Pumpktris

Since today is Halloween, I decided to post something related to the season. I then found Pumpktris. Pumpktris is a pumpkin that is infused with the awesome tetris mechanics. All with the use of heat-shrink tubing, solder, 128 LEDs, eight AA batteries, an Arduino board and clever programming to bring this creation to life. The game is then controlled by the top of the pumpkin. I thought this was a great concept when talking about art, science, and technology because it uses all of the above to create an outstanding piece of work. Have a great Halloween!

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Scratch This Portrait

SCRATCH HERE BEFORE READING

What you have scratched is a portrait by Picasso. Picasso, " Women Ironing", was said to contain a hidden portrait of Picasso's earlier artwork. This was found in 1989, with the help of inferred. Recently, this portrait was restored and now it is at the museum in new york. I decided to post about this portrait because I thought this find was amazing, to bring to life a forgotten image. It makes me wonder what other secrets lay within other footage, artwork, and gaming software. You might had already read the description of this portrait when you clicked the link, but I thought it is much better to interact with the image instead.

Ross Ching

I have recently found out about this video artist who's name is Ross Ching. He produces videos and I personally thought his videos were really neat. In relations to Multimedia Authoring, I thought it closely relates to video production. Anyways, take a look at some of my favorite videos from Ross Ching.

More Videos Here

The Starry Night..On a Vehicle.

Here is an image of "The Starry Night" on a car. I think it is a nice concept to have for a car. This image mixes both technology and art together to create something that you can use and show to people on the road. I just thought the car looked great with the image of the "The Starry Night". I thought the painting looks about right and it really blends well with the look of the car. I think this is definently art, even though its from Van Gogh, this person is showing the world Van Gogh's art.

A College Course: Study Skyrim

Rice University, In Huston Texas is apparently holding a course called, "Scandinavian Fantasy Worlds: Old Norse Sagas and Skyrim". This is a junior level course which focuses on comparing the mythologies of old Scandinavian to modern fantasy, basically, why people today correlate to Scandinavian mythology in popular culture. Personally, having a class like this would be great to have at WSU. I think the concept is interesting because it is exploring a new form of study that is found in gaming.

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Fuel Created From Air and Water

Scientist have recently discovered how to turn air and water into methanol that is converted into petrol. So far, in three month, they have accumulated 5 liters of synthetic petrol. In addition, this is clean energy and also the process has been successful so it is possible to use. The reason why their has only been 5liters produced is because this funding was done by a short fund and a small group of scientist. All that is needed now is a larger refinery that can help produce more synthetic petrol.

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Classic Toys

Scot's Hensey is an artist who has been in charge of sculpting classic toys from the 80's and 90's. I ran into this video that documents his experience of toy sculpting, which is quite an interesting video. I was surprised by the fact that Hensey has always enjoyed sculpting since he was a child. Hensey prefers to sculpt with chopsticks and I thought it was interesting when Hensey mentions his experience sculpting for digital artist. He , at first, thought they would be really picky but in reality they were happy to see their 3D animation come to life.

The DMCA at Work

A web hosting firm known as "FirmBreach" has been receiving notices from the DMCA ( or the "Digital Millennium Copyright Act" from Pearson. Pearson is a publishing company who has published a handful of educational material. The culprit who got this notices was from one of "FirmBreachs" users, "Edublog", whom posted educational information for the public. "Edublog" has posted about 1.45 million blogs related to education. Now, Pearson and the DMCA has closed down the 1.45 million blogs from "Firmbreach" database of "Edublog".

The reason for this closure was because Pearson claims that "Edublog" has infringed content. The funny thing is that the closure was done because of one item, Farmer explained,"that the infringing material from 2007 was a reprint of "Beck's Hopelessness Scale," a 20-item self-evaluation questionnaire published in 1974 which Pearson sells for $120". "Edublog" did remove this after the warning but "Firmbreach" noticed it was still on file, so following Pearson and the DMCA orders, they took down all of "Edublogs" posts.

Personally, I think that this was something unfair because of one single content that was posted. I believe that just because Pearson is a larger company and Edublog is a smaller one, that they should have not have removed all of Edublogs posts. I believe that Edublog was just trying to help people get material that they needed when they couldn't find it elsewhere. I am very surprised that all of the 1.45 million blogs got taken down so fast.

Multimedia Authoring Is the Future?

Newsweek as confirmed that they will be moving away from print and making all their magazines digital. December 31st will be the last time that a print version of Newsweek will be in existence. The future of digital publication appears to be slowly creeping in our way. With the reliance of digital publication, I believe multimedia authoring is going to play an important role in designing digital media. Furthermore, designing apps, layouts, and arranging information in a digital space will most likely take place of print. Therefore, Multimedia Authoring will be an important skill for the future generations. At the same time, I think it is an important step in future publication, but I also worry about loosing print for our future generation. I worry because sometimes it is good to have an actual print copy of information but I suppose it will help with saving costs and reducing deforestation.

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DinoPokemon

I have recently stumbled upon a interesting illustration of Pokemon. This artist is known as "RJ Palmer" and he is a huge dinosaur fan. All his art is based on dinosaurs and he just recently started to create dinosaur Pokemon.

I decided to post about this because I am also an avid Dinosaur fan and I am deeply interested in this artwork. View More of His Art Here

Silhouette

Above are images by Olly Moss whom is a silhouette artist for our current era. She is an avid gamer and is considered a minimalist artist that will be releasing her book titles, "Silhouettes from Popular Culture". This concept is actually pretty awesome because of the simple style Moss is bringing to the 21st Century. I actually am curious of what other silhouettes that Olly Moss creates.

