Creative Gallery: Draft

Synthesis - my creative gallery in the form of a blog

Creative Gallery Status

Thus far I have three blog posts in the new blog that I created called "Synthesis." The first post shows an introduction to the project ending with a link to the second post. (The posts follow this link to link sequence in order to control the path that the viewer takes through the posts in order to provide a chronological tour of the steps taken for the synthesis of this project). The second post shows a video of the possible ideas that could be used for the project. Beneath the video is another link to the third post. The third post contains a description and two images that gave me some ideas on what I wanted to do in order to take the project further. This is the final post so far. I will need to add another post to show the evolution of my ideas and how I am incorporating my influences. The final post will contain a short description of the final piece, my painting, and a picture of the finished painting. The painting itself I also need to finish.

Aside: I have set up the blog in a way the allows for future projects to be added to the blog. This way, I can use this same technique of portraying the creative process as well as the end product with other projects as well. This way the blog has more of a purpose than to illustrate a project and theory for this class - making it so that there is more depth to the blog.

Video Assignment

Essay Final Draft

For the final draft of the authorship essay, please click the link below.

Final Essay: The Ecology of Web-based Multimedia Authors

Creative Gallery Ideas: Revisited

I'm still not sure exactly what medium it is that I want to use to create this piece. However, I do have some ideas. The work than I am intending to do should become a kind of an illustration or example of my essay topic through the portrayal of the creative process. I want to incorporate pictures of various potential influences and add tidbits of text to go along with these images. The text will explain the frame of mind I was in when I saw a particular thing, and what I thought of it. I can take this series of influences and put them into the chronological order in which I experienced them, and show how I developed these influences into a final work. Thus, the process of taking in influences for creative purposes will be demonstrated.

I would like to do this in some kind of video where frames fade one into the next automatically with some kind of pertinent music to go along with it. It would be even better if I could move the images around on the screen showing how different images started to tie together and why. I would probably start by creating a story board, and then begin to put the piece together from that outline. I just need to find a means of putting this altogether, something that I can use to create a video or a more elaborate presentation.

Blue Stem Knoll, Lake of the Ozarks State Park, MO

View Sprawl in a larger map

Creative Response to My Topic

I have explored several different types of multimedia on the web, and one that I am most interested in at the moment is picture stories. I want to use some type of multimedia that animates my presentation into maybe a clickable or somehow interactive document interspersed with pictures and explanatory text.

It is my belief that experiencing something really causes it to sink in and stick with a person. For example, I find myself having the most trouble learning in classes where there is no hands on experience. If I am able to create something that allows for interaction, then maybe my point will be better understood and be more influential.

This form of expression also allows for a great deal of creativity. I could use images from the web, upload my own, put individual pieces together with text and images, organize the piece in any order, make it not have any order, etc. This approach would give me a lot of room to work, while exercising a form of multimedia that I haven't yet experienced. For examples of this type of multimedia see Musarium.

During class after lecture:

Perhaps instead of using this opportunity to develop a picture story type of further explanation, I will use this opportunity to create an example of my topic by creating my own work and expressing using this form of multimedia. I can take an influence in nature and develop my own artwork from it. After creating the artwork and documenting its creation in photographs and writing, I can put together a picture story concerning the creation of this artwork. However, instead of creating the picture story to further explain my topic, I will simply create a picture story as a journey through the creation of an artwork i.e. how I create an artwork. Then, the picture story in itself becomes an example of my topic. This is because it not only would show the inspiration and creation of a work through the influence of nature, but it will also be on the web within a multimedia style.

Essay Draft

The following link is connected to the draft of my essay. The draft is not completely finished, but includes the bulk of my work. I will soon be adding in the conclusion aside from some revision. The conclusion should tie everything together.

Essay

I believe that I have effectively elaborated on the first two main points of my essay. There will, of course, be a need for revision, but I think I have those first two points well defined. I just need to add in a conclusion that ties everything together and maybe make sure that my thoughts within the essay in the form of paragraphs flow one into the other.

Visual Essay

The visual composition of my essay is not yet complete, but I have linked what I have so far here.

Essay Discussion

I think that I will be able to effectively show that there is a great amount of shared influence across the spectrum of multimedia on the web; however, I'm not sure as of yet how I am going to discuss/provide evidence for the interconnections amongst authors of different multimedia on the web. Showing specific ideas being carried across the spectrum, developing as they go, will probably be nearly impossible. Also, this sort of example will be so hard to locate that I probably won't end up with many examples to back up my theory.
I will probably take the approach of providing evidence that the information and ideas that can be built upon are readily available and even encouraged as sources of inspiration on the web. This evidence provides for the portion of my theory that shows the relation amongst authors on the web through the availability of information. Along with this approach, I will provide evidence of nature as a common theme amongst the various kinds of multimedia in order to show how one source of inspiration can be seen in a wide array of multimedia. I also intend to provide some insight into why nature is such a widely used source of inspiration. I'm hoping that this last part of my essay will shed some light on how a subject becomes a source of inspiration, at least when it comes to nature.
I have the main ideas for my essay developed, but I need to find more supporting resources for each of these ideas. I hope to further develop all the pieces of my essay through further research and the collection of additional sources.

