Super Ethical Reality Fun Time

My art style is heavily influenced by emotions; emotions of fear, grandeur, remorse. To portray and to amplify these emotions I use certain colors such as a dark shade of red or bright orange for color contrast and attention grabbing however, I also use the colors black and white. Black and white, despite being such simple and basic colors, amplify what I draw and the actions that I try to portray. The influence and power of images and how it affects the viewer was what drew me to art.

Japanese art, anime and manga was the first and most influential art forms that drew my attention. Japanese art is simple, expressive and relate-able, particularly manga. It is composed of 2 colors, black and white. Despite the simplicity of the color palette, the images pop out and leave an impact on you. From the shading alone, it can increase the action during a scene, and even give scenes a momentum. Imagine a sword in mid-slash and then the sword slashing a target, the sword itself drawn in a panel on a page does not give the reader any more substance or action than the sword in midair itself. However, if proper shading is applied, the slash is given much more of an impact. An example would be lines following the sword slash, not only does this give the sword a sense of speed but also a sense of direction. Japanese manga utilize these different shadings to augment each and every scene on a page and with every detail, the image is amplified more.

Another concept of Japanese art that inspires me is Chibi. Chibi is a Japanese term where characters are drawn in a simple manner and move and act in playful and sometimes childish ways. What makes Chibi so influential is the facial expressions that they show. Some expressions are so simple but accurately defines the emotion that the character is feeling. After watching Chibi scenes in anime, I can’t help but remember the exact face or even attempt to make the same face as the Chibi whenever I feel that same emotion. One of my favorites is the crying face where it can be described as T^T. Where the eyes of the character are simple horizontal lines with an upside down V mouth and with tears constantly flowing out of his eyes.

For my final project, I will use animation and audacity to create a short video that will closely resemble a tv show opening.

The content I will be using will be original along with the audio. I will also make a small website to showcase the video/animation.

I found the video to be very interesting. I had never considered that downloading music or downloading anything would be considered on the lines of illegal and even on the lines of being sued. In the current time however, downloading music, movies are commonplace. Countermeasures such as lawsuits and suing would be seen as righteous in the 20th century but drastic in our time. I even recall seeing old commercials of the “piracy is bad” A major reason for that change would most likely be the internet and how it has expanded throughout the early years of the 21st century. With the advancement and nearly unlimited resource known as the internet, it is basically impossible for copyright and for companies to control what we download.

During the first portion of the video, it talks about how new things are built from the past. Whether it is music, or art, if it is sampled and placed with other music and art it is considered “new”. I do not completely agree with this idea. It is true that by sampling different pieces of art into one piece is creating something new however, it is simply recycling an existing piece of art. New art should draw from the past and expand on it otherwise art would not  improve.

In order to combat this, the government created bills to lock down and hinder the individual from infringing on copyrighted material. The Canadian Copyright act would fine the individual for each and every song that was downloaded. To the music company that owns those songs this may seem like an adequate solution for the piracy however, all it had accomplished was the deteriorating of the relationship between the fans and the music companies. That bill would not survive in the current era where the internet is basically omnipotent and all users have power over information.

It is understandable that companies would like to receive money from consumers buying the music records and that the idea where consumers can get that same music record for free would damage its revenue. However, with the increase of technology, piracy and downloading of music was getting easier. Consumers and music artists had followed the flow of technology and even went against the music companies. Music artists, particularly the group Nudez from the video, released their music content online and allowed the consumers to do what they wanted with it. In response to that, the company which the group Nudez sold their music rights to sent letters to those that manipulated the original music and sued them. This was probably one of the most important moments for the role of music companies and how consumers have the power. As the narrator said in the video, the copyright laws were groundless and are unabled to be reinforced. Instead of solving the problem of piracy, it ended up strengthening the idea of piracy and free distribution and ultimately turned citizens into criminals. Ultimately I believe free distribution of music to be benign and should be allowed.

http://bfpa.dreamhosters.com/nma2050/eric/Haiku%20website/

From the list of electronic music, the piece that caught my attention was in Music Revolution and was called John Cage Credo in Us (1942). Initially, I recognized the beginning part of the music from previous videos and clips online. When I continued to listen to it, I noticed the addition of noise, such as bells and clanging, along with the music. At first I thought that the noise was annoying because it interfered with the original music. However, I ended up blocking out the noise and paid more attention to the music in the background. According to Luigi Russolo we get more pleasure imagining mechanical sounds. In my experience, I thought that the addition of the mechanical sounds to the music was bothersome and out of place. Russolo wrote about how we should incorporate these mechanical sounds into music. By incorporating mechanical sounds, it becomes a new style of music or noise. In a way this can be seen as revolutionary similar to the way that music has advanced from vocal sounds to instruments, electrical music and now mechanical sounds. Further down in Russolo’s manifesto there is a picture of a machine with many horns. If mechanical noise is to be wide spread then there will be concerts consisting only of mechanical instruments such as in the picture. Ultimately, it is still considered a form of music and it is subject to the opinion and liking of the listener regardless if it is mechanical, electronic, or instrumental.

A Hacker Manifesto by Wark is an interesting yet difficult read. Before reading the text, I had always thought that hackers were individuals who dwell among the inter-web and cyber space. Then these individuals would invade other computers either owned by people or companies and hinder its operations or send a virus to destroy and infect the system. This definition describes the common hacker or at least what people perceive as a hacker. Many events have happened in the past where hackers were given the lime light in news broadcasting media such as the infamous hacker group called Anonymous. This group has hacked into major corporations and distributed sensitive information. What Wark writes about is more of the other side of the hacker. He does into the hacking itself whereas we often associate hacking with the individual.

In number 14, of A Hacker Manifesto, Wark writes how information is owned and controlled by others and refers to the others as capitalists and farmers. Information is circulated via the working class almost as a commodity. The working class circulated information that is available to all but when information is secluded, Wark describes workers being dispossessed and having to ” buy back their own culture from its owners”. My interpretation of this is that information is like a commodity, it is sold, distributed and manipulated. Considering our techno-savvy world that we live in today, the information that is given to us or at times fed to us are often manipulated and only certain parts of information is revealed whereas other parts are cropped out and thrown away. As for having to buy back their own culture from the owners, the time of information that we receive is entirely based on the company or corporation that we tune in to. One company can report for the sake of public appeal or shock and others will broadcast the true or partial truth.

In reading the Seeing the Brick and Cameraless Animation, I have expanded my view on animation. Initially I always had the idea that animation was merely a method of entertaining others by using vibrant colors and comically drawn characters. My experience is from Japanese animation or anime. I had watch anime since as long as I can remember. Those that I watched where usually comical and adventurous. I have watched other animations other than anime. Almost immediately when I watched an animation that wasn’t Japanese I noticed extinct differences in the artistic styles. One of the most noticeable differences was the emphasis on facials expressions and feelings. In anime, expressions would be over exaggerated and simplified. This is called chibi and it amplifies the feelings that are shown. Although I enjoyed watching anime, I never actually thought about what made these animations enjoyable or whether it had a purpose other than entertainment. In the Animated Films section of Seeing the Brick and Cameraless Animation, it mentions how animated films started to expand the world of animation. Fine art and graphics where experimented upon and what ever developed became a new invention. However, with animated films, realism was manipulated. Some animated films utilized realism mainly to augment the film however, too much realism in an animated work would interfere with animation. Animation is a bridge between realism and imagination. If there were to be too much realism, the animation would feel out of place and awkward. Realism should be a supporting factor in animation whereas imagination should take priority. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be any chibi or overly exaggerated facial expressions to enjoy.