friday

An idea I had was creating some sort of scene based on the little things that happen at my work. I work at a Chinese food place here on campus and I hate it there. It’s so torturous just thinking about going there, but I guess it’s not that bad sometimes. I was thinking about doing a story board on it, or a comic book, on the different reactions and personalities that buy Chinese food daily.
Another idea I had was illustrating the idea of how frustrating it is when trying to turn off the volume of an ad that can’t be found on a webpage. I thought it would be funny trying to exaggerate that frustration through a sequence of attempts to turn the noise off.
The third idea I had was to make up a song using a sequence of chords, that can be played together in order to give the sense of some sort of narrative. By playing with different melancholic, happy, fast-pace tones and rhythms, I thought it would be interesting to see if people could follow the different transitions.

Fav .Artist

Ok so picking my favorite artist is very hard, I don’t particularly prefer a certain artist right now because i like different styles. But if I were to pick an artist, I would have to pick Rosson Crow. I had an assignment to do based on her style, and I really enjoyed the different aspects of her work. I learned a lot trying to imitate her work (intermediate painting assignment) and I grew fond of it. I like the way she uses cinematic images, without actually using people in her work. Her paintings consist of interior and exterior environments that are full of energy, giving the sense that something exciting just happened in them. I love the colors she chooses to use, and the atmosphere she creates using fictional scenarios. It’s so chaotic and pleasing to look at trying to follow what’s going on.

Wednesday

Today, was a great day however, it was exhausting as hell. I don’t know what to write about except about what I have been doing the last couple of days…weeks. Im taking two different painting classes so that really takes up a lot of my time, but I enjoy it, nonetheless. I have been working on this circus theme painting for intermediate painting, and I am really enjoying it a lot. The theme for the assignment is abstraction so playing around with realist images trying to change what they portray is very interesting.

Anyway, I have been here, (at the paint studio) for what seems like forever, but im only here for one last quarter so I have to take advantage of these classes before it’s too late.

Well that’s it, I have to go paint now.

Tuesday

So for our last set of presentations, I would have to say that I found the cigarette murder scene to be one of the ones that stood out for me the most. I thought that he presented in a very straight forward way that proved to be powerful. I thought that it was a very emotional confession that constantly keeps the gears turning in your head. Especially if you relate to the issue in anyway, analyzing it puts your life on the screen.

Even though the presentation about the timing confessions was a fun one, I thought it should have been a little more organized. But I also believe that because we ran out of time towards the end it affected the presentation. But I thought it was a great idea, especially since he did not know what people were going to ask him. But then, you got to question if he was actually being honest

Monday Lecture

I really enjoyed Sally Mann’s work the most in today’s lecture. Her images were so upfront and powerful. The way that her children or the other people were looking at the camera, or the way that they were posing really made me wonder what was going on in the scene.

Because the images were very maternal, I was surprised to find out that Jessie had said that her mother never expressed any love towards them.

When looking or creating something personal the imagery or concept, I feel, is so much stronger. It is that personal experience of living everyday in a certain way, that no one else can re-create, or experience in the same manner. I think that’s why these images stand out to me. This was Sally’s life, and she is documenting it in a way that is specific to her. Therefore, I conclude that, because of this, the onlooker tries or even wants to see it in the way she did; in order to appreciate the content that much more.

Art in Athleticism

On Friday I attended the Art in Athleticism fight at the old gym. It was very intense I really wasn’t ready to see that fight. But it could also be because I have never seen an actual fight up close. But overall it was very awesome to see different opponents demonstrate their abilities and talents in such a way. It must have taken a lot of practice and determination to get that good, and to hold your own against another opponent is very impressive. It goes back to the idea of working your mind along with your body to perform in an effective way. Tolerance, endurance, and patience have to be built, and it can be said that the body becomes a work of art in itself, it is molded and worked on to create a whole new form. The end product can be used in comparison to the way things were prior to the new developments.
Here a video, awesome job Desiree!

Sunday. Robert reading

Robert Rauschenberg’s work, although strange and different, introduce a new way in seeing things. His works consists of purely single colored paintings and sculpture made of “ugly things”, as described by one of the viewers. It’s an interesting concept to think about; is there a specific way to see a piece of art? Should there be an elaboration by the artist in order to understand its full meaning and potential?
I believe that the meaning of a piece should be left up to whoever is seeing it. However they should take into consideration the process and the reason that certain materials and implications are made. After all they are in the piece for a reason; to help the onlooker thinking about said ideas.
Rauschenberg explains that painting relates to both art and life, and that her wants to see something for what it is, not for what it isn’t. This statement of creating works of art from what reality has to offer, opens up controversies of whether reality can really be viewed as art.

