Chapta 9.

Chapter nine is titled "Putting It All Together".  I realized I didn't see the mark before for the start of chapter nine and wrote a bit about it for chapter eight!  Anyways, McCloud starts out discussing communication between minds.  There is restricted ability about the flow from mind to mind that breaks communication between two.  Luckily, we have mediums that allow us to communicate despite this barrier.  "Media convert thoughts into forms that can traverse the physical world and be re-converted by one or more senses back into thoughts" (195).  The comic allows the flow of thought to go from the mind to the hand to the paper to the eye to the mind.  Understanding comics is an important part to the equation as well, hence this book.  The existing attitudes and pre-notions about comics sometimes breech their opportunities.  In order to really understand and embrace the opportunity for communication, one must let go of pre-existing ideas about comics and learn about them.  McCloud goes on to refer to comics as a "great balancing act".  He explains that they have "seeds of expressionism and synasthetics".  (209) Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, as my appreciation for comics has certainly grown.  

Sequence NARR ideas

For my sequence/narrative project,  I only have one idea that I feel really strongly about that I really want to do.  I am gonna go along with the structure of portraying someone else's view of life.  My nephew, Charlie Pine, is a nine year old boy who completely lives in his own world.  Although the doctors have had trouble diagnosing him as particularly autistic, he clearly has social issues and mental issues that cause him to explore his world on his own.  I find him so interesting and smart, the things he says sometimes blow my mind.  He strives to understand some complexities of the world that nine year old boys are not supposed to be able to get.  Anyways, I want to spend the day with him on Sunday with my camera and just film pretty much a day in the life of Charlie.  I really hope it works out and if not I will clearly think of a new idea and do something else but for now this is my only inspiration.  I hope the camera doesn't shy him off but I am planning on going to his house so he will be in his own environment.  I'm going to avoid sticking the camera in his face and I'm going to let him handle the camera himself too so he doesn't feel trapped.  

Charlie. 

Christopher Nolan.

I feel as though it is a pretty hard topic to pick a favorite artist.  There are so many different art forms and techniques that are favorable that picking one specifically is quite a difficult task.  However, since I must choose, one of my favorites is for sure Christopher Nolan.  Film, along with photography, is absolutely one of my favorite forms of art.  Christopher Nolan is a director, writer, and producer that has composed an exceptional portfolio including some specific films that have revolutionized the film industry.  His first film was Following, which came out in 1998.    It depicted a man, a writer, who becomes obsessed with following random people.  One thing I really admire about Nolan is he filmed this whole feature.  A lot of directors are too pretentious or do not take the time to compose their films in the specific way they see it.  This work was completely his own and he truly makes that known. He then did Momento in 2000 and Insomnia two years after.  Insomnia kept the viewer captivated the entire time, following the crime investigation of a local teenager.  He also did The Prestige and Inception, two movies that have taken film to the next level.  It took him EIGHT years just to write Inception, that's dedication.  His signature style seen through all of these movies is the unraveling of the plot, complicated chronological order that not only keeps the viewer completely intrigued but creates for such an interesting depiction of the story.  Most of the times, the solutions do not reveal themselves until the end of the film.  One's mind must be intricately complex to be able to write a script in an order that comes together with such a web of events and conflicts that come to make sense at the end, most of the time when watched twice.  I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Santa Barbara Film Festival this year and hear Christopher Nolan get interviewed.  It was so interesting to hear him speak about his works.  The way he is able to capture the exact essence of what he is trying to convey is exceptional.  

It is what it is....

Everyday people are stressing about the "thing".  This "thing" can be an upcoming event of stressful nature, or possibly something that happened in the past, no matter how long ago.  I find it interesting how small things, maybe something you said to someone, can have such an impact on anxiety of the mind.  Why do people think so much?  I am am absolutely a victim.  I find myself thinking of things that happened way in the past, years ago, and yet can't let it go.  Often at bed time where I stare into the blank world of my mind.  Perhaps it is the dark.  My mind brings about the light causing my anxiety.  Anyways, most of the time, this feeling of a whirlwind is caused by an embarrassment or a regret.  Why can't I let it go?  I feel as though there is a piece in my mind, or a little devil that grasps an idea and just can not let it go.  It, whatever it is, goes in circles.  I do not understand why I stress about project or public performances.  Why can't I think, just do it?  I wish I had the ability to release worry, erase anxiety, let go of stress.  Ultimately, death is the final result.  Maybe it has something to do with memory. The idea of..."people don't forget".  However, I find the reality is they do, people don't remember the person a lot of the time, they remember the event.  This entity, notion, is something I really want to work on.  Yes grades matter, yes people matter, but it is ultimately the "you" that matters.  I want to worry about what I think about myself, how I develop my actions and responsibilities, not what others think.  Sorry to ramble, I just felt a free response is a perfect time to express the crazy ideas I have in my mind.  My conclusion: EVERYONE IS CRAZY.  

Sally Mann-I feel as though this picture represents anxiety of Emmett, the last time he poses nude for fear of judgment of the world upon his changes. 

Mooooooorree Crit.

Today was another day of confessions.  Although I thought there were a couple good ones, overall I have to admit it wasn't my favorite day of projects.  The project I found most impact full of the day was probably Steffi's.  I really liked the presentation of her project and thought it was pretty well thought out.  I loved the mess of the situation, being representative of the mess of her situation that she had to shuffle through herself.  Just like we had to figure out what was being said in spanish, and gibberish, on her letters, Steffi had to figure out what to do in her situation. So good job with that one.  I also found it most touching out of the one's presented today.  I really commend her on her situation and could have never done that myself.  The one I found most week was actually Ashley's.  First of all, I wasn't able to guess that she was talking to God in her letter.  It seemed as if it was to her father in my eyes, which for some reason I felt more compassion for when I thought it was her father.. I didn't really understand what the whole confession was about.  I mean I know she hasn't talked to God in a while but I feel as though maybe she left something meaningful out of the letter that would have better roped me into her situation.  I just kind of felt like something was off or missing. But I do appreciate her willingness to present something that was clearly emotional damaging for her, I just wish she would have better communicated to the audience through her letter.  

Lecta.

