Art and Technology FA 2019 - REYNOLDS

The first "earbud" was invented in 1891 by Ernest Mercadier as what he referred to as the "bi-telephone" to close the ear to external sounds. This is extremely different from modern technology used to play music directly into the ear instead of playing it out loud. They are now made in a range of different quality capacities and are constantly being updated. Just recently, Apple released its new version of Airpods, an upgrade from the Bluetooth headphones they released in December of 2016. I think that the future of earbuds will continue to expand and the technology will become more invasive moving forward. I could see the earbuds being implanted into a person's actual ear and a button on a person’s hand having the ability to activate the start, pausing, and stopping of a song. Another idea is to have the speakers from the earbud only recognizable by one person. That way, people could play music out loud and be the only one’s hearing the music playing.

We looked at Le Voyage Dans la lune from 1902 and it is very different that science fiction films that I see in today's age. I think of shows like Black Mirror when I think current science fiction and that show is extremely technologically advanced. The video we looked at reminds me of something my dad would watch. Sampling is sacrificing some of the components so that the brain fills in the blank. The first television looked extremely different than what televisions look like today. When television first came out, people were afraid that it was a way that the BBC was spying on them and that it would damage their eyeballs. We then looked at the invention of the telegraph and teleprinter which led to pin-up girls and porn.  Automatons were clocks in the 1700s accompanied by music and mechanisms that drew contours from all over to meet the creators. They were constructed elegantly and some were even interactive (a foretaste of the computer).  Multimedia today is inf...

In this class, we talked about camera obscura and learned about the Renaissance. We looked at an eight-hour exposure picture that is extremely different than the exposure we use today taking pictures. We looked at motion pictures and explored Edward Mubridge Cronografia. DADA was an art movement that turned normal objects into art. I think performance art is really beautiful and I cannot wait to make my own.

Today we looked at DaVinci's artwork and other inventions. I learned that DaVinci knew extensive information about anatomy (particularly the eyes and the heart). He also invented the diving suit, parachute, and the tank. We also looked at Theo Jansens sandbeests, which were incredible. If I ever get the chance to go to Holland I will definitely go find one. We also learned about the way interactive elements have effected our society. Some of the negative effects of technology like this is distraction, world being taken over by robots, and genetic engineering.  We then moved on to Evolution and talked about the Invention of Art of drawing. We also looked at grid drawing. We looked at Deviance's golden ratio and did an in-class experiment with our classmates.

Today we focused on broadway and learned about the history and future of entertainment at this point in time. Broadway was created for people who could not afford the opera but began to falter because of the popularity of television.  Vaudeville was routed in racism and used white actors in black face to perform as black people.  African Americans who performed in vaudeville began to break off and perform their own music - jazz. 

1. Michael Bublé singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas I am so in love with Michael Bublé it is crazy so I was very excited to see him on the list of videos to watch. His voice is so angelic in this song (and all of his songs).  I think the music in this song behind his vocals is so beautiful and really makes the song feel warm and homey. The band does an amazing job performing this song and Michael's vocals completely melt me and probably anyone else who listens to this song. 10/10 performance by all of them. 2. Guys & Dolls singing Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat | Oliver Awards This was not something that I would normally pick to watch but the choreography really got me. It was interesting to see all of the movement during the piece and how all of the characters got involved. Originally I thought it was going to be a sad performance because when the characters were talking they were being rude to the man singing.Then he got very energetic and I really enj...