Monday, February 23, 2015

Paul Hertz Reading

When thinking of past, present and future, the first thing that comes to mind is technology. The idea that in the past, the most intricate form of technology could've been considered the ice-box of a fridge sitting in the kitchen. In the 60's the rooms full of computers were the most complex  forms of electronics we had ever seen. Now a days, technology has taken a giant step in our everyday lives. Aiding in a plethora of research, communicating, and many other things. The idea of what technology could do in the future blows the mind of many people today. This is the basis of the reading and a hot topic these days. The idea of technology and improving our knowledge of electronics to a greater level, leaves many people with the wildest ideas imaginable that could truly make the world a better place.



The idea of using technology within art is very intriguing. It has the potential to heighten the technique and repetitiveness of a piece. To construct a repetitive design one might use the idea of recursion. This is the idea that a set algorithm is constructed and as it runs, it uses its results to complete the next iteration. This is the idea used in some of Pascal Dombis' work.





For over 20 years, Dombis has been using this idea of computers algorithms, and recursions to create his work. By using these methods he creates geometrical designs and develops "irrational environments". He explores the line between control and chaos and produces unpredictable visuals which he develops into "digital wall drawings and video installations". He tries to confront the viewer with his/her own "primitive irrationality".

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Joseph Nechvatal




The first thing that I have heard about Nechvatal is his involvement with working with computers to create artwork. The reading starts out with just that, stating that the artist's work uses "computer-robotic assisted" paintings.



This sentence alone sparks my interest. As I have said before, I am minoring and have a high interest in computers, and most computer related things (including my involvement in this class). Since most artwork is in fact done by humans, this new idea of robot assisted paintings seems to be a wave from the future. Thinking more deeply about this idea, I am then curious to who is the "actual" artist, th painter or robot.



Continuing on in the reading, a form of  virus-like program preforms "degradation and transformation of the image". This idea seems to be a three-step (or even three-artist) piece. Step 1 being the human artist, step 2 being the computer, and step 3 being this virus that manipulates the work. To describe the process the author starts out by explaining the file, traveling over the internet to "computer-driven robotic painting machine". The author describes that the artist himself is not involved in the painting. This again, relates me back to the idea of this piece of artwork being created by three "things".

Some of his works are intermixed with human body parts (usually intimate) and flowers or fruit. This reminds me of the relationship that the human artist has with the robot. It is as if his paintings are representing him (the human parts) and the robot is represented with the "non-living" (non-human) fruit and flower parts. This combination seems almost collage-like. As though, mixing the ideas of human (science) and virtual (technology).