HUM 102: New Media Art Zine Portfolio

Introduction

Four months worth of unique artworks. This is what the course HUM 102: New Media Art offered me This zine is a collection of my artworks per study guide including the rationale behind every artwork. There is a spread omethingdedicated to each submission each having their own design that is similar to that of the artwork’s aesthetics

It is important for me to preserve the artworks’ aesthetics in every page because each artwork’s visual appeal gives a feeling unique to that artwork. With every turn of a page in this zine folio, I want to feel something different, much like being in a journey with different destinations. The concept of journeying into each page is the same experience I got in this course Besides getting a different feeling each time, this also serves as a journey into different art techniques and aesthetics under new media art.

This portfolio is my journey into new media art As I look back into my artworks in this zine folio, I see the journey of learning, exploring, and trying something new. Within four months, I experienced a lot and saw the diversity of new media art

Denise Macam Zine Folio Editor & Creator

DIGITAL REFLECTION

An art that represents my first impression and expectations of the course. How did they change along the way?

My digital reflection of HUM 102 is a movie poster because I have the same anticipation in HUM 102 as in an upcoming movie. I don’t watch movie trailers because I prefer to watch movie scenes with fresh eyes. I, however, still ask people who have watched it their thoughts The same goes for this course I don’t have ideas about what I would learn in this course; I prefer to explore it while taking it Thus, I base my impression and expectations on what my peers have told me

From their words, I had the impression that HUM 102 is a fun subject and a course I will enjoy learning about, given that I find joy in visual arts and design As for my expectations, I expect that we will explore different digital art mediums such as photography, digital illustration, vlogs, etc. Also, I expect we will create multimedia projects while learning theories on new media art

This impression and expectations led me to include in the poster some icons that I attribute to the course, such as an icon of a digital tablet and an icon of interactive media. I also included a subtitle that says “Exploring Digital Media Consumption” because I believe that new media art gives a new way of consumption of media as compared to traditional arts

An art on what I learned about the history and development of New Media Art. Where it started, and where it stands now.

Before starting my infographic, I watched a video essay on Youtube by Curious Muse that talks about “New Media Art.” and from there I got three words that best describe what new media art is: computerborn, immersive, interactive. I wanted to use these words to tell the story of the development of new media art Unfortunately, it was hard for me to use this concept After I read the assigned readings, I found a better way to communicate the development of new media art, and that is through a computer message window.

According to Tribe and Jana (4), New Media Art’s conceptual and aesthetic roots can be traced back to the emergence of the Dada movement. The similarities between the practices of both art forms are what inspired me to design my infographic in a way that it looks like a file transfer or file copy window Additionally, I see that it fits to be the central design idea because early computers and technologies have paved the way for what New Media Art is now. It also puts across the message that of a linear progress.

The progress bar starts from the fifth decade of the twentieth century which is when the first computer was created. I included this as the earliest forms of new media art came from computer art From there, we can see the development of new media from decade to decade I used actual photos of artworks and machineries so it would be easier to visualize what changed from one decade to another Visually seeing the style change and colorization makes the changes more obvious. Although it shows the present, the progress bar is incomplete as new media art still continues to develop as more years pass

THE ART OF TIMES INFOGRAPHIC

NEW MEDIA ART

CONCEPT MAP

As an umbrella term, my concept map starts with New Media Art However, it focuses more on the concept of generative art, hence it is highlighted with a bright yellow in the middle On the sides are two small concepts related to generative art – generative art communities and other related terms I see these two concepts as important in the concept map as these are more specific examples of what can be described as generative art.

Diving deeper into the concept map is essentially the most important concept in the theory discussed by Galanter which is the definition of generative art He states that there are considerations in defining generative art (150). I connected the key elements to the main concept and also connected them to each other I believe that in creating a definition for the term, these key elements go hand-in-hand and not just stand-alone concepts From then, I connected the two definitions he set

Between his two definitions, it is the second one that connects to the rest of the concept map As mentioned by Galanter, this combat[s] the common misinterpretation of the first definition he set (154). The second definition is more defined and includes all the key elements something

Under the second definition is the more in depth theory of generative art, as discussed in Galanter’s essay It considers the Effective Complexity theory as a paradigm that helps to classify the types of generative art from ordered or disorderd, simple or complex Aside from this, the second definition also creates problems, or rather questions for future improvement of the definition of generative art.

