Net Artist: Yung Jake

“When you rap ur saying 'I’m a rapper and this is a rap and I’m gonna tell you something to a beat in the form of a rap. And I’m good at rapping and these are other things I’m doing with my life.'”

Yung Jake in a “text” interview with Paddy Johnson

Figure 1. Meet Yung Jake

When the idea of “net.art” was first introduced or labeled in 1994 by artist Vuk Cosic (Greene 2000, pg. 162), participants could not have imagined how net art could or would evolve. At the time of its “accidental” labeling, the idea of something going “viral” was non-existent. Artists from across the globe worked simultaneously to create images, build community and explore the possibilities of the internet as a means of creation and dissemination of ideas across time and space. Rachel Greene compares the community and its purpose to Andy Warhol’s Factory in that “the people as well as the methods of production and distribution were all part of the project’s meaning” (Greene 2000, p 163).

Fast forward to 2014, artists working in all mediums and genres are more connected to one another, their audience, and quite possibly themselves than ever before. Creating net art is still a very fluid political process in which creators and consumers “exploit the inherent capabilities of the Internet, making both more participatory, connective, or dynamic” (Ippolito 2002, 485). Net art is multi-dimensional, evolving and devolving as old technologies fade away underneath the light of new more innovative ones. Social networking is a major component of net art. With photo, video, and audio-sharing apps accessible through smart phones, artists create, edit, and upload net art from anywhere at anytime. The process and dissemination is a part of daily life in a very tangible way.

Figure 2. Datamoshed Yung Jake

Meet Yung Jake, “internet incarnate, rapper, memester, artiste of the online world” (Hive 2013). Jake’s medium is video (see figure 1).  Utilizing the self-reflective style of rap music and clichés in current digital culture, Yung Jake has seemingly infiltrated our computers, taken over and produced a work of “art” so multi-dimensional that we as the viewer find it hard to distinguish what is part of the art and what is a potential computer malfunction. The viral video Datamosh explores the process of datamoshing while forcing the viewer to engage with video imagery that is intentionally distorted. The pixilated images throughout the entire video ask the viewer to reimagine these “video glitches” as art as Jake repeatedly states that this is “not a video glitch” or “bad internet” but his own doing (see figure 2). Through the lyrics and imagery, Jake addresses stereotypes found within the rap music culture (references to sexual pursuits and the objectification of women common in hip hop) as well as the tech community (“it’s cool cause it’s nerdy”). Additional references to pop culture, such as Justin Beiber, David O’Reilly, Vimeo, Photobooth, reinforce the meaning and purpose behind the project.

Disclaimer: the video you are about to watch contain adult language and sexual content. 

The virality of this Datamosh is satirized in Yung Jake’s follow-up video E.m-bed.de/d (see figure 3). Using the audience’s computer screen as canvas, Yung Jake documents the life of a video gone viral. This journey begins at the video’s release and connects it to every relevant social networking space (see figure 4 and 5). The multi-dimensionality of the video is illustrated in the layering of pop-up windows, the use of double-entendres, and the repetition of the artist has he is moving simultaneously and independently through the multiple windows (see figure 6). Each video invites the viewer to participate in the experience but offers only the illusion of participation. While the references, the images, the blogs, the social networking sites are just as much a part of our own daily lives and interaction, we cannot “like” the video or “click” the link to follow a thread.

Figure 3. Screen Shot of the "Opening scene" of E.m-bed.de/d

Figure 4. Flickr 

Figure 5. tumblr

Figure 6.

Disclaimer: the video you are about to watch contain adult language and sexual content. With that said, prepare to be blown away!!  

Throughout our daily routines, we find ourselves moving seamlessly through multiple spaces IRL and IVL simultaneously. We may be texting a co-worker, updating Instagram, and sharing a video while sitting at a coffee shop chatting with a friend. Frankly, we appear quite comfortable navigating that many spaces at once. This interconnectivity of our real life and virtual spheres is illustrated in the video as the “Banner Bitch” walks out of the advertisement and into Yung Jake’s bedroom (see figure 7). 