Saturday. Chapters 7 and 8

In chapter 7, the question of whether comics are a formed of art is raised. According to the author, art is anything that is not created from survival or reproduction. He goes on to explain that art is everything that our personalities and identities help develop. The structure of how a piece is created is based on; idea, form, idiom, structure, craft, and surface. These steps are subconsciously followed, but they must be followed with determination and that potential to want to create something.
In chapter 8, color is introduced. In comics, cyan, magenta, and yellow are the primary colors used to create the iconic representation of what American comics look like. The mood, tomes, role, depth, and other characteristics of comics were represented by a combination of color contrasts and intensities. Colors hold a lot of power, especially when their combinations are mixed and placed next to each other. These colors give of sensations that add to the story line, and are able to express feelings, shapes and depth.

Friday

For my act of kindness, I chose to leave my apartment complex door open. I always find that there are people who have forgotten their keys or just want to get in, waiting outside the locked door. It really is an inconvenience and I don’t know why they just don’t leave the door open. I frequently am left outside these doors waiting as well, and it is very inconvenient. The only other way to get in is by going down through the garage and taking the stairs back up through the inside.
So in order to make people’s, as well as mine, a little easier I grabbed a bag and found a way to tie the door to the rail to hold it open for everyone.

Thursday!

Today we had more great performances; it’s really inspiring to see people confess such personal confessions. One of the performances that really stood out for me was the one about the miscarriage. The presentation was really amazing, I really appreciated the composition and the ideas and symbols that it portrayed. It was really well thought out, and was a very powerful and moving piece. And especially for being such a personal confession, a lot of thought and emotion seemed to have gone into it.
The weakest piece of the day, I would have to say was Alex’s presentation. I just felt that the power point was way too formal, even thought alex himself was very enthusiastic. I feel that because it was a piece about concerts which are known to be wild and crazy, the presentation should have been, perhaps, less organize, and more free and based on performance. Other than that, it was still very successful, the whole class seemed to really be entertained the whole time we watched it, and listened to his stories and experience.

Wednesday free for all!

Let’s see, today I was able to get some sleep finally after pulling an all nighters for intermediate painting. I painted a Picasso for the assignment that was given, and I’m really excited on how it came out. I’m not used to painting with oils and to see it complete is really exciting. I’m really excited about sleeping, I feel like I have not been doing much of that lately, I underestimated all of my classes and time feels like it doesn’t want to wait for me to catch up.
In spite of that seeing my finished projects makes up for it. I love trying new things and being able to increase the content on my portfolio is very important to me. But it’s also nice to just sit back and watch TV sometimes too.
Let’s see what else happened today…o yes! I went flying! I flew pretty far too. Too bad it was off of my skateboard though. Luckily I didn’t break anything, but I’m super sore and achy. I was skateboarding to work today and there was a lady in front of me who clearly saw me and the direction I was going, and she continued to cross my path, so I tried to make a quick turn and my skateboard got caught on one of those tree nut things, and I took off. It hurt; the stupid lady didn’t even bother to look back…o well.

Presentations

Today’s presentations were really great, and very creative. I can’t really pick one because I thought most of them were very moving. To see fellow art students confessing their most personal secrets is really motivating. One of the pieces that I enjoyed was Erika Frost’s story book. I thought it was a very interactive and playful way to get such a secret across. And to perform it with such enthusiasm added to a strong representation. The story was very well organized and along with the illustrations, was very original.
Furthermore even though Walter’s piece was very creative, I felt like his message was hard to understand. Even though the poster contained good material, I feel like the organization was a little hard to follow. I think it would have been a lot stronger if perhaps the presentation was based on more than just pictures and extended to more personal symbols that may have stood out the most for him. Or perhaps if he used something other than the science project board, something that would do justice to what he felt, or what he was going through. I felt like the poster board may have taken away some of that justification, since we associate with it our days back in high school, for science projects.
Overall, I still think that all of the presentations were unique in their own way and because of that unique connection to their confession, they became really successful.

