Homework 4

I found these four amazing software/applications that are available for free.

Using these tools, I decided to draw an apple without using a mouse/tablet pen. I chose to draw an apple on a photo I took before just because I thought the idea of an apple on Apple products was funny :P

A photo I took a while ago

1) The first one is available online. The following is its address: http://www.mrdoob.com/projects/harmony/

Pros
-A full color wheel available.
-Available for free
-Available on any computer device

Cons
-No undo/redo
-No eraser
-Cannot write on an image with different fonts and sizes
-Cannot upload/edit an image

An apple drawn on http://www.mrdoob.com/projects/harmony/ 

2)The second one is an application called "Whiteboard" which I downloaded on my iPhone.
Pros
-A full color wheel available.
-Available for free
-Can take/upload an image and draw on it
-Can share a created image by sending it in Email, posting it on Twitter and/or Facebook, etc. 
-If you erase, it erases everything even an image underneath the drawing/painting

Cons
-Can use only if downloaded
-Limited effects of brushstrokes
-Cannot write on an image with different fonts and sizes
-Can draw on an uploaded image but cannot edit the image itself

An apple drawn on "Whiteboard"

3)The third one is an application called "PicsArt" which I downloaded on my iPhone.
Pros
-A full color wheel available.
-Available for free
-Can take/upload an image and draw on it
-More effects (e.g. collaging different images, different effects on an image, different types of brushstrokes, different shapes, etc) available 
-Can write on an image with different fonts and sizes
-Can share a created image by sending it in Email, posting it on Twitter and/or Facebook, etc. 
-Can erase just a drawing/painting without any changes on the image underneath

Cons
-Can use only if downloaded

An apple drawn on "PicsArt"

4)The last one is an application called "Adobe Ideas" which I downloaded on my iPhone.
Pros
-A full color wheel available.
-Available for free
-Can take/upload an image and draw on it
-Can work with layers 
-Can erase just a drawing/painting without any changes on the image underneath
-Can share a created image by sending it in Email, posting it on Twitter and/or Facebook, etc. 

Cons
-Cannot write on an image with different fonts and sizes
-No effects (e.g. collaging different images, different effects on an image, different types of brushstrokes, different shapes, etc) 
-Can use only if downloaded

An apple drawn on "Adobe Ideas" with 2 layers

An apple drawn on "Adobe Ideas" with 1 layer
(Oops...I have marks which I didn't see when I worked with another layer)

If I were to teach art to students using one of these softwares, I would use the "Adobe Ideas." I think it would help students understand how to work with layers, and this would better prepare students for Photoshop which is more complicated software. One might argue "PicsArt" is better than "Adobe Ideas", but a student can add texts and/or effects (like those on "PicsArt") on his/her image if he/she wants by editing his/her image on a computer.

But, you know what? I am not a computer person... I found working with these devices very limiting, difficult, and even frustrating. The canvas was not big enough for me, and I could not do what I could do with traditional media.

9.25.13 Class Notes

"eEtiquette" is written by diverse people

Need to remember that NOT every school can provide a computer for every student. 

Digital technology itself gets updated/upgraded, and so people (esp. teachers) need to keep on learning new things.


Software/Programs that are helpful:
-Zotero.org (helpful for writing footnotes, bibliography, reference, etc)
-Wikispace
-Piratepad.net

Tagging?!
-tagging people on pictures on Facebook
-Instagram
-iTunes U
-tagging is helpful to find images, music, and movies and to organize files, etc.

-examples of tagging: name, time, released, descriptions on Podcast as tags

Social Bookmarking:

-send links to each other

new media in art class vs. traditional practice in art class??
(+) of new media in art class

-children are drown to and grow with technology, and so they need to learn proper ways to use technology

-having an equal access in classroom
-motor skills (e.g. typing, using a mouse, etc)
-easy access to archives on the internet
-help develop research skills
-digitize archive their ideas and works on computers
-how to use it productively instead of just using it for fun
-art can be portable

(+) of traditional practice in art class

-need these foundations for understanding not only concepts (e.g. painting) but also new media 
-engage all the senses for brain development
-understand history

-need for children's physical, tactile and artistic development (spatial awareness, dexterity, etc)

-learn how to fail and fix problems, and thus develop problem-solving skills

-learn to explore and experiment (beyond just art making)

-learn how to be proud of their creativity and accomplishments (e.g. making a new color by mixing two or more colors) 

-individuality 

-share their ideas and/or collaborate during the process of making (cannot if students only work on computers (block conversations among students))

-students use new media anyways

-cost a lot less

-learn to be respectful of others (e.g. by clean-up)
-learn to share space

-develop time-management skills

-learn to be patient and to be self-reflective of their process and their works
-learn to appreciate the masterpieces

***It is important to fight for both!

-piratepad.net/C28DDZJX1A??