Figure 7. Crossing Spaces

The narcissistic imagery and text found within E.m-bed.de/d (see figure 8) offers validation to the artist whose name and praises are littered throughout the piece. The self-reflective nature of Yung Jakes language alludes to an audience that is equally self-involved. “Haters thumbing down” and “bitches liking” are sources of validation for the rapper in what appears to be a forum where he has no control. However, the video is completely controlled by the artist despite his lackadaisical attitude and demeanor toward his sudden popularity.  

Figure 8. omg

While these videos are visual buffets of digital capabilities, they are also a visual commentary on popular trends in technology use. By acknowledging the key players in the social media phenomenon, Yung Jake harnesses their power as a useful tool for disseminating art. Art that calls attention to the amount of Internet consumption fused into our daily existence. Art that speaks to a need for validation found within these spaces. Art that offers a way to navigate the process of identifying and defining ourselves in the interconnected, always connected space of the virtual world.

Resources:

Greene , R. (n.d.). Web work: A history of internet art. Art forum, Retrieved from https://elearning.psu.edu/courses/aed811/sites/edu.courses.aed811/files/content/history_of_net_art.pdf

Hive, M. T. V. (n.d.). Art + Rap + The Internet = Yung Jake. MTV Hive. Retrieved February 25, 2014, fromhttp://www.mtvhive.com/2013/03/04/yung-jake/

Ippolito, J. (2002). Ten myths of internet art. Leonardo,35(5), 485-498.

Jake, V. 10/17/2013 Y. (n.d.). Portraits: Yung Jake.ILLROOTS. Retrieved February 25, 2014, fromhttp://www.illroots.com/watch/portraits-yung-jake

Johnson, P. (2013 11–14). Yung Jake, Video Prankster and Meta-Rapper, Turns the Hustle into Art. SPIN. Retrieved February 25, 2014, fromhttp://www.spin.com/articles/yung-jake-internet-rap-embedded-datamosh/

Mishka Bloglin » Blog Archive » Checking Up With Yung Jake. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2014, fromhttp://mishkanyc.com/bloglin/2014/02/12/checking-up-with-yung-jake/

Sinclair, K., Manager, S., & Frontier, N. (n.d.). Yung Jake: Leading a Net-Native Generation of Storytellers | Sundance Film Festival. Retrieved February 25, 2014, fromhttp://www.sundance.org/festival/blog-entry/yung-jake-leading-a-net-native-generation-of-storytellers/

theybf’s image. (n.d.).Photobucket. Retrieved February 25, 2014, fromhttp://s368.photobucket.com/user/theybf/media/June%2009/fdeb9ba4.jpg.html?src=pb

Yung Jake - E.m-bed.de/d. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2014, from http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/yung-jake-gets-embedded-with-an-anthem-to-virality

Exploration 3: Narrative Inquiry

"Our rituals of interhuman communication make special that which we value most and want to share. These rituals bind us to one another in a life lived together.  In our mutual search for knowledge, our stories show us another way of seeing and understanding" - Elizabeth M. Delacruz

Artworks are such a beautiful resource for self-reflection. In order to help my students develop their own voice, I am utilizing Voice Thread as a platform for students to explore a personal experience in their lives through a piece of art that we are studying this semester. By exploring the piece and its points of connection with their own lives, students gain insight and understanding into the artist, his/her intent, while imagining the possible meanings of the piece. This process aids students in developing a "relationship" with the piece of art as well as those who view, comment and critique their exploration. This examination of self also encourages students to find relevance in art where they may not have seen it before. This self awareness, as Sheri Klein contends, is "necessary for breaking one's silence and moving toward public disclosure of one's personal and professional struggles that can no longer remain private." This disclosure is a step in the process of finding their voice.  Using one of my own personal experiences at the beach on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, I explore and connect with the Edward Potthast painting of four little girls frolicking at the beach on summer holiday, Children at the Beach. This piece has additional personal meaning for me as it was previously a part of  the Westervelt Warner private collection (my former employer). Having had the opportunity to see it almost daily for the years of my tenure there, I experienced deep emotion when revisiting it for this assignment. This visual exploration is a mix of music, video, text, and images sewn together using Voice Thread. 

