Gannaway_Kino Eye Response

Dziga Vertov's "Kino-Eye" reading is a great example of how considering the context of time can help in understanding the work. Given that Vertov lived during the birth of cinema I can imagine the boldness and enthusiasm his writing has. As Vertov mentions and as we have discussed in class, early cinema was largely inspired by theatre. Such terms like mise en scène are reflective of the theatre. However, I enjoy Vertov's attempt to reject or remove cinema from theatre. Vertov claims that the Kino-Eye has a power, along with editing and special effects, that is something greater than what theatre and the human experience can do. Like Vertov, I am interested in the powers of editing and the notion of creating a narrative or theme with imagery and sound from neither similar places or time. As we saw in such works like Leighton Pierce's "Viscera" (2004-05), the camera with editing can create a exploratory world different from typical human experience.

Cowart_Kino Eye Response

I found it interesting how the eye or camera lens was referred to as more perfect than the human eye. I would have to disagree. I concede that a camera can be perfected and can capture detail that might otherwise go unseen but a video or photograph can't envelope you in space and surround you. The article talks about the camera being able to capture everything that is rapidly happening but what if the experience is meant to be overwhelming and rapidly fleeting. Capturing every detail seems to almost make the details less impactful. I see how being able to capture minute details and being able to control what the viewer seeing could be useful and open up new avenues for artistic choices but the physical experience shouldn't be down played.

Hernandez_Kino Eye Response

"We cannot improve the making of our eyes, but we can endlessly perfect the camera." This statement especially resonated with me as I read the passage. Human limitations are not usually something we think of frequently. In contrast, technology, such as cameras and lenses and such, have endless opportunity to evolve. If one considers how long humanity has had to evolve to where we are now and how cameras have evolved since their conception to now, cameras may even become more human than man. Or rather, cameras will get to experience more than humanity has the opportunity to.

Moore_ Manifesto Response

I believe the ideas for the Futurist Manifesto are actually quite radical.The ideas of what it would take to influence the future in a new artistic light seems to only want to get rid of the grounds they are currently standing upon. Though through context I can see why this was created, but the way it was crafted really limits its acceptance and the audience it impacts.

Moore_Response to Kino Eye

This article is actually pretty interesting in the way that is goes about describing the difference between human perception and how we can alter it to match our specific vision based on how we choose to shoot something when we put in on film or in a digital video. Perspective is what differentiates our perception from one another, Being a visionary in this sense allows the director the ability to dictate what he or she wants the audience to see and based on that, they can do it in a way that is capable of evoking different reactions and emotions. I'm into sequential art and many of these same visual elements are present when deciding what is the best way to relay information to an audience based on the factors you are trying to include and deal with. Film is quite an interesting media in its artistic capabilities.

Crouch_Kino Eye Response

This article was interesting and defiantly made me look at what being behind the camera and filming really in-tales. You can't have one without the other, you need the visionary to have the Kino-Eye. I am a  free lance photographer (non-professional) and it also made me think about the Kino-Eye in that perspective as well. You can tell that the author Dziga Vertov really had a passion for filming and seeing different angles and views as not just that but something more.

I really loved how toward the end he talked about being "the masters of vision" and the "organizers of visual life" stating that they where "armed" with the Kino-Eye, almost making it seem like it was a weapon not used for destruction but for creation. It was inspiring!

Dawson_Kino-eye

This proved to be a rather interesting article. The way kino-eye and man work together sounds almost fantastical. It seems to me that kino-eye is like an extension of man's eye. The article talks about a fresh perspective; of different angles that aren't just from the viewer's focal point. It may be talking about a machine developed in the 1920's, but it still sounds relateable, like you can picture someone of that time using this kino-eye.

I also found it interesting the way the machine was put into first person, as though it were writing about itself, saying things like, "I, am kino-eye," or "I am a machine," and how it can "make the perfect man." It was interesting the way the author talked about manipulating images and video with the kino-eye to create this 'perfect' something, whether it be a man, or a motion such as ballet dancers.

