Studio Journal

iPad: A Novel Invention

The above link is to a topical video I did days before the anticipated release of the iPad. Due to the iPad's built in e-reader the video's plot encompasses the plots of various novels from 'Fahrenheit 451' to 'Lord of the Flies'.

This is also a miniature example of what I would like my thesis to resemble. For my thesis, I would like to incorporate several art history references as this video incorporates several novel references.

Studio Journal

Birds of Prey

This video is a shot for shot parody of the kitchen scene from 'Jurassic Park' where the two children are hiding from two Velociraptors. The only difference is that my version is a much lower budget, and instead of velociraptors I have two intrusive Jehovah's Witnesses.

Doing a shot for shot recreation of a Spielberg film was very educational for me as an aspiring filmmaker. It allowed me to step into his shoes and direct as he would. I still find that I use some techniques that I learned from this video, in other videos that I have made since this.

Studio Journal

2001: A Highway Journey

The above link is a parody of Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey.' Kubrick is one of my all time favorite directors and basing a video off of his style was great fun. In retrospect I know I could have chopped the video down a few minutes, but I think this is one of my best satirical videos. It is both topical and a parody.

The style of this video is close to what I would like my thesis to resemble. However I will make my thesis tighter.

Studio Journal

Yanks, Sox and Ground Zero Mosques

The above link is to a topical skit that I wrote and shot in the hight of the ground zero mosque controversy at the end of the summer. It is the latest video that I have done.

I enjoy writing topical humor because it allows for me to put the particular topical issue into my own perspective. This video also follows the formula of a sketch, but would not be widely viewed as a great sketch because of the coy parallel between the mosque controversy and Yankees/Red Sox rivalry.

If you view the comments on this video, you'll see that people either loved it or hated it. It stirred up debates on the comment section of the youtube link, as well as debates on other sites and blogs on which this video has been embedded. As the creator of the video, I am very proud that it is significant enough to stir up such passion in the viewers (for good or bad).

Studio Journal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8X1OawLIKw

The above link is to a video that I made over the summer. It is less cinematic and more of a skit because I wrote it for a sketch writing class I took in the city. I shot it on my own spare time with a few friends/people I had met in my sketch class. It follows the structure of a sketch which consists of a game, or one unusual thing (in this case, a newscaster lives his life in his on air persona). That game is played through different beats which are different ways of exploring this unusual thing. Each beat is supposed to be more heightened than the last.

I find sketch writing to be fun and challenging. I enjoy the formula and think it is a good method for evoking more laughs, but I would like to use this method to create more of a storyline. Once that is accomplished, I would like to direct it in a visually stimulating way. I thoroughly enjoy good Saturday Night Live sketches, but they are not meant to be viewed artistically. I would like to combine this formulaic humor with artistic direction for my thesis.

Studio Journal

This is original Image of Rembrandt's 'Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp.' It is a relatively well known painting which would be a good example of something that would be widely understood if parodied or recreated.

This is an image of a parody of the Rembrandt piece drawn by my grandfather, Will Elder for the short lived 'Mad Magazine' spinoff, 'Humbug'. The accuracy of this recreation is the primary aspect that makes this parody funny. If something genuine looking is discovered to be a forgery, the joke hits much harder than that of a shabby recreation.

Death of Marat - Jaques Louis David. This image is extremely well-known and can be recognized even by those who are not very keen on art history. The gesture is great and I feel that it would make a fun composition to recreate.

This is a film still from 'A Clockwork Orange.' It is one of my favorite films, from Stanley Kubrick, one of my favorite directors. I don't know if I will necessarily reference or parody this film, but I have drawn much directorial inspiration from Kubrick over the years. There is no directing style quite like his.

This film still from 'Inception' depicts Christopher Nolan's use of practical effects. Hollywood is obsessed with mindless action inundated with tasteless CGI. Seeing these effects that were accomplished in production (as opposed to post), are a breath of fresh air, as well as a homage to Kubrick's rotating sets from '2001: A Space Odyssey.'

A picture is worth 1,000 words. This is one of my all-time favorite film stills because it gives off such a feeling of peril in one simple image. Spielberg takes a well known warning that anyone who has driven a car has seen (objects in mirror are closer than they appear), and uses it to evoke sheer terror. I love the idea of juxtaposing imagery to convey a certain idea or mood (The image is taken from Spielberg's 1993 adaptation of Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park).

Hitchcock is another one of my all time favorite directors. This still is from his 1951 thriller, Strangers on a Train conveys the recurring theme of the film; 'Criss-cross.' An obsessed fan of a tennis star proposes the idea that he kills the tennis player's ex-wife while the tennis player kills his father. Hitchcock throws in criss-crossing imagery throughout the entire film including this still of Guy (the tennis player)'s lighter with the crossed tennis rackets. Symbolism adds another level of which to be aware in a film.

