Personal Soundtrack

The portraits and pictures I put in represent different parts of my life. The portraits of my friends that I met in college are not only a formation of a new "tribe" of sorts but also illustrates my current path. Studying,writing papers, and the dorm room are also illustrations of this. The picture of me on the horse, the screenshot of my iTunes playlist, the picture of me reading a book, and the pictures of movies also represent me. I have a passion for everything in those photos and they are something that I count as a part of me and show what it is I like to do and what I am interested in. Also the pictures of me with my friends and my expression easily display my personality. I am not just smiling in every photo but reacting to everything going on. Also, each picture illustrates some moment in my life that I can certainly remember or some part of my life that I can remember. The black and white picture of me kicking the balloons also was supposed to illustrate how fun-loving I am, how I never want to be bored by anything or anyone. The first song I chose was "Hit Me Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears. When I was in the first grade(which was when that photo was taken of me) I loved Britney Spears, the Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys and N*Sync so whenever I hear any of their old songs I'm reminded of my childhood. The other pictures from family gatherings and my high school years has MGMT's "Kids" playing. In my last year of high school I listened to that song and it related(and still does relate) to the fun times I had with my friends in high school. Finally, "Eenie Meenie Miney Mo" by Sean Kingston ft. Justin Bieber is playing when the pictures of me with college friends runs. This is because my friends and I share a guilty pleasure of listening to Justin Bieber songs, and have been singing this one for a while so when I hear it I immediately think of them. The sounds I used to illustrate my current paths are sounds I hear in the dorm while I am completing the tasks I have to or just hanging around.

Background Music

Street Art

all of these are gone except the one on the bulletin board on my floor.

Guest Speakers

Kat- An industrial design major.

There is a focus on how to design something based on suggestion( i.e. imply that something should be pushed, that something should not rest on top of an object, etc.). There is also an evolution of ideas and group work where people bounce ideas off of each other like the project on sprouts.

Varvara Mikushkina- A photo major.

She is from St.Petersburg but now lives in Syracuse with her family. She incorporates traditional fine arts with photography and has a combination of photos and real drawings.

recommended websites: fecalface.com and idnworld.com

*my pictures are really blurry,sorry*

Water Towers Graffiti

Style Wars

The movie seems really outdated and I can't help but wonder if this is still true today. I found it hilarious when the detective said "this is not art it's the application of medium to a surface". Funny, I thought that was what art was exactly? The way it is narrated kind of made it hard for me to take it seriously because it seems like the people who made this are really out of touch with the actual scene. Also the portrayal of some of the people made it a little harder to take it seriously as well. I think the perspective of actual graffiti artists is interesting. How they want to look and see what they've done later or to liven up the metal and concrete that is all over the city. Interesting how the government is quick to punish graffiti artists or just blame the parents for not doing anything about it when clearly the mother they interview is so against her son doing it but can't stop him. I also found it interesting they people peg minorities as doing all of the graffiti when whites do a lot of writing as well. It's a little frightening that much younger people were doing graffiti along with some of the older kids. They were actually putting kids in jail/juvenile detention centers which, if a younger kid got in, would probably ruin their lives in terms of education or other aspects of their future. The steps they took to stop graffiti is kind of laughable. The reason they want to do this is only to "clean up" the image of the city. It doesn't seem as if people against the graffiti has bothered to understand it. I found the contrasting viewpoints of graffiti on canvas interesting. I agreed when the woman spoke about the character being taken away from it because it seemed a symbol of the city but then again it is good for it to be recognized as an art form and for kids to actually feel that their graffiti is actually worth something,that doing something you love that you once told was worthless in terms of society is actually worth something in the art world. There is clearly a lack of respect and a sense of superiority on behalf of the officials that are against graffiti artists, one man said "I found them surprisingly articulate". Clearly, he has some sort of stereotype that he casts onto these people and looks down on them as common criminals that I certainly do not approve of. Lumping graffiti artists into a negative stereotype has done nothing to help. Also, the guy who destroyed other people's graffiti art is like the kid in elementary who scribbles on your beautiful drawing on your family just because you wouldn't let him use the green crayon-to me at least. What he's doing doesn't seem to have a point other than to piss other people off.

