Artistic Statement
Project #2 __ Autumn 2009
Technoscapes: An Exploration of Images from Hayes Hall & from my own Paintings

In approaching the creation of the technoscapes for this project I assembled a variety of my own digital photographs including those of Hayes Hall, Hopkins Hall, some of my sculptures and paintings, and my garden. The first piece, Window with Doorway, is thus a digitally enhanced and created environment in which an image of a doorway can be seen through a window. The window is viewed from the outside of Hayes Hall and was transformed in Photo Shop by altering its coloring and tone, changing its perspective, cloning some of the brick texture where needed, and then masking the window with gradient masking and paint tools to create a space through which the painting within could be viewed. The doorway painting seen through the window is actually a composite of several of my paintings which were cropped, color-managed, and recombined into a new composition using a variety of Photo Shop tools, including Camera Raw for some of the original color adjustments. The second piece, Cosmic Comet, began as an exploration of an image of the main corridor of Hopkins Hall which I had transformed in Camera Raw, cropped, stretched, and color managed. My next step was to introduce images of my own paintings and sculptures into this transformed environment. However, as I worked on the piece I realized that the focus needed to shift to the image of the Comet painting which had been painted several years ago (part of a series done in various acrylic paints including metallic, iridescent, and interference paints). Thus the creative process led me to scrap the original plan and to work, instead, on the the Comet painting, transforming and enhancing it by placing it on a larger field, thus extending the original image into a virtual landscape. The extension was done with the use of a variety of Photo Shop tools starting with fills, gradients, and styles, then using the paint brush tool in various modes, and finally using the smudge tool and the motion blur filter to extend and accentuate the movement and flow already present in the original painting. At this point I am discovering that this combination of art and technology is increasingly presenting me with a very satisfying way of working, giving me the opportunity to explore, extend, even redefine themes and images which I have already developed in other media.

While I'm collecting images for the next project & sorting things out, here's a photo I took last summer of the Hopkins-Hayes Courtyard -- one of my favorite places.

Proposal for Project #2:
Technoscapes: An Exploration of Images from Hopkins Hall and from my own Art, Sculpture, and Garden

Artists have always had the opportunity to select, transform, and arrange their materials in a way that expresses their particular vision. Granted, some eras of artistic expression have required closer adherence to the observable world than others; nevertheless, artists have still been able to explore a variety of possibilities and arrangements and forms, to expand the vision of their times, to question or challenge that vision and the traditions in which it is expressed, to juxtapose that vision or tradition with alternatives, and so on. Technology has accelerated this process in a variety of ways by presenting us with the advanced imaging capabilities of digital photography and computer applications like Photo Shop plus internet access to vast image resources. Not only can we create and transform and record images faster and in greater quantities, but we can also share and receive them, be affected by them, and, in turn, respond to them with developments in our own work.

The creation of a "technoscape'" or a digitally created environment, a virtual world, is now becoming a creative norm. To participate in this, I plan to explore the juxtaposition and integration of various, even dissimilar, image elements, namely, photographs elements from a walk through and around Hopkins Hall with photographic elements of my own art work (paintings and sculpture). I may also include some images from an earlier photographic exploration of my back yard garden. At this point I'm not sure how these images will be combined or even which ones I will use. I do know that all of these elements, Hopkins Hall and the Art Department, my own art work, and the beauty of flowers in my garden, are parts of the composite of my life, of who I am, especially as an artist. Working on these pieces will, I hope, clarify, develop, and communicate that sense of identity, meaning, and growth.

-- and before proceeding, I would like to note that instructor, Eddy, & I discovered we both really like Bill Murray's movie, What about Bob? -- one of my all-time favorites. & so when I sent in my 1st Project (see following images) I also included this image from the movie.

