Project #4 - 1/4 & 2/4: Plant Growth

I killed three plants last year and found out quickly that if I can't take care of a plant how will I be able to take care of dogs, another human being (children or significant other), or even myself if I can't keep a plant alive. So this is in my best interest for this part of the project to keep a plant alive that was gifted to me by Jerry Allan last semester in Aesthetics of Sustainability. He made a valuable point last semester when he stated that there is always a read on the type of person you are based on your abilities to keep a plant alive no matter how busy your schedule is. His first suggestion was to put the bulb suspended over a vase of water which is exactly what I did. I kept forgetting to refill it therefore the plant hasn't been growing the way it should be. So I went out and bought a pot, some plant food and repotted the bulb for this project. Within days the plant was growing phenomenally.

As you can tell I almost killed the plant before As I sat in front of the plant I actually did some research on my computer on what type of environment and the type of nourishment the plant will need in order to survive. Keeping the kitchen temperature monitored and the shades opened while the sun shines through them, the plant has made tremendous progress. Here is a picture taken for the second week of observation:

I did make the mistake of turning off the heat when I left out of town for a weekend to go make beer for my company. I came home and the house was below 35 degrees and the plant was withered away and drooping down. I thought I had killed it. :( I then purchased a small lamp and put it on the plant while feeding it a whole bunch of water and plant food. That seemed to do the trick. What I did notice though was that the plant still has withered spots that appear to be dead. It has devastated me to the point that I am always looking over the plant to ensure it is making progress. I have already gone through two bottles of the indoor plant food which seems to be helping a lot. I also noticed that where the plant is supposed to bloom that that piece has died.

My main goal is to get this plant to full health and watch it flourish into a beautiful bloom this spring.

Project #2: “reflections upon the orange” : Extra : "You're My Best Friend"

Please Enjoy!

Project #2: “reflections upon the orange” : Video Script

Reno Olvera

Citrus   Script

Febraury 9, 2015

This is a comprehensive film that describes the closeness two best friends have and how they recover from downfalls in their friendship

Medium: This video will be shot using a Go-Pro Hero3 Black Edition and a Canon 5d mark ii.

Key:    XLS- Extreme Long Shot

LS – Long Shot

   MS – Medium Shot

   CU- Close Up

   CA – Cut Away

   OTS – Over the Shoulder

Actors: Reno Olvera – Bro 1

Peely Jones – Bro 2

Scene 1 – The Gym

            Setting: In a gym in house, where two bros spot each other while getting an intense workout bro.

            Shot Sequence:

LS Bro 1 sitting on Bench Press calling over to Bro 2 to come spot him in a rep.

                        MS Bro 2 next to weight rolls over to the bench

                        MS Bro 1 Benching

                        OTS Bro 2 while Bro 1 benches

            Dialogue:

                        Bro 1| Bro can you come spot me

                        Bro 2| …

            Shot Sequence: Montage of Bros working out together.  

            Dialogue:

                        Que Bromance Music

            Shot Sequence: Bro 1, sweating and dying from workout runs upstairs opens the fridge while grabbing some orange juice and starts drinking it. OTS of Bro 2 on the counter looking at bro 1 as he turns around to see Bro 2.

            Dialogue:

                        Bro 1| It’s not what it looks like man. Why do we even have this in the fridge to begin with?

                        Bro 2|…

Bro 2 is upset. Bro 1 well his thirst is quenched.

Ideas:

            Are you running out of juice?

            Well orange you going to go yet

           

Scene 2 – Playing Catch with a dog

            Setting: They are at the dog park playing fetch with dogs. Bro 1 is throwing a tennis ball back and forth.

            Dialogue:

                        Bro 1| Now Watch this… (he picks up ball and throws it hard turns around to realize that he just threw Bro 2)

                        Bro 2|…weeeeee

Scene 3 – Video Games

            Setting: Both bros are playing video games

            Dialogue:

                        Bro 1| Hey man your cheating you are just mashing all of the buttons.

                        Bro 2|…

Scene 4 – Card Game

         Setting: Things said at a card game.

Dialogue:

“Dude you’ve never tried a screwdriver…”

“How many oranges does it take to screw in a lightbulb”

“Watch this…”

The Grayson Mix - by Scott Werner

For my second observation I recorded audio of little Grayson. She's only about 8 months old so it's not words but noises that she makes. I originally took the audio files into Adobe Audition but was getting frustrated because it took me twice as long to get the files set up. So I used Cubase Artist 7.5 at home.

Halfway through the track you may think the song is done but that's just a dramatic pause. I put that in because for the most part Grayson is pretty quiet when I'm around. I hope you enjoy and give it a couple listens. I have extra sounds in there you may not hear the first time around.

Brain Project (Before/After)

Before class version and during class version of the brain project! I was looking into how the brain (my brain specifically) develops the same process over time - in this case, drawing portraits. It's interesting to see all the variables and styles that end up as a result of this decision making in approaching a portrait.

