The purpose of this Conceptual Project was to take our concept statement(s) and create something out of it. The works that we created are intended to convey a message, one that is equally important or more important than the piece of work itself. In each of our classes, we got a concept statement and needed to think of a metaphor that expressed what we wanted to say. In English, that metaphor led to poetry. In Design, that metaphor led to a photograph. I used the works created in English and Design to create this website, which features all the works from this Conceptual Project. For English, I wrote a free verse poem, a spoken word poem, and a poem written in response to a piece of art I saw at the SF MOMA. For Design, I took my concept statement to come up with a metaphor in order to find a subject to take pictures of and edit. Through this project, I learned how to use Photoshop to select things, make shapes, and create things on different layers. I also learned about poetry, and how to use rhyme, lineation, enjambment, and other methods to create a well-versed poem. I also used Dreamweaver for the first time, where I learned how to create this website. I really enjoyed getting to learn how to use new programs and tools, as well as creating the poems and getting to record them in my own voice.

 

For my expository essay, the assignment was to find a passion and write about it. I chose to write about one of my own passions. I have a few passions such as music and theater, but I chose to write about a passion that others might not understand as much. I wanted to explain to my audience what it’s like to have my passion. My inspiration came from my strong desire of writing, as well as of organizing, to create something that implemented both.

The assignment in English class was to write three poems. One would be a spoken word poem, one would be a free verse poem, and the last one would be an ekphrastic poem. For the ekphrastic poem, we were to find a piece of art in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art that we found interesting and write a poem in response to that work of art. Ekphrastic means "description" in Greek. Here, the term ekphrastic poem is used to describe the poem. The ekphrastic poem is a description or response to a work of art.

For all three of the poems created, we had to pair each one along with an image and record ourselves saying them. From pairing the poems with an image, I was able to express what I wanted the reader to imagine and see when they read my poems. Recording my poems also allow me to express how I want the poem to sound to my readers. By interacting with my poem with audio and visuals, I am able to better convey the intended experience to the audience.

The assignment for the haiku was to take our concept statement, create a haiku, and pair it with a picture that included an interesting metaphor. In Digital Media, the assignment was to create a video. I created a title page to appear at the beginning, and I also used audio files to create music that would play before and after the poem was read.

In producing the haiku, I had to come up with a good metaphor that was not cliche but also not absurd. Creating the piece of music that went along with the poem was a big part of the production for me, because it took some more thinking. I valued learning how to use Pro Tools from this haiku production as it is a program I had never used before, and recording music is really interesting to me.

I am Exploring the Feeling of Discomfort through the Experience of Stillness.

In Design, our assignment was to choose one of our poems and take our concept statement from the poem. Using the concept statement, we would come up with a metaphor that represented our concept statement and take pictures of that metaphor. The goal was to express our concept statement through this metaphor while avoiding cliches. For this, I used a DSLR and Photoshop. Through the editing process, I learned the basics about selecting, layers, feathering, and adjusting colors.

 

From this production, I valued learning how to use tools in Photoshop. I had little experience with Photoshop prior to this project and was able to learn several things from making selections, using layers, creating shapes, and using fonts.

 

“Stuck, stuck, stuck. /This is what it feels like to be trapped. /This is what it feels like to not move at all.” The motivation to write this poem came from my dysphoria from a few experiences. While there are many problems I have that I can fix, there are a few which I have no control over. I took the feeling and the discomfort of being unable to take action, and used that feeling as motivation to write this poem. The meaning of the poem is how I feel when I can’t do anything to change the situation I am in, particularly the situations I am in that are unfavorable. When the world spins around and keeps on moving, the narrator stays in the same place, unable to move. This describes how I feel when I can’t do anything. I feel stuck and helpless, with no power to do anything. I feel like there could be something I could do, but don’t know what that is.

 

When I was using my concept statement to come up with ideas for a photograph, I decided to find a situation in which an object was in the wrong place, an object that is somewhere it doesn’t belong. It was to represent how I feel discomfort, when I am in a place or situation that I feel I don’t belong in. I decided at first to use jars of peanut butter and jelly, switching out the contents of the jars so that the peanut butter and jelly would both be in the wrong places, not where they belong. Since I didn’t have anything peanut butter or jam at home, I decided to swap those out for other spreads I did have. I used cookie butter, marshmallow fluff, and chocolate hazelnut butter. I chose these spreads because they are typically used in kids’ sandwiches, something so simple. Using such simple and childish objects, I express the youth and dysphoria from being a teenager in uncomfortable situations. My original plan was to take the pictures indoors, but the little lighting in my house made me move outside. The biggest hurdle I had in this was the editing process. I didn’t know how I wanted the picture to be edited, though I knew I wanted it to be somewhat simple with little manipulation. In the end, I stuck with manipulating saturation and the burn tool.

The music assignment was to create any piece of music using any methods. We could compose and record our own music, or we could use other audio clips that were royalty free and edit those to make our own clip. For my music, I wanted something that was very simple and relatively calming. I like to think of it as calming as watching waves crash on a rocky shore. To create it, I created a click track and also used an instrumental track and the keyboard that was connected to the computer. I used the piano insert and created a single instrument piece.

My most valued part from this production would be learning how to use the instruments in Pro Tools and using the keyboard connected to the computer to create those sounds. I learned how to use not only the piano insert, but inserts such as vacuum and drums.