Aesthetics Class Culture Jam

Allison had asked to see the culture jam Laura & I did for another class, so we told her we would post it here.

This is the same one I played--unofficially--in class last night.

Sheila

Untitled from Sheila Lehnert on Vimeo.

The Final Process

Here is the final edit of my video.

The final process from Sheila Lehnert on Vimeo.

Reminder

Remember that we are meeting at 5 tonight for a "focus group" with Brent.

P.S.

I think I am pretty much done with my final product too.

P.P.S

I am listening to Christmas music! (I am kind of a Christmas junkie . . .)

P.P.P.S.

I am also kind of obsessed with my new desktop image courtesy of National Geographic's website.

P.P.P.P.S.

See you tonight! (at 5)

My product is done, for now. If you want to see my introduction of Kevin, or his video response which is much funnier, just log into our Facebook group.

Well, see you all tomorrow.

Needing Motivation

I'm getting tired of my art product but I need to finish it because we present TOMORROW.

There is the interior of my house so far. Blurg, I'm tired of it..

Oh, and I sent you all a landmark to my house. This is so you can easily get there and find your positions on Monday. So far I have a chair downstairs, and upstairs I have pillows to lounge on like in our coffee shop.

Finis!

Well, here it is; my final product.

Y'all get to see it first because y'all are special like that.

This is the pre-screening before the premiere. It's all about who you know.

The Product of the Process from Sheila Lehnert on Vimeo.

My handwriting.

I posted a new entry on my tumblr and this time I did not photoshop text in.  I just left my handwriting in.  It definitely gives it a different feel from the others.

http://sjkimerely.tumblr.com/post/1485211901/my-wonderful-parents-when-they-were-young-and-in
 
I think my handwriting is good for the more personal posts, but I think for the bible verses the computer generated text is more appropriate.

What do you guys think?

Construction

First of all, Laurelie got some new hair, so that she looked less like me.

We also have been working hard on the interior of her house. Here is something we put up this morning

It is images of Laurelie hanging out in the cool fall world. When an avatar clicks on "teleport" he/she get's the landmark to that world so they can go there to.

((Okay, my cat just farted really loudly . . . that's a first . . ))

So how do you guys feel about that? --> Putting up snapshots of her in specific places and sharing the landmark.

I also want to put up some cool seating and furniture. As you see I procured some rugs.

I think Sheila gave me this idea last night--when I give my presentation next Monday, I'll take my avatar around my house. I was thinking perhaps you guys' avatars could be present, sitting around my place as I walk around. Like, moral support, you know? (don't worry, I'll provide the chairs :))

Video introductions for Allison posted on facebook~

And here they are, too!

Introducing Sojung Kim

Introducing Hoyoung Lee

enjoy~


this was a super awkward project BUT it was also really fun to see how much we knew each other after a year of dating. thinking about doing it next year to see if anything has changed. we had a great time!

=]

Lots of time accomplishing not a lot

So I have been on Second Life for the last hour working on my house, and I feel like I haven't accomplished a whole lot. I added stairs and a second floor.

At first I tried to build the stairs myself, but I was getting too frustrated, so I just bought some from the Second Life Marketplace.

I've also been trying to upload some images into my 2L inventory but 2L keeps crashing every time I try. I am at a coffee shop right now (in real life), so i'll have to try that at home I guess.

Speaking of coffeeshops, this isn't related to our project, but I was wondering if you guys would like to attend/participate in a real life event called "Create for the Silent" that me and a group from my church are putting on. The purpose is to raise money to help end human trafficking as well as to connect with our community. You guys are apart of my community so I want to invite you. Here is the flyer with more info (click on it to make it bigger):

Let me know if you are interested in coming to this! It'll be fun.

And to close, here is a picture of Ms. Swizzle in her new sweet glasses

Introducing Me

Posted my introduction video! I also have it here. I went ahead and had my husband do it because he knows me better than anyone, and he was easily available. This is totally unedited.

I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to put my own reflections on the video post or not. Allison and Sheila did, but I kind of just wanted to video to speak for itself.

Introduction video for Allison's project

Here is the video of my 2 kids introducing me.

A couple of things:

1. The lighting/arrangement of the video wasn't the greatest; my husband was in charge of that portion. I tried to add some artistic effects so that the low quality of the original film would not be so evident.