Taxi Driver is the perfect example of a film that is entirely character driven. What retains the viewer's interest is that De Niro's character (Travis Bickle) grows increasingly more fed up with urban corruption as the film progresses. He starts off strange but mellow in the beginning and by the end of the film he becomes a vigilante who goes on a killing spree. This sense of heightening creates a vehement cinematic experience.

BFA Thesis Proposal draft 1

            Growing up I showed an early talent for drawing and painting. My parents and Grandfather (who was the co-founder/artist for Mad Magazine) tried to support this talent any way they could, but my real passion has always been in film. My Grandfather would show me the classics from the original King Kong, to James Bond and the works of Hitchcock. I always knew I wanted to go into the business of creating a fantastical world on the big screen but as a child, I had no access to the proper equipment so I focused on drawing. Writing, directing and acting came later once I was able to buy my own camera in early 2002. Throughout high school and college I put drawing on the backburner. I felt bad about not practicing something at which I was really good, but I was busy with schoolwork and making videos.

            My videos got better as I went through college. I eventually found that the videos for which I drew storyboards always came out better than the ones that I did not. Of course they were very rough, hastily drawn figures simply for the purpose of composition. Currently I am taking Graphic Narratives and have been drawing more than I have ever drawn in the last several years. Reading the works of others and producing my own comics has really enlightened me on similarities between film and comic books. After all, a storyboard is essentially a comic and vise versa. I have finished my video requirements and my busy schedule has forced me to put video making on the backburner.  For my thesis I plan to once and for all combine my love for film and my talent for drawing.

            My thesis would reveal the stages of production. I will write a script and then produce a comic version of it as a storyboard. Once the storyboard is complete I will make it into a short narrative of roughly ten minutes. I envision the monitor displaying the video to be in the center. Bordering the monitor will be the comic/storyboard and bordering that will be the script. The viewer will see the basic stages of production in order when they view the piece. The outermost layer will be script, followed by the storyboard followed by the video; the final stage of production that the mainstream public always sees. The video will be on a loop so the viewers can always find the point at which the video is in the surrounding comic. If they want to take it a step further they can also synchronize the script and the video, the script and the comic or all three at once!

            I am unsure of the plot for my short narrative but I would like to somehow incorporate my minor: Art History. My grandfather, Will Elder, was an extraordinary artist who could precisely mimic the styles of any other artist. This enabled him to effectively parody other artists such as Rembrandt, Gericault and Rockwell. People would view his parody, believe they were looking at the real thing, and then at the last minute they would catch a small gag that would make them realize it was a forgery. He used his talent in the vein of humor. Being that I am an art history minor and work well with comedy, I would like to do something similar. I want to somehow recreate famous works of art acted out unintentionally by the characters in the video/comic. For example, if several characters in a scene are playing ‘Operation,’ they can be portrayed around the game in the same manner as Dr. Nicolaes Tulp and his anatomy students from Rembrandt Van Rijn’s famous painting.

            I have been thinking and toying with several ideas lately. I do not know what exactly the narrative will be, but I do know the structure and some key aspects. I know that being around the gallery, networking with others in class, and just keeping an open mind will allow me to create an idea that can serve as basic storyline for my thesis project.

Studio Journal

   This is a short narrative comic that I did last week. Comics are very similar to film and if you look at the story boards of a movie, they are essentially like a comic. I would like to incorporate both comics and video/film into my work. This comic, entitled "Life on the Road" is a comedic comic about an unappealing freak who dumps his gorgeous girlfriend. I am planning to eventually make this short narrative into a video. 

Studio Journal

   I have been drawing ever since I could hold a pencil. In high school I put drawing on the back burner and only used it to storyboard videos that I would make. I have recently gotten into drawing again and hope to combine it with video for my thesis. I would like to make a well put together comic and use that as my storyboard. Here are some of my recent comics.

(copy and past to view)

file:///Users/jvision/Desktop/Graphic%20Narratives%20Fall%20'10/Comic%20Journal/Pg%201.jpg

file:///Users/jvision/Desktop/Graphic%20Narratives%20Fall%20'10/Comic%20Journal/Pg%202.jpg

file:///Users/jvision/Desktop/Graphic%20Narratives%20Fall%20'10/Comic%20Journal/Pg%203.jpg

file:///Users/jvision/Desktop/Graphic%20Narratives%20Fall%20'10/Comic%20Journal/Pg%204.jpg

file:///Users/jvision/Desktop/Graphic%20Narratives%20Fall%20'10/JV%20Simple.jpg

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My Work

My youtube channel contains videos I made in freshman year of high school through this past August. Over the years I have progressed in different ways and hope to advance my style even further for my thesis. Below is a link to my videos.

