Hi.

We're here in Anaheim, California, at VidCon where I've asked some of my favorite vloggers and hosts if they wouldn't mind responding to one of the previous Art Assignments.

So let's go see what they can do.

Hey, this is Steve from PBS's "Everything But the News."

This week's assignment comes from Jace Clayton, AKA DJ/rupture, and it's to find a quiet spot, moment of zen.

My name is Mike Rugnetta from the PBS Idea Channel, and I responded to Intimate/Indispensable GIF.

Hi.

I'm Emily Graslie.

I host the educational YouTube channel called The Brain Scoop.

So today I'm going to be doing The Art Assignment Psychological Landscape.

My name's Joe firm It's Okay to be Smart, and I'm responding to Dave Brooks's Art Assignment Never Seen, Never Will.

Hello.

I'm Craig, also known as Wheezy Waiter on YouTube, and I am doing a stakeout Art Assignment where we placed a walkie-talkie with a sticky pad that says, "free advice," and we're going to place it down there.

And I'm just going to wait and see if anyone needs any advice, and I will give it to them, because I'm really good at advice.

STEVE GOLDBLOOM: It is quiet in there, but I don't think we're allowed to film in there.

Yeah, they don't want that.

Makes sense.

This is not a good spot, I don't think.

Do you know where I can find some quiet spot just to-- I'm just-- my head is-- Shit.

--bananas right now.

You know what I'm saying?

I don't know, my man.

How does this have anything to do with YouTube?

[explosion] Oh!

This isn't bad, actually.

[screaming] Surprising quiet here, actually.

There's sort of a humming sound of people who've lost consciousness because of the YouTube stars.

And I think just people on their phone, which doesn't make much noise.

I'm just going to relax here for a bit.

Noah, I just need the-- I just want to hide out.

Hide out.

This is nice.

[music playing] [music stops] OK.

This is actually great.

I think right-- this is perfect.

I just want to hang here for a minute.

I think I needed this.

Thank you, Art Assignment.

So I made an animated GIF of myself playing guitar.

It is the thing that I do that makes me feel whole, right?

Like, we all have these things that we do that make us feel like who we are, and for me that's playing guitar.

But it's just-- it's not a thing that anybody ever sees.

I went through so many iterations of ideas trying to figure out what I wanted to do.

Trying to figure out, like, what would be the most appropriate, and had to just fall back on this, like, no, it's, like, Intimate/Indispensable.

Like, what is the thing that, for you, has that feeling of intimacy that you could not give up?

I had to just not intellectualize it, had to not, like, try to make something that was reaching for some external sense of success or good as far as a, like, the idea of an artwork.

And it's not well-lit.

I did not worry about lighting it.

I just extended the legs on the tripod to the point where I thought it would probably be good enough, and then just started rolling on my camera and then put it into Photoshop and did no-- didn't try to make it look better, didn't try to make it look professional.

I spent a little bit to try to make it loop, because I like GIFs that loop as close to perfectly as possible.

But, yeah.

That was my, like, attempt at intimacy, is maybe why I made those decisions.

Looking at it now, like, I like it more because of the characteristics where it's not this perfect thing.

It helps you to figure out what that thing is, and you might not know.

Or the thing that you think is the answer to this animated GIF, it might not be it when you realize that you're trying to make it this beautiful, perfect, aesthetic experience, because it probably isn't.

It probably isn't in real life.

So go make an Intimate/Indispensable animated GIF.

What's stopping you?

You.

It's just you.

I chose this one because I'm actually a landscape painter.

I graduated with a studio art degree, and I really love this Art Assignment because it helped to put a little more context around the landscape itself and, like, the figure in place in space.

So I got really-- I got thinking about it, and I'm just really excited to be doing that one.

So here we go.

So I'm going to make my Psychological Landscape, and I have no idea what it's going to look like at this point.

I have some colored objects, like little zip tie things and a bunch of Jolly Ranchers.

And so here we go.

OK.

So I have my ground, and I'm going to put my horizon line right here.

I'm actually going to use a different color.

Here's the horizon line.

So all my points are going to converge somewhere along this imaginary line.

I've got a ground.

I've got some nice flowers in space.

Rearrange that a little better, and I need some kind of cloud atmosphere.

I was also thinking, when considering psychological landscape, it almost seems like the word "psychological" seems a little damaging, like something's broken a little bit, which isn't at all the case, but I have that misconception, so I'm going to put a BAND-AID over here to symbolize my extreme tiredness.

And that BAND-AID is solving my tiredness.

This is the happy, stable figure in my psychological landscape.

And it also looks like a balloon.

