Tag: Reactive Writing Assignments

Wally Sutton’s Internet Art Making Creative Blogging Project #1

Wally Sutton’s Internet Art Making Creative Blogging Project #1

Who is Wally Sutton and why is he here?

Simply put, Wally Sutton is a fictional character. He’s a Walrus, however, he doesn’t know that Walrus’s aren’t supposed to wear human clothing or sell things like motherboards and other computer hardware… That is what makes Wally, Wally. He is following his own path. Wally believes that his Dharma is to be the best computer hardware salesman of his time! Nothing will stop him, and you certainly wont get in his way. (See the animation above in the top left corner). Wally is also crazy about digital art, animation and personal development. He loves to help others through sharing his learning process and creative discoveries. Wally is a blogger but clams up a bit about it when others ask him that question…He is working on that.

Wally is so aware of how his content reaches his audience that smoke literally comes out of his ears from thinking about it too much! He pays attention to how he is formatting and structuring his content in a way that is easy to access and follow (like, right here, in this blog post, ahem). He also wants his content to be shared easily as well. Wally has learned a lot about design, digital art, animation, blogging and storytelling from regular practice. Not obsessively ten times per day, but in metrics of at least once or twice per week. Making static images move and learning new animation skills have enhanced Wally’s ability to further communicate and reach his community while also connecting with new like minded people and beyond. Wally understands that reaching out to others adds value to their lives and the experiences they will have. A lot of the new experiences Wally has had have happened as a result of having a blog and simply sharing what he was learning.

It kind of seems like Wally is actually writing this blog post…hmmm?

Of course Wally is a metaphor and a catalyst to get your creative juices flowing. A reminder to be the best at being who you are, and then give that part of you selflessly. Adding value to the lives of others creates trust. This is another metaphor. When you give selflessly to others outwardly, you are really teaching the universe that you trust yourself. (Re-read that, and now go have some fun!)

Get creative and share your process with this assignment below!

Blogging Assignment –

Create a blog post(s) about a fictional character that communicates him/herself through blogging and the use of Internet tools. The character can be a representative for something that has meaning to you. (Yes, there can be more than more one thing.) Describe the character. What is he or she like? Kind hearted and compassionate? Mean and unsure? Happy and Sallow? A Lover? A Fighter? Get Descriptive and paint us a picture. What does a snippet of their day look like? You will surely need to create visuals for this illustration! Wally Sutton was passionate about Computer Hardware, Spirituality, Digital Art, Creativity & Animation.  He took a few creative “selfies” and created a series of animated portraits for this blog post. Sky is the limit. Feel free to use and reference this blog post as a visual example for content, structure and inspiration. Your first post will be used as a result produced, we will make assessments and grow from the first iteration.

Submissions –

Submit your work in the method that you prefer. Hmmm, you will have to make a decision about this. Are you publishing to your own website, blog or social media platform? Send me the URL and I will re-post it here.

Would you like to post directly to this blog as a new author? E-mail me Rseslow@york.cuny.edu and Ill get you set up as an author. (you must have a CUNY .edu e-mail address for this method)

 

This blog has tons of resources on creating digital images, digital art works both static and animated and simple motion graphics that will give visual illustrations to support your written expressions.

 

PS – Hyperlinking = Value :)))

PS#2 – Questions? Reach out! – Rseslow@york.cuny.edu

 

**This blog post was written and created as an example for my CUNY York College CT101 Digital Storytelling Students but it certainly transcends beyond, like here, right now as you read this.

Weekend Video Art Screening: Les Grands Ensembles & Tango

Please screen the video art works above and below and respond in the comments section below.

 

1. “Les Grands Ensembles” by Pierre Huyghe (1994–2001) – (Above)

(I was lucky enough to screen this piece above in full scale at the Guggenheim in 2002).

“On October 16, 2002, Pierre Huyghe was awarded the fourth biennial Hugo Boss Prize. Inaugurated in 1996, the prize was conceived to recognize and support contemporary artists making profound contributions to the cultural landscape. Huyghe has gained international prominence for works that explore the convergence of reality and fiction, memory and history. Incorporating film, video, sound, animation, sculpture, and architecture in his diverse works, the artist intervenes in familiar narrative structures to investigate the construction of collective and individual identities in relationship to various forms of cultural production. Huyghe is interested in both reading and making possible multiple, subjective reinterpretations of incidents and images that shape our realities. Through such retranslations, Huyghe offers a way for his characters and his viewers to take back control of their own images, their own stories.”

“At the Guggenheim, Huyghe presents a film installation, Les Grands Ensembles (1994–2001) that address alternative modes of representation and communication (the work has been compared to the attempts at contact in Close Encounters of the Third Kind). In Les Grands Ensembles a pair of bleak buildings, models based on 1970s French housing projects, enacts a subtle inanimate drama. Enveloped in fog, the uninhabited scene is both romantic and alienating. “These subsidized public projects ended up being an architectural and social failure,” explains Huyghe. “They were a corruption of Le Corbusier’s social and architectural Modernist theory.” Though meant to be temporary, these structures are still here, much as we may try to ignore them. Huyghe brings the buildings into view and gives them agency. “Without beginning or ending,” he says, “the two low-income towers dialogue in a strange Morse code given by the light of their respective windows, a blinking existence.”

Source Via – https://www.guggenheim.org/exhibition/hugo-boss-prize-2002-pierre-huyghe

 

2. “Tango” by Zbigniew Rybczyński  – 1980.

Tango is set in one room with an increasing number and series of interesting characters that loop in and out of the composition over and over.

Can you stop watching? Tango won The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1983.

 

Questions to ponder and react to:

Tango is considered a “short animated film”, but is this a film? How would you describe it in 2018?

How would you describe both pieces technically? The year they were made plays a role for sure. Or does it?

What did you think of “Tango” and “Les Grands Ensembles” as a whole?

What is your interpretation of each piece? What is the artist communicating?

Does the art work(s) induce personal reflection in anyway? If so please share.

Do you find connections between these two works of Media Art? If so, please describe?

Please leave your reactions and responses in the comments section below.