Homework #3

So, here are the three quotes that I found somewhat important in my life as a 21st century citizen of the universe:

Privacy is definitely an issue and a right that I think become an important aspect in my daily rituals whenever I have to log in. Not that I have a criminal tendency to "hack" into top secret documents or that I have the ability to do so, I am a person who wants to have her own space without interruption. I used to not care whether the government looks through my online activities, but I am afraid that the near future might be controlled and identified by "those who know." Scientific fiction fantasies are seemingly close as drones become smaller than butterflies. There are secrets that everyone wants to keep; some secrets will only be revealed once the person is deceased... it could be more interesting that way. Our lives are full of secrets. I don't want people to know how much I have in my account! I am a young graduate student. Anyhow, privacy is a controversial issue that I take seriously.

For my artist research, I was not able to find much on artists who exclusively use the social media for their art. So, I decided on An Xiao, who seemed to be most well known artist in this field. On her website (http://www.anxiaostudio.com/artphotography.html), she is described as an American artist, designer, writer and technologist. I found it's great that the artist has coined the term "virtual studio" for her practice. However, every artist has his or her virtual space in their minds. Indeed, everywhere she goes is a studio, because all of her work can take place beyond the physical location.

Specifically, she writes that her artistic practice tends to split along the lines of social media art and digital photography, which can blur into each other sometimes. Xiao writes, "I'm interested in the confluence of creativity and networks, impermanence and change (aka aware), visual culture and language. I'm concerned with identity and expression, and while my subject matter is often contemporary, I take a global perspective on what contemporary is and can mean, and how what we think is contemporary is often grounded in many layers of history. I wear many hats but I deep inside me, I am first and foremost an artist."

From her writings and online articles about her, I still do not have a clear idea of what she does exactly... unfortunately. I am not really interested in artists who use social media as a medium for their art. Tons of artists use the social media to make announcements or show progress on their work, and make art based on social media, which are very necessary to survive/ thrive as an artist in 2015. Nevertheless, I will still write about one project that she did was kind of interesting. I feel that the viewer needs to be present during the actual performance of the social media art to truly understand the deeper meanings behind the art.

In 2010, Xiao made a response piece to Marina Abramovic's The Artist Is Present, which was ongoing at MoMA at the time by re-imagining the piece as a Zen meditation exercise, with mats and cushions loaned by the New York Zen Center. And, the visitors were provided with instructions to examine the nature of contemporary social relationships, which are frequently mediated by digital devices such as cell phones and social media. The instruction notes:

Sit down with the artist.
Find a comfortable position.

Be present wih the artist in any of the following ways:
A text message to: [PHONE NUMBER]
A tweet to @anxiaostudio.
The artist will respond in kind.
When you have reached a satisfactory connection, or you simply grow bored, 
you may leave.

As for my own digital art practice, I sometimes make digital drawings with my phone and upload it on Instagram. Instagram is very fun... anyhow, the first digital painting was made with the Autodesk SketchBook app on my tablet PC using my fingers, and the second work was made with the Paint Joy app on my android phone using the pen.

I usually make digital sketches for visualizing ideas that I want to realize in traditional painting. I like painting digitally because it's clean, easy (fast/ efficient), and fun. Of course, all games and high end computer graphic effects were made painstakingly using the digital tools, but I still prefer to make my finished product using traditional methods... I like the lifetime permanence of a painting. I could certainly print out my digital paintings and frame it like David Hockney. Then, it becomes a product... something that I could hold. Looking at screens too much can be overbearing.