Text Pictures

It is a beautiful day!

Birds in Flight

Mouse

Philip Glahn

Tuesday's speaker at lecture was Philip Glahn. The concept Glahn spoke about was the critical relationship between art and technology. It is a bond that has been strong for quite some time now, and according to Glahn, can never be broken. He explains that when one does try to break away from technology in art, a de-skilling occurs. I thought his concepts were interesting, perhaps not presented in the most affective way for a group of tired freshman art students, nonetheless however he presented some very interesting concepts. I especially liked when Glahn explained that part of the tension between art and technology is the need for humans to feel individual and not machine, however we need to find the balance with technology to become masters of art.

Coffee Houses of Philadelphia

As I walked down Walnut street last week I realized just how many unique coffee joints that exists in a five block radius. This doesn't even include the Starbucks that can be found on just about every street corner, I am talking about the cafes like Bonte and the Chocolate Cafe. There are many very interesting places that I am dying to try out... if only I can venture out from my safety blanket (a.k.a. Starbucks).

Check out my photos of Walnut Street Coffee Houses

Basekamp Comes to Tyler

Scott Rigby recently visited Tyler School of Art to talk to the Freshman BFAs about the artist commune Basekamp that he co-founded. Basekamp got it's start in 1998 and has grown to a worldwide level since. Basekamp is a group of artists in Philadelphia that live and work out of their Chestnut Hill warehouse. Every week, Basekamp has a potluck dinner and skype meeting. Everyone brings food and they discuss issues around the dinner table, and the world by using skype. Rigby said many collaborations come from the discussions but there is no formal agenda. Rigby said it is interesting to see the changes that have occurred in the eleven years Basekamp has been operating. The group started by using list serves to communicate with people. They then used web forums and facebook, they even tried web cams. Now Basekamp relies on twitter and skype to communicate with people all over the world. Anyone is invited to join the potluck dinners... just bring food!

The Feel of the City

Today I went down to South Street with a friend of mine. With the Walk/Ride/Bike assignment in the back of my mind, I wandered through the bustling streets looking to take the perfect picture to capture the feel of the city. We made our way down South Street, past the many eclectic store fronts and mouth watering restaurants. On our way, we stumbled across a Green Street Fair where we were given free bags and organic food samples (which were surprisingly tasty!). After we finished walking through the fair, we made our way up to Walnut Street. On our way, we saw beautiful old churches and, although kind of creepy, very interesting cemeteries. We stopped at one of the many Starbucks on Walnut Street, there seems to be one on every street corner, for a refreshing drink. After a long day, we made our way back to Temple.

 More Photos and Sketches for this assignment

Peter Hanley Speaks at Tyler

Peter Hanley spoke to the Freshman BFAs on the September 8, about how to be a successful artist online. During his lecture he stressed the importance for artists to get their name out to the public. Hanley says that a very good way to do this is by using the internet. By using the internet the audience can easily find the artist, so the artist isn't having to constantly seek out the audience in order to sell their work. Hanley suggests personal websites such as Facebook or a personal blog in order to stay in touch with the audience, and sites such as Etsy, Spoon flower,or Ponoko to sell work online. Overall, I thought Hanley's lecture was interesting and extremely helpful.

The First of Many

I just finished the first week of class! The end of the week brought a lot of homework and an interesting first BFA lecture. While the first week's lecture was mostly introductory information, it was exciting to hear about the many visiting artists that will be coming to Tyler. I look forward to the many more to come in the future.