Blog Posts

Wk 16- Art Experience – Remix Culture

I used an app called “Picsart” to create this remixed photo of my friend and I graduating high school during the moon landing while a cat runs by! I wanted it to be a bizarre photo edit, and the first thing that came to my mind for the background was the moon. I also love cats, and wanted to put people in the picture as well. The only thing I wasn’t happy with was the blur around the added photos, but I couldn’t fix it without cutting off parts of the body. Overall I love the picture!

As far as copyright goes, I don’t entirely understand it. I get that songs should be copyrighted so that they aren’t stolen or used for profit. I think it needs to modified in the way that someone using their favorite song for a sentimental video to post should not be taken down. Aside from that I feel like the rules for copyright make sense.

Internet Culture is such a tricky thing. I think for one instance internet culture does a great job at educating people on serious issues or raising awareness about important subjects/injustices. Internet culture has the power to start someone’s career, start a movement and so many more beneficial things. However, Internet culture also brings fear through threatening posts, blowing things out of proportion or bullying.

Wk 15- Art Experience- 2D Art

I had a relatively good experience with this project. I kept redoing the bubble letters to a point where I felt bad about wasting paper. So, I decided to just stick with it and like it rather than trying to make it perfect. I think it turned out well for someone with no artistic ability!

Wk 14- Art Experience – Sustainable Art

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I decided to make a tiny town! I hope that counts as a sculpture! I wanted it to be a miniature town in my backyard. I used wood pieces from excess that my brother had after building himself a bed frame. I cut the pieces of wood into triangular and square shapes. I think my piece expressed what I was trying to. However I feel like I could have added more detail, I just wasn’t sure how. The wood was hard to detail, so I could have used another medium. 

I think that a kiss should last as long as the spark is there. The joy that comes from a great meal should last until you take the last bite. A work of art should last as long as someone is enjoying it or gaining some sort of emotion about it. I think a marriage is a tricky thing. I don’t think it should continue if there is no love left, because there is nothing worth fighting for. Lastly, I wish a human life could last forever. I genuinely believe that if I was given the opportunity to turn into a vampire and live for hundreds of years I would take it. But in reality, I believe a human life should last until someone dies of old age. I feel like a good life should be lived for as long as it can. I think that when things have a finite time on Earth, we appreciate them more. Human life, and art work, are both two delicate things that deserve lots of love, and when we know that one day we can lose those things, we are more grateful for them. I do believe land, air, and water should be long lasting but they should be treated properly in order to do so. I do also believe that one single person can make a difference. If we each chose to make a difference then it would contribute to the greater picture and a bigger solution.

Wk 13 – Art Experience – Virtual Art Gallery

The idea I have chosen to explore is Surrealism and the night sky. These two go together beautifully, as the night sky can also be full of light and contrasting colors. Ordinarily the sky at night looks almost as if it is fake because of the greatness of it. When the surreal element is added in this, the photos give off a ‘too good to be true’ effect because of the amount of entrancing aspects in them. The three digital artists I have chosen to represent this idea are Justin Peters, Erik Johansson, and Marco Zagara. I have chosen these three artists because of their remarkable editing abilities, and because their art is so realistic and mesmerizing.

Justin Peters

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Justin Peters is a digital artist from Germany who combines his imagination and reality by using Photoshop. Justin Peters uses unique photo manipulation to merge high quality photos into surreal pictures. I think the most important parts of his work are where he chooses to focus the lighting. In his photos with the night sky, he makes sure that the focal point of the picture is where the light source is (often the moon), but he doesn’t eliminate any other aspects of the picture.

Erik Johansson

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Erik is a photographer from Sweden who also merges photos through Photoshop to create his digital art. He claims that he does not capture moments, but he captures ideas. I think the most important point of his work is his ability to make the photo look more like a painting than a photograph, which provides a greater sense of surrealism. Additionally, his photos have great depth to them to give the environment of each photo a greater story.

Marco Zagara

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Lastly is Marco Zaraga. Marco is a self-taught visual artist based in Italy. He uses Photoshop to create digital images like the ones shown above. Marco is my personal favorite because of his attention to detail. If you look at the pictures he has created, it seems as though he spent a great amount of time perfecting every single detail in the photo. Not only are his photos incredibly pleasing to look at, but they also make the viewer feel small, and highlight the idea that the world is far larger than any of us.