Today's lecture was pretty fun, I really enjoy when we watch videos in class.  In particular, I absolutely loved the "My Father's Lunch".  One aspect that made it really special was the lack of cuts, no editing at all.  It really gave it a real effect that made everything the father was expressing very genuine and blatant.  I thought it was so humorous because my father has specific rituals he participates in as well that make me laugh.  I love the idea of this short documentary-like film.  Mendoza finds his father's little sayings and rituals humorous and expels that on the viewer without saying it.  All he had to do was show this little short and we understood.  I loved it and found it inspiring. As well as being inspired by this video, I really enjoyed Sally Mann's work.  I found the portraits of her children absolutely stunning and loved the quality of the black and white.  Being able to document her children's lives in such an artistic expression provides something really magical and sentimental for the viewer. I liked how Kip provided some quotes from her daughter Jessie Mann as well.  It is good to know the children are supportive of their mother's beautiful work as well.  Lastly I thought it was really interesting to finally get to see some of Kip's work.  I love the theme of  "Personal Narrative".  There is so much in my life and so many people that bring wonderful things to light for me that I would love to express these values in some sort of artform.  

My fav Sally Mann of the day, "Shiva at Whistle Creek"

ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG.

This weeks reading was all about Robert Rauschenberg.  Out of all the artists we have read and studied about so far, I found Rauschenberg most interesting.  I feel his naive nature that is spoken about a lot creates an interesting persona for an artists, somewhat unusual actually.  The chapter starts off telling that unlike other artists, Rauschenberg "feels personally responsible when his work is misunderstood" (189). I found that really interesting because unlike Duchamp, who believes there is two parts to the meaning of art (the artist and the viewer), Rauschenberg has a specific message he wants to convey to his viewers.  Interestingly enough, at one of his shows, a woman questioned him why he was only interested in ugly things, in which he proceded to have a conversation on the topic of "ugly".  I found his explanation about the outfit the woman was wearing pretty humorous.  Anyways, Rauschenberg has many achievements, one major one being the grand prize for painting at the Venice Biennale.  It had never before in 69 years been given to an American painter. SICK! For his major talent, Dr Alan Soloman coined the term "the Old Master" of the new painting about Rauschenberg.  "Rauschenberg's only consistent trait as an artist has been to move on, once he has explored an area, into fresh and astounding new terrain." (192).  Anyways, he was first inspired by paintings when going to the Navy boot camp in Farragut, Idaho in 1942.  Then he decided to go to the Kansas City Art Institute.  However, he found more knowledge in his outside jobs at the time.  He managed to then get a show at the Betty Parsons in the spring time.  She commented on him, "I could see right away that he was on his own tangent- that he wasn't influenced by anyone else" (202).  I found that pretty interesting.  He then paired up with Cage, who we read about last sunday.  Their differences, Cage's many "arduous mental journeys" and Rauschenberg's guide by "instinct and direct apprehension" made a good pair.  Their silent piano piece and the white painting are said to be influenced by the same spirit.  Some of his other achievements include the Dante drawings and the group show "Sixteen Americans".  Something kind of ironic I found in the reading, Rauschenberg has had stage fright since he has been a kid.  

CHs. 7 & 8.

Chapter seven, titled "The Six Steps", starts out by discussing comics as an art form.  In its simplest statement, YES, comics are art! McCloud uses a caveman tribe to discuss the idea that art is in fact all around us, the girl making shapes with a stick in the dirt, the boy tapping rocks on rocks, and even the boy dancing in frustration.  He writes, "Art is the way we assert our identities as individuals and break out of the narrow roles nature cast us in." (166).  Art is in fact provides many things to the world, exercise, self expression, and discovery.  Art is all around us and included in everything we do.  The six steps of art are 1) idea/purpose 2) form 3) idiom 4) structure 5) craft 6) surface.  Art is a cycle in itself that follows a certain path.  McCloud views comics as the intermediary between a storyteller and an audience.  The question, "What is enough?", is discussed.  It is enough for the evaluator or the artist? What matters? Artists want an identity, something of some type that has not been done before.  Chapter eight, (the prettiest one!) is titled "A Word About Color".  He discusses the fact that the relationship between color and comics can be expressed in two words, "Commerce and Technology".  McCloud talks about the three primary colors, red blue and green, which can be mixed together to make all the colors on the spectrum and all add up to pure white.  Color boosted sales.. and costs.  At first, the comics were restricted by the printing on cheap newsprint which formed the colors and look of the comic.  Most heres were captured in the strong primary colors.  McCloud talks about the properties of flat colors (emphasize shape) and black and white techniques. One of the importance in understanding comics comes from the inabilibty to get into another's mind, a broken communication.  "In comics the conversion follows a path from mind to hand to paper to eye to mind." (195).  

Artttttt Show!

This week for the art show I went to Desiree's thesis display in building 479! Art in Athleticism.  I really enjoyed the show and found the boxing very exhilarating!  I love the idea of using the body as a medium in itself.  Every curve and piece of the body is so interesting as a subjet and I think Desiree picked a really interesting thesis.  Anyways, I went there on Thursday to film training day.  It was nice to go in there first with not as many people and check out the space.  I thought it was really interesting that the show was in the old gym gallery space, nice play.  Filming wise, it was a really fun little project for me to do.  I loved playing with the angles of the lines on the floor and the lines of the ring, sorry I don't know the technical terms for the arena! I got a lot of interesting shots.  Because this was a project about the art in the physicality of boxing, I really wanted to display a lot of parts of the body.  So I filmed their torses, feet, hands, face.  Although I do not box, I can tell a lot of it has to do with specific form and techniques, so I wanted to express that through different and unique shots.  As a gallery space, I liked the utilization of the walls displaying really awesome shots of all the boxers and the hanging punching bags as well added a nice effect.  I also really liked the lighting for the Friday showing.  It added a lot to the aura of the space.  So good job Desiree!  Here is a little video I wanted to put together! I did not have a lot of time at all but I wanted to put some documentation of the space and show up here:).  It won't let me upload my video here for some reason, but here is a link!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HL0XB_a_bc

Documentation..

