Latest Art Talk Posts at VideoSift.com

Artist Constructs a Rape Tunnel...

blankfist (http://blankfist.videosift.com) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:00:10 -0700

(8 comments - 353 views)
Article here: http://www.artlurker.com/2009/09/the-rape-tunnel-by-sheila-zareno/

Here's his idea, from the article: "In the 4D Gallery main room, I’ve constructed a 22 ft tunnel out of plywood that leads into the project room. There is no way in or out of the project room except for this tunnel. As you travel through the tunnel, it gets smaller and smaller, making it so that you have to crawl and put yourself in a submissive position in order to reach the tunnel’s destination. At the end of the tunnel the subject will find me waiting in the project room and I’ll try to the best of my ability to overpower and rape the person who crawls through."

When asked "Why rape?" he answers, "Because as an artistic gesture, it’s one of the most impactful I can think of."

- blankfist

Calling all Art Buffs

rottenseed (http://douchebag.videosift.com) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 09:07:10 -0700

(11 comments - 427 views)
So I was watching this show on National Geographic. It was called the Devil's Bible. I'm not going to explain what it was about because it was a crappy piece that seems to be status quo for NatGeo these days. One thing I absolutely loved about it though, is the montage of dark artwork depicting demon possessions in a literal manner. I like the more macabre, "evil" and romantic part of Christian folklore. Does anybody know where I can find more art like this? It was mostly drawings, some were paintings. If I had to guess, I would say it's 17th century Mannerism. Some was more Medieval, but the good shit seemed to be a bit more contemporary than medieval, like I said Mannerism or maybe Renaissance.

Thank you in advance

- rottenseed

A Universe wide Sift...

ponceleon (http://art.videosift.com/member/ponceleon) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 19:43:13 -0700

(10 comments - 304 views)
I'm drunk...

... I just saw a beautiful sift of Nuriev dancing Le Corsier (sp? because i'm drunk), and it occurred to me: what an amazing thing that I can sift something from a 9 to a 10 and bring it to a wider audience and hopefully expose them to something so unlikely in the grand scheme of the universe... just beautiful...

... It got me to thinking. If by some chance we were to find a way to overcome the rules of physics and communicate with other intelligence across the universe and set up an "internet" that went beyond our planet... can you imagine the absolutely amazing, unlikely and wonderful things that we would sift? Could we possibly imagine the insanity of sifting something from 9 to 10 that just goes beyond anything in our conception of our own cultures?

Sorry, drunk and feeling inspired by the sift and all that it brings to me on a daily basis... I swear, if my financial situation improves, I'll become a charter member on a subscription, because the sift is a wonderful wonderful thing...

- ponceleon

Would selling new VS T-shirts be a good idea?

kronosposeidon (http://art.videosift.com/member/kronosposeidon) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:54:45 -0700

(20 comments - 654 views)
I don't know if it would boost VideoSift's revenue stream or not, or if it's an effective form of advertisement, or if there are enough interested members who would buy one. That's why I'm asking. Here's an idea I had for one:

I'm not saying it's great; it's just an idea. I figured a few famous thumbnail images might help to convey that we're a site with famous videos. The only thumbnail on that t-shirt that could cause problems is the one of Yahtzee, because I'm guessing it's trademarked. The others I'm pretty sure aren't. If any of you can think of better thumbnails to include then please suggest them, or if you have a completely different concept for a shirt design then please suggest those too. I don't know how all the colors in my design would come out on a silk screen, so maybe mine wouldn't work anyway.

Or we could go with this:

Talk among yourselves.

- kronosposeidon

NicoleBee gets her Gold 100, buzzes with excitement

rasch187 (http://rasch187.videosift.com) — Fri, 29 May 2009 05:55:33 -0700

(43 comments - 653 views)

A long time in the making, but at last NicoleBee got her Gold 100. Finally she'll be able to include pictures in sifttalk posts. I'm sure I'm not the only one who hopes for more of her beautiful artwork in the future.

Besides being a talented artist, Nicole is the (un)official geek chick on VS. I feel pretty confident saying she has her veritable pick of the litter among the many male geeks of the sift.

Major congrats, Nicole, you're a funny and interesting girl and anyone who doesn't visit your pqueue will deserve getting stung. How does a bee survive in the arctic wasteland that is Canada anyway? Never mind that! CONGRATS!!!

gwiz made this (I think it's supposed to be a bee):

- rasch187

Hex color chart for charter member names

kronosposeidon (http://art.videosift.com/member/kronosposeidon) — Thu, 21 May 2009 10:47:45 -0700

(6 comments - 1530 views)

I know that we live in a post 3/11 world. Sometimes I still wake up in a cold sweat after nightmares of seeing my vote count at zero. But it's time for us to move on. Ever since that fateful day some of you charter members opted to stick with the default dark green color (008800) for your screen name rather than switch back to the color you were previously using. Now I'm not going to name names (rottenseed, theaceofclubz, oxdottir, laura, etc), but it's been over two months since that fateful day, so I think it's time for you to get on with your lives.