This American Life- Father's Day '99

I thought it was nice how far the father went to get his son's teddy bear. The fact that no parent thought he was insane to go that far to retrieve his son's teddy bear is also touching because one would think of replacing it but I guess that's because the person is not yet a parent? I was also shocked that the hotel staff was nice enough to help! Usually you would not expect that much effort to come from complete strangers. The music gets really annoying at the end though.

The second act, in the beginning, makes me a bit depressed because the affects of Alzheimer's on the old man is clear, and sad, because he just cannot remember things that can come so quickly to some of us like the year we were born. It's really sad that their father can't even remember things from the past and even seems to be pretending that he actually does remember them. Things of the smallest significance, his father could not even remember. It's heartbreaking that he cannot even remember the name of his youngest son or what his sons even do. It's all generally depressing.

The girl, Sarah, creeps me out in the beginning with her one word answers. Also, creeps me out that she believes in the Borrowers. A lot. I may have been waiting for my letter from Hogwarts before age 11, so I can somewhat understand. However, I saw the movie when I was younger and I seriously never believed they were real. Ever. This kind of relates to things like Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy only a bit weirder. The fact that she was six at the time makes sense that she believed in them but then she still believes in them at age 11 and that is really weird. I don't think the dad did anything wrong because parents do that sort of thing with other mythical beings like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, etc. It can upset the kid but I think it's important to in some way push the imagination in some way that does not completely break the heart of the kid. I guess it just has to do with the person. Interesting that this portion didn't have music to add some sort of effect.

Dinah's Art Work on the Wall

The large artwork is interesting. There seems to be a lot of motion in the painting because of the splatter technique. The different textures of the works are also fascinating. The strange texture of a white section that looks like matted hair draws me in closer to the piece. The painting that looks like an eye has a shiny affect to it in the middle that makes it actually look moist(though I am not sure it is meant to be an eye). I can see that there are different materials that have been combined with paint that have been used in order to create the strange and unsettling textures. Both are unsettling in subject(though they are somewhat abstract I still am able to feel uneasy looking at them) but some of the muted colors used tells me otherwise. The contrast between the two makes the work interesting and makes me unsure of whether I should be frightened or calm. Perhaps that is the desired affect? My favorite thing about the pieces is that it makes you look closer and causes you to think about what it is that you are actually looking at. Before this assignment I had already been drawn to these painting because they were unlike anything I've seen with the varying textures.

Good Copy, Bad Copy

If artists are going to sample music from other artists on their CDs then the artists they borrowed from should be credited like on the Girl Talk album. Perhaps Danger Mouse should have gotten permission to do the Gray Album, but it was still something new and interesting that no one thought of. Instead of people being so concerned with the money they're losing on it they should have thought about the creation itself. I believe that everyone deserves credit where credit is due but also believe that sometimes people get a little intense when they start thinking about money lost. I found it interesting that Nigeria produces the most movies and that the US took the idea of straight-to-DVD release from the Nigerians. I also found it interesting that live recordings turned into CDs after a concert was something they did at Techno Brega concerts in Brazil. I think it's alright to download some things for free but I also purchase CDs. I think the biggest thing to worry about is bootlegging a CD and selling it on the streets for your own profit. Sometimes people just want the music for their own personal collection and can't always spare money on downloads and CDs.

Justine Kurland

The amount of whiteness in the picture is captivating. It is the white that draws the eye throughout the photograph. Also, the people in white blankets blend in at first but once I noticed them they become hard to ignore. I began to wonder what the story was, why they were wearing blankets in the snow, and other things. I also wondered about the buses and their story. Why are there buses in a forest and how did they get there? Do they function? There is a crispness about the photograph yet it is the powdering of snow that makes it seem softer, and lighter. This photograph has an air of mystery.