Michael's personal space project!

URLs

http://art7a2011.blogspot.com/2011/03/pun.html

http://art7a2011.blogspot.com/2011/04/daily-nexus.html

http://art7a2011.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-everyday-action-that-i-decided-to.html

http://art7a2011.blogspot.com/2011/04/random-act-of-kindness.html

http://art7a2011.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-confession.html

http://art7a2011.blogspot.com/2011/05/sequence-narrative.html

http://art7a2011.blogspot.com/2011/05/thursday-flash-mob.html

http://art7a2011.blogspot.com/2011/06/ucsb-art7a-dodgeball.html

http://art7a2011.blogspot.com/2011/06/personal-space.html

http://art7a2011.blogspot.com/2011/06/ucsb-art7a-jersey-girls.html

http://art7a2011.blogspot.com/2011/05/48-hours-in-jersey-shore-girl-life.html

ucsb art7a jersey girls

Sorry it took me so long to post this!!! I'm a retarded when it comes to technology lol

saturday: fears and concerns of the class

http://art7a2011.blogspot.com/2011/03/tuesday-march-29-2011.html

I think I was able to over come these insecurities I had at the beginning of this quarter. Critique days are not as dreaded as they use to be . I thought that this class was really god at doing critiques. I always received constructive criticism. This I appreciated a lot. I was able to take the feed back and work with my projects more. I liked knowing if they like my project too. Especially if my art work affected them in a certain way. 

I still think that other students were more creative then I was in this class. This class pushed me out of my comfort zone. I am not a performance artist at all so my mind does not work like that usually with my art work. I feel that most effective projects I created was the secret and the jersey shore girl alternate identity. I feel that these projects helped me get out of my comfort zone. I brain stormed a lot and I think it shows in those to projects. 

last friday blog:Artist and Activist

I would totally take this class! This class sounds awesome.  I like the concept for it and I like the idea of our assignments really being able to make meaning happen within our are projects for the class. I would really push myself to do more instillation art work. With type of class everyone really can make their voice an opinion known and heard. I think that some of the classes we have to take as an undergrad really don't help us with building a great portfolio for graduate school however having this class added to the list of courses we can take I feel would makes all undergrads grow and develop more into artist.

ucsb art7a dodgeball

personal space!

So I decided to set up a dodge ball area behind the Davidson Library on UCSB campus. I had wanted people leaving from class to come play a game with me. I bought four balls and made a t-shirt. My t-shirt said "Dodge my Balls". I thought this would grab peoples attention and they would want to play. I thought that having a poster would not making people look as much as seeing writing on a t-shirt. I got a lot of attention and people saw what I was doing but no body wanted to join in . I would talk to people and ask them to join but I could not get anyone to have some fun. I think that trying to do this during dead week was not affective. I feel that people are really trying to focus this week because they are all stressed the hell out. However I did get a lot of viewers.  From 9:20 to 9:40 the walk paths were packed with people waking by but everyone I talked to was going to class or leaving class o go to another class. I did not feel that my project was effective at all. I could not get participants to join which made me playing a game of dodge ball not happening.
I was really happy that once my classmates came over they were willing and excited to play a game with me. I think they had a great time and had a lot of fun. I wanted to play a game that brings back childhood memories of being on the school playgrounds playing a game of dodge ball. The balls I bought even had cartoon characters on them to play off of the childish theme. I think that if I had the opportunity I would find something better then this to do. I feel that they should have been a better outcome from it that's all.

wed.- free form!

So today was my last day of class for print 14. I completely fell in love with print making this quarter. I am taking intermediate next quarter in the fall and I cant wait to push my projects to the next level. I was very happy with my final project. I spent a lot of time working my idea out. I did a reduction block of six runs through the press machine. I made a total of fifteen prints. I also made a small series of the same image on black paper of just six prints. My final project made  me push myself a lot because i used color within my prints. All quarter I had stuck to using just black and very limited amounts of color. I am really glad I took that risk. I also forced myself to do a reduction block. Which means that at the end of the process my block was completely carved out. I was so scared to do this because when you make a mistake you cant go back to fix it.
My professor really liked my work. I cant wait to explore more themes next quarter and techniques. The print class and paper making class is having a show this friday at 5pm :)

Least favorite place

My least favorite place to go is the dentist! I hate it!!! They are always mean when I go and that makes no seance because they make a lot of money. I am a very clean person. I brush my teeth twice a day and sometimes three times a day. I falsie my teeth every day. Yet every time I go to the dentist the dental hygienics is like you need to falsie more you need to do this better and do that better. She is always a grumpy person. I think that next time I am going to bring her a Starbucks gift card so she will be nice to me. And then once she is done giving my teeth a cleaning the Dentist comes in and is like your teeth look great keep up the work. (haha) Its kind of a retarded processes shouldn't he see me before she cleans my teeth. I hate the way the tools sound like they are probing my brain. It just freaks me out because one false move and I could lose an I or end up with a scare across my face. Another reason why I don't like going to the dentist is that the dental hygienics is always up in all my business. She ask so many questions about my life and I am like damn you are a hella noise person.(haha) I feel like she is a hair dresser who never gets out to meet people so she consumes herself with my life. Those are all the reasons why the dentist is my super most least favorite place to go and I hate going every six months.

