ASCII Art

I went onto the class website and clicked on some of the links provide on ASCII art. I think it is cool that words can be used to make shapes and art. It takes a lot of creativity to figure what words you want to use and what shape is relevant to those words. I also saw the lego's that formed the Mona Lisa and the screws that formed a giant picture. Again, that takes time and dedication in order to put something that huge together. I looked up other pictures of ASCII art on google images and was amazed by what I found. There were full on portraits of famous people formed by just words. There was also cartoons and scenes from various movies that people created using this art form.

In one of my classes a year ago I recall experimenting with ASCII art. I made the David Bowie signature lighting bolt on his face out of various song lyrics of his. I'm not sure if it was the same thing but that's what I can compare it to. I remember it being extremely time consuming but it was cool when the finished product was presented.

21st Century Technology

Kristen Yurovchak

Art 211

Professor Roundtree

17 October, 2017

21^st Technology

            All over the world, people use cell phones to communicate with one another. The primary cell phone that people use is the IPhone, which has innovated cell phone technology forever. Almost every year, Apple comes out with a new version of the phone that is better than the last version of it. It has new features that people spend hundreds of dollars for. However, the IPhone could not be what it is today without the help of technology that came before it.

            We are able to have the IPhone and many other 21^st century technologies thanks to invention of electromagnetism. Discovering this allowed people to invent ways of communication such as the telegraph, which is the basis for the internet. (Nesterov). Through electricity we also were able to invent the telephone and radio which is a crucial part to the development of the cell phone and the IPhone. The phone would also not be functional without a battery, another technology that came before the IPhone.

            In the year 1800, Alessandro Volta invented the voltaic pile. Due to this it became possible to develop a battery although not until two centuries later was this idea fully realized. In 1985, the prototype for the lithium-ion battery was invented and in 1991 in the first commercial battery was available with the battery and the electrical telegraph (Nesterov). This pushed scientists to invent the Internet and World Wide Web.

            Another crucial part of the IPhone is the computing software that was created. Without the software the IPhone would not be what it is today. Apple first developed Newton, the touch capable digital assistant in 1993 (Nesterov). In 2007 Apple then created the IOS otherwise known as the “IPhone operation system” which is what is used today. Two other technologies that helped the IPhone come into fruition as well is Wi-Fi and the photo camera.

            The IPhone has changed the world as we know it. The existence of it has created the existence of other things such as; selfies, apps, expansion in social media, GPS expansion, threaded text message and much more. The IPhone has allowed for forms of communication that wasn’t as available before. Texting has become a bigger deal and has almost eliminated the phone call. There are apps and websites that only work on the IPhone instead of being able to use them on the computer. It has allowed creativity from all kinds of people on all sorts of things.

Works Cited

Nesterov, Dymtro. “IPhone: How Did We Get There? [Technology History Infographic].”

QuartSoft, Quartsoft, 21 Oct. 2014, quartsoft.com/blog/201410/iphone-technology-history-infographic.

Flipbook Animation

My flipbook is called Forming an Idea. The animation tells a story of someone who is trying to figure out how to get a good grade on a test. They read the textbook and then they have an "a-ha!" moment or "Eurika!". A lightbulb goes off in their head and then it shows they got an A+ on their test. I thought of this idea when I didn't know what to make. My flipbook animation was done inside a regular book so that is how I got the idea of the animation for the book. I built off the idea from there. This assignment took me a really long time to complete and I have a new respect for animators who used to animate cartoons and movies by hand. It is very time consuming and requires a lot of commitment.

Angel de Quinta Stage Door

I have been very fortunate to have lived most of my life an hour away from New York City. This has given me the opportunity to travel to the city and experience Broadway. The very first show that I ever saw was Beauty and the Beast for my 7th birthday and it has remained one of my favorites. I remember the use of the scenery to convey the story. For example during "Be Our Guest" the use of bright lights and costumes made the musical number very bombastic. There were firework type effects going on stage that emphasized the number as a show-stopper. Another cool part of the set was how the Beast's castle rotated to convey whether the characters were outside and inside.

Another show I was obsessed with for a very long time was Phantom of the Opera. I got to see that show one year because it was one of my Christmas gifts. I loved how the music and the technology worked together to bring you back in time to when the story would have taken place. One the scenes that sticks out the most to me as a great example of technology in theatre, is when the Phantom takes Christine down underneath the opera house. He takes her on a boat on a lake and they have fog covering the stage and candelabras rising from the stage to give the illusion they are floating. It was super cool. Another memorable moment is during the song Masquerade when the cast is dancing on a giant staircase. In order to give an illusion of a full staircase, they use dummies they have dressed up to fill in the empty spaces. The Phantom also appears in that scene and through the use of special effects, is able to vanish in front of the audience.

Lastly one of all time favorites is Wicked. I saw Wicked for my 10th birthday and it was an experience I will never forget. The use of technology is immense. The cast and crew of Wicked want you to feel like you have been transported to Oz through their use of costumes, lighting, choreography, dialogue, and much more. One of the most memorable scenes is in the beginning when Glinda appears in her bubble and she is descending to the stage. They use a bubble machine to produce bubbles that surround her as she is there. Another memorable scene is when Elphaba decides she's had enough of how she is treated and defies gravity. She steps onto a platform, that the audience cannot see, and is lifted into the air. Along with the use of lighting and smoke machine, it gives the illusion that she is flying with her broomstick which is really cool.