#1. Identity Remix - the
web is an arena in which people's identities can be presented as altered,
exaggerated or completely falsified. This makes it an interesting place
for artists, and others, to explore issues of identity. In this assignment
you will create a website that functions to either slightly skew, or
entirely remake, your identity. You may chose how closely the new identity
fits with your current sense of self. Consider using artwork, images,
etc from your existing identity which could believably be "remixed"
into a new identity by adding text that you would not use to describe
yourself. Or the reverse: Your own actual biography, writings, etc,
presented with images that belong to someone else. You must get permission
to use someone else's images and/or texts. Please be aware of copyrights,
see the copyright issues links on the
class links page.
Related sites to check out:
Pop!
The First Human Male Pregnancy - by Lee Mingwei
Mouchette
Bodies©
INCorporated
Heath
Bunting's Artist Diary
Own,
Be Owned, or Remain Invisible
Diary U
Pretendster
#2. Flinging
the Digital Dirt, or "Tactical Media"- the internet
is a wonderful place to have your say, reveal societal issues as you
see them and generally express your personal viewpoint on public topics.
Many artists have used this medium in very effective political ways
that have gone far beyond what is possible in traditional art mediums.
Your challenge is to make an elegant tactical
media site of your own. You must use the inherent power of the internet
to deliver your message in some way that goes beyond the construction
of an "anti-something" propaganda poster.
Sites that work to
reveal/undermine power structures
They Rule, by Josh
On and Futurefarmers. See maps of the connections between Fortune 500
companies and also make your own maps.
World
Trade Organization "alternative WTO site"
created by the corporation of artists known as ®TMark
and managed by The
Yes Men. Read about one of the Yes Men's lecture performances here:
http://www.gatt.org/yesfinland.html
Read about the legalities of these sites in this
article written by a lawyer: THE
LAW AND POLITICS OF INTERNET ACTIVISM
Reamweaver
a piece of software developed by the ®TMark
corporation that allows users to easily mirror existing websites.
Meatrix
- Delivering the anti-cruelty-to-animals-messages in a hipster,
Flash movie format
Word Perhect, by Tomoko Takahashi - countering the standardization
of word processing software.
File Room,
by Antoni Muntadas. An online archive of censorship.
Rent-a-Negro
by artist Damali Ayo
- An uncomfortable exploration into the value of her "services"
as a token person of color.
Technologies
to the People Video Collection - by the people at irational.org
Search Engine Fun:
Adwords
Happening
Go to Google
and type in the words, "weapons of mass destruction" and click
on the "I'm feeling lucky" button to access this site. Try
the same thing with the words "miserable failure".
Read about these things and more in the bestselling book, Google
Hacks
100 Industrial-Strength Tips and Tricks
#3. Something
Flash-y
Flash is a popular program for designing animated
stories, graphics, interactive games and puzzles for the web and many
artists are using it as their artistic medium of choice. Some criticisms
of it among those concerned with "Art" are that many artworks
made using Flash end up with a similar look and feel (flat, cartoony,
silly) and that they deliver too much "flash" at the expense
of any content. Can you prove them wrong? In this open-ended assignment
you will construct a Flash piece that you think is Art, with a capital
"A". The content is up to you and as well as the format: narrative,
interactive, game-like, etc. Your main goal is to make an Artwork that
uses Flash.
Here are some inspiring Flash
pieces:
Narratives:
THE
PERFECT ARTISTIC WEB SITE by Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries. See
more of this artists' works here: http://www.yhchang.com/
Nosepilot
- a marvel of 2D animation, this thing never ends
Games:
Antiwargame
- by Futurefarmers
http://www.freshsensation.com/samorost.swf
- Super surreal puzzle/game with incredibly rich visuals. Does not
work in the Safari browser!
The
Intruder - by Natalie Bookchin
Interactive and other:
Tetrasomia
- by Stephen Vitiello
"Dishonest
Dubya" Lying Action Figure
Modern
Living
Selflesh
Gardens
AmbientPlayer
v 5.0 - this tool lets you construct your own "video art"
on the web using a library of media elements.
404_Found_and_lost
- while this piece by Eric Natzke is not interactive, he does have many
that are. Check out
his portfolio of Flash work.
Article:
On Web Animations - article on rhizome.org. This organization requires
a membership ($5.00) in order to read/view their site, except on Fridays
when it is open to all.
#4. Final Project
• CONCEPT - idea, intention and meaning.
Does the artwork clearly communicate something to other viewers?
• CREATIVITY - originality of thought
and expression.
Does the artwork show innovation and uniqueness? Did the artist solve
the given assignment problem in an expected or unexpected way?
• COMPOSITION - arrangement and organization
of elements.
Has the artist carefully considered elements such as balance, proportion,
texture, color, shape, and positive/negative space and user navigation?
• CRAFTSMANSHIP - attention to detail.
Does the artist skillfully construct the work? Are all details carefully
finished and/or intentional-looking?