How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Blog » Art http://www.ckundo.com Explorations in art and technology by Cameron Cundiff Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:22:30 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Sketch-In Instead of Check-In http://www.ckundo.com/2012/01/sketching-in/ http://www.ckundo.com/2012/01/sketching-in/#comments Sat, 07 Jan 2012 23:35:11 +0000 cameron http://www.ckundo.com/?p=777 Sketching In is my answer to Foursquare check-in. Every time I’d otherwise check-in on Foursquare, I draw a picture and upload it to Twitter. Inspiration came from a response to my enthusiasm about a recently earned Foursquare badge:

It’s a strong position that I’m not altogether agreeing with, but it resonated enough to make me think hard about why I use Foursquare. I decided to try to recreate the instant gratification and exhibitionistic thrill of Foursquare, but instead of a generic badge or canned message, I’d make something personal.

These drawing are unique and tangible, and give me a chance to practice my drawing. Here are some recent sketch-ins:

]]> http://www.ckundo.com/2012/01/sketching-in/feed/ 0 Twitter Portraits http://www.ckundo.com/2010/08/twitter-portraits/ http://www.ckundo.com/2010/08/twitter-portraits/#comments Sun, 29 Aug 2010 17:51:37 +0000 cameron http://www.ckundo.com/?p=651 I’m working on a new series of paintings I’m calling Twitter Portraits. They are small acrylic painting based on the profile pics of people I’m following on Twitter. I chose Twitter because it was right in front of me while at my desk getting ready to paint, and because I’m inundated with it, glancing at it much of the day. I don’t have any plans for the series, I’m just going to continue with it and see where it takes me.

]]> http://www.ckundo.com/2010/08/twitter-portraits/feed/ 1 It’s just art… Honestly http://www.ckundo.com/2009/09/its-just-art-honestly/ http://www.ckundo.com/2009/09/its-just-art-honestly/#comments Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:54:33 +0000 cameron http://www.ckundo.com/?p=360 My wife Kate has started a blog  – Honestly Art – to promote “accessible artwork”. She has recently showcased Nahcotta Gallery’s Enormous Tiny Art show, as well as a handful of individual artists. She’s also creating a gallery/artist database for browsing.

I’m enjoying getting the tech side established:

  • WordPress Blog – plugins, themes, hacks
  • Google analytics
  • Complementary sites – Flickr, Facebook, Twitter (soon)
  • SEO – linking the url from profiles on a myriad of social networks

It’s a daring move to go from management consulting to the art world/blogosphere, and very exciting. The fruits of her labors are beginning to show, and there’s been some great feedback. Looks promising!

]]> http://www.ckundo.com/2009/09/its-just-art-honestly/feed/ 0 4-in-4 http://www.ckundo.com/2009/01/4-in-4/ http://www.ckundo.com/2009/01/4-in-4/#comments Mon, 12 Jan 2009 22:38:17 +0000 cameron http://www.cameroncundiff.com/?p=264 Day 1:

My goal is to make 40 paintings in 4 days. So far so good, 10 down.

Day 2:

I’ve solicited photos from ITPers for inspiration. Thanks all!
5 paintings today.

Day 3:

2 paintings today. I’m seeing an exponential decay in the quantity of paintings, but I’ve been working larger and longer.
Probably won’t make 40 total. In fact tomorrow I think I’ll complete the trend and do one large all day painting.

]]> http://www.ckundo.com/2009/01/4-in-4/feed/ 0 Making light of the artist http://www.ckundo.com/2008/07/lumiere/ http://www.ckundo.com/2008/07/lumiere/#comments Sun, 06 Jul 2008 03:18:59 +0000 cameron http://www.cameroncundiff.com/blog/?p=5 The Lumiere Manifesto expounds on a vision of online media that emphasizes authenticity of experience, for creator and consumer alike. Its tenets are based on the characteristics of early film, e.g. brevity and lack of editing. For the authors, these qualities enhance the integrity of the experience, and stand in stark contrast to most contemporary video, especially broadcast and cinema.

In an effort to promote their ideals, the authors “curate” an online video gallery whose content must meet prescribed guidelines that approximate the limitations of early film:

  • 60 seconds max.
  • Fixed camera
  • No audio
  • No zoom
  • No edit
  • No effects

Having read the manifesto and viewed some of the submissions, I recognize the power of the restrictions they’ve devised to facilitate aesthetically and conceptually appealing pieces. However, I find a contradiction in terms in ruling out both editing and audio. Sound recording is usually enabled by default in contemporary video recording devices, so I suspect that for at least some of the submissions, audio was edited out. Clearly this is a trangression of the manifesto’s ideals. Even in cases in which audio was never present, the creator must have taken extra measures to disable audio recording. I see this is a form of on camera editing, and an impediment to spontanaiety.

Deciding to record something is choosing not to record something else, and is thus already an editorial decision. Post-production editing is merely an extension of that process. Editing allows the artist to distill content to correspond with his or her experience of the moment. The exponents of Lumiere Video ignore the merit of artistic vision on the grounds that it limits the free choice of the viewer. I argue that the medium, by virtue of its bandwidth limitations, requires editorial vision to restore its degraded content. Our level of trust dictates whether or not we value the artist/editors vision. Sometimes the creators don’t merit our trust, but when they do, the experience is more worthwhile than watching purportedly “raw” footage.

Incidentally, the my vlog debut comes close to the requirements of Lumiere video.

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