Here is my own visual exploration of Edward Potthast's Children at the Beach, 1910

Here is the voice thread link, just in case you cannot access the embedded video above.

http://voicethread.com/share/5468572/


Resources:

Educational Agents for Positive Change

2011 © Sheri Klein, Elizabeth Delacruz, Karen Keifer-Boyd

Exploration 2: Avatars & Subjectivity

"the creation of an avatar becomes like the creation of a piece of artwork--it is not just a visual presentation, but also the meaning behind the visual image. Therefore, the process of creating avatars can contribute to future art education by becoming a pedagogical force and art practice." 

(Liao, 2008, p. 38)

What is an avatar? A virtual representation of oneself. A visual statement from its creator. An exploration of one's self. A reinvention of identity. A context in which a person can explore life in a way that would otherwise be impossible. Liberation. Confinement. An exercise in communication. It is organic, evolving, growing, maturing, regressing, reflecting. It is who we want to be right now. Or who we want to be tomorrow.

Meet GemHollogram. Newest resident of Second Life. She is my empowered persona. Named after a my childhood idol (of sorts) another avatar, Jem (1985-88), and her musical group the Holograms (mispelling was intentional as to make her my own). Jem was an alter-ego brought to life by the character Jerrica Benton through a fictional computer system known as Synergy. GemHollogram is modeled after Kate Beckinsale's character, Selene, in the Underworld Trilogy. She represents power, control, intelligence, and a subtle fierceness that, upon first impression, radiates as cold or aloof.

"The autoethnographic subject blurs the distinction between ethnographer and Other by traveling, becoming a stranger in a strange land, even if that land is a fictional space existing only in representation."

(Russell, 1999, p. 280 as quoted in Liao, 2008, p. 32)

Exploring Second Life for the first time was extremely intimidating. An error in my internet connection led me to enter the world for the first time as a Panda. Great! I could feel the anxiety building up as I had absolutely NO idea how to change the suit to something normal. There I was a visitor in a land where I did not know the language, had no control, and was a complete alien -- dressed in a panda suit. Reflecting on this experience helps me to address the question: is our body as political as it is physical? Why did I even care what I looked like? No one in SL knew me. I was a stranger to all of them. However, I was keenly aware that visual stereotypes were present. By viewing other avatars around me and rejected attempts to "chat" with others, I could immediately see that I did not fit in this particular venue. After moving through the space and interacting with the software, I since realized that several of the avatars in that first encounter were in fact editing their own appearances at that moment. So, maybe, I wasn't that strange. However, my sense of self and identity were tied to the first impression that I felt I was making in Second Life. While my character was gender neutral, it still strayed from the traditional patriarchal roles that (at first glance) appeared to dominant.

The form we choose for our avatar dictates how others will interact with us. In an article discussing body, self, and identity in the works of Claude Cahun and Cindy Shermann, Lucy Lippard states that "the body remains inherently vulnerable as the most private and intimate 'thing' we 'have.' It is also the most public. The body, face included, is that part of us that is physically projected into the world. It precedes the self. It precedes us, as women, into every social and political situation. It is what everyone sees and thinks they know" (Lippard, 1999, p. 27). While this statement was referring to the body politics of the female form, I believe it is applicable to the avatar body as well. In real life, as well as in a virtual realm like Second Life, the hegemonic ideals for body image are reinforced. Most of the men and women I encountered through SL were hyper sexualized. In this particular space it seems that standard for avatar beauty mirrors real life.

"The most basic questions about being human involve and sometimes confuse body, soul, self, and identity--a progression from protection to projection that is not necessarily an evolution." 

