Gary Turk

'Everyone should watch this at least once.'

'This short video by Gary Turk is a reminder of the effects of social media on our society. By connecting online, we are disconnecting offline. What are we missing from life as a result? What critical moments do we miss that we didn't even know passed us by? Be sure to watch this entire video, especially the ending.' 

    

   - A powerful message written at the start of the webpage, just above the video.  'By connecting online, we are disconnecting offline' - no truer words have been written this day.  This shows that more and more people are realising the effect that social media has on our mind, body and soul.  Give the video a watch and see how you react, I know that I was completely overwhelmed and nearly shed a tear for all of those missed moments.

The video is entitled 'Look up', something which many people choose to ignore as they are glued to their smartphones 24/7.

Below are some quotes which I took from the video, each one hit deep inside my heart and made me feel quite angry at our modern stupidity;

- 'The media we call social, is anything but'.

- 'A world where we're slaves to the technology we mastered'.

- 'We all share our best bits but leave out the emotion'.

   - It is often difficult to express true feelings via social media, people only really see the best bits as it is easy to hide the hurt behind a computer screen.

- 'Talk to one another, learn to co-exist'.

  - I find this line extremely absurd, it's as if the creation of technology has pulled us apart and taught us to forget the natural instinct of co-existing.

- 'We're a generation of idiots; smart phones and dumb people'.
  

- 'When you're too busy looking down, you don't see this chances you miss'.
  - The question which people fear the most, 'What could've been?'

- We spend hours together without making eye contact.

  - I often find myself sitting with friends or family and realising that I have barely said two sentences or even looked at what they're wearing that day.

- 'Stop watching this video, live life the real way'.

  - This is the key line of the whole video.  The constant rhyme throughout makes it become addictive and almost impossible to stop watching until the end.  I also find it interesting how Turk assumes that his message has fulfilled it's intention and promotes the fact that people shouldn't watch his video anymore, once you've had the 'epiphany'.  Personally, I feel the hard hitting truths of the video would find a place in any social media users' heart.  

This video has helped to change the way I view the use of Social Media and encouraged me to enjoy life offline.

Victoria Siemer

Human Error by Victoria Siemer

This magnificent series has been created to show the connection between 'the futility of dwelling on a broken heart with the uselessness of channeling frustration towards your tech devices.'  

My initial feelings toward this are of amazement and jealousy, 'Why didn't I think of that?!'.  The concept behind it receives 5 gold stars from me.  The girl in the image below looks almost as if her heart has been ripped out and that she can't straight, like it has been ejected from her body.  There is an unusual contrast between the humanity of a polaroid photo and an inhuman warning send by your computer when something is wrong.  However, it has also led me to consider if Victoria has questioned the humanity of laptops and smartphones, as if they have feelings too?

The series of photographs are full of rawness and emotion as they reflect wonderfully the different stages of emotion which the human heart goes through.  The images are able to convey pain and emptiness alone, but excel when loading bars are added as if the heart can be digitally emptied all at once, like the trash bin on your laptop.  However, I feel that there has been a certain amount of irony within this piece as the human heart never forgets and can never be emptied by the push of a button - and it is important that we all remember that.  I also question whether this indirect jab at the state of our relationships in the 21st Century, and how easy it is to fall out of love with someone, just by un-friending them on Facebook.  When did love become some digital?

http://www.wetheurban.com/post/84100585553/art-human-error-by-victoria-siemer-is-this-the

Fredy Decisive

"CONFESSIONS IS A PUBLIC ART PROJECT THAT INVITES PEOPLE TO ANONYMOUSLY SHARE THEIR CONFESSIONS AND SEE THE CONFESSIONS OF THE PEOPLE AROUND THEM IN THE HEART OF THE LAS VEGAS STRIP."

http://fredydecisive.tumblr.com/post/47784254584/confessions-is-a-public-art-project-that-invites 

First reaction to the installation: This is brilliant!

This is the kind of art which reminds me why I want to study an art degree for the next three years.  It gets people involved in the most personal way possible, by sharing their secrets.  Some of the confessions are humorous such as 'I eat too much cheese', but others are simply heartbreaking, 'I still love her.  2 girlfriends and 5 years later...' - I feel that many people can relate to these.  As people are allowed to post their confessions anonymously on the pegged wall, you may find that they have been a lot more honest than they would have been if they had to sign their name to it - like you would have to on social media.  I think it is interesting that people are will to confess anything as people can still leaf through the wall and read everything that has been posted.

