http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:epiphyte78&section=today deviantART RSS for by:epiphyte78 en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:43:36 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://epiphyte78.deviantart.com/journal/6155264/ http://epiphyte78.deviantart.com/journal/6155264/ Sun, 07 Aug 2005 01:55:23 PDT
I was banned!!!… again. Two weeks for “spamming the forums”. But now I’m unbanned… just in time for DA’s anniversary. Woot woot.

Remember that time I said I wasn’t going anywhere? It’s still mostly true. I’ll always be around, after the next banishment it probably won’t be with this profile. Except, I figure a little competition between art communities for members will benefit the members and currently DA’s head is a little too big for its britches. So, here are some of the DA alternatives I’ve found.

Artuproar: [link] Very similar structure to DA, haven’t been on long enough to compare it to DA.

Sheezyart: [link] Just like DA, except newer with a smaller, mostly young community. They’d be a much more viable alternative if their servers weren’t always down. Then again, no ads.

Flickr: [link] Looks cool, easy to use. I think it’s just for photography. More a photo gallery than a community.

Fotki: [link] Awesome for sharing a million billion photos (for $30 bucks a year). More a photo gallery than a community.

BytePhoto: [link] Great digital photo site with fun weekly contests. More a photo gallery than a community.

If you know of any other art community/gallery sites feel free to share them. Remember, it never hurts to have your art in more than one gallery, especially if they are free. It sucks for the community when you to split your time and talent like that… but hopefully the community leaders will realize this and make the community for the artists… and not the other way around.

_____________________________________


While I was banned I recommended that SheezyART give serious consideration to the development of a Bill of Rights for its community members in order to avoid turning into a DA-esque despotic power structure that abuses members who protest against certain policies. Still not quite sure how well they took the idea because their servers are down.

I figured that I might as well share the Bill of Rights concept with DA (of course I had to wait until I was unbanned). And since Level 3 feedback is more helpful than Level 2 feedback I decided to write out a DA Bill of Rights and submit it as a deviation.

[link]

_____________________________________


Coup d'etat, eh? I don’t care for jark more than any other random community member. Although he supposedly single-handedly created this community, he didn’t have the foresight to put any checks and balances in place regarding power abusing administrators or implement transparency regarding DA structure and financial dealings … as a result he was a victim of the system he created. It seems that the irony is lost on many people.

I honestly doubt the new “supreme rulers” of DA, whoever they are, will be any better… the hostile take over and the way they locked all but a few of the jark threads doesn’t bode well, but I’ll let them ban me for expressing myself before I pass any hard judgments.

“Supreme rulers” of DA, here’s some friendly advice… don’t let what happened to jark happen to you… implement transparency and accountability in all DA matters. And if you don’t know why transparency and accountability are so important then I hope that the people who pull the rug out from under you will know what makes those two things so important.

And members of the DA community… if the creator of this community can be removed for whatever reason, what makes you think that the rulers won’t ban you for whatever reason they feel like? They don’t think your art is good enough? Banned. Some people find your art offensive? Banned. Think other people’s art is offensive yet that art makes money for DA? Banned. Disagree with policies? Banned. That’s why I say fight for transparency and accountability, DA is your community and you have a right to know what’s going on and to have a say in what goes on. It’s your RIGHT because this website would be nothing without the art that you contribute.

Many of you say that DA is so altruistic for allowing us the privilege of uploading our art for free… but you’re looking at things from the wrong perspective. YOU are the one being so altruistic, uploading your art, providing DA with content, for free. YOU are the one that allows DA to take 90% of the gross profits from your prints. YOU are the one that advertises this website by telling all your family and friends about you... ]]> !epiphyte78 http://epiphyte78.deviantart.com/journal/5937614/ http://epiphyte78.deviantart.com/journal/5937614/ Thu, 14 Jul 2005 22:42:20 PDT
[link]
Title: Life is Shit part 1
Submitted: 2005-07-14 9:39:10 pm

Your deviation was removed because it violated one of the following policies:

1. deviantART does not tolerate deviations which are based, in majority, off of racial slurs, are anti-semetic or derogatory in nature towards a particular religion or ethnic group, offensive in nature towards an individual or group of individuals, pornographic or are deemed invaluable to deviantART as decided by the deviantART staff on a case by case basis.

