“Nam June Paik: Becoming Robot”

Who Nam June Paik and why was he so obsessed with the machine and its place here within humanity?

Paik was a progressive Buddhist, artist, composer and a machinist of sorts, but above all it seems that Nam June Paik was an entertainer.  Paik was born in Seoul, Korea, in 1932, moved to Hong Kong in 1949 and then migrating to Japan a year later. At Tokyo University, Paik studied art and music, and then pursued further musical studies in Germany. Eventually he was based in New York City art Scene of the mid-60s.

Not only did he compose music, he began experimenting with sculpture and performance. Using the technology of the time, Paik fused front-edge electronic media: television, personal videotape recorders, and primitive home computers, by combing them with a sensationalist flair slanting to a popular audience. He maintained this perspective by working with same wavelength human collaborators, mostly artists, and those open to his abstract world of circuits and video. The most important being was Charlotte Moorman his main collaborators and muse who was in her own right an eccentric and talented cellist artist, who paired with Paik on several projects.

At first glance I did not know what to think of the primitive interface of his creations. Wires and lights projecting from this skeletal frame of moshed up metal that barely resembles a manly figure. The exhibit walls bare sketches of robots, personal notes and electronic remembrances of Paik’s futuristic mind, of man and machine living in unison as a collective. His use of video as an art form portrays itself in such disturbing yet cohesive manner of Television bodies and Visuals as a platform to incite and perplex.

 Upon entering the exhibit I came across Paik’s first automated robot. Robot K-456, this robot was programmed to walk, talk, and poop beans.  K- 456 functioned through twenty radio channels and a remote control. It was understood that Paik intended to shock viewers with the robot’s ability to interact with humans.

I myself upon viewing one of the monitors felt a certain way seeing this robot gliding across Madison Avenue as on lookers were shocked seeing  this entity be hit by a car various times. You can see the concern for this A.I become all too human. I actually felt connected for a quick second with K- 456. If Paik’s intention was to fuse if only momentarily humankind with machine through empathy, I personally feel he has succeeded. I am very glad I came to see this innovative Artist, who laid the ground work for future digital expression to evolve.

 

Final Project

This film was  loosely based  on  busters Keaton's Silent film Dr.Jekel, and concepts from the story boards of Andrew Kimler. The protagonist in this narrative is Steve Robayo who did amazing job in listening to the directions of each sequence.

Somewhere, somehow, something went wrong when Steve became a man trapped in an app. No - Steve should not have never dared to touched that vortex app, but Yes ! he did, now Steve is a man in an app. Will steve ever recovery and zap himself out of that app? We may never know, since all that is left I from this incredible work of art is this rare black and white sequence from the original "mann in an app" 1995 version.

man in an app : The black and white sequence. from Bella Souls on Vimeo.

Dario Argento - opening of Suspiria 1977

   For me I find Dario Argento to be one of the most influential Italian Filmmakers of the late 60’s and 70’s. his flair for the macabre borders the psychotic to the absurd, his visual technique for cinematography and over all composition synthesis of music and color give the viewer a sense of unsettling dread.The clip that I will be analyzing for its Aesthetic value is the opening sequence of Dario’s Argentos 1977 Giallo film Suspiria.

        In the sequence, Suzy Bannion, an American ballet student, arrives from her flight in Munich, Germany on a stormy night to enroll in a prominent dance academy in Freiburg.  As she arrives we are immediately thrown into the mysterious airport that seems ominous with its low key lighting and accompanying film score by the rock band Goblin. The sharp cuts between Bannions Point of view and the never-ending exit feels foreboding as if she should not leave the airport.  Argento plays with omitting sound and at given moments manipulating it, such as the swishing sound of the airports electronic door, and Bannions silent scene in a cross cutting editing process that sets the tone for the film. 

