Catfish can't be trusted

Catfish

What to say about catfish?  A movie about love?  And how creepy it is to be mislead by an elderly woman? A movie about the pitfalls of the internet?  

It starts with the main character, Nev.  Nev meets a girl, Abby, on Facebook after she sends him a painting of one h nothing to is photos that was put into a New York City newspaper.  Nothing to be suspicious of yet right?  It’s pretty cool actually.  Someone out there, saw your work and sent a painting of it to you?  Everyone likes gifts.  Why wouldn’t Nev?  So they start talking.  Eventually, Nev gets involved with Abby’s sister Megan.  They meet through Abby.  Eventually this progresses to the point of sexting and what appears to the audience as a real relationship. 

However, as time continues on, Nev uncovers some discrepancies with Meg that wedge the sliver of suspicion.   She sends a sample of ‘her’ music to Nev, and it’s discovered that the music sent was actually taken from a YouTube video.

It turns out that everything was fabricated.  Megan wasn’t real.  Abby wasn’t actually painting the pieces that were sent to Nev.  Even Megan’s friends were all constructs.   Everything came from the mother of Megan and Abby.  Why?  Because she wanted to escape her life as an older woman taking care of her husband, two mentally challenged step-sons, her daughter and a job. 

I’m not too sure how to feel for the woman.  She manipulated Nev, exploited her daughter Abby, and probably broke a few copyright laws. However, at the same time, she really didn’t hurt anyone, and she had a fairly good reason to find some kind of escape.  So, what can you do? Nothing more than a wag of a finger, in my opinion. 

There is another larger issue at hand, however.  How much can we trust the internet?  I wrote a while back about ‘whither the individual,’ how privacy affects how we communicate on the web.  We pull back; we don’t say everything that we want for fear that someone will read it, and there will be repercussions afterwards.  I believe that Nev experienced what happens when you overextend yourself on the net.  What seemed real and intimate was actually all a farce.  

Why "Exit through the Gift Shop" makes my blood boil

Art for the common man.  You don’t have to go to an exhibit, or a museum, or a gallery.  To see this art, all that’s needed to get our art fix is to walk out into those city streets and keep a sharp eye out. Of course, I’m talking about graffiti art.  An artist’s creation of expression placed in everyday places for everyday people to view.   The artist wants to be heard, and display a message for everyone to see.  The motivation doesn’t lie in money or benefits, but the simple fact that the artist wanted to because it’s important to them. 

 

Artists that hold the spotlight in Banksy’s Exit through the Gift Shop include Space Invader, Shepherd Fairy, and Banksy himself.  Each has their own style and message.  Space Invader pastes his Space Invader characters across cities.  Shepherd Fairy posting his ‘Obey’ posters on walls, billboards, everywhere.  However, in my opinion, Banksy’s works have the most to say.  At one point in the film, Banksy sets up a mock blow up Guantanamo Bay prisoner in Disney Land in protest of the treatment that goes on in the infamous prison.  Furthermore, Banksy sets up a gallery showing and paints an elephant the same design as the wallpaper of the gallery.  Essentially, stating that people are blind to what’s right in front of them. 

To these artists, it’s about expression. 

However the artists aren’t the protagonists in this film.  No the main role goes to Thierry Guetta, a merchant from LA who loves to film everything.  Eventually Thierry gets involved into graffiti art through his supposed relation – Space Invader.  It escalates to Thierry meeting Banksy himself.  At that point, Thierry had a very encompassing view of what the graffiti art movement was about. 

Now I had no problem with this Frenchman from California.  I really didn’t.  Until he tried to make art himself toward the end of the film. All those styles Thierry was exposed to, as well as ones he had picked up from books, were manufactured, commercialized, into his own gallery showing.  Thierry hired artists to create for him – having no talent himself.  His show was a success.  Thousands of people came to his show Life is Beautiful.  Shortly afterwards his pieces would sell for thousands of dollars apiece.  Now where is the message there?  Was Thierry really ‘all about the movement’ or was he in it for the money?

It looked like it was about the money to me.  As an artist myself, Thierry complete lack of style, originality and even tact, burns me to no end.  He made money off of others’ skill and creativity…

But maybe that righteous fury that the film evokes is the point?  There’s speculation that the film is a mockumentary.  Something Banksy created to send another message to the world.  To show how wrong commercialized art really is.  To juxtapose creativity, originality and style with cheap knock offs that don’t have any meaning what so ever. 

