Most of us have played different kinds of video games. For me, I seldomly play video games, still, I like playing Happy Farm. Happy Farm is an online video game that players can grow crops, trade with others, sell produce, and steal from neighbors.Happy Farm allows players to steal the others’ crops. And many critics claim that these farm games will distort the value of children. The Taiwan Education Department decided to ban Happy Farm in primary and secondary schools since this game encourages players to steal others’ plants to upgrade their level and earn money in a faster way. Besides, an employee was fired when his boss saw he played the Happy Farm in the working hours; and a girlfriend broke up with her boyfriend because her boyfriend forgot to water her plant [1]. Furthermore, a doctor refused to save a baby in his working hours because he was stealing the others’ plants, and the baby died in the end [2]. From these matters, we can see that children will affect by the farm games, even adults and professionals.
Bibliography:
[1] Facebook「開心農場」偷菜台政府「不鼓勵」提出「偷」改「租」免混淆價值觀, http://hk.news.yahoo.com/article/091019/4/erg4.html, accessed 20th October 2009
[2]醫生忙網上「偷菜」嬰失救死, http://prd6-libwisesearch.wisers.net/ws5/tool.do?wp_dispatch=confirm-view&doc-ids=news:16d0^200911110060194(S:67057101)&menu-id=&on-what=selected&from-list&display-style=all&tooldisplay=true, accessed 16 November 2009)
1.Which artist’s work do you find the most interesting?
Stelarc’s work is the most attractive.
2.Describe one work by that artist in detail, and explain, what is interesting about it.
The Exoskeleton (1999) looks like an electronic spider but it only has six feet. Its color is dull grey. It is a walking machine which is connected to the human. The artist’s body is positioned at the centre of the structure on a turnable and activates the machine through an extended ‘arm’ with a pneumatic manipulator. Combining mechanical, electronic, and software components, the machine is controlled by the artist’s gesture and performs a ‘dance’ that is entirely choreographed by his arm movements.
I found it is interesting because this work reminds me a movie called ‘Inspector Gadget’. I am so impressed with the protagonist in the movie who has a ‘technologized body’.
Actually, I think this work is quite complicated and it is quite hard for me to describe the whole work. Thus, I would only introduce the first page of the work. When I first access the website, the background of the website is a close-up of a flower which is randomly selected in each time. There are some images of fly and ant which are ‘walking’ on the screen. A profile picture is put on the top left hand side of the screen. It changes sometimes as well. I saw three different profile pictures in total. There is a description of the artist next to the profile picture. There is a menu at the bottom of the website. The webpage is very complicated because a lot of pages are linked together without any connection. In general, most of the images in the website are quite disgusting and erotic.
B.The work is controversial because…
The artist claims that she is a 13 years old female artist. However, it is hard to realize is it her real identity since the website is too complicated for a 13 years old teenager. This work is thus controversial for the issue of online identity. This work implies the ‘fake’ identity in the virtual world. Everyone can construct their own identity.
Moreover, because the images and the feeling of the whole website are quite erotic, when this kind of feeling associates to the ’13-year-old’ girl, then it may connote the issue of child sexuality.
Bibliography:
Tribe, Mark; Jana, Reena (2007). "Mouchette". New Media Art. Germany: Taschen. pp. 66–67.
Everyone can construct a fake identity on the internet; the following interviewee is HANDSOME Chriz.
1.How many online identities do you have? What are they like?
Chriz: umum… It should be more than five such as facebook, MSN, Uwants Forum, two ICQ accounts, youtube and school mail.
2.In what ways are they different to your “in person” identities?
Chriz: To be honest, I… I am rather selfish on the internet. Because we can find a lot of resources on the internet, I can just download the software I want but I will not explode my real identity on the internet. Moreover, I will not share my files. Even in my facebook account, I seldom upload my photos and post some status or notes though the ‘friends’ in my facebook are my REAL friends.
Kasey: Wow… isn’t it a kinds of voyeurism? But I also agree the point that we need not to expose many things on the internet. For me, I also act as an observer.
Chriz: Oh ya, I am a passive user on the internet. I rarely leave message and share things.
3.What are some benefits of expressing one’s identity online?
Chriz: Well, the majoy benefit I got is I can download a lot of things from the internet secretly since most of the files I download are illegal. Therefore, I will expose my identity as less as possible.
4.What are some risks?
Chriz: the main risk is it is still easy to be found my real identity if I do something wrong seriously. Although I can construct my identity, the police can still chase my location by knowing the IP address from the telecommunication company such as the case of古惑天皇 (literally means King of Sneaky). He was put in the jail for three months.
In the Desktop Theatre version of this performance, Jenik and Brenneis fashioned two simple “roundhead” avatars (similar to IM smiley face emoticons) to play the roles of Vladimir and Estragon, now nicknamed “didi” and “gogo.” This online performance, which Jenik and Brenneis call “Street theater for the new Downtown,” is presented in a cut-and-paste fashion in which the actors take portions of Beckett’s text and paste it into their chat window. The text then appears instantly above their respective avatar in a comic book style text bubble. All of the chatted dialogue presented in The Palace appears in these bubbles, thus clearly associating dialogue with the avatar producing the dialogue. The dialogue is also “spoken” through the software’s text-to-speech capabilities simultaneous to its display on the screen.
