Utopian Hypercity

Blog Update

2007-03-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

Ciao,

This blog was created for a multimedia class project at Eyebeam in New York City. The active blog of Antonio Lopez lives at:

World Bridger Media

or his tactical media site:

Blogdisease

2005-12-14T09:01:00.000-08:00

Vlogging the Hypercity - Group 2

Watch the video

This is a video of New York City youth interviewing each other about the concept of Utopia. The background is a mix of images downloaded from the Internet that represent these students' visual idea of Utopia.

Instructor: Andy Fenwick

Program: Career Explorations

Hypercity images at flckr

2005-12-13T11:39:00.000-08:00

Hypercity Images at Flickr

These are images selected off the Internet that represent the visual idea of utopia by a group of New York City high school students during our after school program at Eyebeam.

Final Report from the Hypercity

2005-12-13T10:12:00.000-08:00

After-School Atelier
Fall 2005 (High School Program)
Vlogging the Hypercity: Utopian Practices in Multimedia

Teaching Artist: Antonio Lopez
The design of this program was initially over ambitious. The goal was to apply a scaffold approach to understanding media as a form and also as a utopian project in Western culture. The plan each week was to build on skills developed through hands-on projects that mirrored the trajectory of communications technology, moving from oral to print to electronic media. The final project was to create a video Web log (vlog) reporting from a utopian future that other students could reflect and comment upon on in a Web site. Doing so required a consistent core group and committed community of youth interested in the subject.

A few hurdles were encountered along the way. With high school students it's difficult to maintain consistent after school attendance in the fall. With the stress of the new school year and other obligations, maintaining a weekly group large enough to do group projects was untenable. So we restructured, working with one core student on a weekly basis, and then brought in several different student groups for two-day workshops that consolidated the semester-long agenda.

In the case of the single project, the student (Jorge) first gathered images that to him represented utopia, and then worked out mapping a future island that would be his ideal world. We then had him explain his design on video, using chroma key for the background to combine his images. The student also composed music for the video. In addition, using images of utopia culled from the Internet by other student groups, the student will do a live streaming video mix in which other youth can enter imaginary utopian spaces through the magic of compositing. Youth will perform live in front of a green screen background, which is then fed and processed through a VJ (video-jockey) program and superimposed upon utopian images. The live video stream will then be projected on the wall.

Additional student groups who came in for two-day mini-workshops followed the similar format: Intro and discussion of what is utopia and a viewing of utopian images through history; culling their visual concept of utopia from the Internet and magazines; writing short biographical and visionary pieces on the "perfect world"; videotaping each other discussing their ideas against a green screen; and setting up blogs to post their ideas, art and writing concerning utopia. The final video being screened is a composite of the interviews with their selected images of utopia.—Antonio Lopez

2005-12-13T10:00:00.000-08:00

Vlogging the Hypercity - Jorge

Watch the video

This is Jorge explaining his utopian city map. He also created the music. The background images represent visual experience and places you would see in his utopia.

Vlogging the Hypercity - Group 1

2005-12-13T09:30:00.000-08:00

Vlogging the Hypercity

Watch the video

This is a video of New York City high school students interviewing each other about the concept of Utopia. The background is a mix of images downloaded from the Internet that represent these students' visual idea of Utopia.

Schhool: Humanities High School
Instructor: Dominique Folino

Antonio's art project

2005-10-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

Here is the link to my art project, My Country of Illusion.

Here is the link to the video.

The Cloisters

2005-10-24T09:21:00.000-07:00

On Wed. October 26 we are going to the Cloisters to examine early art practices. It's in Washington Heights and quite easy to get to. Check out directions here:

Directions to The Cloisters

From Main Building

From Madison Avenue and 83rd Street, take M4 bus directly to the last stop (Fort Tryon Park–The Cloisters).

By Subway/Bus

Take M4 bus directly to the last stop (Fort Tryon Park–The Cloisters) or take A train to 190th Street, exit station by elevator, and walk north along Margaret Corbin Drive for approximately ten minutes; to avoid walking, transfer to M4 bus and ride one stop north.

By Car

Take Joe DiMaggio Highway/Henry Hudson Parkway northbound to first exit after George Washington Bridge (Fort Tryon Park–The Cloisters). This exit is accessible only from northbound lane; if coming from the north, take Henry Hudson Parkway southbound to exit 14–15, make U-turn, and travel north one mile to exit marked Fort Tryon Park–The Cloisters.

Icon Map

2005-10-23T19:36:00.000-07:00

This is an icon map from Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics detailing the various levels of abstraction an image can take.

For more details, go to McCloud's Big Triangle page.

Welcome!

2005-10-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

This is the class blog for the Utopian Hypercity Project. Please post questions here.