Reaction to Lecture

The lecture about sequence narratives today was a intriguing lecture. I enjoyed the Duane Michals pieces that I hadn't seen before. He is a great sequential photographer. I liked the one that was called "Alice's Mirror" I had already seen the "Things are Queer" piece. I thought that the work of Jim Goldberg was so interesting. I love to hear what people have to say regarding themselves so it was so revealing. I wish I could do a project and make things interesting enough to be original because I think interactive intimate personal pieces are so cool. I love his "Rich and Poor" and "Nursing Home" work. They are both so socially relevant and telling of the individuals whom they describe. The film by Chris Marker, "La Jette" was so good. It was a strange narrative that came full circle. I liked it alot. I could tell it has been the inspiration for many Hollywood movies like Inception, The Time Traveler's Wife, and more loosely, The Matrix. It was a very interesting piece. I liked the narrative. It was political and scifi and I have never seen anything done like a movie done with stills. Lecture today taught me a lot.

Project Decision

I have decided I want to do the ninja fighting proposal. My boyfriend will train me in the spiritual teachings of martial arts and the physical aspects. This journey in learning a new skill will be part of the process and my learning will be documented as part of the project. The fight will last roughly 15 to 20 minutes and possible go in rounds to last longer. We will sit and meditate as well as fight in traditional ways. we will be in ninja costumes that will have things written on them to incorporate meaning and a struggle of opposing forces in the world today. In the end no one will win because neither good nor evil prevails totally and I am contemplating a way to turn us both grey afterwards. This is sort of the inspiration of my art.

I have already filled out my release form and am prepared to turn it on on monday

MFA Art Show: Yummier/Brainsickly

This show was unlike any show that I've been to before. It did remind me a little of the Museum of Neon Art in LA, but the work in this show was much more dark than that work. I liked the first room a lot. The use of lighting and UV light to interact with the art was an interesting choice. I liked how the combination of the conditions of the room made the art. I thought the medicine cabinet that glowed in the UV light was a very interesting piece. The artist frosted the glass in a linear interweaving pattern around the edges and the word "death" was etched on the front center of the glass. It reminded me of the synthetic chemicals that we put in our bodies when we're sick in order to relieve our symptoms and in essence hold off death, when the very use of those chemicals cause distortion on a cellular level. Medicine and the pharmacological system is something we should be very wary of and think about before using and that's what I think this piece meant. There was also another glass piece it was a circle with LED lights on the inside and a mirror effect that made it look like it had much more depth than it actually had. It was a psychedelic effect that was obviously skillfully achieved. I wish that there had been placards that told the titles of the work and the artist. I also liked the floor piece with the tiled reflectors and large orb that interacted with the strobe light. I thought that the soundtrack with what sounded like eerie whale sounds was complimentary to the work. The sculptures in the second room looked like tumors to me. they reminded me of diseased flesh or growths. I don't know exactly what their purpose was if it was more than that. Overall it was a very cool show.

Personal Space Project

I have a few ideas for my personal space project. This project seems like a lot of fun. I'm excited to see the campus turned upside down with all of our projects. I am so interested to see what the entire lecture comes up with. I have a few ideas for what I should do for the personal space project. I'm kinda lucky, my boyfriend has offered to participate in my project when I do it so I have a little more liberty there. I don't know which idea to pick yet though.

1. Since I like cats a lot, and I do care about all the strays and homeless animals that sit in shelters while people pay several hundreds for purebred animals as a status symbol, I wanted to dress like a cat and sit in the bike circle. I would have a sign that read, "Save a Life! Adopt a pet today!" I want to get one of those stand up metal fences that they use when they have pet fairs outside of pet stores but I don't know if I could get one. I would sit there and act like a cat, my boyfriend would sell me and play with me with various cat toys.

2. My other idea is to illustrate the battle of good vs evil in the embodiment of ninjas. I would train in martial arts with my boyfriend who is a brown belt in martial arts and then I would fight him with kitana wooden swords on campus. I hope that the school would allow the wooden swords. I was thinking that we could write words on our shirts that illustrated the struggle between good and evil and the struggles that we face today such as war and violence.

