I drove to six different MLB games in seven days in June 2010: The trip started from my home in Minnesota and ended on the East Coast. Here is my journey in photos: Wrigley Field, Comerica Park, PNC Park, Citizens Bank Park, Nationals Ballpark and Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Photos and Narration by Eric Stromgren/Bemidji Pioneer, Forum Communications Co.
Video Rating: 5 / 5
A few nice visual art images I found:
Art & Design degree shows 2012
Image by University of Salford
Our MediaCityUK building is the venue for the Art & Design degree shows from 13-17 June 2012.
Silent Cosplay Mimicing the Visual Vs. Impersonations Mimicing the Voice
Image by timtak
Image by Hatsune Miku in Bangkok by Colodio (who retains copyright) isolated, only the right and side, rather badly by me.
Cosplay refers to wearing a COStume to play or mimic a cartoon (anime) or comic (manga) character. It is particularly popular in Japan where there are large events held periodically where costumed people like the lady above, get together. Cosplayers can also be seen in the Harajuku area of Tokyo, and all over Asia, and now the world, since Cosplay has spread out from Japan. In Japan it is far from being a widespread phenomena. It is the sort of thing that like dancing, the Japanese would not want to do badly. Cosplayers will go to considerable lengths to get their clothes, hair, make up and poses just right.
Cosplay is doubly visual. Cosplayers rarely speak but rather just pose, often for photographs. Their mimicry is a visual art. Further more the object of their mimicry – the cartoon and comic characters – are particularly visual existences. I will argue that Japanese comics are more visual, hyper-visual when compared with Western cartoons and graphic novels in another post but here I want to suggest that cosplay is the predominantly visual mimicry of the predominantly visual.
These Japanese are strange eh? I can feel "conformist," tripping off readers lips, because isn’t copying always conformism. Perhpas, but no, the Japanese are not, Asians are not, particularly conformist. Does this lady look conformist to you? She may do because she is not speaking. Without speech it may seem as if she has less personality than an endless loop tape recorder (see previous post) but, that is because Westerners are logocentrist.
And performing a Nacalian transformation the Japanese Cosplayer in the imaginary is equivalent to the Western voice player, more commonly refered to as the impersonator, .
Back when I lived in the UK I used to mimic vocally a purerly vocal existence: "Mr. Angry" of the "Steve Wright in the afternoon" radio show. I was the UK equivalent of a Japanese Cosplayer. I was as conformist, but probably not as good. I would not have done it had I thought my mimicry would not be recognised however. My voice (like the appearance of the Japanese) is not something that one plays with lightly.
It seems to me that Western impersonators are Nacalianly transformed Cosplayers because they predominantly mimic vocally predominantly vocal existences. This is not to say that Japanese Cosplayers say nothing, or the Western impersonators do not change their appearance at all, but there is a strong difference in emphasis. The being, the personality, the self that is mimiced and does the mimicing is felt to reside in the face and appearance in Japan, and the words and voice in the West.
Please have a look at some impersonators on Youtube. You will see that not only do they not change their appearance all that much, but that they choose particularly characteristic voices to impersonate. For that reason, Christopher Walken, and Al Pachino are comon favourites. Cosplayers choose characters that are easily visually recognisable such as Hatsune Mikku above. While the days of radio – such as the Goon show – are gone, and all characters these days have visual and verbal aspects, those characters that are impersonated in the West are defined, as Westerners are defined, above all by our narrative and voice.
Finally it should be noted that to a degree Westeners are all impersonations, and the Japanese are all cosplayers, because the self is nothibng more or less than self mimicry, there is not self, no individual other than in this attempt at duplication.
This post was inspired by a kind question from Mudakun.
Some cool visual art images:
ysinembargomagazine16_Page_20
Image by fernandoprats [@Ignasi Terraza photos]
"du-champ-i-ssue"
jun.jul.ago.2008 | inviernosurveranonorte
ON PAPER (new! second edition! 25/09!)
PDF (new! second edition! 24/09!)
