Ok, so this song is supposed to play when you open this page… I am very angry at my digital self for giving up, but it will be there one day as a gadget like it is supposed to be… so if you don’t mind a little music while you…

This week was an especially special week both in ILT and in my summer expeditions, as we continue to read about participation, I become more involved in the digital and take the same philosophies to my reality life to become a more active participant in the community. 

Even though each …

Before I die, Candy Chang, New Orleans 2011

In a prolific example of participatory art, New Orleans artist Candy Chang has created an epidemic of expression, hope, and prosperity through her expansive graffiti murals. Much like the participation necessary for an affinity ‘convo’ to take place, or the public annotation …

http://www.zachwhalen.net/posts/imj-a-web-based-tool-for-visual-culture-macroanalytics/

What the heck is macroanalytics, visual culture and why would you make a movie barcode? 
While completing a recent Ds106 assignment I stumbled on this web page that takes movie stills and turns them into bar codes, montages and plots. Cool right- Well if you follow the directions…Thankfully I…

My IMJ  Gene Davis Phantom Tattoo, 1965

This weeks Ds106 assignment did not turn out exactly like I had hope, true to nature this is one that you have to follow the directions, and we all know that I fall a little short in that department.

I wanted to do…

Graffiti in Middle School: students interacting with Professional grade sprays and a professional artist. 

As I look back on my experiences this week, I can’t stop thinking about how all this love got started. This week, I feel reaffirmed in my teaching style and process, building relationships and focusing on …

” if you obey all the rules, you end up loosing all the fun” The sibling team of Osgemeos‘s work can be seen around the world, the two have been collaborating since birth and have worked with names like Banksky, JR and other top contributors in the industry. Their…

This is a story that broke awhile back, but because I was so disgusted at the ‘artist’ lack of humanity and intelligence and her use of digital affinity, I wasn’t sure how to add it to my affinity space without giving her any more credit or publicity. Unlike Banksy, this…

Perhaps one of my favorite Ds106 assignment bank options yet… I love when my digital self and my reality self get to come together to create something, each gets to play an important role in the production, with an end product that both are happy with. At the beginning of …

Keith Haring was one of the original graffiti artists, his works were viewed by millions in the subways and streets of New York before ‘hitting it big’ and being included in multiple galleries and museums across the world. Haring’s work is a true testament of his character, love, peace, and…

             ” People get tired from words” Shamisa Hassani This week, I finally dove in, I mean all the way- It takes a lot, but as I read Jenkins, and participated in the ‘flashmob annotation’ of Jeremy Dean’s Social reading and writing in the classroom…

It is so inspiring to hear a story like this, (and this is not the only one you will find) Shamsia Hassani takes what is a devistating situation and creates beauty for all to see using a medium that is transforming the way we think about art. 



The creators:  The…

By now you should know that I am not a great rule follower. I let my kids listen to their music with explicit lyrics during class, allow the use of phones, deviate from the crap curriculum that the district has laid out for use of a more creative states (NYC…

El Vendedor De Alcatraces, Diego Rivera 1941 It is important that from time to time we stop and remind ourselves what it is that we are seeking, what is it that we hope to contribute and obtain in our daily interactions with the world that we live in. In reaching…

“Right now, the digital is relevant, present, and is that thing that seems to provide the most interesting possibilities and the most contentious challenges in the scholarship and practice of teaching and learning“-Sean Michael Morris, 2016 Wrapped in Reichstag, Berlin Germany- Christo, 1995
I couldn’t agree more, in…

“??The Floating Piers”?? on Lake Iseo by the Bulgarian artist Christo on June 8, 2016, in Iseo, Italy. The obscure artist Christo has done it again, transforming the here into the now, transcending nature to another realm, creating a heaven on earth for all to enjoy. To his amusement I…

As we travel through education and life, hopefully were are challenged to be creative in multiple ways, to challenge what has been put before us, and change the things we do not like, but what is creativity? What is ‘being’ creative? Are creativity and artistic synonymous, or just related? Do …

Charles the first, Jean- Michael Basquiat, 1982

Jean-Michael Basquiat’s artistic endeavors were short lived, as he left this earth prematurely at the age of 28. His work exploded on the New York seen only shortly before his untimely death, but in that short time he took the art of graffiti …

“Indeed, the genuine sophistication of even the most basic audio and editing programs and the possibility of drawing on existing media to resource DIY media projects mean it is quite possible for the everyday person to create a polished product without necessarily being “artistic”Lanksher and Knobel (2008) After reading this…

After reading this week’s Lankshear and Knoble:(2008) Ch1: DIY Media, I decided to tackle a review of a You Tube Video that has made the rounds lately on Facebook, Pintrest and other media websites. For this critique I will be looking at media grammar, story and voice/creativity. 

The video is …

6 Second lesson- Well here is something that makes me feel a little ‘Bob Ross‘ on crack, minus the afro and acrylic. Though I refrained from mentioning happy trees and clouds, I think he would have still been proud, and really anyone could compose a similar image by…

As we continue to learn and add to our repertoire of digital understanding, I feel our learning developing like a Holton Rower painting, ever changing and flowing, not sure what it will look like in the end. 

You can say that Rower’s work is a re-mix of the color field …

Urban Street Art, from the way back-  re-mixed Lascaux Cave Paintings- Dordogne region of southwestern France, circa Paleolithic Period, 2 million years ago
Take a virtual tour

It was a conversation this week via Hypothesis, that re-sparked my attention to the earliest form of storytelling, and street Art. The Caves …

“They always say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” – Andy Warhol Remind you of a mindset from Lankshear & Knobel (2007) Chapter 1: Sampling “the New” in New Literacies? Warhol was the positive mindset that allowed art to move forward and allow the everyday…

DS106 Audio Assignment

                                                                   http://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/sounds-effects/ Keeping true to my passion, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to make…

Convergence 1952, Jackson Pollock Jackson Pollock’s style of painting, as exemplified by Convergence, is one of the most important, innovative developments in the history of painting. When Pollock created the painting, the United States was at the induction of the ‘cold war’ with Russia. Convergence was the embodiment of free speech,…

Who doesn’t love the enigma that is Bansky, is he real, is he more than one person, does he even exist…

“Its easier to get forgiveness that it is to ask permission”quote left behind on a paper left at the site of the Bristol Tag

This week for a critique …

WHAT LIFTS YOU?  Kelsey Montague may not be a household name, but one day she will grace the pages of art history books and may become one of the most famous female street mural artists.

See for yourself first hand the creative works behind what I think will become a …