Retouching Self Portrait

 

For this assignment, I wanted to comment on the allurement society has to an individual's eyes. The skewed idea of beauty in today's society is because of the etreme photoshopping and altering of normal faces to be extreme in terms of "beauty."  It makes me question what beauty even means. Everyone has their own ideas of what they believe to be beautiful, so how is it possible have a norm for the term? Something I do know is that eye contact is valuable to attract individuals. I played with this idea in my image, using size and color to emphasize my eyes. It came out a little creepy, but I really like how my gaze turned out.

Before these projects, my understanding of Photoshop was very limited. I have successfully learned and now understand the possibilities of masking images, and the importance of layers in the document. I have also learned a lot about the tools used for certain effects and will continue to explore the possibility in future classes.

Cloud Composite

Our next assignment required us to create a composite image that reflected the ideas and themes we explored with our Tag Clouds. After reading Sweeny's article, I was immediately drawn to the idea of cyborgs. When thinking about cyborgs in network societies, I thought about the raltionship between a real individual and their "cyborg" or network selves. I began my search with CYBORG which went to CONNECTION and then to IDENTITY and finally ended on IMITATION. With my image, I decided to create something that looked like a lost individual. At first I placed a human sitting in the center of a labyrith but then realized that my message could not be portrayed with a human being and instead replaced her with a sad-looking robot. On the edge of the labyrinth is a computer graveyard; he is surrounded by dead technologies forcing him to further contemplate his existence. The labyrinth is masked by a circuit board, symbolizing the scattered information that network societies have on real people. I then added informational words that are often asked about one's identity so that the cyborg can be as close to the real person as possible. Things like marital status, hobbies, favorites, and date of birth among the few. Once I "finished" the project, I looked at my image closer and realized it needed something more. 

I thought about René Magritte's The Treachery of Images and the message of imitation he conveyed. "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" or,"This is not a pipe" captioned the bottom of his painting. Magritte's point was to focus on the idea that is was an image of a pipe, rather than an actual pipe. This message went right along with what my image was trying to say. The robot or cyborg above is not an actual person, but rather and imitation of a real human identity. This is when I changed "pipe" to "personne" and added the caption to the bottom of my image making it complete.

Magazine Cover

It was quite difficult for me to understand this assignment at first. After reading and reviewing the Layers of Interpretation, I decided to focus on intertextuality: or a visual theme seen in many different texts, or forms. For my magazine cover, I decided to go with the topic of heroes and epic adventures. The voyages of heroes make for compelling and exciting stories that are told over and over again for many years. For example, the mythologies of Roman and Greek heroes like Aeneas and Odysseus have been told for many years. Other classic adventure tales like the Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Percy Jackson and the Olympians are popular among readers today. But books and tales are not the only way to encounter adventure. Many video games are based on heroes fighting to save princesses, rescue baby dragons, recover family heir-looms, or simply kill the bad-guy! These are entertaining for gamers because the get to play as the hero who ventures to accomplish his/her goal. The last form of adventure I included in my magazine cover was a comic book series: Scott Pilgrim. It tells the story of an average kid who saves his friend from dangerous situations.

By looking at the theme over different areas of entertainment, I explore the idea of intertextual interpretation of media involving epic adventures and the variety heroes who participate in them.

Cloud Visuality

1. Select one Big Idea concerning technology broadly defined: Cyborgs 

2. Brainstorm a list of themes that apply to this big idea 

a) Connections 

b) Identity 

c) Imitations

3. Explore synonyms to these themes.
a) Associations, relationships, bonds
b) self, identifications, personality
c) fraud, impersonations, replica

Response to A Middle School Cirriculum

J Bean's A Middle School Curriculum provided me with great insight in what I should expect when teaching early adolescents. Because I was a part of this demographic about a decade ago, I can still recall the awkwardness that was middle school. All the girls matured way faster than their male counterparts, and ended their growth in height, whilst the boys had yet to fully "sprout." Braces, glasses, and pimples were all a huge part of our everyday concerns, but in actuality it was only because they were focused upon in our peer groups, or scrutinized by our enemies. After a year of being picked on in upper-elementary school, middle school was prime time for me to make new friends. The acceptance into a peer group was something I strived towards. I found a great deal of comfort in my middle school art room and it was there I made and kept a good number of my friends. Our teacher gave us a great deal of freedom after realizing how much we wanted to spend time in the art room. We were the first year she created Art Club! (this was in 2002ish?) The search for my own sense of well-being came easily with such positive artistic experiences. It was here I learned of my love for art.

My 8th grade unofficial class picture - the silly version

I feel like identity search is a fundamental part of this time in one's life. Self- esteem, self concepts, and self-perceptions can greatly influence the way one acts in certain social situations. I feel that this can be a fun way for art educations to en corporate a unit on Identity into their curriculum. Though they may not know what they want to be when they grow up, or where they're headed in life... these ideas can be explored in the art room, to possibly nudge them in the right direction as it did for me.