NAVIGATE it (new! second edition! 24/09!)
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Un número dedicado a explorar la visión y propuestas de Marcel Duchamp.
No su vida, no su obra; tan sólo algunos de sus conceptos.
Realizado con aportes de artistas, pensadores y diseñadores de todo el mundo
combinados con la explícita intención de producir a su vez un objeto duchampiano.
-el medio como instrumento intelectual que transpasa su especificidad y se burla de ella
-la obra independientemente de su carácter representativo e interpretativo
-”arte”, en términos de convenciones, lo más “amorfo” posible
-”obras” en las que la obra no es una finalidad en sí misma sino una excusa
-interpretaciones o, mejor dicho, lecturas que pueden convivir a pesar de ser aparentemente excluyentes
-objetos “anestesiados estéticamente”, anulados en su probable complacencia de la mirada, “rectificados”,”asistidos” para otorgarles una nueva -a menudo, insólita- significación. Como en la elección de los “ready-mades”: “basada en la indiferencia visual y en la ausencia total del buen o mal gusto”
-obras “definitivamente inacabadas”
-rrose sélavy, su alter(-)ego
-ajedrez, máquinas ópticas, matemáticas, geometría, “artefactos”
-la “pintura mental”, “pintura de precisión”, el rechazo de cualquier elemento en el que la mirada se pueda recrear con fruición
-texto, – bloques, – fotografías, + mixed-media, + pintura, + ilustración.
-toda la revista está en castellano e inglés.
(descárgala gratis y comienza felizmente el verano -o el invierno-)
# # #
This issue plays around the conceptual universe of Marcel Duchamp. Not his life, nor his works, just some of his concepts.
– the medium, as an intellectual tool which goes beyond its specificity mocking it.
– the work, regardless of its representative and interpretative character.
– “art”, in terms of conventions, as “amorphous” as possible.
– “construction”, in which the work is not it’s purpose, but an excuse.
– interpretations, or rather readings which can coexist despite being seemingly exclusive.
– objects “aesthetically anesthetized,” lapsed in their likely sight complacency; “rectified”, “assisted”, to give them a new –often unusual- significance. As with the choice of “ready-mades”: “based on visual indifference and a total absence of good or bad taste”
– works “definitively unfinished”.
– rrose sélavy, his alter (-) ego.
– chess, optic machines, mathematics, geometry, “artifacts”.
– “mental painting,” “precision painting”, the rejection of any element in which sight can be delighted.
– aesthetics: – text, – blocks, – photographs, + mixed-media, + painting, + illustration.
– the whole magazine, in spanish and english.
(download it. it’s free. and start enjoying summer -or winter-)
# # #
edit(ing), direct(ing) + complements
fernandoprats
art direct(ing) + design(ing)
estudi prats
insistAnçao, correct(ing) + additional stuff
r | v
listen(ing)
hernán dardes
musicaliz(ing)
albert jordà
translat(ing)
kiddo | emilia cavecedo
frontcover(ing) concept fot
une autre sensualité
backcover(ing) concept borrador
UU – dou _ ble _you et aa
open(ing) concept
nacho piédrola + salaboli & fp porta
-structure:
accesories, lisa kehoe { kiddo | emilia cavecedo, lisa liibbe lara, josean prado, oriol espinal, mark valentine sullivan, hernán dardes, alfredo de la rosa, jonathan minila } => meta
{ pepo m.-the secret society, r | v, leah leone } => hilarious
{ pancho lorenz, natalia osiatynska } fernandoprats => rage
=> meta kiddo | emilia cavecedo, nacho piédrola, salaboli, lisa kehoe { lisa liibbe lara, mark valentine sullivan + shari baker, oriol espinal, gabriel magri, naomi vona, mara carrión }
=> hilarious { d7, olivier gilet, jef safi, special spatial guests }
=> rage { brancollina, gabriel magri, natalia osiatynska, bill horne, UU, christy trotter } simon fröehlich
ysinembargo#16… sensualmente inacabada.
