BEALL Center for Art + Technology

It was a struggle finding this place, along with finding a parking spot. However, I must say it was very well worth it and I truly enjoyed this experience; being able to look at various kinds of art in a small little gallery sort of place was neat. Going in was very dark and mysterious, yet very lovely. Ariah and I were instantly greeted by the inflatable body right in the middle of the inflation process haha. From afar, it didn't seem like such a big deal, but the more I thought about it, the more curious I became. I asked myself, "How can air make something move?" It's just air... But this air does so many amazing things. We watched the body get inflated and uninflated and it was delightful seeing the whole thing happen right before our eyes.
    After seeing the first figure getting inflated, we went inside and saw the ballerina legs, before they were inflated. I tried to figure out what they were since they don't look like much without being inflated, but as the whole inflation process began, it became more clear as to what it was. Something that really surprised me was discovering how air's pressure can determine which direction something will go. For example, no pressure leaves the inflatable objects looking dead, maybe even unattractive. However, once the air machines start to do their job, we come to find life in these objects and it's the pressure which makes them look the way they look. The ballerina legs were spread out, yet a few minutes later I began to see how some started to move differently and I realized it was just all pressure. The more pressure they had, the higher and firmer they stood. With less pressure, the lower everything stood. The same thing occurred with the space shuttle thing. When more pressure was added, the inflation process was complete, making it look like a strong, firm shuttle.
    We thought the 3 inflatable objects were the only things to look at.. until we "snuck" around and found a door which led us to another room with stuff totally different than what we had seen in the room before. It was actually a bunch of cool random stuff all created by students attending UCI. The following images are things we came across during our visit:

 The image above is what we first encountered when we made our entrance. It was in the middle of getting inflated, so watching this happen was very interesting.

 The image above is what I call the ballerina legs. Once they got inflated, several of them began going different directions due to the pressure.

 The image above was like some sort of space ship. Before getting inflated it just appeared lifeless and I had no clue what it was; however, after the inflation process was complete, I realized this was a space ship.

 The image above does not necessarily tell me much, besides the fact that it's not a test, but I just really caught my attention.. Because usually it is a test.

 The image above was so cool!! Probably my all time favorite. It was so weird seeing all these magazines floating without a bookshelf and I almost felt like just putting my hand under them in case one of them fell. I remember looking through them and seeing a bunch of Playboy magazines haha.

 The image above reminded me of what it's like getting out of the shower and being unable to see myself clearly due to the fog. It made me want to "try" taking the fog off to be able to look at the guy's face. Too bad it was permanent :(

  The photographs above were so mysterious. Almost creepy because they reminded me of the movie "The Blaire Witch Project." Also, it was interesting being able to see the room from different angles and it made me wonder what was outside these windows.

   Overall, my experience at the BEALL Center for Art and Technology was interesting. Although I cannot say it was my favorite place (LACMA was my favorite), I can say it was very different from stuff I've seen in the past. What I really liked about this place was that the art was created by current or former students. The reason why I liked this so much was because usually, when I've looked at artwork, all of the pieces have been created by some famous artist, one who I will more than likely never get to meet. This place was different, The creators of the art found in this place are not much older than me and it's somewhat inspirational knowing it can be anyone. I would definitely go back and take my family, I'm sure they would get a kick out of the inflatable bodies and much of the art would amuse them.

Scott Wade (12)

Scott Wade is an artist from San Marcos, Texas. Instead of using canvas, he uses dirty cars to make art. He's known for making dusty rear windows into masterpieces that only last as long as a stiff breeze allows. A complete art piece of Wade's takes about 2 to 4 hours to complete. Wade is also known as an "earth artist" because he does not use any chemicals in any of his pieces. All he uses is "earthly" stuff, such as dirt and dust.

 Wooww Scott Wade is the man!  I had no idea it was possible to make something beautiful out of dust and dirt! I also didn't know it was possible to not only make something, but make it look as good as this! It really looks like paper and some high quality pencil were used, but none were! These dirty car paintings look like they'd be worth millions. If I was ever lucky enough to have Wade do something like that on my car windows, I'm almost sure I wouldn't never EVER wash my car again or take it out when it's raining haha. :p

Tony Oursler (11)

Tony Oursler is an installation and multimedia artist born in New York City in 1957. He is known for his fractured-narrative handmadev video tapes including The Loner, 1980 and EVOL 1984.

Oursler's art is very random to me, hahaha. Not the kind of stuff I like to look at on a daily basis, but it is very unique and very different from most of the other artists I've done research on. I wonder where his inspirations came from...