My favorite place!

My favorite place is Disneyland!!! I am a true fan. I go at least twice a year. I know everything about it. I have done so many papers and research projects on the park and on the whole company. I love going there because it is truly a place where all your dreams can come true. You can be a kid there no matter if you are 8 years old or 58 years old. It is always magical place. From walking down main street to entering Adventure Land and then into the French Quarter where the Haunted house is located. I love all the traditional roller coaster rides. I think that the simplicity of the rides keep them so fun. I like how they don't flip upside down and don't make me want to through up.(haha)
Every time I go to Disneyland I map out which rides we will go on and which shows we have to see. I plan on which places that are a must to go eat at. My family calls me a Disneyland Nazi because I like to stick to my schedule.( haha)
I have been to Disney World, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot. I just love it! I can't wait to go this summer because California Adventures has just finished creating the a new show/ ride that will have The Little Mermaid in it.( She is one of my favorites) Last year the started the water light show called World of Color which was freaking amazing! It is the best light and water show that Disney has ever produced.

Fri- Free Form

So I really want to learn how to make traditional Mexican food. I know how to cook way more then just cup a noodles for a college student but I really want to learn how to make authentic and very traditional food. I feel that my grandmother has always cooked the best meals but I never took the time to know how she does it. So this summer I am going to learn how to cook traditional Mexican food and my boyfriends mother is going to teach me. I think this will be a great way for me to learn how to cook and to learn Spanish better. My Spanish is really weak right now because I am always speaking English. My boyfriends family only speaks Spanish in the house so whenever I am over their it forces me to practice and the more I am their the better my vocabulary becomes as well. I want to learn how to make tamales. It is a long process that takes a lot of prep work . But I want to be able to make them for Christmas this year. I also want to learn how to make salsa verde. I learned last year how to make mango salsa and it is a huge hit at my house now. I just want to feel a little closer to my grandmother by being able to cook all the amazing foods she did for me when I was younger.

THURS - Which was your favorite and least favorite work presented & why?

My favorite work from today was Joshua Miranda's ninja. It was so awesome. He really got into character to make it more real. Him creating a ninja mask and ninja stars just added so much more to his whole alternate identity. His video was extremely well put together. It was a great narrative of a 48 hour period in the day and life of a ninja. The video frames of him hiding behind trees and then showing him with a circle around him was perfect. I could tell that a lot of planning went on for his project. I also loved Natalie's performance. She stayed in character the whole time and had the voice down!!! Her video was also well put together. I am glad she really used the whole campus as a part of her video showing the dorm room dinning commons. My least favorite alternate identity was Ashley's. I just want there to be more to it besides sleeping in her parking lot of her apartment. I think if she would have parked her car in a store parking lot that would have given a more homeless aspect to it. I just wanted more to her performance and I think she could have taken it farther.

WED.- Reflect on alternate identity

Personal identity is something that we think we see every day from someone. But after thinking about this for awhile I realised that most people really are not true to themselves and pretended to be someone the are not. I think everyone does this. It might be a safety thing that we all do unconsciously. In a way we all live in an alternate identity. It might not be a huge drastic change from who we are but I know for me I am really shy in class, I do not like to talk that much and I rarely raise my hand to answer questions when I know the answers. However all my friends and family know I am a really talkative person. So in school I let myself be perceived as being someone I'm totally not. 

This way of living in an alternate persona happens all the time in the social networking world. Lets start with Myspace. This social networking group is all based on images of people. The people that have this are consumed with making sure there page matches the personality they are trying to convey to the rest of the Internet world. Online dating is kind of the same way. You can make yourself seem to be someone you aren't.

tuesday presentations of personas

My favorite persona was Andrea's fraternity guy Andre. First of all I have so much respect for her lasting 48 hours in a fraternity house filled with guys. Guys can be really messy and dirty and I am a clean freak so I know I would not have lasted at all. She gave like a really cool documentation into the life of a frat guy and living in a fraternity house. She did everything they did. And it was such a masculine environment. She even began to talk like them within her video which made her performance even that much better. Her video reminded me of like a MTV "True Life" episode because it really allowed me to see everything about being a part of a frat at UCSB.

The least effective persona was the "Casual Guy". I think the idea was great I just wished there was maybe a movie documentation besides pictures. I think it would be more effective to see peoples reactions to his casual robe attire. I think it would have been great to have documentation of him at the UCEN or even at the eating commons at the dorms. Just to see how his effects his surroundings.

last lecture

So let me first start off by saying that are section was the most legit out of all the sections because we were all so invested in our persona projects. Almost everyone of us from our section was dressed up. We all took more risks and had a lot of fun doing it. Our section's TA (Desiree) presented our flash mob video. This day of flash mob was crazy fun. We did a lot of planning to narrow down what we as a section would be willing to perform and get the most attention from the viewer.  I think the rest of the class in lecture was jealous of how awesome our section was. We just did a lot more stuff. I feel that Desiree really pushed us to take each assignment to the max. I am really glad I was a part of this section because I feel that I learned so much more.

