Die Antwoord

A very interesting group. They are a south african rap/rave group. Their members consist of Ninja
Yo-Landi Vi$$er, DJ Hi-Tek. Their lyrics are performed in Afrikaans, Xhosa, and English.  They produce numerous music videos, and video projects. I've heard that they are quite amazing live, but I have not had the chance to go to a show. They are very controversial, and often do things to get a shock value out of them. Famously, they have a controversy with American pop star, Lady Gaga, where in their video "Fatty Boom Boom" they made an obscene reference to her. (seen in the second video below). Also, the use of "black face" or what may be seen as that, has brought them alot of negative attention. They have countered by stating that they used full body white paint as well.

Seen in the 3rd video is their response to "Fatty Boom Boom"'s negative criticism.

Performance Art

My performance piece was a statement against sexual abuse and sexual slavery. My costume I used to draw sexual attention to myself, but it was marked by the makeup that simulated bruises and cuts. The rope was the symbol of the restriction of the literal slavery, and how abusive relationships can be just as restrictive as slavery. The makeup was done with all of my own supplies collected from halloween and just what I have for everyday. I think the bruises were effective, and were harsh enough to communicate my message. I wanted to put sexual slavery and abuse in peoples faces, in a way where they could not ignore it, and it had to be confronted. I chose to stand and walk up and down that corner on Kennedy because I knew it was a highly visible place, and during rush-hour  people sitting in their cars would have a hard time ignoring me. People's reactions were interesting. They would openly gawk and stare, but no one seemed to be overly concerned. I even had one very creepy guy say hello. Numerous cops drove by, but none felt the need to stop. When walking back to campus I silenced quite a few conversations. I found this all very interesting. 

Video Art

This is a very well thought out and well executed stop motion. It is about a woman who sleeps with a  guy, who is famous, and then finds out about him being engaged. So she tries to forget about him and move on, but, she finds it difficult at first. Finally, she does move on, and shows him who is boss. This is video art because it uses video editing techniques, and stop motion animation though the capture of still and moving images to create a compelling narrative. The images are taken out of their original context and used to create an animation style video.







In this, a hand seemingly moves the cars and pedestrians around a parking lot. A film of a parking lot and a film of a hand following the movements in the parking lot are combined to create a new image, and thus video art.





Wherever the woman touches on the corner of the wall, a stream of ink is created and flows sideways across the wall. It is quite beautiful. Similar to the previous video, two films are combined to create a new image. The interesting part is that the ink is flowing in the wrong direction (hence the title "irregular flow"). This adds an visually interesting element to the composition, and its simple concept is partially why I like it.

Magnetic Recording

Its amazing how much magnets, and magnetizing have contributed to electronics, especially with recording and playback. I had no idea about the wire magnetizing that started magnetic recording. It can be so incredible how simple things we take for granted in everyday life can be used for these advancements and technologies that progress so far in just a few hundred years.

Xerox Art Project

This was my xerox art project. I used about 3 glue sticks to make it. I love the way my hair turned out, it gives a very interesting effect. In alot of my art projects that involve my own image I love to use makeup and costumes to change my appearance. In this project I found this difficult, because even in the images that I used heavy makeup, it was difficult to see, and seemed to make little diference. I am happy with the way it turned out, minus the white spaces, where things refused to stick or I didn't fill with images. A funny thing happened on the way to the parking garage after we showed these projects in class. I was walking with this project, when a guy asked me what it was. I told him the basic premise of the project. He nodded his head and then commented "that one chick (in the center bottom of the sign) looks like she's eating someone out" I laughed and explained that that was not the intention, and he nodded but he held his opinion of it looking like a sex act. I thought this was interesting, and thought it would be good to share, because not everyone interprets art the way you intend.

Guerrilla Girls

I kinda love what these women stand for. As a woman, Its hard not to be a feminist. Women have been held back and treated as less than equals for much of history. Nowadays, however, women have made great advances in equality. While things still aren't completely equal, I believe that because of groups like the Guerrilla Girls have helped progress equality for people. They really point out the lopsided nature of the art world, and bring awareness to the people. I also love how clever their name is. The double meaning of "gorilla" and its homonym "guerrilla" say alot about the women in this group. They are using their guerrilla warfare to attack the inequality of the art world, for women and people of color. They use the gorilla masks to obscure their faces, because it is not important who they are, but what their message is. It also draws attention to their message.

Flash Mobs

 Let me just say, I really enjoy flash mobs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE
Hallelujah Cafeteria
This is cool because no one expects a Hallelujah Choir in a Food Court at a mall. Clever use of the holiday pianist!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhYyAa0VnyY
Anti-Bullying Day
This was a very cute and touching, Its amazing that all these students came together to spread awareness about bullying and how we should be more accepting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lyHQLyZUuM
Engineering Failure
Hilarious, I love that the Professor acts like hes upset at first then pops up later with a violin. I have so many high-school friends who are engineers, and I always hear how hard the freshman classes are. These people choose a very creative way to express it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNxVLVHGlTk
Wash Your Hands!
 This one I find very amusing because my mom is a nursing educator, and she teaches classes and helps educate the staff and visitors about the importance of hand washing. I have even been her assistant at community events to help teach people how to properly wash their hands. I think its cute and creative that this hospital put this together to help spread awareness about something so small, that can really save lives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gww9_S4PNV0 
Flash mob in the Copenhagen Metro. Copenhagen Phil playing Peer Gynt.

So beautiful! If this happened when I was on a train I would be so happy.  This was a great way to remind people about classical music, and how beautiful it really is.