2. Additionally, the artistic effects served to "disguise" my kids a bit. Since this will be posted on Facebook, with my name, age, school association and major, I wanted to try and keep their identity as protected as I possibly could. Maybe I'm delusional and these efforts are a waste of time, but from a parental standpoint, they help ease my mind, so don't rain on my parade, please; thanks. :)

3. This video is very insightful; but not in the way I had originally thought it might be. I wasn't quite sure what to expect; kids say the darnedest things, you know. However, what I realized after watching the raw film was this: My kids don't really know me at all. They have no clue as to what makes me tick. I'm their Mom and that's about all they need/care to know. Visions of grandeur once again squashed by 2 typical little boys. Oh, well. I love them just the same.

I will get the other video filmed and edited as soon as I can.

Colby & Brady Introduce Sheila from Sheila Lehnert on Vimeo.

Success!

um....sort of.

Today has been one of the most frustrating days I've had in a very long time.

Due to our hectic schedule we decided to pull the boys out of school today so that we could work on this project. It took ALL DAY!

We started at 10 with the initial build that will be in time lapse. That didn't take very long, but the "behind the scenes" work of double checking all the mechanisms and making the necessary adjustments took several hours. By the time we were ready to activate our chain reaction it was late afternoon.

Yeah, I'm not sure if anyone noticed, but it was a tad bit windy this afternoon. Not a lot; just enough to wreck havoc on...say...our hair triggers we were manipulating...and our dominoes that kept falling over at random. Yeah, that sort of thing. It took us almost 30 minutes between takes to reset the chain and have everything ready all at the same time. We got 1 misfire and then 3 good takes from various angles.

Unfortunately, when I was setting up the video camera that angle of the sun made it very difficult to see the video screen. I could basically guess what was in the live area, but that was about it. After we downloaded the entire video--all 8 GIG!--we were very excited to watch the raw video. That's when I noticed the smudges on the camera lens that created sun spots during the afternoon building segments!

Here's my conundrum. Do I just let it go and roll with the film I've got. Or do I try to re-shoot from the beginning which basically makes today a complete and total waste of time? If I do re-shoot, the only day that MIGHT be available due to project deadlines is this Sunday, Oct 31. (Halloween--a.k.a. Colby's 10th birthday!)

I'm posting the real-time chain reaction, as well as the introduction segment and a piece from the afternoon build segment so that maybe you could help me make a judgment call as to what I should do. Also, apparently, we had some sort of gnats flying around the main camera location.

Let me know your opinion.

http://www.vimeo.com/16302314

Chain Reaction from Sheila Lehnert on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/16303586

Intro Segment from Sheila Lehnert on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/16303614

Untitled from Sheila Lehnert on Vimeo.

New post on tumblr.

I have a new post up on tumblr.  It's amazing how different my drawings look from my sketchbook to photoshop.  I actually didn't have to do much fudging in adobe to this one, though, because the colors themselves were vibrant enough.

AND my last post was reblogged by someone!  That's always fun.

Just thought I'd share.

Moving In

I got a premium membership on SL and so got a free house. I was hoping I could bulldoze the thing and build my own structure, but apparently that's not allowed. Bummer. Here I am in the inside of my house.

So far I've just put my "flower that lost its ground" sculpture on a floating platform (the texture of the platform is "potting soil", thought that was appropriate.)  I just realized it is not turned upside down anymore, so has it found its ground?  Should I turn it upside down again?


I guess I'll use this space somehow in my art piece. What do you think?

Brent showed me a cool, autumn retreat today:

You know I just had a thought: what if my final art piece was a documentation of my time in SL. I have enjoyed just playing and taking screenshots of my travels, what if my final art piece displayed those screen shots in a creative way within second life? Like, a photography exhibit kind of . . . about myself . . (I'm so vain, you'd probably think my art was about me . . ).

What do you think?

Enlightened!

Tonight's class was all about preparing our presentations on PowerPoint to present on this coming Monday.  It was a very enlightening process! hearing about everyone's ideas again, after they've had time to develop and solidify their processes. 

Each group member has very different strengths and we seem to be able to empower each other to create our art product.  When we post on our group blog, it's mostly all about our personal processes, but it's amazing to see how those personal blogs are helping other group members to further develop their ideas.

AMAZING.

good night.

The Process of Documenting the Process

Tonight I took some photos in class as we were working on our process powerpoint presentation.

Introduction project methods

I was just talking with my rad group mates. Holla!

We were discussing whether the introductions should be reciprocal (two people introduce each other) or generative (once you get introduced by someone, you move on and introduce a NEW person, and so on, and so on).