I did like what the other sections presented. The section that decided to fallow people in a line was really awesome. I wish my section would have done that one too. I could really tell from the video that all the students got involved in mimicking the people with all the same treats. I also enjoyed the narratives that the other sections had created.

48 hours in a Jersey Shore Girl life!!!!

I am trying to post the video up :(

being a Jersey Shore girl is lifestyle!!!

GTL yeah thats what i did today. It was pretty hard to day. I mean like the gym was so intense. I actually started to get burn some calories i think. But it was not a successful day look for guidos or gorillas. this gym her is totally lame. i mean like its just like Miami i need to get back to my Jersey Shore this summer only 2 more weeks and I'll be back on my shore.

But i did like my laundry but i think i accidentally left lipstick in my pocket cause all my stuff got messed up and so im never doing laundry ever again and ill just take back home so that my mom can do it for me. haha

Beach was amazing still no gorillas but i totally worked on my tan. And now im for sure a couple shades darker. Being tan just makes me feel good about myself. It makes everything better. 

any artist......

If I could be any artist I would be Shakira . I think she is an amazing artist and performer. Her voice is so unique. I think that her cross over albums are good but not as great as her Spanish albums. She really isn't afraid to speak what is on her mind. She writes her own lyrics but never takes it to far. She stays classy. She is not a sell out like so many other artists out there that make the cross over from Latin music to American pop music.

Her style is a mix that incorporates her Colombian heritage. She fights for equal education rights for people all over.

super villain.....

If I was a super villain I would have to be Gru from the movie Despicable Me. I think his character is so funny. The way his mother treats him as a kid is his motivation to prove to her that he will be the best villain ever. 

His character tries so hard to be the best villain but even his mom doesn't believe in him. This character develops over the course of the film as being more then just a villain. He adopts three girls to use him as a part of his master plan to steal the moon . The best part of Gru which makes me want to be him is that he has these minions that are so awesome. They speak their own language and they really freaking funny. They each look slightly different. But these minions are a part of his family.

Every time Gru gets an idea he says "light bulb". And now I say it all the time because its classic villain lingo. 

Oh and he has a legit theme song!

extra flash mob stuff i wanted to share!!!!

i thought this was freaking hella funny!!!

any super hero?

If I could be any super hero I would be Rogue from X-Men. She has always been one of my favorite characters. In the cartoon series that I watched faithfully as a child she had the ability to fly which I thought was awesome because at that time only Storm could fly and the Gene later was able to once she turned into the Phoenix. Growing up Rogue was a bad ass compared to the rest of the characters. She was never a victim or someone needing to be saved like Gene. Rogue had her smarts about saving people and the world as a member of X-Men. She was quick witted which made her character more appealing to me.

She could hang with the guys which was cool to me. Growing up I was a "tom boy". I played lost of sports and was very active. I was not afraid to get dirty or get hurt. So Rogue character allowed me to stay true to who I was. I did not have to worry that I did not want to be like Barbie or like Superwoman. It was not my style to be all girly with pink on every day. And she was such a tough character.

She had the abilities to take other mutants powers. She was in a was a chameleon. This to me made her so freaking legit. And she also had a super awesome hair do.

free form

My last print project was just assigned with the parameters to the assignments. I really need to take this project and push myself more. I know I need to take risks with this assignment but I am just afraid that I will take these risks but then take it to far and have to much cohos going on within my prints. Just sometimes simplicity is best but my professor thinks I need to take this project further then my last.

I have figured out my image and design and my concept behind each print. I will be making an addition of 10 prints maybe more. I will be carving a linoleum block and have a polymer plate as will. My concept will allow me to do a reduction print. On top of that reduction print I will place another print on top. This print on top will be text. I will bring in previous plates that I have made at the beginning of this class.

I want to make this project amazing since it will be in the art show at the end of the quarter but money is really tight for me right now. Unlike most of the students that attend UCSB and their parents pay for their schooling and other expenses I am not that student. I pay for college on my own. I had to get a loan. And I would get a job and go to school at the same time but with art projects it is to hard to work and create good quality work that I could maybe put in my portfolio. Being an art major is not cheap but I would not change my major no matter what so I guess I will be eating 25cent top ramen so I can by the supplies I need.

free form

So on a Sunday the Cops came to my apartment. I was not expecting them at all. I was interrogated for 15 minutes. I was questioned about who I was and how long I have lived at my apartment. It was not cool. I was questioned like I was lying or had something to hide. They did not believe me at all when I gave them my name and told them I had no idea who they were looking for. So they made me go get my wallet to show them my ID. Then they looked at it like it was fake. I have never had anyone not believe me. They kept asking me the same questions over and over again. And I understand they have a job to do but there comes to a point when it's enough. 