- Lucy Lippard, Scattering Selves

Mouselook is a view that I rarely find myself using unless I want a closer look at something (i.e. a piece of art). I am actually more comfortable and feel more in control when I can see my avatar. Looking through her eyes takes away my control. Without the ability to "sense" when people are around me, I am unable to know when people move into and out of my space. I also prefer the "rear-view" of my avatar. This view enables me to experience the interactions with other residents "as my avatar." Seeing what she sees. Seeing how other react and interact with her. In this view, I can be her and watch her simultaneously. As a teacher, the ability to both view and interpret the classroom setting from a bird's eye view (the teacher's view) as well as the "mouselook" view of my students is critical in creating an environment that is stimulating and effective. What are the landmarks that I use to locate myself as a teacher? My students. How they interact with me. Just as my experience with my avatar is shaped by my interactions with the space and other avatars around me, my experience as an effective teacher is shaped by my interactions with the classroom and the students within it. 

Advertisement connecting SL to RL

One of my favorite spaces to hang out in SL is the Timamoon Arts Gallery and Community. This space features (and links) to real life and Second Life artists. The space is comfortable, beautiful, inviting, and scarcely occupied. I am able to roam through the halls and view the art without interruption. Occasionally, another avatar will be there to engage in conversation. However, it is for me a place of escape from having to interact with others in SL.

One of my favorite galleries. The artist is Mathilde Vhargon. See advertisement above. 

After exploring this world of virtual representation, I recognize two places for integration into arts education: avatar creation and environment creation.  Students could create the personas that interact within this space, as well as have an integral part in constructing the environment. For this to be successful as a "lesson" that encourages and ensures virtual diversity, multivocality, diverse and multiple perspectives, access to the space would need to be controlled. Although there are closed groups with limited access in Second Life, this environment would not be the best forum for students of certain ages to interact. (For this exercise, I did not explore View. I imagine it may be a safer place for students to conduct this type of experimentation.)

Before beginning, students could collaboratively address stereotypes they wish to avoid in their environment and brainstorm alternatives. Participants could also set a basic guideline or code of ethics for the environment and how avatars will interact within the space. By allowing students to explore themselves in a safe, non-judgemental environment free from the power politics that often surface in any social sphere, they will be able to face and reject stereotypes of gender, race, and socioeconomic status. However, there will still be students who succumb to the hegemonic views of body and create images based on or as extensions of the stereotypes they view as desirable or necessary for success. To address this, students could be required to offer a rationale for various elements of their creations. 

View from my favorite gallery.

By interacting with another inhabitant of Second Life, I began to learn the lingo and understand how to use the space. Her response to "what is there to do in SL?" was "anything you can do in rl [real life] and more." Avatars are extensions of the real life self. For some people, it is the preferred self because with the avatar the possibilities are endless. I am only limited by my own knowledge, time and ability to move and interact within space. While these limitations are intimidating and frustrating, the experience of learning something completely novel to me is exhilarating. Here's to a happy Second Life!

Liao, C. (2008). My metamorphic avatar journey. Visual Culture & Gender, 3, 30-39.

Lippard, L. (1999). Scattering selves. In S. Rice (Ed.), Inverted Odysseys: Claude Cahun, Maya Deren, Cindy Sherman Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.

Avatar Creation & Subjectivity

Being a very social and interactive person, I find speaking from "behind" a virtual image a very strange concept. The idea of creating a "likeness" or "persona" of myself that does not have to actually look like me is something to which I am resistant. As a kinesthetic learner, I am very attached to my physical form. While it may not always be my ideal, it is tangible and "real" to me. However, not everyone connects to their bodies in the same way. Avatars offer an opportunity to reinvent yourself while experimenting with and exploring identity through visual representation.

