Glenn Gould, Scriabin
Observatory | The Morton Skull Collection
Race, Science, and America’s Unburied Dead
An illustrated lecture and book signing with professor Ann Fabian
Date: Monday, February 21st
Time: 8:00 PM
Presented by Morbid Anatomy
When Philadelphia doctor Samuel George Morton died in 1851 he left behind collection of more than a thousand human skulls. Not the grisly leftovers of botched operations, but the fruit of 20 years’ work gathering up human remains from around the world. Friends sent Morton heads from Peru, Cuba, Mexico, and Liberia, from almshouses in Pennsylvania, swamps in Florida, beaches in Hawaii, gallows in Indonesia, tombs in Egypt, and battlefields in Texas. Naturalists like Morton collected plants and animals, but trafficking in human remains was something strange and different. Morton was sure that human skulls held clues to the riddles of race that troubled his generation. Were human beings all one species? After measuring skulls, Morton thought not.
In her new book The Skull Collectors: Race, Science, and America’s Unburied Dead, professor Ann Fabian details the story of Morton’s collection of skulls; in the process, she not only details Morton’s problematic and flawed ideas about race and science, but also the stories behind the individual skulls comprising the Morton Skull collection, the remnants of which now reside in the storerooms of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Whose skulls were these? How did they get to Philadelphia? And what has happened to this great collection of heads?
Ann Fabian is a Professor of History and American Studies at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, where she recently completed a term as dean of humanities. She has published books on gambling and personal narratives, and written about the bodybuilding publisher Bernarr Macfadden, the ancient remains of Kennewick Man, and the dead bodies left floating in flooded New Orleans. She is working on a new book about ruins. The School for Advanced Research, the American Antiquarian Society, and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation supported her research on The Skull Collectors: Race, Science, and America’s Unburied Dead. She is pleased to talk about this curious business.
via Observatory » The Morton Skull Collection: Race, Science, and America’s Unburied Dead.
Submedia | Linerar Zoetrope Animation 2
I decided to take photos photo’s of a friend pretending to be walking on a tight rope with the umbrella. It’s good thing he wasn’t because he would have more sertaily fallen.
I split the shots and set them up in layers in photoshop. From Josh’s example of his friends dog I decided that the walker moving from the far background to the foreground might be a visually interesting affect. I marked the frame steps and positioned the closest foot on each step.
A layer was created for each tracing and then it was just a matter of getting to work. I traced each frame and rearanged the layers once everthing was done.
I ran the frames through the 512 GIFanimator (found HERE) trying different delay times to mimic walking speed and such. I found the animation needed to be not just a two up as suggested but actually a 3 up worked even better.
After I got the flow working a little better I went back into photoshop to develop the color scheme. I want something fun for the content and something high contrast for the mechanics to work well, but I also have an aversion to primary color schemes. This is what I finally came up with:
The issue of blurry vs. sharp is also on my mind. I want to test half tones on the linear zoetrope, just to see what it does to the illusion. Will it make it blurry like we would expect, or will a half tone sharpen the image like a higher dpi might do? We shall see.
There is still a lot of work to be done on these (adding the rope, coloring them all in, sizing and position of each figure for a start) but I think they’ll work well when it’s all said and done.
Congress Of Curious Peoples
I received my invitation to sell prints at “A Congress of Curious People”. I’ll only be there for the first weekend of the event April 9-11 (even thought I’d love to be there for the entire event school gets in the way ;)
APRIL 9-18, 2010
AT SIDESHOWS BY THE SEASHORE
AND
THE CONEY ISLAND MUSEUM
1208 SURF AVE.
A CONGRESS OF CURIOUS PEOPLES:
AN AMAZING COLLECTION OF HUMAN MARVELS
Since the 1860′s, Coney Island has been a beacon for strange and interesting people. For generations, it has attracted the curious and the enlightened, the onlooker and the performer. Every spring Coney Island USA convenes The Congress of Curious Peoples, a 10-day gathering of unique individuals at Sideshows by the Seashore and the Coney Island Museum, celebrating Coney Island’s subversive and exciting power and exploring its political, artistic, and spectacular possibilities through performances, exhibitions, and films by important artists in the world of the 21st century sideshows.
