Dreamweaver Session and Project Progress

I really enjoyed the dreamweaver session last Tuesday. I have never gotten to use any sort of program that allows the construction of websites, nor did I understand how the remote data storage (or prism, I think?) worked. I had some difficulty keeping pace with the teacher, mostly since I wasn't sitting close enough to where she was speaking.
Today, one of my group members and I ventured out into Atlanta to get pictures of various art forms. The majority of our pictures were public art; however, I plan on going into some of the local museums and art stores to see what other art can be found near Tech.

I actually meant to make this post about the dreamweaver tutorial much earlier, and was reminded that I wanted to make one in the first place by this site:
http://people.rit.edu/~bss6378/instantCSI/

I am pretty sure I remember how to do at least that much from the lesson on Tuesday.
To any/all of my readers, have a Happy Thanksgiving (In case my next post is after Thursday).

Art from out of this world.

This week there was a meteor shower Wednesday Evening around 3 Am, and I was quite excited about getting to see it. However, Atlanta's vast amount of light pollution cut any chance of being able to see the late-night wonder. I was left heartbroken, sleep-deprived (this one is normal, actually) and am now convinced that space itself owes me another shower for my own pleasure.

Even though I was unable to see the shower, I can always see pictures taken of other forms found in the heavens thanks to the Hubble Telescope. All the different forms of galaxies, planets, nebula and any of the other numerous objects the Hubble has managed to capture in its lens over the past few years are awe-inspiring and unlike anything else I have seen. My favorite pictures are probably those of the Nebulae, which have debris and materials in them that cause them to take many different shapes and colors.Whatever images I could post here would do no justice to the massive number of things the gallery of the Hubble has, be sure to take a look!

http://hubblesite.org/gallery/tours/

To the Titian!

I really had no idea what to expect upon entering the High yesterday on my mission to see the Titian (Rhyme unintentional). Initially I was very perplexed by what the exhibit offered; I had expected nothing but a mass of awe-inspiring paintings and perfected artwork by great Victorian artists. Rather, the sketchings provided some insight as to how much work and effort goes into these grand works.
The majority of the pieces capitalized on religious figures from varying faiths and mythologies. My favorite theme in any of them, despite my lack of understanding in its importance, was how some of the important figures from the Christian paintings had small circles of some sort that resembled halos about their heads. I really am not sure why I found that so be so intriguing, and perhaps I will research not only the meaning behind the different types of circles but also the figures who were painted with them on.
My only complaints about this exhibit would possibly be the flooring and the lack of sound-proofing of any sort. It was really hard to reflect on a piece when all I can hear is CLIP CLOP CLIP CLOP CLIP CLOP and when there are art fanatics who are debating about who's opinion on a piece is more right. Otherwise, everything was fine.

Huxley might've been right.

Nowadays, everything competes for our attention. Advertisements are everywhere, in the form of stickers, billboards, commercials, even clothing is covered in name brands that distract us from daily life. Video games take us to other worlds and get us painfully close to being in these alternate dimensions. Movies do about the same. Cellphones keep people chained to their social lives, allowing conversations to never end as, with a phone, the world is a mere sequence of numbers away. Humans on the whole have developed into a species that now preoccupies over being distracted. And with time, our tolerance for distractions grew. Ads needed to be flashier. Clothing needed to be edgier. Games need better graphics. Cellphones smaller. Make them play music, too.
And with this tolerance, some of the older distractions humans so readily used to interact with have been threatened, and they fall under the category of the Arts. The arts that one would commonly find in museums have tried to keep pace, however, even if it means losing some significance and dignity to their true audience. Museums are now constructed in odd shapes, to lure in more people. They are used to host public events, so as to fish out people who would possibly be interested in the art within. Like anything else that is living, art is adapting to the change in its environment, and hopefully, for the better.

Quote from C.S. Lewis

After the original image we viewed from C.S. Lewis that had the text "This is not a pipe", I found a really neat quote from Lewis on the internet.

"You do not have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body."

I think this quote, along with the Pipe painting, go to show how anti-materialist Lewis is. Much of Lewis's other work is very religious and often focuses on the importance and strength of the human spirit, which I think is neat given that most intellectuals and philosophers of his day were often criticized heavily and rarely partook in religion.
To me, this quote shows how we as a race rarely consider the value of what makes us separate from the machine that is our own Earth. The soul is something that many people often neglect in order to please their physical and usually much more demanding form.

Atlanta High Museum

In Duncan's article on the effects behind a museums structure on an audience, he addresses how a museum should be "liminal", that is, should remove its audience from the monotony of everyday life and bring them to a point of peak spiritual and mental perception that grants the highest possible ability to enjoy the art that is on display. Many art museums have been crafted to stand out in their environments, and the High Museum in Atlanta is no exception.

From my own personal experience with the High Museum I am willing to say that this building did a very good job of removing the shell of normality that can blur perception. Though the building is without color, the shape of the halls and stairwells gives the building a feeling of "flow" that visitors should follow by usually indirectly leading people in a certain path through the museum. Another benefit that the High has is that this grand example of architecture is mostly colorless. This lack of color prevents viewers from being distracted by the main pieces on display.

One interesting point that Duncan reviewed in his essay was how art museums were often seen mimicking churches and schools, places that often contradicted or were against the purpose of an art museum. However contrasting these edifices may be in structure or audience, I find it neat that art museums copied the effects churches and basilicas have upon their visitors by using overwhelming architecture to awe people. Many churches use large arches and huge rooms to grant a feeling of smallness to religious followers, why not do the same to those who might not realize how insignificant they are to the important and deep world of art?