Category: Uncategorized

July 30, 2020

Paper, Light, Shadow & Storytelling Part 5

Welcome to Paper, Light, Shadow & Storytelling Part 5! Lets make a musical instrument of sorts? Above, you can see my final outcome. I temporarily adhered the artwork to the wall using duct tape. This is a quick fix to apply the art to the wall and take a series of photos. The image above is using natural light from the mid-point of the afternoon coming from the window to the left of it. The piece above places an emphasis on new variation of our last tutorial as we learn how to create variations of height between each individual plane. The individual pieces are layered and composed fro the surface of the table upwards.

Hold up! Did you miss Part 1 & 2 of this tutorial series? See below (Yes I jumped ahead to part 5 here – part 3 & 4 are on the way too!)

Part 2 – https://netart.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2020/07/23/paper-light-shadow-storytelling-part-2/

Part 1 – https://netart.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2020/07/16/paper-light-shadow-storytelling/

Artistic references? Lets do some research: What artists, historically over time have worked with similar processes by composing with planes and or flat 2D forms, and the use of light?

Anthony Caro, Faith Ringgold, Alexander Calder, Kara Walker, Isamu Noguchi, Naum Gabo, Diane Smith & James Turell to name a few. Who did you discover in your research?

Lets continue and take a look below..

As I mentioned, Im referencing a guitar in my minds eye. Or perhaps a mixture of various stringed instruments. I want to make it abstract but also visible enough for the viewer to know it is referenced from a musical instrument. The tools and materials needed are above, with the exception of some cardboard shown below. Im using bristol paper for this piece. It is strong and durable, you will notice how much more structural it is than regular printing paper. Using my x-acto knife I cut out a series of shapes and forms. You can see the basic shape of the guitar’s body above. I cut it in half and cut out a few more forms that had a gesture to either the form of the instrument plus some of the actions used in actually playing the instrument. I know, that part is much more subjective to interpret, plus Im Deaf so it may be different for how you make this interpretation. That is the beauty of art though!

Next, we will need some cardboard. You can take apart a box that you received from ordering something online, or perhaps snag it from your household. Local business usually recycle a lot of cardboard too, take a look and you will most likely find some cardboard quickly. Start cutting pieces into “strips” like the two pieces on the right side of the image above. Then, begin to cut those strips into small squares. About 1 inch per square will do! The small pieces do not need to be perfect squares but should be similar in size as we will be layering them to create “height & gauge”. (Remember, that x-acto knife blade is very sharp, please be careful while cutting).

Cut out a whole bunch of pieces and then get your glue stick ready as we will layer / stack them into multiples of 2, 3 & 4. This will give you some visible examples of how to build your planes (the pre-cut paper pieces above). Glue the squares by adding glue to both side of how they will stack, see below.

Also below is an example of the pieces glued together and stacked. The idea is to create subtle variations in the height of your pieces. This will help create shadows when you hand the piece vertically on the wall.

Next, as in the image below, start placing your stacked squares into strategic spots so that they will support the individual structure of the pieces / planes that you cut out. Play with the compositions, you can test place your pieces before gluing them down, I like to take photos of the arrangements before I glue them, it helps me “see” other potentials.

The image below is to display how the pieces visually create their variations in height. If you make the pieces too high they may become too heavy to support their weight adhered to the piece as a whole. Keep things subtle and close to the surface, it helps and a little bit of gauge goes a long way.

The final outcome is below! I have an old painted fireplace made of bricks in my apartment. It is a great background for this piece as the mix of texture and clean smooth paper seem to compliment each other. Play around with the environments to adhere your work. I plan to add some colorful lights to the art work when it gets darker tonight. I like this piece so much, it has inspired me to push the series forward. Perhaps I will add a figure playing the instrument? Im excited to see your outcomes!

July 27, 2020

Its Still Electric Though..

Its Still Electric Though.. 2020, animated GIF

July 23, 2020

Paper, Light, Shadow & Storytelling Part 2

This post is part 2 of the Paper, Light & Storytelling Project – be sure to read Part 1 first 🙂 – go HERE

Welcome to Part 2! Lets add some compelling light to our piece. After cutting and organizing your pieces onto the wall lets talk about options for how they can become radiant, dramatic and full of emotion. Color plays a role in how we connect to feelings, emotions and temperature. So, how did I capture all of these images? What kind of light source did I apply?

Scroll down below and lets see..

I found these little flashlights on amazon.com. Its a 4-pack consisting of a red, blue, green and white light set. It was $20.00 well spent. The lights are really powerful and the beauty of working with the primary colors is that you can layer them and make secondary colors. (example – layer red and blue together and you will “make” purple). Here is the link to that set.

