CK SHINE
Since 2003
Works in San Francisco United States of America

BIO
...
crayons,pencils,pens and paper
super8camera/projector
1/2"portapaks/b&w cams
acetate slice editing
video/audio feedback
tascam 4 track (reel & cassette)
re-scan a/b seg mix
sandin image processor
arp 2600
casio mt40
control voltage sequencing
infinite tape loops
1/2" portapak VJ mods
colorado video instrument
pdp-11
datacube
vic-20(poke/peek)
basic
interactive sound environments
casio wave table synthesis
commodore 64
korg sampling
crt extraction/manipulation
wave form/vectorscopes
grass valley seg
ikegami cameras (da plumicons)
aquastar crt projectors
umatic a/b roll
nagra field audio recorder
schoeps microphones
commodore amiga
newtek toaster
IBM 286
macII
fairlight video instrument
sony 1040 series crt projectors
minicommander edit ctrl
convergence edit ctrl
sony 3 ccd cams
grass valley seg
hi8/svhs(y/c)
avid nle prototypes
targa 64 video/graphics
extron (_ga-rgbhv)interfaces
extron (_ga-rgbhv) matrix routers
sony 1270/1290 series crt projectors
beta sp decks
rgb spectrum scan conversion
barco 9000 series lcd projectors
hughes/jvc xenon/ILA projectors
mac power PC 9500
media 100 nle
after effects
photoshop
boris fx
peak dsp
ultra scsi raid
quicktime 3.0 beta
mini dv
digibeta
cleaner pro compression
sorenson codecs
real media
windows media
html
mac G4
ms Powerpoint xp
virtual dub
g-spot
bink and smacker
swifpoint
real helix producer
christie dlp projectors
folsom screen pro(multi i/o scaling)
folsom blend pro(multi screen matrixing)
dvd studio pro
wintel hybrid laptop
avid DV express
reason 2.5

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Discussions (11) Opportunities (0) Events (0) Jobs (0)
DISCUSSION

Re: Re: I am a pirate ?!


sampling is now an old idea. i've been watching the resulting legal squabbling since the sugar hill gang sampled chic's 'good times, rapped over it and 'created' the monster old skool hip-hop hit 'rappers delight'.

what's at play here?
one argument asserts that the 'original'insight/artefact provides the
essential stimulus. secondary comments are simply derivatives and owe
a debt, both conceptually and contextually to the 'originator' of the
state(s) of mind/emotions,etc., ellicited by the 'original' artefact.

another argument is that everything is up for grabs, to be 'recontextualized' as the 'sampler' sees fit.

so let's think about you & your work as it might be 'sampled' by someone other than yourself.

let's say this 'sampler' has a profound insight into the relationships between 9 paintings,(one of which being yours) 'created' by 9 different contemporary painters.

the 'sampler' visits each gallery exhibiting each painting and discreetly captures super high resolution digital images of each of the paintings.

the sampler then 'recreates' each of the paintings, stroke for stroke and arranges them into a massive, 18'x 24' 'mega painting'. this 'sampled' work catches the fancy of some very influential critics & collectors, is written about and becomes 'famous'. all the 'sampler' is doing is bringing to light the relationships between the paintings.

yet none of the painters are credited, because naming the painters isn't important to the 'sampler's' insight.

how do you, as one of the 'sampled' painters react to this?

let's take it to the next level and say the 'sampler' sells his 'mega painting' for a million bucks.

now how do you react to this?

it's a very sticky wicket, yes?

Not too long ago, IBM spent millions of dollars in lawsuits over what they believed were patent & intellectual property infringments on their original 'Personal Computer' concept. yet eventually, they couldn't defend their 'original creation' and had to give the vast majority of their monopoly away, even though they were the first to market with a viable product.

having used sampling in much of my work for over 20 years,i agree that
if a work is suficiently recontextualized, it's fair game.

i think much of it ultimately has to do with how valuable the 'sampler's' output becomes and if there's anyone involved who has the wherewithal to prosecute the perceived transgression.

in the end, we only have those rights which we can defend

so in this case, you are a 'pirate' who is fortunate that the entity
you have 'pirated' asks only that you pay 'tribute' instead of sending their fleet against you to scuttle your enterprise and see you down to Davey Jones' locker ;-]