http://www.youtube.com/user/MAJESSTIC?feature=mhum

Jesse VandenBergh

Thesis

Welcome Back Show

            The Mason Gross Welcome Back show presented an array of diverse imagery through an assortment of media. Perhaps the centerpiece of it all was the late Lynda Craig’s exhibition entitled Intimate Observations, which showcased her works from 1997, just five years before her untimely death of a brain tumor. Craig’s work was comprised of oil painting of female nudes, mythology and landscapes. One of her pieces caught my attention over the rest due to the interesting backstory. After her tumor operation she lost her motor skills. To keep her mind sharp and her artistic creativity keen, her son would bring home golf balls for her to decorate. Craig covered them in wax and thread and presented them as little works of art. I am not easily intrigued by abstract art, but I found that understanding the piece was contingent on knowing how and why the decorated golf balls came to be.

            Another abstract piece was Timothy Warner’s More Than a Feeling/Don’t Look Back. It was a large projection of two white flames flickering. While there may have been a personal motivation or meaning behind this piece, I found it to be aesthetically simple, yet hard to interpret. Although abstraction is not my style, I find that the beauty of it lies in the endless amounts of interpretation that can be made. This piece did not evoke any sort of meaning for me.

            Alan Prazniak’s Dreamgirl is a three dimensional puzzle of an Egyptian Sphinx-like head covered in oil and decorated with large, garish earrings. I saw this as a commentary on the life-styles and aspirations of the generic little girl. The piece is entitled Dreamgirl. It is made primarily of a puzzle and earrings, which are two things that little girls with big dreams would possess. Little girls are known to play dress-up and wearing their mother’s clothes and earrings. It is an imaginative way for them to play with what they aspire to be/do when they grow up. Puzzles are another aspect of childhood and I remember my sister voraciously doing puzzle after puzzle. I do not know if this was the artist’s intention, but Dreamgirl was able to get me thinking about my own interpretations of it, and what it made me think of from my own childhood. I believe that is the purpose of an effective art piece.

            Tyson Washburn’s exhibit was entitled Centennial Towers, Four Floors and it was comprised of four photographs from the inside of a building being constructed. I found this piece to be very interesting. Engineering and architecture are often overlooked as art forms. Washburn’s art captures the process of a pending work of art within a finished work of art. At a quick glance, the work is seemingly simplistic but when thought about, there are many potential meanings.

*To view photos, copy and paste the URL*

file:///Users/jvision/Desktop/Craig.jpg

file:///Users/jvision/Desktop/T.warner.jpg

file:///Users/jvision/Desktop/dreamgirl.jpg

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Jesse interviews Katherine

Jesse VandenBergh

Peer Interview

Thesis

Katherine Meyerink interviewed by Jesse VandenBergh

Go to this URL to hear the audio 

file:///Users/jvision/Desktop/Katherine%20Interview.mp3

I sat down with Katherine as we looked at an array of photos she had taken over the years.

JV: All these night shots are from freshman year?

KM: I guess sophomore year from Photo II. It’s from when I started to learn color processing, so I tried to test what it would be like on film. It’s a lot harder, I found, with color film because the color balance is off because you have the right film for certain types of lightings so the lighting is two different colors. You get the murky yellow that’s between florescent and incandescent. I definitely wouldn’t do color film for it again, but I tried it. Black and white is definitely my favorite because it creates such dead space. The blacks are so rich.

JV: You said that the first two photos were from 2007. Do you still work in the same medium?

KM: Yeah I’m pretty much re-exploring that now. I’m reading a book right now called The Poetics of Space which is about the significance of spaces, like the home (reference to her photograph) so I’m hoping that’ll help me a little more. It talks about how the home is a shelter. I ‘m trying to figure out what it is I love about the home and what space is, so I’m trying to take as many pictures as possible to see what I like whether it be getting to know a person through their stuff or… I don’t even know.

JV: What inspired you to start doing that? What do you think initiated your interest in space and furniture?

KM: When I first started taking photographs I would go to Asbury Park and take pictures of all the decaying buildings.

JV: That’s a cool place to do that.

KM: Yeah, but now it’s getting nice so I don’t like it as much anymore. And then the whole furniture thing – the lighting was gorgeous. It was a used furniture store and I just like “this is beautiful.” There was something I liked but I wasn’t sure what it was and what I could do with it. Now I’m realizing that I could potentially have an idea here and I want to explore it.

JV: Do you have any photographers/artists in general who you like to emulate?

KM: Two years ago I found this woman Gail Albert Halaban. She was showing in New York and she did a whole series out of windows in NY. Like looking into people’s houses. She did individual portraits inside the house and then she did ‘looking out of a window’. It’s very voyeuristic and that inspired me.

JV: It’s almost like Rear Window-esque. I don’t know if you’ve seen that movie.

