Final Cumulative Acts Project- "Doodles" project statement

Creating art over a set period of time is definitely a different experience from the norm. For my Cumulative Acts project I chose to draw a doodle each day starting March 22 and until April 22. The doodle was drawn on a white piece of copy paper and was completely intuitive; by that I mean I drew with out looking at the paper and then tried to make out an image out of it. I then copied the image onto canvas within a grid and painted the rectangle a certain color according to what day it was.

The decision I made on how to display my final presentation was based on the act I was doing. Once I decided to draw doodles each day I realized I wanted to display the final piece in a relatively organized way since the act of creating the piece was very unorganized. Because of that, I chose canvas as my material and a grid as the organization. I also decided to display the piece in a traditional matter by hanging it on the gallery wall so that it will be most effective to the viewer.  Each day of the week was assigned a specific color so the viewer can see the relation between the days. My piece began on a Friday which is purple, Saturday-orange, Sunday-blue, Monday-red, Tuesday-yellow, Wednesday-teal, and Thursday is green. 

The unorganized way of creating the day-to-day doodles led me to want some sort of organization in the final piece. So the process of making is shown within each drawing. Each day contained a new drawing and I never felt the same way each day nor did I make the doodle the same time each day. These two variables definitely had an effect on what the outcome was. Sometimes I would be extremely tired and other times I just didn't feel like working on the project. The viewer can clearly see the how each day affected each doodle. To me, that is the most interesting part of this entire project.

Final Project- "Beyond Your Reflection"

I am very intrigued with the thought of reflections. There are so many different aspects one can take upon hearing the word. After learning about Eleanor Antin and then doing some research on her, I became quite inspired. She likes to create pieces representing her different selves; for example, she created her male self  by putting a beard on her face. The many representations she came up with just amazed me. This allowed me to develop my idea of reflections. In my piece I want the viewer to be able to feel. That is all, just feel. Once they observe my piece they will reflect upon themselves. I believe each viewer is going to feel a different way when they look at my piece, so it is not right to tell them how they should feel.

Using a mirror as the base of my piece was done to really force the viewer to reflect, in a literal and figurative way. Looking at a mirror usually always means that the person is trying to make their appearance appropriate for the situation they will put themselves into. More so, to "look good" before they appear in  the public eye. The public eye is represented as the eyes that are viewed throughout my piece. The eyes are staring right back at the viewer when the viewer is at his/her most vulnerable state of mind. The mirror is also cracked  and jagged and the glass is frosted over. The idea is that when the viewer is looking into the mirror they see an unexpected distorted reflection and cannot clearly see themselves in order to avoid the perfect reflection the viewer is always looking for.

I created this piece to show that not everyone is perfect and that whatever feeling is created by observing this piece should always be thought of when looking in a mirror. You can't always get the appearance you want, but the appearance you already have is the best one.

Final Project Work in Progress

For my project I plan on getting the viewer to think  about themselves. To reflect on their personal image. The final piece will have a bunch of these eyes to the left printed on transparent paper and glued onto a broken mirror.

When people look into a mirror it is to see their own physical appearance before they go out in public or seeing someone they know. The mirror can only show you as deep as the eyes can see. A mirror can make a person feel very confident or very self conscious; you want to hide any blemishes you can before anyone else sees them. Now, with the eyes being placed on top of the mirror, it represents all the public attention one thinks they receive when they go out in the world.

This project is suppose to allow allow all viewers to take a moment and reflect on exactly why he/she is looking in the mirror. Is it to perfect yourself? Is it because of insecurities? Just why? Depending on the reasoning why you look into a mirror on a normal way will affect the way you feel when you look into a mirror with many many eyes staring back at you when you're at your most vulnerable situation.

I plan to create this piece at a medium size. I can't give specifics because the size will depend on how the mirror cracks. I think if it were to be too large it would be less personal and too small would cause it to be not personal enough. The prints of the eyes will be all different sizes and will be placed everywhere ove the mirror. I would want my final piece to be displayed traditionally on the wall at eye level.

All the feedback I want from my classmates at this point in time is if my project would be better off with a shattered mirror or a completely broken mirror?