3. My third idea is to create something really interactive. I would like to make a wishing tree. I would have slips of paper ready and attach a string. I would have a desk and have people write their wishes down on the slips then tie them to one of the trees branches. I like this one because it's an interactive data base that is anonymous. I really like this idea. I would just worry as to whether it's too cliche.

FLASH MOB

Flash Mobs are so awesome. They are totally spontaneous live expressions of art. The element of surprise of an unsuspecting audience is part of what makes them so successful. The coordination and unexpected homogeneity of the performers as well as the number of them is also an element that makes them successful. generally the more people you have, the better it is. There are a lot of flash mobs that incorporate song and dance in their performance, there are also a good number of them that will incorporate some element of the pop culture or social iconic consciousness.

 

These are some of my favorite examples of flash mobs. I couldn't stop watching youtube flash mob videos!

In class we talked about doing a flash mob that would involve ninjas or cowboys and indians fighting. We also thought about doind a game of duck duck goose in the bike circles. We also talked about doing a flash mob in lecture like breaking out in song or getting our cell phones to all go off at one time to surprise Kip and tthe rest of the class. I liked the idea of duck duck goose the best. I thought it would be funny to bring an elementary school activity to a college campus environment. I really wanted to do a song and dance. it's been so long since I learned choreography and performed, but it's something that I love doing. I was a cheerleader in high school so I really enjoy performing and learning dances. But that wasn't the most original idea and I think some of our other ideas are really original and good. I'm really excited about this exercise!

Totoro: An Artful Masterpiece

Recently I rewatched my favorite movie: My Neighbor Totoro by Miyazaki. I think he is a master storyteller. The animation is so detailed and the shots are all composed as if they could be paintings in themselves. There is a definite artist's consciousness going on in the movie's composition. The story is about 2 sisters who move to a new house, their mother is sick and in the hospital. Strange things go on in their new house and they encounter a number of magical creatures. They meet the king of the forest. His name is Totoro and he is above in the photo. They show him kindness and in return he gives them an adventure and they make the trees and flowers grow which is what he does as king of the forest. All of Miyazaki's films seem to have a theme of environmental preservation and harmony between humans and the land that they inhabit. I think this is such a worthwhile message and think the way that it is incorporated into the film is beautiful. The film is also descriptive of Japanese culture and the landscape that rural Japan has to offer. It made me want to visit. This movie is a masterful and creative  animated film. I would highly recommend it. I grew up watching this move and I think that it has influenced my work in that I pay high attention to detail. I also think that this may be the start of me feeling a magical sense of nature. I don't like to paint landscapes but I feel like my art does have a very natural and organic element to it.

Freeform

So basically. I'm just going to share with you all the cool stuff that I found today.......

Two guys made a giant water balloon and then recorded them trying to pop it in slow motion. The effects of the slow motion are beautiful and weird! This video was really cool. This was an interesting idea. Definitely artistic.

and thenn....

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/28CwCO/www.arkinspace.com/2011/04/manul-cat-that-time-forgot.html

I found this cat that hasn't evolved since the prehistoric era. And it totally looks like that too! This cat is bad ass and would definitely kill some serious stuff. It has been able to be a top predator for hundreds of thousands of years. I am surprised that we don't learn more about animals like this. It looks crazy and angry and I can totally respect the fact that it is ancient.

Annnnddd.....

Meet my new obsession:

These are Rainbow Eucalyptus trees. I think they are so beautiful! They are a genetically engineered species that have been designed to have these colors form naturally in their bark. I totally want to grow one, but the seeds come in packs of 300 for $20, Definitely don't need that many and don't need to drop a twenty on 300 trees when I just want one! :( But I think these trees are so pretty and awesome! Its the total example of science and art coming together to make something so beautiful in nature. One day I will own one or 300 of these trees! They are awesome!