My Favorite Flash Mob

After researching several different flash mobs I choose this one that was preformed by The University of Minnesota's School of Music. I chose this flash mob because I liked the organic nature of it. Not only were the dancers preforming along with the music but they were also singing and creating the music they were dancing to. I found that to be very impressive. I felt like I could relate to the performers because the preformers were college students.

Xerox Project

Iconoclasm

Iconoclasm relates to the destruction of religious icons and other symbols of religious and political importance. Generally iconoclasm is implemented as part of a major political or religious change. Iconoclasm could also mean to destroy images of a rulers after he has died or been overthrown. Supports of Iconoclasm are generally referred to as "Iconoclast." This term has also been adopted to refer to anyone who challenges established conventions. Iconoclasm can either occur between different  religions or manifest between multiple factions of the same religion.

Joseph Beuys

Joseph Beuys was born on May 12, 1921 in Krefeld Germany. He was the son of a merchant. Even at a young age Beuys was regarded by his teachers to be excellent at drawing. Beuys worked in many different areas of art including graphic art, sculpture, and performance art. He grounded his work in the concepts humanism, social philosophy, and anthroposophy. His "extended definition of art" included the ideas behind social sculpture and gesamtkunstwerk which means the ideal work of art. During his career Beuys was characterized by the public debate that he stimulated. However, he is now regarded as one of the most influential and intriguing artists of the 20th century. Beuys was also a member of the Flux movement where artists challenged the boundaries of what was considered to be art. However, he tended to fallow a slightly different set of guidelines then the typical flux artist. One of the mediums that Beuys is known for was his work with fat. One of his most well known works Fat Chair utilized this medium. 

Sheryl Oring

Sheryl Oring is most widely known for her project "I Wish to Say." After  spending some time in Europe Oring noticed how Europeans believe that all Americans think a like. This resulted in the inspiration for the project. The point of I Wish to Say is to showcase the diversity between all Americans. Oring began the project in 2004. She would dress up as a 1960's secretary and set up a typewriter on the street. She would then ask people "If I were the president of the United States, what would you wish to say to me?" Oring then types up the responses she receives and puts them on postcards and sends them to the White house. To record the performance experience Oring takes photos and video of people responding to her question. 

Brion Gysin

Brion Gysin Was born on January 19, 1916 in Taplow, Buckinghamshire. Through out his life Gysin would become a painter, writer, sound poet, and performance artist. He is best known for his cut-up technique. The cut-up technique involved taking preexisting text from any sources and cutting it apart from its original order and rearranging it in a new way to form an entirely different meaning from the original intention of the piece. Collaborating with engineer Ian Sommervill, Gysin also invented the Dreamachine. The Dreamachine was designed to be viewed with your eyes, and operated by creating a flicker effect. William S. Burroughs has been quoted saying that "Brion Gysin was the only man I ever respected."

Bauhaus & McCarthy

Bauhaus was a school of design operated in Germany from 1919 to 1933. Founded by architect Walter Gropius, the school had an immeasurable affect on the design standards for architecture that would set the foundation for the principles we apply to modern day architecture. The marked difference between the Bauhaus style and previous styles, was that the Bauhaus style didn't have ornament and ostentatious facades. Instead it utilized a balance between function, artistic, and technical means. In 1933 the school was shutdown by the Nazis and many of its faculty moved to the United States. Bauhaus teachings dominated architecture for decades

Joseph McCarthy was born on November 14, 1908 and he died on May 2, 1957. McCarthy worked as a US Senator for the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until he died in 1957. During the 1950's McCarthy became one of the most dominate visible public figure during the cold war. McCarthy made claims that there were numerous Communist and Soviet spies and sympathizers working inside the U.S. federal government and other outlets. Finally the United States censured McCarthy due to his tactics and inability to provide support for his claims. The term McCarthyism was developed in the 1950's to refer to McCarthy's practices and any other similar anti-communist movements.