Time-based Project- "Whiskey"

I researched Eleanor Antin. I really love her work in that it is time based but it is a still image. Just as she refers to her work at a still video. She does a great job capturing a moment in history as if it were taking place right then and there. There is so much movement in her images as well. I was most interested in the history aspect of it. She will take moments in history of certain cultures and recreate them, which I find very clever and fascinating.

My project consists of a man who is singing for money. He brings his instrument everywhere he goes to try and earn a buck in old ireland. The art of singing on the streets to earn money is called busking. This was very common in city streets of which many irish men were dirt poor. I recreated the history of busking in ireland in my piece by showing a man going place to place constantly singing his songs to make a living. I chose the irish culture because that is my heritage and it is a huge part of my life.

Like I mentioned earlier, this relates to the work of Eleanor Antin because she did some work on history; how it is perceived and remembered. History repeats itself and that is what she did, which is, in turn, what I am doing by using her as my guide through the process.

To me this piece conveys an upbeat and good-feeling mood because of the beat of the song. If you really observe the piece and know the history behind it the piece almost becomes a sad desperate cry for help. It has to do with a poor guy singing his songs just to be able to eat. The Irish went through a lot just to reach the equality that they have in the world today. Because of this reason, the buskers have many sad lyrics in their songs longing to see their loved ones again.

Final Project Proposal

For my final project I plan to create a piece that has the concept of reflections. This interests me because reflections are usually more personal than general and my plan is to make this piece one that can apply to anyone looking at it. I want to break a mirror and glue pieces on top of one another in an interesting way. There will be enough space to be able to see somewhat of a clear reflection of who ever is looking at it. What I wanna do is lay a picture on top of the mirror or within the glass, but have it at a low opacity so the person can see their own reflection and also see the image on the mirror. I plan for the image to be a person with their hands on their face being ashamed of what they look like because you look into a mirror to see what you look like to look your best before you go out into the world. This project will be about reflecting on your image to see the best of yourself you can see. To gain the confidence of not looking in the mirror and still feel great about yourself.

A Different Generation Gif

Technoscape- "A Different Generation"

I wanted to visually represent the impact that technology has on today's society, furthermore, today's younger generation. As a child, I did grow up with technology, but it wasn't that important in my life. I can recall that I spent more hours outside playing with the neighborhood kids than I spent on playing with technology. This is not the case with today's young generation. They were born into a world where technology already existed and was constantly getting bigger and better; that was their norm more so than it was mine. I can't begin to explain how many times I have seen little kids playing games with touchscreen phones or tablets and then teach their parents how to use the device. The kid is like five years old! It all just profoundly amazes me. To continue, kids always know what and when the latest and greatest piece of technology is being released. They aren't happy unless they have what "everyone else" has. For this reason I decided to to a piece on the relation between kids and technology. So I chose a little boy wearing an angry birds hat (a game on the iPhone) crouching ironically outside while being surrounded by technology. The ice cream doesn't matter anymore since he's got an iPad placed in front of him now.

I think my piece conveys a happy mood when you first look at it because the kid is so adorable and happy (who could be upset when you see that). Once the piece is analyzed, the mood placed on the viewer suddenly becomes a sad feeling. The thought that a little child is more happy to be playing a computer game than playing outside and socializing with the other kids can really bring down the mood, which was what I was trying to convey. The kid is missing out on valuable experiences that he could be reminiscing about with his friends when he's older. You only have one childhood, why spend it doing something that you can do when you're older?

I did not appropriate images.

Time-Based Artist Proposal

I am going to research the artist Eleanor Antin. When I was scrolling through the artists I could choose from I what reading about what the artists do and what they create. They all just seemed okay to me. I would think, "Okay, I guess I could work with that." Then I came across Eleanor Antin. I thought she was just so cool. She is really into culture and history. She does a great job of capturing the moment of a certain historical moment or time period. I am just fascinated by her creations.

My interpretation of her artwork seems simple, but it really makes me excited. I come from an Irish background. My whole life I participated in almost anything that involved my Irish heritage. From celebrating certain holidays to Irish dancing, I was always involved. In relation to my culture, I want to represent what my ancestors had to go through; how we were depicted by America back in the day or the very simple life that was lived back in Ireland. I plan to either represent my culture either in one image or multiple ones.