AND
Adding to the madness, this year, in conjunction with Observatory and the Morbid Anatomy Library, Coney Island USA introduces the Congress for Curious People.Consisting of a 2-day symposium and 5-day lecture series, this additional congress will take a scholarly yet popular approach to the curiosities and wonders of Coney Island and seek to investigate–via lectures and and a scholarly conference–the relationship between education and spectacle in American amusements, the collection of curiosities from the renaissance to the present, and the display of “freaks” and “primitive peoples” in fairgrounds and worlds fair settings. The series will celebrate the interdisciplinarity of Dime Museums while calling into question both popular and scholarly assumptions about the importance of Coney Island’s legacy, its sordid past, and its titillating present.
BUT
HOW DO I MAKE SENSE OF THIS OVERWHELMING BUT EXCITING SPECTACLE!?
SCHEDULE:
1) Opening Weekend
The 10-day spectacular begins with the opening night party in Coney Island’s Freak Bar and the induction of new members into the Sideshow Hall of Fame. Opening weekend features an exhibition at Observatory (off-site in Gowanus), and two days of performances by some of Coney Island’s best-loved performers on stage at Sideshows by the Seashore.
2) 5 nights of Thrilling Lectures and Esoteric and Bizarre Performances
Opening weekend is followed by 5 nights of lectures and performances by international acts and scholars appearing on stage in the Coney Island Museum and Sideshows by the Seashore.
3) Super Freak Weekend and the Congress for Curious People
The climax of this star-studded wonderfest is “Super-Freak Weekend” – which includes performances by some of the world’s most important natural-born freaks- individuals whose performance is their physicality itself – and a scholarly conference, called the Congress for Curious People, in the Coney Island Museum.
For all the details and the full breakdown of events check out there website: Congress Of Curious Peoples.
Submedia | Liner Zoetrope
For creation of our first linear zoetrope’s the Submedia was arranged into teams of three and four. I’m in a team with two other fantastic ladies: Lea Faminiano, a 1st year MFADT with a background in fine art and digital media, and Brianna Bowers.
For the first assignment there are several aspects to the project that need to be completed. As a group we decided to complete them in the following order so that each action supports the next, also dividing the responsibilities among us as follows.
* Design of the Eletrical Components – Lea
We decided that the design of the electrical components had to be figured out first. The main reasoning behind this is the same that Josh gave during class, that lighting comes in standard sizes. Also, our zoetrope must to be 6 or 8 feet long. Once we’ve designed the lights to fit this length we can begin to draw up plans for the box with more or less accurate measurements.
* Design of the Box – Brianne
The box design will be based on the measurements needed to contain the lights. Adjustments in height, or distance between that two rows of lights from top to bottom, can be achieved by using slots rather than holes to attach the lights in the back of the box. The length of the lights, and therefore the box, can not be adjustable. The links must remain a very fixed measurement. Once the outside dimensions have been cleared out the length and distance between the slots and therefore the images for the animation, can be mapped out.
* Two Animations – Jeanne
A crucial component in the animation is how many frames will be involved. This is dictated by the box. Although some tweening can be used and images can be removed, in my opinion, the best practice would be to know from the start how many images are needed to smoothly get from point A to point B. Unfortunately the time constraints don’t quite allow for this luxury. So I am basing my animation so far on the example that Josh brought to class. I believe in the case of a linear zoetrope it may be better to have to many frames and need to remove some, then to not have enough. Larger jumps and movement may be more easily seen versus adding more subtle gestures to the animation. Because of this I am adding a few extra frames to my first animation creating a total of 100 images.
After getting the “okay” from my team members I am basing the first animation on my thesis project. I feel I produce much better work when the subject is always at the forefront of my thoughts, which thesis definitely is for me. As gruesome as it may be to some I’ve decided that a facial reconstruction, from skull to skin, might be an interesting animation for a linear zoetrope. I’m still giving the second animations some thought, but I am leaning towards an animation of the fall and death of “The Rope Walker Zini”. The fact that the animation for a linear zoetrope does not need to loop lends itself well to fatal endings.
I’ve also been looking a lot at Francoise Gamma.
(BEWARE! his site will bog down even the best computers, so if you’re not working with an advanced browser … you’ve been warned.) He is dedecated to the animated *gif like no other. Hi gifs run from 30 to 128 frames, fo a good benchmark for a linerar zoetrope, although his style is too subtle maybe.
* Create Budget – Ideal and Lowcost – Everyone
At the same time we are also creating a spreadsheet with all of the descriptions and prices for the various components we may use. We will all continue to have access to the spreadsheet allowing us to add and remove items as each of us comes across them. This will allow us to comparison shop as we build. And as we we pick and choose what will actually go into this piece, we can begin to see what our true budget is versus its possibilities. Attaching links in the spreadsheet to online content also allows us to share information quickly and easily from one place. With a spreadsheet we should be able to quickly and easily create several options with various price points for construction.