An art on a more in-depth understanding of new media art Introducing the theories that suggests what can be considered as new media art and what is not

In what ways can I express myself in new media art techniques? With technology, I create art in a new medium far from traditional then share it with people all over the internet.

D I G I T A L A R

A personal reflection of who I am translated into art A summary of my whole personality, including my hobbies.

The concept of “Space Notes” as my self-branding highly references the business that I wish to establish which is a stationery shop – selling notepads, stickers, prints, journal accessories, and the like. It is close to my heart as I also love keeping a journal, writing notes, and collecting stationery in general. Aside from this, it is also space-themed in reference to my online persona aka “Alyien” – a combination of my second name “Alyssa” and the word “alien.” For me, outer space is a vast place for exploration, and I get the same experience when writing a journal There are so many things to do, to write, to explore, just like in outer space.

The logo is a drawing of a rocket ship shaped like a pencil to associate it better with space and stationery I think this is also one of the strengths of my brand, as there is a recall in the logo When thinking of Space Notes, you can just think about the out-of-thisworld experience of notetaking and journaling. This is also where the brand's tagline came from “Your outof-this-world stationery needs.”

Additionally, part of the branding is the inclusion of a Japanese text “スペース ノ ト ” which translates to “Space Notes ” The Japanese text references the Japanese anime genre of isekai which means another or different world. As mentioned earlier, one of the concepts behind the brand is the exploration of outer space, an exploration of the unknown world

Other branding design choices such as the typeface and color palette are how I would like my brand to reach its target audience – the journaling and notetaking enthusiasts, even the collectors of stationeries like me The rounded typefaces make the brand feel friendly and soft The cool tones of the palette give the same effect of friendliness, too.

Who would have thought that a tiny piece of paper shaped like a bird would be so meaningful? The orizuru or paper crane is a famous origami shape in Japan In Japanese lore, cranes are thought to live for 1000 years (Beser, 2015). The belief that paper cranes symbolize healing and hope came from this idea. Japanese people usually give paper cranes to their sick loved ones as wishes for healing

It was an interesting and heartfelt concept that my partner and I decided to create a multimedia art out of Recently, in our JAP 10 class, which we both attend, we were taught by our professor how to make paper cranes This is where we learned about its significance to Japanese culture. My professor also explained this while teaching us how to fold the origami. I found it interesting because one can make as many origami cranes as they can to wish good health to a sick person With this, I wanted to share to other people how to make paper cranes and at the same time, learn its meaning

This activity immersed me in a new culture, the Japanese culture This is also the effect multimedia art has given to our audience, a new learning both artistically and culturally When I was young, I have always been interested in multimedia art, making powerpoint presentations with photos, sound effects, and text about me Not only did this activity make me look back into my younger years, it also made me realize that I can share my experiences and my knowledge to other people through this kind of art It does not limit itself to just entertainment

Multimedia art being a source of knowledge and learning differs from how one learns with traditional education materials (Chioran, 2016). Learning can be much more fun with multimedia art Compared to just reading a step-by-step text or just seeing one photo, multimedia art is much more engaging and learner-centered In the case of our multimedia collage, you can always pause the video tutorial and replay it again whenever you feel the need to repeat a step Additionally, with the help of multimedia children can explore and learn about places they would never have been to (Chioran, 2016). It is not just children, but our audience, in general, gets to experience the culture of Japan through our video tutorial

But it wasn’t easy to create such art The biggest challenge for me is making sure that the different mediums we use compliment each other to achieve coherence. We wouldn’t want to just make a chaotic mess that brings confusion to our audience rather than the learning we intended In our multimedia collage, I experienced this when we were finding the right music for our collage How will the audio affect the message we want to convey to our audience? This question is what was in my mind the whole time

Overall, I enjoyed doing this project We may not be experts in origami making, but I am still happy that my partner and I have contributed to making Japanese lore on paper cranes much more known to our audience

From paper to a digital tutorial. What distinguishes traditional from new media art is the medium, different technological advancements have been used for this multimedia collage. .