DISCUSSION

Re: The Myth of Meritocracy in Fine Arts


Dyske Suematsu wrote:

Some thoughts on the content of your essay:

first, there is no monolithic 'art world'. perhaps there are microcosms of interest and influence, each with specific criteria yet there are no universally nor even globally binding set criteria. it all comes down to subjective opinion.

i can say this based on personal experience and a large body of annecdotal evidence. in my own case, i am virtually unknown yet have had my share of 'successes' based on my personal criteria. i've also won several comissions & grants over a long career. through the rigors of securing these opportunities i realize that i may be 'succesful' at 'winning' the opportunities yet this really doesn't say anything about the 'success' of the specific art work.

what it does indicate is that at a particular moment in time my ideas/artefacts appealed to a specific person/group. perhaps an individual, for reasons which have nothing to do with opinions in popular art journals, bodies of critique, personal reputation, etc., simply 'gets' my idea and it's visual/sonic/temporal/assosiative dynamics and decides these qualities are 'worth' a certain 'value'. this says nothing about my personal criteria for 'success'. in fact, some of my least 'succesful' works have fascinated others to the point of purchase. fine, i'll take the money but still don't believe this was a 'succesful' work based on my personal aesthetic criteria.

It's helpful to remember that virtually every public statement uttered by Andy Warhol, on virtually any topic, is laced with irony. he was, in my opinion first & foremost, a very succesful popular entertainer. once, upon receiving a particularly harsh critique of his current works, warhol was asked by a journalist to respond to his critics. "they're absolutely right" was his response.
The point was (and remains) that those critics' opinions meant very little to warhol. he did what he did regardless of the criteria of others.

all artwork has merit to someone. In the least to it's creator. it expands or contracts from there.

I think that you're wrong about people sensing art motivated by pure opportunism. Thomas Kinkade Is living proof. Pure success based on raw opportunism to a degree which dwarfs all of his competitors. He is the most 'succesful' artist of this era, perhaps of all time.

can we say Kinkade is insincere? Is he a cynic or is he a sort of new age entrepeneur, bristling with optimism and a profound connection with sentimentality? He is most definitely a superbly skilled salesman. His clientele approaches cult-status in their appreciation for his world-view of simpler, more fundamental emotional concepts.

Production-wise, Kinkade deploys an advanced 'factory' approach which is reminiscent of Warhol's except that he uses computer aided painting machines to apply the paint to the canvas. All he does is compose the original and sign each computer generated painting.

Yet who is Kinkade influencing aesthetically? Of course, it's too early to tell.

By comparison, Van Gogh was a commercial failure during his time. He could barely sell a painting to save his life. Yet his experimental aestheics quite succesfully influenced future generations of painters.

I think part of all artists' revulsion towards 'succesful' artists is pure jealousy. Another part, at least in today's world, is the lingering effects of the marxist notion of 'unalienated labor', that is, the work is made purely for the satisfaction of the creator. Many artists have this concept deeply ingrained in their psyche (whether they've read Marx or not). The resulting artefacts of this 'pure' process are highly personal and speak of the creator's essence. Powerful stuff to be discounted by a lack of appreciation by others. It's much like being rejected by a desired lover, as you pointed out.

Salesmanship, in it's essence is based on a fundamental insinuation of 'need'. The most succesful salespeople can sell water to a dolphin. The dolphin is surrounded by free water yet the 'succesful' salesperson convinces the dolphin that their water isn't really 'the best' water for the dolphin. The seller foments doubt in the dolphin's mind and uses it to evoke dissatisfaction, even avarice and uses other psy-tricks to coerce the dolphin into a purchase. The smart dolphin laughs and swims away. Yet all the salesperson needs is a demographic slice of all dolphins to succeed. Perhaps they prey on the 'beta' males, who have an obvious inferiority complex.

Fine art is also sold to appeal to non-aesthetic concerns of many a potential client, many of whom care not a whit for a work's intrinsic aesthetic values. Rather, the focus is on to which degree will the collecting of art symbolize the purchaser's own 'success'. "i have so much discretionary capital that i can buy all of these expensive paintings" (snicker, yet this is a very REAL motivator for many purchasers.)