The consensus was that the generative approach would be better to generate a larger pool of Subjects and to keep the project reaching out into virtual/real life and moving through existing social networks.

(Another thing about this project that needs to get updated on the FB page is the voyeuristic/documentary nature of it. Things that reflect the nature or function of FB itself as a platform and means of communication/entertainment.)

So now I need to revise the Facebook group page to reflect this change we talked about. These changes in the concept. I think it's a great idea.

Thanks, Ladies!

Allison

The Introduction Project Update

Well. My Facebook group is pretty well set-up now and ready for introduction uploads. Check it out:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=688193283#!/home.php?sk=group_105440556189438&ap=1

I am so excited to see what kinds of things result or are produced from this process. I think it will be so interesting to see your videos. You can either film yourself introducing someone, or film someone introducing you. You can use a video camera or a webcam or an illustrated story board or whatever. It's totally open to your own interpretation.

I'm still trying to decide if I should film an introduction for my friend or just leave it open-ended. I will have to ask him if he wants to keep participating either way.

Another thing I've been thinking about is that I might incorporate some postings about philosophies dealing with concepts of the Self, Subjectivity and Experience to add some intellectual depth and heft to the project. What do you guys think about that?

This really is a collaborative art piece (if I can call it art--which is debatable), and I really appreciate your participation. You guys are the coolest.

Allison

Creating

Here are a couple images of me playing on SL last night, making objects (you can click on them to make them bigger). In this first image I was in the process of making something, when a cowboy came up and sat on what I was working on. I asked if it was comfortable and he said it was, then he flew away. See, that is why I like working in sandboxes, and there were lots of other people around making stuff. It gave me ideas.

In this image I am using the rotate tool. Believe it or not that piece started of as a simple cube that I just twisted, tapered, and added color to.

I'm working on buying land. It seems like the only way to get undeveloped land is by auction. I bid (what is the past tense for "bid"?) on something this weekend but apparently didn't get it because i haven't heard anything . . .

Oh, and one more thing--I am not going to be able to make it to class tonight. I hate missing class, but this last week I keep having to do it (not the same class thankfully). Just giving you a heads up.

Do I want to be critiqued?

The meeting last night in SL with Brent was great; especially because it was so interesting to see how different all of our "products" are while we are sharing in the "process."

I have a new post up on my tumblr and it's different from my first three. 
http://sjkimerely.tumblr.com/post/1377230955/only-he-can-catch-me-in-these-moments-and-only-i

There are two reasons that I did this.
1.  I want this blog to be a part of my personal journaling.  
This entry is from my personal journal and was not really intended to be posted tonight.  It is much more intimate than my other postings because these drawings were done from actual photographs my boyfriend and I took of each other one night out.
2.  I don't think I want to be "critiqued" ...
It was brought to my attention that my blog did not seem like a space where people could critique my work... however, I realize that I don't want people really critiquing it.  The blog has become a part of my personal journal and so I would feel as if my life were being critiqued.  Not only does this apply to my latest post, but also to the first three - I chose the bible verses and prayer because they spoke to me at the time I created the post.

This does not mean that I don't want to be critiqued at all of course.  I do want feedback.
Just want to emphasize that.

I hope you all understand what I mean... ?

Portuguese Conversation

So the other night during class, I was on SL, minding my own business and making a sculpture.



I thought of it as kind of an abstract flower. Then I decided to flip is upside to see what that looked like. I wanted to take a picture of it, but then this little man kept getting in my screenshot.

He was walking around my sculpture and looking at it. I thought it was pretty annoying , so I asked him what was up. We ended up having a short, somewhat confusing conversation about my creation.