This week was the time for confessions.  Although a lot of people decided to confess something that had happened to them, I decided to confess something I have done.  I had a past relationship and made some mistakes that were revealed in class, something I would rather not put up here.  But I basically decided to walk in red paint first, signifying the love we had at the beginning of the relationship.  Then the black paint to represent the mistake I had made and the blackness it brought to our relationship.  Although some thought the paper was short, it was meant to be.  I actually cut it before class because the relationship and the time it took for me to mess it up was a very short period of time, but a very painful one.  I felt it was good for me to do this confession because it is something I still deal with and have a lot of regret and guilt about.  I hope my decision to do this confession won't be judged by my classmates.  But I am glad I did something different from others.  I was struggling choosing what to do at first because I could not really think of anything that had happen to me that was close to the significance of some of the other confessions.  Anyways, thanks to kate, I have some documentation! Here are a few pictures of my project. 

Random Act of Kindness.

As far as my random act of kindness, I decided to give food to a homeless person.  I feel like the homeless are very prominent in Isla Vista, and although it may sound weird, they have kind of made themselves part of the community.  For example, the Pirate.  Everyone knows who he is.  Although they can tend to be a bit intimidating to some, I think it is important for everyone to eat.  So I wanted to show my compassion that way.  At first, I did not think it would be possible to give food to a homeless person anonymously.  However, an opportunity did come my way.  On my trip to Caje, the local IV cafe, this morning I decided to buy an extra bagel with the works.  My favorite! It has tomato, avocado, red onions, cream cheese and lemon pepper.  Anyways, I was planning to just give it to a homeless person on my way home.  I know a local spot a man has decided to post at, right by IV market.  On my way to his spot, I noticed his belongings were there and he was not.  I thought it was a perfect opportunity to give him the bagel anonymously.  So I placed the wrapped bagel on top of his stuff.  I decided to ride back by about 5 minutes later, but he still was not there, the bagel still was.  So I just went home. I'm sure no one else would take it, but hopefully he decided to eat it and did not think it was weird a bagel had just appeared.  I like the idea of doing these acts of kindness anonymously.  It gives hope for keeping hope open in this world, and reimburses the fact that there are good people willing to help.  Clearly, I did not get documentation.  

Thursday's Crit.

Unfortunately, I did not have time to blog yesterday so I apologize for this entry being a bit late.  Overall, I liked a few of the performances today and did not fall too hard for some others.  The one I thought was really strong was Catie's piece about her grandmother.  I liked the way she blindfolded and sat backwards from the board as the slide show was being played.  As far as the powerpoint itself, I found it effective in its visual as well as auditory presentation.  It must have taken a lot of time to accumulate all of those pics and put them onto a slide.  I also thought the beating of the heart was really effective. It echoed perfectly in the room and although the beep in the end was ear screeching, it was a perfect ending, you really got the point of death through it.  As far as the weak presentation, I did not really understand Skyler's.  I do not get whether his confession had to do with an addiction to video games, or possibly a woman, dealing with the portrait in the end.  I totally understand him not wanting to explain, for I didn't really explain my confession, but I just wish I had a little bit of a better grasp.  However I do not think it was the weakest.  I thought the overall weakest of the day was Alex's powerpoint presentation.  It felt way too much like a business presentation and I do not think it was a creative way to expel his feelings about a concert reflection.  I think there are a multitude of ways, including music and such, he could have conveyed his emotions.  As far as my own piece, I just want to clear up a few things.  I read a few of the crits and want to thank everyone for the feedback.  However I noticed a few of you commented along the length of the paper and wiping paint off at the end.  I originally had a way longer piece of paper, however decided to cut it to represent the short period of time of our love filled relationship and the short time it took for me to mess it up.  I am still not able to wipe the guilt and commitment issues left upon me from this experience, hence the paint filled feet at the end. I also wanted the paper to purposely be facing the wall, signifying the way I made myself walk into a wall. I should have explained that part in class but kind of froze in the essence of my confession.  I don't have documentation yet, but shall soon.

FREEEEE.

Finally another free for all response! Today I want to talk about my family.  This weekend I went home to LA to celebrate Passover on Sunday.  I love going home to a clean house and a refreshing environment, such a different scene than from Isla Vista! Anyways, we had such a good dinner.  String beans in a creamy corn paste, briskit, turkey, horosis (an apple red wine walnut..jewish mix), matza ball soup with carrots (my grandma on my dad's side recipe), salad and more!  That's another thing about home, AMAZING FOOD.  Anyways, I love being surrounded by my family, so many interesting characters.  I always have so much fun with my two closest siblings, Sara (a photographer in LA with the best sense of humor) and my younger brother Zac (an 18 year old high school senior..somewhat of a douchebag..but a humor-filled douche :)). One of my cousins and his wife always come to family events high, so thats an interesting scene!  My father is a plumper man who always cracks everyone up.  My dad always brings light and positivity to any situation, he's a really big role model in my life.  And we are all especially proud of him for finally getting a hold on his health and loosing 30 pounds, good job poppa pine! We also have two twin cousins, they are super pessimistic but it is so entertaining to watch them bicker.. especially because they are identical haha.  Anyways, overall being surrounded by a Pine family is so much fun and such a comfortable environment.  I feel really blessed to have the family I do and really want to take advantage of the close distance and go home more often.  

Confession, day one.

I really enjoyed a lot of today's confessions, so it was hard for me to pick one to elaborate how strong I thought one really was over the others.  However, I have to say that Andrea's piece was really beautiful and really touched my heart.  At first, I looked at the table with her confession set up and did not understand what each piece was supposed to stand for.  I love that she beautifully wrapped the letter around the knife and fork as sort of an idea for solution, a healthier way of living for her father.  I love that she chose to light the candles, giving the table a glow, clearly symbolizing something that she held intimately to her heart.  And on the topic of hearts, the bell pepper.  She clearly put a lot of thought and effort into her piece as well as emotional input.  It was so bold of her to get up in front of the class and confess this issue that is really difficult for her to express and even showed her attachment through her tears.  I think it was a good expression for her to read it out loud as a kind of shout out to her father, who she has not yet read it to.  It was shown to have touched a lot of people through the tears others shared with her, including myself.  So good job Andrea! I want to shout out to the girls that were in my first discussion group as well, Erika, Kate, and Britta all did an amazing job executing their projects and I'm really proud of them all.  Although I do not want to put anyone down, we are asked to do a comment upon the project we thought was a bit weak as well.  Although I like the idea of Walter's poster board, and relate to the escapement of singing in the car, I did not love the way it was presented.  It may have been meant to feel childish, but I thought it was a bit too cartoonish.  It took away from some of the meaning of his escapement and didn't really touch me in the way I think he hoped it would have.  The message was not too clear as well, I thought he was going to talk maybe about a runaway experience and how he escaped everything surrounding the center.  I also did not feel it was much of a confession rather than a statement of fact.  I'm not sure how, but I wish he would have executed it in another way.  Excited for Thursday's confessions!

