1. Image Overview

glegrady
Posts: 203
Joined: Wed Sep 22, 2010 12:26 pm

1. Image Overview

Post by glegrady » Thu Sep 23, 2010 1:37 pm

Welcome to Class. This is where you will be posting your reports, projects and images and links.

The course website is: http://www.mat.ucsb.edu/~g.legrady/acad ... 0f130.html
Last edited by glegrady on Tue Oct 05, 2010 2:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
George Legrady
legrady@mat.ucsb.edu

Sarah
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Sep 29, 2010 9:02 pm

Re: Welcome and Course URL

Post by Sarah » Wed Sep 29, 2010 10:30 pm

The past few decades have introduced numerous technological advances in photography and digital media alike. Photography in particular, although created in the late 1820's has recently become a very advanced technology for creating images. A photo can now be taken in 1/30th of a second with hardly any preparation. The functions themselves, that are available on the camera such as scene settings, color swapping and more are something that photographers from the 1800's would be baffled by.
A common function on camera's or through photoshop these days is using color accent in which most of the photo is black and white and only certain items in the photograph are colored. Many would use this function to either exhibit importance of the colored item or just to make the photo look unique, but there is another motive for using this technique. John Baldessari created photographs in which certain aspects or items in the photograph were colored. Even more than that however, these colored images were actually a map of sorts, directing the viewer on how to correctly view the image. Instead of merely highlighting important aspects of the photograph to give it meaning, he actually drew colorful blocks, circles, lines and arrows around the important pieces he wished to be seen. He made sure the viewer viewed the photograph in the way he intended it to be seen, as if to teach us a little about how to correctly look at artwork. This seemingly controlling feature he added to his work allows other artists and photographers to think a little more about the way in which we want our own work to be viewed; by the viewers natural eye movement, or the way in which the artist intended the work to be witnessed.
Attachments
heel.jpg
Last edited by Sarah on Wed Sep 29, 2010 10:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

RebeccaW
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Sep 29, 2010 8:42 pm

Camera Obscura

Post by RebeccaW » Wed Sep 29, 2010 10:31 pm

The camera obscura is a device which allows an image of the outside to be projected, with color and perspective, on to a wall in a box or a darkroom. the camera obscura is used for entertainment and drawing because the image that is projected on to the other surface has the perspective and the color of the real subject. the initial invention consisted of a dark room with a hole in the wall were the projected image was shown upside-down on the opposite wall. in the 18th century mirrors were introduced and the camera obscura evolved in to a smaller portable device.

The development of the camera obscura lead to another invention that is commonly used today. Photography was derived from the camera obscura. making the camera obscura a launching point for our current culture to grow technologically.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_obscura
Attachments
CameraObscuraroom.JPG
Camera_Obscura_box1.jpg
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amirzaian
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Sep 23, 2010 7:29 pm

Musical Notation

Post by amirzaian » Wed Sep 29, 2010 11:13 pm

As I went through the information covered in the link on our class web site called
Image Overview there were several topics which caught my interest. One was of
the various forms of notation, “visual articulation of a concept suggesting further action.”
The idea that music could also be translated into Musical Notation suggesting that
mathematics and music have a lot in common. When a drummer counts the notes of the
certain drum beat that he plays it could be counted in whole notes, half notes, quarter
notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes, thirty-second notes, sixty-second notes, and if
possible depending on the tempo of the music one-hundred twenty forth notes. As a
drummer I know that math is very much incorporated in the technique of reading and
playing music. The Drummer from the band Tool repeats a number sequence when he
creates the beats for his music. For example he would simultaneously play a certain triplet beat with the bass drum then another quarter note beat with his right hand while playing an eighth note beat with his left. When all beats are played simultaneously it creates a polyrhythm drum beat
He uses a Drum tablature, which is basically percussion notation, and basic geometry to create the beats. One of the sacred geometric figures that
he incorporates into he’s drumming is the “unicursal hexagram.” I found Danny’s
drumming to be an example of the Various forms of Notation that are in music.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Carey
Here is a like to a video of a polyryhthm beat that he uses in one of his songs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvxGLwo2OQs
Attachments
Polyrhythm.png
Last edited by amirzaian on Thu Oct 07, 2010 4:17 pm, edited 4 times in total.

