By EmilyH on October 4th, 2009, 12:00 pm 1 Comments
As I was exploring Cory Arcangel’s site I found a project of his, from 2008, titled Top Ten Youtube Videos. It isn’t an official art project of his however, it does project information about his personality, opinions and what his art is essentially all about. He was asked by Frieze to make a list of his Top Ten Youtube Videos.
I found these videos interesting because I am always on Youtube. I constantly search videos only to find that the video is “no longer available,” then I proceed to get frustrated and practically abuse the “refresh” button. I guess I understand that some videos are removed for copy right purposes, but as soon as I saw Arcangel’s Top Ten Youtube Videos, I was eager to try bypassing this Youtube problem that everyone has. Of course, as soon as I am trying to find an “unavailable video” it becomes impossible!
I eventually found one and tried a method of adding “&fmt=18” to the URL just as the video said. Sadly, it did not work, but there are many other videos that show different whys of solving this problem. I’m definitely going to continue to try these methods. If anyone finds that a certain method works, please comment!
The fact that Arcangel chose these as his favourite Youtube videos, displays his huge interest in technology and hacking. I think that this list is the epitome of Arcangel’s work. It is the process of hacking or finding new possibilities, then sharing the results. This shows his interest in manipulating technology and taking control in order to make it work how the view wants. If you are interested in more of Arcangel’s favourite Youtube videos, you can find them here.
By EmilyH on September 14th, 2009, 1:29 am 0 Comments
A clip of the I Shot Andy Warhol video game created by Cory Arcangel
While I was exploring the “New Media Art” website, an artist named Cory Arcangel caught my interest. This was probably because when I began to Google his name, the first project that was recognized, was his piece titled I Shot Andy Warhol (above). Personally, I tend to enjoy any project that Warhol is a part of, but this was very different.
Cory Arcangel, who was born in 1978 and currently resides in Brooklyn, is a digital artist. He studies the relationship between technology and culture. This involves hacking and manipulating technologies, such as video games, software and films in order to challenge conventional thinking and consumerism art. He usually finds flaws in the technology and creates new meanings using humour.
For his project, I Shot Andy Warhol, Arcangel hacked an old Nintendo game called “Hogan’s Alley’ and replaced the targets with pictures of the Pope, Flavor Flav and Andy Warhol. This project was featured in many museums during the peak of new media technology.
I think that Arcangel uses an interesting process in which he dismantles and recodes the videogame, however, this is not one of my favourite pieces. I somewhat understand why the fairly random characters (Flavor Flav, the Pope) are featured in the game and why the player must only shoot Warhol. Perhaps Warhol is portraying everything Arcangel makes fun of, including pop culture. Either way, I enjoy some of his other works, such as Super Mario Clouds and Sweet 16, much more than I Shot Andy Warhol.