Technoscape Proposal

I plan to visual show technology's impact in my surroundings by having a little kid as the center of the piece and message. He will be surrounded by an array of technology and gets happier and happier as he gets the newest and most up-to-date piece of technology. He will be so engaged in what is going on in his digital world that he won't be engaged in what is going around his physical world at all. I am either going to present this idea as a still image or as an animation depending on what images I gather.

I do not plan on using appropriated imagery because I am going to take all my own pictures.

Digital Nation Responses

After watching the video, I realized there was a whole lot more pros and cons about technology than I originally thought existed. In the movie they mentioned many consequences to living in a digital nation. One main issue that seemed to be heavily pointed out was technology and education. Students seem to get distracted quite easily today. They stated that when typing papers, there is no flow or consistency in the paper. Each paragraph is constructed very well, but there is no relation from one paragraph to the next. This is due to checking the cell phone, listening to music, or going on to some social media site. Also, while in class, when students are allowed to have their laptops during lecture they tend to pay less attention to their professor and more to distractions on their computer. This causes students to think they can multitask well, which has been proven that it's not all it's cracked up to be. 

Besides these consequences, there are actually benefits to living in a digital nation. Since there is no escaping technology, then why not incorporate it into a child's everyday learning. Using the internet as a way to engage the students in the classroom as brought such great results. Overall attendance increased and fighting in the school decreased. Students actually wanted to attend to school to learn something. Technology has also brought people closer together. Those who have played in virtual online games together had come to conventions to meet each other. Some got married, some became lifelong friends and it was because they first met over the internet playing a game.

My opinion of technology goes both ways. It definitely has changed the possibilities that we have to create art. Now those possibilities are practically unlimited. I do think that the way we appreciate digital art is much different than traditional art. Unless one has worked with digital art and knows how much time and long tedious effort goes into the creation, I think viewers appreciate the traditional art much more than a digital piece. To an uneducated eye, they may think, oh it was created on the computer so it must have been easy. Rather than actually seeing the dedication that went into a drawing or painting where they can physically see and relate, a digital creation doesn't show that organic-ism for the viewer to relate to. To experience the art is a whole different discussion. With technology we can feel as if we are a part of the piece. It allows for interaction that wasn't offered in the past.

Muybridge Minicinema- City Driving

 I decided to reanimate Muybridge's image sequence by adding/changing the background. I took each frame and cut out everything but the horse and the rider one by one and then added the backgrounds.  I chose to begin the animation with an outdoors scene, where a horse is normally found. Then the horse travels into the city. I wanted to show how horses have always been used for many things, including travel. Although, horses aren't our main sources of travel anymore and we have evolved to mechanical transportation, many people still own horses. They are beautiful creatures and deserve to have a lot of land to roam around in. This shows that if a horse were to break free the only place it could go would be somewhere industrialized, like a city. Humans have almost completely started living and using human made or machine made products. We are loosing the beauty of naturally made resources.

I did use appropriate imagery in this project to form my background. I did not violate copyright law because I used them to create a message for my viewers. I formed a parody, even though it's not funny, it is kind of funny because you don't normally see horses in the city. I also manipulated the city picture by cutting and pasting. The buildings are from one picture and the cement ground is from another picture. They all come together to educate the viewer through the message it gives.

Performance Project- Creepin'

 For my performance I first decided to do a public piece. Many different ideas entered and exited my mind. Some ideas I just didn't have the right environment for and it wasn't until I decided to recreate a performance that we saw in class to know what I wanted to do. The piece that stuck in my head was the Proximity Piece by Vito Acconci. I thought it was really funny how he basically just wanted to make people feel uncomfortable enough to have to walk away from him.

I chose to do this performance at a high school play. I                 went to see Legally Blonde the Musical and during intermission was when I decided to get close to  people. The experience as a whole was very strange and something I don't think I would like to do again. It brought many laughs to me, but I also felt bad because the poor person had no clue what I was doing standing there so close to them. I felt like I was creeping on random people. Some people didn't react        o me standing there at all and some didn't even notice me.Others felt completely uncomfortable so they quickly found someone else to talk to and walked away. I got many weird looks from the people as well.