M E D I A A R T

that connects us all More personal reflection involving the community around me An art that shows new media art being accessible to all and allowed us to have digital interactions

N T E R A C T I V E A R T

A chance to look back into your childhood, reflect on your present, and look forward to your future. This is what our interactive art offers The primary objective of our project was reflection. Considering how fast-paced life is, especially among UPLB students who are most likely worrying about their school works, we felt it would be helpful to provide an outlet for reflection for our peers The final output of this interactive art is not necessarily visual in nature but more of a short story of sorts that is heavily inspired by the responses we received from our peers.

"A Tale of Becoming" is somewhat of an anthology of reflections of one's past, present, and future. While this seems futile and pointless, we felt it was important to have self-reflection because it may be an avenue for our peers (and even ourselves) to have a clearer understanding of our current situations and even of our motivations for the future. By remembering what we wanted to become as children, we may realize what we really want now

Working on this interactive art, I could say I have also reflected on my own. While brainstorming on the questions for our prompts, I also looked back into my past and my present I asked myself what question do I want to ask the younger me and the me now That’s where I started to construct the prompts assigned to me I know as a child I had fears that I couldn’t escape, and at present, I’m looking forward to my future I had my own interpretation of the questions I made so I had expectations on what I think people will answer.

My reaction was different when I saw people’s responses Reading their responses, I thought and realized that every person has their own interpretation of a simple sentence and question. These interpretations may be coming from their different stories to tell and that makes it more interesting to read

Art

First artwork that made an impact on me is Kazemi’s Last Words. The first time I saw it, my initial reaction was how sincere are these words? But the more I watch it, the more their feelings get to me. The slowness of the fading in and out of the text made me empathize more with the death row inmates. Although I don’t know who said which words, I still felt the different expressions of love from each one of them. Aside from empathy, I also like how this artwork has been used to forward a political statement and advocacy

A R T

The other work is Galloway & Rabinowitz’ Satellite Arts Project.

As a Theater major, this reminds me of the online theater plays we streamed over the pandemic. We have always asked ourselves if it can still be considered as theater, and this Net Art affirms me that it can still be. One of the important elements of theater is its liveness. Streaming over the internet risks the synchronization of the performance but they still did it even with the technology they had before. With more high-tech computers, I believe we can do the same

Computer-generated and internet-powered, an exploration of NET ART -- a diverse art that continues to be developed as technology is being developed

The medium with a message. A multimedia art made to forward an advocacy

NEW MEDIA ART AS A TOOL FOR ADVOCACY

In 2021, I directed an online theater play entitled “Mga Bata sa Selda 43 ” I chose to direct the play because I got intrigued by its title. It is ironic that words “bata” and “selda” are put together. Also, its synopsis mentioned that the two brothers were abducted by aliens Upon reading the script, I realized that the story is more than aliens and prison cells I just fell in love with the material then. Now, I am reusing the material to forward my advocacy on ending police violence, particularly the violence related to Duterte’s War on Drugs that didn’t exclude children as its victims.

I find children’s innocence so pure; and for the police to mercilessly kill them because their parents are drug users or pushers is outright cruel This message is what I saw from the play and I decided to create a multimedia collage out of this. I used some of the scenes of the play and created a teaser-like video connecting it to the issue of the drug war

In the video, I used a combination of real-life videos and sketches as a visual representation of what they were talking about in the play The sketches are intentionally looking like a child drew and colored it with crayons. For me, making it child-like shows the innocence of children who became victims of the said war, but it is similarly important to include real-life videos to show that this is really happening in reality Part of making the message innocent and child-like is the instrumental lullabies as background music. Although I used multiple background music for each part, I made sure it sounds like lullabies for the children Juxtaposing these child-like elements are those that represent police violence and the drug war itself There are sound effects of sirens and gunshots that parallels to violence and may trigger a fear of the police. For the topic of War on Drugs, I included photos and videos that may have parallelism present in the dialogue of the play, particularly the last sketch of a woman holding a loved one in their arms. The video may look complicated but it was made with basic softwares such as Microsoft Powerpoint for the text and Filmora 9 for the video sequence itself I am quite familiar with the interface of both programs but even so, these apps are beginner-friendly which makes the process of making this easily accessible Besides, advocacy art needs no high-tech and complicated softwares. What matters is your will and passion to send out a message about your advocacy Like what I did, I just stitched together clips, text, sounds, and songs that helped to forward my advocacy