They then made me go wake up my roommate so they could question her. The kept asking her the same questions they asked me. And I think they made me wake her up to make sure I was lying or hiding whoever they were looking for. Come to find out they were looking for a guy that had stabbed and killed another guy in Isla Vista Saturday night. This freaked me out more because Isla Vista Cops are never around when you really need them. I also found out that the ambulance took so long to show up that the victims friends rushed him to the hospital. And the Dr. said that if he would have gotten there sooner he would have lived. A complete failure on Isla Vista and Santa Barbara Cops and Medical personnel.  

monday's lecture

The Intersections of Art and Life

Yoko Ono's "Cut Piece" has always had  an impact on me. I thought her performance was beautifully done. Her sitting there in silence made her convey more emotion. The silence of wanting peace. She put herself in the most vulnerable state and she did not look like she was scared at all. I wish I had her ability to be that confident. 

Niki Lee is just amazing. Her commitment to becoming a different person by being completely emerged that persons lifestyle. Her performance is so great that the viewer forgets that she is pretending to be someone she isn't. She takes risks and I think that is why I admire her so much. 

Tehching Hsieh has totally blown my mind away with his performances. I think that his work is so interesting and beautiful at the same time. His "Cage Piece" was unbelievable. And the way he documented it was so creative. His other performance with fellow artist Linda Montano entitled "One Year Performance" raised the bar on performances piece to the ultimate level. The dedication to be connected to someone of the opposite sex for a year and be there for every single moment is so insane to me. What stuck with me most was the story that Kip told about the two artists later having sex and then Hsiech began his next performance where he would not discuss art or make art so he had to stay away from Montano because in his eyes she was the art that he helped create. 

html's

http://art7a2011.blogspot.com/2011/03/pun.html

http://art7a2011.blogspot.com/2011/04/daily-nexus.html

http://art7a2011.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-everyday-action-that-i-decided-to.html

http://art7a2011.blogspot.com/2011/04/random-act-of-kindness.html

http://art7a2011.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-confession.html

http://art7a2011.blogspot.com/2011/05/sequence-narrative.html

http://art7a2011.blogspot.com/2011/05/thursday-flash-mob.html

pick identity

I have  not talked to Catie since last class but I thought our joint jersey shore idea would be great. However since I have not talked o her I came up with another idea which is to be a chola. I would dress, talk and act like a chola. I would in body every aspect that I have grown up knowing about the chola identity. I grew up around a lot of Mexican culture and I saw the low rider and gang lifestyles affect the people in my family.At the same time these images that our in my mind have in a way become a part of pop culture.
I will have the lip liner and drawn on eyebrows to start my look. I will wear very large hoop earrings. These simple little aspects are key to the chola look. I will wear a plaid shirt with khaki pants or jeans. I will make sure to have my gold cross around my neck as well to represent the religious aspect the is apart of the Mexican culture. I think this will be very interesting because most people see me and do not think I speak English so when they see me with all this make up and my identity completely changed they really wont know what to say to me. I want to make people question how they judge people.

Movies had been made about this lifestyle. 

alternate identity act

The first idea I had was to become mute. To not talk for 48 hours. I thought this would be interesting because it would limit so many things I do on a daily basics. I would not be able to talk or ask questions in any of my classes. And I could not be allowed to write my questions or comments down on a piece of paper.This act would affect everyone I'm around. It would really cause issues within my apartment in a way because we talk everyday about who needs to buy milk or do this dishes.

My second idea was to write everything backwards. Ever word would be backwards like this "reve dorw dluow eb sdrawkcab ekil siht " I think it makes the letters have and take a new form.

My third idea was a joint idea with Catie. We had talked about doing something together and we thought it would be really interesting if we did became jersey shore girls. I think a lot of people will be able to see by the way we will dress and present ourself's that we could be from the shore.

thursday flash mob!!!

This was the most fun I have had on campus in a long time. It really united the class together. The duck duck goose game was a great way to start the day. The location we all agreed on was perfect. We were able to have a lot of viewers because of that location ad time we selected to be out there. The round about is used by so many and I was glad it gave us a lot of attention. The best part of that game was we were able to act like kids again. n that moment we forgot about midterms and graduation and all the stresses of life and just had fun.

The first shoot out was the best! Everyone was very invested in this one. I did not see anyone laugh at all which was great because it allowed the viewers to take us more seriously. Were I was standing before the actual firing of the shoot out I was able to hear a viewer say "I want to play". I wanted to turn around and be like dude come play with us but I did not want to break character. This shoot out had so much great energy and I could tell that the whole class really enjoyed it.

The elevator flash mob was the weakest one I thought. I did not think or feel that we had enough space to perform it there. I could tell that some people were annoyed by us because I got pushed by some guy trying to get through which was not cool.

free day

So today was kind of a weird day. So first I woke up from a bad dream. It was really scary. I had a dream that I was sick. I was back home at my boyfriends. In my dream I woke up and could not stop throwing up.   He went to work and had his mom come over and take care of me. The pain was so horrible and excruciating. In my dream my boyfriend had to rush me to the hospital. I almost died cause my appendix ruptured. I woke up from my dreaming and I swear my stomach was hurting. So that was the first weird thing of my day.

