Jack Dollhausen Machines

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~jackdoll/index.html

This website stuck out to me because it was set up a little different than the other online portfolios that artists have posted in the past. Dollhausen is a new media artist who creates machines that perform tasks; some simple and some are complex. What I like about his website is that it is a reflection of his work. He turns his portfolio into a piece of art itself by creating photo montages of his work together in order to create an untraditional library of images. When clicked upon a larger image of the work can be viewed along with a small caption describing the function of the piece. The descriptions are very technical and do not touch on the idea behind the work which is left completely to our imaginations. 

A common theme that can be found in his work is the use of light. Many of the machines use colored lights in some way as part of their function. For example in his work "August" he uses colored lights to create patterns in response to body heat. Another one of my favorites is "Spnx" which is a machine that generates all four-letter combinations of letters in the alphabet. That means there are 456976 different options.

There are so many things to look at on this site. My only criticism that I have is that I would like to see some of the machines in action. I really think viewing the works would be have more of an impact if you could view a quicktime video of the machine performing its given task. 

Michele Brody

www.michelebrody.com

This week I was looking at an artist that does things a little differently than the works that we have been looking at. Unlike the artist this week, Martin John Callanan, who is working with digital art as a way to produce new media work, this artist moves away from that to experiment with something completely different. Michele Brody works with a different type of media to create her installations. Most of the time Brody is working within nature which is something we may not typically relate to new media art. She uses her installations to demonstrate constant change and illusion.  A common theme you may notice when looking at her work is her use of grass. You can see it is present in a lot of her outdoor installations.

One of my favorite series that Brody has created is the "Elusive Walkways; Hilltop Path." I think this work is so intuitive. She creates intricate pathway designs in the most unlikely of places. Making the actual walk the way that the audience can interact with the artwork. The artwork becomes part of the landscape and the two work together in order to create the comprehensive piece. 

Also, after viewing most of her work it was interesting then to look at her photography. Brody definitely has a developed style and clear message that is carried throughout all of her work. A lot of her work plays with what the audience perceives as real in order to create illusions. It's also refreshing to look at a new media artists who may not be using the newest technology but is still creating relevant and interesting work. 

Snow Stories

http://www.jillianmcdonald.net/snowstories/

I chose this website because it is different from those I've seen in the past because it is not simply a portfolio for an artist it is actually an online installation. The internet being the medium in which the artist chose to deliver her project. The installation is an ever changing story created by images and influenced by the viewer. When you first enter the site there is a preliminary background that gives you an initial impression of what the site may be about. In the snow globe (which is where the images are changing) you can see a video clip playing. The instructions then ask you to enter your own story in the site. Based on the specifics that you supply the images in the snow globe are customized to you and pieced together to create some sort of story. 

In addition to entering your story you can also manipulate the images by the adjustment panels on the snowblower that is moving across the scene. The background image also changes with the different stories and scenes. Something I really like about this is work is the incorporation of sound. The music really changes the way that the audience views the images and also contributes to the words of the story that are being displayed throughout the "movie."  The interactivity helps this project create constantly changing scenarios which makes every visit to the page a different experience than the last.

Art works with various options, such as those within this installation, seem to be growing more and more popular among new media artists. The genre is constantly evolving but this seems to be a change that will remain prominent in the new media practice.

http://www.futurefarmers.com/

This week I decided to look into artists that create work relevant to another field. As Life Support, using medical advertisements makes up the artwork that we see. I searched the web and found a group of artists called Future Farmers. The group describes themselves as artists that create work that is "relevant to the time and space" that surrounds them. The group looks at their work from a somewhat scientific standpoint, using science to create their artwork and convey their ideas. 

Something I really admire about these artists is that they attempt to create their work in a "green manner." They use recycled materials to create a lot of their designs. They also focus on what the audience can take away and learn from the pieces. Unlike some other artists they are not just trying to convey an idea, they are hoping their audience will not just interpret their work, but learn from it. They also create environment saving projects in an artistic way. For example the Rainwater Harvester under the projects tab.

I think it's interesting to look at this group of artists because of their mission as well as their classification of new media artists. They are essentially using science and environmental ideas in order to inspire their work.