Lecture Reflection (4).

Today Kip's Lecture was all about mapping, starting out with literal maps of the world, and moving on to exploring maps of the incomprehensibles (space, vision, sound, multiples, physicality, language, social activity, time, and more).  I found the discussion about the mapping of beauty particularly interesting.  Mattel makes all different types of barbies that are supposed to encompass many different cultures and aspects of the world's people, right? So how come each barbie's features (with exception of the asian barbie's slightly tilted eyes) all the same?  Each essentially has the exact same features of the original barbie's appearance, who was white.  So good job Mattel on expanding your collection, but you forgot to embrace each culture's unique aspects.  It really makes you question "beauty" and what children are essentially learned to accept as America's ideal beaut.  I also found Nina Katchadourian's documentation of the graffiti bathroom's extremely interesting.  In essence, you can not get any more truthful than that there, complete strangers writing in a continuous conversation without ever seeing each other.  Lastly was the video done by Jean-Pierre Gorin, Poto and Cabengo (1979). I thought it was so interesting that these two little beings could completely make up a language of their own.  When in fact, they didn't really.  I mean, after hearing their sporadic mother speak and their problemed father, it makes complete sense where these twins could come up with a language as such!  Anyways, I definitely want to watch more of that video on my own!!

Gio's (part II).

Although I really wanted to do something different than Open Mic night at Gio's this week, I had a lot of appointments and was not able to make it to anything else.  Don't get me wrong, I love Open Mic Night but I have commented on it for week one so I apologize for that.  However, this week was a lot of fun!  It was pretty cool because one of the kids who rapped, unfortunately I was not able to catch his name, but has opened for the artist Zion I before at Velvet Jones downtown!  So that was a treat to see him live, and he was pretty good!  There was another act as well that was HILARIOUS.  These two boys got up on stage, both with guitars in hand.  At first I knew I recognized the tune they started playing but just could not put my finger on it.  Then they started singing.  They had made their own version of Rebecca Black's song "Friday", but with a bit of a different message.  They were commenting on her interesting lyrics and not to be too blunt, but making out right fun of her.  It was pretty funny and clever, and they were good singers!  That was probably my favorite act of the night.  I wish I had the courage to get up on stage and do something because I love singing!  It just won't happen haha.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXjx4sKyg_Y&feature=related


not me singing, but some of my own art to spice up this post! didnt do the filming, just editing

Wow, already week thr33 documentation!

This week in class we just worked a lot on our confession projects.  We got together in small groups and got feedback on what we want to do for our projects.  Tuesday really helped me form a good idea of how I want to present my confession.  I am getting more and more nervous as the date of my performance seems to be approaching but I just really need to remember that that is pretty much the point, I should be nervous because it is a confession, something that will be hard for me to say.  However, I am proud of my decision to comment on body issues and self consciousness.  It is still an issue in my life, but was much more present before, so this kind of feels like an attempt to say "goodbye" to this issue of mine and really work on moving on.  I need to figure out a final ending to my performance but I still have a couple days to work on it so I am not too worried.  Otherwise, we did not do much else in class on Thursday but talk to Desiree about our projects, which her critique also really helped to guide me in the right direction.  Overall, I feel good about my project and I am really excited to see everyone else's expression of their confessions.  

Comics (five & six).

Chapter five begins with a discussion of the senses.   It explores the question, how do comics display emotions? He explains, artists, such as Wassily Kandinsky, began to take interest in "the power of the line, shape, and color to suggest the inner state of the artist and to provoke the five senses" (123).  In this way, artists are able to display their own emotions as readable, understood by the viewer through a series of pictures.  McCloud explains the difference in expressionist's use of lines, such as those that are straight (proud and strong) and those what are curved and solid (warm and gentle).  Through real world experiences and observations, we as readers are able to recognize common pictures that represents the visible or the invisible (ex: smoke and stinky garbage).  These pictures are in turn symbols, or visual metaphors.  McCloud also discusses the use of the recognizable word bubble and the strategy of using different backgrounds as well.  He ends chapter five with the insight, "what you get is what you give" (137).  The first part of chapter six discusses the integration of words and pictures when reading.  McCloud explains, when we were all kids, all our books were made of pictures, some words.  Once printing started, the coexistence of these entities was the "exception, not the rule" (143).  Pictures began to represent a more accurate description of reality, rather than the symbolic world.  He also discusses the somewhat backward expression of art as well too, returning to the simplicity of lines and the escape from both the internal and external meaning of the visible.   Comics have now become identifiable with the art of storytelling, presenting a connected events of ideas, emotions, and representations of the both together.  He talks about a couple of different combinations of comics; word specific, picture specific, duo-specific, additive, parallel, montage, and inter-dependent. All of these endless combinations and techniques are left up to the artist's creative ability and choice to express certain aspects of their story.  

Scary Moment.

Fear is an entity everyone despises.  No one likes to be in the position where they are scared for their life, or someone else's.  This is my confessional for the fear assignment.  One day, when I was about 8 years old, my trainer, back then known as Super Jen, had driven me home from the barn.  It was late, probably around 8:00 pm.  As I pulled up to the driveway I noticed my mom standing there.  I did not know why, it was not a usual thing for her to be waiting outside for my arrival.  As I got out tof the car, my momma told me, you better go inside, Dad has something to tell you.  The irony of the situation occurred when my trainer proclaimed "Uh oh, someone's in trouble".  Not quite the situation.  As I proceded inside, I asked my dad what was going on, and he had told me my Nanny Dubbie, his mother, had passed away.  Now some would say, is'nt that a sad moment.  It was indeed, but I remember walking up to my room freaking out talking to myself.  I felt so alone.  For some reason, it hit me so hard and I was so fearful of loosing someone again that I felt so close to.  It was a moment of fear in the sense that I had so much fear from then on whenever my parents would leave, even if it was just to go out to dinner.  I miss my Nanny so much to this day, and all her witty little sayings.  However, I am alright now and feel that these specific issues of fear have gone away.  