2. deviantART does not tolerate deviations which are submitted in the Tutorials category which do not follow the deviantART Tutorial Submission Guidelines. If you are unfamiliar with the proper procedures for tutorial submissions then please view the deviantART Tutorial Submission Guidelines.

deviantART enforces a zero tolerance policy in regards to violations of our submission policy and therefore will take the actions that we deem necessary on a case by case basis. There is a possibility that you will be banned from interactivity on deviantART therefore it is suggested that you visit your user page to see if this is in fact the case.

If you feel that you are receiving this in error, or have questions regarding it, then visit the deviantART Help Desk in order to submit an inquiry. It should be noted that replies to this note will go unanswered and your only course of action is the deviantART Help Desk!

--
deviantART Staff




here are the deviations that DA felt it was in your best interests that you didn't see.

[link]

let me hear your thoughts on DA's primary reasons for censoring those submissions.





_____________ 19 July 05




If you like freedom come check out =Veganvictim's freedom contest .. [link]


_____________ 20 July 05


epiphyte78,

Your deviation, listed below, has been moved from its current category as it was determined that it did not adhere to the submission guidelines of the gallery it was found in. The deviation will retain all of its comments and statistics. The updated information is as follows:

URL: [link]
Title: BANNED
Submitted: 2005-07-05 8:57:24 pm
Original Category: Wallpaper - Political
New Category: Scraps

This notice requires no further action on your behalf. In the future, please take heed of the gallery descriptions that are presented to you when a deviation is submitted or edited. These descriptions detail the submission guidelines for the galleries and categories being submitted to. Making note of these guidelines will help to avoid corrections of this nature in the future.If you feel that you are receiving this notice in error, or have questions regarding it, then visit the deviantART Help Desk to submit your inquiry. It should be noted that replies to this note will go unanswered, as it has been sent from an automated messaging system.

--
deviantART Gallery Direction Staff

______________

I'd ask for suggestions as to which gallery I should move this deviation to but when I go to edit deviation it doesn't allow me to move it to any gallery.

This Footer is !CENSORED! ]]> !epiphyte78 http://epiphyte78.deviantart.com/journal/5851330/ http://epiphyte78.deviantart.com/journal/5851330/ Fri, 08 Jul 2005 22:28:29 PDT
Wow, I’m so glad not to be banned anymore! Not being able to say anything was terrible! It totally helped put not being able to say some things in perspective. Whatever.

I highly recommend everybody getting banned. At least once. It’s not that difficult. Just go to the suggestion forum, start a thread called, “down with censorship” and when they lock that thread open up another one with the same topic and BAM… you have a cool “!” in front of your name. Don’t worry, the ban only lasts a week and after that week you’ll appreciate DeviantArt even more.

Look at you with your weak sauce little wishy washy “~” in front of your name. Sitting around in your underwear wishing that maybe this week will be your lucky random gift subscription tease. Staying up till midnight every night refreshing a deviantart page hoping that the deviantart gods have smiled on your work and have finally decided to grant you a Daily Deviation. Sad.

Be crazy for once, be DEVIOUS even. Don’t be afraid of your own voice. Rise up…the sleeper must awaken! Fear is the mind killer. Act now and receive a “So devious I got banned from DeviantArt” T-shirt.

Being banned is so cool that I’m probably going to be banned again. If that is the case then please join me in this forum. Guys will receive high fives and girls will receive make outs. From Strongbad.

Or you could just check out these new groups… Artists for Freedom and Artists for Feedback. Artists for Freedom is a group for artists who appreciate having a choice and Artists for Feedback is a group for artists who have thick skin and prefer honesty to flattery when it comes to receiving feedback (so complete strangers can offer honest feedback without worrying about hurting somebody’s feelings).



In other news a couple watchers o mine flew the coop while I was banned. Fair weather watchers! Come back! I swear I’m not indefinitely banned yet!! Well, now I probably am. Nevermind.


Thanks friends for all your support!