Lecture

I really enjoyed today’s lecture, the whole twin thing was unbelievable, and really left me thinking about communication. For them to make up there own language and to be able to understand each other the way that they do is really interesting.
I also thought that the whole concept about mapping our different characteristics and values was important. When listening and watching the lecture, I couldn’t help but notice how accurate Kip’s examples were. We all do it, we just don’t think about it, or analyze our actions when we do them. The fact that we, as a society, assume that everything that is shown to us is the truth, proves just how brainwashed we are. A good example was the representation of beauty that is portrayed by a Barbie doll. Once again we believe everything that comes from this “ideal’ doll, and it’s because of her appearance. The propaganda, advertisements, and “facts” that she displays, becomes our culture because the onlooker pays attention to the trends and the need to be perfect. As a result, the stereotypes that are created feed superficial values that are slowly created from exposure to such products.

Art Show!

Last Tuesday, I went to the second opening for Whenever You Are, We Are Already Then, honors’ thesis show. It was a great show, all the pieces were definitely different in their own way. The one that really caught my attention was Carissa Zabada’s piece on the human mind. It was an installation piece that consisted of mirrors that covered an entire room and within it contained different aspects and representations of the human mind. I also enjoyed Leo’s work, after seeing different renditions of it, I liked how he altered it to really make it a more interactive work. I also like the fact that I ate some art, the cake in the tent was delicious. Overall everyone had their own approaches and their own project ideas, I thought it was interesting how no one piece was like the other, everyone has their own visions of what art it and what is created from those ideas are really baffling and thought provoking. They also had a mini interaction piece in which the viewer has to draw a Mickie Mouse and place it on the wall. I chose to challenge this request by drawing a duck instead, I figured they wanted to get some sort of reaction from the different styles of Mickyes, so I wanted to see if I got some sort of reaction by drawing something completely different, in this case, a duck.
Overall, it was fun seeing everything, plus they had great food.

Sunday. John Cage

After reading John Cage’s biography I realized that the life of an artist/ musician/ …etc is unbelievably draining. But I am sure its enjoyable. Anyway I found the fact that Cage preferred to leave out the concept of the subconscious. By performing and creating his work by chance means that he has no control over the outcome. But I guess that what experimentation is for. If you don’t try things in a different manner, how will you discover new ways of approaching something? Furthermore the idea of leaving everything to chance, can be questioned to whether its by chance at all? After all he did work in a controlled environment with material he chose before he started. But I guess that can be considered toward limitations other than just chance.
To me this idea is terrifying. Although his work was successfully carried out, I do not think that it is something that can be approached so care free. Well, it can but will you get the results you were anticipating? What if it doesn’t work? Other than my own fears and I really do appreciate his work in wanting to incorporate everyday sounds to something other than just what they are, it is definitely important to consider everyday aspects of life and refresh their function or definition.

Saturday! Chapter five

Chapter five explains how incorporating senses with images, in order to really get an idea across to the onlooker. Expressionism is introduced as artist wanting to get an idea across through the use of Synesthesia. The texture, tone, color, width, shapes, etc, create a new sense of being able to see such feelings. I personally love this concept, who doesn’t? Through synesthesia new concepts can be argued, painting illusions can be created and just the fact that you’re looking at am image that awakens other sense other than just sight is amazing. It’s what makes an image so unique, because it brings it to life.
In chapter six, the concepts of using text and images together to form a new style of narrative is brought up. It is through the relationship of text and picture that the message of an image can be given off. It depends on the specification of the text in relation to the picture that can send a message across. Every different style or combination amplifies something in the image that allows a message to be sent, and it gives the image such a power that makes it come to life. Without this, disaster would hit because the viewer cannot put a story together without hints in expression and words.

Friday! Scary!

