Collective Identity
6-1-10
As a group of Honors and Portfolio students, I believe that we are different from any other group of art students from any other school. All of us go beyond what is typically done in classes including our abstractions. Even when we use realism in our work, there is something about it that is very unique and interesting.
Everyone has their own unique style of how to approach making art. With these unique styles, we also all influence each other. In the end our work being put altogether makes to be one piece that shows the changes we have made this year as artists. Going through the art show and seeing everyones art gives perfect evidence to how each and every one of us have changed into the artists we are now. Continuing in these art classes will only broaden our artistic techniques and styles that are similar and different from those of our peers.In the art show it is clear that we all work off of each other to inspire one another, at least in my case much inspirational credit goes to my friends and peers.
Conceptual proposal
5-1-10
I don’t have definite thorough ideas but I have a couple of small proposals:
- I would take all of the cameras in the school and make something similar to a look-a-like of a flower bouquet. This would make multiple surveillances in a sphere of different angles.
- Find a way to transfer the connection of the cameras from the mall to here and here to the mall, just as confusion.
- Everyone takes one camera and puts it on the side of a car and take footage while the car is going super fast.
- We take any awkward footage of anyone and all combine it into the greatest awkward video… ever. For example, we saw the secretary just standing in the lobby in search of something for two minutes. I’m sure there is plenty more of this.
Basically, all of my ideas involve removing the surveillance cameras.
Surveillance of class
Log #1
Today there was a creature making art, they all call him Pat. He was leaning over his art focusing on it. While making it he looked almost cross-eyed. He was making some sort of statue. It was the strangest thing. He was making this extremely tall statue… simply from crayons. All the while, Misto Miller was going off on a tangent on all the projects that are do, but mostly the conceptual piece. (We’ll make him repeat it tomorrow)
Log #2
Everyone in the classroom is quite silent. Silent until Misto Miller tells one of his stories, something about a weightless beaker. After he silence of the class is broken Sara began offering lemonheads to the class, always something good.It seems as if today is a day where everyone is working, except for me, I’m writing the log.
Log #3
So today Misto Miller went on about how the logs are do…heh. I must say this class is not quite as interesting as the still life. They do not wear fun huts, bazaar glasses, they just look normal. For a while i sat around watching and listening to the class for a bit without doing work. Patrick and Max seem to be plotting something, and Sarah wants in, but they refuse to tell her. They continue laughing while she is annoyed with her ignorance towards what they are doing. It appears that Patrick’s melting crayons stratagie has moved through the class to sara and she is now melting whole crayons into her work.The class is once again very quiet… they know due dates are coming.
Log #4
We are missing some people from class today. Everyone was silent. Class was rather dull. Misto Miller repeated to us what was due. Sara unwrapped the Yoohoo box of chocolate milk. This seems to be somewhat of a trend, her bringing in a drink or snack. She left the room with the box of chocolate milk. Patrick started laughing extremely hard. One of those laughs where the person inhales, he nearly sounded like he was dying.
Log #5
Today the class is more lively. The smell of melting crayons surrounded the room. They are talking about interesting topics. Sarah and Patrick began talking about accents and how to go about tricking the teachers tat they were from another country. After that Mike began to discuss getting a seahorse just to make it sneeze. From that the class began to talk about getting animals that are evil. Listening in on these conversations is quite interesting and luring. Although there are some lively people, there is also a fair share that still say nothing.
What are the ethical differences (if any) between the surveillance of objects/property and living subjects?
4-20-10
In the past project there was a high level of comfort in surveillance of an object. You could feel at ease drawing and observing something that is not live. The object itself, also could not possibly feel self-conscience or uncomfortable with someone watching them. Objects also have what I call a “habit” of not moving, which is quite a helpful thing. With living things it is quite a different thing when it comes to observing what they do, surveilling, and copying what they look like, in this case in drawing or recording in different medias.
