Paul Smedberg - Art and Art-Byproducts

Paul Smedberg – Art and Art Byproducts
www.PaulSmedberg.com

Sites Without
Words

Back in the oldest days of the internet you had to make your images rectangular which led me to make a bunch of sites with pictures all butted up against one another in a form I call neo-cubism.

Sumac Leaves

Pretty descriptive title, right? Talk about your non-linear user experience, and your way-ambient audio.

Five Small Falls in Spring
Based on photographs of tiny little waterfalls and environs. Audio starts spare and builds from there.

I originally wanted to pair this up with a site called "Five Small Springs in Fall" but all the springs near my house are dry in the fall.

Under Construction / Deconstruction

All about renovating a theater. In a kind of silent, blinking, wordless, non-linear way.

All this non-linear stuff is a feature, not a bug. If you come back to any of these sites, you'll probably have a substantially different experience – seeing images and compositions that you hadn't seen before.

The Cyclotron Labyrinth
A maze of images of a working cyclotron as a grand metaphor for the scientific process.

Like a garden labyrinth, this labyrinth of pages has an exit, a goal. Using analysis of every detail of your experience, you could figure your way out.

To date, I only know of five people that have solved this labyrinth. All, by fairly random clicking, none through analysis.

A Walk in the Woods
Fragmented and recombined images of a forest in the fall. There's no introduction or instruction here, just find the image on the page with a link to move on to the next step.

This was my first "Site Without Words". It's also the smallest and simplest; without all that non-linear user experience stuff I got into later.

Flow

I imagine each of these sites being hung on the wall like a painting – endlessly repeating on a flat-panel display.

Hexagramaton
Also known fondly as "Old 109" because the pattern of shapes in this piece repeat every 109 million years.

To find out how to use this piece as a front-end to the I Ching, see Bracket Bracket [25].

Stadium of Memory

It's not poetry – It's Poelle™, or something. Think caligraphy and sumi-brush painting, hanging on a wall.

Pure Research
Part of the Cyclotron Trilogy (with Cyclotron Labyrinth and Cyclotron Scrolls) this one

has (heavens forbid) a plot. Its a character vignette of a research scientist's daydream.

Cyclotron Scrolls

More cyclotron images in a slightly more user-defined form.

The Dogwood Scroll
Wider than the widest screen. Slower than relaxed mud.

Soft Breathing of Trainsl
No trains, no breathing, and not particularly soft, but it is an apt title on some level.

For fairly obvious reasons, people view paintings and movies differently. Think of these pieces as graphics with movement instead of thinking of them as boring movies. Think of them hanging on a wall.

The Two Seasons
Winter and Spring . . .

soon to be followed by other popular seasons, at the rate of about one every few months. Filtered 360-degree panoramas from the forest floor. 2003

LAN Party Remnants or Tablescape with Computers

A deeply filtered neo-cubist pseudo-360-panorama examining by day the abandoned workspace of a LAN party the previous night. One quiet, leftover moment of time viewed from many perspectives. 2003

Big Ole Stump

Filtered views of a stump, and not just any stump, but that big ole stump over by the frog pond. Scratch across the image with your mouse to see other perspectives, or sit and wait for the unfolding. 2003

Assemblages

Harbor's Edge

As seen from a boat. Naval might and dockside decay.

Train
Two modified-photo stories about trains
living and dead.

These guys are more diagramatic:

Sci Fi Shelving

Who needs rockets and warp drives when you've got really powerful shelving?

Large-scale self-possession of spheres
A 5D concrete poem matrix with a color component. But, you probably already guessed that from the title.

Text &
Commentary

Or maybe "text & insane ramblings". This section includes, but is not limited to, humor so dry it might not even be humor.

[bracket bracket]
An irregular ezine.
Arch-deep, humorous, philosophical, weird, graphic, surreal and blessedly short. There's also some original music in here too. Or should I say "music." Frequency of publication: some issues were a couple weeks apart, others a couple years apart.
Individual issues are as different as night and dog and here's a link to each o' them:

34
33 32 31 29 28 27 26 25 24 23
22 21 20 19
18 17 16 15 14
13 12 11 10
9 8 7 6 5
4 3 2 1

Subscriptions are free. Just put your email address in here:

Some kind of nearly humorous cartoon thing

Taking the whole field of single-panel cartoons to a new – not necessarily better – level. Everything's been rethunk from being able to recognize what's been drawn to having amusing captions. 2003

Cauldron
Muse, mull, cogitate, or just wander around in a site full of quotes, writings and graphics.Over 250 head-scratching pages.

I made the first draft of this site before I had ever seen the internet, using a copy of Mosaic and a text editor on my home computer. What the site lacks in visual aesthetics, it makes up with sheer volume.

Salary Doubler is a sort of self-help site for those desiring more. Much more.

Read the Press Release!

Video, Installations,
Performances, etc.