Wk 12- Art Experience – Vlogs

https://youtu.be/vxhEXPtUdX0

The goal of my video was to show how I spent one of my days being productive rather than just laying in bed. I think I accomplished my goal because I included everything I did in the video. If I could do something differently I probably wouldn’t have used Time Lapse when taking each video, because then the video would’ve been longer. But in this case, I think the time lapse helped show how long it took. I don’t know that I’ll ever vlog again just because I don’t think I am very entertaining. 

My favorite youtuber is David Dobrik. He makes video montages of what he and his friends do throughout the week, and well, when someone has as much money as David does, they do ridiculous things. I find his work appealing because every week he does something different. Sometimes he will spend money to fly out to Las Vegas for one night just to play poker, or rent a party bus just to drive around with his friends. He has very famous people in his videos as well. Overall, the videos are funny and it looks like he is having so much fun making them. I would love to make montage videos like he does, however I don’t think my life is nearly as exciting as his. 

I believe Authenticity is someone’s true self, their originality, and genuineness. To be authentic you have to not care about what other people are thinking, and do things for yourself. I think performance is the opposite, where you are putting up a front to impress those around you. I think they can exist together in some ways. For example, when someone is at work it is likely that they are more civil, kind, and professional. Whereas at home, they can be sloppy, loud or unprofessional. In regards to those videos of Jennifer Aniston, I think she is authentic in both. Obviously she is wearing makeup while on television, but her tone of voice and the way she speaks sound the same and genuine. However, the video of her at home could be classified as more authentic because she talks about watching old videos she found rather than making an Instagram.

Wk 10- Art Experience- Drawing (Automatic) + Campus Map

This was one of my favorite activities. As far as the campus map goes, I only really knew where the locations that have affected me personally. I could picture campus in my head, and I think I did a good job of getting all the big things, but I didn’t know building names, and I’m sure I missed quite a few things, especially the stuff behind the library. It was challenging because our campus is so big! I started at the top of the paper, but by the time I got to the bottom there wasn’t space for lower campus, the housing buildings, the pyramid. Drawing this map made me miss CSULB during all this chaos!

For the automatic drawing, I used my mom as a partner. We had so much fun which is why I liked it so much. Although the product wasn’t fantastic, and looked like a kindergartner drew it, we were able to spend quality time laughing together. The drawing turned out the way I pictured, not a masterpiece.

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Wk 8 – Art Experience- Romanticism Song

Lyrics:

Swans danced across the sky

Obviously this caught my eye. 

The dogs jump higher than the clouds, 

The whole world seems so loud. 

I look at you and all I see

Is a handsome man looking back at me

The grass is always greener but not to me 

The grass is always greener but not in reality 

The grass is always greener but I am happy 

The moon looks like a piece of cake 

I stand alone and stay awake 

To the end of the night til we finally unite 

In my head the horses sing

All the bells, they never ring

My imagination sure runs wild 

Sometimes I feel I’m still a child

The grass is always greener but not to me 

The grass is always greener but not in reality 

The grass is always greener but I am happy

In my song I was honestly just trying to think about how to make a song sound Romantic by using my imagination to find creative and rhyming lines. I began to write this song by thinking of something bizarre in my head and then finding things to rhyme with it. I added in realistic lines to the chorus. I hated this, I couldn’t even think of what rhythm would go to this song. I think it was unsuccessful, and I will not be writing another song, not only because I didn’t like this assignment, but because I don’t have any talent for song writing.

Wk 7- Art Experience- Counterfactual Identity

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This experience was interesting. Above, you can see what I regularly wear (left), and what I wore for this experiment. I put on a nice dress and went to go hang out in a friend’s dorm. When I walked in, everyone had asked “Where were you, why are you dressed like that?” I expected those replies. I wouldn’t normally go out like that. I was uncomfortable especially because I felt like I was sticking out, and didn’t fit into the “normal” outfit ideals for a regular night. Then we decided to go to In N Out for dinner. Obviously I received a lot of stares because I was the only one dressed in a nice dress. My friends did not treat me any differently than they normally do. I have come to the conclusion that with this specific experiment, that my appearance didn’t matter with the people I knew because my personality didn’t change. However, the people inside In N Out probably assumed that I was dramatic or something of the sort.

Wk 6- Art Experience – Shocking Art!

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I chose the idea of littering because I noticed it is a problem, not only on campus but in the world in general. With this photo, I am trying to communicate that leaving flyers, though they may be for a cause with good intentions, leads to litter on campus/ in general. I think I did a good job at communicating my point. If I did it again I would find a place on campus or in public that has more trash/posters on the ground. Another idea I would like to explore through shocking art is the idea of Women’s bodies, and all the different shapes and sizes they come in, which seems to be a shock to society when they see models that don’t fit societal norms.

