Abolition of gods, abolition of rights, absence of character, absolutism, agrarian question, agrarian slavery, anarchy, anti-Germanism, apathy, aristocracy, asceticism, attacks by Germans, attacks by Huns, attacks by nomads on horseback.

Backwardness in science, bankruptcy, barbarization, bastardization, blockage of land by large landholders, blood poisoning, bolshevization, bread and circuses, bureaucracy, Byzantinism.

Capitalism, change of capitals, caste system, celibacy, centralization, childlessness, Christianity, citizenship (granting of), civil war, climatic deterioration, communism, complacency, concatenation of misfortunes, conservatism, corruption, cosmopolitanism, crisis of legitimacy, culinary excess, cultural neurosis.

Decentralization, decline of Nordic character, decline of the cities, decline of the Italic population, deforestation, degeneration, degeneration of intellect, demoralization, depletion of mineral resources, despotism, destruction of environment, destruction of peasantry, destruction of political process, destruction of Roman influence, devastation, differences in wealth, disarmament, disillusion with state, division of empire, division of labour.

Earthquakes, egoism, egoism of the state, emancipation of slaves, enervation, epidemics, equal rights (granting of), eradication of the best, escapism, ethnic dissolution, excessive aging of population, excessive civilization, excessive culture, excessive foreign infiltration, excessive freedom, excessive urbanization, expansion, exploitation.

Fear of life, female emancipation, feudalization, fiscalism, gladiatorial system, gluttony, gout, hedonism, Hellenization, heresy, homosexuality, hothouse culture, hubris, hyperthermia.

Immoderate greatness, imperialism, impotence, impoverishment, imprudent policy toward buffer states, inadequate educational system, indifference, individualism, indoctrination, inertia, inflation, intellectualism, integration (weakness of), irrationality, Jewish influence.

Lack of leadership, lack of male dignity, lack of military recruits, lack of orderly imperial succession, lack of qualified workers, lack of rainfall, lack of religiousness, lack of seriousness, large landed properties, lead-poisoning, lethargy, levelling (cultural), levelling (social), loss of army discipline, loss of authority, loss of energy, loss of instincts, loss of population, luxury.

Malaria, marriages of convenience, mercenary system, mercury damage, militarism, monetary economy, monetary greed, money (shortage of), moral decline, moral idealism, moral materialism, mystery religions, nationalism of Rome’s subjects, negative selection.

Orientalization, outflow of gold, over-refinement, pacifism, paralysis of will, paralysation, parasitism, particularism, pauperism, plagues, pleasure-seeking, plutocracy, polytheism, population pressure, precociousness, professional army, proletarization, prosperity, prostitution, psychoses, public baths.

Racial degeneration, racial discrimination, racial suicide, rationalism, refusal of military service, religious struggles and schisms, rentier mentality, resignation, restriction to profession, restriction to the land, rhetoric, rise of uneducated masses, romantic attitudes to peace, ruin of middle class, rule of the world.

Semi-education, sensuality, servility, sexuality, shamelessness, shifting of trade routes, slavery, Slavic attacks, socialism (of the state), social tensions, soil erosion, soil exhaustion, spiritual barbarism, stagnation, stoicism, stress, structural weakness, superstition.

Taxation, pressure of terrorism, tiredness of life, totalitarianism, treason, tristesse, two-front war, underdevelopment, useless diet, usurpation of all powers by the state, vaingloriousness, villa economy, vulgarization.

Bars & Tones from André F. Chocron on Vimeo.

CANT SLEEP CLOWNS WILL EAT ME.

I cleaned the bejeezus out of my hard drive and went from 28 gigs free to almost 75 gigs free. Next to organize iTunes and reclaim album art. Dunno why I care though, haven't had an iPod for 1.5 yrs now. Free your eardrums.

stuff i've been watching




Using Photographs to Enhance Videos of a Static Scene from pro on Vimeo.



times things i've been reading

tilt-shift photography
HDR

my TA mis-pronounces "suitable" as "shittable"

"Loyalty is not a matter of give-and-take: He did me a favor, therefore I owe him one. No. No. No. It is the recognition of a bond, the honoring of a shared history, the reemergence of the vows we make in the tight times. It doesn't mean complete agreement or invisible blood ties. It is a currency of selflessness, given without expectation and capable of the most stellar return."

like circuit bending, only good.

everyone needs to see this, so i've posted it a bunch of places.

"Actually, I jade very quickly. Once is usually enough. Either once only, or every day. If you do something once it’s exciting, and if you do it every day it’s exciting. But if you do it, say, twice or just almost every day, it’s not good any more.” --- Andy Warhol

Via BoingBoing

EDIT/BUMP
In keeping with themes I've been examining over the course of the year, I provide you with this link to an article about a Yale art student who for her senior project "...artificially inseminated herself 'as often as possible' while periodically taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages"

Hot as fuck: light emitting wallpaper (via Inhabitat)
How do I love this? Let me count the ways. For one I am all about wall paper - and apparently have been ever since I started defacing my parents wallpaper at age five. Second I am enamored of interactivity/digital integration into traditional design - as oppposed to slapping consoles and touch screens onto everything. Third, I have been rolling around a (very likely impossible) concept of interactive wallpaper for a while now - not like a giant computer screen, but as in simple designs that can be dragged and pushed and respond to the pressure or amount of touch used when interacting with it. Kindof like a giant multi-touch system that slowly returns to it's original state after you've messed with it. Whatever. I want one.

Also highly appealing: Big Kid Sandbox (via Pruned)
I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO DRIVE ONE OF THESE. DESTRUCTION. I don't know how else to express this. I don't really want to work construction, but I do want control over one of these things. I am certain this comes from pops/archy/sandboxes/being a big dyke. But still. I want. However, the cost is prohibitive and it's cheaper to spend a weekend in the lightning fields in august. I think I'll take raw power over dirt power for now, but it's nice to know it's possible.