[2010/10/20 18:44] Laurelie Swizzle: whats up?
[2010/10/20 18:45] Laurelie Swizzle: what do you think?
[2010/10/20 18:45] backup Socke: para mim
[2010/10/20 18:45] backup's translator: for me
[2010/10/20 18:45] backup Socke: parece um chapel de indio
[2010/10/20 18:45] backup's translator: looks like a chapel of Indians
[2010/10/20 18:45] Laurelie Swizzle: how so?
[2010/10/20 18:45] backup Socke: indio
[2010/10/20 18:45] backup's translator: Indian
[2010/10/20 18:46] backup Socke: eles usam
[2010/10/20 18:46] backup's translator: they use
[2010/10/20 18:46] backup Socke: um chapel com esse formato
[2010/10/20 18:46] backup's translator: a chapel in that format
[2010/10/20 18:46] Laurelie Swizzle: hm what language are you speaking?
[2010/10/20 18:46] backup Socke: a sua e o ingles
[2010/10/20 18:46] backup's translator: and their English
[2010/10/20 18:46] backup Socke: a minha e o portugues
[2010/10/20 18:46] backup's translator: my Portuguese and
[2010/10/20 18:46] Laurelie Swizzle: oh cool. i see the brazilian flag now
[2010/10/20 18:47] Laurelie Swizzle: a chapel for indians? I don't understand
[2010/10/20 18:47] backup Socke: nao capela
[2010/10/20 18:47] backup's translator: no chapel
[2010/10/20 18:47] backup Socke: no
[2010/10/20 18:47] backup's translator: in
[2010/10/20 18:47] backup Socke: bone
[2010/10/20 18:47] backup's translator: bone
[2010/10/20 18:47] backup Socke: chapel
[2010/10/20 18:47] backup's translator: chapel
[2010/10/20 18:47] backup Socke: um vestuario
[2010/10/20 18:47] backup's translator: a dressing room
[2010/10/20 18:47] backup Socke: que si usa na cabeça
[2010/10/20 18:47] backup's translator: who uses them in the head
[2010/10/20 18:47] backup Socke: que e usado
[2010/10/20 18:47] backup's translator: which used
[2010/10/20 18:47] backup Socke: na cabeça
[2010/10/20 18:47] backup's translator: head
[2010/10/20 18:47] backup Socke: mas o que e
[2010/10/20 18:47] backup's translator: but what and
[2010/10/20 18:48] backup Socke: ?
[2010/10/20 18:48] backup's translator: ?
[2010/10/20 18:48] backup Socke: o que seria ?
[2010/10/20 18:48] backup's translator: what would it be?
[2010/10/20 18:48] backup Socke: e uma arte
[2010/10/20 18:48] backup's translator: and an art
[2010/10/20 18:48] backup Socke: ?
[2010/10/20 18:48] backup's translator: ?
[2010/10/20 18:48] Laurelie Swizzle: yes just a sculpture
[2010/10/20 18:48] backup Socke: sim
[2010/10/20 18:48] backup's translator: yes
[2010/10/20 18:48] backup Socke: eu gosto de coisas assim
[2010/10/20 18:48] backup's translator: I like stuff
[2010/10/20 18:49] Laurelie Swizzle: you like this?
[2010/10/20 18:49] backup Socke: sim
[2010/10/20 18:49] backup's translator: yes
[2010/10/20 18:49] Laurelie Swizzle: thank you
[2010/10/20 18:49] Laurelie Swizzle: it is my first sculpture
[2010/10/20 18:49] backup Socke: parabens
[2010/10/20 18:49] backup's translator: parabens
[2010/10/20 18:49] backup Socke: o que significa
[2010/10/20 18:49] backup's translator: which means
[2010/10/20 18:49] backup Socke: ?
[2010/10/20 18:49] backup's translator: ?
[2010/10/20 18:49] Laurelie Swizzle: i don't know yet
[2010/10/20 18:49] backup Socke: o que voce estava pensando ao fazer
[2010/10/20 18:49] backup's translator: what were you thinking when making
[2010/10/20 18:50] Laurelie Swizzle: but i have to leave now. nice talking to you!
[2010/10/20 18:50] Laurelie Swizzle: originally it was kind of an abstract flower but then i just flipped it upside down. now the stem is in the air
[2010/10/20 18:50] backup Socke: sim
[2010/10/20 18:50] backup's translator: yes
[2010/10/20 18:50] backup Socke: sim
[2010/10/20 18:50] backup's translator: yes
[2010/10/20 18:50] backup Socke: uma flor
[2010/10/20 18:50] backup's translator: a flower
[2010/10/20 18:51] backup Socke: que perdeu seu chao
[2010/10/20 18:51] backup's translator: which lost its ground
[2010/10/20 18:51] backup Socke: e isto?
[2010/10/20 18:51] backup's translator: and this?
[2010/10/20 18:51] Laurelie Swizzle: yes a flower that lost its ground
[2010/10/20 18:51] Laurelie Swizzle: sorry but i really have to go
[2010/10/20 18:51] Laurelie Swizzle: bye!
[2010/10/20 18:51] backup Socke: bye
[2010/10/20 18:51] backup's translator: bye

So that was our unedited convo. Wish we could have talked more but class was over and I wanted to get home. It was really cool talking to him though, it made me feel like Laurelie Swizzle was actually an artist, talking to someone about her art. It is why I decided I like working in public sandboxes where lots of people are creating things.