Wk 5 – Art Experience – Storytelling (Photography)

I chose my story of getting a burrito to eat in Santa Barbara because I was planning on getting a burrito and wanted to document it. I think I did a perfectly fine job, as I took a picture of every step I did. My best photo is the picture of the delicious burrito itself. The image of my leftovers, or the image of my shoes would not be good photos alone, but they demonstrate parts of my story. Next time I would plan better, as I would hope to tell another story perhaps about a serious issue next time.

Wk 4- Art Experience- Drinking and Drawing

I thought some of this project was fun. I enjoyed drawing the trees, but I didn’t enjoy everything else. I was frustrated drawing the portraits. I did think drawing a cup of tea on my actual tea was a fun idea though! I’m sure that if I decided to put hundreds of hours into practicing drawing, I would become a much better and detailed artist. Due to the fact that drawing frustrates me, I don’t see that happening. I am majoring in Film and Electronic Arts, so I could see drawing coming into the major when I need to draw out a storyboard. Additionally, I think drawing could be used as a language. A picture says a thousand words, and when words cannot express a feeling, sometimes a detailed drawing can.

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Wk 3- Art Experience – You can Find Art Anywhere!

We took a photo of some sort of figure, which I assume was made to be a sculpture. It is a big, black, metal object in front of a building on a hillside at CSULB. At first, it was not very pleasing to look at. When we placed the rectangle in front of it and took a photo at an upwards angle, the art changed. It began to look like a Pac-Man figure eating one of the windows on the building behind it. That black figure itself will still be a form of art to someone, however, to me- it lost its magic when the rectangle went away. Art could be music, words, paintings, sculptures, or anything of the sort. As I have said before, I believe that art is not in the object or the form. It is in the emotion that it makes the viewers feel. For example, when comparing a trashcan to a song that makes you cry, evidently the song would be the art. If a piece of art, or something someone wants to call art, is giving the viewer an experience within themselves, then I would consider it art.  

Wk 2 – Art Experience- Finger Painting

I absolutely hated finger painting. It was impossible to make the colors look like they should be there. I wanted it to look pretty and presentable, and the colors I used looked bad together. I don’t like making abstract art because I like to have a set idea of what I’m painting, and know that I achieved the goal of making that painting. Whenever I paint I like to paint specific things or scenes, not just random lines and such. 

Wk 1 – Art Experience- Maintenance Art

While performing Maintenance Art at the “Now” sculpture outside the USU, I felt as though I was cleaning rather than doing any sort of art. However, it was nice to see students coming together, and I was happy to be cleaning it because of how dirty the sculpture had become.

Mierle Laderman Ukeles cleaning the steps of an art museum is visually a different approach to art than Richard Serra flinging molten lead against a wall. They are both the same in the instance that both of the creators wanted to be recognized as artists. I think that Richard’s approach would be considered to be the more classic art piece. Meanwhile, I think that Mierle was seeking recognition for all the hard work women put into life, and wanted it to be known as a form of art too. 

Mierle Laderman Ukeles’ Maintenance Art performance was art because she declared it was. Art is something that was created to make people realize something or feel a certain emotion, whether it be in the form of paint, song, a performance, or anything along those lines. The location of her performance did not need to be at an Art Museum for her to call it art. I believe that if she was a janitor, and while doing her job someone called it art, then she would have made an impression on that person for them to call it art. Art is art because of the stimulation it brings, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a bright and pretty painting. The medium doesn’t define the title. A canvas painting can be art if someone is impacted by its beauty or meaning, and the same goes for the painting of a house. Art is something that a person is proud enough to expose to others because of its ability to make someone feel something. 

I hate the term “Women’s work”. What is that even supposed to mean? It’s 2020 and we are still separating everyday things -that ANY human being should be able to do- from those that a woman does? That is degrading and demeaning. In both Jennifer Lopez and Mierle Laderman’s “Women’s work” pieces, there is a clear indication that the cooking, cleaning, and other household chores are being classified as exclusively women’s work; while women are capable of so much more. All the things women do, not only around the house, but in their professional lives as well, should be considered art if it is stimulating another person’s emotions. They do so much and are artists of everyday life. 

I cannot say there is anyone on Hollywood Blvd that I would get on my hands and knees for. The people on the walk-of-fame have the money to hire someone to clean their star, so there is no point for me to do that. The only person I would get on my hands and knees to clean their star is Harry Styles, and at this day and time he does not have a star on Hollywood Blvd.