                                                

This project was a great way of showing how there is this unwritten rule where you have to give a person a certain amount of space. How close can I get to a person without them feeling uncomfortable? Where is that line? I think the majority of people have generally the same reaction to a certain point of closeness. Others have no idea and are just focused on something other than their surroundings, so they don't even notice the close proximity. There are many unwritten rules in the human social life; who are to know what those rules are unless one surpasses them and crosses that line? The question of proximity is just one of those unanswered questions, but a very important one that we must face everyday, once we enter that public world.

Cumulative Acts Proposal

For this assignment I think I plan on working with paint. Not being able to work with paint or pencil for so long has been driving me crazy. I have really been constricted since I am enrolled in two digital art classes and with all my other work I don't have much time to paint on my own time, which is something I would love to do! This assignment is a great opportunity for me to get back in the game.

I plan on selecting a few amount of colors of paint and choosing a different color for each day of the week. I want to allow the paint to add color for a background of my doodles. I want to create a bunch of blind doodles on the paper. I will then look at all I created and pick the ones that made an actually picture out of. I really want to work big so I plan on making a collage almost.

By the end of the semester I think my work of art will take on a layered, but organized look. There will be many colors and many little doodles all on one big canvas. This will show my process of creation. The build of of many days of paint and doodles... over a long period of time. It will be able to stand on its own because it will be visually aesthetic and it will show time because of the array of doodles and color of the paint.

An Array of Music

I chose to map out one of my favorite songs by Shania Twain called Any Man of Mine. I knew from the start that I wanted to map out music because it is a big part of my life, it was just a matter of how to do so. Shania Twain is my favorite artist of all times so it was inevitable that the song I was going to choose was by her.

The way I constructed the image took a lot of thinking because I was very unsure about that part. What I finally came up with was assigning different colors and different shapes to different parts of the song. The blue horizontal stripes are the lyrics in the song and they are shown by swirls and the bigger the swirl the longer she held the duration of the note for each word. The pink circles are all the words in the song that rhyme. Not necessarily with each other, but the total amount of words that had a rhyming partner. The green lines that surround the pink circles are a representation of the beat of the main refrain of the song. The green lines on the sides are the basic beat of the rest of the song (before and after each chorus). The green squiggly line in the middle represents the violin solo in the song. The way the piece is set up as a whole is to show music as a whole. The green lines on the sides show music levels when sound is played and the blue horizontal lines act as sound waves passing by the screen.

I think my piece conveys a curious mood because at a first look its not clear what is going on and so you are really curious as to what is happening. Once the viewer realizes it is a piece based upon music then the image becomes more clear. I think the black background also adds to that curious mood, giving it a little bit of a psychedelic feel.

Four Seasons

Never Settled- Abstracting Place Assignment

 For this project I couldn't let myself commit to one specific place even though that was part of the assignment. I filmed the city of Athens (Ohio University) and also the city Mansfield (OSU). So I guess I could say my focus was Ohio if I wanted to list one place. The reason why I couldn't just pick one place is because I don't feel settled in one place. I travel every weekend; I visit my friends at other colleges, spend the weekends in OSU Columbus, or I go back home. My weeks are spent here in Mansfield. Who I am is not in one place, not even my room because half of my belongings are back home and at other friends dorms. It just made sense for me to tape more than one setting.

I was very attracted to the outdoors and everything it entails because it reminds me of traveling, which is what I am constantly doing. Nature is beauty within itself so I didn't manipulate the footage much at all. Besides brightness and contrast all I did was change the opacity, which I believe worked out quite well. Keeping it's natural feel allowed the final piece to be relatable to others since it is more realistic. The overall tone of this piece was more sad than happy. I really liked that it turned out that way; it was mainly due to the way the weather has been lately, but it adds to what I am trying to get across. The sounds also add that iridescent feeling that comes along with the visual. Without the sound I think this piece could have a much different feel to it.

Travel can carry many things along with it. It has its losses and gains, which can end up being good and also bad. Connections are made, they are lost. Friends are made, they are lost. Every time you end up in a new place the only person you know is yourself. The start is always hard and so is the end. It's not one of those things that gets easier the more times you do it; that never happens. Yet, there is always that excitement of "what's going to happen next." I think this piece conveys that pretty well.  