Scott Blake (10)

Scott Blake was born in Tampa, Florida in 1976. He is mostly known for his artwork created by using barcodes to create a bigger image. His work has been displayed at several galleries as well as featured in magazines, like FHM and The New York Times.  Blake's barcode use began around the time of the Y2K, which was the time when there was a craze with barcode artwork.

I'm more than sure I've seen Blake's barcode art prior to doing research, but I'm unsure where I've seen it at. After reading about him I realized one thing, art can be made out of anything. A canvas or paint aren't even necessary to create something. Whenever I look at barcodes, I have not once thought about how something spectacular could be created out of them. So crazy!

Joan Jonas (9)

Joan Jonas was born in New Year in the year 1936. She is a pioneer of and performance art and is considered one of the most important female artists ti emerge in the 60's and 70's. She started off as a sculptor and changed her style a few years later. During these years, Jonas also worked modeling mythological heroes like Icarus, as well as studying dance. She mixed performances with props and mediated images.

Jonas made Vertical Roll, a twenty minute black and white tape; which shows Jonas masked and naked, with her head to the horizontal to the bottom of the roll (of the tape).

Hmm Joan Jonas's work was interesting.. Creepy, yet interesting. To be honest, I got nervous watching this video, but I can't put my finger on it. The picture below also scares the hell out of me and I still don't know why.. I'm thinking the black and white has a lot to do with it. No color makes all the art look very mysterious and strange.

Bill Viola (8)

Bill Viola is a contemporary video artist whose work focuses on the ideas behind fundamental human experiences, like birth, death, and aspects of consciousness. Throughout his career he has drawn meaning from his main interests in mystical traditions, such as Christian Mysticism, Zen Buddhism and Islamic Sufism. One of his main themes represented by his art is dualism, the idea that you can't understand what you are looking at unless you know the opposite. (ex. light and darkness, life and death, stress and calm, etc.) Viola also includes water and fire in most of his art.

I find myself saying this about every other artist I do research on, but this is by far my favorite artist. I love all of Viola's work and it's so captivating reading into his art. I am constantly thinking about the human transitions one must face and it's great to see them included in Viola's art. 

Erwin Redl (7)

Austrian born Erwin Redl is an artist who uses LED's as an artistic medium. Prior to dedicating himself to this sort of art, he studied electronic music at the University of Music and Performing arts, Vienna. Afterwards, he moved to New York which is where he studied computer art  at the School of Visual Arts, graduating in 1995. He works in two and three dimensions, redefining interior and exterior spaces. Redl's works have received attention nationally and internationally.

The following are a few examples of his various forms of "Matrix"

Hmmm.. Redl was interesting, but for some reason I wasn't too interested in reading about him. I feel like I've seen this many times before and I understand the message he is trying to convey, yet it doesn't speak to me the way works from other artists have. Perhaps I should read more about his art and why he was inspired to do this sort of creation.

Christophe Bruno (5)

Bruno is a French artist who began his artwork. The message he is trying to get across is that by monitoring  Google, we are heading towards a global text which enables a us all to communicate with a "new" language. Some of his works include Logo. Hullucination, Iterature, The Google Adwords Happening as well as a few more.

Bruno's work is one of a kind. Who thinks about these things? And how does he find an image so accurate to the logos? I wonder if he actually searches for images which resemble logos, or if he just happens to see the resemblance without even trying. Hmmm...

Here are a few images of Logo. Hullucination.

 Can you see where the dollar sign came from? (Well, from Bruno's perspective at least haha)

Just a phone logo, or not?!

Eva and Franco Mattes (4)

Eva and Franco Mattes were both born in Italy in 1976. They have lived in Europe and the US most of their lives. Although neither of them are "educated" in art, they are still considered as pioneers of the Net Art movement and are well known for their subversion of public media. Perhaps the most important message being delivered by the Mattes is their belief that nothing is "original," everything has been done before. The only reason why certain ideas are considered new, is because people make a new creation out of the old, but it is never 100% original.

Eva and Franco are also famous for their Second Life usage. They did a project called "13 Most Beautiful Avatars." These 13 avatars were created to portray what society was trying make people become.

Eva and Franco have done an exceptional job at opening the eyes of others and showing them how repetitive everything has become. Sure, there may be "new" creations, new artists, new styles, but everything is just a newer model of something we have had in the past.

Mariko Mori (3)

Mariko Mori is a photographic and video artist. Prior to hr artwork, she was working as a fashion model which influenced her early work. Mori often uses Eastern mythology and Western culture in her art. her early works, such as Play With Me, she became an exotic alien creature in everyday scenes. In 1994, she had an exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery in London. Her later works show her as a goddess, transcending her early roles via technology and image and abandoning realistic urban scenes for more alien landscapes.

