Summary Digital Art Chapter 1 Introduction I’ve taken media criticism in my undergraduate course. Luckily, I am familiar with the history of media, and some are included in this chapter. However, I am impressed by digital artworks created many years ago. It is really eye-opening and amazing. What I’ve gotten from the criticism course is not to consider everything separately. As a fair minded human being, we’ve got to avoid the dualistic thinking mode. Paul states that the digital medium poses a number of challenges to the traditional art world. It is true, however, we’ve been seeing how digital arts connect and embrace the traditional art. I think conceptual art is a good example to describe the connection between digital art and traditional art. Certainly, digital art breaks down the boundaries of art, including design, video, photography, printmaking, painting, drawing which could work together very well. On the other hand, digital art is risk-taking if you consider the cost. After all, every coin has two sides. It depends on the way you think about it. Understanding Digital Literacies Chapter 1 Mediated Me This chapter is the introduction to the book, which provides a big picture for us to understand some fundamental and essential ideas and views when it comes to digital media or “new media”. It investigates that idea even further than the book titled Digital Art. It seems like the authors do not mean to separate the ideas of affordances and constraints, even if they provide several of positive and negative thoughts. For readers, they demonstrate the ways how they could help people get to know digital media. It is like the internet gathering what people do, what people relate to, how they think, and how they reveal themselves. Moreover, the authors suggest not to separate affordances and constraints, and in fact they affect each other mutually, as the authors state that “sometimes the affordances of one medium help us to overcome the constraints of another (p. 10).” We’ve been talking a lot about how the internet affects people’s lives, either on the optimistic side or on the pessimistic side. This is the myth of the development of technology I believe. Personally speaking, I have a passive feeling that human beings would be driven or other-wise directed by technology companies. If you have used Line (app) or Messenger(app), you may use some images (ideograms) attached in the application to chat. It is very interesting, however, users have to buy some upgrade ideograms. As far as I observe, all my friends who use Line app have been purchasing the products (ideograms) for several of years. My point is, users would be driven by ideograms while the companies make huge profits. Moreover, do you have experience like this? If your friends have so many wonderful ideograms and keep sending these images to you, will you be willing to purchase products? If you do not buy the upgrade ideograms, what do you do and how do you chat? Just using free ideograms? Actually, this is what the authors state in this chapter. “All human actions take place at a site of tension between what the cultural tools available to us allow us to do and the way we are able to adapt them to do new things (p. 10).” We’ve read an article in summer class titled Picting, not Writing, is the Literacy of Today’s Youth by Noirrs and Soloway. I was wondering whether writing would be supplanted by images? I believe that digital media breaks down barriers of writing literacy, while what is next? – it is time to learn digital literacies. Response 1. What is your experience and comfort with technology as you enter this course? Technology was developing fast as we enter to 21st century, while it was embarrassing that I did not touch so many devices during my k-12 studies. When I got to know what the computer is, my primary school did not allow us to spend much time on it since computers distracted students' attention. Then I went to the private school which includes middle school and high school, we were not allowed to bring our cell phones to school. However, we were witnesses of that period of time. For example, Nokia was famous during 2000-2010, while with the development of Apple Inc, Nokia was declining and as a result it withdraw from this prosperous time. Nokia has been my favorite cell phone brand. After high school studies, I’ve been learning different technologies for over seven years since my undergraduate program in filmmaking and my previous job and current part time job are all related to media and technologies. Well, I think we’ve been taught that girls are not good at technologies, right? So, I had a reluctance to try technology when I was entering the filmmaking program. I was forced to learn those video-making skills, such as Premiere, Eduis, and After Effect. It was not self-motivated, but grade-driven. After graduation, I was placed at an institution and my main duty was to make promotion videos and to take pictures. No one helped me and everything was done by me. Therefore, my skills were improved during that period and I began to love technology as time went by. As a result, I feel excited to take this course and can’t wait to learn more technologies for future teaching. 2. How do you personally employ technology on a day-to-day (personally and professionally) basis already? HOW did you learn to use it? As I state above, thanks to my undergraduate studies, I learned many kinds of technologies of video-making and photography, including Premiere, After Effect, Eduis, Photoshop, Audition, Illustrator. I established a media studio named Dream Light, which provided business planning and producing short films, mini-movies, advertisements, trailers, promotional films and wedding videos. From 2012 to 2014, as the founder and producer of the studio, I produced many short films sponsored by various companies, promotional films for Shanghai Rainbow Chamber Orchestra, the promotional film of the 2013 Spring Festival for Baidu.com Inc. Moreover, because of the requirement of my work, I learned Indesign by myself. Personally, I like exploring different apps, such as iMovie, PicsArt, Stop Motion and so on. Sometimes, if I was not sure how to use some specific functions, I would google it and find the tutorial video. Additionally, I’ve been learning how to use drone for several months. It is definitely difficult to take a wonderful footage. Currently, I am working on the project titled 1930s Shanghai Advertising Poster Art. Since I am taking a printmaking course, it gives me the opportunity to know how to recreate and revive 1930s Shanghai Advertising Poster Art.