Artistic Mapping Proposal

I plan on mapping out music. I want to map out either one song or multiple songs to compare them. For one song, I plan on marking the duration a note is sang with a line (the length of the line will depend on the duration) and then depending what words are sang there will be a different color to represent that word. (I want to do something with rhyming words).  I'm not sure about the shape or layout of the overall piece, but I think I want to take an abstract approach towards it. For multiple songs, I was thinking about comparing the beats of each song. A different color for each song and then I would just mark the beats of each song accordingly.

I am really interested in this visual map of music because I think it would be satisfying to see the music I listen to daily visually right in front of me. I love music and to see a song(s) as an image would be a new and different representation. I'm looking forward to it!

Visual Map

http://www.visualcomplexity.com/vc/project_details.cfm?id=704&index=62&domain=Art

This visual map above is called OneDotZero Identity which is a moving festival. I found it very interesting that this is a map of all the coding it took to create posters and trailers to promote the upcoming festival. What first drew my attention to it was the colors that were over a black background. It reminded me of a kid drawing colored chalk on a blackboard. When I clicked on the image to make it bigger I then realized all the chalk drawings were actually words and URLs, which was really eye catching and amazing to see. I just could stop staring at it to see what I would find/ see next.

Social Commentary "When is it Enough?"

I began this project by thinking of what things bother me in society. A large issue that I have caught myself being part of is the distraction of  technology. Yes, technology has helped our world grow and develop to find many solutions to our problems, but it has also taken us away from what is actually going on around us in the physical world. That is how I came to this idea. Two girls sitting on a bench in the park, not speaking to one another verbally but over a tweet; they are bored out of their mind and don't know what to do, but stair at their handheld devices. Little do they know that a bunch of famous celebrities decided to take a stroll through the park on the same day they are sitting there. They are oblivious to their surroundings. Personally, that part scares me. I have been involved and witnessed incidents where two or more people would be sitting around each other only to be glued to their phones; there was no interaction between them whatsoever. Like said before, I have had fallen as a victim of that several times, but I catch myself doing it and then I try to interact with those around me. A few years from now what will the definition of socializing be? Not talking to someone unless they can text? Tweet? Facebook? When will there be enough social networking sites? When will we be satisfied with having enough technology? When is it enough?

All the appropriated material in this piece did not violate copyright law because I took all of these images out of their original context and they were used to create a parody to enforce a message to society.

My piece conveys, as I mentioned before, that technology is taking away our every day-to-day physical social interaction. It is taking it away to the point of which we become oblivious to the physical world around us. My piece shows this visually by having the two girls talking to each other over twitter about being bored even though they are right next to each other; on top of that there are a bunch of celebrities practically in front of their faces and the two girls don't notice a single thing.  

From Here On Out Interpretation

Chris Dacre's installation consisted of playful, felt cartoon figures. They wore armor and gas masks and carried guns. They filed out of trucks and drove tanks. He displayed 2-D, stop animations, and 3-D work. In his sculptures there were cartoon-like figures who were homeless and missing limbs while holding signs reading the truths of postwar effects. When you first walked into the gallery there were parachutes that the viewers had to sort of interact with in order to get into the rest of the space and explore what other pieces existed. He also made 3-D planes with little figures in them all hanging to look like they were flying downward to either land or crash. Not only did he portray people as cartoon-like creatures, but they were also all different colors as well. His set up of the artwork really made one forced to explore the gallery space instead of just looking straight at it.

Listening to the artist speak about his artwork was extremely interesting. He liked the space had to work with and depending on the space in which he is currently living in determines the size of the artwork that he can create. What also is a factor is the size of his car; since it is small he has to figure how to be smart on space and think of creative ways of collapsing big installations in order for them to all fit in his car. All of his ideas began with the small felt guys and expanded from there. If it wasn't for his life choices he made his artwork would have ended up differently. Coming back to an area where he grew up affected his decision of which pieces to bring; he wanted to show a more light-hearted side or the "game" side of war instead of being all grim and upsetting. I think he did a really good job of that. His motivations came from his experiences from his eight years on the Air Force and then his schooling afterward. He also gets much motivation from the area that he is living in. He travels a lot for the fun of it and for work and that influences what he creates as well. I really enjoyed what he had to say about his work and also his experiences.