a b r e l a m u r a l l a
antwerp · barcelona · basauri · boulder · bruxelles · buenos aires · carlsbad · collioure · coyoacán · grenoble · holden beach · iowa city · lawrenceville · lansing · london · madrid · mendoza · mexicali b.c. · milano · san francisco · san rafael · sào paulo · tarragona · warsaw
# # #
YSE #16’s Original Music | YSElected videos
# # #
Official WEBsite | MySpace | Flickr Group
A few nice visual art images I found:
North Charleston Arts Festival
Image by North Charleston
Now in its 29th year, the North Charleston Arts Festival will take place April 29 through May 7, 2011. The nine day event is one of the most comprehensive arts festivals in the state, providing thousands of residents & visitors with a fabulous array of performances, exhibitions, and activities featuring national, regional, and local artists and performers.
Organized by the City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department, the festival strives to maintain the spirit of a community celebration with the mission of presenting a broad, multidiscipline event schedule that provides a wide range of performing, visual, media, and literary arts events for people of all ages and backgrounds. Many of the offerings are free, and those that are ticketed are moderately priced. Recognized by the Southeast Tourism Society as a Top 20 Event, the North Charleston Arts Festival truly offers something for everyone.
Check out these visual art images:
TodaysArt 2008 – Augmented Space
Image by Haags Uitburo
By using geometric forms and light, Pablo Valbuena alters multiple dimensions of space-time, creating an astounding visual experience. In the past he has worked for several international videogame and film studios investigating spatial concepts applied to virtual environments and digital architecture as a concept designer. His project during TodaysArt 2008 focused on the temporary quality of space, investigating space-time not only as a three dimensional environment, but as space in transformation.
Every year, for one weekend, the TodaysArt Festival brings a whole range of innovative and groundbreaking acts to the Netherlands. For two days, the city centre of The Hague functions as one big festival terrain, with performances both in the public domain and on several indoor stages. Interactive installations, projections and acts use the city centre as a stage and transform The Hague into an inspiring stronghold of audiovisual experiences.
PREFALLL135
Image by visiophone
The prefalll 135 is an interactive audio-visual installation. It uses the energy of falling water to make watermils rotate and produce sound and graphics.
VIDEO & INFO HERE ::
vimeo.com/6719421
Just some amateur photos…
Video Rating: 4 / 5
Grand Opening of **NEW** Shisha Lounge **Cloud 9** (LEICESTER, UK) Produced & Directed by – Milan Gosai & Junaid Sheikh No Copyright Intended
Video Rating: 0 / 5
Some cool visual art images:
Caricature Artist!!!
Image by Natesh Ramasamy
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caricature
A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person, animal or object to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.
According to the Indian Cartoonist S. Jithesh, a caricature is the satirical illustration of a person or a thing, but a cartoon is the satirical illustration of an idea.
 Extra photos for bloggers: 1, 2, 3  |
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New Years means three things: dancing, champagne, and lots of photos to record the blurry memories.
If it weren’t for your trusty flash, those photos would turn out just as blurry!
Have no fear fellow party monsters because we’ve put together a guide to flash photography guaranteed to keep your photos sharp as a tack and shiny as a disco ball.
Check out these 7 simple tips, and by midnight we’ll have you ready to kiss blurry goodbye.
7 Simple Tips for Great Flash Photos
p.s. We’re having our first ever sale today in the shop! Hurry on over before we change our minds 😉
Flash tends to get a bad rap.
Many people associate it with dark shadows and washed out colors.
In a perfect world we could use ambient light all the time, but nobody wants to miss capturing the party just because the light’s gone low.
In this guide we’ll show you how flash can help avoid motion blur, balance for unusual lighting, fill in dark shadows, accentuate movement, and offer tons of creative control.
And what’s awesome is that when done just right flash looks really good!
In fact, most people won’t even be able to tell you’re using it.
Direct flash can be over-bright, harsh, and create some nasty shadows.
But, flash diffusers help soften the light from your flash by either shooting it through some transparent material or bouncing it off a reflective surface.
