Thursday, August 12, 2010

Digital Remix #2



"Oil Harbor"

I wanted to use one of my own photos for this remix and I also wanted to practice Photoshop because I haven't used it in a while. So unfortunately all of my "environmental" photography is pretty and there is not many images I could use to make them better I decided to do it in the opposite. So I took my image of Seattle Harbor added a boat that could have possibly spilt oil or was trying to clean up the oil. I then added an image I found of the San Francisco oil spill a few years ago and added dead birds into the slick. I also added a statistic I found for the current BP oil spill onto the side of the boat. To try and make the mood of the image a little lighter I added some healthy birds flying away.
It's just a reminder of how easy a place that was once serene and beautiful can quickly become an area full of devastation. There are no oil pipe lines to my knowledge in this are but is is a very large shipping port with cargo ships and tankers going in an out all day every day.

Original Image:
Artist: Blaine Bacchiocchi
"Seattle Harbor 2010"

~Blaine Bacchiocchi

The Golden Staircase



Photo by N. Horsky, 2007



I’m interested in the public stairways that climb the hill neighborhoods of Boston. They are situated on residential hills with multiple tiers of roadways, and ascend between the tiers to allow pedestrians to quickly reach higher roadways or the summit. Since they are intimate in scale, removed from auto traffic and commerce, and are mainly used by local residents, they offer unique settings for spontaneous social interaction among neighbors. They sometimes become fixtures of urban vitality in the warmer months, and important landmarks for hill communities, but far too often they are poorly maintained and infrequently trafficked.

I have and will continue to utilize various public art tactics to promote the maintenance and use of these stairways for both transportation and socialization. The image above models a potential public art installation of either painting or mosaic on the “Golden Staircase,” as locals in the Parkside neighborhood of Jamaica Plain commonly call it. If installed it would encourage climbers to stop along the stairs, and provide a pleasant common context for interaction. It would increase usage, interest in maintaining the stairs, and may lead to greater appreciation of public art, public space, and of one another.

As an example of a different artistic approach to celebrating public stairways, below is documentation from Bellhop Event for Staircase, written by Neil Horsky and performed by John Skeffington in July 2007.

- Neil

"Green House Factors"


The first photograph really bothered me because I feel that green house gases and what is happening in this photograph just isn't necessary. Also, the fact that people have to live to close to these smokestacks is sad. I decided to instead change them into palm trees and the smoke clouds into real clouds. I would much rather see luscious green and colorful flowers than the dark and dim area that actually exists. The problems we've had with green house gases in the past may be unfixable, but we should be making a conscience effort to stop them in the future.

Kelci Fiore

Peter Essick, "Green House Factors" nationalgeographic.com, 2010


Digital Remix #2


I chose to remix this image for a few reasons. I looked at the advertisement and all I saw was a surplus of road signs (undoubtedly a main focal point for the advertiser), and it bothered me when I thought about how it is so easy for people to ignore the natural things in the environment that are beautiful, and instead focus on man-made objects and signs that tell us what to do and where to go.
Also, the fact that it is a car ad made me think of how I use my own vehicle. I tend to use my car as a way to get from one place to another, but also as an escape when I need one. I decided to remove all of the road signs from the image and instead cover them with flowers, and I made the vehicle less traditional by using written words to symbolize the thoughts someone may have while driving alone in their car.
Overall, I wanted the image to represent an escape into an idealized world where nature is overpowering & beautiful, & there are no set directions or signs to lead anyone in a particular direction, but rather each person has the freedom to choose their own destination.
Carolyn Hubbard

Original Image Citation:
Better Homes & Gardens Magazine, December 2008, Back Cover Page,
Toyota 2008 Hilander Ad, © 2007 Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. Inc.

A Swan's Dream



I chose to remix an image from the recent oil spill in the gulf. I saw this picture of a swan (or a goose, unfortunately I can't really tell what it was before it was covered in oil) swimming serenely through oil filled waters. I was doing research for my preschoolers earth themed week and came across this image. In changing it, I wanted to capture the broken feeling that such an event can cause not only the animals but also on the people of a region. I was moved by the image of the swan, covered in oil, swimming somewhat normally despite being covered in oil. Thought the image was quite disturbing, it was almost serene to see the swan acting on instinct. I thought it appeared to be in an almost dreamlike state. I imagined that perhaps it was dreaming of another swan, or of itself before the spill. Perhaps it's also dreaming of cleaner waters and the way it's natural habitat should be. The swan should be enjoying a day at the beach, oil free.

Shannon Keaveney

Photo credit (from http://www.ecokids.ca/blog/)

Courtesy flickr user Marine Photobank

Reference:http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/803480–barack-obama-vows-to-stop-oil-spill-crisis

Digital Media Art Remix #2


Original Image


Remixed Image

Environmental Arts in Education
Original image found in:
Issues in Science and Technology. Summer 2010. (p. 29)

With the rise of technological advancements, children are becoming over stimulated and less connected with the natural environment and its processes. With hot commodities such as computers, video games and cell phones, children are being raised to be consumers without thinking about the negative effects of consumption. The original scanned image for this second re-mix project depicts two boys fixated on a blank flat screen, probably HD, television. The captions point out their ignorance on the source of energy that is powering this device. In the re-mixed image, I took the young boys from their cozy couch inside their home, and transplanted them to a soft, sandy beach overlooking a wind farm. It appears now, that the wind turbines are captivating their attention as they sit in admiration. One boy points out that wind power is a renewable energy source and the other responds “duh!” implying that is a commonly known fact.

Cheryl