Insane Imaginings, Random Reveries & Other Creative Cogitation

In this fifth installment of the Social Media Birds series, I explore binary with birds. As people have talked about the preceding paintings I have been asked, “What do the ones and zeros mean?” Yes, I did write a code in ASCII binary, and, yes, it does mean something, and I have no problem with telling the viewer what the binary means. But… Like all art, it’s in the eye of the beholder who is free to apply whatever interpretation they want to the painting including the code. I could have put the actual words in the painting, but I chose to put representations of words instead. That is one reason for the binary, being literal without being literal. That there is this abstraction of language is sufficient. I would like the viewer to explore meaning a little more deeply than the face value. What are those birds talking about? Why is one bird orange? Are canaries a valid way to represent “Social Media?” Is cyber-communication real, or just a facsimile of real? Feel free to come up with your own, questions, answers, interpretations and “code;” after all, how many people can actually read ASCII binary just to look at it? Your story could be better than mine.

ASCII Bird, by Jake Beckman. 80 birds are encoded with the binary messages.

In this painting I took off on a tangent, representing the binary code with a code. Each bird represents three distinct possibilities and therefore three distinct binary states. The bird can be perched or flying, the bird can be black or white and the bird can face left or right. This allowed me to layer three different “messages” in the binary coded by the states of the birds. You don’t need ones and zeros, you just need something that can be distinctly one thing or another.

Beyond that I broke with using bright colors and also laid the birds out in a grid pattern to re-enforce the “code.” I think it has a vaguely Egyptian feel. If you want to know what the binary means, you can check it the ASCII Bird page on my website, where I have decoded the messages.

What do you think? Which one do you like best so far?

Update: Details about ASCII Bird, size etc., can be found on its art page at AKAJake.com

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

In this fourth installment of the Social Media Birds (working title), I have broken down the rigid lineal structure of the binary and turned it into a kind of ribbon shape. The canary flares for a landing carrying the bit of news; it fills the small canvas so much that it overflows it to some extent. I am also playing with the colors a bit, breaking away from the blue and yellow of the preceding works.

"RSS Feed" by Jake Beckman, an orange canary flares for a landing carrying a ribbon of binary; it appears to be singing as it lands.

The ASCII binary reads “RSS Feed” from Lower Left to Upper Right, and Top to Bottom. In this version I explicitly included a spiral in the background as a line of confluence for other things in the painting. What do you think? Which one do you like best so far?

Update: Details about RSS Feed, size etc., can be found on its art page at AKAJake.com

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

As I previously stated while I was working on Bird on a Wire a whole series of paintings came to me.  This series is a result of my recent immersion into social media.  I am a noob (a neophyte) to things like FaceBook and Twitter, but I hope to get better.  I even took a class for FaceBook, just before they completely redid the layout.  ARGH!

I am still looking for FaceBook fan page tips.  My RSS feed is double posting and since they redid the layout I can’t find where the RSS Feed link is at on the fan page anymore.

Anyway, when I posted TweetDeck, one of my commentators said that Retweet came to mind.  Of course I was already working on it as it was such an obvious follow-on.  And now it is done-enjoy.

Retweet by Jake Beckman. An orange canary sings to four other yellow ones who seem to be listening. The binary in the background reads "Retweet."

Its a little abstract in concept, but also kind of literal too.  The ASCII binary reads “Retweet” from Left to Right, and Top to bottom.  In this version I explicitly included a spiral as a place for my canaries to perch.  I opted to fill the entire background with binary so the upper most bird would have something to stand on, otherwise it would have been hanging upside down like an orangutan.   What do you think?

Update: Details about Retweet, size etc., can be found on its art page at AKAJake.com

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

So I came back from the 2009 Florence Biennale, rolling into to Sky Harbor shortly after midnight December 16 sicker ‘n a dog.  I spent the holidays watching Christmas shows, box of tissue in hand, my IQ hovering between PB&J and potted plant.  Needless to say working on putting my pictures together in a photo album on line with a travelogue was the furthest thing from my mind.  The holidays ended officially for me on January 9 when my last house guest left.  I had a lot to catch up on, but I have been working steadily on crunching down those pictures, putting on captions and otherwise making them suitable for a website etc.  Early this morning I posted the last of the pictures and went “live.”