We like the Lightsphere from Gary Fong for even soft light, and The Flash Bender and Diffuser when you want a little more creative control with your lighting.
For this shot, we angled our flash slightly backwards so that light popped forward through the diffuser to shine on our subject and also kicked off the wall behind us to spread our light evenly.
When the ball drops, don’t drop the ball with blurry pics, use your flash to freeze the action!
To take advantage of flash’s action grabbing potential, make sure you set a minimum shutter speed of at least 1/60th of a second.
Because of a fancy rule called the inverse square law (which basically says the power of your flash doesn’t travel very far), you will want to get as close to your subject as possible.
A wide angle lens will help capture your entire scene.
We took this shot at 1/250th of a second, f/4, and ISO 1000, fast enough to keep background light from messing up our freeze.
Also, a super wide 21mm focal length helped keep the camera close and still squeeze it all in.
The slow sync setting leaves your shutter open longer, and lets your camera pick up the ambient light in your surroundings.
This helps keep color natural instead of just picking up the light from your flash which is tinted a little blue.
Slow sync can open a pandora’s box of possibilities, from light painting with sparklers to incorporating background movement into the mix.
Our example was shot using rear curtain sync option.
This means the shutter will open, gathering ambient light and allowing anything moving to blur, and then right before the shutter is about to close the flash will fire, freezing the action.
If we had used first curtain sync instead, the flash would’ve fired as soon as the shutter opened and then stayed open to gather light.
Notice the ghostly light passing through our subjects, and the glowing trails of their movement.
Coloring doesn’t have to stop when you outgrow your 24 pack of Crayolas.
Flash filters are super easy to use and can be a fun way to add creativity to your shots.
Using flash filter can also help balance for ambient lighting conditions.
For instance, a yellow flash filter balances for the amber tint of candlelight.
We used a couple filters from The Universal Flash Filter Kit for this shot.
To use these filters, simply snap the included rubber band around your flash head and attach the colored gels.
Cranking up the saturation in your settings will make these guys shine, and for extra creative points try combining flash filters with double exposures.
Bouncing is a technique for diffusing the light from your flash.
Instead of pointing your flash directly at your subject, you tilt your camera’s flash so it bounces off another surface such as the ceiling, which illuminates your subject with the reflected light.
Bouncing flash keeps your subjects from looking like a deer in headlights, and gives you super creative powers.
For this technique, imagine you are playing a giant game of light pinball.
Aim your flash forward, backwards, or to the side, to bounce your ball of light off different surfaces and at different angles, creating unique looks and eliminating harsh shadows.
For this shot, the flash was angled up and just a little forward so that the light bounced off the ceiling just in front our subject and filtered down onto her face.
With this technique, you’ll be taking your flash on safari with an off camera excursion.
You will need an external flash unit for this one. If you don’t already have one, this flash from Sigma can be picked up for a pretty good price and is made for all major camera manufacturers.
Many external flashes can be triggered wirelessly by the pop up flash built into your camera.
To do this, simply set your flash into slave mode, set your camera’s flash as the master commander (Muhahaha), and make sure they are on the same channel.
You can set your camera’s built in flash just to trigger the external flash unit or to fire along with it.
This shot was created with the flash pointed straight at the camera and placed behind the disco ball. When fired, it created shiny sparkles and consequently reminded us of our middle school dances.
Off camera flash can also be used to fill in dark shadows and balance for other light sources that are striking your subject.
Round pupils, round face, portraits were just made for circular flash!
Ring flashes attach around your lens and light up like a big glowing halo for glitzy circular catch lights in the eyes.
We used The Ring Flash Adapter for our example, which attaches to the flash you already have saving you some solid buckeroos.
To use the Ring Flash Adapter, you will probably need to turn up the exposure compensation on your flash as it works by bouncing light down a mirrored tube.
We found between +1.3 and +2 stops worked best for a nice bright exposure.