1930s Shanghai Advertising Poster Art
3. How does digital art or new media expand upon traditional studio habits and thinking? Well, it was embarrassing that I did not have much traditional studio habits and thinking since I did not take traditional art courses in my undergraduate studies. Even though I’ve taken some studio art courses in graduate studies, I can’t tell whether digital art or new media expand upon traditional studio habits and thinking. It seems like I try my best to be out of my comfort zone and to try something new, because I am taking drawing and printmaking this semester, and I think they are far away from digital art and my digital art experience. Drawing is tedious which needs patient, even skillful hands. Digital art seems to be much easier and faster to get it done, and it does not need skillful hands I think. To me, whichever, digital art or traditional art you choose, they are tools for depicting the objective and subjective world. They can work together or solo, depending on what you want to create. 4. Apps that I’d like to explore further? I am interested in animation this semester, and I would love to find some animation-maker apps that are user friendly. In fact, I was impressed by the film named Loving Vincent – the world’s first fully painted feature film. That is SO SO amazing and magnificent, and I don't even know how to describe it by words. Below is the trailer. 5. Key technology term that teachers and students should know: Digital technology: a tool for the creation of more traditional art objects, such as a photograph, print, or sculpture (Paul, 2015, p. 8). Digital Art (Computer art – Multimedia art – Cyberarts): new media art which is created, stored, and distributed via digital technologies (Paul, 2015, p. 7-8). Social networking sites: mashups of multiple tools, integrating the function of photo albums, email platforms, instant messaging programs and blogs, such as Facebook (Jones & Hafner, 2012, p. 10). Cultural Tool: it can be physical objects or more abstract ‘codes’ or ‘systems of meaning’, which can meet the needs of new material or social circumstances or new psychological needs” (Jones & Hafner, 2012, p. 2, p. 5). Technological dystopianism: the belief that digital technologies are destroying our ability to communicate and interact with one another in meaningful ways (Jones & Hafner, 2012, p. 11). Technological utopianism: the belief that digital technologies will invariably make us all smarter and the world a better place (Jones & Hafner, 2012, p. 11). Digital literacies: refers to the practices of communicating, relating, thinking and ‘being’ associated with digital media (Jones & Hafner, 2012, p. 13). Reference: Paul, C. (2015). Digital art (world of art) Third edition. Chicago Jones, R. H., & Hafner, C. A. (2012). Understanding digital literacies: A practical introduction. Routledge. Peer Response
To Lindsay: So happy to see you on Weebly again. Well, I can tell that you gave me a map how technologies affected you during your time at schools and now. We read brief history of technology, while your stories and experiences are the reduction to the history. I am delighted to read your stories since they are from American people's perceptives. It is fantastic to know what we were experiencing, touching, observing at the same period. Back to question three, I totally agree with your statement "you might NEVER see these things EVER if it weren't for new media." So true. However, what I am concerned about is how to preserve or save those declining traditional old technologies, even have faded away. Who could inherit those traditional technologies? To Patricia: Hello Patricia, I am intrigued to know what you do as a media specialist since I'd love to apply for this kind of job after graduation. Love to know you more. Back to your post, I am curious to know why you do not like creating video. I had the same feeling when I was a freshman at college, and I was forced to create videos and to learn video-making skills. Video-making is "very stressful, uncomfortable, and a struggle" I completely agree with you and I guess sometimes if you are out of the comfort zone, it may direct you to some fantastic ideas. Well, do whatever you wanna do. Additionally, I agree that technology is an new possibility. It definitely extends the traditional art. To Tingting: Hello Tingting, welcome back my former colleague! From your writing, I am familiar with all your experiences with technology since we were living in the same period. HAHA. It seems like you kept following the fashion of smartphone. Admire you! I just got a smartphone when I went to college. Before that, I just had a cell phone while my school prohibited using it. So, even though we are from China, the policies, traditions, education styles, and the trend of society are different from each other. I love your response to question 3. very LOGICAL. Well, I'd love to read more about your personal experience with digital art.
2 Comments
|