In other words, pick a new color, damn it. Like avatars I also use name color as a form of instant recognition, but I use name color more often because people change those less frequently than their avatars, or so it seems. (Except for gwiz665. He changes his screen name color more often than his underwear.) Now I know some of you have always used dark green, like ant, Sarzy, E_Nygma, and big daddy dag himself. But the rest of you? Come on. And blankfist, quit using rasch's color. The guy's already embarrassed to know you, so can't you leave his color alone?

I come here to watch stuff, not read. I'm virtually illiterate. There, are you happy I admitted it? And every time I'm forced to read a name instead of instantly recognizing it by color a little part of me dies inside. And don't tell me to look at the avatars, because people are always changing those. It's my Talk post and I'll cry if I want to, cry if I want to, cry if I want to...

- kronosposeidon

Sifters Are Works of Art

rasch187 (http://rasch187.videosift.com) — Sun, 03 May 2009 13:59:36 -0700

(23 comments - 1795 views)
I got an idea after seeing KP's monumental Sift/Star Wars post. So I went ahead and inserted various avatars into famous pictures. I hope you'll enjoy it and if anyone feels the need to do some image editing of their own; let me know and I'll add your picture.

So without further ado...

"Emperor Schmawy crossing the Alps"

based on "Napoleon" by Jacques-Louis David.

[UPDATED x 2 - NEW PICTURES AT THE END]

"Rasch Gothic"

based on "American Gothic" by Grant Wood.

"Issy works at Folies-Bergère"

based on "A Bar at the Folies-Bergère" by Edouard Manet.

"Lucky ain't so lucky on the third of may"

based on "The Third of May" by Fransisco Goya.

Farhad taunts POWs

based on same picture as above.

"Ornthoron sweeps up the streets"

based on a "The Maid" by Banksy.

"JAAAAAAAAAAAPR"

based on "The Scream" by Edvard Munch.

"Swampgirl leading the people"

based on "Liberty Leading the People" by Eugene Delacroix.

Kronosposeidon's got the night watch"

based on "The Night Watch" by Rembrandt

"The Sarzy Sabbath"

based on "The Witches' Sabbath" by Francisco Goya

[UPDATE #1]
Kronosposeidon took some time off his night watch duties and made these:

"Warhol Atara"

based on numerous works by Andy Warhol.

"Blankfist black painting"

"Black Painting" by Ad Reinhardt.

"Dystopianfuturetoday³"

based on the cubist works of Pablo Picasso.

"The Son of Rottenseed"

based on "The Son of Man" by René Magritte.

"Mintbbb is The Eye"

based on "Spellbound" by Salvador Dali.

[UPDATE #2]
I got bored and made some more...

"MarineGunrock surrounded by beef"

based on "Head Surrounded by Sides of Beef" by Francis Bacon

"Peggedbea the dead mermaid nurse involved"

based on "A Nurse Involved" by Richard Prince (and NicoleBee's picture).

"Laura performs a donkey show"

based on a church painting by Franz Wideberg.

- rasch187

Poem of the Week

bluecliff (http://art.videosift.com/member/bluecliff) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:49:28 -0700

(9 comments - 516 views)
For the cultural elitist

(I'm looking at you blankfist. you really thought the act could fool anyone?)

CAT IN AN EMPTY APARTMENT

Die — you can't do that to a cat.
Since what can a cat do
in an empty apartment?
Climb the walls?
Rub up against the furniture?
Nothing seems different here,
but nothing is the same.
Nothing has been moved,
but there's more space.
And at nighttime no lamps are lit.

Footsteps on the staircase,
but they're new ones.
The hand that puts fish on the saucer
has changed, too.

Something doesn't start
at its usual time.
Something doesn't happen
as it should.
Someone was always, always here,
then suddenly disappeared
and stubbornly stays disappeared.

Every closet has been examined.
Every shelf has been explored.
Excavations under the carpet turned up nothing.
A commandment was even broken,
papers scattered everywhere.
What remains to be done.
Just sleep and wait.

Just wait till he turns up,
just let him show his face.
Will he ever get a lesson
on what not to do to a cat.
Sidle toward him
as if unwilling
and ever so slow
on visibly offended paws,
and no leaps or squeals at least to start.

-- Wislawa Szymborska

- bluecliff

ObsidianStorm, RhesusMonk and ponceleon Level Up!

dystopianfuturetoday (http://art.videosift.com/member/dystopianfuturetoday) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:37:14 -0700

The best writer to have ever lived...

NeuralNoise (http://art.videosift.com/member/NeuralNoise) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 07:11:48 -0700

(3 comments - 338 views)
...Was a Portuguese fellow by the name of Fernando Pessoa. He had many heteronyms, which is a sort of literary multiple personality, each an amazing and particular author on its own.

His work is really really hard to translate without the colossal loss that accompanies translations of works that are strong and subtle and utilize the deeper intricacies of the language...

Still, he was raised in South Africa and wrote a bit in english as well.
I recently found his 35 sonnets in english on Project Guttemberg.

Here is the link
http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=274171

and here is the first sonnet:

Whether we write or speak or do but look
We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others’ dreams.

- NeuralNoise