Blog 5

Looking back at this semester, I see that I was very optimistic about what we we're learning and how we were approaching it (through open dialogue and constant feedback). However, as the semester progressed I became increasingly more frustrated with the assignments and the class. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy it, it's quite the contrary. It was the idea that even though class was informative, it was taking time away from work time. I feel as though I put too much thought into the papers, expecting too much to be accomplished by them. I dug myself in too deep. That's pretty much the whole shebang. I plan too much for the time allotted to me. I feel as the semester went on my writing got worse due to my push for more complex ideas and papers. If I were to take this class over (hopefully I don't have to), I would pick simpler topics, spend more time on quality than quantity, and stop forgetting these blogs and the digital dropboxes. In one respect, I wish I could have done much better, but in another respect, I don't see how I could have done better than I did. I gave this class everything I could and in some sense I'll be proud of anything I eventually get out of constantly forgetting the small procedures that have hindered my success in this class. I think this class may have temporarily diminished any desire I've had for writing but I has helped me articulate my observations more clearly, which is incredibly useful as a Fine Arts student. I think this class will inspire me to keep a journal in collaboration with my sketchbooks in a way that links the two subjects and ideas of expression together. Thinking about my in class writing assignment on the first day, that's all I really wanted out of this class.

Photoshop Retouches

The Past Week In News

Chip Kidd ...

Was beyond words and a truly cathartic experience. It was exactly the rejuvenation needed for an increasingly disinterested art student struggling to find the momentum to finish off a lagging college semester. Kidd transcended the realm of the artist and created a persona that is normal to him and spectacular to others. From stunningly ironic character voices to recycled ideas which he claimed to have brilliance, Kidd, acting as a kid, remind me of what it meant to be an artist.

Photoshop Manipulations

Photoshop Drawing

Carlos Graupera Homage

Self Portraits

Waking Life

Waking Life was a very interesting and provocative movie both in its presentation and in it's dialogue. The movie sets itself in a stream of consciousness. Each frame originally shot in live action is then drawn on buy several artists changing its rendering to animation. While your eyes are captivated by the immense craftsmanship and your stomach is somewhat queezy from the subtle changes in each frame, your ears fall upon insightful conversations on existentialism, poverty, philosophy, and other political and socio-economic topics. I found it to be an amazing movie.

Carlos Graupera

Carlos Graupera (January 27, 1972 - ) is an artist currently residing in Brooklyn, NY. Born in Lancaster, PA, Graupera attended a small private school where he learned traditional drawing and painting techniques. His painting techniques broadened while attending Millersville University studying under Robert Andrulli, a well known local artist. After recieving and undergraduate degree, Graupera participated in Teach for America, educating students in southern Texas for several years. In the mid 90's, he went on to recieve his MFA at American University in Washington, DC. It was here that Graupera's paintings and drawing took a more political approach while stylistically embracing paiting techniques of painters such as Max Beckman. In the summer of 2006, Graupera moved to Brooklyn, NY where he is currently an elementary school teacher and soon to be a father of two. While Graupera's work has always seemed to carry on a disticnt narrative more recent paintings tend to reflect on personal situations rather than the story of others. As the personal narratives develop the painting itself expands and loosens itself as Graupera, "tries to keep the painting as loose and free until the last possible moment."

An Illustrated Dog

God used CS4

I am an abstract painting. (Blogger inverted all of my colors)

I am an abstract painting - or maybe something a little more representational.

Helvetica, Helvetika, Hell-Vetica

Helvetica has opened my mind in a way I'm not so sure is beneficial to my sanity. To start, which should I blame, Helvetica the typeface or Helvetica the movie? I guess one obviously embraces the other. Speaking of embracing, I have visually welcomed the consciousness of this typeface into my psyche and like an obsessive stalker, it follows me everywhere I go. Even worse, it has infiltrated my memory of famous ads or locations with text and altered its rendering, creating a sense of uniformity within a broad range of emotions and colors with seeming "different" fonts. I guess it's the beauty of Helvetica. Beauty...or manipulation.

Inhabited Sketch Journals

http://www.inhabitat.com/mission

I was surprised to see this website posted on Jille'blog. I used Inhabitat's website quite frequently last semester for my Sustainable Environments class. I had always considered everything on that website art, especially their incredibly innovative architecture. However, seeing it on Jille's blog gave the assertion of, "duh, it is fine art."

http://www.sketchup.google.com

I had tried Google Sketch Up last semester. I really enjoyed the program, however, it drastically slowed down my computer, making the program virtually unusable. Hopefully I will have better luck with the program this semester. This is an amazing free 3D program.

http://www.1000journals.com/index.php?view=Journals%2FIndex

I really enjoyed looking through these journals especially after turning in my first folio assignment for 2D Foundation today. It was helpful to see how the same type of empty space is executed, designed, "filled" a million different ways. I now have several new ideas to address for the following folio.

A Memoir

The balance between Art and Politics.

The preceding six words is an attempt to capture my persona thus far. Truthfully, I feel it only scratches the surface. Within each word lies several facets, each one equally as important as the others. Some areas are clear, some are hazy. Some are known to me while others remain a mystery. The balance between Art and Politics; what the reader, the artist, the participant is given. Ernest Hemmingway's Iceberg Theory comes to mind. While I find Hemmingway's novels quite dull his ideas have become widely applicable in my life.
So what does this "iceberg" say about my politics, my art, me? Well, literally it states some sort of balance between the phenomena Art and Politics. What kind of art, what kind of politics? Music, dance, theater, writing could all be suitable actions towards the definition of Art. However, considering the fact that I am enrolled in the Tyler School of Art suggests something along the Fine Arts rather than the Performance Arts or Literature. Within the Fine Arts are several more disciplines but just to be frank my focus is in drawing and painting.
The same question could be said about politics. Just the utter of the word creates an image incorrect to my personal involvement in the area. Most people think of politics as involvement within our representative system. While some of the work I have done and hope to enter may involve coexisting within the political confines of our city, state, and country, the majority of my work will hopefully be based on the ground working on and/or solving the problems ignored or created by our current establishment.
Racism, sexism, economic injustice, war, poverty, gentrification, etc. These are all problems that are growing exponentially not only domestically, but globally. Can we really expect our Washington D.C. based government to intimately help a displaced family in Texas? Even with help from the state, how effective are our programs, especially in the long term?
So whose going to solve these problems and how? Cesar Chavez, Dorothy Day, Rosa Parks? Well, these people are dead so I highly doubt they can physically help us. However, we can learn from them, follow in their footsteps, and strive for the justice they just they once sought. Coincidentally, Cesar Chavez was the inspirational figure that developed my interest in community organizing. There it is. My politics: organizing. While the previous two paragraphs may have been excessive to the reader, I believe it was a necessary commodity in laying down the foundation for my memoir.
Speaking of memoir, what does all of this have to do with my memoir? Well, here it is, the big point. I want to use my drawing and painting as an academic, cultural and educational tool to empower communities at the grassroots level. If only we could have had 16 more words.