Interesting Public Art

I was browsing some public art videos and found a pretty funny, interesting Japanese art demonstration. Not sure if many would call it public art, but it is such a broad category, so I guess it fits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZgD1am-SgQ&feature=related

Presentation

I'm a little worried about my presentation and project. I'm confident in my theme, but 5 minutes is a lot of time to fill. I feel like I'm going to run out of things to say! It will be helpful to see others' presentations and what they talk about to get an idea of what I should say. Not copy, just have an example. Also, it should be interesting to see what topics people chose and how they represent them.

Forgetfullness

I've really been neglecting my blog lately and need to get more on the ball with regularly posting. It's just with so much going on, sometimes it can be hard to remember.

On a more class-related note, I'm really enjoying the visual essay assignment. I love photography and public art, so a combination of the two is great for me. I also really enjoy learning about the concept a visual essay from the Mitchell reading and from actually creating one. Photography is a huge interest of mine, so seeing an essay in photograph form is just really cool to me.

Mitchell Essay

As I read my section, Spy and Counter-Spy, I just kept thinking about my own visual essay and how I would use text to guide the audience through the essay. In "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" Evans does not have any sort of caption, description, title, date, even numbers to go along with his pictures. Agee writes a "Book 2" that follows the "Book 1" of photos, but the reader has no guidance through the pictures, no help at all. This is somewhat of an extreme of describing that photography is and isn't a language. I would say that this case emphasizes the point that photography is a language because the audience should be able to "read" the photographs to "read" the essay. The photos are in no specific order. Mitchell says they don't tell a story, so what makes them an essay and not just a collection of pictures?

So, do I need text? Do I even need to talk during my presentation? Should I let the audience guess what the pictures are? Should I guide them through? I will put some sort of caption/explanation/description because my personal opinion is that context gives the audience more reality on the situation. They are guided and have an idea of where they are going. What they think of it and how they interpret the meaning is up to them, but context can help them form these ideas.

Banksy

Talking about the types of public art in class yesterday made me think about one of my favorite artists Banksy. He's a British street artist know for his political activism. He started as a free hand graffiti artist but picked up stenciling because it was much faster. His works usually involve rats, policemen, monkey, soldiers, and kids. They usually portray an idea of anti-capitalism, anti-war, or anti-establishment but in a creative and interesting way that really makes you think. There's a movie about him, Exit Through the Gift Shop, and a book of a collection of his work, Wall and Piece.
Here are some of my favorites of his...

And an interview...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxzsfZkH9Bw&feature=related
(Just a warning there's some profane language in it)

And a clip from a British culture show about him...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e0IJSOq0xg