visiting a foley stage with Conan O'brien

I saw this over the summer and thought it was hilarious. It seemed relevant to share it because of our next project.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/76063/the-tonight-show-with-conan-obrien-conan-does-foley-part-1 <-- making sound effects

http://www.hulu.com/watch/76091/the-tonight-show-with-conan-obrien-conan-does-foley-part-2 <-- adding sound effects

throat singing

ok... so i first heard throat singing during this movie. It's the first thing you hear, but feel free to finish the trailer because it's a great movie. (good date movie by the way guys!!!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd3KsL9oIOg&feature=PlayList&p=39FF344EF6CB1FEE&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=41

here is one traditional throat singing example... it is used in a few different cultures... they are all slightly different so enjoy the related links too! :]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCLZMzDq5HQ&feature=related

~Sarah

Chris Hill - Yuganaut at Krannert Art Museum

I went to a performance by a group called Yuganaut two thursdays ago. I thought it was relevant to our Time Arts class as the performance focused on the combination of sound and video they had created. The group consisted of a guy on keyboard who also played a lot of child like instruments not too different from what we saw in the Hysterical Alphabet performance. There was also a man playing instruments ranging from the tuba to upright bass in a combination of traditional and ultra-creative techniques. The last member played the trumpet, drums, and bango-- sometimes at the same time!! As far as the sound was concerned it ranged from some classical jazz portions to something that sounded like traditional Indian music. There was an vast diversity of sounds and directions the performance went in and it kept the hour performance extremely active.

Included on about every other song would be a video they made. Some would be simple shapes and movements that seemed to be more of a compliment to the music, but there was a specific portion I remember that included a 5 minute long take of a guy riding his bicycle through a city. The shot was very hectic and was quite suspenseful accompanied with the sound. This specifically reminded me of our class as we were doing the long take the same week as this performance. Their video quality was raw and dynamic, and the band was at times playful with the audience. Some of their newer songs the group seemed a little confused even, but it was enjoyable in the intimate setting.

I would have to say some of their video definitely seemed to be up to par with the music and on the same level, but at times it seemed like more of an after thought and was over shadowed by the amazing music.

Anyways, if this sounds at all interesting you can check out their myspace at:

http://www.myspace.com/yuganaut

Javier - Current Link Gallery Display

There are some really good displays in the Link right now. I really like the one with 3d photographs. Yep, 3d photographs. I don't know how it works but these things look amazing. Maybe its because I haven't seen anything like it before but it definitely caught my eye and attention just based on the medium. But I also like the content. The dark rooms with the light from the windows creates a nice flow. It also helps the objects pop out more.

There is some other interesting stuff as well, like the "Trophy" photos which feature animals decorated with jewelry in cruel looking ways. I felt so bad for that bunny.

The metal wire sculptures are neat and intricate as well. They look very simple but the craft is well done.

And the display with the walls covered in photos of bright lights/sun is very cool because of the setup. Those lights surround you and it feels nice.

Javier - Thoughts on Mendi + Keith Obadike

As stated the artists were Mendi + Keith Obadike. This event was part lecture and part performance.

They began with some sort of quiz on sheet of paper. They collected it afterwards and said we could check our scores on their website. I was a tad bit late so I didn't hear what their intention for the quiz was. It was a multiple choice quiz with what seemed to be random questions since most of the questions had no direct relation to each other. But I thought the quiz was thought provoking. Some of the questions had answers that were all as valid so it made me wonder more about what this quiz was for.

After this they presented a brief history of past projects. Many of them looked interesting and it was a bummer that the audience at this event couldn't partake directly in them as some had physical set ups that were not there. I specifically would have liked to play the video game with the fox and the dog. Also the project about making your own spam email. These seemed more interesting to me and I suppose its because there is something to interact with.

The performance at this event was in the way of song/reading and visuals on screen. The first performance was a preview from Four electric Ghosts since it wasn't the full stage setting. This project seems very much like a play because of the presentation of it. I thought that the songs even had more of a musical quality rather than what we define as artistic performance. But from the images they showed I do get a sense of performance art in the full presentation. There are lights, stages,and actors but I'm sure there is performative dance in it.

The other songs came from a different project. This one definitely seemed much more like artistic performance reading and that is because her delivery was not as musical. She didn't sing but read instead. The intentional randomness of the performance also adds to the artistic quality.

Overall I was satisfied with the duration and style of the event. But I would have liked to see more installation based presentation as well. And it would have been cool if some of the performers from Four Electric Ghosts were there to perform some of the dances.

Mendi + Keith Obadike

Thursday, October 1

6pm: Artist Performance

On-Screen exhibiting artists perform A Concert Reading. Using music text, and visual images, they will present excerpts from a range of projects that remix narratives from popular films, video games, and literature.

The performance at first was entertaining and mysterious at the same time. Mendi was singing (sounded like Blues/ Soul music), while Keith was playing some beats through a small machine with multiple buttons and wires and there was an image of a computerized tree with abstract shapes as the leaves and grass and the sun and clouds. It was very interesting! Prior to this, she had passed out a quiz asking questions such as, "If there was any personal information that you were forced to give out...what would it be? Your credit card number, social security number or email address?" The two things didn't seem to have any relation, but soon after passing out the quizzes she started the performance, through which she narrated the story of three girls that were struck by lightning and had ended-up in a land called electric town...where everything was new and the trees glowed and the leaves were like light bulbs...this was the image that was projected on the screen while she narrated the story. The way she narrated was moving, her voice was deep and intimate & she really drove emotion through the words in the piece...there seemed to be hints of racial issues in her piece, but it seemed unclear. Her final performance just had certain lines of racial issues and she said some of the words using just the end vowels and syllables and then restated them with the full words...it created rhythm and helped a beat flow through; she would also tap on her chest to create certain beats and rhythm as well. I wish she explained her pieces further, because even though they were interesting and thought provoking, I left the show still confused and puzzled as to what her purpose for performing the way she did was. I feel like her performance would make a great Audio track to listen to though, especially with the various beats and background music that Keith created to compliment her soulful voice.