-blind-

In Medium is the Message, Marshall Mculhan tackles big ideas and theories about the globalized world that we now live in. He states that "we have to shift our stress of attention from action to reaction." I attempt to respond to this in my piece, I aim to find the reaction in the viewer with this silent piece. The viewer is given nothing but the gradually changing video before them. Something which gives the facts of what it is and nothing more, the image changes slightly with each tick of the clock but still stays the same, the change seen within the video is only dramatic from the first and last shot. All other interpretations are left to the viewer to create for themselves; though I want to create a space for them to find these I don't explicitly tell them anything. While the clock quickly changes the image does so as well, the speed of this may seem torturous at first but the viewer is given an escape from this second by second change in the course of the video. 

We are all connected through this global village that Mcluhan has pointed out, this states that the world we now live in is becoming smaller with the growth in technology. I wanted to create a piece that focuses on the little change within the moment. This idea of the change which occurs every second may only seem to contribute to the big picture, however must be done through the subtly of each second. 

-teaser-

Here is a 15 second teaser for my final project. CHECK IT OUT DUDES

-something is happening-

"Can't Focus" Molly Froman

        On Thursday the fifth of November something happened. A gallery opening took place at the Mudd gallery in the Seeley Mudd Library, the 3rd floor to be exact. Here a group of art students displayed their work, photos to be exact. This was not my first gallery opening but by far the most interesting. The set of photos and books that were displayed created a fine set of artwork. This unity was quite beautiful to be honest, most of the photos were very different but something about them all together felt right, in place, extravagant. The show was a great success and most certainly answered the question of: What is Happening? 

      Working with my fellow classmates to put this show together was cool, we were each assigned a different task to do so everything when uber smooth. It was a very nice collaboration of students hard work. 

-cage-

John Cage and Marshall Mcluhan theorized around the same time, because of this many of their ideas influence each other or have similar points within them. The use of the senses is heavily thought of throughout both the works of Mcluhan and Cage. Mcluhan dedicates one whole page to the quotes of John Cage as if his thoughts are worth that whole page, he uses Cage as a means for communicating the ideas which are so similar to his own that the world is lost in the realm of the visual sense where all other public and private senses are pushed to the side.

-sniffles-

Marshall McLuhan tells us that we "are enveloped by sound... we hear sounds from everywhere, without ever having to focus." Sniffles is my attempt to recreate this truth, the sounds that play throughout this noise piece only recreate the sounds that I heard in one moment. These sounds were magnified and overlapped to create a stressful space for the listener, because not only will they listen to the sound piece but they will also hear what is in their immediate surroundings. I am really interested in the idea that sound is a unavoidable, unlike the ability to shut your eyes, sound surrounds you and you cannot escape. Along with that sound is generally somewhat ephemeral and hard to recreate because it is so unique to the moment. The sounds that we hear surround us and can sometimes simulate emotion within us. I attempted to make the listener uncomfortable in my piece by amplifying and looping sounds that were found simply around me in my room.

-chaos-

My Expression of Chaos -Molly Froman

When watching the Jonathan Gruber film, Miriam Beerman: Expressing the Chaos, I felt emotionally and visually pulled into the work unlike ever before. With the combination of somber score and the visual experience of her work the film captured me and pulled me in unlike any other film has before. It seemed to me that for Beerman art was a real way to express her motions and deal with the cruelty of life that others might ignore. It was very hard for me to watch the end of the film, it was so stinkingly depressing. Knowing that all of the life experiences this woman had will slowly disappear was a shocking reality to me. At one point in the film she said that she did not create art to convey a message, and all messages that others would make of the works were not intended by her. I felt this statement resonate within me, I can only assume that she creates art because it is what she has been doing since she was a kid, it was her only outlet.
These drawings are my sub-movie creation, I decided that I would write down the words which caught my ear. I wrote them down all over the page, and of course because the room was dark I could not see where I was writing or what it might turn out to be. I really liked how it came out with the quote from Beerman "now I have a cat," it captures the film very well for me by putting emphases on the chaos as well as the playfulness of her personality.

-pushing past the reality-

"canyouseetheguitar" - Molly Froman

This collection of images, Pushing Past the Reality, conveys the idea of a dream state, a state which memory of the specific is lost and all reality is muffled. These photos aim to push the boundaries of what it means to be a photograph. I want to show that they do not have to be perfect images for the purpose of creating or conveying emotion. Just as Marshall Mcluhan says "the amateur can afford to lose" I am taking the chances with this project by pushing the limits. I can afford myself to lose the prospect of a perfect image by not using the proper tools such as a tripod or the correct exposure that would create a still image. I am in love with the movement found in these photos. I think that I will never be able to escape the experimentalism of the amateur. I was not able to know the outcome of these images because of the long exposure, when I opened the shutter it was all up to the camera to make the image. Not all of the photos in my collection were shot with a long exposure, but they all live in a dream state with a changed reality. All my life I will be playing with what it means to create, I love to push the button of what the viewer wants to see and what I put in front of them. I want to make the viewer confused and question what they are looking at.

