Final project

When I determined to make a narrative about homesickness, several possible scenes that I might capture came into my mind. It was a broad and thought-provoking topic and what I first need to do was to narrow it’s possibilities. I chose making videos to document the narrative and I think one minute was enough for me. I started to thinking about specific details that can be easily recorded and visualized. I think the most obvious feature of being in different nations is the time difference, and then I asked my mother to take a picture of the sky outside the window in China and I took a picture of sky here. I manipulated these two images by turning down their initial color and brightness so that two images taken in daylight became night scenes. At that time, I got an idea that I could make my video by comparing the same scene and objects in different places.

After figuring out the core concept of comparison to reveal the topic of homesickness, I asked my mother again to help me take a video of taking elevator home and some images of my bed and working desk. At the same time, I recorded the same objects here. At a sudden, I got an idea that I could create a feeling of these two places, my dorm and my home are linked by the same elevator. I could shuttle back and forth between two places, just like time-traveling. And I was so excited to find that imovie can make motions much slower or faster. It helps me to create the scene that I could travel between two places in two different nations through an elevator.

Then, the job left was just to combine everything together with some transition effects and texts. I chose two pieces of music and cut part of them by Garageband to become the background music or sound effect of the video. One of them is kind of funny, to make the video more interesting, the other is soft in order to create the atmosphere of homesickness. After everything was done, I think I lost the most important content! Then I put the picture of my family and the facetime screenshot of my mother into the video and ended up the video with smiling faces of my families. I think it is enough to make my video piece showing the homesick emotion. Eventually I made it! But what still makes me unsatisfied is that the video clips of traveling through elevators are a little bit confusing, I am afraid that viewers cannot understand what I meant to express. 

blog 10

I wanna start from the photo of my family to make a video of the "homesickness" theme. I am planning to take some video clips in different scenes and then manipulate them to be a whole narrative.

Failure Paper

           So far, I have completed five micro projects with several techniques such as Photoshop, imovie and Garageband. The first ten specified images, the unique way to somewhere, the objects identifying my own personalities, the video recording the sound and the expression of action words are so interesting and thoughts-provoking that arouse me to be creative. I actually tried to come up something special and interesting; however, there still exist a difference between what I wanted my final project to be and what it eventually becomes.

   Candidly speaking, the biggest failure this semester is the micro project 4. I did intend to make my video amazing and fabulous but what I did is kind of normal. I am not satisfied with both my idea and the technical execution. The place I chose is my dorm and I recorded the sounds of door opening, water boiling, page turning and keyboard typing. Too much sound I chose but my final video is still not so intriguing. I think it is due to my boring thought of picking such sounds and I did not process it in a funny way. I just added some effects of mixing sounds and sound tracks, put some transition effects and nice-looking but useless opening and ending scenes. From this failure project, I understand that good artworks need both creative thoughts and excellent digital art-making techniques. An amazing idea leads the art-making procedure to the right direction, and mastering nice techniques can make details better and perform the artwork in a right way of expressing its initial idea. This failure encourages me to think more creatively and improve my digital art making abilities.

   I think the biggest success is definitely acquiring so many digital techniques of making art and actually it is my initial intention of choosing this class. It is really important and exciting for me to learn how to use Photoshop, imovie and Garageband. I enjoy the moment every time I see my final projects with the post processing of these techniques. By roughly learning how to use these, I can almost express what I want my artwork to be, and this biggest success motivates me to take this course next semester to learn more tricks and skills of using them. It cannot be called a big success, but it really means an exciting progress for me and I find my interest in digital art making. It is quite valuable for me, I think.

   If I get a chance of redoing one project, I would choose project 4 without hesitation. I would come up with a much more creative and intriguing idea and visualize it in a more special manner, even with some mysterious, horrific or comedic elements. It should not be as long as the previous one, it can be short but strong enough to give audience the feeling of surprise. Maybe I would pick one common but easily ignored sound and then alter it into a way that audience would not think it could be like that. 

Micro Project 5

            When I first heard the action word “bend” and “inlay”, I was thinking about choosing a flexible object that can easily altered to be bent or inlaid. I firstly chose plasticene, which is often used in my mathematical model construction in three dimensions. I put it in the little box, kneaded it into a sphere shape and then put a coin on it and press the coin. Then it becomes a bent, twisty and inlaid plasticene ball.

         Another idea I got is the bent straw, a quite normal object that we almost use everyday. I happened to come up with a physical phenomenon learnt in middle school that objects in water would be refracted. I just need to find a transparent bottle with water and then put a straw into it to observe it. Within expectation, the straw becomes bent. It is pretty easy and straightforward but actually show the action word “bend”.

            I was trying to find an object that shows both of the action words. I happened to find my piggy bank on the desk. The rubber cover of the hole of taking money was easily bent and then it was inlaid into the hole.

