Blog # 16

Art can take the form of many mediums, including feathers.

Artist Kate Mccgwire uses feathers quite often in her work.  Her piece have won her many awards and has showcased her work in many exhibits.  

  

When I first saw picture of one of her pieces I didn't know that they were feathers, actually I wasn't sure what they were at all until I read the description.  I like how unconventional the material she uses is.  I don't think I've ever seen someone use feather in this way to make a sculpture.  Usually when you think of art, or at least when I think of art, it is always very conventional (photography, painting, drawing, sculpted marble etc.,).  So, I like how her work reminds me that anything can be art and anything can be used to make art.  

Blog # 15

Chiditarod is an annual shopping-cart race/food-drive held in Chicago to help the disadvantaged and needy people of the city.  It is a race through the windy city stopping at 11 check points to collect, at the very least, 42 pounds of non-perishable food in their shopping cart.

Here are some pictures of the event:

Needless to say, the people participating in the race dress up in crazy outfits and decorate their shopping carts accordingly.  The event ended up raising a lot of food and money for the people of Chicago.    

I think this is a great way to run a charity event.  It gets everyone participating and having fun.  It brings people together for a great cause.  Not only that but it is a rather unique way to hold a food drive.  I think getting people to be creative is why this works so well.  

Blog # 14

Street photography is photography that features subjects, such as people, in candid situations in public places.  Matt Stuart is a street photographer.  He takes pictures of genuine moments in the lives of everyday people.

Quite often, the moments that he captures are quite funny and sometimes you'll have to look closely at the photograph to understand why the picture was taken or to get its charm.

Street photography is able to capture those fleeting moments, ones that will probably never come around again.  Also, street photography showcases people when they are most real.  That is because they don't know they are being photographed.  When people don't know they are being observed they are more  themselves but when a person knows they are being looked at, they tend to act differently.  People act in a different way for many reasons: to fit in, to seem more interesting, etc,.  As well, people can act differently in front of different sorts of people.  You may act one way when you are with your parents and another way when you are with your  friends.  I think rarely does a person actually show who they really are to another person unless they are truly comfortable with them.  But street photography is able to show people for what they really are, I think that's why I like it so much.  

Blog # 13

Symmetry is something that is just inherently attractive to the human eye.  How symmetric a person's face is usually dictates how attractive they are, but is a perfectly symmetrical face always beautiful?

Muggum, a iPhone/iPod touch app can show you.  The app bisects a photo of a face down the middle then doubles the image letting you see what a person would look like if either side of their face were completely symmetrical.  The app has already been used on photos of many celebrities, people who are considered to be attractive, to varying results.  

Both are, by general consensus, attractive women but their completely symmetrical faces are not quite what their "imperfect" face is.  In my opinion, neither women need the symmetry.  

This app is obviously not perfect and is probably highly ineffective due to camera angle, a person's expression, etc., but what I'm trying to say is, I think being perfectly symmetrical is not all it's made out to be.  In fact, I think it's impossible.  Everybody has something that makes them "imperfect" but I don't think that is a bad thing.  If you have a crooked smile or maybe one of your eyes is a tiny bit bigger than the other you shouldn't be self-conscious but I know that not being self-conscious is hard in today's society where beauty is everything.  

Blog # 12

It's an ad to promote World Water Day and to spread awareness about how unclean water causes countless deaths and how journalists are trying to spread the word about this.

The water, invisible on the piece of paper at first, represents how safe and clean water appears to be but the ink shows what's really underneath the seemingly clean surface.  The ink is supposed to represent the journalists, ink being a journalist's chosen tool, who uncover the truth and make the facts about how bad unclean water is known.

I personally find this ad to be very well done and quite effective.  Visually it's very pretty and although I have seen art done using ink and water before, I have yet to see it done so well, like this.  The images that the ink and water make really show who is being affected by this (the face of a child) and what happens when you drink unclean water (the grave markers and skull).  Although the ad is in French, the message still makes itself quite clear.  I think smart advertising, like this, is a very good way to get the message about a cause out there.

Blog # 11

Be Your Own Souvenir was an installation in Barcelona for two weekends in January of this year.  Located near a museum and washrooms, the machine allows tourists to take away from their trip to the beautiful city, a souvenir that is of their own likeness.  All one has to do is insert a dollar and the machine comes to life.  One would have to stand where the sensors are located and the machine will film the person using three kinetic sensors for a full 360-degree scan.  Afterwards, the machine spits out a miniature figure of yourself to take home.

I think something like this quite neat.  It's amazing that this sort of technology is so accessible to people that all they would have to do is forfeit a dollar to enjoy this experience and that, I think, it's a whole lot cooler than just having your portrait painted or your photograph taken.  I also like how interactive it is.  I believe that art is something that everyone should be able to particpate in.  If I saw this on a trip, or even here where I live, I'd definitely want to try it out.

Blog # 10

Recently, I've taken a look at a series of photographs taken by photographer, Kevin Van Aelst.  A lot of his works feature him taking pictures of quite ordinary things and defamiliarizing them in such a way that makes them look very interesting.  


Take, for example, this picture of a roll of tape made to look like the ocean with sharks swimming around in it.   

http://www.kevinvanaelst.com/photoocean.html

   
As well, he also takes a few photos that I'm not all too entirely sure what they are or what they mean., but I guess art is up to interpretation.  Anyway, I'm always quite impressed when I see pictures like these because it amazes me how people are able to look at one simple thing and see something else that is completely unrelated.  I'll admit, I don't have the most creative mind so I personally find it difficult to see these sorts of things in everyday objects.  But seeing these pictures makes me want to try more often to look for the extraordinary in the ordinary.