How art, technology and design inform creative leaders

John Maeda TED Talk

- He has been dealing with computers for a long time
-Went to MIT, and he did a human computer placing people for every task the computer does to narrow it down
-How to combine technology, art and math?
-Images, sounds and text have been appearing with the years
-He uses an example of taking the word FEAR and changes the font of the word and describe how the meaning changes since one relates the word with the art of the typography. This is a way context combines with form to create the meaning of the actual word.
-He questioned why computers did not respond to sound, he played for many years with types of fonts and making experiments of how a computer can respond to his voice by moving a black square every time he speaks.
-Art is about asking questions
-New media is not about something being new, is about what is good and working for todays society
-Leadership is needed since it is now a network where everyone communicates with everyone. Leaders see un probable connections and make them possible.
-Now businesses have a CEO in the center and as a leader he has to find connections between different departments

Soft Concrete

Cement is getting old, so I decided to do a concrete that is soft so people can take longer to get somewhere. Also they will make more exercise since they have to put more effort in walking in a soft jello like concrete!

Grid Project

I started to brainstorm of the technology present while I was growing up. I lived in a farm far from downtown in Costa Rica and so I had a big garden and I was often outdoors. I never had nintendo nor playstation nor xbox. Video games were not present in my childhood at all. I did not have a computer until I was in my senior year and a phone until I was in 10th grade. So technology was not a often thing in my life just for some TV and what we did in school. 

The most fascinating interaction I had with technology when I was young was when I went to my cousins house and we played Super Mario in their Nintendo 64. I remember I never wanted to leave the house, we always had so much fun together playing this game.

For my grid project I decided to make the player Mario to remember those times. 

First I draw 12 vertical lines and 16 horizontal lines in a 25" by 35" cardboard. Then I had to cut 5 colors of post it's and and started with the background. I did not find brown nor black color of post it's so I colors them with markers. 

Flip Book

About 2 weeks ago I got back home from a avery long day and I saw my house was upside down. I decided to make a short story about my cat named Fango in my flip book since he is always making messes and also he leaves presents in my shoes such as lizards or bugs. I always pet him and pretend he is a champ since it is a gift for me, but inside I am always very disguised by it. 

Carolina Gurdian-Peralta

Thursday March 5th, 2015

ART240: Art and Technology

Video Game Carmen 

The opera Carmen was first performed in Opera Comique located in Paris, France on the date March 3rd, 1875. Carmen is a story about a peasant girl who works at a cigar factory in Sevilla, Spain. The conflict within the story consists of Carmen, being a very feminine girl who likes the attention of men, starts working in this big factory. She receives attention from everyone except her boss called Jose Zuniga. She gets into a big fight with another girl in the factory when the police arrives and she manages to escape, but unfortunately Don Jose gets arrested. He gets release and there is when their romantic affair starts and they fall in love. Carmen lover, Escamillo, fights with Jose Zuniga for Carmen’s love, unable to finish the fight Escamillo sets a date for a combat and Jose Zuniga’s lover begs him to return home since his mother is ill, he wars Carmen they will meet again and gives her a ring along with his promise. It is until Carmen tells him that their affair is over, that she was born free and free she will die. Jose filled with anger, stabs Carmen to death. 

I learned many things while watching this opera, and the first thing is how drastic and dramatic the plot is. Death is a constant in almost every opera produced, while tragedy and sadness dominates the entire story. During that century desire to challenge idealism and replace it with realism was primal.Change was being asked by the viewers started thinking that the grand opera became a little predictable and not very original. The opera comique started looking for new and fresh talent, it became the venue for the introduction of new and more innovative works. This opera was presented particularly after the Franco-Prussian war in the years 1870-1871. People after that were in need of new entertainment since they were shocked and affected by the French body politic and created ripple effects that reached into the world of opera.

I decided to develop a video game that takes place inside the cigar factory, the factory is going to be portrayed as old and made of red bricks. The characters that one can play with are Carmen and Jose Zuniga. The video game will consist of having to pass a series of problems presented while working in the cigar factory. It will start as the character getting the job as the first issue, while working the character will be making money as a reward in the game. That money is later used to pay taxes and food to be able to live in the virtual world. Later on, another issue is presented as another challenge which is Carmen fighting with another co-worker, if you are playing with Carmen then you have to win the fight and if you are playing with Jose then you have to break the fight. The next challenge is for Carmen and Jose to have an affair without any other players noticing or suspecting anything since they are secret lovers. Another challenge is running from the police after the fight to avoid prison, as well as then fighting Carmen’s lover wether with words being Carmen of physically when playing with Jose. The final challenge or mission in the game is going to be for Jose to kill Carmen with a knife and stab her to death and fight back Carmen, and if the player is Carmen she has to run from him and fight for her life. 

After each challenge, you win flowers, for later on trade them for a favor to save your life or when you are in trouble. Carmen will win a flower every time she seduces a man and wins his heart and after every challenge while Jose will win a flower every time he gets Carmen’s attention and after every challenge as well. The flowers are red roses, and they work in saving the player from trouble when the challenge has not been complete successful. Like for example, if Carmen cannot run from the police after getting into a fight with her co-worker, then she gets to go to prison. Carmen can use one of her red roses to give to the police officer outside her cell to let her go. If they fail a challenge the player is going to not only lose money and not receive a flower but they must do a secret favor to one of their friends without anyone noticing to replace the failed challenge. Like for example Micaela is the first friend of Carmen in the video game, if you fail a challenge Micaela can ask of you to go and kill her boyfriend that cheated on her or can ask you to steal money from the workers in the cigar factory for her. The player must complete the favor in a secretly manner and cannot get caught. If they get caught and into trouble they go down a level and have to re-start the past challenge to continue to the next level with a new challenge.

The setting of the video game is in Sevilla, Spain in a small town where the player can go to the cigar factory (main building) the plaza to buy food and goods and their house. They can also open new places to go as they make friends and invite you to their house or a restaurant. The player has to work in the factory to gain money and be able to eat, but can also make friends inside the video game.