Google Art Project | As an Artist
I think this is brilliant, wonderful.
Who ever gets to see these works of art this up close?
Very few people are allowed to study these collections in this way. And rightly so. Too many visitors getting as close as Google Art Project does would destroy a work of art in no time. Yet it’s one of those many things I want to do in museums that’s not allowed; getting up close and studying the hand of the artist.
I learn a lot from being up close. I used to look at engraving stones and etching plates with a magnifying glass. But that was my own work. I love that I can now see these in this works of art way.
But I’m interested to hear what the museums and galleries have to say. There will never be a replacement for the original, but when the original isn’t avalible and certainly can’t be examined this closely by a million people all the time. [that would surely destroy it] A certain distance is important for the life and health of the work and the viewer. In a way, the fragility of the piece, the unique nature of it being a one of a kind, gives it a life we must protect. There will never be another van Gogh’s The Bedroom and I may never be able to get it.
If museums get really desperate, they could sell personal viewings to a few people to help them pay the rent. But a few other people might get angry over that, maybe the people who couldn’t afford it.
Seems to me a double edged sword. A museum’s greatest competition can be the wealthy elite. They drive and sustain the price of art; they are who the museums bid against. At the same time, they provide free labor, funding and donate entire collections to museums. Tricky, tricky. I understand that I’m oversimplifying a complex problem, but I think it has a simple relevance here. Who gets what kind of access?
And, what’s in the best interest of the work? Should everyone, no one, only a few people a year, be allowed to get breath on Rembrandt’s Self Portrait. Whatever the right answer, Google says it’s everyone.
For now the following museums are included in the project:
- Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin – Germany
- Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian, Washington DC – USA
- The Frick Collection, NYC – USA
- Gemäldegalerie, Berlin – Germany
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC – USA
- MoMA, The Museum of Modern Art, NYC – USA
- Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid – Spain
- Museo Thyssen – Bornemisza, Madrid – Spain
- Museum Kampa, Prague – Czech Republic
- National Gallery, London – UK
- Palace of Versailles – France
- Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam – The Netherlands
- The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg – Russia
- State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow – Russia
- Tate Britain, London – UK
- Uffizi Gallery, Florence – Italy
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam – The Netherlands
- Here’s a little more about it in Google’s own words:
- What is the ‘Art Project’?
- A unique collaboration with some of the world’s most acclaimed art museums to enable people to discover and view more than a thousand artworks online in extraordinary detail.
- Explore museums with Street View technology:virtually move around the museum’s galleries, selecting works of art that interest you, navigate though interactive floor plans and learn more about the museum and you explore.
- Artwork View: discover featured artworks at high resolution and use the custom viewer to zoom into paintings. Expanding the info panel allows you to read more about an artwork, find more works by that artist and watch related YouTube videos.
- Create your own collection: the ‘Create an Artwork Collection’ feature allows you to save specific views of any of the 1000+ artworks and build your own personalised collection. Comments can be added to each painting and the whole collection can then be shared with friends and family.
- Are the images on the Art Project site copyright protected?
- The high resolution imagery of artworks featured on the art project site are owned by the museums, and these images may be subject to copyright laws around the world. The Street View imagery is owned by Google. All of the imagery on this site is provided for the sole purpose of enabling you to use and enjoy the benefit of the art project site, in the manner permitted by Google’s Terms of Service.The normal Google Terms of Service apply to your use of the entire site.
The Hyrtl Simulacrum on Kick It!
A few days ago I started getting a few more hits and pledges on the Kickstarter page and was wondering what was going on. Whatever was happening, I liked it and wanted to make sure it kept happening. So I did a little digging. I found out that a collaborative group had picked up my project and was helping to promote it on their website. Alright. {!} The group is really a creative conference called Kick It! and is associated with Lab 24/7, an “underground space and incubator for creative projects and events” operating from the cellar of an old brownstone in BedStuy. They have the project prominently featured on their front page under “Projects We Like.” Wow! A very humble Thank You to you folks.