Then I tripped walking up the stairs of my own apartment like a dork. My dog looked at me like I was an idiot. Then when I was taking my dog for a walk we went to the beach. As we are walking up and down the beach I saw a really awesome looking sea shell. So I bent down to pick it up and turned my back to the ocean. BAD IDEA!!!!!! The water came rushing behind behind me and my feet got soaked. I was not wearing flip flops I had my good running shoes on. And then the rest of the walk home my shoes kept making noises at two different rhythms. Ever time someone walked passed me I was so embarrassed.
That was just half of the day we will see how the rest of the day goes. grrrrrrrrrrr

my other classes

This quarter is going good but I am totally ready for summer. I have Art 14 which is beginning printmaking. I am enjoying this class a lot. I have never done any type of printmaking before so this was a fresh new way for me to develop my art work with a new medium. I have just finished my latest project for it. I did not take any pictures but tomorrow in class I will so that I can post on my blog. My project was based on a pictures that I had taken when I was in Mexico. My image that I transferred from a photograph become darker with the high black and white contrast.

My other class I am taking is an Art History class on Peru civilizations. Which I love because I have always been interested in the Pre-Colombian civilizations of South America. They have so many beautiful ways of expressing their culture. From textiles and wall carvings these cultures were very advanced. The ceramics show the many beautiful metaphors that they believed in. The way they viewed the earth as a being to respect and honor and give sacrifices to to shows their deep appreciation.

lecture monday May 9, 2011

Today's lecture was about narratives. It was really interesting to see different ways to convey narratives. From photographs to comics to movies. I thought it was very interesting how David Antin defined what was needed in a piece of work to be considered a narrative. One there needs to be a character that is faced with the possibility of transformation or change. The character must be wanting to seek this transformation out and it creates a desire. 

Duane Michals photographs were amazing. He did serious narratives with light and funny narratives. Both were executed beautifully within each frame. The one that had the most impact on me was the photographed entitled "Death Comes to the Old Lady". It was dark and beautiful at the same time. It reminded me of creep scary ghost movies. I also really like how he writes on the photographs as well. Writing makes it more personal. 

The movie we watched "La Jetee" by Chris Marker was so interesting. I really enjoyed it and I liked that is was frame shots compiled together to tell the narrative. After watching this I instently thought of all the movies that took Marker's idea and with technology adapted it more with special affects. Yet I find Marker's story so much more interesting. Simple yet captivating. One of the movies I thought about and could see how the writer would be inspired by Marker's film was the movie Inception. However I think Marker might have been inspired by the book the "Time Machine" by H.G. Wells. 

personal spac

I think I will do the glow in the dark chalk performance. I think this was the best one I came up with it. It will be interactive which is the best part about it. I really wanted to do something that engaged more with my audience and this will allow me to do that. Chalk is a non hazardous material that will wash away. I will be purchasing my chalk on Tuesday so that I know for sure or not that this will get approved.

I decided to do this in an area that will have enough traffic coming by to get participants and viewers all at the same time. So my location is still in front of the UCEN. There is a bigger walk way there that will allow viewers to stand to the side and not block the flow of traffic. I want to use the glow in the dark so that the art work can still be appreciated at night and it will have a different affect on the viewer. I picked chalk because it reminds me of my childhood. Sitting out on the sidewalk of my house on a hot summer day and being creative with the other neighborhood kids. This evokes peoples childhood memories and i figured it would be more inviting to get participants too.

art show= Alejandro Casazi

Alejandro Casazi is an artist that first started out with printmaking. He is from Colombia is was initially inspired by his environment and the way he lived and depicted it within his work. He grew up during a lot of violence and turmoil that was occurring in Colombia. He stated that in elementary school they had to practice weekly bomb attacks because real attacks would accrue at the schools. His book art entitled "Kissing the Pavement" was a series of books that would fold out to create a larger image. Up close the image looks like a mountain or landscape scene but when you move farther away it is a representation of a human laying on its side. He did a male figure for one and a female for the other. Each of these were printed and had gold leafing added to them. He came up with this idea after being attacked and mugged one night. After finding out the store it makes it so much more powerful.

My other favorite piece was this suspended balls that when held by a person would become at the same beat of the persons breathing. There was a bunch of these in a room and when they each had a person attached to them then all of the people's breathing would be connected and be at the same rate. I thought this was fascinating to have an interactive piece like this.

ideas for project

Personal Space Project

1.)My first idea is to have a hugging booth. With less then four weeks of school left every students stress level is heighten and it always feels like it is the end of the world with so many projects and papers due. So to help the students know that they are not alone a hugging booth will be established in front of the library. As they enter to cram in studying and exit more stressed then when they entered the library they can help relieve their stress by getting a hug. Hugs make everyone feel better it is proven. 

2.)My second idea is to give free palm readings to students. As the end of the school quarter arrives and seniors are graduating people want to know that there is some security with their future. So I will establish a station across from the UCEN and give out free palm readings. All of these palm readings with be positive and good readings. No negative palm readings because negative energy causes negative outcomes and I do not want to be effective by it. Of course the palm readings will be made up and wont be true to the person but positive words of wisdom help people. 

3.)My third idea is to have chalk drawing on campus. This would connect the audience I am reaching back to their own personal childhood. I would also want to do this in front of the UCEN. It would be fun and a great way to be interactive with my audience. I really wanted to do something that would reach people. I did not want to perform by myself and this would be an interesting way to see what things people decided to draw. The chalk I would get would be really colorful. I was also thinking about getting the glow-in-the-dark chalk so that at night time people could still enjoy the art on the ground. 

