Conceptual

The Conceptual Project highlighted creative risk taking through poetry, music, art, and web production. In the two short months here at Freestyle, I have been able to use all these outlets to share my creative vision. I have learned to use my DSLR camera and mastered editing in Photoshop. The Adobe products have enabled me to transform my work into something that I’m really proud of. Using my audio recorder and Premier Pro, I was able to forge my poem into visual art through video and music. In Design, I am creating through many more art forms than I knew I was capable of. Using the professional equipment I have been able to effectively produce my risk taking in creative ways.

During the Conceptual unit, I have appreciated finishing my first projects at Freestyle. In honors English, we read “Bright Dead Things” by Ada Limón and learned how poetry reflects society and how sometimes, less words means more. Digital Media has really helped me convert my work in English into visual masterpieces. I learned Premier pro for video editing, which is prevalent in my poem video. I also learned professional audio editing to make my poem recordings Pro Tools. My first project in Design helped me value the creative process. I was initially stuck with half ideas, but then my fellow classmates all came together to help me finalize my idea. I created my first project which leads me to value the Freestyle community. All of the students are hard-working creative people who will aid others in producing their visual creations.

Poetry

In the Poetry unit, we were challenged to make three poems: the Ekphrastic poem, Free Verse poem, and a Haiku. For the project poem, we chose between the Ekphrastic and Free Verse poem to further develop visually. I chose my Ekphrastic poem and began to use photoshop and Pro Tools to display my poem with a photo and with music. In Photoshop, I imported a photo that I thought would fit my poem. I edited the photo and added in my poem. I really value the tools I have been able to sharpen in photoshop to create art.

In Pro Tools, I was able to edit the recording of my poem. I strengthened the audio, took out bumps in my voice, and added in sound effects. I went through all the featured sound effects and saved all my favorite ones. I wanted to make sure that the effects I chose would accurately represent my poem. Audio editing helped me appreciate music producers and the creative process behind creating art through sound, something I had never done before.

Photo Haiku

In English, we were all given a concept statement to write a short haiku on. My concept statement was “I am experiencing the feeling of sadness through the passage of time.” I interpreted this as feeling sad over growing up or the end of a care free life. For the photo for the haiku, I wanted to implement two of the same thing, just one older and more worn while the other is shiny and new. The photo should represent that the speaker of the haiku should look at someone younger and feel envious of them. So, I found two of the same books, and took a photo with the older book out of focus to show that the speaker feels trapped. In Digital Media, we used Premier Pro to animate the poem and the photo.

Elements and Principels of Art

In Digital Media, we needed to research all the different Elements and Principels of art. In doing so, I learned so much about how art is created and what goes into making art. After learning about the Elements and Principels of art, I feel that I can make my art much better.

Design

For the Conceptual unit in Design, we focused on producing images that has to do with the Conceptual theme. We created the Alphabet photo, the Elements of art photo, and the Conceptual photo.

Alphabet photo

For the Alphabet photo, we were assigned to walk around the Freestyle campus and take photos of things that look like letters in our names. In Photoshop, I stitched the photos together to create my name with the things around the Freestyle campus.

Elements of Art photo collage

For the Elements of Art photo collage we had to take photos from around our house that represent each of the Elements of Art. After taking the photos, we edited the photos and created the collage in Photoshop. Photoshop really helped in the creation of the process.

Conceptual photo

We spent the most time on the Conceptual photo. Using our concept statements from English, we had an entire class brainstorm session so the entire class can give their feedback to each person. After finalizing what our photo would look like, we spent the next week shooting and editing the photos.

Artist Statement

My concept statement is; “I am exploring the feeling of sadness through not following your dreams.”

 In my life, I have always wanted to be a professional baseball player, but like so many other kids, those dreams start to fade as society tells us to be more reasonable. Therefore, millions of people turn to what society wants, a job with a suit and tie. For my photo, I decided to combine the two; baseball and business. I had the suit be over the baseball jersey, with the top button undone to show who the speaker really is and that they had to forfeit their dreams to conform to society. In the top left pocket of the suit, there is a baseball card. 

The card is for the same player as the jersey, and is my favorite player. The baseball card is out of focus to show that the speaker wanted to be him, but couldn’t because their dreams were shattered. I hung the suit and jersey on a baseball net that is used to have balls thrown and hit into it. I decided to hang it here because I thought the net would add to the baseball theme, and it also represents a border between your dreams and where you currently are. While taking photos, I shot the subject and many different angles. I shot later in the afternoon to get more light protruding into the side of the frame.

I have really valued my time in design. We all have a really fun time and are learning new programs that will be able to produce new types of creativity everyday. I hope to make more projects, each one getting more complex and professional.