ART HISTORY TASK 4

TASK 4

Final Evaluation.

Having completed research on my chosen decade, I think that the overall outcome has been successful. I have discovered things that I didn’t know and I found this interesting. Given that my chosen decade was the decade in which I was born, I found myself being reminded by childhood experiences which helped me to see how the things I liked as a child has developed into my chosen media in which to work within. I particularly enjoyed looking into pixel art. As a child I can remember using paint on the windows 98 OS and creating my own patterns and pixel style backgrounds. When I was in primary school I remember once a year all the computers in the school would be brought together for us to have a go at this was before the vast majority of the population had a home pc. At the time I didn’t realise how lucky I was to have a pc at home with working internet. Growing up I remember being surrounded with computers whether that be playing on my dad’s games such as unreal and tomb raider or helping my dad deconstruct and fix computers. Looking back at my childhood it has become clear to me just how much I have been subconsciously affected and influenced by the technological advancement that the 90s had to offer. When it came to designing my final poster, I wasn’t sure which avenue to go down so I decided to explore a couple of options. I narrowed my ideas down to two concepts, to show the iconic and dramatic demise and death of Lady Diana Spencer or to summarise the technological advancement that the decade had to offer. In the end I chose to develop both ideas and see which turned out with the best outcome. My idea when developing the technological impact of the 90s was to take the major companies and their logos and develop them into a poster. Having completing this I have decided the quality of the finished piece wasn’t satisfactory therefore I decided to go with my other idea. This was created by gathering images of the internet and editing them within Photoshop. I used a combination of cropping the images and adjusting the saturation and levels of the images to make them stand out before duplicating each image until I had 10 of each image lined up in rows. I then set about adjusting the opacity of the images I adjusted this in increments of 10. This made sure that the gradient of the overall image was consistent. Once I was content with the overall image i then started to think about adding some text to the image. This was trickier than I thought it would have been, not only was choosing the right words to complement the image a challenge , I then had to sift through various font ideas until I found a font that fitted perfectly within the concept of the image without bringing too much attention to the text. By the time I completed the text and additional dates to the image I counted the layers needed to create the image; this image has been one of my largest images in terms of layers with a total of fifty two layers to create the image. When the image was complete I flattened the image before saving and uploading the final design onto my blog. Overall I am happy with the final poster design as it shows the most remembered moment within the whole of the 90s. If I was to re revisit this project I would spend more time to develop other areas within the decade such as some of the other art movements that existed outside the technological bubble in which I chose to explore. The main thing I have learned from this project is just how much my childhood experiences have influenced the very nature of the work I am currently doing and I didn’t even realise this until I analysed the decade in detail. This project has given me more ideas of how I can use new media to develop my own work.

ART HISTORY TASK 3

Art history task 3

A1 poster from designs.

I chose to create an diptych image of Princess Diana Spencer, mainly because her death was the biggest thing to hit the media in the whole decade. i decided to re create a concept that was originally produced when Diana was one year old by andy warhol.

ART HISTORY TASK 2

Art history task 2  

Design Ideas
having completed my time line i have decided to develop some of the main events into possible design ideas for my poster. the initial ideas i sketched out on paper. the following are the desings i've developed into digital art pieces.

Here i have drawn the original 90s logos from the iconic and founding companies and created this design. i think it shows the impact of the internet.

another design idea was to create a piece with Nelson Mandela on i decided to go with the Lady Diana Spencer piece.

Art History TASK 1

ART HISTORY TASK 1



New Media Art. 1990-2000


ART MOVEMENTS

• digital art 
• computer graphics
•  computer animation 
•  virtual art
•  Internet art
•  interactive art
• video games
• computer robotics

ARTISTS.
 i have looked at the following artists i found some of their work interesting and useful.
http://www.coryarcangel.com/things-i-made/
http://www.coin-operated.com/
http://www.kakirine.com/
http://www.maryflanagan.com/
http://goldberg.berkeley.edu/art/
LIFESTYLE
The 90s was a decade where more attention was drawn to standing out from the crowd.
FASHION
by looking at the clothing that musicians chose to wear for their music vidoes we can see where the various fashion trends came from.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTWKbfoikeg  here kirt cobain wears lose comfy jeans and baggy tops with very practical shoes, they often mix dark jeans and shoes with more colourful tops.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJLIiF15wjQ by looking at the spicegirls the band basically sumerises the fashion in the 90s

LOCATION



EVENTS – TIMELINE OF OWN RESEARCH
 the main sorce for this information is here: http://www.90s411.com/
i've just taken some of the events that had a relevent impact within the media i have chosen and narrowed them down and added some of my own via asking family and friends who witnessed first hand the decade.

1990

· Nelson Mandela was released from prison.
· Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigns.
· The World Wide Web is created with the first web browser.
· Photoshop was launched starting the beginning of a whole new art form.

1991

· IRA forces attack the residence of the Prime Minister of Great Britain with mortars.
· The United States enacts Operation Desert Storm, destroying the Iraqi army and ending the Gulf War in a few short weeks.
· Cannibal and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer's arrest makes sensational headlines as the details of his gruesome acts are revealed.
· Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Philippines, killing over 300 people in one of the largest volcanic events ever recorded.