8 July 05 Update...







Well, well, well. How trite. The staff made the choice on my behalf to relocate several of my recent submissions to ‘scraps’. These are the notes they sent me. Please note all their valid reasons. So any ideas which gallery they should be submitted to?


epiphyte78,

Your deviation, listed below, has been moved from its current category as it was determined that it did not adhere to the submission guidelines of the gallery it was found in. The deviation will retain all of its comments and statistics. The updated information is as follows:

URL: [link]
Title: Found Poem Chinese
Submitted: 2005-07-08 12:08:24 am
Original Category:
New Category: Scraps

This notice requires no further action on your behalf. In the future, please take heed of the gallery descriptions that are presented to you when a deviation is submitted or edited. These descriptions detail the submission guidelines for the galleries and categories being submitted to. Making note of these guidelines will help to avoid corrections of this nature in the future.If you feel that you are receiving this notice in error, or have questions regarding it, then visit the deviantART Hel... ]]> !epiphyte78 http://epiphyte78.deviantart.com/journal/5748013/ http://epiphyte78.deviantart.com/journal/5748013/ Fri, 24 Jun 2005 20:08:41 PDT [link]
if you are extra bored you can guess my favorite photo from that Buena Vista Lake set. First person to correctly do so will win a free 8x10 print of their choice. woohoo. I think it's pretty obvious. i just uploaded those photos for the people who would want them so you wont find any dragonflies, moonrise, butterflies, or sunrise shots among them (because they have to wait in line like most of my other photos).

But enough about me. Let's reflect on the life of Sudek for a bit.

“Gradually I began to take in the beauty of the city and to realize that the whole of Sudek’s life seemed to revolve around light. I remember one time, in one of the Romanesque halls, deep below the spires of the cathedral – it was as dark as in the catacombs – with just a small window below street level inside the massive medieval walls. We set up the tripod and camera and then sat down on the floor and talked. Suddenly Sudek was up like lightening. A ray of sun had entered the darkness and both of us were waving cloths to raise mountains of dust “to see the light,” as Sudek said. Obviously he had known that the sun would reach here perhaps two or three times a year and he was waiting for it.” – Sonja Bullaty from Sudek p. 14

here's a photo I scanned from the book. It was slightly too big for my scanner so the sides got a little cropped.

"Contrasts", Saint Vitus Cathedral 1924-1925



stupid subscriber only feature *kicks stuff*

[link] ]]> !epiphyte78 http://epiphyte78.deviantart.com/journal/5704510/ http://epiphyte78.deviantart.com/journal/5704510/ Mon, 20 Jun 2005 13:11:02 PDT
so here's my first excerpt from "Sudek" by Sonja Bullaty with an introduction by Anna Farova. it's a hard to find out of print book so that's why I'll be sharing excerpts instead of suggesting you buy it. the excerpts won't be in order.

“One cannot escape being influenced by others, but these influences were only good to the extent that they forced me to go my own way. I met the Czech-American Ruzicka early in my life and through him the photography of [Clarence H.] White. At the time I did not yet know that all mystery lies in the shadow areas. When Dr. Ruzicka arrived from the U.S.A. he told me often: expose for the shadows, the rest will come by itself – he was quite right … But how to master the technique, that I did not know yet.” – Josef Sudek p. 25 para 4

I'd love to hear who some of your artistic influences are, especially photographically, even if you are just a random person reading this.

oh yeah, and I'm switching my favorites over to random

and check out my buddy's profile... I left a cool poem in his comment section

[link]

send him a note to come back (but don't mess up my poem!) ]]> !epiphyte78 http://epiphyte78.deviantart.com/journal/5657012/ http://epiphyte78.deviantart.com/journal/5657012/ Wed, 15 Jun 2005 14:37:46 PDT
DD, woohoo! I owe huge amounts of gratitude to ~simul for choosing the photo and to +cweeks for selecting it and to everybody who added it to their favorites. The right to education is such a wonderful gift (even though sometimes it seems like a chore... finals!!) and we sometimes take it for granted but it's important to remember that there are still people who for one reason or other haven't received that gift. But enough soapbox.

If I had known things would be so busy while I was gone I would have selected another sit in substitute. Chasing bagels instead of taking care of business…indeed! Let’s see, how much business is there…. “Deviant ~epiphyte78 has 1,007 message centre items ( 322D, 543M, 142C )”. Yikes! Where’s a bagel.

Ok, so usually if somebody puts me on their watch list then I’ll browse their gallery and if I would like to be influenced by their style (photographic for the most part) then I’ll return the watch, especially if they are just getting started. And if somebody gives me a favorite then I’ll usually look through their gallery and if I find something (again, mostly photographic) that I feel deserves way more favorites then it has received then I’ll give it a favorite, again, especially if the artist is just getting started. When it comes to comments my priorities of response are questions first, suggestions and critiques second, and comments that I think are interesting third. I appreciate comments that let me know that the photo was liked but I don’t want to waste your time by responding with just, “thanks”. On the other hand, regarding watches and favorites I will say thanks on your general page.