KM: Yeah, that’s part of her inspiration too; Hitchcock and stuff.

JV: So where do you see yourself for thesis and even beyond? What do you hope to do with taking pictures like this?

KM: I guess investigating memory and the significance of things in our lives. Another thing that I was doing is I cut holes into pictures. I wanted to cut essential things out of the photograph that were necessary to put it together to signify memory, and how you can edit facts, and re-edit them. That’s something I’d want to play with and it works the spaces I’m taking. I haven’t done it on big photos because I don’t want to ruin them, but I feel like I’m going to end up experimenting with that a little. I feel like I’m just trying to organize my thoughts right now. I have a bunch of ideas but they need to be solid and I feel like that’s what’s going to happen this year. I’m going to explore that and concentrate on it enough until I’ve come up with the perfect idea.

JV – When or why did you get into this particular vein of art dealing with memory and space, and is there a specific point in time if your childhood or any point in your life that you remember being the moment that got you into this?

KM: I wouldn’t that anything from my childhood really. Originally when I came to school I was going to double major in psychology, which really interests me. I took social psychology. It talked about memory and the way people learn about things. I think that sparked me on that whole idea. And then just trying to figure out what my work is about. Because I feel like I have a hard time with that. I can take a picture, but what is that picture about?

JV – And you also always find that when people look at your work they come up with new meaning that you never even…

KM – …Thought of, exactly. Which helps too. I just like space, I don’t know why (laughs).

Water Show pieces

            I would arrange these pieces in one room because they each represent water through different media. Hans Haacke’s Condensation Cube is a sculpture that is constantly active on its own. The water from the bottom of the cube evaporates, becomes condensation on the top of the cube, and then trickles back down to the bottom. Maya Lin’s Dew Point is also a sculpture, but serves a different purpose to that of Haacke’s. Dew Point is a large representation of water beads. Her representation plays tricks on the eye by appearing to be large drops of water when they are actually different sized pieces of blown glass. I would also install the large video projection from the point of view from the front of a speedboat. In the bottom center is an image of the wake of the boat. While some of the pieces in the Water Show are similar to others, This piece is completely unique. It also depicts water as a vessel for traveling. Next to the video projection I would put one of Hughie Lee Smith’s Women in the Waves paintings. If presented next to the grand projection of a boat’s perspective, the small painting of a woman in waves would further accentuate the theme of women being historically depicted as fragile and nude, and men as conquerors of the sea.

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Water Show

Jesse VandenBergh

BFA Thesis Water Show

Gerry Beegan

            The Water Show at the Zimmerli Art museum takes a subject that is present and necessary in our every day lives and addresses the various roles it plays in culture and history. The exhibition is presented in four rooms, each with a different aquatic theme. Rather than being displayed on a traditional white wall, the walls were painted teal and light shades of blue, further emphasizing the overall theme of water.

            The first room contained pieces such as Hans Haacke’s Condensation Cube, Lynn Davis’ Iceberg photos, and Maya Lin’s Dew Point sculptures. The main theme of this first room seemed to be primarily that of the water cycle. Condensation Cube is essentially a model of the water cycle. Lynn Davis’ Iceberg photos, specifically Iceberg II, contains an iceberg, the ocean, and the clouds in the composition. These are all three of the states in which water can be; solid, liquid and gas. Dew Point is comprised of multiple sized glass sculptures resembling water beads after a rainstorm or beads of condensation. It is located in the corner of the room, which according to the curator, is to protect the sculpture.

            The second room, while seemingly the simplest composition, was the most difficult to put together. The simplistic view of the spacing is the payoff to the hard work put into the layout of this room. The overall theme seemed to be that of civilization located near bodies of water. Maya Lin’s Pin River is the Hudson River and the Long Island Sound made entirely of pins. It took two days to assemble. Albert Bierstadt’s Waterfall is a beautiful realistic painting of a scenic waterfall. The waterfall creates a vertical white line down the landscape painting. There is also a painting of the New Brunswick train line when the city was first developing. The train line runs across the Raritan River.

            Room three is entitled Women in the Waves Men in Boats. It is an arrangement of paintings that play into the stereotype of men using bodies of water to conquer, explore and hunt such as Edward J. Steichen’s pieces. Women are portrayed as helpless and nude in the waves like Hughie Lee Smith’s paintings and portraits. This room had the clearest overall theme out of the four rooms. The pieces were arranged along the perimeter of the wall, with the exception of Steichen’s battle ship sculpture.

            The final room had a theme of artifacts and their relations to water. Diane Neumaier had an array of fountain photographs. The fountains were ornate, and intricately crafted. Atul Bhalla had an exhibit in this room entitled Immersions, which were ancient looking sand casts submerged in small water tanks. It almost seems as if these artifacts were originally discovered in the water, if they were indeed real artifacts.