-place of drawing? and painting? on drawing pad?
-what's the chance when we move into the digital realm?
-Stylus,screens.tablets
-Tools (brushes, Picasso, Artstudio, Kids Doodle)

Homework 3

1) The followings are three quotes I found meaningful and interesting from the website (http://eetiquette.com):

"Do not forget the power of the pen. A handwritten thank-you note will have a much greater impact than a digital message with equivalent content." (http://eetiquette.com/24/)

"People first: a real person always has priority over a device and deserves your full attention." (http://eetiquette.com/71/)

"Don’t live each and every moment through your digital camera." (http://eetiquette.com/133/)

2) A piece of technology I brought into class the other week was my iPhone. We could use it creatively in an (art) class by taking and/or downloading pictures and/or videos and/or then by using applications that are available and/or softwares on computers. Perhaps, Students would be able to listen to music, watch videos, and/or web search on iPhone for their inspiration.

3) A K-12 art teacher who uses new media in his/her classroomI found is Mrs. Sheena Vaidyanathan (aka Mrs. V). She hold undergraduate and graduate degrees in Computer Science and a Certificate in Studio Art. Currently, she is a Computer Science and Math teacher in the Los Altos School District, in Los Altos, California. Having taught Computer Science, Digital Art and Visual Art in the Los Altos school district for 7 years, she has also worked for over 10 years in Silicon Valley in technology as a computer scientist and technology entrepreneur.

She created her own website (http://www.computersforcreativity.com/home) called "Computers for Creativity" as a place to put up her students' works, and share her teaching experience with other educators. Check it out! ;)

Homework 2

So, the below is one of my mother's many recipes printed on fax printer. Most of her recipes are faded out, so I decided to digitize her "cinnamon pie" by taking a picture and actually try it before I would not be able to read it. 

So, here are the ingredients: 

-all purpose flour

-sugar
-baking powder
-butter
-whipping cream
-cinnamon powder

I did as instructed on the recipe, but I could not read some parts of it. I did my best with what I was given, but I thought there was something wrong with this because the filling seemed too watery.  

However, I put it in an oven anyway with fingers crossed. 

It was an expected outcome...a failure...a half-baked cinnamon pie...

But, the crust was still good enough to eat ;)

I think I should have whipped the cream more... Well, people say "failure is the mother of success." So, I'll try it again on Wednesday before class, and we'll see if it works ;)

9.18.2013 Class Notes

Homework for next week:
-read articles
-read over a list on the posted website, and find and post the most interesting one among the listed etiquettes ("To Do's" and "NOT To Do's")

-"netiqutte" has been always a part of our life
-is it negotiable or not? 

-how do we use technology in our daily life?

Visual Representations:

-people get impatient because people now grow with technology which is supposed to work instantly. Waiting a technology to load/buffer/get results from online search=not allowing you to go outside or look at a whole image clearly on screen/blocking yourself from the outer world

-a phone in/out of a box with glitters on with word "connect" on the top: pictures of her, her friends and family. If a phone is out of a box, you can call or text them. If a phone is in a box, you cannot connect to them by texts, calls, etc. Yet, you get to spend more time with people one on one. It reminded me of my own box in which I collect letters I have received. It almost made a phone as a keepsake which captures moments and collects memories.  

-a phone in a jail with flowers outside: the message is "you don't notice beautiful things that are around you if you are on the phone." 

-she often uses the internet for inspiration when making art. So, she went to the Met instead, and made a drawing inspired by a sculpture piece at the museum. And, she made another drawing of the same sculpture without changing any pose, but she added a phone as if he was on the phone. It reminded me of people on the phone while walking on the streets who might not recognize that others might see or listen to them. 

-make a keyboard without regular letters, but with words with things that you can ONLY do without technology (ex. hiking, playing, etc)?!

-she made a juxtaposed maps of Manhattan and Africa with technologies she has used in the region next to the map.

