It occurred to me that my speech or my silence,
indeed any action of mine, would be a mere futility
-Joseph Conrad

Audio Tour of the Dada Exhibit at the National Gallery of art.

I must say that this piece is a conversation about the profundity of all that is Dada. Join Nicole Dansby and Tegan Mahford as they discuss the importance of such an important work.

VIDEO TRUTHS
Most truths are so naked that people feel sorry for them and cover them up, at least a little bit.
Edward R. Murrow

Mark Amerika
Digital Personas
Katzen Arts Center @ American University

It is not often that I attend an event and leave it feeling as if my brain had completely failed me. I'm not sure I even understood why I was there in the first place. Mark Amerika is either a person's whose intellect completely surpassed mine or a good magician. I don't think I could comprehend everything that went on in the lecture but despite my inability to feel as if I completely grasped everything he said, I was captivated none the less. It was like reading poetic philosophy, so many meanings coming from the same sentences, from the same words. I cared less about his work I only wanted him to keep talking so that I could continue to feel as if I was being inundated with pearls of intellectual ideas, and nuggets of creative motives. His work as a side note was very interesting, you could feel from not only the artist, but also his work, was that his pieces were not just applications or just installations or just novels; they were exercises, or a way of testing the boundaries of social truths. In society we hold things to be universal and understood. We have set definitions and we generally accept them and continue on with our daily lives. Every now and then a person comes along in the guise of an artist, or a philosopher, or doctor, or an idiot savant . . . but their work, or words, or actions causes us to wake up and actually think about those social truths. Listening to Mark Amerika was like getting a personal wake up call. There is much more to ponder and to think about. The purpose of art is not to mimic the masters, or to mock or to rebel against them, but like the masters to create a new movement not only of art but of social truths.

BRANDON MORSE : Static
Conner Contemporary

It is true that the images on the screens were mesmerizing. You could perhaps theoretically stand there for hours watching the pictures evolve, move and morph into something else. It's comparable to spending a quiet afternoon looking at the sky watching the clouds morph into pictures and realizing that you'll never see the same sky twice. I have to say however that this concept of has been explored a lot in multimedia art. The desire to create something that will never be the same no matter how many times you look at it is extremely similar to man's desire to be creative and to be a god. I had hoped for something more. I had wished for yet another paradigm to be explored. It seems that multimedia art, from the limited display that is available in DC is on the cusp of something great . . . let art evolve from our witticisms and throwbacks and cleverly hinted acknowledgment of the genius that has gone before. Let's use multimedia art to explore something that has not be explored. Unfortunately the Static show by Brandon Morse was not the battle cry to innovation, it wasn't even a small yelp.

VIDEO TRUTHS
The highest degree of illusion comest to be
the highest degree of sacredness
-feuerbach

Video Truth

Welcome to the wide world of videocasting. There are some very unique frustrations that go along with creating a sequence of video for a videocast format. How to choose a topic, a subject, a point of view if you will that will be interesting, as well as somewhat cohesive. Our assignment is to create four videos that are to be videocasted.

Ideas anyone? Here is what I was thinking about:

Fustrated!

a graphic design student copiously checking and rechecking the dimensions for a perfect square. It takes forever it's agonizingly slow, the student messes up. a sigh, he must start over. again he messes up . . . throughout this clip there is no sound except for what is heard in the graphic design studio, rustling papers, hum of the lights, the occasional sniffle, scene ends with a black screen and some clever tag. Yeah we've all been there. It's short it's too the point and simple, we are taking a journey we are inviting the audience to be frustrated or at least to laugh at the frustrations felt by others.

other ideas for this series, two people trying to communicate in a language that is to both of them, foreign, waiting for dinner at the cheesecake factory (I'm not sure that this will be able to be filmed, I need the cooperation of the cheesecake factory) . . .

Different Strokes for Different Folks

This idea isn't as planned out but it would be interesting to film how the other half live or a mini commentary on the differences in lifestyles of people who are similar in age but are categorically different (college students vs. military, american university vs. george washington university, Northwest DC vs Southeast DC, tdr vs homeless shelter.)

Happy Valentines Day Commuting

Down into the depths of Tenleytown-American University Metro stop. People are hurriedly making their way either up or down the escalator. People are dashing every which way trying to get on their respective trains . They are either commuting into Downtown DC or commuting from it. A man pushes past me to make it to the train I idly wonder when the next one is coming . . . ah yes two whole minutes.After getting on the train I snapped a quick picture as the doors close and the other train is ready to whisk it's passengers away.Only the woman in the lower right hand corner of the picture talks to someone the entire metro ride. Everyone else is buried reading the papers as if they were desperately trying to find someone way to actively ignore their fellow Metro riders. I try and talk to someone . . . I get a very queer look for my efforts.At Dupont circle even more people get on the metro. It is officially standing room only! The quietness however still prevails. A beacon of light shines above head. It is as if they lightness of day is permeating through. I hope I can get some friendly directions to the IFC World Bank.It seems as if more people should be occupying this street rushing through desperately trying to get somewhere.I try asking these ladies for directions. I guess I shouldn't have started out with "HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!" but then again I did get to see that queer look however briefly before they turned around and nervously awaited till they could safely cross the street away from me. I stopped in this important looking building for directions. He told me I was on the right road just keep going. But to where I wanted to ask? He wouldn't let me take his picture.After thinking I was quite lost and was definitely quite cold I come upon the World Bank. It was very anticlimactic. There was no one to witness my small triumph. No one to care about my early morning journey. I try asking these fellows about the World Bank, whether or not they had an account there. They laughed and gave each other bemused looks. But they couldn't spare me a few words. At least they found my joke funny. At least I hope they knew it was a joke . . . Anyway.This woman stormed right into my back and kept walking. I guess World Bank people have never heard of the words Excuse and Me, and that pretty much sums up my entire commuting experience.