Marina Abramovic

This performance retrospective traces the prolific career of Marina Abramović (Yugoslav, b. 1946) with approximately fifty works spanning over four decades of her early interventions and sound pieces, video works, installations, photographs, solo performances, and collaborative performances made with Ulay (Uwe Laysiepen). In an endeavor to transmit the presence of the artist and make her historical performances accessible to a larger audience, the exhibition includes the first live re-performances of Abramović’s works by other people ever to be undertaken in a museum setting. In addition, a new, original work performed by Abramović will mark the longest duration of time that she has performed a single solo piece.

Marina Abramovic is a performance artist who actually uses her own body to make her art. Her work is so powerful and can almost be painful and uncomfortable for some people to watch. During one of her pieces she actually put down different objects on a table for people to use on her. The objects ranged from a loaded gun to condoms and even razors. She allowed people to use whatever they wanted on her and took full responsibility for all damages done to her body. The project first started out as very innocent and no actually harm was done to her but than after a couple hours people started to become more comfortable with the idea of using such objects on her and people began to cut her and actually hurt her. Her work to me is so limitless. She has no fear and her work is strong and compelling.

Improv Everywhere.

WE CAUSE SCENES.

Improv Everywhere is a New York City-based prank collective that causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 100 missions involving tens of thousands of undercover agents.Improv Everywhere was started in August of 2001, Charlie Todd went out to a West Village bar with some of he's college buddies Brandon Arnold and Jon Karpinos. On a whim they all decided to pull a prank where Charlie Todd would pose as musician Ben Folds. Three hours later, “Ben Folds” was drinking on the house surrounded by women and his “two big fans” were thrown out of the bar for “stealing Ben Folds’ wallet”. Charlie Todd had always been a prankster, but this experience enlightened him as to how far a prank could be taken. As an actor new to the city, he discovered he could create he's own theatre rather than waiting around for someone to give me stage time. Bored at he's temp job the next Monday morning, he wrote the story down and put it on the wed. And Improv Everywhere was born.

Why does Improv Everywhere do this?

Improv Everywhere is, at its core, about having fun. Everyone involved in their missions are big believers in “organized fun”. The groups missions are a fun source of entertainment for the participants, those who happen to see members live, and those who read their website. Improv Everywhere members get satisfaction from coming up with an awesome idea and making it come to life. In the process they hopefully bring excitement to otherwise unexciting locales and give strangers a unique experience and a great story to tell. Improv Everywhere is out to prove that a prank doesn’t have to involve humiliation or embarrassment; it can simply be about making someone laugh, smile, or stop to notice the world around them.

Is there an age-limit to participating?

Improv Everywhere missions are open to people of all ages. But they do suggest that anyone under the age of 18 have their parent’s permission to participate. Basically if you live in the New York area and would like to be apart of the next mission put on by Improv Everywhere you would go on their website and sign up on there New York mailing list.

 

Improv Every where's very first musical performance was in a mall in LA. For the most part Improv Everywhere does not ask permission before staging a mission at a certain location but for this mission Improv Ever where did work with the mall to stage this musical. Hot Dog on a Stick was also involved in this performance and that is how one of the agents was able to wear the uniform and appear to be working behind the counter.

UCI / Beall Center for Art + Technology

My trip to the Beall center was nice because the art work was easy for me to fully understand. I didn't feel overwhelmed by the work in the room. I really like the way the artist are using the viewer as a key in there work. The work involves the viewer and you really feel like you are apart of the inflatable bodies. They move and inflate as you walk by them. The pieces were very well put together and the bodies were clicking as the move and that gave the experience a interesting element because you can actually see and hear them move along.

Eadweard Muybridge

9 April 1830 – 8 May 1904

Eadweard Muybrige was a English photographer who spent most of his time in the United States. He is most well known for his work with animal locomotion which used multiple cameras to capture motion. He changed his name many different times early on in his career when he first moved to the united states. His work is all about capturing motion and movement with animals and or people. I think his work is like a still movie. The first kinds of movie probably every invented. I like the work he did with animals and the photographs he has with people moving are fun to look at too.

So with his work he basically took different cameras to capture movement and motion. As you can see with the couple dancing above. He would capture every move the couple made than later put them all next to each other and create this moving little film of the couple actually dancing. I really like his work with animals. He did a great job at capturing all the different movement and he was excellent at motion pictures.

Jennifer Ringley / Jennicam

Jennifer Ringley is a web cam artist. Her work is basically redifing web cam work. Her web cam (Jeennicam) is kind of like a show all about her daily life. Uncut and real her webcam shows views what she does everyday. Regarded by some as a new media artist, Ringley viewed her site as a straight-forward document of her life. She did not wish to filter the events that were shown on her camera, so sometimes she was shown in the nude or engaging in sexual behavior, including sex. This was a new use of Internet technology in 1996 and viewers were stimulated both for its sociological implications and for sexual arousal.The JenniCam web site coincided with a rise in surveillance as a feature of popular culture, particularly reality television programs, and as a feature of contemporary art and new media art.

The Jennicam last for seven years total. The webpage would automatically refresh every three minutes with the most recent picture from the camera. Anyone with Internet access could observe the often mundane events of Ringley's life. JenniCam was one of the first web sites that continuously and voluntarily surveyed a private life. Her first webcam contained only black-and-white images of her in the dorm room. After a couple years Jennifer decided to start charging money to view her web cam but views still had access to view her webcam for free.

Vaneeesa Blaylock

Vaneeesa Blaylock is a performance artist. Her company performs works in virtual worlds that explore identity, Individuality, and persona in the 21st century. The Company's primary media is live performance but they also produce photography and other media as performance documents. On 17 June 1961 Rudolf Nureyev defected from Russia. He would not be allowed to return for the next 28 years. On 21 February 1962 Nureyev and Fonteyn performed together for the first time. They would perform together for the next 26 years. They have defined ballet partnering for all time. Vaneeesa Blaylocks company has put together a recreation of there last performance in SL. By doing this work her company says they are searching for insight into what it means to be alive in the virtual world by channeling two artists who, for a time, they are as alive in the physical world as perhaps anyone has ever been.

 

Vaneeesa Blaylock and her company recreate beautiful work through SL. Her recreation of this performance was very creative and well done. She recreated something that was done over half a century ago and now everyone can appreciate the simplicity and grace of their performance that really shaped art work for ever. Ballet and partner work with ballet was changed forever after this performance so to have it recreated in SL is so cool!

 

Four Yip

Four Yip paintings mix reality portraits of Second Life avatars. Her work includes three different types of paintings. First she makes a snapshot of the avatars she says than she paints them in a digital sense based on how she see's them and lastly she Photo shops them. "They are imaginative portraits," is what Four Yip says about her avatars. My favorite piece of her work is this one above, Four Yip's portrait of Kean Kelly, transforming her from an unblemished avatar into a person with a history and secrets to keep.

I personally really loved the work Four Yip did with the portrait of Kean Kelly. Kean Kelly's avatar is cool and futurist looking but the second portrait of Kean Kelly looks more meaningful and more like a digital painting than a avatar. The second piece of work has a lot of detail and looks like a real painting in a art galley i like the texture that Four Yip was able to capture with that portrait and i think her work in this piece is very new media and a cool new way to create art work through avatars.