Next, “how” did I set this all up? My next purchase was this flexible table clamp for smart phones. I’m a teacher, and lately, I have been doing a lot of remote and online teaching (as you know) so this was an essential tool to add to my arsenal of techniques. The link to the armature is here. This was $22.00, and again, it was well worth it. Im making a ton of tutorials these days so.. Please note, you do not need to purchase any of these items to capture your work or apply light sources. In fact, I encourage you to be experimental and try out variations with natural light, the filters that come with the “editing” feature on your phones, and to push the limits of the lighting that you have access to. For example, taking a lamp shade off one of your household lamps and pointing it at the sculpture.. Or using the flashlight feature on an old smart phone, or a flashlight from a friends phone. Friends and family become collaborators this way! Most smartphones also have a timer so that they can set up their shot and let the phone do the work. Tripods really can help.

Above, I not set my iPhone into the armature and set the timer for 10 seconds. Those 10 seconds give me time to play with the positioning of the flashlights as they project their light onto the wall. Above, I layered the green and blue flashlights for this capture. I held the green light in my hand and set the blue light up propped on a stack of napkins pointed from the right side of the wall. The distance of the light sources play a role, so have fun with that!

This capture displays the use of the white flashlight coming from the right hand side of the wall. I was relatively close to the wall and set the timer on my iPhone for 10 seconds held on the armature tripod. It is a little over exposed but I like how it brings the texture out of the wall and the gradient of the paper as it appears to diminish.

I removed “one paper element” from this image above, which was an intention of altering the composition subtly, can you tell?

This capture is slightly fuzzy and blurry. This is an example of me holding both the red and blue flashlight and layering the light on top of each other. If you are mixing paint, red and blue will make a value of purple. I had turned off the background lights to maximize the capture. I really like the effect, and wonder if this would “look” more 3D if I have 3D glasses.. which I think I do…somewhere, in some closet..

This image has simply been turned 180 degrees. Does it help the composition work in another way? Do you like it better this way or as you see below? The images below are also variations with over exposures and contrast tweaking using the filters on my iPhone. Have fun and share your work!

July 23, 2020

CT101-Digital Storytelling has Arrived on the Commons!

Its TRUE!

The wait is over! NET-ART’s infamous companion course: “CT101 Digital Storytelling” is now officially taking place here on the Commons! We are excited to bring the course in its full entirety here beginning this coming Fall 2020 semester. Two new sections of CT101 will be contributing as authors of the site.

Hey, not to fret, they will also continue to submit collaborative work here on the NET-ART site as well.. (I saw your right eyebrow raise!) The CT101 Digital Storytelling community is vast and has a passion for creative experimentation, open source learning and pedagogy.

Hold up… I know what you are thinking! “Prof, will there be more GIFS?” “Will there be more tutorials, how-to’s and collaborations?” “Will there be more blogging?” So it will be! (do the best Yoda impression you have)

See you soon!

July 16, 2020

Paper, Light, Shadow & Storytelling – Lets make a Paper Sculpture.

How-to make an Ephemeral Paper Sculpture.. from Home!

Here is a fun tutorial that you can follow along with (from home) through this post. This blog post is both the assignment and the example for how you may choose to create and publish your own work. This is part 1 of the process for the creation aspect of things, I will publish a “Part 2” with another tutorial for creatively pushing the documenting of the art work in a few ways. Feel free of course to improvise with any additional materials or hack the whole project to expand your own examples and storytelling. The goal is to publish your process and narrative into a compelling sequence of events!

*Please e-mail a selection of your best final images to [email protected] – a collaborative image gallery will reside on this website.

Paper, Light, Shadow & Storytelling – Lets make a Paper Sculpture.

First, the essence of the project is to create and investigate 3D form through storytelling. The form(s) that we make will serve as the content for your blog post. Lets put an emphasis on making a “subjective form”. We can get great practice in by narrating and detailing our steps. We can do this with some pretty common household materials too. Lets jump in! Grab some standard typing/printing paper, tape, a glue stick, a pair of scissors, a wall or table top surface and an external light source (flashlight). Let’s ask ourselves: “self, what are the potentials of form using paper, shadow and light by generating “a new forms” into existence through our creative immediacy? In my example below Im using a relief application by adhering my pieces to the wall, but you can also work on another flat plane if you wish. Keep the word “perspective” in mind as the documentation process plays a big role later on.

As we scroll below the images will begin to “paint a picture” of the process but we can help it along and make it more compelling by the “way” that we assert the process. Adding your personality and sense of humor is certainly one option. We can also apply accessibility and inclusion by adding text to support the images. We can do this both below the image and placed into the “alt-text” area when we “edit” the image itself.