Central Ideas:

1. Interconnection of Authors
supported by availability of ideas on the web
2. Connection amongst authors due to common influence
supported by the presence of nature across the multimedia spectrum
3. Why nature is drawn on for inspiration
supported by the JSTOR documents on nature's influences

Anntotated Bibliography

The following link is for the annotated bibliography that I have composed for my topic.

Author Ecology Project

Topic Presentation

Please see my September 28th blog post for updates on this presentation.

Topic: Further Development

Technology and Nature
The basic idea for this topic is to tie the seemingly unnatural to the natural. The technologies that we use today are a product of the creative minds that came in succession to build upon previous thoughts and ideas to ultimately reach this present point. However, throughout the development and use of these technologies there always seems to be a natural element.

We are in our own way animals of a kind. All animals need a habitat in which to survive. Our habitat is composed of much of the earth. Therefore, seeing that we live within this expansive natural habitat composed of other organisms, air, water, and land - we cannot escape natural influence in one way or another. Furthermore, natural influence tends to show up in those developed technologies and in the use of those technologies.

The technologies being explored here are web-based multimedia, means of creative expression on the web. There are several different common forms of creative expression such as poetry, short story, essay, nature writing, photography, and a number of visual arts. There are also other forms of expression that are explicitly web-based such as picture stories. Picture stories are created through the use of images and text compiled into a single presentation that can be manipulated by the viewer or simply viewed (examples of picture stories can be found in the Musarium link below). What each of these forms of expression have in common is that a certain number of works in each form contain some element or representation of nature. The presence of natural representation across a broad spectrum of multimedia suggests a relationship with the natural environment that is never lost even in this seemingly unnatural setting.

Musarium

The Artist and the Author
There are many influences on an artist, and natural influences seem to work their way into many an artistic composition.

It is the unique flow of influences that makes an artist an author of a work, because each artist is influenced from a different combination of sources. An author shouldn't be an individual creating a unique work with no outside influence that is locked in time and unadaptable. An author is an artist who serves as a filter for influences, taking the influences in his or her life at the time and creating a new unique work from them that will go on to be an influence for another artist. This process of influences becoming new influences is one of the reasons for certain themes to be carried from artistic form to artistic form. Also, the influences being ultilized by artists don't have to come from other artists. These influences can come from raw sources such as societies, cultures, imagination, and nature. Nature just happens to be one of those sources of influence that seems to see the most use, and why not?

The possibilities for influences stemming from the natural environment is as vast as the world the we inhabit. We are influenced by things that we see everyday, and there is generally something natural in what we see everyday. Therefore, it's only logical that many works should come to incorporate some natural element in all the various multimedia facets on the web.

Thus:
When an artist is surrounded by something (the natural environment), that individual will be influenced in some way.
Nature becomes the most well-traveled influence.
The harsh line between technology and nature is severed.
Artists are influenced by developed and raw sources.
The artist becomes an author through unique expression of influences.
Creativity is allowed to expand and flow.

Authorship Presentation

Author Theory

The author is a portal through which a written or developed creation becomes reality via a multitude of outside influences.

According to Foucault, the creation takes on its own life once the author or portal is removed.

Then, according to Barthes, the creation cannot be deciphered according to the author’s mood or background for deeper meaning. The creation stands alone.

Plus, once this creation is standing alone or becomes common knowledge, it can be taken up by other authors and used to create something completely new.

So, the author loses his or her relevancy. The author is just a portal through which a combination of influences flow to create a final product that adds to a forever growing pool of ideas. One idea is built upon another. Therefore, the emphasis changes from the author to the line of works being created that are establishing new and better ways of expression of an idea. Ultimately, the trend involves always building upon a previous thought for the sake of continuing to develop in culture and society.

Topic Proposal

Topic: A Natural Author

There are many different facets through which creativity is expressed, and the product of this creativity is often in some way influenced by the natural environment. There are products being advertised using bears, puppies, bees, and tigers. There is clothing that possesses the markings of animals such as cheetah, zebra, and leopard. There are home decorations that have nature inspired designs such as floral patterns in bedding, butterfly covered shower curtains, frog shaped dehumidifiers, tomato shaped timers, and turtle shaped iPod speakers. All of these things together have the same influence i.e. nature. However, not every artist's work will represent these inspirations, but each means of expression (writing, photography, miscellaneous artistic ventures) has at least a number of artists who portray natural influences in their work.

