Thursday assignment: Image and text project

Image and text project. You will be making two different pictures, working from the same initial image. Produce an image that can relate to text in an interesting way. Create that image either by shooting it yourself (it can be a staged image, or an image "caught on the fly"), or it can be an image that is collaged from at least three sources (if you want to make a drawing as one of your sources, that's perfectly acceptable -- otherwise you can cull images from Google images and so on).


Using that image as a base, make two seperate treatments of the image, with legible text in each.


In treatment #1, use text that has a sense of "interior monologue." It doesn't literally have to be an interior monologue, but it should have that interior quality -- as if we're listening in on the thoughts of someone -- perhaps the thoughts of someone in the picture, perhaps the thoughts of someone looking at the scene (as if we're looking at the scene through someone's eyes, and hearing their thoughts).


In treatment #2, take the same image and place text in it that has a quality of "exterior commentary" -- the type of commentary one might find in a news caption or textbook, explaining what's happening, or somehow passing judgement on the scene. It should be as if the words are coming from a source that's not participating in the scene -- but commenting upon it from some sort of remove.


Each treatment of type should be distinct, utilizing different fonts and different layout strategies. Think about how the text relates to the image both conceptually (in the manner of an idea) and formally (how it sits on the page, how the shapes of the letters relate to the imagery, etc). Try to be as radically different in your font treatments as possible. For instance, if you have one treatment where the text is all one font, horizontal, small, and in one color, the other treatment might mix different fonts, run the text vertically, large, and in various colors.


You will have class time to work on this project on Thursday. But come prepared with an idea, and with your text and images already selected.

Tuesday's assignment

There's a short reading and response due for Tuesday's class -- "To Thine Own Selves Be True, A Review of Sherry Turkle’s Life on the Screen." Write two short paragraphs in response -- print out your response and bring it to class. We will be discussing the article. Though the article is of a book that's "old" in terms of the development of the internet, I think it brings up some insights and issues that are still relevant (and the author of the book under review, Sherry Turkle, is still writing about contemporary digital culture). The article is partly about the way people negotiate or change their identity in terms of online or "digital" culture, and since we're creating a digital self-portrait, I thought it would be interesting food for thought. There are a series of questions at the end of the article you could address yourself to; I'm most interested in your position on the "ominous" scenario and the "positive" scenario -- which do you think is closer to the truth?


http://www.emcp.com/intro_pc/reading16.htm

Here is a scanner animation we'll look at on Tuesday's class:

Otters Making Music - Elements of Time from David C. Montgomery on Vimeo.

Welcome - and some links

Hi there -- and welcome to the blog for the Digital Darkroom Class.

For next class :

Assemble personal materials for scanning to create a digital self-portrait -- be sure NOT to include photos or other images of your physical self. Give some thought to objects and textures that somehow say something about you, your identity, your sense of self. Make sure to bring at least three seperate things (all of them have to be able to be placed on a scanning bed, of course).

Please remember to acquire a jump drive, if you don't already have one -- it would be good to have it for Thursday.

And here are some links to some of the artists whose work I showed in class:

Jill Greenberg
Flickr "Brushes" gallery
Chris Jordan
Alberto Seveso
Andrea Innocent
Emily Eibel (Tomby Illustration)
eBoy Pixel Art
12:31 and the Visible Human project

Visible Human Project source:



Finding Paths through the world's photos:


The Most Photographed Barn in America

Links to syllabi:

Section 1 (10:00-12:45)

Section 2 (1-3:45)

Some Final Details

First thing – please fill out the class survey forms for your class. I do read these, and find them genuinely helpful. Don't forget to fill out the "comments" section at the end.

Section 1 (morning class)

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Lanier_Chris_DART_230_Fall_13

Section 2 (afternoon class)

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Lanier_Chris_DART_230_Sect_2_Fall_13

FOR THURSDAY: We are going to the Nevada Museum of Art. Please show up at 10 am (if you're in the morning class) or 1pm (if you're in the afternoon class) ON TIME - so you have plenty of time to get in your cars and get down to Reno.

Here are the drivers for the two classes:

Section 1 (morning class)

Felipe

Evan

Jesse

Annie

Section 2 (afternoon class)

Jamie 

Shafer

Peter

(Alexa as a backup)

Here are Google directions to the museum (click on the blue "Nevada Museum of Art" link below to open full directions in a new window):

View Nevada Museum of Art in a larger map

TIMES FOR THE FINAL

Section 1 (morning class)

Friday the 13th

9am

Section 2 (afternoon class)

Wednesday the 11th

11:30am

FOR THE FINAL, YOU MUST BRING ALL YOUR COMPLETED ASSIGNMENTS< SO THAT I CAN COPY THEM TO MY HARD DRIVE. Here is the list of all assignments:

1. Digital self-portrait, from three scans:

01-lastname-selfportrait

2. Text/image combo project (at least two versions)

02-lastname-textimage-A

02-lastname-textimage-B

3. The response to the collage artist

03-lastname-collageresponse

4. The "composite" project (something small made large, or something large made small)

04-lastname-composite

5. The "fake news" project

05-lastname-fakenews

6. The Fair Use Project

06-lastname-fairuse

7. The Brushes Project

07-lastname-brushes

8. The Illustrator Landscape or Portrait Project

08-lastname-illustrator

9. Lulu Book Project (six interior pages)

09-lastname-lulu-A

09-lastname-lulu-B

09-lastname-lulu-C

09-lastname-lulu-D

09-lastname-lulu-E

09-lastname-lulu-F

10. Lulu Book Cover

10-lastname-lulucover

11. Sierra Nevada Review Cover

11-lastname-snrcover

12. Multiple you project

12-lastname-multiple

In a folder called "Writing," you should have:

1. A short reaction to "To Thine Own Selves Be True."

01-lastname-selves

2. A three-page response paper to a collage artist.

02-lastname-collagepaper

3. Fair Use - one page defense of your fair use project

03-lastname-fairuse

Assignment for Tues, 11/19

At the start of Tuesday's class, you must have two things:

1. Your finished six pages. This is of utmost importance, because if you flub this assignment, it will take a chunk out of your final grade.

2. A sketch, any any necessary preparatory work, for your cover image.

The titles, if anyone needs a reminder, are:

For section one (the morning), believe it or not:

Moobs

For section two (the afternoon), believe it or not:

Ben's First Tea Bag

Assignment for Tuesday (11/5)

Next Tuesday will be a work period for your six-page sequence, so come prepared with whatever raw materials you need (images, ideas) to use the work period profitably. A portion of your grade will be your initial proposal for the sequence, which is due at the beginning of Tuesday's class – you need to have at least a basic sketch (drawn out on paper, or cobbled together in Photoshop) of your general idea for the sequence, or a one-page write-up of your idea.

Here are the specs for the images in your "sequence" project -- the one we're printing up through lulu.com. You should have the images you need at the start of the class, so you can just jump into it when class starts.

Dimensions for Lulu book project
You will have 6 pages to fill in an art book we're publishing through Lulu.com. One page is like an intro page for yourself and your work, which should include your name. It can be a sort of "artist's statement," or it can otherwise set the stage for the images to follow. The following five pages should be a series of images that somehow work together as a sequence.

The dimensions at which you should create the work are:

Final page size will be 7.5" x 7.5" at 300 dpi.
The pages need a 1/8" bleed all the way around, so you'll create your photoshop files at 7.75" x 7.75" (at 300 dpi, this comes out to 2325 pixels by 2325 pixels).

Keep in mind, as you're designing the sequence, that you will have three "two page spreads," where the image on the lefthand page will be facing the image on the righthand page. Think about how the images on those facing pages will affect each other, in terms of content, color, composition, and so on.

If you're still chewing through what a "sequence" is, remember that a potential starting place could be:

1. Time changes through a fixed location. What is a single place, that goes through changes as time passes, and how are those changes made visible?

2. Spatial changes with a fixed subject. Is there a character, or object, that travels through different spaces?

3. Transformations of a character or object. Think of Klinger's "glove" etching. Is there a common image that goes through a variety of changes of scale, of stature, of meaning?

4. Different aspects of a single thing. Think Hokusai's Mount Fuji series. Is there a thing, a person or a place that can be looked at through a variety of lenses -- the lens of history, of myth, of geology, etc?

5. Formal variation and rhythm. Remember that abstracts images can function in sequence, riffing on common formal elements throughout the multiple images.

6. Storytelling. Any sequence tells a story of some sort. Is there some sort of narrative that could occur through the five images? Think of Hogarth's "Harlot's Progess," or the comics examples I showed.

And you should "own" your artwork in this project -- you can shoot your own images, or draw your own images. You can use stock images (free or purchased).

Homework for Tuesday, 10/15

For Tuesday's class, come prepared with a sketch for your idea for the "fair use" project. You will have one class period to work on it. The finished project will be due a week from today, at the beginning of class.

Please keep your source images as well as our finished image, so we will more clearly be able to evaluate whether you have a possible case for "fair use" of those source images. Remember, in class you will present your image, and make your case that your image is a legally protected image; the class will act as the "prosecution," making the argument that your image is not protected by "fair use,' and is in fact in breach of copyright law.

You need to be prepared with a written statement of roughly a page in length, outlining your legal "fair use" defense. What elements of your work correspond to the protections of fair use, and how can you back that up with an argument focusing on your intentions and the evidence of what's there in your work? For instance, you might think of your work as a "parody," but what is the actual satirical comment you're making with the work, and how is that commentary supported by the images and the way they're used?

The intended venue of the work could have a strong bearing on whether your work is "protected" or not -- so please explain if the artwork is intended to be shown on a T-Shirt, in a gallery, on a billboard, or what have you.

If you want to refresh yourself on some copyright info, there are free digital versions of the Duke Copyright Fair Use comic here:

http://www.law.duke.edu/cspd/comics/digital.php

Fair use can be invoked for the following reasons:

To report on news
To make a parody
To copy for class
To criticize
To quote for scholarly purposes
For research

And these are the "four guidelines" for fair use:

1. The Transformative Factor: The Purpose and Character of Your Use

2. The Nature of the Copyrighted Work

3. The Amount and Substantiality of the Portion Taken

4. The Effect of the Use Upon the Potential Market

More detailed info here:
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/9-b.html

And here are a couple articles on the recent Richard Prince case – since he won the case, it might be useful to use some of the language in the case to defend your own position:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/26/arts/design/appeals-court-ruling-favors-richard-prince-in-copyright-case.html?_r=0

http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/news-features/news/richard-prince-wins-major-victory-in-landmark-copyright-suit/