Zhang Huan

I was researching performance artists and came across Zhang Huan. We did not discuss him in class but I find his work to be very interesting. Huan's performances usually involve his body, most on the time being nude. Huan is an artist from China.

I particularly like Huan's Boston performance when visiting the Museum of Fine Arts because I am from Boston so I am familiar with the area. The picture below is Huan sitting on a stack of books. Along with the photographs of his performance he explains how he never liked books growing up and was always pressured to study.

Here are other photos of Huan's work that I found interesting:

Video Art Comments

Danielle- This video was very good, I liked the idea of it and the background music made was really entertaining.
Hessa- I liked the colors of this video and the narration part, it was a very unique idea.
Luis- I liked how you decided to show your video in black and white, I think it added to the blurring effects from the bad weather.
Sebastian- This video was interesting because it actually displayed a message.
Stef- I thought your video was very good. There was a lot to focus on and could be watched multiple times. I liked how you made it kind of mysterious.
Francesca- I liked the idea of your video. It reminded me of your performance video slightly. At first I thought the people were singing, when listening closely it sounds funny because all of the words morph together.
Jon- I thought the sound effects to your video were funny, especially when you pour the popcorn out of the bag and it makes sounds of water droplets.
Roy- I thought your video was interesting to look at because of all of the motions. The monitor looked cool and the movements went along well with the music.
Hannah- I thought this video was very good. It looked like a video game. It was clear that you had spent a lot of time on your project.
Sarah- I liked the sounds and music of your video, I thought it fit the picture very well.
Abby- The view presented in your video was different to look at. After a while you start to get dizzy but I like the idea of seeing upside down on a swing.
Grace- This video was very funny and a really good idea. I like how you introduced each part separate and then showed them all together.
Amanda- I thought the rubix cube idea was really creative. There were many things to look at in your video and it made it interesting.

Video Art Project

Tamiko Thiel

The photo, Carnation Rain on Carmo Convent, was taken on a phone. Tamiko Thiel first loaded the flowers onto the screen and then took the picture of the Carmo Convent with the flowers on top. The carnations are very bright and go well with the picture. I like how she used a different style to capture and create the image. 

Charles Csuri

I was exploring Charles Csuri's art projects and came across one that I found particularly interesting. It displays what was talked about in class, that he made all of his pictures by calculating out where segments should be. The picture Frozen Moment has colors I really like, the red and pink, and the poses of the people, they look like models.

Electronic Music Videos

The end electronic music videos go along with the rest because each one displayed a different story pertaining to the culture it described. Specifically, Gaiteros de San Jacinto, a Columbian folk group which consisted of men playing instruments the majority of the time and singing at some points. The Toto la Momposina video is also Columbian music, a woman is singing through the whole video and seems to be telling a story. Though both of these videos are of Columbian music they are very different but are similar in that they both have an up beat tune.

Dream Machine

After reading the book, The Living Brain by Dr. Grey Walter, Ian Sommerville invented the Dream machine. He produced it in the 1960's, in order to replicate the flickering effect. The machine consisted of a cylinder with holes in it attached to a record table, with a light bulb in the middle. When the record table was turned on it would create the flickering effect that Sommerville had learned about. It is called the dream machine because when viewing the cylinder with your eyes closed and lights off, it creates alpha wave cycles, which are a sign of relaxed activity in the brain.


Dreamachine: Dreamachine