FLASH MOB!!!!!!

I think this is an awesome idea and I am so excited that the class has decided to perform a flash mob. I was sitting at the middle table in class on Thursday and I really thought our table came up with a great flash mob that will totally get the audience involved. Our idea was to perform a slow motion ninja flash mob. I thought this would be a great "people pleaser" because everyone loves ninjas and it reminds people of their childhood so it will be relate able for a large amount of people. 

Our table discussed playing music as we would perform the flash mob. The flash mob would have two different teams of ninjas fighting each other in a slow motion. This slow motion will allow the performance to have a Matrix like style to it. We were even thinking wearing ninja masks that you can make from a t-shirt. The slow motion effect will make it really funny, seeing people fake fight and in slow motion will get the crowd going. The flash mob would begin when when two opposing ninjas start fighting and then as more people start watching them then everyone else busts out there ninja masks and begins fighting. and to end the fight someone will yell "finish him", which is from Mortal Kombat. And then the main ninja will do some crazy move like a fist punch to the concrete and then everyone would act like they got knocked down. They will wait a little bit before getting up and then walk away. That would be the end of the flash mob. 

Fast Five

I recently saw the movie Fast Five and to my surprise it was good. Not academy award great but it was filled with lots of action sequences and drama. The movie was less about cars and more about the characters. I could tell that in this movie they wanted to really invested in the growth of the characters so that there can be more sequels to its original movie. The movie was set in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil which allowed for amazing city scape scenes to be filmed. The beach scenes were very pretty but my favorite scenes were of the barrio or the shanty town. The make shift homes with metal scrap roof tops were not a part of a stage they were the real homes of people and I thought that gave the scene more of a quite intimate moment with the audience. 

These shanty towns that were in the movie reminded me of the shanty towns of Mexico. And I am actually doing an art project about them so I think that is why I appreciated them so much more. I can see the culture and the growth of a group of people within each level that is built up. The pan scene of this shanty town allows the viewer to see how vast it is. How it climbs up the side of a mountain. 

free form

So today I go to call my mother and my phone does not work! I tried calling her five times then I tried my sister and then my boyfriend and it still did not work. Then it started giving me a voice recorded answering about that my phone number does not work from my phone. All day I have no phone and it feels like the end of the world. No texting at all! Which is not the norm for me because I text message so much that I daily have to delete my inbox. I think back to the days when I did not have a cell phone and I can not understand how I got through a day of class and after school functions with out a phone.

Today has made me realize that I have become so dependent on my cell phone it is sick. I am not even one of those crazy app people who download every new application that comes out every day but I feel completely retarded with out it. I am unable to stay connected with everyone I know. I logged onto my Facebook ten times today just to talk to my friends. People must think I'm pathetic cause every time they log on to there is they see that I am on my. I use my phone as an alarm clock and as a way to make sure I get to class on time because I do not wear a watch and I was very grateful that part of my phone was still working. My day has been stressful without a phone and I am not sure how much longer I can go. Weekend please come sooner so I can take the bus downtown to go to the stupid Verizon store.

favorite work presented

My favorite work presented thus far in lecture was the photographs by Albert Chong. I liked his representation of portraits a lot. The black and white photographs create a very interesting contrast. His combination of the human body mixed with other natural items such as egg shells and pieces of would create a very symbiotic union. The contrast of light reflecting off these different objects is very appealing. He uses very natural items and nothing is to complex within the composition of the photograph. 

What I really like was seeing a different way to do portraits. I am use to the traditional concept of a portrait but the way Albert Chong does a portrait is so much more beautiful. I have seen countless portraits with the front view of a face of the person and the light is always casted towards the front or on the side. I also really liked his way of take a picture of a picture with other materials around the actual picture. And some of the items being in color give it a nice contrast from the black and white photographs. His use of visual effects also adds to the photographs composition and it in heightens it. The body movements become a part of the whole photographs beauty. 

Kip's lecture on Spoken Word

I really enjoyed today's lecture. I took Spoken Word last quarter with Kip and it was an awesome experience.  This class taught me more about myself then I ever new. I signed up for this class not really knowing or understanding what spoken word was all about. I knew it was poetry but I did not realize how much of a performance was involved in this art expression. I took this class to become more confident with talking in front of people. I am a really shy person and I figured this way would force me out of my comfort zone.

I came out of this class as a more independent and confident person. This class made me look at other aspects of my life to gain inspiration from. I never thought I could make art in the way. This class has trained me to speak in front of people. I am not scared when I have art critiques anymore. However I still want to take this class again because I feel like I can expand more and reach new limits with this art form. I enjoyed Beau's performance. He has really perfected it. I was able to see Saul Williams perform last quarter as well and that made me realize how this art form can take many different directions to reach the viewer.

Sequence Narrative

My sequence narrative is based off of my dog. My dog is a Chiuaua with lots of personality. I went home this past weekend and I had to bring him back to Santa Barbara to live with me. My narrative is titled "The Adventures of Papi". I named it after my dog. I am from Sacramento and the drive home is six very long hours of being on the 101 to the 46 to the 41 and then finally on to the interstate 5. My narrative is a series of pictures that documents the day.

