Short & Sweet

OK, I have to brag about my game design students. They were featured on WV public radio, sounding all smart and kewl. Idit Caperton of Globaloria fame also was featured, making it something  you should really listen to.

Phew. That's off my chest and I feel so much lighter.

Who knew?

 If you thought games were solely for entertainment, think again.

"Seventy percent of major employers utilize interactive software and games to train employees according to... the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). The study data also showed that more than 75 percent of businesses and non-profits already offering video game-based training plan to expand their usage in the next three to five years. And more than three-quarters (78%) of organizations not utilizing this technology today are likely to offer it in the next five years."    - from the Entertainment Software Association's website.

Creating a Body of Work

I'm currently collaborating with Kitty Clark and Colleen Tracy on a dance/multimedia work called Mood House. Mood House is a multi-disciplinary performance for proscenium stage that will premiere in April 2010 at Shepherd University and at Berkeley Springs High School auditorium. It will include original choreography (Kitty), ‘artfits’ (Colleen) and video projections(Me). This project is funded by the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

We're organizing our thoughts on a wiki... everything from what the house layout will be, to documenting our influences. I'm not sure how well this will work. Colleen and Kitty are traditional artists in that they work with physical assets. Things like bodies and fabric and movement. Contact on the wiki goes in fits and spurts. I can't know if this simply reflects our progress on the work as a whole, or if it is reflecting the awkwardness of translating a process for the first time onto an online workspace.

Looking for inspiration, last night I spent a lot of time revisiting the music video work of Spike Jones and Michel Gondry. The latter is my absolute favorite. The video he did for the Chemical Brothers' Let Forever Be achieved a beautiful blend of music, dance, sculptural objects and video integration. I'm hoping to create a similar spirit for Mood House.


While watching exceptional work inspires me, last night I was also filled with a deep sense of sadness. Will I find the time to make an artistic work? I look at some of my old friends and see they have created meaningful pieces. I have spent my time making commercial efforts... not the things that will stand the test of time I'm afraid. My entry into the academic world will hopefully support my aspirations.

Fun Factor Kicks into Gear

Confessions of a Digerati

Of late I have found myself limiting the time I spend online. I read my email twice a day now: once upon arriving at work, and once when I'm leaving. I log into Facebook only once a day.

While this may seem a conflicted message for an i-phone wielding teacher of new media, it nonetheless seems to be a trend in my life. And a trend for others.

I think designer Stefan Sagmeister would understand. For those of you unfamiliar with his work, Sagmeister is a respected designer perhaps most famous for an AIGA poster where he carved the information into his own flesh. Recently Sagmeister closed his studio for a year-long sabbatical, explaining the time would be used to "refresh his creative outlook."

Teaching five classes, all intensive in computer use, leaves me at the end of the day appreciative of the non-digital world. The touch of paper in a fine book... the smell of beets roasting in the oven, and the din of children after a soccer game ground me.

Do I want to play a Wii, or PS3? Read up on the latest advances in technology? Loath as I am to admit it, no. I want to create, and use the computer as my tool, but the constant influx of media messages has reached a saturation point.

Humbled by beauty and cleverness

This animation amazes me. It is a reminder to me how much more I like hand-crafted items over slickness.

COMBO a collaborative animation by Blu and David Ellis (2 times loop) from blu on Vimeo.

Media Eats Me Alive

OK, so I've been having an incredibly active life recently. Not in the "ohmygodimoverwhelmed" kind of way. But rather in the "woo-hoo aint life grand" kind of way. In fact, I've had so many thoughts I've found it hard to even approach blogging. Which thing should I let come to the surface? What should I focus on?

Well, clearly that approach wasn't working. I never got around to focusing on anything.
So today, I will embrace the flood of ideas and simply give highlights.

1. The Farmer's Market in Shepherdstown has not only nourished my body, but my intellect as well. Bill Mayer humorously pointed out why when he wrote: "The research is in: high-fat diets makes you lazy and stupid. Rats on an American diet weren't motivated to navigate their maze and once in the maze they made more mistakes. And, instead of exercising on their wheel, they just used it to hang clothes on. Of course we can't ban assault rifles - we're the first generation too lazy to make its own coffee. We're the generation that invented the soft chocolate chip cookie: like a cookie, only not so exhausting to chew."
2. Ted Talks are amazing and motivating. Never heard of them? You must check them out. (Confession: I have had a crush on David Carson since I heard him speak back in the 90s. If a video could be dog-eared, his presentation on Design + Discovery would be in tatters.) I want to watch one every day and emerge a smarter person.
   
3. I'm hooked on NPR's podcasts of The Moth. (Yup, my favorite ones are inevitably the ones marked "explicit.")  I found myself at the sidelines of my kids' soccer games on Saturday with earplugs on, cozy in my hoodie, laughing out loud. Sure I got some looks from the other parents, but it helped my soul to hear about Burning Man.
4. Flash can be fun. Especially when it involves animated cows. That's all I'm sayin'.
5. You can use a wiki to collaborate on a dance piece. Who knew?
6. Facebook makes birthdays fun.
   

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-maher/new-rule-if-america-cant_b_299383.html