Schwanebeck_Responses

Futurist Manifesto:

I think it’s hard to describe the tone of the Futurist Manifesto. The language used is very passionate, descriptive, and aggressive.  It paints a very vivid picture, and I think once you step back and read this manifesto for what it is, very interesting statements are made. I think the line that stood out the most to me was the one that said “Art, in fact, can be nothing but violence, cruelty, and injustice.” He talks about history in a negative light, and how museums are damaging to art. I believe he’s saying that the past is terrible, and a new way of thinking and going about life needs to be enforced.  Time goes by so quickly, so the ways of the past become obsolete and it’s on to the next art form. I think he is making the argument that why should people “worship” the past when you can create the superior future.

Olia Lialina

This is a very interesting article about the Internet in the 90’s as an “amateur web” and how the Internet is now this new transformed thing of the future.  One of my choice paragraphs from this article is on page 3. This was two years later from the previous statements she made about the web, and she states that the relationship once to the web is obsolete. So many people are basically invisible on the Internet, and using the Internet is nothing more than an everyday task. The web is basically “accounts, profiles, journals, personal spaces, channels, blogs, and more.” This relates a lot to our first project because everyone is using and creating on the web for enjoyment and as even as an escape from reality. Even if things get personal or intimate, the web will still draw to some understanding of distance and disconnection from reality, which is a thought-provoking thing to think about

Gannaway_The Futurist Manifesto Response

The Futurist Manifesto is an intense document to say the least. It suggests change through violent/destructive means, and a disregard for the well-being of everyone. One thing this manifesto does accomplish is its passionate rhetoric and vivid imagery.

Considering its historical context, it makes sense that this manifesto was created before WWI, during a rapid increase in technological/industrial and social changes in Italy and other industrial societies. There is a "in with the old, out with the new" vibe that is felt throughout the piece.

Overall I find this manifesto to be interesting simply in it's extreme emotion and fiery nature. Regardless of whatever hate or chaos it promotes, the author, F.T. Marinetti, was a vibrant and powerful writer, qualities of great value in an artists.

Gannaway_Lialina Response

Olia Lialina's Vernacular Web 1 & 2 (2005-07) discuss the early environment of the Internet, during the 1990's. This virtual world, as Lialina describes, had its own aesthetic, unique to the Internet referred to as Web 2.0 (late 1990s'/early 2000s'). Lialina mentions the "under construction" logos, and "starry night" imagery which filled the developing Internet.

This early Internet began to change when the "amateur" Internet was "washed away by dot.com ambitions, professional authoring tools and guidelines designed by usability experts." The new Internet, Vernacular Web, starts to bring in "Home Pages", "MySpace", "Garden Gnomes" and more perhaps identity branding images. However, while these new creations or variations of the old creations, Lialina describes that, "by encouraging the user to “feel at home” services create more distance between the users and themselves." Lialina continues to draw a connection between the professional vs. the amateur, and the rich vs. the poor. This comparison exemplifies Google as a professional or rich entity that creates an environment in which the amateurs (or poor) can play in, feeling that they have some individual presence, even if it's only a Google-made customizable "Personal Homepage." This is one part of the reading that I could relate closely to. I don't remember the Internet of the 1990s' but the Internet today is highly commercialized and structured, when compared to past phases of the Internet. This can be problematic because adds and business fills the Internet of today, and seems to only be increasing its presence. As Cory Arcangel (and other artists I'm sure) call attention to the pervasiveness of advertising in his piece "Punk Rock 101". The influx of commercial presence on the Internet serves to de-value and distract from the perhaps more modest information/media/ideas that are not driven by profit.

Hernandez_Olia Reading Response

I have vague memories of the many characteristics of the web that Olia Lialina speaks of. Under construction especially resonates with me as I can distinctly remember times when I’d be left at home with a computer to browse and I’d more often run into these rather cute animations than a functioning site. Being so young these instances were not so much of a bother but rather were almost fun. I personally never really gave much thought about how different the web functioned and how it looked compared to now, but sitting here and reminiscing certainly builds a kind of nostalgia for a little bit of time I experienced. However, from what I’ve seen as of recent we may be lucky and get to experience this freedom once again. There are many sites becoming popular on the web that allow users to customize their own personal pages. If the demand for a renewal of the beginning of the web becomes great enough we can perhaps see history repeat itself for a newer generation.

