About
Jeff Watson is an artist, designer, and Assistant Professor of Interactive Media and Games at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.
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Category Archives: Blog
21-87 (1963)
For Canadians, one scene in Star Wars is of particular interest. As the movie’s hero, Luke Skywalker, prepares to rescue Princess Leia from the Death Star, the roguish Han Solo informs him where she is to be found in the … Continue reading
Las Hurdes (1933)
http://youtu.be/M_EcRaBDxQc “Do you see this wonderful valley?” director Luis Buñuel asked his crew as they began filming this documentary; “well, this is where Hell begins.” Buñuel had long displayed a love/hate relationship with his native Spain, and his bitterness rarely … Continue reading
Putting Canadian "Piracy" in Perspective
Over the past year, Canadians have faced a barrage of claims painting Canada as a “piracy haven.” This video – the second in my collaboration with Daniel Albahary – moves beyond the headlines to demonstrate how the claims do not … Continue reading
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Tagged michael geist, piracy
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James Turner’s Map of Humanity
This is the world of our making, carved out of our actions, built upon the collective achievements of the human race. It is an attempt to map the last six thousand years of human history and thought upon a theoretical … Continue reading
Posted in Blog
Tagged illustration, james turner, maps
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San Jose Semaphore
San Jose Semaphore, by artist Ben Rubin, is a permanent public artwork commissioned by Adobe Systems Incorporated in collaboration with the City of San Jose’s Office of Cultural Affair’s Public Art Program. Located within the top floors of Adobe’s Almaden … Continue reading
Finding Subversives With Amazon Wishlists
It used to be you had to get a warrant to monitor a person or a group of people. Today, it is increasingly easy to monitor ideas. And then track them back to people. Most of us don’t have access … Continue reading
Posted in Blog
Tagged data mining, maps, politics, surveillance
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Lichtspiel Opus I (1921)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9vSRPN4jDk Walter Ruttmann (born December 28, 1887 in Frankfurt am Main; died July 15, 1941 in Berlin) was a German film director and along with Hans Richter and Viking Eggeling was an early German practitioner of experimental film. Ruttmann studied … Continue reading
They were cheap and available
On 20 August 1947 Gerhard Rose, one of Germany’s most respected physicians, stood in the prisoner’s dock at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg, Germany, awaiting his sentence for “murders, tortures, and other atrocities committed in the name of medical … Continue reading
The Hasher’s Delirium (1910)
Cohl’s animation style is rather surreal and also makes good use of the medium. The cartoons are not formally structured, but the images flow easily from one to another as objects melt into other shapes. For example, an elephant turns … Continue reading
Clothesline
Developed at the Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst Institut HyperWerk , the project connects two corner buildings flanking the gateway from the Main Square to the Danube by clotheslines. Together with 250 boxer shorts and some robotics these lines form … Continue reading