Micro Project 4

Response to Carver

    Candidly speaking, it is an interesting story and the drawing procedure of Cathedral is vivid. But what attracts me most and what I find most funny is the jealousy psychology of the husband. The blind man has been closely keeping touch with his wife over ten years and they are quite familiar with each other through recording tapes. The husband seems inimical to the the blind man but he pretends to perform politely and warmly to treat him. And indeed, I was surprised at the senses of the blind man. He is able to perceive anything without eyes and does well, even direct the husband's drawing.
    However, what confused me is that why the author uses so many words, several pages before getting into the subject - the depiction of Cathedral. Is it a sentiment basis? Does he want to show how animosity alters to appreciation? Anyway, I think it is interesting to know about how the blind perceive the world and how they are different from the normal ones. 

Response to Wallace “This is Water”

    It is really an interesting and meaningful commencement that teaches me a lot about how to adjust future adult life. The didactic story of fish is attractive and intriguing. When I read "How's the water", "How the hell is water", it seems asking me "How's the life". I have to stop to think about it and ask myself "How the hell is life"? Then Wallace move on to give the answer. About the story of two guys with different beliefs, I think it implies something meaningful. I enjoy what the author told us that different people with different belief view the same thing differently. Tolerance and diverse belief are respectable and we should not blindly ascertain one belief following our mind. We always consider us to be the center of the world but life need us to alter our default setting to adjust and regulate the way we live. If we barely change, we will be hosed. Like the author says, "the mind being an excellent servant but a terrible master", cliche is not always old-fashion, it reveals the truth that we need to accept and follow. 

    The description of actual life routine by Wallace indeed scares but alerts me to be prepared for the after-graduate life with busy work. Early getting up, challenging job, bad traffic and junky dinner, it seems far away from me now, but it may be part of my life one day. The author actually tells me how to adjust such a kind of life. The only thing I can do is to consider others may feeling the same as me and I cannot be self-centered any more. This article teaches me how to treat life and alter ourselves, and what I learn from it is quite valuable. I highly appreciate this article for its precious life experience.  

Micro Project 3

Calculator - I choose it because I am Math major and I use it everyday. I need it to do some complex calculations in order to simplify the problem-solving process. It is really helpful to my study.

Essential tool

Watch - It is quite important for me in daily life. Although cell phone is widely used nowadays and it is convenient to see the time, I am still used to getting time directly from my watch. I need it to be punctual for class and other important activities. 

Necessity

Laptop - I bring it everyday for taking note in lectures and completing assignments after class in the library. In leisure time, I usually surf on Facebook or chat with friends with an instantaneous chatting tool.

multifunctional use












USB flash drive - I choose it simply because it is easy to carry and quite useful in keeping files for extra copy. It can reduce the burden of my laptop for its large storage space.

Portable helper

 Earphone - I keep it with me everyday for listening to music on the way to class or back to dorm. Music can get rid of my tiredness and alter my mood to a better level.

Mood condiment

    The final image is actually a good reflection of my personalities. The watch, which always reminds me not to be late, reveals that I am punctual. The calculator implies that my major can be somewhat related to calculation. Though it cannot apparently show my identity, but I think it is a suggestion that I frequently need it and maybe interested in mathematics. The laptop is significantly useful everyday so I choose it, however, it can hardly show my personal identity. The USB flash drive indicates that I am a cautious one that saves backup copy of files in case of loss. Last but not least, the earphones are really a mood condiment for me to cheer me up. When I was on the way to class or back to dorm alome, music is a nice companion. It shows that I don't like loneliness and boredom, I enjoy passion!

Responses to Kaprow, Weschler "Desert", and Saunders

    Kaprow's article has a really attractive title "Art which can't be art". He started by describing the scene of brushing teeth and watching the rhythm of elbow  moving up and down. He considered such movements not suggesting art at all at first and made no secret of the distain for so called "artworks" - industrial products at the same time. Then after observing brushing teeth carefully and thinking about it seriously, he get the relationship between life source and art. He finally broadened the definition of art and regarded the ordinary life as the huge power, no matter whether it is perceived as art or not. I like the conclusion he draw in the end of the article, which brings art to a larger space and gives readers more power.
    I really like the process of finding ordinary life to be a kind of art and the depiction of psychology switching, but I was expecting the author to give more examples and explanations of it when I was reading it. Anyway, he tells me a class that art should not be stuck in the gallery only. 



    I really appreciate this article "Desert". It starts with the background that Irwin got rid of everything and sold his studio. Then along their journey to desert and talking process, Irwin finally learnt a lesson from the desert and picked up the trail again. Irwin switched from a tactile man to a perceived one because the desert showed him that things tangibly exist in one particular way - the way they are, not the way they supposed to be. The flat desert, no particular events, no rivers and mountains, seems to appear in front of me and I can perceive what it is going to tell me and what the author is talking about in the article. 
    People all have one pattern that they like to dominate and control what they like and keep them the way they like. But actually nature cannot be tangibly reached and depicted. Photographs, maps or drawing neither could transform everything into art in gallery. Actually I like the ending that the desert gives Irwin the power and confidence to manage the studio again and then perceive art all the time. 