 I like how the confessions are all written onto pieces of wood, that way the confessions cannot be erased or edited as easily as they would be online.  This makes them a physical problem, now part of the real world and not just a thought in our minds.   Something has to be said for the colour though.  Is it stereotypically red to symbol sin? I feel the overall appearance is somewhat church-like, especially with the addition of the confession booths.  A spanish quote is given at the top of the website I pulled these images from;

"Dicen que se la escapa la incoherencia de las manos, que se le caen los sueños cuando pasa. Que espera decidir pronto, entre quien es, y quien pretende ser." - I think the first bit means something along the lines that you can escape the inability (incoherence) of your hands in your dreams. In other words it's easier to draw/paint in ur dreams than in real life.  The second half seems to be criticising and saying that you must decide who you are and who you want to be , and do it quickly.  I think it has some truth in it as people often find it easier to write down their hope, dreams and deepest desire than vocally put them out there for people to judge and scrutinise.  

Charlie Billingham

I have recently become interested in using True Grain.  Charlie Billingham is creating pieces using True Grain as he wants to stay true to his painting technique and not producing anything which has been digitally altered.  I love the effect True Grain produces as it gives feeling to the work, a sort of rough texture which the viewer can appreciate.  You don't use True Grain by mistake as when you paint or print with it, the work achieves a sort of grainy, almost scratched look which would always be intentional.  I think it works particularly well with Charlie's piece as it emphasises the real effort and strain put in behind the dancers he is painting.  You can feel the emotion pouring from the image.

Ingo Maurer Zettel

'German born artist and light objects designer, ingo maurer has been the recipient of many design awards and his work has been featured in numerous exhibitions, including the museum of modern art in new york. considered an outsider with rare artistic style, ingo maurer adds provocation and fun to the world of design'

http://www.unicahome.com/p9219/ingo-maurer/zettelz-by-ingo-maurer.html

This breathtaking, independently suspended chandelier was created by Ingo Maurer.  It is a mixture of art and sculpture.  Ingo adds some love letters in different languages in order to inspire the owner to participate.  He uses Japanese paper to for a translucent medium so that there will be different lighting effects created depending what piece of paper the light hits.  49 blank pages are left for the owner to style the light as they desire, making it personal to them.  What would you write on your lamp?  Recipes, love letters, confessions, memories, shopping lists; the possibilities are endless.  

The letters are easily attached using thins wires and clips so as not to take away from the delicate nature of the lighting fixture.  I believe the wires are arranged in such a fashion so as to give the impression of a chandelier.  It is  definitely an alternative version but I think it looks beautiful.  The main aim of this piece is getting the viewer involved in art and poetry, and I think it works. 

Admit One stub box

I came across this image on Pinterest and unfortunately I have been unable to find the name of the designer.  I can see from close observation that the papers inside the box are all tickets from events such as concerts, football matches and cinema viewings.  There may also be a few wristbands in there from nightclubs.  I suppose this box could represent what you have taken part in during the last year or so in terms of socialising events.  It could also act as a kind of memory box, even though you can't see all the places you've been, you know the ticket are in the box somewhere, sort of like how you brain hold memories.  

I can imagine this piece on a wall in public places (shopping centre, restaurant, sidewalk) that way it would become a city memory box.  It could be great for tourism by showing how many events they have to offer, however the same stub could end up in there twice.  I could also see this piece mounted on your bedroom wall.  Instead of a picture wall or a shoebox under your bed, this could be on display to see whenever you want as a physical reminder; it's not an ugly looking box either!  I think I can assume that this piece was created in order to get people more involved in doing things, because when you don't participate you can't fill the box with anything.

Rikke Elverdam

I think this piece is absolutely fantastic.  It's filled with humour, familiarity and fresh deliciousness, as you can almost smell the fresh doughy bread.  The set up of this 3D type is very clever.  The background of an armchair is easily recognisable as an old person chair or living room, minus the standard hideous carpet and wallpaper.  'They call me grandma' - This has been made from baked bread with the grandma part slightly overdone, and I'm not sure if that was accidental or planned; but it works!  I feel like I can relate easily to this piece as when you think of grandparents, the thought of food swiftly follows.  Speaking from experience, every time I visit my grandma she tries to stuff me full of toast, oranges and toffee sweets.  It's just something that Grandparents seem to do as they fear you'll be wasting away otherwise.  Bread also symbolises warmth, comfort and familiarity.  In all, this piece works wonderfully as a 3D typography installation and a real life grandparent is not needed to communicate the brilliance behind the idea.