Status Report - Grades

Vectorize your Bitmaps 'X^)

So I did this already in my digital media class.  taking a picture of my bag seen here...

 

Then using the trace tool  I was able to break the image down to vector shapes based on the color tones in the image.  For the project they were simply rearranged and given text to be incorporated in the piece.  I call it Autumn.

Vectors Illustrator

Nevermind!  For times sake I had to change my target piece to the android logo done by 

~Psychopulse 

My version came out different but I like it.  I used the pen, shape, sunflare, and gradient tools.  Making it look like this... 

 

Hope you enjoy!

 

Vector Shapes

My Vector Logo that I will be practicing in Adobe Illustrator with is a piece called Glacien by imrik on DeviantART.com.  imrik does work in rallying artists to produce work and raise awareness for climate change on http://www.gaia10.us/.  His vector art is beautiful and represents the beauty of the earth that we're trying to save.  We'll see if I can emulate him at all.

 

Whither the Individual

In the last two decades, the internet has had one of the most profound effects on society in history.  With it, people find an outlet for their creativity and opinions, as well as a hub for endless information.  This didactic relationship of producing and receiving between the user and the net has made it possible for users to meet through their own content.  Websites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and DeviantART have been created with this concept in mind – users generating content and uniting through that.  Connectivity is the word of the day on the internet.  However, while increased connectivity and speed of information flow is seen as a enormous technological leap, negative backlashes to such fast communication are apparent.  A big concern is privacy. 

With technology on the rise the effects of such creations are beginning to be recognized, but perhaps not fully understood.  The Internet is a powerful medium with which modern participants interact with continuously throughout their day; additionally, the economy only feeds into this mass-craving for interaction on the internet and others who use it.  In 1992, the first smartphone, IBM’s Simon, was created, capable of sending and receiving email, fax etc. along with all the functionality of a normal cellphone.  Presently, the industry for smartphones has exploded with multiple brands and numerous capabilities.  Among these capabilities is internet connection to social networking sites such as facebook, twitter, myspace… This functionality of using the internet while mobil has made the user inseparable from the net. 

One of Marshall McLuhan’s famous quotes stated “the Medium is the Message.”  This means that it is the use of technology and its effect on culture/society that is the real message, not the content of the technology.  What is the message of a constantly connected user? 

One message is psychological.  Imagine the possibility of losing all of your privacy – everything you said could be scrutinized by a stranger.  Essentially that is what happens on the internet.  Our cyber profile, all our comments and public info, can usually be found by simply plugging in a username into to google.  This can be done by our potential employers, our parents, our neighbors, anyone.  For instance, should a person type into google “DustedInPastels,” my username, one would find quite a bit about me.  There would be my limited view facebook page (if your weren’t my friend), my deviantART page, this blog, my Xmarks account, an old fanfiction.net account, and slew of reviews and comments I’ve written.  So simply from google, what could anyone know about me at any given time?  My name and picture for one.  Beyond that Facebook would go further and present someone my interests, likes, dislikes, books I’ve read, Movies I’ve seen etc.  DeviantART would show what I’ve made as well as my favorites of other artists’ work from the site.  As a “cyber person,” I have an identity that is viewable to the general public, but how does that effect me?

Some say that when a person joins social groups and displays his/herself online there is a certain loss of ego where one must restrain how much of themselves they express.  This is has truth to it.  An article written by Sandra Davie on Asiaone.com describes a woman, Cecelia Lei, who was fired from her work at an electrics company for complaining online about her boss.  While the name of her supervisor was never used nor was the name of the company, Ms. Lei was dismissed after the company read remarks about her “Hitler” like boss and his “Nazi-style” management.  When she was questioned about the remarks, she stated that what she did in her private life was none of the company’s business.  This isn’t an isolated incident either.  In 2008, backup lineman to the University of Texas Long Horns Buck Burnette was booted from the team after Obama’s election for a racist remark he posted on his facebook status.   While he apologized in length afterwards, unfortunately the damage was done. 

Occurrences of people being penalized for remarks made online are all too common when so much of our expression is constantly posted online. The message, by McLuhan’s definition, is a more wary user of the internet.  I’m sorry but that picture of you passed out with a beer in your hand with permanent marker all over your face probably shouldn’t be posted if you’re applying for a job.  It will be seen. 

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphone

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Y#Communication_and_interaction

http://www.asiaone.com/Business/Office/Learn/Story/A1Story20080511-64480.html