Save the Library (If You Can Turn Back Time)!

I previously posted this video, but it looked very strange with ghost images making it difficult to see what was going on, so I finally fixed it up and here's the final video! The purpose of this video is long since redundant, but hopefully you will still manage to find some merit within the tweens and voice-overs.




Save the Troy Library at the November 2nd Election! from Kim Berens on Vimeo.

Blog Prompt #23 (actually #22)

My roommate has this really interesting piece on her wall that another student from MSU created for class. I'm not sure what type of camera the images were taken with, but it was printed and then glued to board to give it structure and depth. It was then left outside for a night and leaves stuck to it and it was slightly damaged, but that was the look the artist was going for, I think. I'm probably way off with the description on how this piece was made, but it was similar to that, at least. When my roommate told me about it, I was impressed that she had even come up with that idea. The image is a tripdych, but the three pieces are different sizes. I think it's a great way to display an image and have it also be a sculptural piece.

Stop motion is also a great way to combine photography with other media, because it is essentially photography, but you have to have a filmmakers thought process when creating the piece. I love it because I have always been interested in film, and I love photography, so be able to combine the two is so much fun. But the possibilities of stop-motion are different than the possibilities for film, so you get very different type of work from the two.

A wearable version mixing photography and mixed-media is placing photos on clothing. Screen-printing, iron-ons, and other methods are used all the time to create t-shirts for groups. It may not be considered "art" by many people, but it is definitely something that helps create a sense of unity between a group and represents that group to the outside world.

Another method is projecting an image onto something. I think projecting an image can look pretty awful, but if it is done correctly, can look amazing. I'm thinking of the movie Adam, where the character Adam project the image of space around his apartment. It looks amazing in the film and to be able to see that in an actual space must be amazing. It reminds me of the few camera obscuras I've been in.

Work in Progress for Photography

Here are my images where I use the cloud tutorial from before. I'm not sure how I feel about them yet, but I'm starting to like them. I think my issue is that this is not what I had originally planned, so I don't know where I'm going. Because I actually don't think they're that bad, just unexpected.

Blog Prompt #21

Everybody constructs their perceived identity by one's appearence (clothes and hair), perhaps by their interests and activities. People like to feel part of a group, and sometimes that feeling leads people to become a stereotype or almost like a stereotype of who they are. A person's, say, musical interest often reflects upon other aspects of that person's life, such as his or her clothing. In my daily life, I actively try to be nice to people because. I wouldn't call that a "performance" because that makes it seem like I have different thoughts in my head, but it is definitely something I have constructed about myself, because that is the way I wish to be perceived.

But it is not just our personal selves that are being constructed. The cultures of people are always being constructed. Cultures don't just pop out of nothing, they start from something and build. That's construction. Every person is influencing everybody else and adding on to that culture. Store shops and magazines also construct our environments, telling us what to like and dislike. Teachers constructing our knowledge on a particular subject.

Our environment is very much constructed as well, the obvious road and building construction aside, the amount of side-walks in a city is a deliberate decision and very much constructs the way a city is used. Cars, needless to say, have very much constructed a new way of traveling farther and faster. The style of buildings gives an area completely different feelings, which is why people may chose to live in the city or the country. Those two places and different constructed environments.

I do not think that constructed is the antithesis of "real". I don't believe it means the same thing as "fabricated". To me, constructed means "built", which means it could still be very real. But there are plenty things that seem fabricated in life. Feelings are often fabricated to hide a person's true sadness or giddiness. People's critique of other people's artwork I think is also constructed. I use the word constructed because it probably is close to that person's true opinion, therefore not fabricated. But people, including myself, phrase our critique carefully so as not to sound too harsh. It's a very constructed response.

Amazing Cloud Tutorial for Photoshop

I'm in love again! I'm nearly as excited about this cloud tutorial as I was about this smoke tutorial!! I love Photoshop. I love love love love love Photoshop. I think I told everybody I knew about that smoke tutorial. Even people I didn't know while working at the cafeteria.


Here's the cloud video:

Save the Library!

So I did my video on how people in my hometown can save our library from closing at the November second election. Well, the assignment isn't due until the ninth, but I still had to get it done so that it could actually teach people about how to save the library! Anyway, for some reason it exported really oddly into Quicktime, so I'll have to work on that. I still want to improve it for my class, but I have it mostly done, which is a relief. Hope you like it!

Here is a what I'm thinking of doing for my next Photography assignment. I want to reshoot both the "clouds" and the subject. In fact, I might not even do a person anymore, but we'll see. I'm thinking a lot of the film Science of Sleep. I don't want it to be exactly that same (obviously), but the idea that it doesn't look like an actual Earth-space I really like. Here is my ten minute collage that I did this morning just to help you get the idea of where I'm heading. Again, I plan on reshooting, so it will end up looking completely different.