Revised Sound Video

My original video is post farther down below. In my revised video I was given critiques to make the sound louder and more obtrusive and off beat to appeal to the frontal lobe with memory and sound more.

Hippocampus and without it.

hippocampus from Christian Sundquist on Vimeo.

I applied the brain more specifically the hippocampus the area responsible for memories. This is a look at what happens when it is not working right giving a person fractured memories.

Password is: creativecritical

Inclass Sound revision

Occipital Lobe Interpretation from Familiar to Unfamiliar

I took my Familiar to Unfamiliar project back to familiar based on how the Occipital Lobe perceives vision. This is my 30 minute redo of this project. I will post both the original and the redo.

First the Original:

Here is the redo:

Considering this part of the brain to my knowledge does not perceive color we need to start the image processing in black and white.

Da Brain

I decided to take a look at the concept of memories and their association with music.

"Alive Inside" kind of blew my mind when I saw it. I have a terrible memory, but I can remember songs, artists, year etc. It freaks my boyfriend out.

The part of the brain that makes the association with is the
Prefrontal Cortex Medial


I randomly picked songs (shuffle) and found photos of memories that I associate them with. I plan on continuing with this project.

"Is this it"

By The Strokes

When I worked at Electric Fetus, we played this album ALL THE TIME. I had a coworker who was utterly obsessed. I also I have a friend that lives in NYC now, Morelia. She adores The Strokes.

"A Well-Respected Man"

By The Kinks

I love love love The Kinks. This song was in the beginning of the movie "Juno" and it made my day. Sometimes when I hear it, it reminds of the movie and then reminds me of Kimya Dawson. She did a lot of the soundtrack. She worked with Eyedea, who passed away five years ago. 

"A Letter From the Government"

Brother Ali

Erik and I go way back. He's a great painter who moved out to NYC. Before he moved, he toured with Brother Ali and Atmosphere as the merch dude. When ever I hear Ali or Atmosphere, it reminds me of him and hanging out for endless hours making art at his studio.

"Human Nature"

Sexton Blake

(covering M. Jackson)

Val and Erin are old friends of mine. I miss them dearly, Erin moved away to Philly and Val is still in town. With our busy lives, we don't connect as often as we should and need to. 

We used to listen to Sexton Blake all the time. Our gaggle had fun fun summers and outdoor fun was endless. 

This is an old friend. This picture was taken before the gals and I went on a bike ride.

He committed suicide last January.

Adventures with Erin and Val

A couple more random songs popped up...

"Fixin' to Die" by Bob Dylan

"Waiting for a Miracle" by Jerry Garcia Band

"No One Knows I am Gone" By Tom Waits

I used to live with a friend, Jen. This is her dog. I came over to her house (after I had moved out) and Kodiak ran over to me and made me feel like a million bucks. He hugged me. 

Jen loves Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan. 

I love Tom Waits. 

We used to listen to a lot of music really loud.

I have super fond memories of living with her.

Strange > Familiar

Reposting for class today.

Temporal Lobe

This is a video that I made last semester, but instead of ending it I altered it by reversing the sound and the images to appeal to the frontal lobe.

Hear the Room. Hit the Box

So my Brain post is a bit odd this week. I am posting the online Unity project (although you may have to allow/ download the unity plugin), although  I will also have two different application versions of the project on Monday as well (as downloading applications from the web tend to lead to security risks).

Also, I should probably add that you hold down the left button (one finger) to look around as well WADS keys to walk around the scene.

The link to the web player is: http://dholbrook.studio.mcad.edu/

Recommended films for seeing another experience & point of view

James A. White Sr.:

The little problem I had renting a house

http://www.ted.com/talks/james_a_white_sr_the_little_problem_i_had_renting_a_house

Recommended films about unique approaches to the brain

Recommended films:



What is it to live on only one side of your brain - the right side of the brain.

Jill Bolte Taylor's Stroke of Insight




Fighting "fixed mind set" - seeing without eyes:
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/544/batman




Becoming Batman




Katie K. Recommended "Alive Inside"  http://www.aliveinside.us/



The minds of Dogs from Nova Science Now  (*Not my favorite, but "Dogs Decoded" is a much longer video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTTuiE1_Oe8






http://www.ted.com/talks/iain_mcgilchrist_the_divided_brain
Iain McGilchrist





The Roll of Microexpressions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBLWh6bbmLE

Orange Pictures

4x4 drawing studios ambience noise

Familiar/Strange

Familiar to Strange:

Strange: Sculptures shown in class

Strange to Familiar:

Strange/Familiar

Strange to Familer - The Unity Monster

Because I am having problems with importing assets into Unity, I have started to nickname the Asset Importer the "Unity Monster". SO to illustrate my frustrations with Unity I made a quick animation within Photoshop to show how a monster can live within the confines of the Unity logo shape (literally all shapes were made from sections of the logo). Enjoy.