- 'Many computer games belong in category of literary arts with movies and television because they do contain elements of narrative, and their narrative elements can be subjectied to the same criticism as other narrative arts.' (Will Computer Games Ever Be A Legitimate Art From,Ernest W. Adams)
- 'Art is that it is aesthetic, it has rules for determining beauty and ugliness...Some of this apply to games also and there are distinct aesthetic qualities of games, such as "replayability", that may not apply to more conventional art forms.' (Will Computer Games Ever Be A Legitimate Art From,Ernest W. Adams)
- 'Art is to pass on cultural values from one generation to the next, to serve a sort of moral purpose.' (What Is Art?, Leo Tolstoy, 1986)
- 'As stated previously, unlike chess and gymnastics, the playing of video games has not been proposed as a candidate for art status.' (Are Video Games Art?, Aaron Smuts, 2005)
- 'Real art through computer games is achievable, but it will never be achieved so long as we have no path to understanding. We need to establish our principles of aesthetics, a framework for criticism, and a model for development.' (The Art of Computer Game Design, Chris Crawford)
B. Key Links
1. 10 Video Games That Should Be Considered Modern Art
1.How many viewers are estimated to have watched the YouTube video?
According to the counter in video I watched in the YouTube, there are nearly 2.5 millions of people have watched. However, it is stated in the Wikipedia that there are more than one version of the ‘Bus uncle’ which implied the number of viewers should be more than this figure.
2.How would you rate the video?
•Is it of high quality in technical terms? Is it interesting aesthetically eg camera angles, use of light, the narrative, and so on?
It is obviously not high quality in technical terms because what is used to film the video is only a mobile phone. The resolution is very low. Besides, there is no any cinematic technique such as zooming or camera angle. There is no editing as well. The ‘narrative’ is not under the ‘director’ control since the video is shot accidentally and is not aimed at showing in public (YouTube). It seems that the ‘director’ does not really care about the form of the video but the content of the issue.
There is no aesthetic value in the video. There is no background music, no rhythm or other special effect since the video is only a candid video which the ‘director’ did not have too many considerations when he was shooting this incident.
•Does it raise interesting socio-cultural issues?
‘Bus Uncle’ is definitely raised the interest in such issues. It is not only talked about the problem of ‘pressure and stress’ in Hong Kong, but also raised the issue of the power of YouTube. After the video of ‘Bus Uncle’, there are a lot of videos which imitate the style of ‘Bus Uncle’. For example, the cable TV made a video which is without written script and the actors act in front of the ordinary people. The camera is hidden in purpose. This video is spread widely too. The cable TV finally ‘revealed’ the truth and discussed the circulation of YouTube.
3.Do you think it deserved the attention that it received from the internet community?
Yes. I think it deserved to gain attention. Although the characters in the video are only ordinary people, it is a reflection of the whole society. After this incident, more and more these kinds of video clips are uploaded on the YouTube (but less popular than ‘Bus Uncle’) which implied that ‘Bus Uncle’ is not the only case in the society. Everyone can be the ‘reporter’ and the ‘judge’ of the society. And YouTube becomes a site of unleashing or complaining channel.
Like the following video, the younger man clashed with a bus. And his mother and he shouted to the bus driver and passengers on the bus. They thought they are poor as they have no car and need to have a ride on the public transportation.
It is another example that is also shot a conflict between the passengers on the bus.
4) Do video-sharing sites such as YouTube enhance or worsen creative culture? Comment.
Key Quote:
1.‘… division between recipient and producer became blurred.’
2.‘… non-professional products are enjoyed by vast audiences, making professional products look less attractive.’
(Creativity meets Circulation: internet, amateurs and the process of evolution, Roman Marek)
As mentioned before, because of the common use of gadgets, everybody can be the ‘reporter’. Mainstream mass media even buy the video from the residence. Besides, everyone can share their creative works on the platform of ‘YouTube’ freely which could stimulate the professional to produce more creative work. For instance, this advertisement makes use of the ‘interactive’ function of YouTube. Thus, it is not only an advertisement but also a creative interaction between the audience and the producer which the traditional platform (TV or radio) could not achieve.
***For the best interaction, it is suggested to view in a new window***
Moreover, the feedback function of YouTube can also be a communication platform for idea exchange. The users can leave some comments for the producers and encourage them. Although some people may negatively comment on the other, the producers can still gain some benefits through the YouTube. As a result, YouTube could enhance creative culture.
Perhaps, “Mission to Earth” is one of the boring films and I will watch again if I suffer from insomnia. Still, there are some interesting points worth discussing!
1)Using “Mission to Earth” as an example, note what is new or different about digital cinema compared to traditional filmmaking? Consider the story and appearance of the film.