As much as he wanted to create a more playful side to the war aspect, it didn't get that vibe fully. In some of his works I understood what he was talking about, but overall it actually felt even more grim making people look more cartoon-like. I felt as if he wanted to show that when the soldiers come back from war they feel demoralized, empty, and alone; they don't/ will never feel like themselves again and that they feel like they are not in their own bodies. I was really fascinated by his installation and how much it moved me. I really felt that empty feeling you get when you know that situation like this goes on, but you don't confront it until it gets put in front you. I don't think I have any unanswered questions, but more so unmentioned comments.

Social Commentary/Critique Assignment

My idea for this project is to show how technology has taken us away from what is going on in the physical world around us. Technology can be both our friend and our enemy; its all about how we the consumers decide to use it.

This really interests me because when the smart phones first started coming out my friends got one way before I did and they would always be on it. I could be in the middle of talking to my friend and they would be on their phone the whole entire time. When I would finish talking they would say "what?" I would get so angry to the point where I wouldn't hang out with them as often. Now that I have a smart phone I see how easy it is to get distracted, but I still respect a person enough to put my phone down when they are talking to me. It just amazes me how something so little can distract you from something so big(the world).

Visually, I want to show a human figure walking while she is on her iPhone. She is so focused on her phone that she doesn't even realize that she is about to walk into a building that is currently burning to the ground or some sort of harmful event. I was also thinking of having this ordinary girl on her iPhone walking down the street and not even noticing that she is surrounded by celebrities just walking past her.

I plan on using preexisting imagery to make a parody in order to not violate copyright law. The iPhone (smartphones) are supposed to be there to be the most helpful and convenient inventions of technology, yet this girl is about to get herself killed because she is on it. Smartphones are suppose to keep you up to date on the latest news of what's going on virtually anywhere, yet this girl is passing every celebrity she knows and loves while she is looking up what they are currently doing on twitter.

I have been greatly inspired by Martha Rosler. First, I really love her work overall. It really interests me! Her idea of representing what is going on in the current world around us and also the idea of what is expected out of us in today's society (including looks) is great material to create artwork around. This made me think of how it is expected of us to have most technology that is out on the market right now. You are expected to have a computer, laptop, cell phone, t.v. and so on. Not only are we expected to have a cell phone, but now a smartphone. Expectations are continuing to grow and, at least with technology, the more we are expected to have, the more we will become separated from the real world.

Sound Project "I Don't Know"

Creating this piece was quite a challenge, but I had fun doing it! I was really attracted to sounds that normally annoy people such as finger tapping, crinkling of water bottles, teeth chattering, and pencil tapping. For some odd reason I had an urge to record these noises even though they annoy me as well. I think their repetition quality was something I liked. During the process of actually manipulating the sounds was where I had the most fun. I enjoyed making the high pitched noises I recorded sound real low. It was a way to challenge myself to make the sound not sound like the sound at all! A challenge as well as a mouthful! I didn't do that to all the sounds though, I did create a repetitiveness throughout; sometimes more prominent than others. Some sounds just stuck out to me more than others and that's how I decided what needs to go where. I can't describe it anymore than that!

My piece conveys an almost frustrated and calm mood at the same time. When I listen to the sound, it   automatically creates an image in my mind for me. I picture someone sitting by the water trying to relax, but then there are all these obstacles and annoyances that come in and out of hearing range that need to just go away. This happens to me because I hear that comforting noise of water in the background and then slowly other noises come into the picture in a very subtle manner.

A message that this piece seems to convey to me is that even in the most serene places, one can have issues that they can't avoid.

Copyright Violation Court Case

In this particular case I believe that Shepard Ferry did not violate Copyright Law. The manipulation that he did to the image would allow it to be put under "Fair Use". He used the previous image to create something new; he added text, a symbol, and changed the way we perceived  the image by adding the patriotic colors throughout the entire piece. A viewer would read this new image in a completely different manner than the original one because Shepard Ferry brought meaning to his new creation and it was used all over the United States to Promote Obama's campaign. The original meant none of that sort whatsoever, and I would say technically the new image was used for news reporting when talking about Obama's campaign, which would also put it into Fair Use. Overall, these facts cause me to believe Ferry was in the right and broke no laws pertaining to his action.  