Video works include: "Minor Rapture", "The Urge to Destroy", "Ten Ideas That Will Revolutionize Civilization", "Low Budget Side Dishes", "Alex and David" , "Running Down the Rockies", "Carsick in Brown County", "Pillow Mix", "Dance Mix", "Sales are Way Down in the Third Quarter", "Chicken", "The Building Always Wins", and a bunch of other shorts that never got titled. Installation: "The Mother and Father of Mathematics". Concrete poetry book: "Event Horizon". Music-like songs compiled in a cassette called "Sanitary Delerium". Co-produced the multimedia performance series Snowy Nights (1-11) in Bloomington, Indiana. Co-produced five years of the avant-dumb tv series "Eyes". DJed for a couple years "The Melody Unasked For", a radio show of difficult, noisy music on WFHB. Some of this work has been shown/showcased at the Indiana University SOFA gallery; Waldron Arts Center; Daisybrain Gallery; Uptown; Community Access TV in Bloomington, Indiana; and World of Wonder (a tv show in Great Britain).




        ~z=+sz+-'-'~~(((((~((~~~~-~--'''''-~(-
       .=z+szs~''--~((((((((((~~~~~----'''-((~'.
       '=z=ss<'.'--~~~~((((((~~~~~------''-(((~.
      .(=hs+=-..'----~~~~((((~~~~-------''-~((~.
      .(=hz<-...'----~~((((((~(~~~-----''''-~((~' .
      '(<hz<....''--~~((((((((~~~~~------'''-~((~'
      (+(zs~....'--~((<(<<(((((((~~~~~---''..-(<((
     .=z(s='...'-~~(<<<<<<<(((((~((((((<<(-..'~<<<~.
     'sh<=<....<shhDhz=++++<<<<<<<<+==+((~~~-'-<++<
     (zz<=~ .=hz++===zDDs+++<<<<+<ss<(((~-'..-<<<<<~
    .<hz<<<sB<-~<+++====Dh=++++++z=<(((~--'...'+ss=<.
    '<DszEND..-~<<+++====hh=zzzshs<<(~~--'....'(szz='
    (<D=RUN. .'~(<<+++++++SMEDBERG+<<~~~-.....''<=sss<
   .(+D=hzD   '~(<++==(-(<DBz=sDD++<(~~-'...''-<szzs=
   .(+D=z<z  ..-(<=szss===Dh((<+h++<<(<~~-..'--<szzz=
   .(<D=s+z   .~+zDDDhzzssB(~(((s+<(((<++(-'--~<zzzzs.
   .~(zzs=h  .'<+=+++==sssh-~~~(+=--~~~~~~~~~~~<zzhhz.
    ((=szzh   '-~(((<++=ss=--~~((s--(~~~-----~(<DDDDh'
    -(+sDh(~...--~(<++==+h~--~~~(<<(<<(~~~~~~(<=hDDDz.
   ..(<+zs.s..'~(<<+===+=h'-~~~~~(=<(<<<<<<<<<<z=DDDh.
    .~++z<.(+.'~(~(+++++D(.-~~~~-~<z+<<<(<<<<+z<<hDDz.
     '~+s' .<+~(<<<++<=Ds'.~~~(~~~(+zz+<(<<<sz<<(zhhz.
   . .-(<.  .<Dz=++=sDBz+.'~~~~~~((<+=zhhhhh=<(((=hhh.
      .~~.  .~+hBBBBBhs+'..-~~~~((((+++=sss=++(((+zzh.
      .'(   '(<+=ss=++=-...'-~~~((((<++++++++++<(<zsz
       '(.. -~(<++++++s. .--'~~(<<(~(++++++++++<<(=+<
       .~. .-~((<<<++=s''+hz-~(+zhz<(+=+++<<<<+<<<+(.
        .. .'~~(<<<+=s=+<==+((<=ss=++s=+++<<<<<<<<<~
        .  .'-~(<<++==++==+++=======s==++<<<<<<<<<<-.
            '-~(<++++++++++++=======++++++<<<<<<<<(-
        .  ..-(<+++++++++++++========+++++++<<<<<<<~
        '....~(+s===+++<<+++===+===s==++===+++<<<+<~
        '. ..~+=s==++<((<<++===+============++++++<-
       .-....(+s=+++<(~~((<+===++============++++++-     . .
       .-...'<+s==++<~~~~((<++=+++============+++++-     ..
          .-.<+ssss=+<<<<++++=ssssssss=sss=ss=+++++-    ....
          .(.(+=zzzzzhs+=sszzzzzhzzzzzzhhDhzs=+++++~. ......
           (.-<+szs=+<<(<<+===s=ssssss=szhzzs=+++++~........
          .(..<+=ss=+('-~(<++++++++++===szsss=+++++~........
          .~~.~<=ss=+(''-~<+++++++++=+==ssssz=+++++'........
           -(.-<=s==<(-'-(<+=+==========sss=s=++++<.........
           .(.'(+==<<(~--~<++===========ss==s=++++(.........
            ~~.-<++<(((~~(<++==========ss=====++++(.........
        .   '~--(+<~~((((<<++++==s=sssss======+=+<(.........
             -~~~~~~~~~<<<<<<++==s=ssss=========++(.........
             .~(<--~---(<<<<<++=====ss=====++==+<+~.........
             .'~<('----~(<<<+============++++==+++~.....'...
               '~<~''''--(<<+============+++===+++~.........
               .'((-..'''~<+++=====+==+++++=s=++++~.......''
                .-~(..'''-~<+++==+++++++<++==++++<~.......''

All of this stuff made possible by my day job:
BCS Advertising
Commercial internet marketing, production and design, as well as all the other nice advertising media.

Email Paul