Off Book was a PBS Web Series that explored cutting-edge art, internet culture, and the people that create it.
Much attention has been paid to 3D Printing lately, with new companies developing cheaper and more efficient consumer models that have wowed the tech community. They herald 3D Printing as a revolutionary and disruptive technology, but how will these printers truly affect our society?
GIFs are one of the oldest image formats used on the web. Throughout their history, they have served a huge variety of purposes, from functional to entertainment. Now, 25 years after the first GIF was created, they are experiencing an explosion of interest and innovation that is pushing them into the terrain of art.
Animation has been captivating audiences for more than a hundred years. From classic forms like hand drawn and stop-motion, to cutting-edge techniques like motion graphics and CGI, animation has a long history of creating style and poetry unachievable through live action filmmaking.
The video game industry is now bigger than Hollywood, with hundreds of millions of dollars spent developing these interactive experiences. But there are also small-scale developers working in the indie game realm, creating unique and experimental video games without the budgets of the larger "AAA" games.
Color is one of the fundamental elements of our existence, and defines our world in such deep ways that its effects are nearly imperceptible. It intersects the worlds of art, psychology, culture, and more, creating meaning and influencing behavior every step of the way.
LEGO blocks are one of the most beloved toys in the world, playing a role in many a person's childhood. But for some creators, LEGO has evolved from toy to art form. In this episode, we talk to three LEGO artists who have made beautiful mosaics, amazing stop-motion videos, thoughtful sculptures, and have turned these tiny building blocks into a true artistic medium.
Humans have been creating likenesses of each other for thousands of years, but with the introduction of photography, a new language developed for capturing the human image. Photography created opportunities for not just for biography and documentation, but also depth, empathy, and experimentation.
Glitches are the frustrating byproduct of technology gone awry. Wildly scrambled images, frozen blue screens, and garbled sounds signify moments where we want to throw our expensive computer products out the window. Many artists and programmers, however, have embraced these crisis moments and discovered beauty in the glitch.
Warning: This episode contains mature subject matter. Since its creation in 2005, Reddit has grown into one of the most influential communities on the internet. More than just a content aggregator, it generates information and new content, and has given birth to intriguing collaborative projects that reflect a particular group character and value system.
Logos surround us in digital and physical space, but we rarely examine the thought and artistic thinking that goes into the design of these symbols. Utilizing a silent vocabulary of colors, shapes, and typography, logo designers give a visual identity to companies and organizations of all types.
It seems that no matter how far we advance into the digital age, our bodies remain a place where we want to express ourselves. In this episode, we talk to three tattoo artists of differing styles.
Beginning with early Atari and Nintendo video games, the 8-bit aesthetic has been a part of our culture for over 30 years. As it moved through the generations, 8-bit earned its independence from its video game roots.
List of Featured Viral Videos*** https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VxDuCW08L3KLf3XPOxRKwVk8eltv8I1xJVij8Brbs7Q/edit This is work-in-progress list. We'll fill in the holes this week. Feel free to comment on the document if you want to help! :) "Viral Video" is the signature phenomenon of internet media.
The internet has intensified connections between people across the planet. In this episode we take a look at the impact of this new interconnectivity on the art world. Traditional funding models are dissolving, new forms of expressing ownership have arisen to accomodate for remix culture, and artists are finding ways to connect physical art experiences and traditions to the internet.
Though often overlooked, Graphic Design surrounds us: it is the signs we read, the products we buy, and the rooms we inhabit. Graphic designers find beauty within limitations, working towards the ultimate goal of visually communicating a message, be it the packaging of a product, the spirit of a book, or the narrative of a building.
Space presents a fantastic mystery to human life. Unfathomably large, with characteristics that defy our experience and understanding, the stars have perplexed and amazed humanity for our entire recorded history, and likely before. In the present, astrophysicists and astronomers are aggressively studying the universe in an attempt to solve critical scientific and philosophical questions.
Humans have a powerful capacity to process visual information, skills that date far back in our evolutionary lineage. And since the advent of science, we have employed intricate visual strategies to communicate data, often utilizing design principles that draw on these basic cognitive skills.
As games have increased in sophistication, they have become a stage for ever higher displays of human skill and brilliance. The result is a tier of the gaming world filled with startling disciplined, talented, and highly competitive players.
The magic of stop-motion animation has enthralled audiences for over a century, but with the advent of CGI, many thought it was at risk of extinction. Yet despite these fears, animators all over the world continue to manually create unique stories out of physical materials, be it clay, sand or paint, puppets or people.
The explosion of the internet over the past 20 years has led to the development of one of the newest creative mediums: the website. Web designers have adapted through the technological developments of html, CSS, Flash, and JavaScript, and have mastered the balance between creativity and usability.
Comedy is a huge part of entertainment and culture, but for decades there have been very limited opportunities for comedians to reach audiences and succeed. Fortunately, the internet has blown that wide open, providing new venues for the creation of comedy, removing the limitations of the old guard, and opening new doors to laughter.
Programming plays a huge role in the world that surrounds us, and though its uses are often purely functional, there is a growing community of artists who use the language of code as their medium. Their work includes everything from computer generated art to elaborate interactive installations, all with the goal of expanding our sense of what is possible with digital tools.
As technology speeds forward, humans are beginning to imagine the day when robots will fill the roles promised to us in science fiction. But what should we be thinking about TODAY, as robots like military and delivery drones become a real part of our society? How should robots be programmed to interact with us?
Video Sources! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aq_fU6bY-l5BdGVUdUVOX2ZBWFNlb2tLcnZnT1g5ekE&usp=sharing Artificial intelligence is an ever evolving goal for researchers, and the object of endless fascination for writers, filmmakers, and the general public. But despite our best science fiction visions, creating digital intelligence is incredibly difficult.
As computing moves from our desktops to our phones, we look into the future to see how technology will become increasingly ingrained in our movements and our active lives. From the Nike Fuelband to Google Glass, consumers are already seeing hints of the future of wearable devices.
Over the past 8 years, YouTube has given birth to an increasingly sophisticated entertainment culture that operates outside of the traditional television and film ecosystem. With humble roots in charismatic and creative people simply sharing their lives, thoughts, and humor to their webcams, YouTube entertainment has diversified and grown into tens of thousands of unique channels with millions of loyal fans and subscribers.
The internet is a powerful tool for communication, but it can sometimes be a double-edged sword. As most of us have seen or experienced, the internet can bring out the worst behavior in people, highlighting some of the cruelest and most hurtful aspects of humanity.
Before the mass media, people actively engaged with culture through storytelling and expanding well-known tales. Modern fan culture connects to this historical tradition, and has become a force that challenges social norms and accepted behavior. Whether the issue is gender, sexuality, subversiveness, or even intellectual property law, fans participate in communities that allow them to think outside of what is possible in more mainstream scenarios.
As technology has evolved over the past two centuries, so have our expectations about privacy. This new digital world allows us to connect with each other with increasing ease, but it has also left our personal information readily available, and our privacy vulnerable.
Game/Show looks at the relationship between videogames and modern life. The show aims to talk about all the things viewers think about, but don't have anyone to discuss it with.
Since the heyday of arcades, death has been a key element in videogames. But does it actually teach us anything about our own lives? Over the years developers have created many variations of death in games: 3 lives, checkpoints, saved games...yet the human experience of death is a lot more, well, absolute.
The idea of watching a stranger play a video game for hours seems counterintuitive to many. But they are actually quite popular. HUGELY POPULAR, in fact. Let's Play Video creator Pewdiepie currently holds the record for most subscribers, with over 12 MILLION!!!