1992 

• The European Union comes into being with the signing of the Maastricht Treat in the Netherlands, creating the Euro currency and triggering a major shift in internal border policies on the continent and in Great Britain. 
• A major earthquake in Turkey, measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, takes 500 lives. 
• The first widely-distributed version of the Windows operating system for PC, Windows3.1, is released. 
• Bill Clinton is elected the 42nd president of the United States.

1993

•          Russian president Boris Yeltsin and his American counterpart George H. Bush sign the START II nuclear weapons treaty, pledging to reduce the number of missiles held by both superpowers.
•          A car bomb is detonated in the parking garage of the World Trade Centre, causing over 1,000 casualties.
•          Personal computer technology takes a major step forward with the release of the Intel Pentium chip.
•          The World Wide Web goes public.

1994

• The Channel Tunnel, an undersea rail link between England and France, opens for passengers for the first time. It is the longest sub-oceanic tunnel in the entire world.
• Kirt Cobain commits suicide.
• OJ Simpson is arrested for the murder of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her male companion Ronald Goldman, sparking media frenzy over the trial.
• The Provisional Irish Republican Army, a terrorist organization focused on Irish independence, announces a ceasefire that will last almost 2 years.

1995

• Kevin Mitnick, computer hacker, is captured by the FBI.
• Yahoo!, the popular search engine, web directory and email service is founded by Jerry Wang and David Filo.
• Ebay the online auction site is founded.
• Prime Minister of Israel, is assassinated after winning the Nobel Peace prize the year before.

1996

• 16 children and a teacher are murdered by a single gunman at an elementary school in Dunblane, Scotland.
• Prince Charles and Princess Diana complete their divorce, ending a scandal-soaked era in British royalty but opening a new chapter in the press' vilification of the Princess.
• Mad Cow Disease breaks out in the UK.
• The IRA explodes bomb on June 15th  in the Arndale shopping centre in Manchester.

1997

• Princess Diana Spencer died in a car crash in paris.
• Hong Kong is no longer ruled by the United Kingdom as China is given control of the powerful economic center.
• Microsoft becomes the worlds most valuable company valued at $261 billion dollars
• Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

1998

• The Search Engine Google is founded.
• Windows 98 released by Microsoft on the 26th June 
• Apple Computer unveils the iMac.
• Capital punishment in the United Kingdom, already abolished for murder, is completely abolished for all remaining capital offences.

1999

• Napster, a file-sharing application that allows millions of people to trade music and movies digitally over the internet is first made available. The program would highlight the growing copyright concerns of the music industry and spark a revolution in music distribution.
• Nelson Mandela steps down as president of South Africa, ending his reign as the country's first black head of state.
• UK forces take part in the air war with Yugoslavia and the consequent multinational force in Kosovo.
• Scottish parliament and Welsh assembly inaugurated.

photoshoped photographs of myslef.

Having looked at the mind maps I have decided to use Photoshop to manipulate some images of myself as a possible area to go explore.

For this project I decided to start off by exploring simplistic photo edits using Photoshop. I decided to change the background to give the image an alternative mood and feel, this helps to make the image aesthetically pleasing. I chose this image because it was taken in my last year of high school. This was a time where I was happy with my hair colour weight and it was a time where I was really happy.

With this image I decided to cut out the main image and delete the background I then decided to use my favourite colours to create a washout effect background I chose a wash out background because I like the way it complements the image of me. I then turned my attention to the text. This was rather complicated as I had to take into consideration the spacing and sizing of the letters as well as the colour. I chose a lemon yellow because it contrasts with the blues and purples within the background. It also complements the light areas within my face connecting the various elements within the image together. Over all I quite like this as an idea however I think it is too simplistic and doesn't show enough of who I am as a person which leads me to stop developing this any further.

I decided to take a rather old image of myself (that was taken in 2008 on the day I saw bullet for my valentine) and develop it into an image which reflects the atmosphere in which that night had. I decided to duplicate the image after I removed the background. I then decided to change the opacity allowing the background (of lighting from when I saw another band live recently) to be visible through the initial image of myself. I allowed the centre image to be more visible than the other two to draw the eye into the centre of the image much like the lighting in a live environment focuses on the lead singer who is normally situated in the centre of the stage. Over all I think that this works really well as an image and it links in with one of my biggest passions in life, music. By linking an image of me into something that I love it shows that there is more to me than just the physical appearance, which is an idea that I will explore deeper as this project develops.

