I don't suppose I think art can really change politics or economics, either.
But it is nice to dream about it sometimes.
Isabel Aranda's project sounds very worthy. I don't know if I can make
anything on that topic, but I imagine someone on this list might be able to
do it. Does Isabel have a formal call for work describing what she is
looking for? (I think if her call is in Spanish she could send it to this
list in Spanish since there was discussion of blogging for WDL in multiple
languages, although of course more people would be able to respond to a call
in English...) Is Isabel publishing the works on hunger herself (in her
journal Escaner?) or is she planning to look for another place to publish
the project?
I was very impressed with the work by Isabel Aranda that you reviewed in
your collaborative review, and I was especially interested in her technical
explanation of how she made Mini Art Dance which involved processing images
and animations with four or five different programs including doing work on
individual frames of the animation by hand before sending it through the
next process.
I really would like to see (here or on any other list or site!) more
discussion of the techniques of digital art and writing, both in terms of
designing and conceiving of the pieces and also the actual concrete
techniques (digital video, Flash, Photoshop, various programming languages,
photography, etc.) that are used to make digital work. You can get some
information from technical lists that aren't for artists, but often what an
artist or writer wants to do with, for example, Flash is so different than
what a commercial designer wants to do that the commercial designers can't
relate to our issues. And of course there is room for a lot of discussion
on how to design digital works without getting into the absolutely
technical, software level. For example, people could talk about how they
want works to interact, how to design user interfaces, how they would like
to see texts or images transform themselves on the screen, what subjects to
make art about, how to collect the raw assets for a piece like the photos
and film you use to build a piece, etc. etc.
If anyone knows a list where these issues are discussed, please let me know!
I know many lists and sites where people can announce calls for work and
work they have done and where they can (to a limited extent, because the
discussion is often not too detailed) critique published or posted digital
works, but no one seems to talk about the process of making the works or
deciding what works to make...
Millie
----- Original Message -----
From: "arteonline" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, September 17, 2005 2:45 PM
Subject: Re: [WDL] off topic - Two "Ugly" Ducklings - my new work.
> Dear Millie and all:
>
> Millie commented:
>
> "This new work is very elegant. The images and the alpha transparency
> technique is very well executed. The user interface works well and is
> attractive and does not overwhelm the art. The music (who composed it?
is
> very emotionally affecting. The theme was moving and well communicated.
I
> did find the image of the boy to be painful to look at."
>
> My answer::
>
> I am so glad for your comments! There are only two small fragments of
music
> there. The first one when you click the egg with the word HUNGER, the
music
> is a very very small fragment of Carmina Burana by Carl Orff , the second
> one is another very small fragmentof Pierrot Lunaire, but this one I mixed
> with another sound, which is not music - you listen to this music/sound
when
> you move your mouse on the child. for me it is like a cry. The sound of
the
> evil-look is a mix of people talknig and some noise that remind me guns.
> This sound was created by myself. I decided to build a page of credits to
> this work, in fact, I do not know why I forgot this. So that, thanks for
ask
> me these questions.
>
> Millie commented:
>
> "The work made me wonder if it is fair to make beautiful art out of such
> suffering. But your work is firmly directed towards fighting that
suffering
> (at least as much as art can fight real problems like poverty and hunger.)
> In your personal life, I know you rescued the ducks who feature in the
work
> to stop them from suffering. It is not in your power (or mine) to stop
the
> children of the world from starving."
>
> My answer:
>
> I thought about this when I created the work with that image and in fact I
> do not know if it is fair. I am sure that I will not change anyone because
> of my work. However it was impossible for me not to use so strong image
> after I found it... Perhaps Art and artists put their work above all,
> perhaps ... perhaps I should have hope that my small contribution and
> Aranda's project will make some people concious of this horrible problem.
>
> Millie commented:
>
> "I think your work is very relevant to current events, specifically to the
> current United Nations Summit in which the United States (my country
> unfortunately) made the UN weaken its commitment to the Millennium
> Development Goals, which the UN countries had previously agreed to. (The
> goals were to halve poverty, send as many girls as boys to primary school,
> and reduce infant mortality by (I think, someone can correct me) 2018.
This
> was supposed to be funded by a commitment from all rich countries to
donate
> 0.7 % (which is so little!) of their GDP to foreign aid.) I think your
art
> work shows vividly the reason why governments need to fight poverty, in
> their country and in other countries. The reason is not political, it is
> not economic, it is not strategic. It is the dryness of that one boy's
> skin, so tight on his body which has no flesh. It is the dying bird the
boy
> is reaching toward -- a bird whose own starvation means it cannot feed the
> boy. It is also the kindness of people like you, who take in sick birds,
> which makes it so necessary that our leaders help people in need. Your
> kindness can save two birds, the kindness of all citizens individually can
> save a flock of birds and a crowd of children, but it is nations which
must
> take the lead in solving the really huge problems of development."
>
> My answer:
>
> Yes Millie, I think that the problem of hunger could be much less if
> everybody decided to collaborate. Also I am sure that there is always some
> person having profit while some other is starving by death - I am writting
> about corruption - the history of the ducklings will show it very clear.
> Wait! But once more I believe that my new e.book will be only a register
of
> a hard moment of my life. I do not believe that I will change anything.
Also
> I do not believe that human beings will be all good in the future. I do
not
> think that the good will exist without the evil. Do you?
>
> Millie commented:
>
> "I wish your art could be displayed (with art of others which deals with
> hunger) where our leaders have to see it, are forced to stare at the
> ugliness of suffering. But I fear they are blind to the pain and the
> hunger. Our president just made a speech full of lies and false promises
> about helping the victims of the New Orleans hurricane. He made it sound
> like he would help the people and at the same time is making plans to only
> pay for health care for a very small portion of the hurricane victims who
> need it in only one state."
>
> My answer
>
> I wish all the artists of the world could make a work about this theme and
> that all those works could be seen by our leaders and by everybody.
> I imagine that it was because of all of this that Isabel Aranda created
her
> project. About New Orleans, I am completely astonishing, I have never
> imagined that there was so quantity of poverty in USA. Also I can not
> understand why the ammount of money spent with war was not used to help
the
> poverty of your country.
>
>
> Millie asked:
>
> "What is the project of Isabel Aranda that you did this work for? Is she
> looking for new works?"
>
> My answer:
>
> The project is "pulses del hambre" (press of hunger) at
> http://www.pulses.yto.cl . And of course anyone can send works to Isabel
> Aranda, I do recomend you all do this.
>
> This weekend let's dream with a world fair and without poverty... Would it
> be possible?
>
> Regina
>
> **********
>
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**********
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