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Featured AMP Member Anna Maly, known on AMP
as Laanni, has a broad set of artistic
interests, including painting, crafts, and
writing, but her photography has been most
prominently featured on AMP so far. She's
currently enjoying exploring how much her
camera will do for her. If you send her your
picture, she just might Warhol-ize it for
you - if you're lucky.
Click here to see her photo galleries on AMP: http://www.pluginamp.com/network/image/tid/300 Read on to see what she says about herself and her art: "I was born and raised in Moscow, Russia,
where the regime insisted we all be alike,
sing the same songs, wear the same school
uniform, and buy the same furniture. We were
not allowed to be unique, stand out, and
express ourselves. Suppressing one's artistic
abilities was common. Talented artists were
often reduced to painting portraits of the
Leaders and various Communist party or war
heroism scenes. By the mid 1980s it became OK
to be an abstract artist but I had already
lost all the interest I had, until I moved
to the US seven years ago. I am very happy to
finally be able to spread my wings and share
my art.
What kind of artist am I? One who is able to express thoughts, emotions, and visions in color and texture. No matter how seemingly simple the image may be, everyone who looks at it will have a different understanding of it. Some will find it disturbing, while others will see nothing but serenity. Some see happy, where others see sad. Different perspectives on my work is what I find the most fascinating. I am currently working on a few new series. One of them is "Fruit's Adventures in Space" where a grapefruit is traveling through the universe. There is no agenda, just the desire to have an experience - and thus is the story of my life. Realistic images are too simple and leave no room for interpretation. If you look at a photograph, or a painting which looks like one, you can certainly feel the mood of the image, you can admire the composition, painting techniques, colors; you can even think of a story behind it. Yet since the image is clear and is so life-like you have no room for guessing what it may mean. It's like watching a movie vs. reading a book. That's why I am so interested in conveying the message in abstract form. So open your eyes and mind and enjoy my world of what I call Accelerated Reality." And here's a disturbing and beautiful animated film about war: |
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Maybe it's because of summertime and travel;
maybe it's
just that there's been a huge increase in
membership. Either
way, a lot more of you are using AMP to
connect with fellow members - and for this,
you need to know how to search the site.
When you're ready to search, you can use one of the three search methods: profile search, user search, and content search. Most of you probably want the profile search, which is a way to search for any information that might be written in a member's profile (this is what you would use if you're looking for someone who lives in a particular city). If you know a member's username, then you would search by a user search, while if you're looking for something written in blogs, forums or quotes, you'd use the content search. The best and easiest way to search: go to the menu on the left side of the screen, click on "search," and go from there. I wish it were easier, but if you learn the system, it's easily navigable. Some of you know that I made the AMP website
myself, with no training, in early 2006. It
was quite an interesting experience, and
nothing at all like my day job as University
Professor of Sociology! The website's come a
long way, but I've come nearly to the limits
of what I can do by myself. To go to the
next level of design and useability - which
it will - AMP needs funding for a skilled
consultant who knows the content management
system Drupal. Progress is being made in the
search for financial support, but in the mean
time, know that you can very likely find what
you need in AMP, and that if it's not there
now, it's in the works. I welcome your
questions.
Here's a film of a really striking collaborative art effort: |
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I'll be meeting some of you soon at parties this summer, and some of you in Amsterdam in September. Even if you can't come to any of these gatherings, know that you begin to build your own international artists' community through AMP, just by logging in and communicating with each other. Send an email to another member, comment on someone's art or blog, and post something of your own. You might be surprised at how your world expands.
As Anna Maly says,"artfully yours,"
 Terri Anderson, Executive Director
AMP: Artists Meeting Place and Resource Collective
email:
pluginamp@gmail.com
web:
http://pluginamp.com
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