30 Jan

Death of a cyborg

Remixing high art and sci-fi culture. Via Pinterest.

by Shorra after Bouguereau

by Shorra after Bouguereau

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_First_Mourning; http://www.shorra.com/p217174063/h4e700222#h4e700222

The original depicts the moment when Adam and Eve mourn the murder of their son Abel (by their other son, Cain). What does it do to the picture to have the first humans mourn a cyborg? The cyborg’s body is much more mutilated than the human body in the original–partly to show that he isn’t actually a human, but perhaps suggesting more.

29 Jan

Visual Artifact

I’ve found drawing out my ideas can help me make connections. I used Paper by 53 throughout IDEL to make visual artifacts (as well as video, still life photography etc), and wanted to keep up the practice. Here’s a visual artifact about the history of writing I drew.

I then shared it on 53’s social sharing site, Mix.

A history of writing, by Katherine Firth

A history of writing, by Katherine Firth

The history is not chronological, but concurrent. History is always now for those who read it.

The quartered page suggests a map or survey (as we have previously discussed). It might be a cartoon, with a narrative. Of the pages of a chapbook, before they are folded. Or it might be a collection, a cabinet of curiosities (like Jen’s visual artifact from 2009). Or it might be a storyboard, the preparation for a video (to become somehthing like James’ artifact from 2010). Or it might be a digital-vintage-nostlagic pinboard (like Carol’s artifact from 2011).

I enjoyed remixing photographs, clay carvings, and etchings into drawings and ‘watercolours’ using a digital medium. I couldn’t find my stylus, so I drew and wrote with my finger: very low/high tech!

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Sources for the images:

What is a Chapbook? University of South Carolina Library

Lo Zibaldone di Telemaco Signorini. Archimagazine.

Mesopotamian Scribe. Aidokkan.

Pencil Stylus by 53. Campsite.