When observing a live things, such as a classmate, there are many mistakes bound to be made. There is the obvious fact that the person will move. To some people drawing or surveilling a moving thing is a frustrating task. On the other hand if one is surveilling a person through camera it could potentially be a good thing, without the movement of a person in a surveillance video it would not show what actual surveillance of objects is. The other downfall or difference in the surveillance of a live thing, especially human, is the sense of uneasiness. The surveilled, that know that they are being observed, may not be sure of how to act in such a situation. The surveillant also could potentially be unsure of how to go about concentrated observation of another person.
Serveillance
Serveillance log #5 2.26.10
Today is my last day through here. I’ve come across such weird creatures and people. Today may be one of the strangest things to come across. I call him the DNA man. If you’ve ever had a biology class then you would know basically what the structure of DNA is. This man was tightly coiled rope in a repeated pattern of red and blue forming his body and his crooked neck, and then his head. He has one of those glasses that give you a disguise for his face. He has a large nose as well as a bushy mustache.
serveillance log #4 2.25.20
While still in this area of small men I saw, if possible, an even more peculiar site. That was a regular sized guitar. It was a dark green color. But within the guitar was a vine of grapes. In a guitar. Then there was a girl inside of it as well, about the same proportions as the wooden men. She looked very happy and had a chubby face and dark hair.
serveillance log #3 2.24.10
So today as I passed from the woods and meeting their girlfriends I incountered another peculiar area. There were all these mysterious small men, or people. They were less than a foot tall and all their proportions perfect. As I passed through i also noticed they had no distinctive features, except one had a large ink splotch covering his face, just as one of the girlfriends. They acted as id I wasn’t there. They had noticeable joints connecting the arm to torso, and the thigh to calf. The joints were spheres and had hinges connected.They were a dark beige color. The strangest of all, was that they had no face.
serveillance log #2 2.23.10
After meeting the young men yesterday, I met their four girlfriends (two of which sharing the tallest young man). One of the girls dating the tallest man also wears peculiar things. She wore a baseball cap that said Vincent… her name? She is also wearing completely circular glasses. His other girlfriend dresses normal, and is very tiny. Then I went on to meet the middle brother’s girlfriend, just like many the others was wearing an odd accessory upon her head… what looked like an old police cap with an official silver symbol upon it. She was very gorgeous with hair in short ringlets at the bottom.
serveillance log #1 2.22.10
Today I saw three triplet brothers. I saw them in a forest like setting, with all leaves surrounding them. They all look similar, but one is short, medium, and tall. They all have very strong features, such as jutting out lips and sharp cheek bones. Their eyes seem distant, but they always seemed to be looking towards me. One was wearing a nike headband. The medium sized brother was weraing quite ridiculous attire, wearing large novelty yellow sunglasses as well as a strainer upon his head. The smallest young man wore nothing upon his head as the others did, but had peculiar ink stains splattered across his face, almost as if they were large freckles.
Where does truth and/or fact exist in the relationship between the surveillant and the surveilled?
There are different types of surveillance in wherever you are. There are cases in which one knows that they are be surveilled. There are also others in which they have no idea that one is watching the, in this case it is known as spying.
When something is being watched there can be misinformed surveillant. They can see something that isn’t true to what it really is. They may see a side of them that isn’t who, are what they really are. There may be only bits and pieces of what is being surveilled that is true to what it is.
In serious, or unserious conditions the surveilled may not approve to what has been shown of them. In cases such as friends taking pictures of one another, or a hidden camera watching someone.
2.22.10
Game Language Diptych Reflection
1-2-10
When we were first given the project I tried to form different ideas of games, but I couldn’t figure out any that I played when I was younger. None had enough dialogue to incorporate into the diptych. First I brainstormed simple board games, but I didn’t think that they were very unique. After that I thought of hobbies I had. The most important one I thought of was playing the violin. Then I realized I never really enjoyed playing the violin.
Then I thought of when I first went to school in kindergarten, or even pre-school. We played hand clapping games. So I included these games in one of my diptychs. For this I combined scrap cardboard and then layered the words to the different hand clapping songs. On the first level of the piece that I learned when I was very young, like Pat-A-Cake. Then I layered complex songs I learned when I was older such as Ms. Mary Mack.
