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More dubious fractal analysis of Pollocks and digs at that goldang modern art from Randy Kennedy of teh NY Times.
two researchers conclude that Dr. Taylor’s analysis of Pollock paintings is flawed because it did not use a great enough range of box sizes to establish fractal characteristics reliably. Using only the range he did, a childlike drawing like the one made by Ms. Smith-Jones turned out to be, mathematically at least, the equal of a Pollock — a notion that would undoubtedly amuse critics who still dismiss his work as child’s play.Since when is Rush Limbaugh's opinion relevant?
A previous post dealt with several incarnations of the "mousepad drawing"--by Kristin Lucas (1999--photo above), the Eyebeam Open Lab (2006), and Joseph DeLappe (1999-2002). To recap, Lucas inked a mouseball and let it make drawings while she played games, answered email, etc.; the Eyebeam project is a recently-invented "double mouse" that allows anyone to make abstract marks on one screen while doing routine things on another; and the DeLappe is a mouse with various physical pencil and brush extensions that also make mock-gestural drawings. I can't really compare the drawings because I've only seen the Lucas firsthand (they were nice, with an organic Cy Twombly-ish feel belied by the banal origins). However, I'm intrigued by her expressed intentions behind the work in a way I'm not with the other projects. The presence or absence of an underlying rationale goes a long way towards defining whether something is art in the humanist, Western Civ tradition or just an extension of tech practice. Here's what Lucas says about her series:
"At the time, I was making work about the influence of programmed environments on my behaviorial patterns (mental and physical). So [in the case of the mousepad drawings] an influence of the virtual recorded in the physical realm. I found the inked mouse drawings looked psychological--their motion cramped, frustrated, oscillating between resisting control by external forces and controlling oneself (like being trapped in an argument with oneself). My drawings are never shown with the tool so they are more about the discovery of what they are and enjoying the irony or sincerity of what the task was. Also factoring in was the scale of a world wide experience reduced to a tiny sheet of paper.By contrast, DeLappe (photos immediately below) seems to be making a broad critique of the pseudoscientific forebears (or cousins) of modern art such as graphology, Freudian analysis, and/or mediumistic "automatic writing" (one supposes--the statements I found on his website don't really explain why he is doing it) by presenting entire suites of work each of which is supposedly influenced by a specific activity such as preparing income taxes, or surfing Museum websites. These sources of anti-inspiration or non-inspiration are exhaustively detailed in the finished display, down to noting the URLs and characteristic colors of art world sites. Unlike Lucas, he presents the mouse as a sculptural object related to the drawings and even lists the brand of the mouse in the description.
By the time we get to the Eyebeam Open Lab's "9 to 5 Paintings," the idea has been mainstreamed and popularized down to the level of an executive toy, with breezy description to match:
Create art while you work! If you find yourself spending more and more time answering email, and less and less time making art then why not do them both at the same time? Turn your emails, internet browsing, and report writing into digital paintings. 9 to 5 paintings are a visual representation of your daily computing routines.
Here it's mainly about the gear, and BAW (bored at work) fun. The introspection and societal critique of Lucas' project has been decanted away, leaving only the absurdity.
Related: techy takes on Pollock.
"ElectroYacht" [mp3 removed]
Digital percussion kit crafted with a Sherman filterbank (originally by Speedy J with some changes by me), with an analog break (played twice) on the Mutated Sidstation--a kind of tuned drum setting played at different pitches using midi cc (continuous controller) messages. Unlike the previous track, which I spent way more time on, this has a nice relaxed vibe.
"Ionic Baroque" [mp3 removed]
In this song I've grafted together layered nasal synthesizer melodies with orchestral instruments such as strings, marimba and tympani. I had the idea to do, as I described to someone in an email, "baroque chamber music using dismantled electronic dance elements." This is a stab at that. The piece is tightly organized at the beginning, breaks down about 2/3 of the way through, and never completely recovers--that is deliberate.
Just realized I started posting music on my "mostly music" blog two years ago this month (and cross-posted most of it here). Unbelievable--time flies, etc.
Update: am working on a longer, "dance" version of this tune. Instead of the "breakdown" described above, a house thump fades up and rescues the momentum of the song, carrying it well beyond the current end. With the four-on-the-floor rhythm underneath, the strings have a "hooked on classics" feel.
And here it is:
"Ionic Baroque (Dance Mix)" [mp3 removed]