-what makes art valid-

"Straight Lined Chaos" - Molly Froman

Ed Vessel made the comment that he thinks himself to not be very good at art, or maybe that he could not tell good from bad art; but how can one make this claim when we live in a world surrounded by artistic potential. His claim that art is something subjective is shown in his research, the idea that we learn what is good and bad art seems to me problematic and all to prevalent in our culture today. I think that weather or not you have the drive to make art is what will set you apart from those who do, the need to express yourself through art is what makes you an artist whether or not you create. It is important to note that not all work relies on a strong set thesis. This can be portrayed through the idea of a straight and curvy line, the straight line is straight from all angles while the curvy will be a seemingly new line from all angles. These scientific ideas which Vessel has about clear perceptions that the brain makes will end up in the minds of many.

"Vessel" - Molly Froman

Those works which attempt to create multiple meanings, or even those with an open meaning is what I am personally drawn to. Art is never about one set idea which there is no interpretation it is a form of expression where the meaning might be more separate from the feeling it portrays. Just like a video does not need a story line to be a video art does not need a set of rules to be correct. Art is for everyone and anyone it does not take one mind to tell what may be good or bad, I think Ed Vessel is stuck in the mindset of right and wrong when in reality there is no such thing. When schooled in the sciences it is hard to make a bridge to the arts.

-breath in-

Marshall McLuhan tells us "Today's humor, on the contrary, has no story line - no sequence." I interpret that as that which entertains needs no meaning. My piece contains only meaning made by the viewer and held by me. It is hard to tell as the viewer how much footage it took to create this piece, whether or not the piece is comprised of one minutes worth of footage does not matter. What matters is that it is held, in its current state, at the time of one minute and seven seconds. This experiment of sound and visual create a depressing symbiosis. I wanted to have the repetitive clock-like sound of the light turning on and off constantly in the background while simultaneously altering the sound behind it to create unease. 

This one minute could be torture or pure joy. My favorite part of the video is the ending when it abruptly stops: everything is gone for just a second, all that you have just watched ceases to exists except for in your memory. The video has no story line, no sequence, no reason; but is still worth the sixty seven seconds of viewing and the hours spent working on it. 

-my eyes are up here-

Most everyone has that one clothing item or accessory that gets a lot of praise, for me it is a red shirt which reads CHINATI in a muted grey tone. It seems that ever single time that I wear this shirt at least two people ask me what it means. People try and guess the pronunciation or ask if it is a combination of the words "China" and "Cincinnati" or some other silly interpretation. The usual answer that I give is a mumbled exhausted explanation that I myself do not really know what the shirt means. Without fail every time I wear this shirt I get question about its meaning. 

100 untitled works in mill aluminum - Donald Judd 

Well here it is folks Chinati is the name of a contemporary art museum site which is known by the name of the small town in Texas where it resides, Marfa. This exhibit is a collection of installation works by mainly Donald Judd and includes many other artists who work is permanently displayed in the military base which the museum is located. The space is made for large installations which may not have a space other than here. With no airport in Marfa the space is kept mostly a secret from the average museum goer and has become a desired road trip destination that I would hope to have the opportunity to visit. 

-i make what i feel like-

In my mind art is a form of freedom, I can create what I want and change what I want. Art is about not the ability to create a visually appealing work. I enjoy pushing the boundaries of comfort and tradition. I love to play with and examine how people relate to the spaces they inhabit. The way that I connect with what I create constantly changes. I am easily excitable. I am a child at heart. To me art is a form of rebellion, if I make a piece that makes someone uncomfortable and judge my validity as an artist then I may call myself successful. Those who do not understand what I make are the ones I like most. I am not here because I know ever step of my life and know exactly what I want to do and be, I am here because I want to have fun and learn to change the meaning of the purpose.

"Microsoft Mischief" -Molly Froman

This piece was made on Microsoft Paint, probably the most irrelevant program on a Microsoft computer, however as a Mac Book Pro user I feel limited by the inability to have access to this program or one similarly simple on my computer. On this program you can manipulate images to create blurred or pixilated pieces. I really enjoy creating works such as these glitchy pieces. I do not have much a process for work, I usually change my mind as I work through the piece making decisions as I go.