But let me let them tell you about the conference in their own words …
“KICK IT! is an afternoon of presentations, performances and exercises focused on getting projects off the ground. KICK IT! is about motivating and connecting people who want to get things done. If that sounds like you, then keep reading… At the heart of KICK IT! is a series of demo’s by individuals and groups that are actively starting up a project, business or community effort. The projects could be an album release, a cookbook, the invention of a new water gun, or a conference around a cause. Based on the demo’s, the audience will vote for their favorite project, who’ll receive a cash prize. Getting things done requires learning from the mistakes, and successes, of others. So you’ll also hear advice from people who’ve hit the nail on the head, and others who miscalculated. And if you have an idea, we’ll give you an opportunity to pitch it, and match you up with other people who may want to help *you* KICK IT! That will take the form of concept lightening pitches, followed by team matchmaking. So if you have an idea that you want support on, bring your one minute schpiel. Get ready for a collaborative experience that will inspire you to cross that chasm between procrastination and action. Because the time is now for entrepreneurs, artists, and creatives to take hold of the 21st century. The time is now to Kick It!”
I’d received a comment/compliment from one of the folks from a group a few days ago but the link to the site wasn’t working at that time. I tried to fine it myself on the interwebs, but I had no luck and it kind of got placed on the back burner. But not anymore! I applied to present on March 19th, so we’ll see how it goes. Until then: Thanks Jonathan Landau for the props. :)
A Recent Show I Entered
“Digital art defines the contemporary. The Los Angeles Center For Digital Art is dedicated to the propagation of all forms of digital art, new media, digital video art, net art, digital sculpture, interactive multimedia, and the vast panorama of hybrid forms of art and technology that constitute our moment in culture. We are committed to supporting local, international, emerging and established artists through exposure in our gallery.”
LACDA 2011 INTERNATIONAL JURIED COMPETITION
Jurors:
Edward Robinson, L.A. County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Rex Bruce, L.A. Center for Digital Art
All styles of artwork and photography where digital processes of any kind were integral to the creation of the images are acceptable. The competition is international, open to all geographical locations.
The winner of this competition will be the inaugural exhibit for the new 4,000 square foot gallery at 102 West Fifth, directly across from our current location! The selected winner receives 10 prints up to 44×60 inches on canvas or museum quality paper (approximately a $2,500-$3,000 value) to be shown in a solo exhibition in the main gallery from March 10-April 2, 2011. The show will be widely promoted and will include a reception for the artist.
Second place prizes: Ten second place winners will receive one print of their work up to 24×36 inches ($150-$200 in value) to be included in upcoming group exhibits. Second place winners will be scheduled into a group shows within twelve months of announcement of winners. Consideration is given to placing these works in shows appropriate to their style, genre and/or content. These shows will be widely promoted and will include a reception for the artists.
Artist’s Reception: March 10, 7-9pm. The artist’s reception will be the opening gala at our new expanded location in conjunction with the Downtown Art Walk which is attended by up to 20,000 gallery goers.
Deadline for entries: February 15, 2011
Winners Announced: February 21, 2011
Exhibit Dates: March 10-April 2, 2011
Winners Announced: February 21, 2011
Exhibit Dates: March 10-April 2, 2011
I entered The Rope Walker and Our Child Murderer:
Submedia | Concentric Zoetrope
A concentric zoetrope is essentially a cylinder within a cylinder. The inner cylinder consists of images facing outward. The outer cylinder is solid except for small slits cut in evenly spaced increments around its circumference, like murder holes in the siege tower. These slits are what allow you to not just see the images on the inner cylinder, but they help to create the illusion animation.
For the second construction I needed to improve on the construction. I used much more flexible material. I also enclosed the gaps along the bottom to create a solid backdrop in case I might want to use this for a standard zoetrope in the future.
The inner cylinder is supported by pressure. I used the same images as in the first zoetrope for the reasons I stated in the first post, I want to concentrate on the mechanics. I recalculated the size of these images to fit the smaller cylinder and printed them out on the plotter. After taping the images into shape I measured the circumference of this new cylinder and cut to precise circles from foamcore to hold the cylinder rigid.
What I found to be as crucial in a concentric search rope as in the regular ones is lighting. Whereas the first one I made did not have enough light duty to its solid ceiling the second one seemed to have first have to much. Again I found that it was crucial not to have the outside of the mechanism lit.
I think the second one was pretty successful after watching the video and that doesn’t really do the piece justice. I really do think a lot of it is the lighting. And I am going to try and make the Tron face.
Also, here are a few of the “animation” from the Museum of the Moving Image.
There is so much going on right now
It’s impossible to update everything fully. So here are some pictures until I can write more:
Farkus, The Wounded Heart
The Cabinet under construction @ Backwater Blog