Artistic Statement for Project #1:
Concerning People and Technology:
Issues of Privacy and Control

The works, Data Mining and Technological Takeover, represent two aspects of my concerns regarding the potential incursions of technology upon our lives, namely, upon our privacy and upon our autonomy. The first, Data Mining, is a response to the development and use of sophisticated data mining software applications which in and of themselves are incredible tools for research, information retrieval, and all of the services available through such search engines as Google. The existence of such software is not the source of my concern; in fact, these tools represent an incredible capability which has only begun to be explored. But the concern remains that these tools can be grossly misused to invade privacy, to retrieve and exploit information, and to violate boundaries and rights that we have thus far taken for granted. To illustrate this I have selected three basic examples: first, a page from my g-mail account in which ads, relevant to the e-mail opened, appear along the side; second, a page from the website WeFeelFine which trolls the web, particularly the Blogosphere, to assemble data on feelings expressed around the world and to exhibit these in visual displays that can be configured and mapped according to demographics of age, sex, geography, time, and weather; third, an image from a digital mapping site that maps connections on Facebook. While none of these represent a violation of privacy as I understand it (though Google is pushing it a bit by mining data from my e-mail and then posting unasked-for ads in my account), they do represent the capability to retrieve, store, map, and otherwise use personal information.

In designing this piece I chose to superimpose the images so as to visually represent the accumulation of data plus a sense of the variety of ways in which data is represented. The text object on the lower left repeating the phrase “DATA MINING” was created with the Text tool and then rasterized to give me the capability of shaping it and distorting it to give a sense of perspective, expressive of the emergence and flow of data and data mining. The text is thus intended to indicate a sort of pathway or road or influx, a flow to the viewer similar to the flow of data mining as well as to present a verbal marker pointing to the intent and meaning of the piece. The sheep standing on this text path and platform is there as a witness and commentator, also a metaphor of the innocence and harmlessness that can be violated by inappropriate use of data mining.

The second work, Technological Takeover, expresses a related concern, namely the increased interface, even interpenetration, of man and machine. Given that Star Trek’s Borg have become an iconic representation of the dangers of technological dehumanization, I chose to bring together images of several Borg drones superimposed upon images of Borg cube-like interior architecture. Again I have introduced sheep as witnesses, visual commentators on the scene and the issues involved.

Given that I have chosen to address incredibly complex issues, I decided to render them in a style more suggestive than explicit, including, hopefully, enough detail to get my message across, at least to illuminate some of these issues in a way that may provoke awareness, thought and dialogue. In the development of my themes, I had to narrow down my image search and selection to images with sufficient resolution to be usable. The images I came up with turned out to be just the ones needed, for example an image of the interior of a new library in Mexico City served to represent Borg architecture. I’ve just learned about the Select Pixels option in CS4 and was able to use that, especially with text. I am also learning to merge layers and in Technological Takeover made use of layer masks, the clone tool, and the smudge tool to achieve the final effects. The Borg figures in the upper left were separated and placed on different layers in order to create a sort of wrap-around perspective, then reassembled using various tools to smooth out the transition. Working on the pieces helped me to learn about Photo Shop CS4. It also helped me to clarify and develop my own insights into the issues addressed. I am happy with the resulting works. They express what I set out to express and may at some point develop into a more expansive series.

Title: Data Mining:
(Images from my G-mail account, 2 Data Mining web sites, some Text, & the return of the Sheep)

Entitled: Technological Takeover
(note presence of Borg, images also from 2 libraries, &, yes, the Sheep are definitely back! -- this appears to be an ongoing motif with me)

Proposal for Project #1:
Concerning People & Technology:
Issues of Privacy & Control

As our society becomes increasingly technological there are two related issues which are of particular concern to me. Both of these issues have to do with the erosion of boundaries, one boundary is that between private and public, the other, between human and machine. First, then I wish to address the increased invasion of privacy via, to name only the most prevalent and obvious, surveillance cameras, monitoring of phone conversations, and especially web-based data mining. Second, and related to the first, is the potential effect of the increased interface, even interpenetration, between man and machine.

Allow me to clarify my concerns. I am not at all against technology; rather, I am for it. Its benefits are too numerous to mention. To oversimplify: there is technology in the hands of the "good guys" which already gives us advanced communication, entertainment, travel, medicine, and much more; its trajectory leads us to some version of what we see in the world of Star Trek's Federation in which everyone has a chance and no one is left behind. But then there is technology in the hands of the "bad guys" which can lead to a nightmare world of control in which no one has any privacy and everyone is taken over by technology to the point of complete dehumanization, the classic science fiction example being Star Trek's Borg.