My next step is buying land, which will require Linden. I worked on procuring some Linden yesterday (using real money, but not very much). I think I want to make a sculpture garden, even better if I can figure out how to make the sculptures be interactive!

Maybe I'll try to do a turtle and bike sculpture!  ;)

SL Presentation

Great conversation today!

Here we are sitting in Brent's place.

Facebook page for The Introduction Project

I have started my Facebook group for The Introduction Project (I still hate that name!). Have a look when you get a few minutes and tell me what you think. You are all members of the group, and it is a closed group for now. So, it's just the four of us.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/home.php?sk=group_105440556189438

I still need to re-edit my original introduction video, make an introduction video of my own for my friend, and then upload them both to the page.

Kind of wondering what I can say that will make sense in my presentation tonight.

Chain Reaction

The other day we (my family & I) sat down and thought about the resources we had on hand and what we could do with them. This is what we came up with.



Now if we can only build it and activate it w/o any major hangup, we'll be doing good. We plan to make our fist attempt at this, this coming weekend, so I'll keep you posted on how successful we were/weren't.

As for music, I thin we have decided to go with some "circus" music. This mp3 is called "Entrance of the Gladiators."

Brief Update for Sojung

Tonight in class, Sheila, Allison and I began our process presentation. We decided to make it in Google Docs so it can be easily accessible by all four of us, and when all four of us are together, we can all be editing it separately. I am having trouble sharing it with Sojung for some reason.

I brought up something in class that I heard today on NPR. It's call PechaKucha. I won't explain it all here, but basically now all of our presentations need to be 20 slides long, and we will spend 20 seconds on each slide--20 x 20.

So tomorrow we are meeting at the Cup of Goodness cafe at 5:30. Maybe try to get there a couple minutes early. Have your notecard ready. As a reminder, our order will be Sojung, Sheila, Laura, and Allison.


Did I miss anything else important, Allison and Sheila?




I had a productive time playing on Second Life during class tonight. I think I'll post about that later because right now I am tired. I got pretty screenshot happy though. I'll share one as a teaser.

Look familiar?

The three of us also took a lovely gondola ride together in the Botanical Gardens.

Draft of my Explanation

I want to make a conceptual art piece through the use of a digital social network (Facebook) as a medium, as well as the medium of real-life personal relationships. I still need a name for this if you can think of any.

My plan is to start a Facebook group that will enable participants to question the nature of reality and the way we represent ourselves to others, others perceptions of us, and our own perceptions of others as we experience them through social networking media, in this case Facebook. We have all become experts at persona management through digital social networks, and I want this project to subvert the system of self-conception as it exists on Facebook.

Here are the steps I think I will need to follow to realize my project:

1. Create a Facebook group that will be used to house the documentation/interactions.

1. Post the “Questions” that will be used by participants to obtain their introductions on the page along with an explanation, instructions, and my own example (the video from my class introduction, which I will re-edit to make more sense in this context).

2. Contact participants and invite them to join the group.

3. Ask participants to find a friend to answer the questions about them. Introduce them the same way my friend introduced me. They can add or change the questions however they wish, and the speaker does not have to stick to the questions. They are just there to get things started.

4. Have the participant film the interaction in real life or ask their friend to answer the questions and film themselves with a webcam

5. Have participants/ introduction makers upload their videos to the Facebook group.

I’m interested in exploring collective histories among friends. I’m interested in how well the introductions do or don’t line up with the Subject’s conception of self and if the things their friends say about them are the same things they would say about themselves in the context of an introduction. And ultimately, does what the interviewees say about the Subject really tell us more about them than it ever really could about the Subject?

Once I have obtained the introduction videos, I might edit them into a similar style as the one I used for my own introduction, or I might leave them as they are. I think for the purposes of this class I will only ask my group members to do this. And based on how that goes I can refine the procedure for the project before I expand it, or open participation up to a larger population.

Through the processes of social interaction in virtual space and the medium of real-life personal relationships the introduction project relies on the use of Facebook as a digital platform. My hope is that participants can explore the nature of reality, social relationships, perception, identity, and place through their use/interpretation of the concept and the process.

Rubric Page Added

Hey guys! Enjoyed our second life hang out session last night. Sometime we should try to meet in SL without being in the same place RL. I could take us for a gondola ride in the botanical gardens! What do you think?

I added our rubric on a page. The link should be on the sidebar to the right. Let me know what you think! Is it too vague anywhere? It doesn't seem like you can comment on the page, so you can leave your comments about it on this post.

