Conceptual Unit

This unit was all about abstract thinking and conceptual ideas. Learning about short poetry and stories that made you think. Reflecting back on this unit, it reminds me of the simplicity of early animation and also how complex poetry was, and how I enjoyed it. The conceptual unit was probably one of my favorites because of the abstract ideas and how I could portray my thoughts in complex and concise way. I valued that it was able to make my mind think in much more abstract ways, and how to draw different feelings from different people and experiences.

Spoken Word Poem

One of the poems that I used in a lot of my classes was my spoken word poem, this was my first project that I used all my media skills to create multiple products in different mediums. 

Maybe if I fade away,  would you finally reach for me.

And maybe if I wished one day, that life would bring change to me.

I only hear static of my blank tv.

You’re just as static,

as my blank TV.

It’s so far I can’t reach,

        i’m Running in circles.       

                          

This cage,

it doesn’t bring me sorrow,

it doesn’t bring me pain,

it’s just a line,

A line meant to keep me away.

I want to reach, can you grab my hand?

I have a hammer, be the nail

break the glass.

pull the string

a curtain unveiled.

A way far away from this circle.

Why won’t you speak,

or even reach?

If you could pull me away

why would you hesitate?

Please, hold me,

I fear what I can’t see,

I dream of places I can’t be.

If I was to take a step from this circle,

take that step, over my line.

If I screamed out loud this time,

IF only you would nod to show that you’re by my side,

that would be enough.

Look into my eyes,

please don’t walk away.

I want out of this lie,

I want out of my own trick of the mind

I want a way outside

Don’t just stand there,

I need a way to break free of the circle of my life.

Looking back at this there was a lot of things I could change and many additions I could make to have this be a much better project, but it was early on in my writing and animation career. Here is the animated poem that I worked on to go along with my spoken word.

Ekphrastic Poem

Another Poem that I wrote was about a piece I had seen in the SFMOMA, this poem was an ekphrastic poem that focused more on emotion. I wrote this piece specifically on an art piece by Christopher Brown, “The River Evening.”

Here is my poem.

Mellow Ooze

Jump frog jump,

ripple the water, gentle tides washing

through the bog.

Don’t let the old man see you,

he plays the forlorn song.

On an instrument with two strings

that makes the evening calm.

The water is a mirror, covered in a slimy muck,

but don’t let it deceive you

it still holds a mild beauty

that slushes from the top up.

Like reeds disturb the motion,

the trees will carry on,

walking up the river

To listen to his forlorn song.

 

Animation

On animation specifically I worked on small gif animations and exquisite corpses.

To improve my animation skills I had to learn the basics and also different principles of animation.

 

Design

Finally, some of the design media I worked on helped me learn the basics of photography, and how I was able to create emotion with black and white colors. I explored mediums and was able to create an interesting image that I was happy about.

Artist Statement:

I am exploring the feeling of fear through the experience of contemplating the unknown.

My photograph has a solid white background and floor, the center object being the pineapple. both spray painted black. I chose the pineapple and lychee for their unique shape. I spray painted the fruit to make them look like silhouette. To further make them seem mysterious I used acrylic black and white paint mixed with silicone and poured them over the fruit, giving the effect of melting. The silicone makes a distinct liquid pattern which ends up being random and mysterious. I also cut the fruit at various angles to make it look even more like it is melting into a pool of black and white into the background. There are still patches of color on the top of the pineapple to make it look a tiny bit recognizable.

Fear is all about things that we don’t understand. Like in a nightmare we do not understand what is happening and all we can see is silhouettes. The hints of color gives it clues to what it is supposed to be but the rest is up to interpretation. We do not know why the pineapple is black or appear to be melting into plain color. The image is supposed to make our mind wander.

The photoshop process that I went through was mainly to make the background look more bleak and to bring out more of the color in the pineapple. I selected the top of the pineapple as my main object and increased the contrast and some of the saturation to make the color appear more. The vignette also helped bring the photo together because it focused more on the pineapple and also adds to the completely white background as a focus. I was able to apply my precise selection and also bring out the saturation in my main object to make it pop more.

Transportation Project

This entire project was about how we move and how we use transportation in modern society. I used this project and the information I learned in design about the basics of Photoshop and photography.

Artist Statement:

The assignment was to take a picture of a wheeled vehicle that does not use an engine or motor from a unique angle and the wheel must be in the shot.

  1. The lighting of my shot is coming from the back because it was taken at sundown, which makes the colors of the photo more dark and light. The sunset makes the photo better because a bird’s eyes view would have made everything the same and the shadows would be not as interesting. The angle I used was tilted birds eye, down towards the ground along the bottom of the skateboard which provides a unique angle of the print and wheels. This and the plain background draw the viewer’s eye to the main object in the photo and the bright colors of the skateboard. I chose the skateboard because it had the best colors and there are more ways that you can set it in a unique situation compared to larger vehicles that I could have chosen.
  2. For Photoshop, originally I wanted to only change a part of the photo. I used a small aperture, so the background became more blurry and the selections would not be accurate, therefore instead of editing only parts of the photo I edited the entire thing. If I brought out the hue and saturation up, then the concrete would become purple-ish which is not the effect I wanted. To counteract this, I increased the heat of the photo, making the concrete look more normalized. I increased the brightness and the hue and saturation to make the colors pop more because the color is what really made the skateboard contrast heavily to it’s surroundings. The mix of red, blue, and the tanned paper color go well together. Overall, I learned that photo’s should be bright so that the color can be brought out and not washed out.

Transportation is a major part in all of our lives, whether it be a train or a simple skateboard we use these devices to move everywhere. The combination of color, art, and things we use to move can create something beautiful. Capturing the use of wheels and transportation in a bright way.