In approaching these related and rather complex issues I plan to glean images from the Internet, some from everyday experience (like the ads that pop up in my g-mail account, ads that are, amazingly, always relevant to the subject of the e-mail I have just opened), some from scientific or medical technology sites, and others from media sites such as screen shots of science fiction episodes having to do with controlled societies like the Borg. There may also be some use of text, perhaps articles pertaining to these issues, perhaps my own thoughts. My goal is to present two works which will address these issues, cast light on them, indicate possible trajectories, and, hopefully, encourage thought and dialogue. Following are some of the images I have begun gathering to aid in the creative process.

Autumn Quarter & another course in Photo Shop, this one in CS4. Promises to be a good quarter. Another small step. Oh yes, & on the first day of class I discovered that instructor, Eddy, & I went to the same high school!

Okay, & here is the way the final project looked after cut & mounted. This is a digital recreation of the way it looked when presented.

Have changed the direction that the final project is taking. The DVD project will have to wait. I've decided to focus on painting w/ Photo Shop using one of my paintings of Cornwall (the hillsides as seen from Trellowarren) as a template & from there explore various ways of painting over it, transforming it w/ gradients & layers, etc. @ this point I'm not sure what the final work will look like or even if it will be 2-dimensional; I may use the images in 3-D space as a sort of model for an installation piece. Here are some of the versions thus far.

Oh yes, & I'm here including 2 book covers recently discovered on the shelves of the Whetstone Library where I work. Please note the presence of sheep on the covers .... my sheep are thus vindicated! (not that they need to be. This is just a note to those who might still be skeptical. In addition, there is a "Sheep Grazing on the Oval" project now documented & exhibited in the Wexner Art Museum on the Ohio State Campus. @ some point I'll try to bring that into my Blog -- sheep are social animals, remember? That's from an article no longer posted on the web, otherwise I'd quote it & include it. I hate it when good stuff just, poof, vanishes from cyberspace, especially before I can grab it & save it for posterity).

Rough Draft for Final Project: Mapping of Cornwall (Including Some Works Inspired by a Summer in Cornwall)

Proposal for Final Project:
A DVD-Pro Presentation of a Creative Mapping of Cornwall

For my final project I would like to create a work done in DVD-Pro. This piece, a continuation of themes developed in Project #3: A Creative Mapping of Cornwall, will consist of a basic map of Cornwall plus images of my paintings of Cornwall. This will involve creating a Photo Shop file consisting of layers created specifically for this project. This file will then be imported into DVD-Pro, utilizing its capability to present an image with areas that, when accessed by a mouse cursor, open up to reveal additional images embedded in the original Photo Shop file layers. Although I have been exposed to the basic procedures for doing this, I do not yet know how to successfully complete the process. Thus realization of this project will depend not only on the creation of a Photo Shop file with appropriate layers, but also upon the utilization of a software application still very new to me. This presents me with the unexpected challenge of learning the rudiments of DVD-Pro and of burning a DVD for the first time. I intend to make the most of this opportunity, hopefully to the end of creating a meaningful presentation to share.

David Hockney:
An Influential Artist in Both Traditional and Digital Media

Before examining the works of David Hockney and their influence on me and upon this final project, I would first like to look at the more general issue of Digital Art as Art and the legitimate use of it by more traditional artists like Hockney as well as by a new generation of artists for whom working digitally is as normative as painting on walls and boards and canvases has been for artists throughout past centuries, even millennia. Over seventy years ago, in the conclusion to his classic work Meaning of Art, Herbert Read addressed the issue of the validity of artists' utilizing new technology in the creation of art. Concerning the transition to and assimilation of new materials and methods of creation Read stated the following:

The ultimate values of art transcend the individual and his time and circumstance....the artist will use materials placed in his hands by the circumstances of his time: at one period he will scratch on the walls of his cave, at another he will build or decorate a temple or a cathedral, at another he will paint on canvas....The true artist is indifferent to the materials and conditions imposed upon him. He accepts any conditions, so long as they can be used to express his will-to-form. Then in the wider mutations of history his efforts are magnified or diminished, taken up or dismissed, by forces which he cannot predict, and which have very little to do with the values of which he [or she] is the exponent. Read, Herbert. Meaning of Art (London, Pelican Books, 1954), p.191.