So it's a balloon person that is floating happily into the Jolly Rancher clouds beyond the challenge of the BAND-AID in the middle of the table with some lovely VidCon drink token trees.

I think this might be my greatest piece of artwork.

And what I love even more about it is that it'll be taken apart and it can never be recreated in this way.

And that's the true artistry of my masterpiece here.

So you guys have seen my Psychological Landscape, and now I'm really interested in seeing what you've got to do.

So make sure to submit your own video, and I look forward to seeing it.

So what I've chosen is a cave in Mexico, the Naica Cave, they call it La Cueva de los Cristales.

The discovery of this cave was an accident, and a mining company broke through a wall and a flood of water rushed out and they found these towering spires of gypsum crystals that are, you know, as long as bridges.

Humans can walk on them.

They can hug them.

They're like trees made of rock.

The environment there is toxic.

And as soon as they unlocked that wall and let the outside air in, it began to deteriorate.

And it turns out that when we go in there to study it, it's also toxic to us.

So they made the decision that they're going to have to lock this cave away.

We've had a few photographs.

A few scientists have been able to go in there and study, but it shows this sort of fragility of these treasures that we unlocked.

And it makes me wonder, as we walk around, or if you're walking through the mountains or the forest or wherever you might be, underneath the ground how many undiscovered or unknown-- probably permanently unknown-- little treasures like this there must be just under our feet and around us all the time.

And this one in particular, we've gotten to peek at it.

But we know that it will disappear.

And we know that we'll have to let the water fill it back up, this half-million year old treasure.

Artist Rachel Sussman calls this the quotidien versus deep time.

And that we have very few ways of accessing this.

Looking out into the deep space or unlocking these sort of magical treasures like La Cueva de los Cristales.

So I'm sad that I never will get to see it, but it's nice to wonder what else like that might be out there.

Free advice.

Just push and hold the button and ask a question.

No?

Darn.

Free advice.

Free advice.

Just push the button.

Free advice.

Oh, someone's looking at it.

Free advice.

You need some device?

Free advice.

Need any advice?

I can give you free advice.

Free advice.

That looks like pretty good pizza you got there.

Free advice?

Free advice.

Free advice.

Free advice.

Anybody need any advice?

Hey, do you have a question?

I can answer your question for free.

Free advice, Sarah.

I'm wondering if you could give me some advice on how we could make this stakeout work a little better.

Free advice.

You, on the phone, free advice.

Free advice, ma'am with the flowery dress.

Hello.

How are you today?

Fine.

CRAIG BENZINE: Do you need any advice?

Where should we get dinner?

CRAIG BENZINE: Oh, what you should get for dinner?

I'm partial to Indian food.

I like the chicken tikka masala.

It's really good.

OK.

It can be spicy, though, so make sure it's not too spicy.

Any advice you need?

Not really.

CRAIG BENZINE: OK. Well, congratulations on knowing everything.

Here we go.

Hello?

CRAIG BENZINE: Hello.

Do you need some advice?

Yes.

CRAIG BENZINE: What do you need to know?

Relationship advice.

CRAIG BENZINE: Relationship?

You need advice on relationships?

Well, what is your problem with a relationship?

Everything.

Be yourself and be confident.

Thank you.

You are welcome.

Hello?

CRAIG BENZINE: Hello.

I need advice.

CRAIG BENZINE: What kind of advice do you need?

Advice on how to get my new puppy to like me.

CRAIG BENZINE: Be kind to your puppy, be loving, feed it enough, and give it treats.

I feed my dog a lot, but he still doesn't like me.

CRAIG BENZINE: Maybe if you got another puppy as a companion that dog would be happier.

Do you have a puppy?

I don't have a puppy.

I like puppies, though.

Puppies are cute.

CRAIG BENZINE: Puppies are super cute.

I know.

I love puppies.

CRAIG BENZINE: Please put the walkie-talkie back on the chair.

Are you watching me?

That was incredibly fun.

I want to do more.

I could do that all day long, but I have other things I have to do.

I helped a guy get Indian food.

And some girl had some relationship problem, I guess.

She didn't have any specifics, but I helped.

I thought I gave her some good advice.

Be confident, you know?

And then someone else just picked it up and walked with it and I told them to put it back and they got creeped out that I was watching them, which I would expect.

But, hey, they were stealing so geeze.

[theme music] Excuse me.

Are all these people here to see me for PBS?

Um, I have no-- they're here to see Zoe, I believe.

Who?

Did you have question?

Are these people here to see me for PBS?

No, I don't believe so.

Who are they here to see?

Well, I think it's YouTube something.

Just another show?

They're here to see Shane Dawson.