Brion Gysin & The Dream Machine

Brion Gysin was a painter, writer, sound poet and performance artist born in Buckinghamshire, England in 1916. He became a huge influence in the beat culture of the late 1950's. He is known for his development of the artistic technique called "the cut-up." This is a method of destroying a printed text and cutting it up into pieces, then reforming it in a way that the same text is used but reordered. The dream machine was developed  in the late 1950's. It was a hollow paper cylinder with slits cut up the sides and a lightbulb suspended in the center. It was placed on a turntable so it would spin on its own. The holes allowed light to flicker at about 10-13 pulses per second. The pulsing light stimulates the nerves in the eyes to alter the viewers brainwaves. After a bit of time, bright and intricate patterns of color would appear behind their eyelids. The pulses allow the viewer to enter a relaxed state, similar to sleeping and dreaming.


I found a strange but interesting video of William Burroughs and Brion Gysin, with some fragmented poetry as narration to the creation of some sort of project.

Bauhaus & McCarthyism

Bauhaus is artistic style of architecture which because influential to Modernist architecture. Bauhaus wasn't a formal group, but a school of study. Walter Gropius, Hannes Meye and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe became synonymous with Bauhaus as they were architect-directors of the early 1920's-30's. Function was desired over aesthetic pleasure, pieces are normally asymmetrical as opposed to symmetrical and space was looked at over mass. These characteristics were used to create a modern & futuristic look.




McCarthyism was a practice named after President McCarthy, which took place largely in the early 1950's. During this time accusations of disloyalty to the country and treason were often made without specific evidence. During this time of Communism, fears and hysteria were brought about as the president encouraged citizens to distrust their neighbors. This disrupted society much more than the war would have by itself, turning neighbor against neighbor and allowing propaganda to run rampant.

Dada Manifesto and Dan Eldon

"How does one achieve eternal bliss? By saying dada. How does one become famous? By saying dada. With a noble gesture and delicate propriety. Till one goes crazy. Till one loses consciousness..."

Hugo Ball suggests the power of the word dada in his Dada Manifesto. It's extremely interesting that this group created not only a new form of art, but a way of life which was unconventional -- in their time and in ours. Ball describes dada as a therapeutic method for reforming life. "A line of poetry is a chance to get rid of all the filth that clings to this accursed language...Dada is the heart of words." He never actually suggested mixed media art as a part of dadaism but mainly as a form of poetry and language. This basis gave way to a whole mode of art which was previously non existent, a fact which is extraordinary.

In Ball's time period his words inspired a plethora of art and poetry, but his inspiration did not stop in his lifetime. Dan Eldon was a journalist and artist who lived from 1970-1993. Sadly, his work didn't gain popularity until after his death in 1993. He was researching the starvation in Somalia and was stoned to death. He and a group of colleagues went to photograph the site of a bombing, and a group of onlookers who were angry about the bombing attacked the group until they died.

While this end is indubitably tragic, Eldon left behind art which is obviously inspired by the artful insanity of Dadaism.

Video games & Bullying

Many think that video games lead to bullying due to the violence which many video games include. It seems that enacting this violence in a virtual world will lead to violence in the real world. Such believers use events like the Columbine shooting as proof of such causal relations. But from my view, it seems that violence is a part of human nature. One will either use the video game as an outlet for violence or a propellant for violence depending on inherent nature. It seems to me that usually video games bring together people who may be out bullying otherwise. Virtual R.P.G's allows player to form relationships that would otherwise be nonexistent, a way for people who may be "socially awkward" to excel in an area which may not be available to them in the real world.

Steve Jobs: How Apple got its name

^(doesn't start until about 30 seconds in)

As stated in the video above the name Apple came about basically because Steve Jobs really liked apples. He had returned from an apple orchard the weekend before they began to pitch names for the company, and he thought the name "Apple Computer" sounded fun & not intimidating like IBM and other such companies. Also, Steve adds in the video (with a laugh) that Apple would put the company ahead of Atari in the phone book, a company which Jobs had previously worked for.