Writing those words around 1930 Read could not possibly have envisioned the technology that has been placed in our hands or the seemingly infinite variety of ways in which it could be used. Since the advent of the computer and computer graphics capabilities artists have been making the kind of transition that Read pointed to. David Hockney is one of those artists who has successfully made this transition from traditional media to digital media, currently incorporating both in his works. He thus has become a sort of bridge into the present era.

As to Hockney's influence upon me, I have always liked his works, especially his landscape paintings of the British countryside. In particular I like his use of color and his exploration of a variety of subjects and forms. Several years ago I became aware of his use of digital technology as a prt of his creative process. Moving beyond the use of photographs as a source for compositions, he employed scanners and computer images as part of a sort of creative feed-back loop in which paintings and digital production and reproduction informed and inspired one another. More recently he has begun "painting" images on an iPhone (http://andybutler.net/blog/2009/07/01/david-hockney-phone-art-free-download/). He has for me thus become an example of an artist who has successfully incorporated digital technology into his works without abandoning the traditional forms of drawing and painting.

His influence on my own work, in particular this final project, is perhaps more indirect than direct. My own paintings of the countryside and seaside in Cornwall were actually begun before I was aware of Hockney's British landscapes; his paintings thus became a confirmation of my own works as well as an inspiration to continue and develop those themes. His use of digital technology encouraged me to explore the possibilities of developing those images via the computer. I plan to further explore those possibilities. The final project gives me the opportunity to incorporate some of my previously created pieces (a scanned painting, a photographed painting, and a computer-generated seascape), into their geographical context, thus reconnecting them with their place of origin and communicating that experience to others -- those paintings will emerge from a map of Cornwall just as they were created out of my experience of being in Cornwall.

Proposal for Project #3 -- Digital Mapping: A Creative Mapping of Cornwall

A summer spent in Cornwall gave me the opportunity to walk the rolling hills and the cliffs and beaches, to visit and get to know the Cornish people and learn something of their culture, and to observe and make sketches of the countryside, the houses, and the seaside. I came away from that experience enriched and inspired. Upon returning to the United States, first the West coast the Columbus, I set upon the task of recording my observations and impressions in a series of drawings and paintings, several of which, works in themselves, constitute the groundwork for larger mural-sized paintings which I hope to do in the future. Some of these studies were begun while I was still in Cornwall living in the small fishing village of Porthleven. Appropriately, my first study (about 7” by 5’) was done on fish and chips paper salvaged from out frequent visits to the local fish and chips shop.

For some time I have wanted to not only develop these studies but also to document them and my progress in creating them. The concepts and forms of digital mapping provide a perfect vehicle for such a project. Thus I propose to (a) digitally document some of my works through digitally photographing them and scanning them, and then (b) assemble and incorporate the accumulated images in Photo Shop to create a series of three works. These works will record and reflect the earlier pieces; they will also be unique works serving to map the aspects of Cornwall and the creative process of interpreting and communicating my experience of that place. At this point I plan to modify and superimpose images, reflecting the genesis of the original series as well as the development of my own process of learning to use digital recording devices such as camera and scanners and digital software applications, in this case Photo Shop CS3. I may also incorporate other images such as maps of Cornwall and my own computer generated compositions. The resulting digital maps will thus become a part of this evolving creative process and an expression of it, communicating this experience to others.

