Creative Commons Licensing of Paintings and Other Works
As the saga of getting this website up and running continues, I’ve added another element to the design. I’ve decided to release my work under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. I did a good amount of research about this “some rights reserved” approach and feel that it’s appropriate for my work. I hope others can share and benefit from the work I’ve done. The only works that this does not apply to are those for which I’m not the copyright holder, eg. the logos and other commercial work I’ve done.
I’ve used CC licensed audio tracks for videos I’ve done and I’m excited to see if people find ways to use my work. I’m a fan of Jonathan Coulton and Becky Stern, and both of them use CC licenses for their work. Larry Lessig is such a compelling speaker and advocate for Creative Commons and videos of his talks played a role in the decision. (by default the Wordpress theme I’m using (deFusion) adds a “Copyright ©” line to the footer). My CC attribution label is in the footer of this site, so share, remix and otherwise enjoy my work!
Speaking at the 2009 Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities
A bit of exciting news! I’ll be presenting at the 2009 Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities in Honolulu on January 9th, 2009.
My paper is entitled: Painting in the Digital Age: When Pixel meets Paintbrush. Here’s the abstract I submitted:
This paper examines my paintings from the series “Digital Life”, comprised of computer screen imagery rendered in oil paint. The paintings form a link between traditional painting and the contemporary digital world and as such, connect the past with the present.
As an avid museum-goer, I am startled to see how little time viewers spend looking at paintings, but will spend countless hours staring at digital screens. My idea, in order to bridge this divide, has been to turn the screens into paintings: to inject the texture, brushwork and physical quality of oil paint into the virtual, technological realm.
The subject of these paintings is the UI (User Interface) design of computers, the icons and symbols that characterize the digital experience. This interface is familiar to millions of people, often as a mundane feature of their work-lives. By making paintings of them, I am memorializing an experience that millions have on a daily basis; in a sense finding art within everyday experience.
This paper examines these paintings within the context of both contemporary painting and the historical oil-painting tradition. Additionally, this work is influenced by innovations in the fields of computer science and graphic design, and these connections are highlighted and examined.
Finally, since digital images of these paintings are scattered all across the Internet, I examine the recursive nature of making paintings of computer screens and displaying them on the Web.
In an era when there is fierce competition for people’s attention, and digital screens are often examined far more closely than paintings, my work forms a bridge between the two, breathing new life into the dialogue.
