actually been a lot of fun! Here is a unfinished look at that...



and last but most important is my final project. I finally found a great art store this weekend and picked up a sketch book dedicated only to this project. Now I can document my impressions, ideas, and what not all in one place. I think this will be real good for me! Other then that I have taken some photos but am struggling with my design idea for the postcards! I know I want to design my own stamp...dont know what it will look like, and I know I dont just want photo postcards, dont know what they will look like.... So do I draw on the photo, cut out parts of the photo, just draw what was important from the photo, andd text to the photo, make them all the same style, make them all different....these are just some of the questions I am thinking about. Anyways here is a sample of a Sellwood clock I drew over, again unfinished, just a taste!

Medium is the massage

So when I sat down in the library to read this I didnt get at all what I expected. I have to admit at times I was even confused by what I was reading, but overall I found this book really interesting and definitely worth the read. What I did find interesting was the fact that most of the book is talking about how writing a book is pretty much an inferior way of communicating, like the tv or radio the book is a one-way communication as opposed to a conversation.

After reading this book I did a little research on McLuhan just to see where his insight was coming from... and this guy is everywhere! Its funny tho, after reading this and feeling like the guy hates book it turns out he is a professor of literature, he says "he teaches books from morning to night"

I found this interesting interview with McLuhan from the 70's



The other readings from this week were also interesting, the fact that these 2 articles were written at 2 different times gives them completely different meaning. In the earlier article what is being said seems very relevant because who really cared about design back then, it wasn't until sometime in the 90's people really started focusing on the design of your every day items. Again while trying to figure out when people really started caring about the design of every day items I stumbled upon this book called "The Design of Every Day Things" by Donald A. Norman and I started reading the first few pages that Amazon lets you see for free. Here is a bit of the intro... "Poor design predominates. The result is a wold filled with frustration, with objects that cannot be understood, with devices that lead to error. This book is an attempt to change that." Kinda leads me to believe they still hadn't figured out design by 1988, the date this book was published.

SK4 Remix

So I think I am going with the port-o-potty idea and although it would be real fun to make a mini model of it I dont think I will be able to so instead I am going to have my sister teach me a little sketch up so I can at least make a 3D model of it. This will be a first for me so hopefully I can figure it out!

Another Lindsay inspiration...

I bought a crocpot today all cuz of lindsays damn ribs!

SK4 Remix

With a little help form Lindsay I might have a better idea of what to do for my Remix! Dieter Rams revolutionized design by presenting this object normally hidden in ugly furniture and presenting it in a new contemporary way. From then on the record player was designed with the inspiration of the SK4 record player.

So..... I have 2 options...

1- I sort of "destroy" the sleek feeling of snow whites coffin.
2- turn something else that is normally ugly and not viewed as a designer piece

I haven't come up with a way to fulfill option 1 but how about a SK4 Port-o-potty




So maybe I make a Hybrid of these two things...

Creepy good

I found this horoscope today and its creepy good...

Sagittarius- "Be humble for you are made of dung" says a Serbian proverb. "Be noble for you are made of stars." I expect that you'll soon be getting vivid evidence of that truth, Sagittarius. Your challenge will be to resist the temptation to believe that you're more dung than stars, or more stars than dung. That might be hard, given the fact that practically everyone around you believes that you are one or the other. But I promise you that you have the power to do it. You can exude cheerful equanimity while dwelling right at the crux of the paradox.

Second assignment and im already spacing...ieee

Like my situation wasnt stressing me out enough my dog decided to contribute instead of help. Saturday she figured out how to run away, she had never done it before but i guess she enjoyed it and did it again later that day! Luckily my neighborhood is sooo dog friendly and as soon as someone saw her they promptly swept her up and dragged her home!
Anyways...
The end of last week really threw me off, so much I guess I completely spaces writing this post.

The Bauhaus seems to really balance the idea of form and function, it is a sort of balance between the manufactories and artists of that time. It does not get caught up in making the function of the object so literally it loses the look an artist would apply and vice versa. It is a visit back to craftsmanship, where not everything was made by machines. Like this piece says "Design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life, necessary for everyone in a civilized society." It is a revisit to craftsmanship. Walter Gropius, the founder of the school helped create a huge part of design history. Many big names came out of the Bauhaus such as Charles R. Mackintosh, Eero Saarinen,Eileen Gray, George Nelson,Marcel Breuer and Mies van Der Rohe, all which have produced some of the most iconic pieces of furniture to date. However, I like to think Dieter Ram has got to be at the top of the list.

Dieter Ram was pretty much the man who Braums design style. Starting work there in 1955 and continuing to enhance their design until 1995, he redefined their design standards! The interview with Dieter (I feel like we should be on a first name basis) really made me respect him as a designer and a person. His rule of design was "less but better" and we really see this influence in the SK4 record player, which happens to be my object to remix!

Dieter's innovation of the clear top took the record player from being a bulky piece of furniture to a piece of art. This being my design remix object I feel like I have a challenge. By taking an ordinarily hidden object in the house and displaying it to be seen by everyone he has made this record player visually appealing thing, so my thought was to take it a step further and display it as art... but guess who has done that, Dieter Rams. While in class we watched an interview with him and I noticed he had already deigned another record player that hangs on the wall just like a piece of art. So much for that idea.

Why I hate my internship-

My third day, after following the story board I was given. MY FIRST PROJECT!

"This is way to long if this were a paid project it would NEVER leave the office."

SORRY I FOLLOWED MY DIRECTIONS!

In referance to the flash project I was working on, the FIRST project I was working on. Right after I explained that I spent time out side of work to get the programing to work!-

"Sorry I tought this is what you did...what do you do anywyays?"

me- "I do everything else I just never got into programming!"