    The harsh elements that present Bannion on her way out of the airport escalates as she tries in a frenzy to get a cab at night in the torrential down pour. The depth of field serves to give a sense of immense loneliness and solitude, as no one stops to assist her. You can almost feel  the rain crash on her spirit. The contrast between her white attire and the dark surrounding makes her look as if she is an innocent being caught up in this dark harsh environment. Finally we cut to  the interior of the cab, where Bannion has gotten a break, or so we think. The wonderful use of vibrate color works well in this scene, the blues and reds dominate the mood of madness that will be surrounding Bannion later on in this film. Argento sometimes embellishes subliminal messages in his films. I will not say when but let’s see if you can catch him in this 2 minute clip. He is a very creepy individual, and I love it.

Adrew Kimler opens up about his childhood and love for comedy. After listening to various sound clips at lecture I decided to be a bit experimental with this interview. This is not the full interview, just a condensed version for class, MEDP160

El Sul del Bronx

For this audio assignment I am in tuned to the mid Morning hour in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx.  An hour when the birds are out  about after the recent downpour of rain, while the blares of sirens are sound marks that are common in this neighborhood.  In this neighborhood jackhammers rumble in the distance between the calmness of the streets. Whereas the repetitive cycle of commercial jet planes and their vibrations can be a jarring reminder that landings at LaGuardia Airport are just across the waterway in Astoria, Queens.

            There is a steady keynote hum of cars on the Sheridan Expressway that seems to fade onto a compellation of repetitive sounds from different sources. Street vehicles swish by at rhythmic pace of stops and movements, like an audio version of Man with a Camera!  The screeching sounds of children playing during recess range from low soft murmurs to banshee pitched yells,  those give way to the falling drops of waters that furnish the impression of musical rhythms; beats consistent on rainy days such as this are hypnotic.It was interesting  how lively back alley and yards can be, flourishing with varying degrees of sounds, the amount of different birdcalls are impressive! The intentional chirp and communication between birds of various species adds to this dizzying array of nature and industrialized society co existing through sound. The waves of vibrations are in abundance in this neighborhood, the ebbs and flows of sounds are in tuned to time, time frames that predisposed to repetition, yet at the same instance are spontaneous. I would say the neighbor is buzzing around me.

The Stairway

What is the definition of space and how can we ensure that we have shown what that space represents?

Originally I wanted to use Hunters Building structures to tell a time line definition of space. But due to time constraints my classmate and I decided to shoot at one of Hunters stairways.  We shot many different angles with various takes to ensure we had enough footage to work with. Due to the nature of our location it was a wonderful challenge splicing the sum of the shots to create a complete story line.

http://vimeo.com/108634440

The Stairway from Bella Souls on Vimeo.

Lana Del Rey - West Coast

There is something about Lana  Del Rey that gives me the confidence to be as fucked up as a bad acid trip. 

The Art of Me


Who am I? At any given moment I am the photographer of Souls.

There comes a time when your life transmutes itself.

For me it was the expression of the world within my mind

that moment when you realize you have come to the crossroads of your true being. Each day a snap shot of a passing stranger, the light, the dark and the void of everyday living.  I am an artist of sorts, fused with the words and hues of the world around me.

 I have been shooting street life and everyday musings for the past 7 years. There is something incredible about one's voice being reflected through photographs or any kind of medium for that matter.  When you use yourself as the center of that medium to convey an idea, it brings your vulnerability to the forefront and that for me is the essence of the artist expression. 

In the past I have felt conflicted with what I thought was the appropriate way to express myself, because for me my art was a world that I skewed and bend to my own liking. I wanted the ability and the freedom of choice, to emote  understanding or angst through the images or words I created. Solely this was my objective. After years with the battle of what is politically correct in art, I have come to the pleasant realization that art is not a slave to one standard way of expression.

I have studied and modeled at F.I.T.  Shot for GO magazine, SCOPE and experimented with conceptual photography.My body of work stems from my desire to say something, the need to leave behind fragments of who I am and how I perceive my immediate surroundings. 

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