Personal Space Tuesday

I thought that all the personal space projects were extremely creative and fun. It was great going around to see what everyone had come up with. One of my favorite would have to be Eddie's project where he asked people to convince him either way about religions, since he was agnostic. I liked how he had a guitar and seemed peaceful and approachable. it was a creative idea and although we didn't encounter anyone interacting with him later I passed by the Ucen and I saw a group of 2 or 3 people crowded around talking to him. I noticed that religion and ideology has been a overarching theme for the work that he has done in the class and I appreciate how it is obviously a topic that is personal and inspirational. I also liked Chelsey's project where she was dressed as a skunk and was spraying everywhere. It was a very brave project to do because I know how hard it is to approach people, especially when you're going to do something unpleasant to them. Everyone that she interacted with didn't seem to mind too much though. I appreciated the way that she went all out with her face make up, the bottle of liquid ass, and the costume. The best projects were the ones where the people thought a lot about what they wanted to do and paid attention to making the details of it enhancing to the experience.

Art Show: The Bellagio Gallery Room, Las Vegas

 At the Bellagio Las Vegas there was a very awesome over the top art gallery complete with parrots in a glass aviary, I never would have guessed that there was art in a place like Las Vegas but there was. Even though the vast majority of people who see it will never appreciate it like they appreciate their pseudo tribal lower back stamp or bicep tattoo stating their biker gang status.

 They had umbrellas hung from the ceiling making beautiful 3d patterns. They had a ferris wheel that lit up, they had a handmade tree and fake hot air balloons hanging everywhere. it looked like a little wonderland. It was really magical and interesting. No artists were cited here. There were also rose parade style larger than life birds made out of some seeds or some organic looking material.

I liked the Chihuly ceiling a lot. It was huge! it covered the length of the lobby much larger than I had seen in pictures. Finally my own picture of it is to the right. I loved the organic shapes and structures that I saw in the Bellagio. I was greatly impressed by its gallery, if only there were more places in Las Vegas like this, if only hotels they used their money for art also, because they can afford such extravagant things, they might attract a classier crowd.

ADIOS LAS VEGAS!

My Least Favorite Place

My least favorite place...

The doctor's office.

In addition to being a slow and inefficient trip with a lot of waiting, going to the doctor's office usually means that I'm hurt or I will be hurt by needles, or some other piece of doctors office equipment. It all looks like torture devices. None of that shit is natural. Then someone invades your personal space completely, and you're supposed to be okay with it because society tells us we need to do this yearly to make sure we are healthy. What's really sad is that it's come to the point in society where we are all feeding ourselves such bad food and not exercising or anything to keep ourselves healthy that we probably do need someone to assess us each year to help us with medicine which allows us to keep treating ourselves badly but get away with the consequences and still live a little longer.  Nexium for a clogged arteries and acid reflux, prozac for people who can't deal with their lives, and face their problems to be happy by themselves, you can get lipo if you just can't bear to work out or eat healthy, theres a fix for literally everything without actually having to put energy or consciousness for your own health. I am not saying that hospitals or doctors offices are all bad, some are really miracle workers for people and fix things that people didn't do to themselves, like leukemia and cancer in children, congenital diseases and deformities. An overarching theme for the doctors offices that I have been in though is a fast cure for people who won't take care of themselves. Upper middle class. Standard. I hate being around it and I hate people telling me I need a shot to ward off disease because we live in a place so infested with crap that my body will probably be too weak to ward off the crazy evolved viruses that people in essence have helped evolve through things like antibiotics and vaccines. Vicious Circle. 

Fuck Doctor's Offices.

My Favorite Place

My favorite place is probably the beach on Maui Island.
It is so calming and beautiful and the water is clear and warm. It is so much nicer than the Santa Barbara beach. I love the rain forest that lies along the beach. It is amazing to be in such a tropical ancient area. I love tropical climates. That is what I'm most comfortable in. It gets cold for me in a lot of other places. If I could live on Maui when I graduate I would be living my dream. This is by far my favorite place that I have been to by far.

My favorite place locally would probably have to be my bed.
It is always warm and cozy and I can always count on it being there for me. I've taken measures to maximize comfort with blankets, a mattress topper and down bedding. I love my bed and it is always really hard for me to get out of in the morning. I know it sounds lazy but I do a lot in my bed. I do my homework while I sit on it, and I watch movies with my friends on it, paint my nails, watch tv on my laptop. basically a lot of my leisurely activities center around my bed and since free time is a thing that I am always low on I really enjoy when I have time to be in my bed.

Freeform

I am about to go to Las Vegas tomorrow. I am really excited for the trip. I have to do my freeform today so that I can take  the weekend off in Vegas. I can start by telling you about what I'm going to do there.
I am going to Vegas with Sigep. My favorite bros. :)
We're staying in 2 bedroom suites at Planet Hollywood. We have Jacuzzis in the rooms!
I am really excited for that...who doesn't love a jacuzzi?
I can't wait to have a vacation day before finals although Memorial Day traffic is going to suck!!!
I am going to check out some art while I am there.
We're going to the Cirque Du Soliel  Love show that features the Beatles music.
It should be really interesting. I like the idea of acrobatics as art.
I also want to see the Bellagio where they have a whole ceiling constructed by Chihuli.

It should be a fun trip.

Critique of Persona Projects 2

Today I really liked Mary Beth's project. I felt like her persona and the way she presented it as an audition tape for the Real World was so smart. I appreciated how she went all the way as to get fake nails, bleach her hair and get a spray tan to get more into character...and that stuff isn't cheap! Her video was well made and she stayed in character the whole time, I felt like this was a very opposite role for her because she seems so laid back and quiet. She really went the extra mile with her persona. I also thought that the ninja persona was good. The video was also very well made. I liked how he was always creepily hiding, but yet always getting discovered by people. it made for a funny video.

I don't want to say that there was any project in particular that was weakest today. But, as a closing statement to this project I would like to say that it really showed when people really got into their work and diligently documented and acted out their persona effectively. Projects that came out of this kind of an experiences were 100 percent better than those who didn't get into their persona or didn't change much about themselves. It often reflected in the documentation as well. Overall there were a lot of great projects and a few ones that could have used some work.

Alternate Identity Reflection

I had a great time doing the alternate identity project. It made me think of how we conform to our own social niches quite often. I feel like based on what category people fall into, they dress a certain way say certain things and adopt a certain persona. It is not always the other way around. I thought that it was interesting how it was so easy for me to think of how to dress and how to talk because such a stereotype follows the term of frat guy. I feel like even if I had not said what I was that people would have still been able to tell by those markers and I think that that says something about how our social system works. In an age of online social media I feel like there are a lot more people trying to give off a persona. as opposed to a more accurate representation of their personality. I think that they think that this may be easier than actually letting people see who they are, because after all this is such a public space, but also maybe people try to attract certain types of people to them by the way that they represent themselves online. I think that there is much to be analyzed in the range of reality vs projection and the projected persona and stereotyping. I would love to learn more about the social experiments or research in this area because it is so pertinent and intriguing.