-she made a drawing of different illustrations which show her feelings when she was doing the on/off experiment (unorganized->uncomfortable->willing to escape->sick->depressed). She draw them with markers, and then she scanned them. 

-she took a nap most of the time for the on/off experiment. she uses her phone for alarm, and she had the best sleep when she had this experiment because the alarm never went off. she made a reference to traffic lights to how much a phone is charged up. she made a parallel how we need to be recharged as much as a phone does. 

-she turned off her TV. And, she taught her husband how to make a painting on a easel with acrylic paints. He made a painting of a beetle. While her husband painted, she made calligraphy and practiced her Chinese skills. She loves technology, art, language, etc and she wanted to combine anything she liked. "Instead of being a consumer, I was a creator."

-he made a piece inspired by a question "what if everything disappears?" light and fire are the most important things. he decided to find trash and build a fire because he did not know how things work (e.g. how TV works, how to make fire, etc). 

Homework 2

1) Give an account about how you implement technology in your daily practice (blog, 2-3 paragraphs). 

My day actually starts with turning off my alarms on my iPhone. Then, my husband and I watch TV for news every morning while preparing the breakfast. After my husband leaves the house, I wash the dishes while watching TV. Then, I turn on my computer to check emails and Facebook. 

I was amazed by not only how much I am and have been surrounded by technology but also how technology is being used everywhere and every time.  


2) While having been with your computer/digital device for a while, decide to leave it and turn it off. Find artful ways to exit the online world. Monitor closely your Turn-on/Switch-off experiences and make them be the beginning of a creative experiment. Document your experience on your blog (2-3 paragraphs) and bring the visual representation of what comes out of this into our next class so we can share the outcomes. If you don't manage to finish this assignment within 1 week because you need more time, please let me know.

So, I decided not to use 3 BIG technologies-which are my iPhone, TV, and computer. For example, I did not watch TV and turned my iPhone off while cleaning up the house. Because I did not know whether any important email or phone call came in or not, I was nervous and kind of panicking. 

At the same time, however, the experience was very helpful for me to get focused and to be reflective of myself. Because I was not distracted, I could get things done a lot more and a lot faster. 

At the end of the day when my husband got home, he asked me why my phone was off. He told me he called me and sent me an email. Because I did not give him a call or email back, he told me he was worried. I told him it was a part of homework, and he was relieved. But, he apparently did not like the homework. I felt bad yet good...maybe because I felt like I was being loved and hard to get?! ;)

Homework 2: Experiment: On/Off

If we use technology, it puts us on "user" mode and we often get addicted to it. As a result, we forget to use and even lose some abilities. 

Can we think without machines?

Step away from technology. Then, turn it on again and observe yourself.
How long can I stay away from it?
What do I do while I am on "off mode"?
Come up with a written statement and a visual representation that represents my responses from this experiment.

Ideas for On/Off Experiment
Although I may not be a great chef, I love to make food. When I cook, I often find recipes from online although I have recipe cookbooks including this stack of recipes I got from my mother. It was about 26years ago when she first learned how to cook. 

My Mother's Recipes

There were no online cooking recipes or tutorials back then, and so she had to go to these culinary lessons and get these recipes from chefs and other people. Now, almost everyone can learn how to cook at home just by watching cooking tutorials on YouTube. 

I talked about this with Seung Hee and she told me that this reminded her of a movie called Julie & Julia (2009). So, I downloaded the movie on iTunes and watched it. The film contrasts the life of chef Julia Child in the early years of her culinary career with the life of young New Yorker Julie Powell, who aspires to cook all 524 recipes in Child's cookbook in 365 days, a challenge she described on her popular blog that would make her a published author.

So, for this On/Off Experiment, I was thinking about making food just looking at my mother's recipes and even digitize her recipes. In that, I think I can: (1)stay away from technology->(2)go back to the tradition (which is cooking in this case)->(3)use new media (digitize recipes and share them with others?? use recipes online, combine it with my mother's recipe, and come up with a new/updated recipe on my own??)->(4)keep the tradition 

9.11. 2013 Class Notes

Digital media as tools and materials to explore and experiment

Today's Topic:Technology and Devices

We were assigned to bring a piece of technology, and we are going to share and discuss following questions:

-What did you bring? 
iPhone
-What is the underlying understanding of technology?
a device/tool that is physically, intellectually, socially+ helpful
-How can you make this a tool for learning?
download pictures, take pictures, edit pictures, doodle, take notes, listen to music, watch videos, make a video, web search, download apps and use them, etc.
-How can this be the beginning of a lesson in a classroom?
use it to introduce that technology is something accessible and easy to manipulate

Usually we think of technology as a "tool"

old iPod
-history of its own development
-searching

Speakers
-soundscapes
-depending where you place them in certain spots gives different experiences
-sound to introduce the concept of "abstract" art

External Hard Drive
-storage for huge amount of information and ideas being "portable"
-use it as a tool for "show & tell" sessions

MoMA website (http://www.moma.org/interactives/destination)
-online technology=intangible
-interactive
-passive & active

Earphone
-portable
-hear sounds of music, videos, movies, etc
-individual

iPhone
-portable
-personal
-as a material or a screen
(e.g. Nam June Paik)

Galaxy S3
-use as cameras
(different types of cameras available with applications)
-edit photographs with applications
-share works with others by uploading them to online
(e.g. Instagram)
-talk about copyright
(e.g. copyright of images on Instragram: Once you upload images on Instragram, the images belong to Instagram, not to the person who uploads them)

Charger
-how technology is dependent upon the charger
-technology is no longer effective if not charged
-responsibility for handling technology
-concept of "transferring"
-use USB cord not only to charge but also to share with others

old iPhone
-compare images created with physical materials to those of iPhone, iPad, or computer

Galaxy S4
-favorite app: Running Tracker
-use as a portfolio for kids to keep in track by digitizing works

definition for "new media" can vary
definition for "art" can vary->Image vs. Art
(e.g. profile picturess on Facebook are not art, but Henri Cartier Bresson's photographs are.)

media influence each other back and forth
(e.g. painting & photography)
(e.g. printing & web design)

relationship changes
(e.g. people watching TV in 70s=passive consumers vs. people now watching TV=active consumers who choose channels)

9.11.2013 Sean Justice in class

Sean Justice

Computers as "materials"

Things available at studio:
-Computers
-Printers
-3D Printer
-iPAD
-Scanner
-Projector

Resources:
-Books
-Website
(e.g. mmas.pressible.org)
-Online Tutorials
(e.g. Linda.com/portal/columbia)

Homework 1: New Media Institution/Gallery/Museum

The Educational Video Center (EVC)

I learned about the Educational Video Center (EVC) from last year's Cross Cultural Conversations conference. Having the workshop with EVC not only taught me how to make a documentary with my iPhone and iMovie but also helped me to think about how I might incorporate digital technologies into my classroom in the future. Among many strategies suggested by EVC, rotating roles would be a great way for students to learn how to collaborate with others while developing different filming skills. Here is the short history of EVC and descriptions of its programs.

The EVC is a non-profit youth media organization whose mission is to teach documentary video as a means to develop the artistic, critical literacy, and career skills of young people while nurturing their idealism and commitment to social change. Founded in 1984, EVC has evolved from a single video workshop for adolescents in Manhattan's Lower East Side to become an internationally acclaimed leader in youth media education. EVC's teaching methodology brings together the powerful traditions of student-centered progressive education and independent community documentary. 

EVC began 24 years ago with a simple idea: put video cameras in the hands of young people from underserved communities and teach them to go out into the city, ask hard questions and tell stories about the world as they see it – with all its problems and possibilities. The result was immediate and successful. Students with histories of truancy were so engaged that they came to their video class early, stayed into evenings, and even came in during the weekends and vacations to finish their documentaries and meet the deadline of their premiere screening. Their documentaries were honest and gritty portraits of life at home, in school and in the streets of their neighborhoods: families living in East Harlem tenements without heat or hot water, South Bronx youth organizers for environmental justice, youth caught in the juvenile justice system, and teenage survivors of domestic and sexual violence. This was a life changing experience for the youth making these documentaries and for the parents, teachers and community audiences who watched them. These students who had never succeeded in school before began winning awards and scholarships and were hired to work in the media industry. 