Notice, Im using a simple shape, a circle, and Im altering its height by applying scale variations to my individual pieces. Subtle variations go a long way. So do multiple units of one single shape. Oh, and photography plays a big role in capturing your work in progress and the final outcomes as the sculpture itself is ephemeral… or is it?

Artist references – What artists work with or have worked with paper?

Li Hongbo, Felix Semper, Elsa Mora, Kara Walker (and many more, what did you discover?)

Jump in! (Im going to project some fun colorful light sources on this same piece once it gets dark tonight).

Have fun and be sure to publish your post here on the Commons – add your URL here in the comments section below!

*PS –*Please e-mail a selection of your best final images to [email protected] – a collaborative image gallery will reside on this website.

*Part 2 will also publish on this blog soon!

Gather your materials – a cutting mat (cardboard also works) transparent tape, a glue stick(bond version), a pair of scissors, an X-Acto knife and some regular printing paper.

2. Cut your paper into strips (as many as you would like, but think of at least 10 or more) using the X-Acto knife or the scissors, apply the glue stick to the edge of one side of the strip that you have cut.

3. Carefully fold over the paper and apply pressure to the edge as it meets the glue. Hold in place for a few seconds.

4. Cut a strip of your transparent tape and from it into a loop. (you will be repeating this process)

5. Once the circular form is ready, place the loop of transparent tape to the same side where you joined the two ends of your paper.

6. Apply the tape and repeat the process as needed to start composing your fragments.

7. This is an example of the various pieces that I cut out and glued together. Notice, they consist of various heights and diameters, this is called Scale and it creates variation.

8. Begin the composing process by organizing and adhering your pieces. (Your first idea is NOT your only idea so play around with this a bit).

9. Add more pieces.

10. Keep Going!

11. Looking good, add more!

12. Finished! I used all of my pieces and took this image with the natural light that was present at the time.

13. You can certainly see that LIGHT plays a role in the enhancement of the mood and overall aesthetic… what will you do?

*OK if you made it this far, here is a teaser from the light projection captures! Coming soon!

July 11, 2020

ImAg-IN-a-TioN-ing

Click the Image to enlarge and expand

“ImAg-IN-a-TioN”, 2020, Animated GIF & Digital Image

Im trying to re-image how to apply the imagination. Do you say “my imagination” or “the imagination”?

It’s the most intangible thing, is it not?

But so necessary, so needed and powerful. (forgive me for starting this sentence with the word “but”).. or should I reimagine this too?

It’s hard to imagine a world not being physically face to face in the classroom again, but maybe the whole point is to reimagine everything from the “once default state” we discover it in? Perhaps contrasts are already in place and awaiting our intervention. The endless array of potential new outcomes, they are awaiting our creative potential and new friends we can meet at the same intersection.

Oh, the continuous metaphors, evidence and reminders of the non-static!

July 10, 2020

Reflective Metaphoric Flowers

Reflective Metaphoric Flowers, 2020, animated GIF

There is a silver lining, we are growing, there is so much to process and reflect upon, I feel like Im the slowest at this part…

It is the greatest contrasting time of all of our lives. It’s been hard. We all want to plant new seeds and yet also go back to our old lives, painfully so..

It feels like we are standing on a cliff of hope and we get too close to the edge and take a step back, again..

Here are some flowers of growth, a reflection in the mirror, the growth of our world 🌎 energy and new ideas 💡 in a looping metaphor of seamless creative potential.

Breathe.

June 27, 2020

How to Caption iOS Device Videos

How to caption a mobile/ smartphone video, it’s NOT hard people. Are you using an iOS device? iPhone or iPad ? Lets start with iOS devices first – here is a walk through the process..

1. Locate and Open the Free “CLIPS” app that comes with your device. Start a new video.

2. Touch / tap on the “Chat Bubble” icon in the bottom left hand corner.

3. Choose your STYLE of Captions..

4. Record your now Accessible video and share it – be proud of your NEW awareness and repeat this process every time that you speak and make a video.

April 22, 2020

Absence of Presence, 8 Scenes from the Quarantine..

(please click on an image above to expand the gallery)

Absence of Presence, 8 Scenes from the Quarantine..

I write this on April 18th at 3:55 PM, Brooklyn, NYC. I would like to share this small series of images with the intention of expressing the perplexing absence of presence that has become ever so much more, well.. present. The images have a date range taken from Tuesday, March 10th through Thursday, April 16th 2020. Wednesday, March 11th was my last day of face to face teaching as CUNY did not shut down officially until Thursday March 12th. I had an evening class on Wednesday, March 11th that runs from 5:30 PM – 9:15 PM. Only 4 students out of 25 showed up that night. Upon arriving at my classroom, I realized that the chancellor had made an official shut-down announcement that went out via e-mail and text-alert at 5 PM. We all went home after a very very brief discussion and shared the same confused sentiment.