& now to update the 3 images for Project #2: Technoscape, or, in case of my take on this assignment -- a virtual landscape related to Hopkins Hall, the Art Building at OSU, a place very special to me & one I'd like to share:
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Proposal for Project #2: A Technoscape of Hopkins Hall

By what the artists focus upon and by the ways in which they see and express their vision, artists influence and shape the way we see things, the way we experience both inner and outer reality. The traditional landscape (or seascape or skyscape) is one of the classic forms of artistic expression whether the artist is focusing upon a particular subject within an environment or whether he or she is focusing on the landscape itself. An example here would be that of the Renaissance artist bringing iconographical subjects out of traditional backgrounds and placing them within increasingly realistic and recognizable landscapes. Later artists focused on the landscape itself. The "-scape" became a place in which events happened or a place in and of itself.

All of this has been affected by our changing social and cultural perspectives and by our technological developments. Developments in printing combined with discoveries and advances made in photography, film making, and television have increased not only the availability of images but also the speed with which they are produced, distributed, and received; the influences reverberate within the artistic community and throughout popular culture. And now, with the imaging capabilities of computers, we are beginning to create more than images, we are beginning to create a virtual space in which to experience them. Thus the landscape becomes a technoscape, a virtual environment created by artists and made possible through technology.

As an exploration of this space I plan to utilize photographs I have taken of the interior of Hopkins Hall. When I returned to OSU after years of being away and re-entered Hopkins Hall I once again found great enjoyment in the stained glass blocks placed in the stairways on the north side of the building. I was also amazed at the fact that I had forgotten them, had forgotten their presence and color and reflections and the way that all of that had affected me. Now I have the opportunity to re-enter that space of colored glass blocks and reflected light, to photographically record it, and, through the use of Photo Shop, to express it and transform the images, translate them so that I might share with others the effects of that light & color. At this point I intend to present a series of three works in which I combine, overlay, and transform images to create a technoscape of the interior of Hopkins Hall, a sort of virtual tour through my own perspective and experience of this building. I hope to convey something of the nature of Hopkins Hall, namely that it is a building established for the purpose of creating and sharing art. This may involve the inclusion of some of my own paintings created since I studied here. I also intend, through this, to contribute a viewpoint that will influence, even impact, how other people experience the building. The works will relate to Hopkins Hall as it is as well as create a series of images that will extend it to a virtual place to be enjoyed on its own terms.

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& a quote here from class re. creating a work of art:
"...[you are] building a world that has an inner syntactic logic to it, but you are also building a world for other people to see." (& this provides the opportunity for others to respond)
-- Joshua Penrose, Instructor, Art 350 --
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Here are the 3 parts to Project #1 -- Let's hear it for the Sheep!

Before I go any further, here is a more recent photo of my final project from Spring quarter. This photo taken by me on a Canon G9 camera provided by OSU's tech department (offically called OIT I believe).


& so here begins the new quarter -- Summer, 2009 -- of Photo Shop.
Welcome to my new life.
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Proposal for Project #1
Choosing a Future

Bringing our cities, our buildings, & our homes into ecological balance while maintaining a high level of technology & technological advancement has become one of the major social issues of our times. Within the context of this extremely vast & complex topic I would like to create a series of images addressing one aspect & one perspective on the theme of envisioning & establishing human community environments that are both future-oriented & beautiful. In order to do this I propose to approach the topic in three stages:

1. Education & Training: The first work will constitute an image or collection of images drawn from Internet sources having to do with the learning & training environment required to prepare people with the necessary educational, technical, & creative skills with which to approach the task. The images selected will probably be those of a University environment. My thoughts at this time include images of the soon to be reopened Thompson Library at OSU.

2. Choice: Since education & training must be directed by informed & wise decision making, the second work will have to do with perceiving various possibilities & outcomes for the future, indicating the importance of making healthy long-range choices. The images presented will include Internet sources & consist largely of images of current events & situations as well as of possible solutions, both realized & proposed (this may also include images from sources such as Science Fiction).

3. Vision: The third & final work in the series will be visionary, presenting one possible &, in my opinion, desirable future. At this point I am thinking of drawing upon images from science fiction series such as Star Trek or SG-1, both of them being replete with visions of the future.