Nature is also represented across a spectrum of multimedia writing and art portals, and a single element of nature may also be carried across the spectrum. For example, a willow tree can be described in a writing forum, a photographer can portray the same type of tree suspended in time in a photograph and post it online, and an artist can sketch the flowing leaves in pastels and scan it into a computer. Plus, the artist drawing the flowing leaves may have been influenced by the writer's description of the tree, because this information was readily available to the artist via the web. Therefore, by looking at the influences on artists across a spectrum of forms of expression in multimedia and by looking at the influences carried on from artists by others (all with a focus on the natural environment), a trend should appear showing a great deal of interconnection.

Therefore, this topic has three elements; two have already been brought to light. The first element concerns looking into different forms of creative expression on the web and providing examples of nature's involvement for each creative portal. The second element is seeking out connections amongst these portals, both direct and indirect. The direct connections will be observed as one artist's work being recognized by another and transformed into something anew via that recognized artist's influences. The indirect connections will be observed through common themes seen across the various portals such as the willow tree mentioned in the first paragraph. These two elements thus take on the bulk of the topic and closely pertain to the objectives of the course. The final element is of importance to me alone. I want to ultimately provide an answer (just one, hopefully there will be more answers) to the question of why we need this natural environment. Monetary value for timber and agricultural purposes are a given, but I think there needs to be an inherent value before various habitats that don't provide monetary value will be recognized for what they are worth: inspiration.

These links bring you to just a few of the portals that I want to use. I will undoubtedly need more in order to provide enough insight into certain elements of this topic such as the direct influences amongst artists. This element may prove difficult to research, but I hope to come to a result proving or disproving my hypothesis: There is interconnectedness amongst artist on the web. In any case, all findings provide welcome insight - hypothesis supported or falsified.

Musarium: Media Lab

FM Forums

Elfwood

10,000 Birds

Lethem and Tenner and Authorship

These articles have finally given my brain enough fuel to realize and understand what this research topic needs to be about. For me, it will have a focus in nature as always. My task will be a difficult one. I have found forums associated with wildlife used by the public to answer questions and communicate, but I haven't been able to find something that would bring up the question of authorship other than a Website concerning nature photography and the postings therein. I may need to look into nature writing and its presentation to the masses along with its past influences in order to meet the goals of this topic. Lethem has certainly inspired me when it comes to authorship, and I hope to utilize this new insight to possibly throw another stepping stone in for the nature writing and nature oriented community.

To begin, Jonathan Lethem has provided me with the most inspiration in his examples, imagery, and explanation of the problems with copyright and common knowledge. One thought with which I strongly agree is the idea that through artistic works, other works live on due to their influences on the artist. The artist in turn is not stealing the works that influenced him or her, he or she is utilizing these often life long influences to create a new idea, a new gift to society as Lethem might say.

A photographer may photograph nature, an enormous influence often owned by no one and every one, and make this image his or her own to portray a feeling, a mood, or an influential portrayal of human destruction of a common natural resource. The photographer is not stealing from nature any more than a writer is stealing from previous writers to write.

I think that a big part of the problem with copyright and common knowledge is a need for some morals, morals associated with creativity and artists. As Lethem has mentioned, the mindset should be to gift new creative ventures to society, and society should accept this gift graciously by letting the creator make a living i.e. "Don't pirate my editions; do plunder my visions." The concept makes perfect sense. There is a lyric from a country song running through my head. I can't remember the author at this time as I've only heard the song on the radio without a name ever being mentioned, but the singer says, "you never see a hearse with a luggage rack." This I interpret as a call to do something for the greater good, the common knowledge, and less for personal gain.

However, there is still a fear of this plagiospheric monster in creating or gifting new ideas to the public and common knowledge. Tenner mentioned a development in the making going on at MIT, a non verbatim plagiarism detection system of sorts. If this works, I would suggest using this tool to rule out those who are truly dishonest by using this tool and then having a human evaluation of the document, the human posing the question of, "Is this really plagiarism?" Thus, giving people the tools to police, while also keeping in mind that many artists and writers truly do want to commit their work to the greater good of common knowledge and furthering of a culture or cultures around the world.

My Experience with the Web in Answer to Class Prompt

I am a "digital native" in the sense that I have grown up with the internet, computers, mobile phones, and MP3; however, the extent to which I have used these technologies is probably more limited than most. During the time while I was growing up, we had some computers in elementary school mainly for learning to type or some small math learning lessons. Then, computers were used more for writing and more again for some research and writing. There was only one computer in our home for a long time. I didn't acquire my own computer until the summer before my freshman year in college. Just last year I was given my first iPod after using a less versatile music storage device for a year or so.
So, my usage has been a bit more limited, but I feel that I am learning more. I also feel that this knowledge is important, and if more individuals of my major, Wildlife and Fisheries Resources, were to take a course such as this or simply be more technologically involved, much more progress could be made within this field of study as far as educating the public about what we do.