My scariest moment was perhaps around last summer or so. I get the scariest hallucinations when I sleep. I’m not crazy, or on drugs, I just get sleep terrors or sleep paralysis.
So what basically happens is that I wake up in the middle of the night, but I am completely paralyzed, no one can hear me, my breathing slows down, and I have hallucinations. There have been documentaries that say that there are people who experience this sometimes see black figures, and I haven’t really seen any, *knock on wood* but I have felt their presence.
Now that I’m putting this into words it sounds like some exorcist movie, but it’s nothing like that I promise, you guys should Google it, it’s interesting.
Anyway, the only way I could describe it is as a very, very realistic, but scary dream. I know when it happens and I desperately try to wake up every time but, I can’t really make that happen as fast as I want to.
Ok so, I “woke up” during my sleep, and I instantly knew I was having another sleep paralysis episode. I panicked like I usually do, but this time it was especially scary. I look around and in my room trying desperately to move or wake up, feeling that if I didn’t do it soon, I would see or feel something terrifying. That feeling alone did it for me, and then out of nowhere I feel some-one or something put their hand on my shoulder. I tried to look behind but I was to scared, and I felt something dark behind me (I was face down) and I started to freak out and screaming my ass off hoping that one of my roommates would see or hear me struggle and wake me up. But like always no one heard me and I eventually woke up with a cold sweat. It was like being in one of those scary movie scenes.
Well that’s just one of many, I’m sure I’ll get use to them soon, and not freak out as much…I hope.

Thursday! Happy/Proud

My proudest moment, thus far, I can’t really specify the day, seeing as I consider it to be an ongoing phase. These last few quarters here at UCSB have been especially intense, but for some reason as intense as it has been I have pushed myself to be more prepared and make sure to do everything right and with full effort. Compared to the way I handled things in the past, I’m doing pretty damn good, if you ask me. It’s very stressful, but I make sure to include everything I want to do, not just what I have to do.
This excitement of being able to handle so much, with promising results gives me even more motivation to do things. I think that it’s because it my last quarter here and I want to take advantages of all of the opportunities that I have available here. I kind of wish I began doing this sooner, I could have done so many things. My thinking process and values have changed as well, I look at things in different ways, and it’s very exciting to know that everything is possible with practice and confidence.

Wednesday.

My proudest moment was probably when I made my first real painting. It was when I had recently changed my major to art, so it was extra exciting for me. After spending the first two years hoping around different majors looking for the right I finally felt like I was doing something I really wanted to do.
So I took my first intermediate painting class, with Phil Argent, in the fall of 2009 I want to say. Before then, I had never really painted something on my own, other than still lives and I don’t count those. The assignment was to paint anything I wanted as long as Text was incorporated somehow. At first I had no idea what to do but after talking to Phil I got started and began my first study. I loved it from the start, and after two study painting I was ready to create the final.
I was ready to go after playing with the same idea for the whole quarter, so after I stretched out my first canvas I got my paint out and started mixing colors. I spent days on it, and a few all nighters, and after seeing it when it was completely finished I was completely satisfied and proud, I never imagined it would come out the way it did. It might not have been that great, but after spending so much time on it I didn’t care. On the day of crit people walked up to me before class and complemented me on my work, it was very satisfying that all those hours payed off. Aside from that crit went pretty well, considering that no one said anything bad about it.
So there it is, every time I look at it, it reminds me of the process and everything I learned and experience during that time.

Study #1

Study#2

Final

Tuesday. Embarassing!

Ok, even though this happened so long ago, I still remember it as one of the first times that I really got embarrassed. So it happened in the second grade...or first grade, whatever the thing is it happened. It was during Christmas and my class was signed up to do a Christmas play/show/ pageant thing, and my part was to do a little dance to the song “I want to wish you a merry Christmas”. Ok this is where it starts.
So during my childhood I loved to spend my class time in the clouds, or so I was told by my teachers, so I sometimes didn’t pay attention to things. But in my defense, I was a kid at the time and kids never pay attention!
When the night of the show came around I got myself all ready to go and off to school we went. For some reason I never thought about what I was supposed to do once I got on stage, but once I did I wished I hadn’t. I went up there in front of all the parents and teachers and tried to follow along with the rest of the girls. It turns out we had a little dance to do and I tried quickly to figure it out, in order to catch up. I was so disoriented and lost; I was all over the place.
Everyone laughed- and I mean everyone. I was so embarrassed, I never saw so many people looking at me at once. After the show everyone walked up to me to tell me how cute that whole skit was and how funny I was. Sure it was funny to them, and it is now that I think about it, but at the time I was so embarrassed, which is why I still remember it to this day.

Monday: lecture

The messages that artists such as Catherine Opie and Robert Mapplethorpe bring up, raise questions of lifestyles and what society considers to be right or wrong. The use of the human body demonstrates a stronger concept because it is forced into the onlooker's face, becoming inevitable. They are definitely strong images that trigger the way we interact in certain situations, and make us more aware of how our mind is influenced by society.