Along with these images addressing current environmental concerns as they are manifested in the human community composed of buildings, green spaces, transportation & communication grids, etc., I intend to introduce a small flock (literally) of witnesses & participants, namely, sheep. This constitutes a continuation of a series begun last quarter, thus establishing a unity of presence & design in my work. My digital avatars, drawn from Internet sources, will serve to represent students, workers, designers, observers & participants in the drama of ecological training, choosing, & living. Sheep are curious, generally co-operative, & social to the point of being gregarious & communal. They will serve as an unlikely presence in the environments into which I will place them, thus introducing an element of surprise or shifted perspective, even some humor or comic relief in the midst of serious social & environmental issues. Thus I hope to alter the viewer's perception of the works, hopefully drawing attention to the issues presented, the questions raised, & the possibilities suggested. My overall intent is to awaken & encourage.

Above is the essence of the final Project, the "Creative Event:" a Flow of color & light. It brings with it a sense of closure as well as ideas for new works -- an end & a beginning.

I'm taking Art 350 again this summer, this time w/ instructor Joshua. It promises to be an equally productive & enjoyable class. I look forward to it, in fact, am already in the process of reading suggested essays on Postmodernism & other, readings which have gotten me to thinking about some material (like T.S.Eliot's Tradition & the Individual Talent) which has been in my mind but not actively thought about -- the relationship of the past w/ the present, how it infuses, informs, shapes, inspires the present, how this present also infuses & modifies the past, or at least the way we see it. Actually, I have been thinking about these things, they are a part of me, but this is the first time I've started writing about them, putting thoughts to paper -- or to electrons, as it were.

Also, I had thought about starting a new Blog for the new class, but no. Not only is this a continuation of the other, a furtherance, but also the 2 classes constitute a unit, not just of subject matter, but of experience, possibly even of theme. The projects from last quarter may carry over into this one. I hadn't intended to do a "series," but last quarter's work actually turned into that, so will this quarter see the creation of a new series? or a further exploration & development of the series already begun? Guess I'll wait & see where inspiration leads me. Anon.

Here is my final project, Mapping a Creative Event. Amazingly, it was selected for the Art & Technology Show held at the end of the quarter. I didn't expect that. In fact, just before the submission date, I was seriously considering not submitting it, but my husband, Bill, said, "You've got to try." So I did, & there it was, up on the wall -- a collage of Photo Shop elements from my third project, rearranged, mounted on a dark blue background, & washed over w/ a flow of acrylic interference paint. Needless to say, I was thrilled & grateful. The photo was taken by friend, Desi.

So what am I going to do now? Well, after 2 weeks of catching up w/ myself, burning some CD's to document class work, & hopefully getting some rest -- oh yes, & pulling some weeds out of my overgrown garden -- I plan to do this all over again. Summer quarter begins next week & I'm going to revisit Photo Shop. I want to really know this stuff before moving on (good advise from Jessica, the T.A. in my very first Computer Art class taken long ago at Palomar College in California). Until then ... thanks to all who cheered & coached me on: Adam, Sarah, instructor Ryan, Ken, Desi, Beth (for the use of her computer & printer), my husband, Bill (for endless amounts of love & encouragement), & more ... you know who you are. Thank you. I couldn't have gotten this far without you. It's more of a miracle than you could ever know. Thanks for being a part of it.

Project #3 -- Mapping the Evolution of a Creative Event

Proposal for Project 3: Mapping the Evolution of a Creative Event

Mapping a Creative Event

After exploring a variety of examples of the artistic mapping of various digital environments, I found myself especially drawn to the works of Jason Salavon. Two of his works, City and The Loop, Chicago, 1848-2007, are evocative of Monet’s studies of the Cathedral of Rouen, a series that I have always liked. Similarly, Salavon’s stunning work, American Varietal, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, is strongly reminiscent of the veil paintings of Morris Louis, one of my favorite painters. Like Monet’s studies of Rouen Cathedral (also of haystacks, poplar trees, and other), Cities and The Loop explore transitions through time though by collapsing the time frames so they are seen simultaneously rather than serially as done by Monet. All of this led me to think about Louis’ technique of layering washes of color. Thus I came to my decision to explore a similar creative process through the use of Photo Shop, taking advantage of its layering capabilities.