But that’s all for usually, never had to handle 543Ms before. I love going through various galleries and seeing how much talent there is on this site. As it is though, I’m spreading myself a bit thin. So. Hmm, if anybody has any advice or suggestions, as usual, I’d love to hear it.

Also, I’ve decided to quit giving explanations or background info in response to critiques and suggestions of my photos. They invariably end up sounding defensive and I’m way more interesting in seeing my photos from your perspective then trying to justify why I did what I did. Not having taken a better photo because I would have had to step off a cliff to do so is not a good background excuse in my mind. Then again, I’ve risked landmines to get some shots so perhaps that’s just me.

Right, so I did a ton of studying over the past couple of weeks. Based on how my finals went I’m almost wishing that I’d studied something other then photography….but then I wouldn’t have discovered Josef Sudek. My new favorite photographer in case you were wondering. He lost his right arm in the First World War but still managed to carry his large format camera and tripod all around Prague and capture some amazing scenes. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not the type of guy who’s going to love somebody’s mediocre work just because they had to overcome significant obstacles. For that I’ll love their heart. That’s why Josef Sudek is so cool, he not only had heart but he also had talent. So expect to find some quotes and tid bits about and from him in future journal entries.

To end this gabby journal entry here’s a poem by Stephen Crane. Don’t know about you but I kinda like horizons and running.

I saw a man pursuing the horizon;
Round and round they sped.
I was disturbed at this;
I accosted the man.
“It is futile,” I said,
“You can never—“

“You lie,” he cried,
And ran on. ]]> !epiphyte78 http://epiphyte78.deviantart.com/journal/5505795/ http://epiphyte78.deviantart.com/journal/5505795/ Mon, 30 May 2005 19:52:28 PDT

The Bagel – David Ignatow

I stopped to pick up the bagel
rolling away in the wind,
annoyed with myself
for having dropped it
as it were a portent.
Faster and faster it rolled,
with me running after it
bent low, gritting my teeth,
and I found myself doubled over
and rolling down the street
head over heels, one complete somersault
after another like a bagel
and strangely happy with myself. ]]> !epiphyte78 http://epiphyte78.deviantart.com/journal/5480730/ http://epiphyte78.deviantart.com/journal/5480730/ Fri, 27 May 2005 21:16:42 PDT

Why I am not a Painter – Frank O’Hara

I am not a painter, I am a poet.
Why? I think I would rather be
a painter, but I am not. Well,
For instance, Mike Goldberg
is starting a painting. I drop in.
‘Sit down and have a drink’ he
says. I drink; we drink. I look
up. ‘You have SARDINES in it.’
‘Yes, it needed something there.’
‘Oh,’ I go and the days go by
and I drop in again. The painting
is going on, and I go, and the days
go by. I drop in. The painting is
finished. ‘Where’s SARDINES?’
All that’s left is just
letters, ‘It was too much,’ Mike says.
But me? One day I am thinking of
a color: orange. I write a line
about orange. Pretty soon it is a
whole page of words, not lines.
Then another page. There should be
so much more, not of orange, of
words, of how terrible orange is
and life. Days go by. It is even in
prose, I am a real poet. My poem
is finished and I haven’t mentioned
orange yet. It’s twelve poems, I call
it ORANGES. And one day in a gallery
I see Mike’s painting, called SARDINES.


I really have to submit something quick. Two pics of me is excessively redundant.

Does anybody ever view somebody else's gallery and just sort by top favorites if they have say over 50 deviations? ]]> !epiphyte78 http://epiphyte78.deviantart.com/journal/5442612/ http://epiphyte78.deviantart.com/journal/5442612/ Mon, 23 May 2005 20:18:46 PDT
So I just fell in love with Midnight. My tenuous grasp of reality has slipped away and I will now begin my journey into a highly filtered surreality.

If your interested in joining me then I highly recommend visiting nik's website [link] and shelling out $299 for the plug ins. I definitely in no way advocate looking for the filters on file sharing programs such as Emule. That would be wrong! ]]> !epiphyte78