Self Portrait

For this Self Portrait project I honestly wasn't sure where I was going with it at all. I took my pictures like I was supposed to, but nothing was inspiring me to form a composition. I knew what pictures I wanted and which ones I didn't, so that helped. Once I started opening up the images in Photoshop all I did was mess around with the different tools to see if something stuck out to me. Then I got an idea to form a composition that had an overall hazy, dreamy, thinking effect, which also helps explain myself in a way.

I would definitely consider myself a thinker; more so, an over thinker. I over think anything and everything possible. Sometimes it benefits me, but most times it is my enemy. In this piece, I wanted to get the viewer thinking about what's going on. I was pretty literal with the thinking bubble, but I also added a dream catcher. I am fascinated with dream catchers and its presence shows that I'm not only a thinker but a dreamer. I think about the people, things, and ideas I have and love; I dream about the things I hope and are willing to obtain. In a general view, my message is to never forget who you are or where you come from, but always look into the future with an open mind to do what you love.

The way I went about creating this technically was by creating multiple layers and each layer needed something different to make it fit into my idea. Once the thought was in my head I worked to make it happen, but I also changed my thoughts as I went on to make it appealing to the visual eye. Some tools that I found really helpful were the transforming tool, the opacity bar, the filter gallery, and the smart object converter just to name a few. Luckily, the process went smoothly and I didn't run into many issues like I was expecting because I didn't know what direction my composition was headed.

Sound Preview

Deep Listening Exercise

Cyber Cafe

On Monday after class I sat in the Cyber Cafe and I did the assignment. The entire ten minutes of sitting there I heard a background noise of low toned voices just surrounding me. There was also the low frequency of the heater consistently blowing air. I also heard more distinct noises that would only last for a short duration. Coming from the kitchen part of the cafe (to my left) were the sounds of a blender at a very high amplitude. It sounded as if ice was being crushed up. I also heard the squeaky compression of a toaster. Over the period of me listening I noticed that even though the voices were constant they morphed into different frequencies due to the changing of people in and out of the space. Coming from a bunch of different areas of the space for short bursts of time were the sound of someone typing on a keyboard, papers crumpling up, someone tapping on the table like drums, coins rattling in the register, chairs dragging across the floor at a high frequency, and people laughing and coughing loudly. One noise that really stuck out to me was the sound of wet squeaky shoes walking across the cafe! These sounds were a bunch of sounds that I most likely wouldn't have heard if I wasn't paying attention to them. The cafe is a place to eat, chat with friends, and study and I think that all three are possible to do in this space. The mood of this area is pretty flexible and how you feel when you enter is pretty much the mood you can stay!

H2O

My creation of H2O came about when I got the idea of animating an ordinary everyday object. I thought of many things that I use each day, but then I wanted the object to be very familiar and that almost everyone uses or has used at some point in their life. That was when I realized what the perfect object would be and I decided upon a plastic water bottle; I never leave without one!

As I started thinking of this whole process there were many actions that I wanted to execute, but I didn't know exactly how nor did I have some of the materials that could assist me. These challenges were somewhat easy to work around, it was just a matter of forcing myself to let go of the idea and think of a new way to make my animation happen. For example, I wanted to show the water bottle hopping up and down in some scenes, but if I used my hand it would have been in it and if I were to use an object to prop it up, that would have been seen too. I didn't think about editing it out in the future, but now that I look back I probably could have. I could have also used different camera angles to show what I wanted.

I wasn't too sure what message I wanted to get across to the viewer, but it came to me as I was working on this project. The way I perceive my animation is that in life, there is always going to be obstacles and challenges, whether they are big or small, to get the necessities you need. The path to success can have its troubles, but then there are those moments that are smooth sailing! What happened to the water bottle was that it ran out of water and needed to get to the sink to fill up and move on. On its way to the sink there were a few little obstacles it had to overcome to get where it needed to be. Even though it fell down, it got right back up and the water bottle kept on moving. It was determined to reach its goal! After it was filled up, it went to the fridge like it was supposed to and succeeded!

My animation portrays a very light hearted mood and has a very universal meaning, which is important to me because it allows me to connect with a wider range of people!

Optimism Pessimism

Storyboard

Stop Motion Practice

Self Portrait 2

Self Portrait