I propose to start with a basic and simple shape such as a rectangle, to which I will add some variations such as curves & fluting along one edge. I then will explore that shape, transforming it, giving it various fills, applying multiple copies, varying the layer opacity, etc., building up layers until I achieve a final composition. The final work will be composed of two phases which will both be included in the same picture plane: (1) the finished composition consisting of the build-up and accumulation of shapes and colors into a unified whole, and (2) a composite strip of images recording the process from the creation of the original shape through the transformations to the final shape or shapes. Thus viewers will be able to see the process of creation mapped alongside the final work which will be a kind of metamap, a map of itself.

Project #3: Artistic Mapping

Conduct research on a topic of personal interest and present this research in the form of a map using Photoshop. Mapping is a way to represent space, information and concepts into a condensed document. While it is generally considered the domain of cartographers and scientific researchers, there are many artists who consider their practice closely related to mapping. As an artist, your choices of what to map are unrestricted. You may choose to map an idea, yourself, a political or historical issue, a material, a space, a process, or even a fictional topic of your own devices. How does your map function as an artistic conveyance of information to others?


Project Proposal Description

Proposals should describe the main ideas / concepts you are interested in and the ways you plan to make them visible in your project. What do you plan to do and why is it interesting? Why does this particular subject interest you? What artists and/or thinkers have influenced your ideas? Why is it appropriate to address this subject matter through digital imaging? How will your project be original? What do you imagine the end result will look like? How will you arrange the elements of your work to best convey your ideas? Proposals are tools of creativity. It is expected that ideas will change and evolve along the way.

Project #2 -- Fabricated Landscape
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This project has been challenging & fun: Used a digital camera for the first time (asked fellow classmate, Kevin, a photography major, to set the camera for "point & click." I didn't even know that I had to turn the camera on (duh!) let alone what button to push, but I'm learning. Also learned how to scan images on a really good scanner & how to @ least try to print on the Hopkins 184 marvel -- success through teamwork! Critique was great, every artist in class had something special to offer. I wish I could include them all here; maybe we need a class blog. Okay, so here's my "Fabricated Landscape", based on scanned painting of Trellowarren countryside, photo (one of my first digital photos! I'm learning a lot of new stuff) of one of my paintings, beach & flowers from Carlsbad, California, & photos taken by classmates:



Project #2: Fabricated Landscape With digital imaging, the ubiquitous world wide web, games and emerging types of nanotechnology, the landscape as a material thing (or collection of things) has been evolving into the landscape as a virtual thing. For this project, in lieu of using online images, use only your own manually scanned imagery and high-resolution digital photographs to construct a series of images that reveal a personal investigation of Landscape.

Project #1 --Social Parody and Media Critique
Completed, Critique held on Tuesday, April 21, 09.
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I am learning lots of new stuff! from instructor Ryan, other students, tutorials, & from just doing. Also, the critique provided the new experience of presenting a large screen presentation of my work, something I was nervous about for a variety of reasons, but everything went well. I enjoyed seeing other people's work, much of it insightful, all of it interesting. I am truly enjoying this class! So here are my first 2 compositions:

First Composition: The O.S.U. Oval w/ Sheep.
Classy title, don't you think?















Second Composition: Stargate w/ Sheep




















Project #1: Social Parody and Media Critique Because digital imaging is used in the production of media and advertising, it is particularly well suited for artistic critiques, parody, or satire of these arenas. Using found image files from the Internet along with your own images, create two (2) “untrue” images. These images should not look fake. You may use text, such as captions, to support the fakery. The images may function as a commentary or critique of a social issue. The images may relate as a series or address separate ideas.

That earthquake photo is a difficult way to begin a Blog. How about another image to bring some light to my new Blog --

site is http://robertarood.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/fra_angelico_009.jpg
date: 4/6/09

Here's where I'm going to start storing images w/ information documenting my sources. Here goes:

This one of earthquake today in Italy:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7984969.stm
date: 4/6/09