Bliss...

Happiness is such a subjective idea.  One man's trash is another man's treasure... so to say.  I think the happiest moment of my life occurred when I was about 13 years old.  I had been horseback riding for about 5 years at that point, and had always dreamed of a horse of my own.  Riding was my life, it was my everything.  I finally tried a horse I fell in love with.  A dark bay thoroughbred named Kane; showname, Checkmate. I remembered the day I walked to the back of the barn where his stall was, to find a red bow on the railing.  I DEFINITELY cried, no denying that one.  He was finally mine, I finally found my "soulmate" so to say. Honestly, I can not think of another moment in my life that has topped that one.  Some may think its lame or not understand, but the bond between a horse and its rider is so unique and individual, it can never be replaced.  A couple years went by and unfortunately Kane tore a hole in the cartilage of his back left ankle.  I was absolutely devastated and even more sad to find out he would never be able to be ridden again.  I love that horse so much and he still belongs to me, lives across the street from my house now.  I try to visit, but it is really hard since I live in Santa Barbara.  Anyways, although turned tragic, Kane was the best thing that ever happened to me and gave me so much of my childhood.  I could not have asked for a better companion. xoxo boy.

PROUD.

Over the summer I took a film program at UCSB.  It was called Blue Horizons and possesses the goal of environmental and scientific awareness through the art work of film.  I chose to portray the sea otter/sea urchin conflict.  Basically, the sea otters were restricted to which areas they were allowed to swim in, in order to stay out of the way of fisherman, which goes hand in hand with danger.  Being sea otters, they could not stay out of the areas and they were getting killed and making the fishermen mad.  Along the way of creating this process, I had a film partner, a fellow producer.  We worked really hard, getting up at 6 am on fridays to drive to Monterey, which is where all the sea otters are!  I barely slept, and loved it.  I was in charge of the camera most of the time, I had a better eye for the focus and such and my partner was mostly hands on with the editing, although we were both present for both parts of the project.  At the end, we had a vision for a piece with multipule sequences, and did not leave ourselves much time for editing.  But we got it together and I loved it.  It was a bit hard because my partner, being a graduating senior, had worked on many films before and wanted this to be A+ SPECTACULAR.  I thought it was.  Although she felt a bit down, she really liked what we had done in the end and I was so proud.  After 9 weeks of intense hard work, filming, setting up appointments and such, we had a showing in the MCC.  I was nervous when the 8 minute documentary was showing but so proud when the credits rolled around, my favorite scene of the film I had shot.  Anyways, I love film and finally putting together my own was so fulfilling.  If I had done it on my own, I might have done a couple things differently, and although the film was more scientific than I wanted to have been artistic, I was so happy and in love with the process.  Unfortunately, my partner has the copy on her harddrive so I can not present it here.  However I am meeting up with her this weekend to get a copy! If anyone has any interest in seeing it, I would love to give you a link and would be flattered. :).

The Moment.

I have had a lot of embarrassing moments in my life, as all of us normal humans have.  Now, I could talk about the time I got pantsed at a 6th grade party, or the time I feel in front of my whole class and spilled hot chocolate all in front of me, but I wanted to dig deeper.  This embarrassing moment happened with a boy that I had somewhat of a previous relationship with.  I knew he had been in love with me since junior year of high school.  When senior year rolled around, I confessed my likings for him too.  Then, I went on spring break and had somewhat of a freak out.  I was not ready for a relationship, I was not ready for someone to love me, I did not even know if I could give this boy what he wanted to give me.  So when I came back from break, I broke his heart.  We remained friends even though it was awkward for a while.  We still went to prom together and of course I messed it up.  About a month after, I realized I really did like this boy and wanted to not only make amends, but confess to him how I felt.  I somehow built up the courage to pull him aside at a friends house and once again played with his heart.  But this time, I felt so embarrassed.  This was not the kind of funny embarrassment either.  He had told me how I broke his heart and that it had been since junior year that he had liked me and that he could never do that to himself again, that I could never do that to him again, and he walked away.  I was so embarrassed at that moment at my actions and what I had done to this wonderful person.  If I could take it all back, I would.  I'm sure he now has commitment issues, as do I.  I am embarrassed for letting myself do that.  If I could take the whole thing back, I would.

-Photobucket, not my own drawing, but I really liked it. 

Monday [APRIL 11] Lecture.

I really enjoyed today's lecture.  I love the idea of exploring "the body", which truly implies, "the self", and the images employed by society as the ideals.  I found the discussion on Robert Mapplethorpe particularly interesting.  Kip tells that some believe Mapplethorpe is commenting upon the image of the black man in our society and others believe it is a fetish of his he is exploring through his artwork.  This question will forever be open ended.  In my interpretation, I really love how Mapplethorpe pushes the boundaries and causes society's eyes to jump out of their heads.   Who knows if this is a fetish fulfilled hobby or it Mapplethorpe is trying to make a statement, but I think it is almost better that way. Just as Duchamp says, the viewer (the second half of the art process) interprets the work of art how they see fit, and inputs commentary upon the world from their own perspective.  Mapplethorpe, by not publicly announcing his motives, is allowing this natural process of art work to occur, something very courages and willing for an artist to do.  Aside from Mapplethorpe, I found the evaluations of the ads very interesting.  Now, in most public evaluations of advertisements, it is common to criticize the image of the woman as portrayed as ideal.  I really appreciate Kip's commentary on the image of the man, not to mentioned loved the story of the girl in the man's locker room haha.  Anyways, this part of the lecture really got me thinking about my confession assignment. I know I posted the assignment due yesterday on three ideas, but I think I have formulated a better one.  I decided I really want to focus on self image.  I want to make a statement with this project at the same time and really push myself to the boundaries.  I have an idea in mind, using photography and my own body. I really want this to be a genuine confession and I feel really good about this idea.  I don't want to give this one away but I really hope I can build up the courage and strength to really pull it off.  

Love this one of Patti Smith. Beautiful composure and dimension.