    The article is about an excellent writer, who writes the world a beautiful one after experiencing a flight accident and was nearly dead. One always learns to cherish living in the world after confronting loss and death. His depiction of the accident is so close to the actual scene and I can really feel the tension and depression atmosphere at that time. But after a catastrophe he got a better psychological state and could capture a more beautiful world. I think I get to understand why the author admire Saunders so much.
    I enjoy the ending sentence Saunders said to himself. “Don’t be afraid to be confused. Try to remain permanently confused. Anything is possible. Stay open, forever, so open it hurts, and then open up some more, until the day you die, world without end”. It meaningfully implies that the beauty never die if we have bright eyes and mind to capture it. But candidly speaking, the article is too long and I think the author speaks over highly of Saunders.

Wexner Review

    The gallery in Wexner Center of Art has three components: clocks, light club and photographs. I mainly focused on the photographs, and browsed light club for a while. Light club is a set of collection of artworks made up with light elements, including a thirty-minute film and several mirrors reflecting different angles. Colorful light tubes are really amazing. 

    The selection of photographs mostly reflects the diverse impacts of financial downturn as the United State endure the most significant economic recession since the Great Depression. I remember some themes such as immigration, gentrification, environmental negligence and multiculturalism. Some photographs are really impressive and shocking. I remember an image shows the elderly foraging for food in the city dump, which is actually depressing. Other photos, such as convicts and guard, immigrations under the elevated railway, peckish children are also good reflections of people living at the bottom. Such sad photographs document some flounders parts of the United State though flourished parts exist at the same time. Also, I found a set of 72 digital chromogenic prints folded in a line interesting because of its special shape and arrangement. What I found the most interesting is a collection of four photos displayed together but it seems nothing inside at the first sight. From the denotation, I knew it shows negative and positive transparency, which surprised me a lot. 

    Besides, I also visited another part of art center. It is a cartoon museum, right beside the Fine Art Library. Some comics are displayed there, including the initial sketch paper of some famous comics exhibited in the international exhibition. On the wall, a procedure of how colorful prints are produced is introduce, which enriched me a lot.

Response to “Cardiff, Miller and the Power of Sound”

This article introduces a Canadian artist couple Cardiff and Miller, who are interested in building up artworks using sound and voice as material and subject. I like the beginning part of depiction of the big boom. Hundreds of noises out of Forest making the author felt the explosion as real. What Cardiff said surprises me and makes me feel amazing. He describes capturing sound as time travel in some sense, away from reality but consensus reality at the same time. Their impressive multimedia collaborations bring them recognition and their marriage is also considered romantic to me due to art collaboration.

Some dialogues are thought-provoking such as the ending. She said that some people have no sense of peace. I suppose it is due to her increasing ambition and continuous pursuing of art. I am not sure whether it is accurate but I think power of sound are pretty interesting and amazing, disturbing audience by mixing audio tracks. 

Micro Project 2

On the first day to having class, I got lost several times. I really do not have a good sense of direction and the big campus is also pretty confusing. I walked to the classroom with the orientation of google map in cellphone and did not dare to take a bus because I was not familiar with bus routes. I just walked in the direction that map offered me, turning left when it told me to turn, going straight when the compass did not move. Even though I arrived all the classrooms in time, but I remember I got lost on the way to Jennings Hall and Arps Hall and it took me a lot of time to compare map with real road and ask passersby for the way. But two days later, I can clearly remember the route to different classrooms. I divided campus into several parts and marked my dorm Morrill Tower to be the start. Turn left if I have class on 17^th street or streets nearby, turn right if I want to go to the Thompson Library and RPAC. Then remark each college and some important buildings such as Union to divide campus into smaller pieces. This idea magically worked and I never get lost again.

       For this project, I choose the route from Psychology Building to Stadium, which means the way I walk from my previous math lecture to art education class. By applying my approach of distinguishing direction, I make my journey to class unique and simple. I remember Stadium is just on the right side of Morrill Tower and psychology building is beside library, so I walked in the direction back to Morrill, along with RPAC and turned right when there was no way to go straight forward. As expected, Stadium ran into my eyes immediately. Then I just need to walk around Stadium to find the 24^th door, the access to art education lab is right beside it. However, the 17^th street is on construction and I walked some more to reach stadium. It means I cannot walk directly across the road and need to turn right, cross the road and go back to stadium. I missed to record this portion of journey. It was hard to document because the alternative route is a narrow path along the edge of RPAC and number of pictures is limited to synthesize one image.