Driving the car. 

Napping behind the wheel. 

Backseat driving as usual. 

Sleeping 

Sleeping some more...

And more. 

comic book chapter 9

Chapter 9 is all about putting everything together that Scott has explained in the previous chapters. This chapter goes on to explain how we as human never really know what someone else is thinking. We do not have the capability to have telekinesis. But that is why we have art. And with creating art with different mediums we are trying to bridge the gap that is between person to person. To make one complete understanding of what the artist wants the viewer to feel and experience from the art work.

I do agree with Scott in some extent that we all live in a state of isolation. Maybe not to the degree he explains but I do feel that people do not get out of their own comfort zone. I feel that as a society we grow up thinking that art has a certain parameters and standards however that is not the case. I can look at an artifact but appreciate it for it artistic attributes.

my favorite artist = Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo has been my favorite artist since I first started really looking at art. I have always like her ability to paint honesty. She was never afraid to tell the truth or to get gritty with her paintings. That is what I always admired most. She depicted a narrative within her paintings. Some paintings would contain text that would further explain the painting. The majority of her work was self portraits. She was completely influenced by her Mexican heritage and her family roots.

I have read a lot about her life and how she became the woman she was. She was definitely a woman before her time. She never tired to be like someone else other than herself. She never painted what others wanted to see but what she wanted to paint. My favorite quote from her is " I never painted my dreams or nightmares, I painted my own reality." The use of vibrant colors relates back to her Mexican heritage and culture that is filled with vibrant and rich history. 

Art show= Ilene Segalove

I was intrigued by Ilene Segalove's work. There was a quirkiness to her works of art. From her installations to the videos you can see her development as an artist. She grew up in L.A. and her work reflects that. She had a kind of old Hollywood glam look with some of her photographs.  One of my favorite works was "Close but no Cigar". She reenacted the original image and placed her self in the same scene. This piece was very effective especially placing the images side by side to compare them. I placed my second favorite image bellow. This one was very interesting because she placed a Jackson Pollock painting with in her photograph. The painting is also in color which gives it a higher level of importance in a way. Pollock's paintings are easily recognizable and I think Segalove was using that as inspiration for her work. It is interesting to see the juxtaposition between the color of the painting and the rest of the photograph. The title of the photograph is also intriguing. She refers to the painting as a program that they will be watching. And in a way one can look at Pollock's painting and see something different every time. And the fact that is "Today's Program" means it is universally reaching all people.

Close but no Cigar

Today's Program: Jackson Pollock, "Lavender Mist"

wednesday is free day!!!!

So I have completely fallen in love with print making. Betsabee Romero has truly inspired me. Her work is so eloquently done. By using the tires of cars she carves out a design which becomes her print. The images have been displayed in galleries on scroll like pieces of paper and plastic. This tires were placed in the gallery and museums along side the prints it had made. At one museum she placed sand on the floor and had the tires roll over it to leave a print in the sand.

The use of traditional Mexican iconography is very beautiful. She mixes the different aspects of Mexican culture (the old and new) into one large print. I think it is very innovative to use the rubber of old tires to make the image block from. It has a lot of metaphor behind it. Tires are on cars and they get people from point A to point B. And this print leaves a trace of that journey for others to see. It is really impacting to the viewer to see these large trails of paper depicting the intricate details of the print. I really admire her work. 

Confessions day 3

Everyone did an amazing job today. I could tell that they used the extra weekend to amp up their projects a lot. I really enjoyed Eddy's piece a lot. The craftsmanship was well done considering he has never done stained glass before. I like his universal approach to have the confession being able to relate to everyone, male and female. I thought that The imagery was well done, not to forward but enough information to help me get to the confession being told. He tied in a the major characteristics of the Catholic religion into each of his panels. I am glad that the middle panel was very structured with lines unlike the other two panels.

Ashley's piece was very well done too. I liked her idea and the beautiful words she wrote as her performance piece. However, I feel that it would have been more effective if she would of had it memorized. I have recently taken Kip's spoken word class and memorizing the piece helps connect you to the audience. It would of had maybe even more emotions with it because she would have been making eye contact with the audience. I feel that it would of made it stronger and I would felt more pulled into her performance.

Monday April 25, 2011 lecture

Lecture 5. Personal Narrative 

1.) Based in the real
2.) includes signifying details
3.) non-transferable
4.) allows audience empathy via specificity

This lecture reinforced what art is. And for this class and I think for the rest of my art carrier art is making meaning happen. I want people to always be able to feel some kind of emotion through my art. I want to evoke all the human senses. My art work is very close to me and is always personal so I want people to feel what I was feeling in that moment that I decided to capture.

This picture is an amazing narrative. Learning how the photographer risked his life to take it and knowing that this man being photographed was not trying to be a hero but was standing up for what he believed in. 

Every image goes on to tell a story. We look at them and we want to know what is happening and we want to know the out come of these peoples lives. This image is making meaning happen. 

Making meaning happen does not have to evoke a sad emotion , it can evoke happiness and love. Sally Mann's images do just that. They are beautiful rendered and show a childes innocents. 

