Abstractly Wonderful

I love this piece of art, but I am not certain of the artist's name. I found this photo of a painting while searching for colorful art and albums to include in my art board for an assignment last semester. I was also hopeful the images I found would give me inspiration for the project. However, I did not note who created it. As I've mentioned in previous blogs, I am always drawn in by color, especially bright ones. I think the general design and the colors used in this work of art collaborate so well. I love how abstract it is and that the same square-like shape is repeated numerous times. Another thing I like about this painting is the contrast between the colors on the top of the painting and the blues on the bottom.

Sand Design

I took this photo of an exhibit at the Indiana State Fair this year inside the agriculture building called "Beef at the Beach: The Amazing Sand Cowstle." It was extremely detailed and there were a number of interesting facts posted on each side of the fence about the exhibit. I had never seen anything like it. One of the most interesting facts to me was that they began with a giant block of wet sand and built it from the top down. I assumed it would have been built the opposite way, from the bottom up.
Another interesting fact that I think directly ties with one of our lecture topics is the time it took to create this; it took approximately five days to sculpt this scene. I'm not certain how many individuals participated in creating it, but that is
quite a bit of time to invest in something that could easily be
destroyed. It also took 18 tons of sand to build the scene. It was stressed that in order
to keep the exhibit in tact, it should not be touched. If it remained untouched,
it could last for about two months.

Corona and Lime

I was driving not too long ago when my eye caught this truck. I realized immediately that the tropical colors they used for this photo were bound to stand out to almost anyone; I for one am always distracted by bright colors such as these, but I had never seen such a colorful semi. It seems like their intention was to make this a mobile advertisement. The truck is also appealing because of the shells and palm trees in the picture. In fact most of the Corona commercials feature a tropical island setting of some sort. This is part of this product's appeal. The general idea in my opinion is that Corona is part of a perfect vacation. Honestly, though whenever I'm on a beach I don't crave a Corona.

Color & Walltherapy

I love this website I recently discovered searching for interesting ideas for my blogs. It's loop.pH, a design research studio based in London. One of the featured projects is called 'WallTherapy,' created by Rachel Wingfield and Flour, an eccentric art and design studio. Beginning in 2003, the project aimed to bring together areas of design with neuroscience and colour science. It is somewhat of a complex idea; here's an excerpt from loop.pH:

Walltherapy is an empirical exploration of the neurological, cognitive and contextual bases underpinning the impact of visual stimuli such as colour and light and how people's mood can be expressed in design through a creative, scientifically-led design process.

Walltherapy enables everyone to create their own highly individual personal environment from their psychophysically determined colour preferences to suit and possibly enhance people's sense of well-being. It is well established in scientific literature that ambient colour, light and texture can affect mood and behaviour this is why a conventional decorative surface, such as wallpaper has been chosen as the interface for this experiment.

We anticipate that in the finished wallpaper product everyone will have been prescribed a personal colour, pattern and texture and then walltherapy will allow them to do one of two things: Either, allow them to paint the wallpaper themselves with all the therapeutic benefits painting affords or print out a wallpaper that has been specifically designed by and is essentially 'prescribed' for that person, couple or family who will live with it."

Color can be so inspiring, especially here in this design where it expresses your mood and general personality and preferences. I, for example, am most effected by bright colors and they usually grab my attention . How interesting such interactivity exists.

Electronic Drink Coasters

And yet another interesting design idea within technology: an electronic drink coaster. The patent for this device was issued in April of 2008 and Apple has been claimed to be working on the product as well. Basically the idea is that this "coaster" would alert restaurant staff when your drink needs refilled; ideally you could also place orders directly from the coaster. Well, after conducting a bit more research, I found a device very similar to this that actually exists. Labeled an 'auto sensing coaster,' this device flashes or blinks when your drink is nearly empty, notifying your server/bartender when you need a refill. It was created by developers at the Sentilla Corporation and can also detect drinks when placed on the sensor. Each one contains a mini-computer that runs a custom Java application that runs everything and they also have LED lights. They can even communicate wirelessly with one another. This would definitely make bartending more efficient, but I can't help but think for a second: are we getting too lazy or impatient to go get another ourselves or just wait a few minutes?
(take a look here: http://technabob.com/blog/2007/12/07/auto-sensing-coasters-keep-the-drinks-coming/)

Sound in a Dark Room 10/13

I know typically sound design is not as recognized as most other forms of design, but recently I heard a song recommended to me and it absolutely blew me away. It is by Telefon Tel Aviv, an electronic group formed in 1999 that currently consists of only one guy. (It began with two, but the other passed.) The name of the song is "Sound in a Dark Room." Upon hearing it, I instantly liked it, probably after the first 30-45 seconds. I got that familiar feeling I get when I hear something wonderful, like a euphoric wave of emotion ; this feeling usually gives me the goosebumps and is why I love music so much. The song reminds me of Washington state. For me a bittersweet feeling of happiness and yet a tad bit disheartening. The instruments, or sound clips used are so unique, and the song as a whole is combined beautifully. It could be that because I favor this genre of music, I love this song, but I think it is indesputably exotic. Also the fact that it is so compelling without words says a lot for instrumental music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYnmP8HOZ00

Videos by Chris Cichocki 10/10

Chris Cickocki's videos seem abstract to some at first, however it isn't just all about his quick repetitious images. These videos use rapid repetition to play with the viewer's mind in a sense. A professor in another course, N240 played a few clips from Cichocki's Elemental Shift DVD, which is where this clip was taken from. At first, my own opinion was that these "chapters" were odd, that they had nothing to do with anything, and really they made me a bit dizzy. But then my professor made a very interesting point to make me look at it in a different way: The videos are meant to play with your mind, not to disturb it. The viewer sees the images repeated so much that it becomes more of a question of 'when is it going to stop?' and then viewer likely anticipates this end. This reminded me of the time theme we are currently discussing in N201. Because of our technology, we are likely to become impatient after only a few seconds. After how many repetitions in these videos does one finally anticipate the end?


http://www.thetableofcontents.com/content.html

2012 Fear Factor 10/1

http://www.whowillsurvive2012.com/

I recently saw the trailer for the new film coming out in November, 2012. I was amazed at the special effects in the preview. Buildings were crumbling and giant waves were washing over the planet, everything seemed so real. It gave me goosebumps to see such mass destruction, and also because it is believed this could actually occur. I'm not certain what I believe, whether the world will end then or not, but I do know that the art direction and the special effects combined were enough to put me on edge. Obviously this was the intention, to create a jaw-dropping experience. It was definitely effective for me. I'm looking forward to seeing the entire film, although I know it will evoke a great deal of emotion because of the particular premise on which it is based.

The director of this film, Roland Emmerich also directed Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow. It has been a while since I've seen Independence Day, but I remember The Day After Tomorrow and how emotionally effective it was, partially due to its New York City setting. I'm curious to see how other people feel about this new film and the many different reactions it will evoke.