The most interesting lecture

This weeks lecture was given by Melinda Steffy, a jack of all trades in the art world. The main topic she spoke on was Esty.com, a place to buy and sell hand made arts and crafts. Before the lecture started the G-Man, Gerard Brown ask the audience if someone could help the squid through the door. A kid in a giant squid costume was trying to fit through the door, he made it in and plopped down in the back, the costume still touching the ceiling. The lecture wasn't too bad, Melinda has some good points. She mentioned that you need a website, she told us how a lady at this one craft show Melinda was at didn't have a website and people didn't take her as seriously. Then half way through the lecture a kid ran to the front, covered in full super villain garb, and threw down a black circle and yelled "The infamous hole strikes again!". If I had any doubt I was in an art school it is now gone. The lecture continued after a few jokes, Melinda Steffy was not phased.

The Tenth Lecture

I chose to go to the Superflex lecture this week and was happy I did. It took me a little while to understand what Jacob Fenger was saying because of his accent but once I understood I really started to enjoy the lecture. Superflex is a group of Danish artists that work all over the world. What really interested me in this lecture was what the artists where doing with their talent. Instead of just wasting time and making art for art's sake they were making art for the sake of common people, for farmers, for the unprivileged. One of Superflex's main projects is Guaraná Power, a soda pop that is made from the guaraná berry. The farmers who now produce berries for Guaraná Power were being screwed by a big corporation that monopolized the guaraná industry, but because of Superflex the farmers are now getting fair pay for their work. Because Superflex is using their talent to help people and not just make art for galleries is why I was so interested in the lecture.

Number Nine

This weeks lecture was given by Tyler's very own Doug Bucci, a metals and CAD CAM teacher. Doug went to school wanting to be a painter despite his rich 3-D heritage, his dad was a carpenter, mom was an interior designer and his grandpa was a blacksmith. He took a metals course as an undergrad and got hooked on it. His work now is done almost all on the computer using 3-D rendering technology. A few years back Bucci had a wake-up call, he was reading an article about two artists he admires and found out they had recently died from complications from diabetes. Doug has diabetes and was living a raucous life, he decided it was time to get serious and his art reflected it. His art now is somehow drawn back to his diabetes. His latest conquest is quit an advantageous journey. The medical devices that keep him alive are now also feeding his art. His blood sugar meter sends its readings to the insulin pump and to his computer, after enough info is gathered the 3-D printer goes to work and makes something. If Doug has a good day health wise the piece will be aesthetically pleasing but if his blood sugar is a crazy coaster then the piece will be grotesque. Doug Bucci is on the cutting edge of technology based art.