Creating an "avatar" in the Voki application feels as if I am creating an animated version of myself. I can be human, animal or something altogether unreal (a monster). Pretty quickly during creation the limitations of the application become apparent. I am offered a fairly large selection of customizable characters from which to choose. However, many are reserved for "Voki Classroom," the paid section of the Voki site. While the selection seems to cover a wide range of "bodies," I cannot help but notice that many of the characters are gender specific stereotypes of what popular cultures dictate as "attractive." Limited adjustments can be made to the nose, eyes, mouth, hair, and coloring of the "voki". Adding a speaking voice offers several options including 1) calling and creating a message over the phone, 2) entering text and choosing a prerecorded voice to speak for you, 3) using your own voice to record a message through the site, and lastly, 4) upload a voice file. These messages are limited to 60 second sound bites. Backgrounds are also customizable with many options to choose from.

In Voki, I created four different forms. As I explored, I realized that I was unintentionally prescribing parts of my own physical identity to each character. Each has blond hair and green eyes and bares a striking resemblance to me. I explored myself as a male character with long hair, then a female with no hair. It was hard for me to identify with a character that did not look like me in some way. That is why I eventually chose the Siamese cat. By forcing myself to move to an animal representation I was able to focus on internal characteristics of personality and interests rather than the physical. Afterward, I revisited the site and played with a variety of physical traits that could represent various parts of my personality. 

Break free, break free

From the desire to conform. 

Break free, break free

From an antiquated form. 

Embrace, embrace

What exists beyond your mind

Embrace, embrace

Whatever you may find.

Let go, let go

Of the space you cling too

Let go, let go

And discover something new.

Explore, explore

Find a new face

Explore, explore

Within a new space.

Exploration 2: Arts-Based Research

a picture is worth a thousand words

Only months after my grandfather passed away, our family started to notice signs of dementia in my grandmother’s behavior. They were small at first: misplaced milk in the cabinet and forgotten hair appointments. Simple things, really, that are easily attributed to old age. Eventually, her “forgetfulness” could not be overlooked. Open flames left on the stovetop, cigarettes left burning in the ashtray, and the doors unlocked and ajar forced us all to take a closer look at the once spirited and independent matriarch of our family. She was clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 1999. Her decline was slow. Her short-term memory was the first to go. She seemed to have no memories from after my grandfather’s death. Her personality calmed and the feisty opinionated woman we all knew seemed to disappear behind the sweet quiet smile of this new person. Many people did not even know she had dementia. She was amiable and carried on conversations with ease. Only those who really knew her or spent long periods of time with her could recognize holes in her stories or repetitive speech. I was one of the few people she remembered. Possibly because she was an integral part of my childhood. She first introduced me to art. I still cherish her box of paints and brushes. She taught me how to explore the world around me through those very tools. She drew upon my own talents and shared her love of painting. In her dementia, she forgot this love.

But maybe she didn't have to....

Growing research has illuminated the positive connection between the arts and dementia, specifically Alzheimer’s disease. While there is no cure, many find their voice, their normalcy, and their connectivity through interacting with art. 

Meet Me, the MoMA Alzheimer’s Project, was created in order to serve the growing population affected by Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.  Through specialized tours, participants and their caregivers are given opportunity to connect, dialogue, observe, interpret, and create works of art.

Meet Me provides a safe and nurturing environment for people in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease or dementia to look at and talk about selected pieces within the MoMA collection. The program extends the experience to include art making in a classroom setting and is not limited to two-dimensional art. Music, ballroom dancing, poetry, and other hands-on experiences are offered as extensions of the program as well. Men and women meet once a month in small private groups reserved especially for participants in the program. Trained museum educators move with the groups throughout the galleries engaging with the art in a predetermined sequence. Participants engage with the works of art, the educator, each other, and their caregivers to find meaning, reminisce, explore self, develop connections, and create positive experiences. The facilitator (museum educator) plays a vital role in creating a safe environment in which participants feel at ease to contribute. According to a study of the program by NYU, the intellectual stimulation, social interaction and emotional carryover has made a statistically significant difference in the lives of participants.