"Oh so what you just a BASIC designer? Well dont even worry about the programming. Anything at your level is worthless to us!"

WOW THANKS!

Another fun job for me. Adding the registration mark to letterheads!Keep in mind I DO NOT HAVE WORD on the computer THEY have given me!!

"This is not what I wanted, I wanted two word docs just like I sent you...or do you not have word on your computer?"

me- "no I dont have word"

"Well this is worthless to me I want two word DOCS... two...just like the two I sent you!" (i sent him 2 he could open in word)

me- "I thought since I dont ahve word I could send them to you and you could resave them as word docs?"

"NO, I want a finished product please!!!"

AHHHH. I ALMOST LEFT THE OFFICE RIGHT THEN!

Whats going on?

Just a few things I found that are going on around town.

Portland Open Studios. This happens annually on the second and third weekends in October. You can go in and see over 98 individual artist studios.



Another interesting show that is going on right now is neidhardt & davis : PRETTY UGLY . This is a found object show going on from Oct. 2- Nov 2nd. It looks pretty entertaining!

What inspires me!

So I really started thinking about my project this week, and while I was at work I got some ideas from a typography book. The work of David Carson might become a big influence in what I do this year. I never have gotten into typography but always have wanted to so this might be my chance.

My initial idea: I have 3 influences that this project will hopefully grow from-
1. Being my first time to live in a "big" city I really wanted to use this experience to create a project for this year. It will be what I want to call "digital impressionism". I will record my first impressions from around the city with digital photography and notes I take along the way. The city is broken up into many well known neighborhoods (hawthorn/belmont, old town, pearl, sellwood, alberta arts...etc.) I think I will explore these neighborhoods and record all my first impressions...
2. A previous project that I worked on, Possessions, was the first conceptual project I have done. It also was a project where I really pushed myself outside of my comfort zone. Im not one to approach strangers and ask them questions but I made myself do this in this project Possessions, it resulted in something unpredictable and very interesting. These unique results I got were so uncontrolled and unpredictable I have decided to include outside influences into my project this year. I am thinking of making the digital photographs (maybe i will draw on them edit them add text to them balh blah blah..) into postcards. the postcards have postage on them and pre addressed to maybe a PO box I get. I will leave these post cards around this city in shops and such for people to add their impressions to and send back to me.
3. My last influence is David Carson and his influence will help me design the postcards into something interesting.

Flex time- "time to do what you see fit"

Ok I dreaded todays arrival. Its Thursday, that means I get to go sit in an office for 8 hrs, do about 2 hrs of work, and slowly let the people around me deflate my self esteem to almost nothing! During my 3.5 hrs of "flex" time and 2.5 hrs to work on a project I have already handed off I saw it fit to go home, take a nap, play with my dog.... anything but sit in an office, not get paid, and waste my time. But guess what I got to do, yes, sit in an office and try to act like I had something important to do for 6 hrs! The only positive thing that has come out of today is I got to browse a really cool new site- ffffound.com- I found this really cool project where someone took the movie Clerks and graphicly represented the entire cast and how often they are speaking. How cool would it be to do this to all your favorite movies!



"Each colored block represents one second in the movie with individual blocks grouped into rows of 60 seconds. These rows form a single column the length of the movie. The color of each block indicates the character speaking at that specific moment in time. Seconds with no active speaker are indicated by a split grey block and character lines containing profanity are indicated by white dots in the corresponding blocks."

I just saw it fit to spend my flex time sharing this really cool project with you all!





Ha and look my desk flare has become fashion!!

What's going on?

So I have been trying to keep somewhat of an idea about what is going on in Portland every week. Im new to the area and know there are so many opportunities to get out and see music, art, performances, and a lot more. Here are some of the sites I have been using to stay in the PDX loop- Oregon Live, and Travel Portland.

School kicks works ass!

I think there will be a lot of talk about my internship here. This is a brand new experience for me and take up half of my week, so I feel its only right I share what I am learning, feeling, and any good stories. My internship is at Quango and while I don't get paid for my time I am hoping I will take a lot away from there that I can use in the future!

These first two weeks definitely have been a challenge, not only am I struggling with the fact that I have to sit in an office for 8 hours of my day but it really is making me second guess what I want to do with my life. This could be a good thing... at least I am figuring out now. Who knows tho, maybe once I get into the swing of things I will enjoy it more.

Art and Technology. Readings

This weeks s reading's, Seeing is Forgetting and E.A.T Nine evenings, talked about some explorations on art and technology. In E.A.T Nine Evenings they talk about an experiment where they combined artists and engineers to create a performance, and in Seeing is Forgetting the curator of a museum paired famous artists with technology companies to create a sort of experiment as well. The results of both experiments resulted in everything from dance to sculpture. Art today seems to have naturally grown with technology and is using some sort of science behind it. After reading these I searched on line for art & technology and an endless list of examples became available to me, so I tried to narrow it down by searching for collaborations between artists and engineers. The name that I seemed to stumble upon the most was Robert Rauschenberg. He was such an influence in the art-engineering world. I also found an article written to the New Your time editor from Billy Kluver, one of the collaborators in E.A.T Nine evenings. this quote by him really illuminated the idea behind the experiment

"I have always thought that engineers and artists shared a hands-on sensibility about working with material, but I have never seen engineers as mere ''facilitators'' of artists' ideas. I have always called for one-to-one collaborations between artists and engineers or scientists, each acting in his or her professional capacity. Such equal collaborations will open up possibilities for the artwork that neither could have predicted before they started working together."


Stepping back to Seeing is Forgetting, I really enjoyed this idea that "All art is experience, yet all experiences are not art." This really made me think about the experience behind different pieces of art I have seen, and even though I do not have that piece of art with me I do have the experience that came from the art, and that that really is what you take away from all art.