Ray Kurzweil: The Coming Singularity

Ray Kurzweil is known as an author and a futurist. He grew up in Queens, New York and went on to study at M.I.T. He has written a few books, The Age of Intelligent Machines, The 10% Solution for a Healthy Life, The Age of Spiritual Machines, The Singularity Is Near and others. He has also invented many technologies, such as a classical music synthesizing computer, an optical character recognition system (a system so a computer could recognize text) and the Kurzweil K250, a machine capable of imitating numerous instruments.

He is known for various predictions about the future. In the video above he discusses his theory of "The Singularity." This theory states that in 20 years computers will be able to simulate the human brain. He states that computer technology is increasing exponentially and eventually the human mind will be unable to function unless intersected with technology.

MZTV & OTR

On the MZTV website I was interested in the "Television in Quotes" exhibit because it seems like various quotes would be an interesting way to gain insight into the culture of television.

"The T.V business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs" -Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter Thompson points out the worst aspects of television, regarding it as a superficial wasteland which brings out the worst in people. I wouldn't disagree with his perspective, I'm sure "the industry" and all of its competition has led good people to be led astray. Most of the other quotes in the exhibit express a similarly negative viewpoint on television.

http://www.megaloradio.com/audio/Buck_Rogers_1939_04_05_Gyro_Cosmic_Relativator_01.mp3

I listened to Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: Gyro Cosmic Relativator. It was interesting the way advertisements were presented, they didn't sound pre-recorded like advertisements of today. The radio host spoke in them and the boy who was chosen to speak the advertisement stumbled over his words at one point, not something which would have happened in a pre-recorded ad. The way they started the Buck Rogers segment was also cool, they sound effects they used made it sound like some sort of rocket. The characters also heavily relied on physical descriptions which was interesting because without that the story would not have the same effect. I sort of wish this form of entertainment was still popular, it seems humanity's sense of imagination and creativity would be heightened.

Flipbook

Music: Living for Kicks by Bassnectar (2002)

War of the Worlds (1938 Radio Broadcast)

"The War of the Worlds" is a book written by H.G Wells in 1898. On October 30th 1938, Orson Welles used the text as a base for a radio broadcast which sent many into hysteria. His broadcast convinced many that aliens were in fact invading the planet Earth. Welles read with convincing vigor, presenting the story in news bulletins which made the whole thing that much more dramatic and seemingly real. While there were indications that the broadcast was fiction, many missed these disclaimers. The population was also generally on edge due to the imminence of World War II.

What happened to Walter Carlos?

In 1939 Walter Carlos was born in Rhode Island. In 1968, he used a Moog synthesizer (an analog synthesizer) to record J.S Bach's music and made a name for himself in the musical field. In 1971 he wrote and performed the musical score for A Clockwork Orange. In 1972 Walter had a sex change operation and changed her name to Wendy. She has stated that ever since she was a child, she felt that she was more feminine than masculine, always having a liking for long hair and female clothing. In 1979 she came out with her operation in Playboy, she had been keeping it a secret from the public and used this as an outlet to liberate herself further.

As far as the use of Singing in the Rain in A Clockwork Orange, initially I would've thought that it was the director's stab at irony. Using a cheerful, playful song to remind the audience of a reality which is non-existent in the world of Alex DeLarge. But, when I researched it, it is said that Stanley Kubrick wanted to make the scene where the thugs attack the writer and his wife. He asked him to dance and sing during it and Singing in the Rain was the only song he knew all the words to.

Earthquake & The Matrix

I asked my mom about the movie Earthquake and she did recall seeing it in theaters. She didn't have any interesting stories about people fainting or the ceiling falling on the audience, but she did mention the technology which had an impact on her viewing experience. She remembered the surround sound system which was installed in the movie theater and how everything was so loud and intense that the seats shook. Clearly, the technology did as it was intended to if she remembers its effect over 30 years later.

I watched The Matrix after our last class and I thought that it was an extremely complex and interesting movie. The story line was extremely simulating and could not have been realized without the technology they used and  developed. A time freezing photographic technique was used to simulate the slow motion bullet dodging which   the movie is famous for. There had to be some sort of green screen/ animation technology used to create some of the more complex scenes. I've definitely never seen a movie like it before.