Eventually I decided I would choose a board fame, Candy Land. This was my favorite game I played since I was very young. This board was also made of combinations of scrap cardboard. For this I took the rules for how to play the game on the board. After I wrote the rules out I put multiple names of the characters in the game on top. When I finished the writing I then made a Candy Land board with colors across the words.
Game Language Dialogue Prompt
11-18-09
Every kid at a young age enjoys playing different types of games. Such as playground game like kickball or four square. They all have different words for plays and such. The two games that stand out in my memory the most are the hand clapping games and Candy Land.
I remember since I was even in pre school hand clapping games were very popular to play during “play time”. When I moved through different schools the hand clapping games changed and as well as the wording. There were multiple different games such as Concentration 64, which was my favorite at the time. I also remember I had a book with the rhymes from Miss Mary Mack which had also been a game I really liked. There are few that I just couldn’t get down like Down by the Bay. I also recall the first Pat-a-Cake, which I learned from Barnie when I was four.
Identity Cards Reflection
11-18-09
Overall I thought this project was really interesting. For awhile I had been wanting to make miniature pieces of art such as these. The topics for each ten cards were very interesting, but also difficult to figure out what to do for ten individual pieces of art. The way I overcame the large amount of cards while still making them individual pieces of art was putting a few different cards together at a time to develop one single picture when combing like a puzzle. For the most part I stuck to one major idea for each theme. I noticed while creating the art and exploring the different themes given that many of my cards could fit into any category for the most part. For example while doing the cultural art pieces and Familial I realized that two of them were relevant to either one.
For the prompt given of culture I found this failry simple to come up with ideas for such as the superficial aspect of culture given to teenage people in America, as well as around the world. I also used the political aspect of culture, especially in mine seeing as tha it effects me every day of my life. For few of my last cultural cards I simply did my own cultural background as Scandinavian, where a put stereoypes of people from North Europe such as blonde hair and blue eyes.
Familial I used the same idea of politics because within my it is very important but I wish it didn’t influence and effect me as much as it does for my parents. There was also the art and musical aspect used within my cards because my dad and I both share interest in these as hobbies. I also used a staircase look of melted wax to show how over the years my parents still consider me “Their little girl”.
With stereotypical I found myself struggling what to do. I thought about what people may think of me when they first meet me and I remembered that a lot of the time people are very surprised to find out how “loud” or “talkative” I tend to be. This idea was used for most of my stereotypical cards represented by plain cards with not much interest in them. Some times people do see me as be “odd” as well which is at the complete other end of the spectrum. So for these I represented my self as being eccentric.
Other and Heroic were my most difficult cards to figure out what to do. For other I used almost the same idea as stereotypical because, for me, they come hand in hand. For people I could be considered an “Other” when they first meet me, so for this i used text through out many of the cards. Heroic had been difficult because i have never seen myself in a heroic light before. For awhile I had been considering going into a job when I’m older, going into physical therapy, which to many people who have gotten injured or have other difficulties could look up to a Physical therapist. My other idea for heroic was parents. Children from a young age many times look up to parents. So I applied this for many of my heroic cards, using the words “Motherly Love” through out the cards. For the background of the cards I used wonder women pictures for the stereotypical aspect of what a hero is to people.
Heroic Identity
10-25-09
When people think of a hero they typically think of the comic book hero. Someone with superpowers, who saves people in times of danger and so on. Other times people think of heroes as the firefighters and policemen, as the average-everyday superhero. This is true but there are other people as well that are just as average as these people who help people everyday as well. Other times people consider their parents to be heroes too. I believe all of these to be true. I have always seen my parents as people to look up to, because they too help people. Not necessarily directly but they help the needy and I have always seen this as an important heroic trait.
In my future I want to be a physical therapist. This definitely in some people’s eyes can be seen as heroic, I’m just not sure if I can get there. In this field of work I could be anything from pediatric, to sports medicine, to helping the elderly. This too wouldn’t be usually seen in the light as heroic, but to the people physical therapists help they could certainly be seen that way. As well as if I became a parent. Maybe one day a kid may look up to me as I do to my parents.