arothstein
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Sep 29, 2010 7:22 pm

Étienne-Jules Marey

Post by arothstein » Thu Sep 30, 2010 6:48 am

The artist Étienne-Jules Marey was a scientist interested in anatomy and the body's internal workings. He was an innovator in his field, inventing various machines used for regulating body functions. Marey was a significant contributor to the art world in his advances in the chronophotographic field as he was achieving these breakthroughs and continues to be one today. His goal was to document the movement of an animal by breaking the complete movement down into several steps. His ability to think like a scientist allowed him to achieve his goal by gathering the photos as if they were data: taking images rapidly every few seconds to piece together the details of the whole movement. His invention, the chronophotographic gun, was able to take twelve consecutive frames per second. This machine, which changed the course of both art and science forever, was created in 1882. A few decades later, Marey's studies were provoking interesting reactions in artists such as Duchamp, who painted the various poses of a figure in motion superimposed.

Of most interest to me is the fact that over a century later, the human mind is still completely enthralled with what Marey was able to do. In the Student Health Center, on September 28, 2010, I was sitting in the waiting room only to look up and see two images of athletes depicted in action: with the various stages of their movement superimposed (see attached images).
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mail-1.jpeg (11.41 KiB) Viewed 29820 times
mail.jpeg
mail.jpeg (10.39 KiB) Viewed 29820 times

klmurphy
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2010 6:28 pm

Re: Welcome and Course URL

Post by klmurphy » Thu Sep 30, 2010 8:21 am

The umbrella that covers the span of things considered to be images is all encompassing. What actually signifies an image, as an image is dependent upon the viewers’ ability. For example a handwritten word can be an image or simply the beginning to a list. Someone may think that all a single word on a piece of paper is, is that, a word written down on a piece of paper. Yet someone else could come along and view the single word written on a piece of paper as an image. They can decipher this image and look into the style, meaning of the word, color, and texture of the mark, also the font size, background color of the paper and so on.
This idea of images based on personal opinion has been reflected in the contemporary art world. Where some people view particular pieces of art as art some view scientific data charts, or connecting their own freckles and the line they create as art. Anything can be an image and encompassed into the field of art based on the meaning the piece holds with the artist who created the image as well as the impact the viewer places on the image in relation to them. The website learningtoloveyoumore.com is an example showcasing images not necessarily regarded as ‘images’ and then displaying them as ‘images’ on the web where they are considered mass art.[attachment=0]1.jpg[/attachment]
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1.jpg
learningtoloveyoumore.com

Brookeredmayne
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2010 11:27 am

Camera Obscura

Post by Brookeredmayne » Thu Sep 30, 2010 9:22 am

Although, the term, “camera obscura”—roughly translated to “dark room”—was first used by German astronomer, Johannes Kepler in the 17th century, first recorded mention of the device was as early the 5th century by Chinese philosopher, Mo-Ti. Also called a “pinhole camera,” the device usually consists of a box or room with a very small hole, punctured through one side. When light passes through the small hole, a reflected, inverted image from the source of light is projected onto a surface such as the inside of the box, paper, and eventually, entire rooms.
The invention or discovery of the “camera obscura” has been, most notably, used by artists to trace projected images. Eventually, artists added convex lenses and mirrors to cast larger, upright, sharper images. The invention served as a turning point in art history and also led to several different technologies, including the photographic camera.
Sources: physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Optics/Camera_Obscura/Camera_Obscura.html, brightbytes.com/cosite/what.html, and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_obscura.
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Camera_Obscura2.JPG
Camera_Obscura2.JPG (8.43 KiB) Viewed 29807 times