Unfamiliar to Familiar - Now it's familiar to you

So as I was spending time thinking about what is something that is not familiar and how to make it familiar, I just couldn't think of what. I remember Abby saying to involve my family in more projects and how it makes for interesting and creative projects. I consulted my teen daughter and she had some pretty good ideas, then 3 hours later I talked to my wife and said I was in a creative block and explained the assignment. Her respsonse was actually trying to be a smart ass but I took it as a fantastic idea.

So I present to you our band, unfamiliar to all of you especially since this was recorded in 2012, well before I started school. The song is called "Number Nine" because for lack of creativity a spin on the Beatles and because it was our 9th song.

The lyrical content is 2-fold. It was inspired by one of the stories in Twilight where the one girl who was to be married ended up being beaten and raped by her soon to be husband and his friends. Carlisle changed her into a vampire and became the attacker seeking revenge and making her attackers the victims. The second fold is that this album is a concept album telling a story about a person who becomes a vampire and then questions their humanity, definition of a soul, definition of god, and thier morals (vampires, philosophy, and a bit of personal experience mixed in). So it fit within the story itself.

I know present my Unfamiliar Band "The Others" with me on Bass Guitar and my wife Jan on Vocals, Nate Sandys on Guitar, LaMont Sandifer on Percussion, Playing the song "Number Nine" from our album "Mind, Self, or Soul"

Essence of Orange

Familiar to Strange, Alvin Lucier; I am sitting in a room.

Alvin Lucier records his voice and then plays it back into the room while recording the playback which degrades the recording until it becomes the natural acoustics of the room.

I am sitting Instagram < This is another take on the same thing but instead of sound it is with pictures. This artist took screen shots of instagram posts. and watching it degrade.

Here is a sound piece I made with Lucier's style but unlike the "I am sitting in a room" piece.

Project 4x4

For this project I decided to expand on the first and pace myself throughout the semester to develop my store. I originally was going to upload whatever I had, but I ended up noticing small edits or mistakes I wanted to fix or make on the prints before I thought about publishing them. I figured this would be better as a long-term project, so I could be making fixes or edits that would enhance the print rather than making hasty decisions and then regretting it later.

Here's the listing: Shipwreck

4x4 Project

Orange Project Experience

Scott Werner - Agent Orange-

I took a different approach by using my process book to sketch out ideas first and see where the rabbit hole would go. I started with the texture of the orange peel and it reminded me of the texture of some footballs. Then the smell reminded me of cleaning materials. More specifically an orange zep we use at work. Next I thought of how the juice from the peel when squeezed through an open flame flares up or ignites. This led me to think of whether it's a citrus juice or maybe an oil that's flammable. Going further down the hole I thought of capturing that flammable liquid and converting it to gas or fuel for our vehicles. Orange truck is the next thought running on orange fuel. Then I thought more environment and replacing wood with compacted orange peels. I felt that I needed to go a different direction from here so I thought of the health benefits with vitamin C and anti oxidants. I looked back up at my sketches, in particular the slice and what was inside. I thought of the pods of juice and my first thought was invasion of the body snatchers. When trying to find pod people I found the body snatcher images. This led me to the last thought of Agent Orange and how we could re-purpose the name by harnessing the citrus smell and making landfills smell better or more Orange.

This was quite the trip through an orange and as I type this at the Mall of America it's only more ironic that I do this while drinking orange juice!

“Interpret the Orange” : Michael’s Orange Cookies and Tea

This weekend I experimented with baking by making Oatmeal and Orange cookies with Orange Tea.

How to make the cookies:

¼ cup of softened butter

¼ cup of brown sugar

¼ cup of honey

1 egg

½ teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 teaspoon of orange juice or orange extract

¼ teaspoon of salt

½ cup of flour

¼ teaspoon of cinnamon

1 cup of dry oats

and ½ cup of orange (preferred small fresh chunks or naturally dried)

Combine the wet ingredients in a bowl and stir together well but do not over beat. 

 Next, combine the dry ingredients in a larger bowl and gently stir in the wet ingredients until well blended.

 Finally, lightly mix in the oranges just until they are evenly spread into the mix. Try not to break the oranges too much when mixing.

Preheat your oven to 375° F and scoop the batter with a tablespoon onto a baking sheet. For mini cookies, use just one decent-sized scoop per cookie. For larger cookies, use 2-3.

 Place the cookies in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until nicely golden brown. Cool for 5 or so minutes.

Note: Cookies will be very soft due to honey. For best firmness, wait an hour for cookies to harden or place in refrigerator.

How to make the tea:

Take the peels of your oranges and place them into a tea steeper, with squirts of orange juice and a teaspoon of honey. Combine with boiled water and steep for 5-10 minutes, or while waiting for cookies to bake. Colouring will be a light yellow or yellow-green, depending on freshness of orange peels. 

Enjoy cookies and tea with a fresh orange for best results!