Basic Youth Doc Workshop students get a hands-on tech workshop
from A&E Network's Parking Wars Segment Producer, Rick Lombardo

From this small video class in a Lower East Side alternative school, EVC grew into an award winning organization with four core programs: Documentary Workshop, YO-TV (Youth Organizers TV), External Education Programs (EEP), and Community Engagement. EVC was featured in the New York Times, on the Today Show and was twice honored at the White House with the prestigious President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities Coming Up Taller Award, presented annually to only ten cultural organizations in the country. EVC youth-produced documentaries have been broadcast on the NBC, ABC and PBS television networks. In addition, their tapes have won more than 100 awards nationally and internationally, including an Emmy. 

Homework 1: New Media Artist

Yeondoo Jung

Born in Jinju, Korea in 1969, Jung still lives and works in Seoul, Korea. One of the most prominent artists working in Korea today, Jung graduated College of Fine Arts, Seoul National University in 1994 with BFA in sculpture. In 1995, he received his Diploma in Sculpture from Central Saint Martine College of Art, London Institute. Then, he attended Goldsmiths College where he got his MFA  in 1997. 

Jung refers to himself as an "visual artist" instead of a photographer or a filmmaker. The artist has garnered global attention for his artworks in the fields of photography, painting, sculpture, film and installation art that break down the barrier between reality and fantasy. Jung is the youngest person ever to be named the Artist of the Year by the National Museum of Contemporary Art Korea and the second Korean artist, following Baek Nam-joon, to have his media work be screened and collected by the Museum of Modern Art New York.
The below are his artworks and short descriptions of them. 

This is one of his earlier works. It is a series of photograph titled Evergreen Tower (2001). It deals with the paradox of urban growth. Evergreen Tower is an apartment block in Seoul, Korea. Jung visited 32 homes and shot portraits of the occupant family in the living room of each. As pointed out by the artist, modern Seoul is drawing in all kinds of people from across the country, and mass production of standardized apartment blocks provide shelter for these nuclear families.

Evergreen Tower (2001) is one large piece consisting of several images.
When the images are viewed individually, they should be considered as detail views of the work.

The architectural structure of the living rooms is identical; only the families and the interior decorations they choose set them apart from one another. As Jung says in his artist statement for the work, this ”series of photographs, which share uncanny similarities due to the architectural structure of the building” emphasizes “the individual and visible differences between the lives of each of the families”. His “intention is to contrast the individual lives of the nuclear families with the mass-produced houses of Seoul city”. The images above are from a series of 20 photographs titled Bewitched (2001). These photographs recreate the dreams of adolescents that Jung has met in cities around the world. Similar to Bewitched (2001) is his another series of photographs called Wonderland (2005). I Want to Be a Singer. c-print 2004 Miss Sparkle Sprinkles the Magic c-print 2005 Sleeping Beauty c-print 2004 Over a four-month period Jung collected 1, 200 drawings from children ranging in age between 5 and 7. From this collection of children’s drawing he selected seventeen to be made into photographic replicas of each child’s drawing. Wonderland is a photographic series that simultaneously shares the child’s fantasy and Jung’s photographic reality. By using adults as the “characters” of his photographic tableaux, Jung hopes that these images will simultaneously express a child’s view of an adult world, and visa versa. I think both Bewitched (2001) and Wonderland (2005) can be great lesson plans for any youngster, adolescent and adult. I thought not just digital cameras but also photoshop might be used in creating such images.

Self-Introduction

I am Margaret Min, a second-year-student doing MA Art and Art Education with Initial Certification at Columbia Teachers College (TC). 

Although I was born in Boston, MA, I lived in Korea until I returned to the U.S. to attend high school. In Korea, I attended the Yewon School, an art magnet school where I began my studies in fine arts. For high school, I went to Hawaii Preparatory Academy for one year before transferring to the Madeira School in McLEan, Virginia where I finished my high school education. Then, I went to Harvard for my undergraduate where I continued my interest with drawing, painting, and film classes, as well as art history classes. At TC, I have challenged myself by taking studio classes including digital photography and ceramics-materialsI never used before. 

I am grateful for having a variety of art experiences in a wide range of education regimens because I had very limited choices of media and styles in Korea. Although the school offered classes for different media including sculpture, acrylic painting, oil painting, and calligraphy, I remember spending most of the time drawing plaster casts of Venus and Agrippa. However, my background experience  with new media is slim to none. As mentioned before, I have dabbled in digital photography and video but I feel more comfortable using traditional media. 

I believe the possibilities of using new media and traditional art practices independently or together are numerous. I will be using this blog for artistic inspiration and education. I hope you will be inspired too.