The images above are apart of my daily transportation routine. A walking routine that has been disrupted, shut-down and replaced. I say that with conviction, it is rightfully so at this time. The images above were all taken with my iPhone 8 using the Noir filter that is a part of the default camera setting. Most of the images were taken upon immediacy from an inner nudge. The images are about the metaphor of perspective and making a connection between extreme contrasts in one’s normal visual space. However, “space” itself is also an inner thing, there is just as much inner space inside of us. Are we beginning to fill it differently and look at it taking on a new awareness? I am, are you?

This experience has reminded me, as it has before, and will continue to again and again; “expect the unexpected.” The word “life” in all of its wonders and all of its cliche’s pokes at me over and over as I stay home and ride the hills and valleys of my psychology. Not all of this is bad, we must find the sliver lining both individually and collectively. We need to feel and emote and share and help, and then repeat that process as this situation will continue for a while.

Things can change so quickly, and so suddenly, the images above are a reminder.

March 26, 2020

The NET-ART Prof’s Take on Things..

( GIF via @giphy )

The Net-Art community runs far and wide here on the commons! I wanted to issue a statement that assists both my York & BMCC students both current and alumnus, as well as the general community of peeps checking in and contributing regularly.

So, here we are entering our second week back to classes at CUNY and adapting to our “new lives.”- I cant think of anything else to call it as of right now, so Im going with this. I say this from the perspective of integration as Im very much still in the: “Im really perplexed about how we are even in the position that we are in phase” along with having made and fulfilled so many new and mandated compliances to keep my courses going simultaneously. (That was a long sentence, too.)

Along with following all of the administrative protocol, endless zoom meetings, course updates, the reformatting-ness of everything and the staggering amount of e-mail and overall communication.. (not including connecting with family and friends) Whew, Im finally starting to reflect on things. Or wait, is my ego reflecting on what it thinks it is reflecting on? Reflection invites in ALL of the emotions and the feelings both positive and negative. And, it has been quite a bit of negative! Why am I reminded of past failures at a time like this?? We humans like routines, it helps us stay focused and structured. Uncertainty is not something we are really good at, right? Right?! OK, I produced our CT101 and MMA100 course Continuity plans for the students in this semester’s classes, I hope that it helps. Does it? Please let me know in the comments section below. If you haven’t read it for your class, please click below:

Updated CT101 – Digital Storytelling Continuity Plan here <–

Updated MMA100 – Graphic Design Continuity Plan here <-

The NET-ART Continuity plan follows a similar flow as stated above. (I got you on this)

I know, those posts above hold a lot of information for how our classes will proceed. As I mentioned, I have put a lot of thought into how this all should proceed, but I realize, “should” is not a great word to begin with.. as things change here in NYC and around the world there may be more pivots made to re-adjust and help students adjust to the circumstances.

Im here to help, please communicate with me and let me know what I can do to help you.

( GIF via @giphy )

Can we really look at our courses: “CT101- Digital Storytelling” or “MMA100” or any of our other courses the same way? I see it as this now:

“The-name-of-your-course/ in relationship to the global pandemic CoronaVirus.”

Our first assignment moving forward is an opportunity to express this, I placed this on the individual class calendars last Thursday. Some of the responses are coming in, and they are super on point!

NET-ART-ites:

*Blog Post assignment – Please write a new blog post that expresses your feelings, concerns, frustrations and related-otherness about the current state of affairs with the CoronaVirus pandemic. How has this impacted your semester thus far? How do you feel about moving forward with our class as an online entity?

I have also thought a lot about the amount of resources that people are sharing, there is just so much being shared! First and foremost some Wi-Fi:

U.S Providers Offering FREE Wi-Fi or Special Accommodations for 60 Days (via Sara Vogel)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kjVFeWefjnEfUrCR2yXxOvsp6_rDOfaMivUEiaBreiA/mobilebasic

And, Adobe Software for the remainder of the semester (not required – but if you need or want it) –

Term-active CUNY students can now download Adobe Creative Cloud applications to their personal devices. Students can go to https://creativecloud.adobe.com and use their CUNY Login username to authenticate and select which Adobe Creative Cloud applications to install.

The student instructions on Accessing Adobe Creative Cloud are available online and will be available from the IT Resources for Remote Work & Teaching page.

And Other resources – Pixlr (is a free web based photoshop alternative) – https://pixlr.com/editor/

Please stay safe everyone!

See you all on Zoom for brief meetings, or via e-mail, text, chat, or here on this site – please keep in touch!

[email protected]