A.The Story of the Film
If not Carol told us the narrative of the film, I am afraid I do not know what the film is talking about since there is no dialogue of the character and the action of the character does not that match to the voice over. The story is actually moved by the voice over. Although this kind of effect is greatly different from the commercial movie, the story line is still similar to the traditional one.The equilibrium 1, dis-equilibrium and new equilibrium can be still found in the narrative but it is not as obvious as the traditional one. The film has plot in the conventional sense of the word through the voice over.
However, when we compare the ‘Mission to Earth’ and ‘An Andalusian Dog’ which is directed by Luis Buñuel and artist Salvador Dalí, ‘Mission to Earth’ is absolutely more ‘realistic’ and easier to be understood.
The above discussion is mainly focused on the voice over, if we take away the voice over, the view will be totally different. Because the footages are selected from the database randomly, as mentioned before, it is driven by the voice over. Therefore, if the audience only watches the movie without the voice over, the narrative is discrete. The timeline will be disconnected and the footages become meaningless as well. Still, some people may think this kind of randomness implied the chapter selection of DVDs which can generalize as the ‘digital age’.
B.The Appearance of the Film
The arrangement of the composition of the film is quite different from the traditional film. For the traditional film, the split screen is usually used for indicating the sense of simultaneous[1]. However, the visible division of the screen in the ‘Mission to Earth’ does not aim at this goal. This kind of composition is a little bit distracting for me (the little screen is even moving around), my eyes are so busy and do not know which screen I should watch. Unlike the traditional one, the audience could not merely concentrate on the characters in the digital cinema. I am impressed the kaleidoscope-liked computer animation deeply and it is beautiful aesthecially. (But I do not know the exact connection between the film.)
2)What other art forms (eg film, digital art, painting, websites etc) does this film remind you of? Explain the similarity.
‘Mission to Earth’ makes me remind two artworks that are ‘Composition II in Red, Blue and Yellow’ by are Piet Mondrian in 1930 and ‘La jetée’ by Chris Maker in 1962.
For the ‘Composition II’, as the name shown, the composition of the film remind me this painting. Both of them have the patchwork style.
Composition II in Red, Blue and Yellow’ by are Piet Mondrian
For the ‘La jetée’, this movie is composed by still images and voice over. The story is also driven by the voice over and there is no dialogue of the charater as well. Although the images are not selected randomly, the alienation effect achieved is similar to that of ‘Mission to Earth’. If I make a classification, I will put both film in the science-fiction genre because ‘Mission to Earth’ is about a woman from other planet whereas ‘La jetée’ is about a experiment in time travel. Finally, I think ‘La jetée’ and ‘Mission to Earth’ are similar to each other because their idea and concept are both creative and innovative.
1) What are some photographic effects that can be achieved using digital or analog (darkroom, film, lights etc) technology?
Basically, most analog photographic technologies can be simulated by digital technique such as digital camera and photo-editing software. Effects like distorted images, changing color, lighting and the image size that can be achieved by both digital and analog technology.
Fish-eye effect
For example, the Lomography Fisheye camera, contains a built-in wide-angle lens [1] which can take the photo in an extremely wide. A hemispherical image can be thus captured. Fish-eye lenses become more popular in snap shot because of its uniqueness and distorted appearance. Other effects like pin-hole camera and miniature faking [2] can make special effects with a specific lens. These kinds of effects can be easily achieved by pre-install programme of the digital camera and the filter effects of photo editing software.
Miniature faking (Video using stop motion animation):
For the color, one effect I knew is the cross processing [3] of analog technology. If we have to print out the photos from the film, we need to use different chemical for different type of film. The cross processing can result in a negative image on a colorless base or a positive image but with the orange base of a normally processed color negative [4]. Moreover, adding a photographic filter [5] can make a corresponding effect on the color of analog photography. Similar to the first one, it is also easy to make effects through the program.
Both analog and digital photography can be printed in different sizes.
Though both analog and digital technology can make the same effects, they are different mechanism which will be discussed in the following.
2) What are some photographic techniques that can only be done using digital technology?
3) What is the difference between analog photography and digital photography?
It is hard for me to separate the second and third questions so I combined the two questions. Hahahahaha.
Digital photography is a kind of computer information stored in memory cards which images are represented by binary numbers whereas analog photography is stored on the film. Unlike analog technology, digital photography is digitalized automatically. Only digital photography can be read on the monitor of the camera immediately right after taking the photo.
Moreover, it can be deleted the undesirable images which analog photography cannot. The cost of digital photography is somehow lower than that of analog photography because the user can choose or edit their images before printing, no unwanted images will be printed.
Although analog photography can achieve the same effect as digital photography, analog photography may require extra equipment. One analog camera can only achieve one special effect unless it can change to other lenses. Comparing with digital camera, what it need is a program or software only so the user do not require to spend extra money on the equipment.
Digital images are much easier to edit than film. A software program can add effects like high dynamic range imaging (HDR) which is much easier than trying to do that with a photographic print of analog photography and people usually digitalize the film photos so as to make HDR images. Besides, we can create things with digital technology which never exist.