Allison--are you having trouble accessing the blog? I noticed you haven't been commenting, but are replying to the emails instead. It is easier for everyone to see and for it to be documented if you comment on the blog. And how is your process going?

I'm enjoying group blogging! I've been keeping a blog for a while, but have never done a group one before. It is definitely something I would consider doing in the future.

Allison's rubric!

Click on it to make it bigger.

So we in class (Sojung, Sheila, and I) decided we would use the rubric I posted plus allison's "digitalness" category. I'll put it all together and put in on a separate page.

Gmail chat in class from October 18th

This Gmail chat was initiated at the beginning of class because Allison could not physically be in the classroom.  Laura first started a personal chat with Allison and then she added me to it as a group chat.  We were unsuccessful adding Sheila because she was "offline" according to Google although she was actually logged in.  Stupid technology.

Laura Maxwell has joined.

 Allison Bowles Davidson (allisonbowles@gmail.com) has joined.

 Allison Bowles Davidson:  sweet

 me:  yay!

 Allison Bowles Davidson:  this is cool

and gmail writes everything down so we can keep it

 me:  laura said we should just copy and paste this into our blog

ooo yeah! that too ~

 Allison Bowles Davidson:  yeah!

 Sent at 6:02 PM on Monday

 Laura Maxwell:  word!

we are so hip with technology!

 Allison Bowles Davidson:  hahahaha

is brent ok with this?

i didn

t ask him yet

i think he might like it actually

 me:  oh he should be

 Allison Bowles Davidson:  i will ask him tomorrow

 me:  he's talking to someone right now but i'll ask him in just a sec if you want

 Allison Bowles Davidson:  nah

we're doing this

 me:  hahaha ok

 Allison Bowles Davidson:  we can let him read it

 Laura Maxwell:  brb! having a huddle

 Allison Bowles Davidson:  ok

 me:  here i'll keep you updated with what's going on in the huddle

 Allison Bowles Davidson:  awesome!

 slehnert@gmail.com is not in your contacts. You can only invite current friends.

 me:  we're discussing when the presentations are due and what is due

we will be presenting the document of our process on november 1st

as group, we get up together

as a group*

 Sent at 6:07 PM on Monday

 me:  and we will project the documentary of our process on the overhead

and then we'll be critiqued on our document

by the class

 Allison Bowles Davidson:  OK

 me:  then on november 8 (the wednesday after the 1st) we present our art pieces

inidividually

 Allison Bowles Davidson:  in SL?

 me:  no this is all in real time, in front of the class

 Allison Bowles Davidson:  ok

 me:  on the 8th, we need to turn in a rubric, the documentation, and the art piece

so that he has something to grade

today, it says we are presenting ideas to brent in second life (on the syllabus)

so we are supposed to log onto second life and just rehearse

can you get on second life?

 Allison Bowles Davidson:  yes

 me:  hey can you add sheila to the chat?

 Sent at 6:12 PM on Monday

 Allison Bowles Davidson:  she has to have gmail and be logged int

 me:  now he's talking about crooked crust with bokchoy and bamboo shoots

 Allison Bowles Davidson:  oh boy

 me:  well she does and she is logged in but laura can't seem to add her

 Allison Bowles Davidson:  hm.

 Sent at 6:14 PM on Monday

 me:  oh we need to decide on a time that we can all be on second life while brent is at home

he wants to record our second life presentations

are you available before class either monday or wednesday at 5?

 Sent at 6:16 PM on Monday

 Laura Maxwell:  hey we are getting onto second life

 Sent at 6:17 PM on Monday

 Allison Bowles Davidson:  monday or wed at 5 is fine. i will log in, too. we should all be in the coffee shop, right?

and we can just talk in there.

 Sent at 6:19 PM on Monday

 Laura Maxwell has left.

This Gmail chat was terminated and we moved into Second Life.  We had to figure out how to create a group chat in second life, which is actually called a "Conference" in that virtual world.

Laura's Rubric (so far)

Here is what I have so far for my rubric! My problem is that I need it to add up to 20 points but there are only three categories. 20 divided by 3 is 6.66666 . . . So I need to add or take away a category. Before I tweaked it I wanted to show it to you guys to see what you think.

ALSO, I couldn't just straight copy and paste the table to this post from my word document, so I figured out how to take a screenshot and took a picture of the table and uploaded it onto this post. So this table is an image of my word document. Make sense? I have been wanting to know how to take a screenshot, so I'm glad this happened! (I googled it)

journal entry

It has been about a week and a half since I started my blog (first entry was on October 7th) and I've noticed a couple of things.

