Class Reflection 4/27

Yesterday's class was a slow day because I was unable to work on my project. I am waiting for the glowsticks in the mail; they should be arriving tomorrow. However, I did do some planning for my project. I have decided to link the glowsticks together and make them into a fence. It will then hang between two trees on the edge of Thornden Park. I want to film the process it takes to put this together, and show this footage as documentation for the final critique.

Learning Reflection 4/20

The in-process critique was very helpful for me today.  The idea that I want to carry out for the street art project is creating a glowstick mural.  I was able to discuss this idea with my peers and come up with a few different ways for going about this project. I had originally planned for the glowstick hanging to be placed on a building, preferably on the quad. However, I am now considering creating a wire frame for the image, and tying the glowsticks on to the frame once they are cracked.  This activity would have to be carried out in the dark, so I was thinking of doing it somewhere on campus because I feel as though it is safer at night than an unfamiliar location off campus.  I am also thinking of suspending the image between two trees.  I just need to find some wire that is strong enough to hold a large amount of glowsticks. I am still unsure of how large this  project is going to be, so I ordered 100 eight-inch glowsticks off of a bulk discount party store website.  

Street Art Sketches: 4/20

Grades as a Discourager

I know that I work better when I do not have the pressure of grades pushing down on me.  I am told by almost all of my professors that grades do not matter, and I completely understand that they don't. However, my parents do not see it the same way.  I feel as though anyone outside of students and faculty in art school do not understand this mindset.  I am unable to be as creative under pressure as I would be making art on my own.  This is why I enjoy painting and making things so much during my free time.  My work is much more creative and free this way.  I need to find a way to psychologically trick myself into this mindset for all aspects of my work.  At this point, I am unsure what to do other than to simply ignore the grades. 

Learning Reflection 4/13

I feel as though my photoshop skills were really improved while working with the absent image project. I am satisfied with my first project (the removal of people walking on the street, while leaving the shadow); however, I am going to chose another image with more meaning to work with for next week.  So far, ideas I have are a photo of the Taj Mahal, or some other important building.  

I am looking forward to the street art project we're starting to work on. I am thinking of possibly making words out of plexiglass or some other type of clear material and placing them around the city.  I love the fact that this project is so open to materials and locations.  

"Stealing the Mona Lisa" response

"One primary reason that artists create images is to distract other people from looking at the artists herself." -Darian Leader

Looking makes people uncomfortable, myself included.  I can almost always feel a gaze, which I think is something that most people are sensitive to.  There is something about the eyes that is so powerful and intimidating; if the onlooker is a stranger, it makes the eyes even more so.  Gazing seems to indicate that there is something wrong, or some sort of spectacle.  Spectacles are more interesting for the spectator than for the person involved in the spectacle, because they are being called out by onlookers.  I agree with Leader's comment to some extent.  I am sure that in some cases art is created to distract from the artist.  The actual work would then become the spectacle rather than the person; it is almost as if the art takes the heat of the stares from the onlookers instead of the artist.  Art can take judgements and gazes much better than any human can.  However, I also think that art calls attention to the artist. Whenever I view a piece of art, I try to draw conclusions about the creator. I think about what they were perhaps intending with the work, the emotions inherent in it, and the meaning behind the choice of medium. These questions all lead me back to the artist, so I believe that someone cannot always hide behind their creativity.  Art is soul and emotion in physical form, therefore it is a piece of the person that created it.  When someone gazes at a piece of artwork, there is no difference between the artist and the art itself.  

Learning Reflection: 4/6

Things I learned today in class:

I have no previous photoshop experience, so today's lesson was especially helpful.  I now know how to utilize tools such as the healing tools that are essential to use in the upcoming "Absent Image" project.  So far, I am unsure which image to work with for this project.  I want to some kind of iconic image, but have been unable to find one that is suitable.  

Before this class, I had no idea that you could specify the resolution on a Google image search.  This tool will prove particularly helpful when looking for an image that will not have large pixels when dragged into photoshop.  

I am aware that this project will take a lot of practice in order to seamlessly digitally remove part of an image.  With this in mind, I intend to find an image in the next day or so, and start practicing in photoshop.