Related posts:
Some cool visual art images:
Busy
Image by gfpeck
Pro103: Henri Cartier-Bresson
The photographer to emulate for this assignment is none other than Henri Cartier-Bresson. Most of you have heard of him at one point or another. He’s one of the greatest photographers of all time. Widely called the father of modern photojournalism, Henri Cartier-Bresson traveled the world and covered many major events on assignment. He viewed the camera as an extension of the eye.
HCB is, of course, also known as the master of street photography. In 1952 he published a book called The Decisive Moment. It contained photos that captured not just any moment, but a decisive moment. A moment of spontaneous movement or change. A witty or telling perspective. A moment of interest. Henri Cartier-Bresson had an amazing talent for capturing fleeting, unnoticed moments, and he had an exceptional eye for composition. He didn’t crop his photos.
The decisive moment became Henri Cartier-Bresson’s art and style. In his own words, the decisive moment is "the simultaneous recognition in a fraction of a second of the significance of an event, as well as the precise organization of forms that give that event its proper expression."
He said: "Photography is not like painting. There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative. Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever."
WIT: This assignment sneaked up on me and I have to admit I didn’t finish my homework or take nearly enough photos in my pursuit of street photography. I did however learn some things and did manage to cross the line of taking pictures of people I dont know.
I did some reading and reviewing of articles regarding HCB and found them very interesting. I am currently reading the Ongoing Moment by Geoff Dyer and he mentions HCB several times and comments on how HCB intersected the lives of other famous photographers. He also recounts how HCB practiced the approach of "baiting the trap" where he would select spot that promised some type of visual interaction between the place and the people passing through it. This is the approach I took.
In the course of attemping street photography I ran into several behaviours I should have anticipated. Most (ok, all) of my attempts were made by sitting in a place where I waited for people to cross a predefined scene. In the setting where I took the photo submitted for the assignment I spied several interesting people heading for the intersection of the art and brought the camera up to my eye to make it look like I was interested in the art work. No one entered the frame. Where did they go? I lowered the camera and they were looking at me and waiting for me to take the photo of the art work. Very nice of them. A bit later it happened again. People on campus are just too polite for that style of street photography.
I got lucky and did a quick draw of the camera and caught this fellow ignoring those around him as he focused on his call. I caught him right in the middle of the metal sculpture and found that the image needed to be cropped. I went with the square format because of distractions to the left.
Some cool visual art images:
Les brouillages / Scrambled – 10
Image by jlndrr
This series is part of an ongoing research on visual ways to dissolve pornographic imagery in abstraction and absurd.
For the Scrambled series, using video footage downloaded from Internet, I exploit the artifacts, errors, blurs inherent to heavy digital compression and incomplete files.
Dozens of snapshots are generated. Here, the creative process in itself rely on selecting the right images : identifiable as pornographic, but somehow deactivated.
Font 2011
Image by Leo Reynolds
rtist: Tessa Phillips and Rachel Hadjiphilippou
Title: Font 2011
Material: glass pool
The brief was to respond to the theme Baskerville. The Baskerville typeface takes its name from John Baskerville (1706 – 1775) the pioneering printer who revolutionised the printing process. It was designed in Birmingham in 1757. The winning team were BA(Hons) Visual Studies students Tessa Phillips and Rachel Hadjiphilippou.
Their design was inspired by the riverside setting and draws the passers-by in through a sculpture that invites speculation about the boundaries between appearance and reality. The sculpture is a glass pool with an extract from Paradise Lost etched below the surface of the glass. Paradise Lost was the first book to be printed using the Baskerville font.
From Paradise Lost:
They hand in hand with wandering steps and slow, Through Eden took their solitary way.
Norwich, Norfolk, England, UK
Les brouillages / Scrambled – 09
Image by jlndrr
This series is part of an ongoing research on visual ways to dissolve pornographic imagery in abstraction and absurd.
For the Scrambled series, using video footage downloaded from Internet, I exploit the artifacts, errors, blurs inherent to heavy digital compression and incomplete files.
Dozens of snapshots are generated. Here, the creative process in itself rely on selecting the right images : identifiable as pornographic, but somehow deactivated.