Woww, this work is insane! Mori's artwork reminds me of Lady Gaga, both of them do out of this world creations and have a strange, yet captivating obsession with outer space. What's even more interesting is how she uses herself as a canvas and her body is her artwork. Also, I find it inspirational how she's so different. It's inspiring because not only is it unique, but I also think it encourages people to free themselves.

John Whitney (2)

John Whitney was an inventor, composer and animator. He is considered as one of the main founders of computer animation. One of his first works in film was a movie of a lunar eclipse using a home made telescope. He spent some time in Paris and returned to America which is when a series of abstract films was created (Five Abstract Film Exercises) which one him the first prize and the Film International Experimental Film Competition in Germany. These films gained wonderful recognition which eventually led to a Solomon Guggenheim Fellowship, which allowed Whitney to study the composition of music combined with graphics. John then made an audio visual instrument which emitted sounds combined with a camera apparatus to capture and point light during the production of abstract design films.

Whitney's videos were very strange, I was very intrigued. I thought it was amazing how one image turned into another, but very slowly. I was very impressed when I found out how he began making videos like these a few decades ago, because according to me, these kinds of videos were made recently, no more than a decade ago. However, when I watched for too long, I found myself getting dizzy and nauseous and it felt like I was in a different dimension, under the influence of some illegal substance.

Jennifer Ringley aka JenniCam (Artist write up)

Who is Jennifer Kaye Ringley?

Jennifer Kaye Ringley was born in Harrisburg Pennsylvania on August 10th 1976. She is best known as an Internet celebrity for creating “JenniCam.” She is often times regarded as a conceptual artist.

In 1996, during her junior year at Dickinson College,19 year old Jennifer Ringley decided to install a webcam at her dorm, with the intention of allowing others to view her daily activities. Although Jennifer had no intention of sharing intimate moments with the public, she eventually stopped making her life private and decided not to edit or cut any recordings. Ringley’s overall intention was to allow the viewers to see everything, including nudity or any type of sexual behavior, not something many would do voluntarily.

"I keep JenniCam live not because I want or need to be watched, but because I simply don’t mind being watched.”- J.R.

Flashback: Back in 1996, webcams were new use of internet technology. Jenni’s website automatically refreshed every couple minutes and got updated with newest black and white images of her.  Ringley caught viewer’s attention for two reasons: sociological status and sexual excitement. 

Goodbye Pennsylvania, Hello Washington

After finishing her education at Dickinson College, Jenny moved to Washington D.C. This time, Ringley added more webcams to her new, much more luxurious, apartment. Along with these changes, she also began charging those who went on her site in order for them to have access to the newest images. Life at home was good for Jenni and she called herself a “web designer.”

Stardom

Jennifer Ringley’s website gained instant popularity, with an estimated 3-4 million viewers daily. Surveillance and reality tv shows were becoming an important part of pop culture (Big Brother, The Real World), something which helped Jenni’s “documentary” catch viewers’ interest. At the peak of her stardom, Jenni had attracted hundreds of media outlets, landed a role in “Rear Windows 98, Diagnosis Murder,” her own talk show, and appeared as a special guest on The Late Show with David Letterman. 

Sacramento and a bit of Privacy

A few years after moving to Washinton D.C., Jennifer Ringley decided to move to Sacramento, California. Again, she documented her life, including packing her possessions. JenniCam was shut down shortly after her move, with PayPal’s anti nudity policy cited as the main reason. Jenny went on with her life, working for a web developer in Sacramento. Today, Jennifer Wringley no longer has her own website, choosing to live out of the public eye and enjoy her privacy.In 2008, CNET called JenniCam one of the greates websites in history.

Gary Hill (1)

Gary Hill, a pioneer of video art, is an American artist. Hill was born in 1951 and has been working with video and sound since 1973. Hill developed a passion for video art in the 1970s. His ideas came about when he began reading the writings of Maurice Blanchot, providing him with ideas on how language impacts any life experience. Then, after meeting poet George Quasha, Hill was inspired to start experimenting with language and video. Hill uses modern day technology to create environments which take the audience on a "mind" ride, as well as using his own body to create multilayered video installations in which text, language and speech extend over and intersect.

I was very absorbed with what I read on Gary Hill. He truly has a unique way of expressing himself using the mind, body, and language. Looking at his work actually inspired me to make use of my "strange" thoughts. However, I dislike how Hill lets the audience interpret his work in their own way; I'd like to know the exact meaning to his work and how he was inspired to create it. I've recently discovered  that a bunch of random images with text included make me very curious and I don't know why. I'd like to know the themes behind Hill's work though and not always just take a wild guess. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'd like it if the creator with such a gifted mind would actually explain the real meaning behind his art, I'm sure I'm not even close to knowing the real meaning because we must think very differently.