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True Portal Gun

Recently, a hacked version of a prototyped portal gun was completed. This technology was designed to levitate a "Companion Cube" by the use of magnets. I personally think this hack is quite amusing. In relations to multimedia authoring, this technology expresses how much of an advantage multimedia has on creativity. Having the proper technology and prototypes to make something great is most likely completed as a result of communication through other creative minds. Having a knowledge in design and programming helps further plan the "Hack" for these technologies.

The power of the web

Art in the digital world is something that has been falling into its place. The web is a place that has helped new artist adapt to a new era of digital art. This is done by allowing the artist think of ideas or simply show the world what they are capable of. I read this through and article that was titled,"Technology and Art: Engineering the Future", and I believe that art is still art no matter if people are revolutionizing the same technique or idea. The reason why I decided to talk about this is because I really enjoy the use of new technology to create multimedia.

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The Hylian Lego'

I have decided to post today a Lego sculpture by a team known as "Bolt of blue". I personally think that this is some amazing sculpture work and appears to be really well colored. Lego art is something that I think always looks strong because of those edges and dark colors. I have seen plenty of other Lego artist but this is one of my favorite examples of the possibilities that exist with Lego art.

The Yellowism movement?

Recently a person known as Valdimir Umanets was arrested in his art movement that he has been trying to create. This movement is known as Yellowism, the act of defacing art to express yellowism. Valdimir Umanets had most recently defaced Mark Rothko's "Seagram" series. He was arrested eventually for this act but claims that he did not destroy the value of the piece. He states that, "I didn't decrease the value, I didn't destroy this picture, I put something new." which made me wonder if what he is actually doing is right?

Personally, this postmodern act bothers me because it seems as it is destroying something that held a value to the artist. Mark Rothko has passed away in 1970, which makes me feel like Valdimir did something disrespectful. It would be interesting to know what everybody thinks of this act.

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What's in a Game?

One of the biggest questions that people have with gaming is the factors within a game. I recently stumbled upon a project that is documenting a series known as "What's in a game" it helps us understand the making, design, and the technology of gaming. This documentary does not focus on just chronological order, but the technical aspects. In addition, this documentary looks for answers on "how design, technology, culture, and commerce cross pollinate to create the most peculiar medium in popular culture."

Content Overview:

00. Press Start: How a video series and social media can change games.

01. Points: Why do we play? What good can come of videogames?

02. Coin: How a single quarter became larger than all of Hollywood.

03. 2:P Does play strengthen relationships? Videogames as social activity.

04. Button: We talk to machines through controls, but how do they respond?

05. Pixel: As we approach photorealism, will we revolt against the Uncanny?

06. EXP: Can games help us grow? What can we learn from them?

07. Boss: Everyone loves a villain. Duality and competition in videogames.

08. Princess: Women in games. What a little diversity could bring to gaming.

09. Cake: Gaming narratives and the precocious rituals of the gamer.

10. World: Videogame's most unique asset. The power of mythmaking.

11. Continue?: What challenges face us today? What will tomorrow bring?

Debut Trailer: What's in a Game?:

Minecraft Art

After having read the section in gaming and technology as a form of digital art I wanted to talk about my thoughts of art in gaming. I believe that it is an important medium to consider in digital art because it gives the viewer a sense of being in a new world. I quickly thought of a recent and popular game called Minecraft. The purpose of this game is to create, in fact, users can go online and play with a community to build a city or a landscape. Most people think that it may hold no purpose but in actuality it appears more like a medium in art that allows a user to create something magnificent for others to view. The video that I have posted blow shows a project that a user had done, which shows how creative you can be with the game. The game is made up of blocks but the purpose of being able to build up is quite amazing. There are probably millions of other great composites that other users have done and I just decided to post this video because it captures a natural life cycle in the game. I thought it was rather creative and captivating for a game that builds on blocks.

The Study of Roots

Recently, scientist have created transparent soil to research plant growth of the roots. The study of rhizospheres is an important study because it means we will be able to understand the growth of roots and the factors that influence the change in growth of those roots. The soil, on the other hand, is composed of Nafion, which is the same synthetic composite that is used for generating power-generating fuel-cells. The soil requires the mixture of a special water based solution to actually turn transparent. The reason why I am posting about this interesting find is because it is related to the sciences. Personally, I also believed it appears aesthetically captivating yet very revolutionary in the fields of science.

http://phys.org/news/2012-10-transparent-soil-roots.html

Vector Images and The Letters

Here is my completed images of vector design on adobe illustrator. The letters that I chose to edit were the letter XII, the roman numeral letters. Roman numerals are probably my most favorite type of "word/number" to create. I then did plenty of adjustment to create my abstract piece. In the end, I finished of my piece by making it both a jpeg and a png because it was part of my compilations title. The title of my pieces is, "Transcendentalism". The reason I gave them that title is because I wanted to show a passage of abstract time change. I began with a white background and make my image dissolve into no background to show a change of time. Basically, my piece is transcending into change. The 3 images that I have within my final pieces show an abstract species that is changing from left to right. If you look from top to bottom, change in background occur. If you look from left to right, the change occurs in their form. Also, I only decided to change the background in each file because I wanted to keep the changed images from left to right the same to correspond to the project. If I decided to not have it in one plane I was going to have each "letter" creature changing backgrounds from top to bottom.

Another piece that I created was called nightmare. This piece was originally my first image that I worked with. The reason why I stopped at where it did is because I accidentally created this image. When the image below got to where it was, I continued modifying it until I lost the image that I have below. This was disappointing because I realized I should have kept it how it looked but I saved it when I altered it too much. Anyways, the image below represents an abstract nightmare with a insane staircase in the center that directs to the crazy world of nightmares. To the side, you can see two creatures that haunt the nightmares.