Confession Ideas. (3)

1.  My first confession is one to do with my critical self.  There are a few things about myself I do not like.  A few being my confidence, my self image, my ability to grow, judgement and more as well.  I want to be able to face the facts, get it all out on the table and work on each one of these issues I have with myself in order to improve on myself and become the person I want to be.  One thing I do not like is my recent habit to smoke cigarettes.  It deals with my issues of addiction and essentially hurting myself when I am clearly aware of what I am doing.  So for this topic I have two ideas; I either want to use my own arm as a canvas and use sharpie to draw a cigarette with smoke filled with these problems of my own, depicted by pictures and words.  Having it on my arm for a few days will force me to constantly look and remind myself of improvement opportunities.  Otherwise, I want to do something with cigarettes themselves and do some kind of textured art.  Just to be clear, I see the cigarettes as a symbol for these entities as a whole, hence the emphasis.  
2.  Another confession I have is the feeling of invisibility I sometimes posses around my friends.  I put myself down a lot and feel self conscious due to the beauty I feel they physically hold above me.  I want to stop putting emphasis on this topic of physicality and being sucked into society's brainwash of the "pretty girls".  I have an idea of a sculpture for this one.  I don't want to give away too much but I like the idea of barbies, who posses unrealistic body proportions and features as society's ideal beaut.  
3.  The last confession I would want to discuss is my attitude towards my father.  Sometimes he really gets on my nerves and I unnecessarily snap and give rude vibes I always regret afterwords.  It is a lot better now that I do not live at home, but sometimes it happens when I go home and I really want to stop.  He is an amazing man and I love my father so much, I wish he knew how I felt about these outrages of mine and how I truly feel about him.  I am going to have to dig deep about this one so I'm not sure yet how I would represent this confession.  If I choose to do this one, I will hopefully have the courage to show my dad.   

Art Shizow.

For the art show review this week, I visited the MCC to see what they had to offer there.  There were a few really interesting pieces I really liked.  First was Fabian Debora's Shining Star, an acrylic on canvas postmarked for 2009.  It was the first one that really caught my eye with its gorgeous popping orange glow and the powerful imagery.  After reading the info box, it was clear that Debora had had a hard life, being kicked out of school for focusing too much on his passion for artwork.  Then, in 1994, Father G reached out to Debora and helped him change his perspective on art from something that got him in big trouble to a path out of violence and onto something better for life.  He directed him onto a better pathway for his passion and talent for art.  I believe this painting reflects the mentoring Father G gave to Debora, as the shooting star in his life who encouraged him to change the meaning of his art, of his life.  To me, it looks like the young boy in the painting is supposed to be Debora and the man outstretching his arms, an effort for help and guidance, is to represent Father G.  I think the positioning of the characters and the powerful popping color of the acrylic really brings this painting to life and gives it significant meaning.  The next piece that really stood out to me was the Before...After work.  It portrays a woman, in a before and after shot, that are visually exactly the same, with a different color background.  After reading the info box, I learned this is a piece commenting on the continuous oppression and racism that exists in our world. It is a play on the ads promising women makeovers to improve their appearance. Appearance may be able to be altered but the oppression, stereotypes, and racism continues on.  I find this also having another meaning.  Women can make attempts to alter what they look like for the world outside them, but what stays constant is who you are and that is what should matter most in this world, whether latina, white, or black.  The last painting I really liked was Gabriel Navar's Com Revealed, acrylic, pencils and oil on paper copyrighted 2010.  I really love when artists play with texture.  The paints pop out in this piece really giving it a character of it's own.  I did not find an info box for this one and tried to search for information but could not find anything.  

Documentation..

This week in class we had two major assignments.  The first was the Nexus post commenting upon the April fools edition.  I thought it was really fun to get involved with school efforts with this assignment and dig our hands into some sort of refute.  I chose to write about a fake protest that was going to take place for Floatopia! Unfortunately I did not receive any comments on that one.  I did not make it very believable, but I did have fun with it!  Floatopia did end up happening and hopefully everyone was safe.  Although I can not respond to comments, I do want to respond to the assignment in itself.  I really hope we do something like the only in iv idea brought up in class.  I feel this class does have the potential to make statements or public announcements in creative ways and I hope we continue to be involved!  Secondly, our next assignment was to do something in public that we would not normally do.  Unfortunately, I think I miss understood this assignment a bit.  I did one of my normal day activities, vacuuming, in the grocery store.  However, when the in class presentations were given, I noticed a lot of my peers did something to make a statement, not something they necessarily do everyday.  So, I want to talk about some of the projects I really liked, my apologies for not remembering exactly who gave each presentation.  I really liked Alyssa's project, where she took her makeup wipes into public and wiped off her makeup.  I think a lot of focus in girl's minds today are about appearance and the need to be something (beautiful/flawless by using makeup).  I really like the fact that she does not wear makeup everyday and chose to make this statement.  Another project I really liked was the boy (sorry couldnt find the documentation on the blog) who sat with people sitting alone in the dinning commons.  Sometimes I feel really bad for those who sit alone often (which is something I noticed when I lived in the dorms) and want to invite people to sit with me, but never have the courage, which is kind of ironic.  I think he should have taken his head phones off and started a conversation, pushing him further out of his comfort zone and opening up to someone who might have needed it.  Anyways, good week! Another to come...

Chaps three & four.

Chapter three begins with the idea of "closure", essentially filling in the space not visible to the eye but visible to the mind because of previous knowledge and worldly sense.  I think it is interesting how McCloud describes this idea of closure when considering comics; the fact that our minds allow us to put together the story being told by fractures of both time and space.  He describes there are six types of panel to panel transitions; moment to moment, action to action, subject to subject, scene to scene, aspect to aspect and the non sequitur, each portraying individualistic characteristics.  He points out the fact that there exists differences in Japanese comics from our own.  For them, comics is an art of intervals.  What I found really interesting in this chapter is the comment upon the senses.  Comics can only offer a visual sense but we put together the story through our understanding visually.  Chapter four beings with talking about the sense of sound that the words in a comic create for its reader.  He comments upon the fact that the shapes of panels can insinuate specific meanings that result in a certain experience and even how the length can give a sense of time for a frame.  I find it really interesting how McCloud is picking apart the small details that seem so characteristic and common to a comic and exemplifying them with so much meaning.  It really does help the reader appreciate the comic form more.  He plays around with the idea of "real time" in exemplifying that comics can create a world of its own, playing with position on the page, not necessarily needing to present the story from point a to point b, as in real life. Duchamp is even mentioned as beginning the "systematic decomposition of moving images in a static medium" (108).  I like the fact that McCloud uses references to real artists and different type of art in discussing the comic form. 