Hernandez_Manifesto Reading Response

As an artist and as a woman it is difficult to read The Futurist Manifesto and take it as truth. As you progress through the writing it begins to feel more and more like an angsty teenager with a thesaurus trying to stick it to the man. However, the basic premise and reason for the existence of the piece certainly proves how much it was necessary in its time. Considering the historical context and the immense history behind the population the writer speaks for it is no wonder they have been pushed to the edge and are seeking to reinvent themselves and their future. There is also certainly a cultural barrier between the people of this writing and our very own American society. I believe this piece would resonate more with a wider audience had it attempted to be inclusive with broader populations, and instead of calling to destroy the past proposed to reinvent it and evolve from it without erasing history, no matter how bad it is. It is however worth noting that the author is focusing on speaking with their home people and revolutionizing their country and culture apart from our own and that is to be respected.

Crouch_Olia Response

It was hard for me to fully relate, just because I am just learning about new programs, softwares, and about the computer is general. I only know very little but I have noticed how far we have come since myspace, galaxy wallpapers, dial up connection, playing online pin ball and sparkly icons that can be made on a generator and then post on a page. Just like anything else, we are always evolving in some way. It also sort of frightens me because I feel like one day every single thing we do will be online and there will be no personal interaction anymore. Now I am picturing robots taking over the world haha!

Crouch_Manifesto Response

You can tell from the first paragraph that the Author is obviously angry. The tone of the whole thing seemed belligerent, angry, and preachy. In the second and third sentences they insult the clothes worn, although Italy is one of the leading countries in fashion design. They continue by insulting the museams comparing them to graveyards. Expressing that we are poisoning ourselves by being a part of the endless conducted tours. Museums are a part of history, part of the past and it is only natural to want to preserve that as an artist or from a viewers perspective have it there to look at as a reference to the past and for future inspiration. Art definatly doesn't only consist of violence, cruelty, and injustice. It can be those things if that is what the artist intends, but it can be so many other endless things as well. The most insulting thing of all especially because I am a woman and a feminist was his desire to also destroy feminism and anyone who believed in it. It seems that the entirety of this Manifesto was to destroy in general. I am all but cruel, and I defiantly do not agree or have the urge to destroy so this was not something I enjoyed reading or resinated with. I feel like you had to be around during that time when this was written, to really get some of the points he was trying to make. Still with that being said, he wanted war saying that was the only way to clean up things and move into the future of Italy. Anyone who condones war is no one I would ever agree with!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88BKWQo7U7E

Dawson_ Olia reading response

Reading this brings me back to Windows 98. The first computer I ever had and all that I used was Wordpad and Solitaire along with the other standard Windows games. When we finally got internet, it was dial up. The phone chord stretched across the floor and blocking any incoming calls. Then after the 98 and 99 Windows followed by 2000, came the Mac OS X. The first one. It just amazes me to think about AOL being the only email browser and now there are hundreds. Websites are no longer created through HTML only, there are several programs and online generators that help and create webpages for anyone who wants to make one. Throughout the whole reading I was nodding and thinking, 'yep, I remember that,'.

Dawson_ Reading Response to Manifesto

So halfway through this manifesto I actually wanted to stop reading because it was so off-putting. The tone of the entire essay is rather loud and forceful and a bit negative,especially with things concerning the past for the 'artist'. I am not in agreement with setting libraries on fire, or throwing old masters' works in the rivers. Being against the old ways is one thing, but glorifying war and the entirety of the tenth manifesto statement makes me shrink away. I wonder if the writer's intention is to leave the reader feeling unhappy and rather angry about the context within the manifesto, or if it is a clear revolt against everything that is not what the manifesto says things should be? If this were what you had to be to claim title as an 'artist' I would never call myself an artist again. It sounds arrogant and displeasing.