Jeff Thompson received a BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and his MFA from Rutgers. He currently serves as the Assistant Professor and Program Director of Visual Art & Technology at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. His work has been internationally at many venues and exhibitions. His art always incorporates technology, whether by creating his art with technology or exploring the art in technology. And though he uses technology to create his art, he "is interested in 'useless' and culturally derived data sets." We saw his artwork during our small field trip at the beginning of the semester.
I'm not sure what I see. If anything, I see how technology may be used to create art. His artwork isn't just a picture edited with Photoshop, it's a computer processing images to create something wholly unique, something besides a drawing or a painting. The top picture is meant to be every picture ever created, the same exhibit we saw during our trip. The photo on the left was created by blending 100 images, then importing a three-dimensional photogrammetry software. His work seems to involve having the computer create the images rather than using the computer to create images.I enjoy his artwork. Seeing what images and sounds that will be produced from the computer is very interesting. His work might seem different compared to typical artwork, but the way he uses technology to create his work is astounding. If anything, his work can very difficult to comprehend without the right context.
Sources:
http://turbulence.org/blog/2014/06/10/turbulence-commission-interp-by-jeff-thompson/
http://www.jeffreythompson.org/index.php
All art is unique, so you could say that anyone's art is abstract. This, though, is a very abstract way of bringing about art. It's an unconventional method, but it still produces a fine product. I do see it as hard to derive meaning from considering the actual mathematical randomness of the work, but I'm sure the artist has some sort of intention. Interesting concept.
ReplyDeleteThere's always that dangerous line to tow between making something that is universal and easy to identify, but perhaps with little individuality and voice; and then creating something that is very powerful within its context and communicates a very clear voice, but is alienating to an audience. I personally like when risks are being taken, and I hope that Thompson continues to push boundaries and communicate his unique artistic voice.
ReplyDeleteI find this interesting because I do graphic work myself. This artists has the ability to create art with unique objects that he creates virtually. I would like to see more of his work as if to check more objects of his creation.
ReplyDelete-Orin
ReplyDeleteI quite liked some of the techniques I remember from his show. I generally like to see the inner workings of technology, and when I learned of the coding background that was used to create his images I was far more impressed. Some of his concepts about the inherent randomness of technology is very intriguing.
Roya Ayub
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you revisited this artist. His work we saw earlier in the year was extremely eye opening to me. His use of computers and art seems really creative, however it is actually a bit of a throwback to the original artworks created from computers. It is so interesting to see how the computer has been used as an art tool overtime and I love the way the computer is innovatively used by Thompson.