By using the body to represent a concept, the idea becomes more personal and universal, which also enables a stronger response. Furthermore, when we look at advertisement, our ideals and values are manipulated in order to feel like we fit into a certain image.
As a result people become more conscious of how they build their bodies, and tend to only care for what the media portrays the perfect person to be.

With artists such as Sam Hsieh, the idea of time is once again shown right in our faces, what took him a year to accomplish we saw in a matter of minutes. These concepts help us see time and the way that it takes its toll on our bodies.

sunday! Confession Brainstorm

One of my confessions revolves around the idea of my hate for confrontation. It is something that I feel I can’t escape, and that eventually leave me vulnerable to the problems of real life. For this exercise I want to demonstrate this by creating a white mask with an eye in the front that hides my face from people and conflicts. I chose a mask, because I always feel that I could express myself the way I want when I don’t have to look at people in the eye. I still chose to have an eye, to demonstrate a window of still having enough courage to attempt to confront those or that which I am hiding from.
Another idea I had was about my fear of graduating and being released into the real world to fend for myself. After all these years of being under my parent’s safety net, I have grown accustomed to having that comfort and I fear that I am not completely prepared to face life’s rude wake up call. For this idea I would like to surround myself with objects that represent accomplishments, and objects that suggest this change in lifestyle.
The last idea I had was my fear of rejection, not just with people but with my goals. After working so hard to get where I want to get, I’m afraid that it can all be taken away from me in a single moment. So I would like to demonstrate that by having a red stamp in my forehead with the words “reject”, as a way of trying to deal with that fear.

Chapter 3 and 4

Chapter three talks about closure and the illusion that there is more to an image or idea, without actually considering what is presented to us. This sense of “closure” allows us to see images and transform their meanings and motion as an act that consist of gestures and narratives. But in order to experience closure, the onlooker must be consciously involved with their creativity and imagination. As a result a sense of space and time can be created, giving the narrative some realism. `In comics these attributes can be demonstrated through the aid of transitions such as , subject, action, scene, moment, aspect, and non sequitor.

Chapter four introduces time, and our ability to acknowledge it in images. The illusion of time can only be observed by what is perceived in an image. The sequence in an action builds that time as our eye wander from point A, to point B, to point C, etc. Furthermore the panels, or frames in which we see these images only add to dimensions in different times and space. When we look at an image, we automatically believe that the image stands in its own different world plane separate from our own. Its like the framework itself is a portal to the image’s world.

Reading-Duchamp

The reading mainly talks about the ideas and critical thinking behind Marcel Duchamp’s work. He questioned the idea of what art, during his time, should really be like and whether it should be followed or altered in anyway. For a time in which “retinal-art” was the main approach, Duchamp believed making a work that’s main focus was aesthetics, was a stupid. There is more to a work of art than mere aesthetics, the concept and the intentions of the artist should be taken into account, as well as the reiteration of the onlooker’s analysis of the image.

Moreover, Duchamp believed that art should be “a form of play, a game between artist and onlooker”. The relationship with the artist and the onlooker, I believe, should definitely be considered seeing as a work cannot be complete without getting some sort of criticism or response; be it negative or positive. This response is what correlates with the piece’s aura and ultimately makes it an art form. When I create something, I think about modern culture and the common understandings that come with it, because ultimately, that is what will judge and criticize my ideas and concepts. I’m not saying, that this is the only thing I take into account, but it is an important aspect, which I believe relates to this “game between artist and onlooker.”

Art-non art.

So I chose to use lamps. No matter which one is chosen they each have their own distinct characteristics. Their lamp shade serves as an aesthetic quality in addition to serving their main purpose. It is designed in a way that allows the viewer to appreciate the inside as well as the outside, seeing as the light bulb also has its own unique design. On top of its aesthetic values, the lamp demonstrates the industrial art at its best. It shows how far the evolution of such an old technology as electricity has come in world of today.

The art of paper making, has countless of possibilities in producing various amounts of art work. Not only is the process of making paper an art in itself, but its specific attributes contribute to its manipulation in making it an art medium. But the paper itself serves a more industrial purpose that is greatly depended on by everyone in the world. Paper is used for everything these days from paper towels to drawing paper, it has become a universal product that allows the consumer to express themselves as well as their work.