1.  Uploading my work is like uploading photos to facebook.
I can't speak for everyone but I think most people upload pictures to facebook for reasons similar to mine.  I upload them mostly because they are my favorites I want to share with other people and it is easily accessible to them if they want a copy.  But I also do for egotistical reasons ("I look cute in this picture") and for self-validation ("I'm cool because this is a picture of me doing this"), which is heightened when people "like" your picture and leave you nice comments.  My tumblr blog is very similar in that I post to share my work but also in hopes of receiving positive feedback.  Both facebook and blogging allow me to present myself the way I want others to perceive me.

2.  Allowing people to comment is a great form of online critique. 
This is both the most exciting and scariest part about blogging.  Exciting because I really want to know what others think about my work (and hope that it will mostly be positive) and scary because it leaves me vulnerable to criticism.  Also, I have no way of knowing who all looked at my blog unless they leave me some kind of feedback - I can't help but think, "what if they think it's trite or contrived?"  It's really neat that I'm getting feedback from you all on this blog as well as my tumblr.  I also reap comments from facebook because each time I post on tumblr, it is posted to my facebook profile. 

3.  It drives me to produce more work.
Because I want to participate in the online social construct that is tumblr, my formerly low production rate has increased.  If you browse the hundreds of tumblr users who are posting their work like me, there are many who post several times daily.  I know I won't be able to produce enough work to post several times a day, much less everyday, but right now I want to at least post once a week (which is much more than I ever have.)

Just wanted to share.

storyboard

I plan on doing a short intro with each of us holding a sign showing our name and something about us like, "I'm Colby and I turn 10 on Halloween!" or "I'm Brady and I like Indiana Jones and GI Joes!" Next I'll cut to Colby & Brady "thinking" and then they will hold up a picture of our chain reaction that they have drawn on construction paper.

Then I wanted to do a time lapse of us doing the actual construction. Then we'll slow it back to real-time and do a 5 second count down. Next will be real-time footage of the chain reaction. Last, I'll show footage of the boys doing a "happy dance!" in fast forward.

I might finish off the video with bloopers, but I'm not sure about that yet.

As I replied to Laura's comment, we will all be wearing jeans and a solid color shirt; possibly red, yellow, blue & green, but that's not final yet.

Brainstorming and Research

Today we made a list of resources that we had on hand and what types of actions we might/can make for our chain. We looked at some youtube videos for inspiration.

These were our favorites:

We know that we want a mentos/coke geyser as our finale.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vk4_2xboOE


We liked this chain reaction because it involved a lot of toys.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2bE66KXiDA


We LOVE to watch Mythbusters in our free time, so we REALLY like this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCYg_gz4fDo&feature=related


We are still trying to decide what song to use for our video, but we are looking at our itunes songs and looking up lyrics to make sure there aren't any bad words or scenarios so that we can show this video to everyone, even our young little cousins.

Grr

Second Life is driving me crazy! It keeps freezing up. I don't know if it's my computer or my internet connection or WHAT but it's driving me crazy (so is my cat. He keeps meowing and being needy and hissing at my dog).

Grr.

(That is me growling)

Just needed to vent to you guys.

Any insight?

(This made me feel better)

My new post on tumblr.

I posted something new on my tumblr. 

Here is the original from my journal.

Here is the one I photoshopped and posted. 
http://sjkimerely.tumblr.com/post/1317167045/rooted-in-christ-by-sj-kim-triplus-fineliner
Please comment.

I love seeing how I can take my work from my sketchbook, photograph it, load it into my computer, completely transform it, and then upload it to an audience I would never be able to reach if it were not for the blog.  Having my blog as my virtual gallery really makes me feel like an artist.

Neat.

Re: Clarification

After reading Sheila's post, I wanted to clarify my own goals.

• As Sheila so nicely put it, the "PROCESS" is what happens within our group and on this blog.

• The "PRODUCT" will be my blog: http://sjkimerely.tumblr.com

• I figured out how you can comment on my posts, Laura! I had to make a Disqus account, which is a comment system you can add to personal sites.  It took me a while to figure out how to incorporate that into the html code for my blog template... that was a headache!  Thank goodness for forums and FAQ pages.

• **Please visit the site periodically and leave comments.  My tumblr updates are linked to my facebook so you'll be able to see new posts on your newsfeed.