“Other” Identity
10-22-09
Throughout my life I have felt like an “other” at one point or another. When I’m around my parents and their friends I never fail to feel a little “awkward” or left out. Seeing as I’m a child to them and they ignore my brother and I. Lately I have been around adults from the beginning of my dad’s “social” career… or whenever he became a politician. Going to fundraisers they all ignore my brother and I or automatically assume I am ten and treat me like I have no knowledge whatsoever. These experiences never really bother me, in some ways I find it entertaining. In the past in school though I have felt like an “other”.
Without a doubt my middle school days were the worst so far, and probably will remain the worst. I was always let out and the kids treated me, and no doubt others, horrible. Practically everyday I was left out, stared down, or even made fun of. It would blow most people’s minds how awful kids treated other kids. Since middle school, things have improved and there has never really been a time in school I have felt let out. Other than an occasional class that I don’t know anyone in, even then it doesn’t compared how much I felt like an “other” in middle school.
Stereotypical Identity
10-10-09
It’s hard to recognize exactly how people perceive you. Through out my younger years, though, I felt really shy all the time making people think that I’m an overall quiet person. I was like this until when I was about thirteen, at this point I became really loud and people began to think I was really outgoing.
Now that I’m older I feel like people have split perceptions of me. They are the same as when I was younger. In school I can be really quiet in most of my classes and people think that my personality is just uno dimensional. At other times such as in art class I can be very load. Even with my friends especially and I can even be known as “annoying” for being so loud. Either way I am rarely perceived as being somewhere in the middle of the spectrum.
At other times I can be seen as eccentric as well. Sometimes when people first meet me they see me as really weird. When first meeting people sometimes I talk excessively about pointless things. Which goes back to me being quiet because after knowing me for awhile I do come out and completely surprise people by the beyond strange things I say.
My Familial Identity
9.18.09
Within my family I am the oldest child. This means that not only am I still treated young but I am given the responsibility to take care of the younger sibling which I believe reflects upon me as a person. I still am not fully mature as a person but yet I always feel the need to be responsible over everything. For example in school when given a group project I feel the need to run the group because in family life I am always responsible over my younger brother. This can sometimes become a hassle because I feel like sometimes I’m responsible or even being blamed for anything that goes wrong.
My family is a bit unique in the fact that politics has become such a large part of our everyday life. Anything from political disputes between people we know or helping work for the campaign. This also carries into the aspect that I care for my younger sibling because there is always work to be done.
My family isn’t full of negatives there are definitely the positives. My family is extremely supporting over everything I aspire to do. They all go out of their way to help me with school and extra curricular activities in hopes to help me be successful which I am thankful for.
I believe that my family is quite different from others. We enjoy the most random of activities, like our obsession with our tradition of eating spaghetti and playing star wars trivia every Saturday night.
My Cultural Identity
9.10.09
How do you define culture and how does culture define you?
I have been asked this question many times. I’ve never been sure how to answer it. The simplest answer would be what makes you as a person with our background, but that is far too broad to answer how it defines myself as a person. Culture could be a number of things, it could be heritage, it could be a family’s traditions in general. In classes like English and Social studies we were told that culture was things such as food, traditions, history, the arts, and so on. Though I do believe this definitely is some parts of culture I believe there are aspects of culture that go a lot deeper.
There is also the aspect of culture within my peers and people my age. That aspect of culture, if anything, defines and changes and molds me the most. Be it clothing, attitude, music, anything really.
Culture has gone through my mind a lot and I sometimes struggle to figure out what culture I have behind me. Is it my 99% Scandinavian background? Or rather is it the fact that I pretty much have a political dynasty going on in my family? Is culture the fact that art is so prominent in my family?
I’m not really sure how to portray culture within my playing cards. I was considering a lot of it having to do with politics and the people my age around me, seeing as both have equally effected my culture, me as a person completely.