Let's take the 3 Stooges as another example. Masters of absurdist comedy. Wildly succesful at entertaining millions so much so that refering to a given episode ellicits many laughs from deep within the experiential base of many conversants. They are a good exqample of the dichotomy at play here. The stooges were both 'succesful' and 'unsuccesful' in the sense that they never really got a fair contractual deal. They all died relatively poor.

I disagree with your notion that it wasn't just money that put Saatchi over the top. None of the collaboration really works without the financial resources, 'the deep pockets' you mention.
Saatchi had already collected works by Warhol, et. al, because he HAD MONEY and INFLUENCE Prior to ever collecting any art. I first became fascinated by Gilbert & George in the 1970s, yet to this day have yet to realize the necessary discresionary capital to collect their works. Yet i consider them highly succesful at expressing their ideas.

Your evaluation of the benefits of teamwork is right-on. It is also where the phrase 'art-mafia' comes from. Many of these artist groups, while very pro-active for themselves, can also become very competitive and even detrimental to the careers of others as they tend to jealously monopolize and vindictively guard access to 'their' resources. Having witnessed this specific behavior, i liken it to the way chicks in a nest treat each other. First one to hatch feeds first and best, to the detriment of the others, who survive on scraps, if they're not killed, eaten or thrown out of the nest by the 'succesful' chick. In this way, the 'succesful team' approach simply provides more of the same ancient, instinctual social ordering based on the destruction of one's competitors. In this sense it offers a cynical, 'machiavellian' aproach to life. Using the same criteria for politics, we have no valid complaint against the manouvering of the current Bush regime who are 'succesful' at securing positions of power & influence. Yet i find nothing new nor inspiring in the real politik of the current political landscape nor the 'art world' which you seem to champion in your essay.

One of the great powers of art is to imagine alternative ways of seeing/being. Surrendering to the 'arrogance of the current' simply lacks imagination or inspiration. When artists accept a corporate model, they become corporate models and are easily manipulated into justifing their 'value' based on a very fleeting moment of perceived 'success'. Much like the widespread & idiotic arrogance of the 'Dot . Com' bubble, which resulted in the 'Dot . Bomb' wasteland which has ensued.

So, to site Warhol, your assertions are 'absolutrly right'.

DISCUSSION

learnining how to teach


I'm looking for a definitive text which will provide me with a solid conceptual foundation for teaching young adults (undergrad & masters candidates) how to use media arts-related processes & technologies.
Any leads much appreciated.

-CK Shine

DISCUSSION

ergonomics


After working in-place with many analog & digital technologies over the years, i have always experienced fatigue and posture-related pains after long sessions in front of screens(primarily crt, more recently lcd).
I've tried many seating technologies, from 'wheeled kneelers' to high priced 'ergonomically correct' chairs and everything in-between (including bar stools & milk crates!).

It seemed that no matter how much research time I've spent on finding the ideal seating technology, i've ended up tired and achey after several long days, and need to spend much money for massage and many hours on re-alignment.

Recently i've found a solution that has worked wonders for me: the yoga ball! it's a simple, elegant soulution which promotes active posture control and actually helps to tone key muscle groups, something that no backed chair can claim.

The increase in total energy flow through active sitting is noticable at the end of a long day. The yoga ball also allows you to lean back and stretch otherwise clenched joints. I've basically eliminated lower back pain, strengthening muscles there as well as stomach, hips, thighs & calves.

The yoga ball is infinilely customizable by variations in air pressure and posture positioning by the individual sitter.

Another great advantage is cost. i can tell you the ball costs one just one 12th-15th of the cost of the best designer chair i've used. At about $40 dollars, it's the best ergonomic investment i've ever made!

DISCUSSION

Re: do you know of art work where.....


can you elaborate on what you mean by 'found footage'?
what constitutes 'found'?
does this mean that you found a discarded video tape or film in the trash?
or does it mean you recorded some footage from television?
in the 80's there wasa phrase called 'appropriation', which basically meant stealing an image/sound(sequence) and 're-contextualizing' it to give it new meaning. is this what you mean?
i have alot of experience eith stealing or 'hijacking' or 'appropriating'
image/sound sequences from TV or video tapes of feature films and making new compositions from them.

Louise Kay wrote:

> Hey! I'm a student currently working on a found footage project. I
> need to find some artists who have adopted a similar production
> practice as my group. We are working independently of one another
> with only one visual image as stimulus and the premise that our sound
> and image will create some kind of contradiction. Please help!