Marcel. Duchamp.

I find this piece on Duchamp very inspiring.  I find Duchamp's individualistic and off the board view on life not only immensely entertaining but necessary to counteract what he is against in this world.  I really like the opening idea of the artist and the viewer.  "The artist, Duchamp said, is a "mediumistic being" who does not really know what he is doing or why he is doing it.  It is the spectator who, through a kind of "inner osmosis," deciphers and interprets the work's inner qualifications, relates them to the external world, and thus completes the creative cycle." (9).  It is counteractive to the common notion that every artist has an incentive, and obligation to an idea to create works of art.  This brings me comfort for sometimes I feel "bad" I guess for painting just because I have a picture in my mind.  I love the fact that Duchamp was ready "to rape and be raped by everyone" (10), so to say, and he was.  It is inspiring how many people he touched with his work.  For instance, when he told Suzanne to hang the geometry textbook from her balcony, and let the wind sweep his pages, he allowed for his sister to execute the process of art and feel the final result.  He creates a lot of different art to comment on the process.  For instance, the Coffee Mill which took the idea of the grinder making coffee and creating a piece that celebrates the process of such an essential item to society.  I also found interesting his process in making his work the Large Glass.  The fact that he had trouble starting and let the dust build up and then varnished it as part of the artwork is courageous.  I really like that he took dust, the remains of the natural world, something we in essence create but see it as natural, to put on the glass.  The meaning I put to it as a reader is the comment upon society's ignorance to our "processes" to continue on the theme and our effect as humans on our natural world.   Another one of Marcel's work to continue on the idea of the process is his idea to publish his notes, as they are, with deletions and mark-ups.  Overall, I really enjoyed this reading on Duchamp and I am glad that Kip picked him as one of the artists to study.  

A painting of my own, I just felt like painting lips. 

Art?

Our assignment today is to document an art object as a work of art, as well as the other way around.  
Non-art object as art:
For this part of the assignment, I am choosing to talk about...BONGS!  Although generally used for smoking marijuana, tabaco , and other curious substances, bongs can be extremely beautiful and exuberant. Dictionary.com describes art as "quality, production, expression, or realm according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance."  Nice bongs are made with quality, thick glass that allows the process of smoking to be smoother.  It is produced by glassmakers.  Expression is exemplified through different shapes, colors, and extraneous details.  Even different types of bong can be made out of many materials, such as plastic, or even false wood.  Here is a picture of a bong that is aesthetically beautiful to me.  I like it because the shape fo the bong combined with the content and layout of the paint give a sly visual illusion of metal. 

Art object with Use: 

For some reason I am having a really hard time trying to think of this part. So I am going to do my best to convince you readers that something as simple as a paintbrush, an obvious artists' tool, can be used for many things.  First of all, girls can do their makeup and look hipster at the same time! Paintbrushes can be used to dust in tiny spaces.  They can be used to clean inside bottles that have small cap holes.  The end of a paint brush can be used to puncture things with pressure... or someone if necessary.  When dipped in ink, the end can also be used as a pen! You can even make pen holders out of glued together paintbrushes... that'd be cool! When in dire need of chopsticks...and youre out, use paint brushes!   Hope that was convincing enough!

So close on time limit need to post!

Just Dirt Devilin' in the Market...

For this assignment, I chose to do one of my somewhat regular activities in the market place.  This activity was vacuuming with the very reliable hand-held vacum... the DIRT DEVIL!  At home, I usually use it to vacum up anything that spills and to clean my carpet.  I keep it in the corner of my room to remind myself there actually is a floor in here when it is not covered with piles of clothes and notebooks! Anyways, I thought this would be interesting since the only people who clean up the market are the employees.  I wanted to see the reactions when I, a loyal customer, was to help with this simple task.  I vacuumed the dust of the shelves, a bit of the floor, and even the conveyer belt in the check out line.  The reactions I got were stares, laughs, and some did not even notice!  You usually think of market places as clean, since it stores all the food we need and depend on everyday.  However, when I was actually dirt deviling, I found some dust, hair, and other nasty particles! Don't think I'll be going back to Albertsons... Anyways, I felt a bit awkward at first, but actually became very comfortable, not being able to stray from any dust I spotted.  I think a lot of it had to do with the audience, everyone was old, so I was not really about to shy away.  One employee even smiled and said "Thanks!" No questions asked... from him of course.  Anyways,  I like that this class makes me push my boundaries and question my ability to be confident with myself and the things I want to do.  

TRUTH & FICTION- the line to draw.

In today's society, there is not much of a line between the truth and fiction in many of our media outlets.  First off, television clearly has aspects of truth and fiction, but sometimes the line is blurred.  Such as in reality television show.  Most of them are scripted and purposely planned to make characters either be appealing or unappealing to viewers.  Although the news is supposedly "real" world news, it can often be subjective.  Opinions, emotions and all are included in this type of media.  Now some would not see this as subjective, however I believe portions of it to be.  One aspect of our society that is truly harsh upon its participants is the entertainment industry.  When stars finally reach fame after much hard work and effort, they are subjecting themselves to the blurred appearance seen by the rest of the world of their real and fictional lives.  So much of the media commenting upon stars, such as perezhilton.com, is fake.  This type of subjection even happens in people's everyday lives, scientifically known as gossip, or rumors. It really makes you think about perspective.  Who believes these things people are saying about you? Who has the audacity to create crewel, and sometimes flattering, commentary about a person?  Most of the time this blurred perception is hurtful and can be destructive for certain individuals felt most pressured.  In my life, although I am not a star or a politician, I try to stay away from this falsification of people, and reduce gossip among my friends.  Of course everyone is subjected to a bit of "talking" about others, but people need to really think about the line between truth and fictions when hearing things or saying things about people.  Ignorance can be surpassed by awareness. 
http://26.media.tumblr.com/vQxdw8WwRo2141zfKemN7Pzho1_500.jpg
--> a little off topic but I found some humor in this link :) 

Breaking News!!!-A PROTEST NOT TO MISS.