• But I'm not sure what the "SUBJECT/CONTENT" of the "product" would be... I guess the content would be my posts and the comments from viewers??? Any suggestions?

A Table!

Today I created my first object on Second Life. It is a table. Here I am sitting on it (You can click on the image to make it bigger).

It was actually pretty easy and only took me a couple minutes to do. I saved it into my inventory.

I've learned that in order to create something, you either have to be in a public sandbox or on land where the owner has allowed you to do so.

I found a helpful website that goes over some basics about making objects.

So I'm learning! When I have more time I want to find Brent on
2nd Life and talk to him about it.


I am still not sure what exactly I want to make as my art piece. That's kind of how I like to roll though--not much of a plan. Right now my plan of action is to view a lot of 2nd Life art and experiment with making things myself. I am interested in making an interactive piece.

Let me know if you guys run into any ideas!

Clarification

Ok. So I think I was trying to make this project harder and more convoluted than it needs to be, but after a short conversation with Brent last night after class, I think I'm now on the right track.

From my current understanding:

The "PROCESS" (which we will be graded on) is what happens within our group and on this blog.

The "PRODUCT" (in my case) will be a video set to music.

The "SUBJECT/CONTENT" of the "product" is irrelevant, but I'm going to tell you anyway! It will be a video of my family building and activating a "chain reaction."

Homework. Due Monday, October 18.

So that we can keep each other accountable, let's have our rubrics posted by October 18th (our next class on Monday).  We can discuss our rubrics and critique them then.

Second Life Group Happenings

So, Sojung and I have decided on a meeting place in 2nd Life. It is a coffee shop, called Cup of Goodness. Here we are straight chillin, trying out the couches

Sheila didn't join us at the time because she was working on her appearance. But we met up at the Christmas village.

(expect my posts to be laden with second life, because that is the medium of my art-piece. I am getting to know it right now/)

Allison was eating pizza in real life so she didn't join us.

_____________________________

Edit: 8:46 pm

We managed to all meet up at Cup of Goodness. (You can click on it to make it bigger)

Real Life.

From class on 2010 October 13.

We, the graduate students, have decided to form a "group" for process to guide the creation of our "product."  Our individual ideas are as follows:

Sheila:  Taking in inspiration from Phineas Ferb, Rube Goldberg, Andy Goldsworthy, and a music video by OKGo, she will be creating her own "chain reaction" video with her two sons.  Documentation of the "process" of a process will be the final "product."

Allison:  Like her self introduction for this class, she will have other people introduce someone else.  This will be done through a social network site like facebook, or a web cam... Idea of crafting this persona on a social network and deconstructing that by having someone else introduce themselves.

Laura:  She will be making a piece of art in Second Life, which will give her a lot to document and learn about the process because she doesn't know much about how to do it.  She will be using the tutorials on Second Life (like the one on how to make a chair).  She will be documenting through screen shots.  Possible collaboration with Brent.

Sojung: I have recently started a blog on tumblr.com using my artwork that I've Phothoshopped with text, which was fueled by learning about putting text on images with the Adobe program.  I would like to continue to explore my blog as an art piece.  I will have to figure out how I can allow people to comment on my images.

This blog will serve as a support for each other.  Laura created this blogspot site, "The Process," for us with her google account.  She had to figure out that she had to invite us to be authors through our Gmail accounts (because Google apparently owns Blogspot?)  We all confirmed our invites in our Gmail inbox.

We will each be creating individual rubrics and will post it on the blog.  We will comment on each others rubrics and revise it based on those comments.  Our final rubric will either be on a new post or a page.

The individual members of this group have varying strengths, as Brent pointed out.  No one person is the leader; rather, since Sheila knows a lot about Photoshop, we go to her for answers and since Laura knew how to create a Blogspot page, she started it up for us.  The dynamics of this group are so exciting and hopefully the products will be equally so!

Yay!

ok go music video inspiration

Here is the okgo video from youtube that Laura sent me after a conversation on Tuesday after our Global Aesthetics class.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybUFnY7Y8w

After this video was over, I spent a little while watching some of their other videos with my kids.

Originally, I wanted to do an environmental chain reaction, but I think I don't want to limit myself and will just keep it simple.

I will document how my sons and I reach our decisions and how we put our chain reaction together. Then I would like to set the photos and videos to music. That is how I plan to do my final "process" presentation; by presenting a music video covering the process of our chain reaction creation.

We have our blog!  Those birds our us.  Flying into the unknown future