Finally: Digital Cinema technology, and you. (via BoingBoing)
A fantastic article on the RED cameras that have been coming out, and the resolution vs. frame rate conversation. Inevitably it is interesting but difficult to apply as we move towards better cameras with better frame rates, resolutions, and the interlaced vs. progressive snafu - we have to have better screens, better TV's, and better projectors. Which is where the corporate man fucks you anyways. However, the most useful part of the article is the 1:1 resolution comparison chart/graphic thingy

video installation on 5 of these

This quarter I plan to re-shoot and edit one of my earlier works - Boxolith - as well as create a new interactive piece that mixes 3D environments with video.



ABSTRACT

    A couple poses for a picture in front of a blooming bush at their suburban home with their eyes obscured by censor bars. A flash fills the screen and freezes an image of the smiling pair on screen. Through this portrait the viewer is given control within the environment and a portal into their lives. Exploring their home the viewer glimpses different perfect moments in their space, images which paint a clichéd picture of Americana, domesticity, and tradition. Progressing in through their home and lives their anonymity and isolation is emphasized and the viewer begins to realize the couple are queer women whose relationship takes on a butch-femme dynamic. As this is revealed in larger parts the slow decay of the house they live in also becomes evident. In their surroundings and the environment that the viewer is exploring things show signs of decay and neglect. Throughout the piece the themes of domesticity, Americana, homosexuality, stereotyped gender roles, anonymity, and decay are set up to speak to each other and create contrast in an iconic almost impossible environment.
    The themes and images contained within the piece are of interest both from personal history and present surroundings as well as the major pieces are treated in media today. Where American suburban and rural domesticity is viewed through rose-colored glasses and portrayed as the moral ideal, queer women are invisible on TV, in advertising, and in many cases in their day-to-day lives. However the small family farm as we know it is a thing of the past and the gay civil rights movement is one of the major issues in current American politics. On the other hand queer women have been fighting for the right to vanish onto farms, into the kitchen, and within the paradigm of a nuclear family for as long as those institutions have been decaying.
    In executing this piece I will be mixing media, predominantly digital video with 3D environments, and hopefully some black and white film photography. I have worked in both video and black and white photography although it has been several years since I have been working with film. 3D will be a new venture for me but serves to deepen the loose narrative created in the environment. Using closed-interactivity in the piece creates an opportunity for the viewer to enter a foreign space but emphasizes immersion in a different world as opposed to a responsive environment that shapes itself to the viewer. Further the narrative is not about the couple specifically but the parts of society they are taken to represent – namely lesbians, couples, and the “traditional” family. By giving the viewer space to explore their more mundane activities the viewer is given an intimate view of the unremarkable parts of lives that are often misunderstood or ignored altogether put in terms of clichés and imagery that is almost universal.



BACKGROUND/RESEARCH

    Academically I intend to absorb more works from queer artists and female artists in new media as well as narrative film makers. I would like to continue referencing the works of Maya Derrin and am an admirer of Almodovar as well. Further I would like to be better versed in contemporary works (last two decades) from all of these categories as any work I create should be informed by what has been done. In the realm of video game art I have downloaded/played both The Graveyard and Passage both of which I found to be engaging meditations on the passing of time through the lives of individuals.
    Technically the focus of my research this quarter will be in creating a 3D environment that melds with moments of video as seamlessly as possible. I will be attempting to create a model of my location and skin it with images from the actual location in blender, such that transitioning from 3D environment to video and back will not be excessively jarring. Further the 3D environment needs space of it's own to breathe, which means contemplating the sound and time it will take the user to move through space. Finally I will be focusing on pre-production of the video pieces with specific emphasis on art direction and sound. Sound in the 3D environment should carry across into video pieces as this gives each a dimension that they share and will serve to unite the pieces into a whole, while the art direction within the videos should reflect the themes that have appeared in my earlier work in video this year - as well as attempt to replicate my successes by creating moments that are light, fleet, and poignant.




CALENDAR

April 7th - 14th

• Pre-production of both works.
• Art direction for the re-shoot of BOXOLITH is completed
• Talent for BOXOLITH lined up
• Location scouting and a tree for the interaction in the second work is started

April 14th - 21st

• Talent for BOXOLITH is secured
• BOXOLITH is re-shot the weekend of the 18th - ONE DAY SHOOT
• Creation of 3D environment/work in Blender begins

April 21st - May 5th

• BOXOLITH titles created
• BOXOLITH cut, printed, in the can
• 3D Environment skinning begins
• Storyboard for second work reaches a rough draft/2nd draft point

May 5th - 12th

• Storyboarding for interactive work is finished
• Props/Costuming/Art direction is finished
• Talent is lined up/Screen tests done

May 12th - 19th

• Shoot video pieces for second work
• Capture and edit begins

May 19th - 26th

• Pick-up shoot
• Add video to 3D environment
• Add sound to 3D environment
• Walkthrough tests
• THE HENRY

May 26th - June 2nd

• Room to breathe in case of impending doom.

the their profile and blog linked here.

this is a really nifty flash site/article on artists using 3D and programming to visualize/illustrate spam data etc. especially amusing in the light of fools trying to get me to go to .on.gimp.org sites (don't go look - it's a browser exploit) - also nifty in general.

in addition, i'm going to write up summaries/some thoughts on everything i read this quarter and over winter break --- after i'm done with finals tuesday. good luck to everyone and here's hoping you don't hit a wall as hard as i did.

OH MAN.

in my humble opinion, this is fantastic.