The article talks about how students are often experiencing many adult-like situations. Whether it be at home, in school, on the streets, or with their friends, these children are learning how to be adults. Not only are middle schoolers going through tough physical growth, but they are growing intellectually and socio-emotionally as well. Slowly, they are learning how to be (small) members of their communities. They are working hard to get through this awkward time in their lives, which I'm sure causes many teachers to think of them as just "kids." Kids, perhaps, but kids who are dealing with the same issues as adults.

By addressing the social and personal concerns of early adolescents, teachers can incorporate adequate themes into their curriculum that will enable self discovery and growth in their classrooms

This is a link to a clip from a Nickelodeon show called "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide" regarding bullies. There was no embed code, nor a clip on youtube but the whole show is a great example of the issues kids undergo during their middle school years.

Sweeny's Big Idea

In Sweeny's article, he explores the concept of the "Big Idea" through the use of technology and Social Networks in modern Art Education practices. To examine the nature of the social networking world, Sweeny borrows some ideas from William Gibson  to explain the complex network of the digital age. To better understand the implication of artistic creation in the network society, a few metaphors are drawn: the cyborg, the clone, and the parasite.

The "Big Idea" of the metaphoric cyborg could create a huge interest in the classroom. Consider the fact that these ideas were merely ideas not but a few decades ago, and now cyborgs play a huge role in network societies. What exactly is a cyborg? It can be defined as a theoretical person who's mechanical parts of the body extend that of the average human abilities or... the you on the web! According to Sweeny, cyborgs have "changed notions of identity and visuality" which gives art educators the opportunity to use these as a means of further exploration of the issues and roles of cyborgs in networking societies such as Facebook, Twitter, or even AIM (a program I often used growing up in the digital age). These websites create cyborgs that represent the real you-- all quite personal. Because of the information you give to the network societies, the ability to create a realistic digital version of yourself that properly interacts with other cyborgs becomes a reality. You check these networks sites regularly, hoping to have been invited to an event created by your cyborg-ex-boyfriend. It's a little unnerving if you think about it in such terms. Students can reflect upon their cyborg statuses (which I'm sure will evolve from now) to create and explore notions of their self within the network society.

The following music video is a favorite of mine from 2009 which I thought of when responding to this article... Marina and the Diamonds - I Am Not A Robot

Surrealist Collage

Surrealism allows for students to think outside of society's social "norms" and create images that can represent a dream-like world in connection to every-day life. By using magazines or books or other found pictures, students collect images that may or may not share a connection. While choosing these images, students can cut them out, and play with their locations on the paper in front of them. A conversation about collage artists who create dream-like, illusionist, and bizarre new pictures from already-existing images will ensue in the classroom.
Using Dada collage artist, Hannah Hoch as a prime example in the classroom, I would introduce my students to the idea of a collage-based surrealist game. We could talk about why these images seem dream like, and where the originals may have come from. For example, Hannah Hoch's piece above is a collision of eyes.  What is she trying to say about these eyes? Why did she arrange them in that certain way? What do the colors/patterns behind the eyes tell you about her over-all choice to arrange them in such a way? This sort of discussion will get the students to think about how they can incorporate their own drawings into an image.
When working with each other, students could explore the many ways in which their drawings can be incorporated into their collages. I came up with my own Surrealist game to go with this lesson, considering the article did not suggest a game on this topis. I would have my students split into groups of 3-5 and work on a collaborative "Pass the Paper" drawing. The first student would take 15 seconds to draw whatever he/she wanted and then pass it to the next student who, after looking at the previous drawing, would continue in their own way. The circle continues and the drawing evolves. This teaches the students to draw from a previous image and alter it with their individual creativity.

Example:

Response to Walker's Big Ideas and Artmaking

The concept of the "Big Idea" that Sydney Walker introduces in Teaching Meaning in Artmaking allots for making art that has a significance. The "Big Idea" is just that, an overall theme that is explored with the media at hand. These ideas usually revolve around issues in today's societies that students can easily connect with a draw inspiration for artwork. Big Ideas allow for students to focus on the meaning of the artwork, rather than be solely centered around technical skills. In the art room, it is important for students to feel a connection to their artwork, and Art Educators who use "Big Ideas" in their lessons can influence this sort of meaningful art production.

Not all artwork must incorporate an overall theme or Big Idea. Though, this may make the artwork more powerful, and keep the attention of viewers... it is not the only thing that can influence strong work. I know that many artists create work spawned from their own emotions and often are a result of spontaneity. This type of artwork has an underlining theme that can sometimes only be explained by the artists themselves, and does not emit a "Big Idea" that all views can relate to and/or understand.

Big Ideas are a superb way for art educators to create meaning to their students' inspirations, and consequentially, their artwork. Thematic undertones allow students to think about their artwork in a more conceptual way, a put a lesser emphasis on the technical skill, which is equally as important, but often the only thing taught in the classroom.