As most local Isla Vistans know, Floatopia (the annual, epic, not to mention, INSANE) "beach party" is planned to take place during the month of April.  In past years, the beach has been completely trashed, ending up lined with beer cans, cigarette buds, and other pollution related commodities.   In preparation for this years celebration of the greatest party school on Earth, the police took extra precaution and lined the street this past weekend, of April 3, 2011.  About forty extra officers were employed to be on duty and be on the look out for Floatopia related activities.  However, the actual event is to take place this coming weekend.  However, a strong-standing political group on campus, who call themselves the Voice of the Party People (VPP), are planning a protest on Friday April 8, 2011 that will surely shake up the authority. VPP plans to start their act at the commonplace Freebirds on Pardall st.  At first, it may seem like a usual protest, but these so-called "hippie lovers" are planning to run almost completely naked, with loincloths covering their private places and with paint all over their bodies.  Very against the strict, unlawful block on the beach, the protesters plan to run from Pardall to DP and gather any locals they can along the way to join them in their rush of the officers.  They are calling it, "The Ultimate Red Rover". When questioned, their leader did not deny the possibility of violence being a second option.  Some have even said they will be carrying LIT tiki torches. In preparation for this scene, the police will be knocking on doors on Wednesday and Thursday of this week to recommend evacuation.  Some are even proclaiming it may be mandatory. Who is to say what will go on, all I know is I certainly will not be leaving.  I would love to watch these strong-willed people stand up for what they believe in and witness this World War III. This girl is going all out... -cited: "I got 2 shoes" blogspot

Comical COMICS.

I must admit, this is my first time ever...EVER...reading a comic book.  I found the opening of chapter one interesting in the fact that I felt the author was talking to me.  I like the fact that comics tell a story while displaying individual expressions of art.  They are more then a book. I thought it was cute how he said "narrowly" and was squished between two plaid walls wearing his plaid shirt.  It is a full ability to express oneself; through a story, artwork, and presentation.  I liked the quote, "Space does for comics what time does for film!" (7, McCloud).  I like the idea of the author having a conversation with himself through the comics, such as on pages 8 and 9 where he is going back and forward with the audience about the definition of a comic, very creative.  Here are a few things I really liked about this reading..
-pg 26 shows a bunch of "drawings" (so to say) including the phrases..."This is not...".  I found this interesting because these are the things we do refer to these images as! It made me rethink the communication/ language of our environment.  
-pg 30 writes..."when we abstract an image through cartooning, we're not eliminating details as we are focusing on specific details.  by stripping down an image to its essential meaning, an artist an amplify that meaning in a way that realistic art can't".  I really like this definition of a cartoon, which in essence seems so simple, but actually contains so many complexities.  
-pg 33 "we see ourselves in everything"- Art can come from anywhere and I love this definition of art as a reflection of ourselves in the world, and what certain aspects of our world means to us as individuals.  
-pg 39, "and in every case, our constant awareness of self--flows outward to include the object of our extended identity"- through comics, we can display the world in a way film cannot. 

Lecture DOS reflection.

I really enjoyed today's lecture.  Once again, I found the material really engaging as the time flew by.  I found the list of identifiers extremely genuine.  Personally, I use gender, age, relationship status, socio-economic status, physical, mental and emotional abilities, activities, personas, tastes and to identify my own self.  I am a victim of this world.  Going upon this integration idea, my favorite artist of the day was Anne Noggle.  I found her artwork to be extremely powerful in it's feminist voice and calm manner.   One of her pieces that really stood out to me was her Self Portrait with her dog in hand, shirtless.  She stands so strong as a woman, embracing her natural form and displaying it to the world.  Being somewhat insecure myself (confession) I felt empowered by her pictures and the beauty I found in the statements.  I also found her piece Myself at 7:00AM insanely moving.  An identifier by the world as an barren woman.  Props to you Anne Noggle! I also really liked Cindy Sherman's Untitled Film Still series.  It kind of brought together my love for the beauty of film and photography in a way I have not witnessed before.  I liked the fact that she thought of a story in her head and played the part she felt fit, yet any viewer of her artwork would have to create their own internal story. 

Intro to reader...

Finally jumping into the book! I think it is awesome we will be reading about these 5 artists that have taken art to a level of "freedom" and that have strayed away from the traditional art scene.  It will be much more interesting and engaging for us as artists ourselves to learn about these individuals.  There is one passage that really stood out to me in which I would like to take my time to discuss: "This attitude is one of total acceptance of the common place for its own sake rather than for its ability to function as an image or symbol in a work of art.  They are not interested in turning the common place into art; they offer it intact, untransformed, a fragment of the life we live everyday" (4, Fulbeck).  This part particularly really pulled me in because i realize more and more everyday, as I live on the beautiful coast of SB, that the world around us is a piece of art.  Isla Vista is its own living self with so many attributes that come together to create that spectacular environment that allows for so many different experiences.  I'm excited to learn about Marcel Duchamp in particular and his "ironic" style of art because I love stand-out attitudes about the world and through reading this intro, I feel Duchamp will be the artist I most relate too.  

THEME IDEAS.

We were told to brainstorm about project ideas about the following themes, so I thought of a few I thought would be fun and have explained why.
1) Confession: This is a topic of self awareness, self reflection, and a journey of search.  I feel this project will be somewhat difficult for me to really grasp.  However, being fully divulged in this Art class, I really want to do something expressive with myself.  I am thinking of doing something artistic with my self, something to do with my body (obviously appropriate haha).  I want to really try and stray away from a painting, which is my normal form of artistic expression.  I have a specific idea in mind but I really don't want to give it away yet!
2)Sequence and Narratives:  I love storytelling.  Over summer, I took a film class and loved the filming and editing process.  I would love to do a short film for this project, perhaps a music video telling a story close to me.  Hopefully I can get my hand on a camera for this one!
3)Alternate Personas:  Although I am not completely sure the full lengths and details about this assignment, I am already excited by the title.  I hope it has something to do with self expression.  I would love to do some type of sculpture or object creation with this one.  I really want to work with mirrors, or broken glass (less unlucky) at some point and I feel this might be a cool project to work with these materials.
4) Personal Space: This concept is one I have actually reflected upon a lot.  I think it is really important for individuals to have personal space in order to self-reflect and learn about oneself.  I think maybe a display of some sort (shoebox clay setting) would be interesting and something I have never done before.  
DONE.