Lecture #1

Tony Allard and the Pesky Heckety 

During the Tony Allard lecture, I noticed several things. I really appreciated his speech on his alter-ego, Heckey, because it showed how important and often grueling art can be. When he goes out as Heckety, he, like much any good art, is seriously questioned and sometimes looked down upon by authority figures or simple on-goers because they're unaware of how to react to something so raw and uncontrollable. It really takes guts to continually stand up for your art and in Tony's experience — truly be your art. I thought it was great that he brought the mask in to show and represent this non speaking character that can communicate so much. For example, Tony as Heckety is pesky. He is the trickster as an artist and the artist as a trickster.  

Another major component of Tony's lecture was sampling bits and pieces of his past and current art. One piece that really stood out to me was his "Drawing in the Media Stream." This appealed to me probably because I'm a journalism major and am particularly sensitive and curiously receptive to how people view the media, what is remembered and what is picked out for projects like this from what journalists produce and inform on daily. Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to participate in the version he did on campus, but I did see the results. I think it's a great idea to incorporate this sort of thing into art. Reacting to the media is a huge thing. It's a great way to express one's self. 

Overall, I found Tony to be refreshing in the sense that he was able to communicate his process and motives well. I find that many artists are phenomenal at actually producing art but maybe not the best as explaining it. Tony seemed open about his work which made me appreciate it more. I also loved that he was able to draw on quotes for inspiration. 

In my opinion, the most compelling quote he shared was:  

"Minds like beds, all made up." — William Carlos Williams

I liked that this made me think about changing my mind and being open to new things. I think part of an artist's job is to introduce people or at least invite people to come along with them to question ideas, practices and thoughts. 

Below is addition information concerning the lecture and his website. 

Holiday Party Projection Video

I decided to go with the holiday classic and literally my favorite movie, "It's a Wonderful Life" as a basis for my video installation. I took the entire movie but cropped and reproduced some of my favorite, significant scenes. When I copied certain sections of the movie, I added different effects. For example in the first part of the movie, where the stars are speaking, are reproduced and the top star gets larger and more dominant in each reproduction. Then midway through the film, the portion where George Bailey first stands up to Mr. Potter, is duplicated many times to show it's significance to George's later actions in the film.

Some portions, I repeated and messed with the audio, made it louder or quieter.

There are a bunch of scenes I messed with, just to give them more significance and praise or spunk - even though many may be iconic pieces of the film already! Because in a room with 20 plus projections, it's obviously easy to miss something. I partly chose this film because it's to recognizable, and used in so many other films (just for its pure awesomeness and joy), and because it really is my favorite holiday movie... I would bring it to any holiday party to watch.

Here is a portion:

Final for Tinguely/Marclay Project

I really wanted to capture both artists by honoring the record and depicting sound in a unique, untraditional way.

I used two 45 vinyl records to encompass bells in the middle. They're supported by a balsa wood base and round outside edge to house placed needles. I used bells both because of the sound they produce and the sense of holiday spirit they bring about. I know only the projection had to have "holiday" tied to it, but I really wanted to connect each of my projects in that way. The projection (see individual post) uses "It's a Wonderful Life." The pieced together record uses Bing Crosby, Hawaiian Hits and Reader's Digest records to symbolize the travel, classicness and integrity in "It's a Wonderful Life."And lastly, the Tinguely/Marclay Project uses bells to allude to holiday.

Really, it takes aspects of an old record player: spinning motion, needles, records, wood and screws to create a new kind of experience. The mechanical part is the person spinning the records, making the bells sound and the tab hit the needles (both for added sound and for a mesmerizing visual). I was happy how finished it looks and will keep it for something fun in my own home!

Photos:

Record Project Ideas

1) Cut Up Playing Record - I got Bing Crosby and a Hawaiian themed record. My goal is to go with a similar theme to "It's a Wonderful Life" because I know I want to base my projection off of that. Bing Crosby, to me represents Christmas, the time and all things wonderful, romantic and sort of classic. A huge theme in "It's a Wonderful Life" is traveling and escaping one's current situation. I want to break  up the two records (one representing the classic, traditional, pleasing to the ear music - BING) and the other representing travel and fantasy (the Hawaiian themed music). 

2) Given away already, I want to use the movie and Christmas classic, "It's a Wonderful Life." I do want to edit bits and pieces. I may play the entire movie but edit the sound significantly and have that play as a separate entity! I'll have to experiment. 

3) For my larger project, the mechanic piece, I want to create a sort of wind chime or mobile. I think it would be neat to made a wind chime, completely independent of forced mechanics. I want to use cut and formed records, along with bells, and other (probably) found gadgets. The noise will be created by various pieces put onto the structure and I definitely want each piece to have its own sense of movement, able to spin, go up and down, etc. The piece should look simple and clean in the end. 

Taste Not Midtown Restaurant Tour

This is my brief sample of flourishing restaurants in Midtown. I'm extremely interested in the local food movement and love diving into it. The piece evolved into an experience more than a simple description solely on taste.

The portions in between visiting the restaurant are meant to be both fun and contemplative, replicating a walk to your favorite restaurant.

If you haven't tried some of these restaurants - I highly consider it.

Hope you enjoy - now go eat!

Reminder:
Restaurants were:

Restaurants Midtown

30 sec intro
45 ish sec each restaurant
30 sec exit

An Auditory Vegetarian Insight to Midtown's Food District

Ideas

- Michael's Deli & Catering: Describe Falafel on Pita (with Tzatziki, cucumbers, lettuce, tomato and onion)
- Dreamer's Coffee: simple breakfast of scrambled egg and pepperjack cheese on an everything bagel and a caramel latte with soy milk.
- Wedge - A Cheese Shop: Cheese plate with glass of wine
- Sup: Black Bean and Green Chiles Soup with a cranberry salad (gorgonzola cheese, dried cranberries,  almonds, mixed greens and a white balsamic vinigarette) and a small oatmeal raisin house cookie.
- Midtown Eats: Truffle Mac & Cheese and Hummus and Baby Ghanoush as an appetizer, served with Pita.

• Tzatziki is a Greek sauce made of strained yogurt mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt, olive oil and lemon juice, dill, mint, or parsley. Served cold.

• Ghanoush is a Levantine dish of eggplant mashed with a mix of olive oil and various seasoning. 

Need to write scripts, try a couple more dishes and get in the sound booth.

Nat sound from each restaurant?

Video Live Performance Assignment

We approached this assignment in a humorous way. One could see this performance as a spoof on the scene in "Forgetting Sara Marshall" or as something completely independent. We went in with the idea that one person would do the complete opposite of everything the yoga teacher was saying. I do yoga frequently and this sort of thing definitely happens. It's always confusing, though, because a yoga studio isn't somewhere you generally giggle. We wanted to exaggerate it for entertainment purposes. We brought the spray bottle, yoga mat, dressed the part and played music to enhance the room and make it seem like a yoga studio.