Personal narrative is hard not to have in a piece of work. The art work becomes a part of you and you a part of it. So maybe all art is in a way personal narrative in different forms. 

Robert Raushenberg

Robert Raushenberg has always inspired me. Not only with my own art work but just in life in general. His art work has made people learn to look again and to really understand the piece of art. His use of mix media has always been well thought out and it is always intentional within his work. This piece above has always been one of my favorite works of art from him. The burns in a way form the shape of the United States. The arched back of the male in the image is like he is hiding. The placement of the American flag with the burnt affect a crossed it leaves a silent impression of the American dream and the American past. 

My Confession

Ch.7 & 8

Chapter 7 was about the six steps to creating art. The six steps that are life the scientific method but for art. They are 1. idea/purpose, 2. form, 3. idiom, 4. structure, 5. craft, and 6. surface. This chapter was interesting because as an artist we have to go through these steps and similar other ones to come up with painting, sculpture, poem, performance, and all other types of art work. Brain storming ideas help weed out the less creative ideas from the amazing ideas. This chapter discussed about how self expression of art is in a way the pursuit of the artist finding the truth. Artist are in a way like scientist they are searching and discovering new ways to create art and to push the boundaries more and more each time.

Chapter 8 discussed the usage of color in art and how color has a huge impact. This chapter was the most captivating because the rest of the book is in black and white and then you get to this chapter and the color is everywhere. I felt like i appreciated it more and could really see every square as a little art work compared to the rest of the book. Color has a way of conveying emotions and expressing those emotions to the viewer which brings them into the art work.

random act of kindness

My random act of kindness was more of a helping hand. The other day I was in the print lab working on my project for print 14 class, another student was in there working on her assignment too. We were both very focused on our projects and did not notice time going by. The other girl looked up and realized she had class in 5 minutes. She started to freak out because she was using the automatic press machine and it takes a at least 30 minutes to clean it completely. She was rushing trying to clean it so I told her that I would do it for her so she would not be late to class. I had time because I did not have class for the rest of the day. She was so grateful that I did not mind doing it. I had been in the same spot she was in before and I ended up being late to class.  So I cleaned her press machine and the station she was working at and put working on my project on hold. It felt good to do something nice for someone else and not expect anything back but just do it . I hope that one day maybe someone will be there for me when I lest expect to lend a helping hand.

confessions day 2

Wow today was intense!!! Everyone did an amazing job today. I could tell that a lot of time went into today's performances/ presentations. I enjoyed all of them. Each one had a different approach and different medium used. I loved Catherine's performance. The choice of music that was during the performance turned into a heart monitor flat lining was chilling. The fast flash frames of beautiful photographs allowed me to be pulled farther into her performance. I like how she blindfolded herself so symbolize how she was left out of what had happened to her grandmother. Her performance was very touching and breath taking.
I also really enjoyed Max's performance too. It was extremely effective with the lighting changes and the scene changes were he became some else was also great. He spent a lot of time thinking his performance out. The language and tone of his voice made the acting convincing. He immersed the audience into each scene.

I really like Amanda's a lot. I like how she made foot prints that changed colors the more she walked up the paper. Her writing the words was nice it helped me understand her performance before she explaned it. The only thing that I would change would just get a long piece of paper. So that there would be a longer trail of foot prints. But besides that it was great .

Enrique Martinez Celaya

I recived a lot from this presentation. Enrique Martinez Celaya is a Cuban born artist. He went into science first because that is what his parents wanted. I really could relate with him about this. My parents struggled to give me the opportunities that I have and they also wanted me to go into science and become a doctor. I struggled with wanted to please my parents and wanted to be genuinely happy with my life. I am glad to know that people have had a similar experience as me. 

His work is amazing. And amazing in the large scale of it. He goes from wood sculptures to large paintings. He takes big risks with his work but it pays off. Each painting emits emotions when looking at it. My favorite paintings were the simple ones that were just black and white with very minimal detail. The shape is all that is need to understand what Enrique Martinez Celaya s trying to convey. During his presentation he shared with us a question that others would ask him "Was it worth it?". I never thought about things with that question but I like that idea of asking myself that to see if I have taken my art work as far as it can go. By asking this question I will know if I took risks and pushed boundaries. 

free form

So I have been working on this art project for my Print 14 class which is beginning print making.  I had to make a linoleum block and cut out an image/ design and then I had to also make a another block by a using polymer plate with Rubylith. I was very excited about taking this class because of the assignments that would be forcing me to try new things. I have never taken a print class so at times the class is a challenge for me but that s what I like most. It forces me out of my comfort zone.

So my project for this assignment made me brain storm a lot about what I wanted to do. I knew that I wanted to have something that was good enough to put in my portfolio. So I took the idea of idealization of people and translated that from two different aspect and merged the ideas together. I took the religious image of Our Lady Of Guadalupe and merged it with the a photo of Frida Kahlo. So I took very iconic images that are recognizable throughout the world and created a new image. I elevated Frida Kahlo to what Our Lady of Guadalupe symbolizes for so many people, a consent mother to all.

I am not done with my project but I will post images of my work as soon as I am not making the prints.