Jake Beckman at entrance to Florence Biennale featuring Marina Abromovic photo

The link to the Florence Biennale Experience is:  http://akajake.com/florence-biennial-experience.htm

Working on the pictures brought back many fond memories for me and had me doing things like seeing how many people (that I befriended at the biennale) I could find on facebook.  I realized as I was going through the pictures that I didn’t get pictures of many people I talked to and I didn’t get pictures of their art – guess I was too busy being at the Biennale instead of documenting it. I was in several group photos but I didn’t force the camera off onto the randomly drafted photographer often enough either. So I do have a request… If you were a participant in the Florence Biennale and have other pictures you would like to add to this conversation, please post them.

So far early comments have been positive.  I hope you will enjoy it too,  Anyway, let me know what you think.  I would love to hear from you.

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

So while I was working on Bird on a Wire an whole series of ideas came into my head.  TweetDeck is one of them.  It took several days from inkling in the old brain housing group to finished canvas.  I hope you like it.

The series is the result of my immersion in social media lately (and probably for some time to come).  I have a FaceBook fan page started (and only started).  It is going to take me a while to figure out how to really use that tool properly.  And there is all the linkage between FaceBook, Twitter, my blog and to a lesser extent, MySpace and LinkedIn.  MySpace seems to be yesterday’s news.  LinkedIn seems more business minded.  But I think the whole thing can work.  In theory TwitterFeed is feeding this blog or the RSS feed to several locations.

In furtherance of my education, I participated in a kind of FaceBook for Dummies class this week.  I didn’t learn too much except how to stop being hammered with all the games.  Yes, I know, its easy, but I have not had the time to sit around and play with this stuff a lot.  Learning how to get rid of FarmVille Spam was pretty cool.  Also learning what information is being shared and how to control it to some extent was also important.  The class actually did not suggest any recommendations in this regard, which I found to be an interesting omission.

It was a hands on class, so the moment I logged on, all my FaceBook friends could see I was there and engage in chat. That was a new experience for me.  I spent a bit of time chatting with several people including my nephew who seems to think Apple/Macintosh is the be-all-end-all-here and can’t understand why I am still using a clunky HP laptop or why I think my next phone is going to be a Blackberry.

Anyway, so my mind is chewing on this stuff and out comes this series of ideas with canaries and binary.  I enjoyed painting my little tweetie bird commune so much another one is underway.  Anyway, without futher ado, TweetDeck.

TweetDeck, painting by Jake Beckman. Five canaries perch on a wire.

Its a little abstract in concept, but also kind of literal too.  The ASCII binary reads “TweetDeck” from Left to Right, and Top to bottom.  In addition to the binary I have attempted to imply a golden spiral in the arrangement of the birds and the wire and to a lesser extent the tonal variation of the colors in the background.  Mostly I think this series is going to be about whimsy.  What do you think?

Alternatively, got any FaceBook Fan page or other social media tips? Love to hear from you.

Details about TweetDeck, size etc., can be found on its art page at AKAJake.com

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

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Tried to figure out a way to reply to my own blog but couldn’t, so to all my commentators, thanks for all the social media applause.    I really appreciate you stopping by.  – Jake

Working on the Social Media thing.  Started a FaceBook fan page, AKAJake if you are interested.  Become a fan!

I have no idea what to do with this fan page yet.  Tomorrow evening I am supposed to have an “Intro to FaceBook” class – I am hoping to walk out of there a bit more clued in.

For example I really would like to have a snippet of my blogs appear in other places with a link, but I have no idea how to set that up.  I did find my RSS feed address so at least I can link that.

Of course I have my “real job” to do and I am finding it had to make a balance and still move forward with intention.  Still I must endeavor.  2010 will be the “Year of Marketing” for me because I have put it off too long and really need to figure it all out. Art is a real job too.

Anyway, I have about a million projects.  OK it is actually less than that, but I stoop to hyperbole because sometimes it feels like that.  Definitely got a few gators nibbling on my butt and the bosses just called down that the swamp draining project is on hold.    One of those alligators is “the establish a distinctive style and / or thematic reference to make myself recognizable as an artist”-gator. Once I have this consistent style I will build a body of work based on that… and market it of course.

That is the battle plan.What is it they say about battle plans? Oh yeah, the don’t tend to survive first contact with the enemy.

Toward that end I painted something last Friday; I already have a bunch of variations on the theme in my head.  I like it of course, but then again I tend to like all of my art more or less, but somebody else liked it too.  It has already flown away to live in Wisconsin.

Bird on a Wire, representational abstract by Jake

The ASCII Binary reads Twitter.com tweet. You can tell where my head is at. What do you think?

Alternatively, got any FaceBook Fan page or other social media tips? Love to hear from you.

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.