BritRollins
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2010 11:04 pm

Re: Welcome and Course URL

Post by BritRollins » Thu Sep 30, 2010 9:25 am

Camille Utterback

This artist’s work grabbed my attention during the lecture on Tuesday. After briefly talking about the Heisenberg Theory and the idea that when you look at something by looking you transform it, Camille Utterback came up. Her work is all about the interaction between the audience and the artwork. The viewers of her work, meaning those who stand directing in front of it, affect the way the piece looks. The image changes using sensors. Her work captures motion beautifully. Also the comment that was said, and I believe her work can be used as an example for this, is the people will change when they see that you are taking photos of them. Even the subject has the ability to transform the work. The artist can only manipulate something so much, the rest is dependent on that “decisive moment”.

sources: lecture, http://camilleutterback.com/vitae/bio/, http://camilleutterback.com/

rzant
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2010 6:54 pm

Re: Welcome and Course URL

Post by rzant » Thu Sep 30, 2010 9:31 am

In relation to the practice of visual arts, an image can be defined as a “reproduction or imitation of a form or person”, or simply, “a visual representation of something”. Thus, an image may refer to a wide variety of things that ranges from drawings to paintings to photographs to computer graphics. Additionally, images appear within a variety of contexts, each of which affects the way in which the viewer processes and thinks about the respective visual representation. For example, considering an image presented in a museum may prompt the viewer to contemplate more the formal and aesthetic qualities, while seeing the same image in a newspaper may instead elicit a response of empathy or a desire to seek out more information.
However, interestingly, there seems to be a universal code regarding the functionality of the image. In other words, the components of a good composition do not differ between contexts: a visually appealing photograph found in a magazine may utilize the same techniques used by fine art photographers. The main difference may or may not be subject matter. In viewing the “NY Times News Photo” link on the Image Overview page, one is able to see this. The eye is primarily drawn to the firefighter in the center of the photo. As the protagonist of the news story, this makes sense. The eye is then directed towards the fire, through the two streams of water blasting in its direction. The power lines seem to direct the viewer’s eye in this direction as well, although in a more secondary manner. The verticality of the trees and architecture help to break the image into different sections, and also draw the eye back down again towards the firefighter. This NY Times photographer was able to utilize the formal elements of the composition in order to aid the narrative of the news story, while simultaneously directing and captivating the viewer’s eye. Although his/her job is to simply capture ongoing current events with a camera, this photographer knows how to amplify the effects of a given situation by understanding the rules of composition.
Thus, it is interesting to see that images, although in different contexts and for different uses, may adhere to a similar structure. These structures can aid in narration, mood, movement, and many other aspects of any given image.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/image
Attachments
wildfires_650.4.jpg
Last edited by rzant on Tue Oct 12, 2010 9:06 am, edited 12 times in total.

Manie06
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2010 10:34 am

Re: Welcome and Course URL

Post by Manie06 » Thu Sep 30, 2010 9:38 am

The Image I selected for the Analytical overview is the photograph taken by Friedlander titled “Revolving Door” under the visual syntax category. The composition of this black and white image is divided and composed of squares and rectangles. There are three main divisions dividing the photograph vertically. Friedlander managed to capture the moment in which three individuals walked crossing paths pushing the division of space in the image while maintaining the equilibrium of one individual per division. The composition is a great example of the rule of thirds, it also divides space by capturing what is behind the photographer. Each third of the image can be taken as an individual image and further analyzed, this reveals how the physical shapes and composition of the individuals captured in the photograph mimic their immediate surroundings. Lee Friedlander uses reflections to change the perspective from the camera and the photographer, and composed images that make the viewer feel the presence the photographer without him being physically present in the image. More examples can be seen in photographs found in the Greame Mitechell Blog.


Links-

Revolving door-http://jophilippe.files.wordpress.com/2 ... g_door.jpg

Greame Mitchell Blog-http://graememitchell.com/blog/lee-frie ... nd-mirrors
Attachments
friedlander_nyc_1966.jpg
friedlander_denver_co_1998.jpg
friedlander_revolving_door.jpg
Last edited by Manie06 on Thu Oct 07, 2010 12:22 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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