Meet Me seems to have been designed to utilize the arts-based research subcategory Arts-inquiry to offer participants a space to move comfortably through the process of understanding themselves and finding a voice. As quoted in Karen Keifer-Boyd's Arts-based Research as Social Justice Activism, it is through this voice that "ideas, emotions, and experiences are critically analyzed and made public" (Keifer-Boyd, 2011, p. 4). Participating in art viewing, interpreting, and creating stimulates the senses, triggers dormant memories and gives participants an opportunity to articulate themselves. Dementia patients are not only trying to connect with those around them, they are trying to reconnect with themselves. Their sense of identity may have been loss or seems to be slipping away. Meet Me provides a way for them to explore and see the changing world around them from a familiar place. “Arts-based inquiry is a reconstitution of self in the act of learning about lives in which the personal is understood and contextualized as political.” (Keifer-Boyd, 9). Through arts-inquiry dementia patients are able to participate in self analysis. This autoethnography, articulated through observing or creating art, provides the tools necessary to “explain self to others” (Keifer-Boyd, 2011, 9). The ability to "explain self" can be incredibly liberating to participants as problems with language and abstract thinking are common effects of dementia.  

Arts-based research "involves continual critical reflexivity in response to injustice" (Keifer-Boyd, 2011, p 3). Programs, such as Meet Me, have forced institutions like MoMA to take a closer look at how they make the arts accessible to all of their patrons especially those that are traditionally marginalized. The development and dissemination of The MoMA Alzheimer's Project to museums and organizations across the country exhibits this community's "commitment to social transformation, challenging power relations, showing solidarity, recognizing and using emotions, being the change you want to see, and building space for critical dialogue"(Chatterton, Fuller, & Routledge, 2007, p. 222 as quoted in Keifer-Boyd, 2011, p. 6). 

Problem Statement: While the students I teach do not suffer from dementia, many are searching to find a voice. Each of my courses consists of high school students new to the college experience, traditional students utilizing the online component of UA's educational system, and non-traditional students pursuing their degrees remotely. In my virtual classroom, students interact asynchronously mostly through text. The purpose of my focused arts-based action research is to explore and implement visual tools and technologies such as Voice Thread and avatars to encourage students to "find their voice" within the context of my course. By interpreting (reinterpreting) themselves through the art we study, students will begin to discover, explore and develop their own voice. Additionally, as students interact with one another they will begin to identify with their peers and work and move more synchronously through their virtual experience.  

Finding Voice Concept Map

Resources:

http://www.moma.org/meetme/index

94-Year-Old Seattle Alzheimer's Patient Discovers New Artistic Talent. (n.d.). Retrieved February 6, 2014, from http://kuow.org/post/94-year-old-seattle-alzheimers-patient-discovers-new-artistic-talent

Art Therapy for Alzheimer’s. (n.d.). ALZinfo.org. Retrieved February 6, 2014, from https://www.alzinfo.org/05/articles/prevention-and-wellness-21

Fields, J., & Lemonick, M. (n.d.). The Woman With No Memory. Time. Retrieved from http://science.time.com/2013/10/24/the-woman-with-no-memory/

Grady, D. (2006, October 24). Self-Portraits Chronicle a Descent Into Alzheimer’s. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/health/24alzh.html

Keifer-Boyd, K. (2011). Arts-based research as social justice activism: Insight, inquiry, imagination, embodiment, relationality. International Review of Qualitative Research, 5(1), 3-19.

Rankin, K. P., Liu, A. A., Howard, S., Slama, H., Hou, C. E., Shuster, K., & Miller, B. L. (2007). A case-controlled study of altered visual art production in Alzheimer’s and FTLD. Cognitive and behavioral neurology: official journal of the Society for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology, 20(1), 48–61. doi:10.1097/WNN.0b013e31803141dd

Why Art Therapy is Good for the Alzheimer’s Brain. (n.d.-a). Senior Living News and Trends | A Place for Mom. Retrieved February 7, 2014, from http://www.aplaceformom.com/blog/2013-10-31-art-therapy-good-for-brain/