One of my ideas was to create a magazine cover that shows an alternative side to me maybe even a darker side to me. I decided to use an image from my last year of high school for the main focus of the magazine cover. The reason for this is simply because I liked the pose and the expression within the image. I decided to adopt a blue colour scheme within this image because the jumper I have on in the image is blue also my eyes are blue so it made sense to keep the colours to a select few. I decided to duplicate the original image so I could add various layers in case a particular section of the image didn’t turn out as I expected I could easily change it by removing that section and adding a different effect to that area. Once I was happy with the colours within the image I then decided to add the masthead to the image. The font I used is the same font that my favourite band (Evanescence) uses for their logo. I used this font to bring in an added element of me to my work. Having completed this magazine idea I think it works as an idea however I think I could have added more to it to display some of the things that have shaped me to being who I am today.

what i decided to do for this was take an image of when i was in highschool and overlay a scanned image of a page from my leavers book, that my friends filled in. i like the idea of these as i could produce a seres of these within a gallery space. the piece shows what people think of me and remember me by. from this idea i intend on asking some of my current friends to write a page or so about me that i will scan into my laptop and re create this idea with a recent photograph of me. 

with this image i decided to play about with duplicating images, this is done fairly simply. by duplicating the background layer, errasing the original background from the image. I then duplicated the layer before moving each layer into position when i was happy with the positioning i then added a background.

For this image I took an image and opened it on Photoshop. I then duplicated the image and removed the background I did this by using a combination of the eraser tool and the polygonal lasso tool. I made sure that the eraser tool was set onto feather and carefully removed the background closest to the main image I did this because I have more control over the tool. once I was happy with the edges, I then used the polygonal lasso tool to remove the remaining background by using this tool and not the eraser tool I can insure that the whole background has been removed and no small bits, which can make the image look horrible if left in are left. Once I was happy with the removal of the background image I then started to edit the main image. I did this by altering the curves within Photoshop. When I was happy with the basic tones and colours I then altered them more by using the hue and saturation and colour balance. One thing I noticed with this image at this stage was the eyes weren’t aesthetically pleasing. To correct this I erased the eyes on the layer. Then I duplicated the background image and altered the image by using the same process until the eyes complemented the overall image. When the overall image was completed I took my attention to the background of the image. For this I took an image I took when I saw a band live and enlarged it so I was happy with the colours for the background. After getting the background as I wanted it I re organised the order of the layers until I was happy with the image. I then flattened the image and saved.

 

with this image i took an older image of myself and added a scanned image of a game of hangman

Vision board

When I get Married I want my hair like this. 

To see Evanescence live again cause it was totally amazing. 

Me Myself and I

For my next project I am exploring everything I like and love. Also all the things that have shaped me to who I am today, I will cover things from the music I like, to the various childhood memories, holidays and such things. I will also explore the range of possibilities that Photoshop and illustrator have to offer. 

The following images are my mind maps that i have used to create a wide range of ideas which I will explore and develop. 

From this initial source of ideas I have decided to explore some areas in more detail with the intention to develop some of the ideas into potential artwork.

Here I decided to take a closer look at my grandma and all the various things that remind me of her or have some major significance within my life, from these I will develop a number of design ideas and possible artwork. 

final Evaluation

I started this project with the intention for my specialist field to be photography. This was going well until I discovered I am rather good at editing photographs on Photoshop. So I decided to change my focus from photography as a whole to just photo-manipulation within Photoshop. This allowed me to explore various styles and methods of manipulating an image into something amazing. This project has been by far the most enjoyable project for me this year. I have learned from my previous mistakes and not left everything to the last minute. Yet I didn’t realise how many images I have edited until I came to uploading them onto my blog towards the end of the project which has resulted in me having an unexpected amount of typing up to do near the end of the project. I have managed to get stuck into this project and complete more work at home than I have been able to in previous projects mainly because my work for this project is based on my laptop so I have been able to edit images whilst watching the telly etcetera. (I find editing photographs relaxing I think this is why I got carried away with the amount I’ve managed to do) The only thing I can think of that I would have liked to have done in this project was have done a photo shoot  in the studio of me and Anthony together but this wasn’t possible with Anthony’s college classes allowing no free time which can’t be helped. I was lucky enough to be able to take as many photographs as I wanted to when I was with him. I haven’t used every photograph I have of him in this project because there are some images I would like to keep for my personal life.  When it came to choosing my final piece I was stuck for choice which to choose, a magazine cover or wallpaper sample. In the end I chose magazine cover. The hard part was choosing between them I managed to narrow it down to two covers and I have decided to use them both for my final outcome for this project. Both of the magazine covers show a different side to Anthony which is why I couldn’t choose between the two. As for my final pieces I am really pleased with how they have turned out. Mainly because I enjoyed creating them and I think that it shows in the quality of the end product. Considering that each image took completely different amount of time to complete they have both turned out to such a high standard. The only way I would make my final pieces better is in some areas take more care to cut out some of the layers to achieve a consistent finish throughout the images. Having analysed my progress over this project I think that my work has improved dramatically from my previous projects. I think this is because I enjoyed the subject matter and I was able to find a medium that I have excelled at making this project my most successful project to date.  The only thing I need to work on is my time management when it comes to getting my annotations and text side of my projects done but I have improved on this from my last project. 

feedback from facebook.

i uploaded these images onto Facebook and my friends commented on them here are their feedback.

by uploading my work onto Facebook i get an honest and instant reaction to my work.

I found some of the responces amusing and many of them constructive and i have taken this feedback into consideration when developing more of my images.

Using studio photography.

to create the images of anthony's hand cast i used the photography studio in college where i set up the lights ect. here are the original images taken and one of me setting the cast up.