Here I will share with you readers my thoughts on current happenings within my Art & Tech class, and any related events. I will also be following up with assignments and posting here accordingly for them. Hopefully I manage to carry through properly, as this is my first blog, heh.
Our final video piece was dedicated to the idea of "The Deconstruction of Video".
I took some time to really think about what this meant to me, and how I'd interpret it into a video. I'll admit it took quite a while to think of something, but once I did, it hit me and everything that came after that was precise and interesting.
I thought about how I would always livestream while I would work on my commissions, so that my commissioners could see how I was doing and correct me to ensure satisfaction. However, whenever I would go to chat with them while Livestreaming, I had to go onto my LS page to do so. Doing this created a virtual "Inception", with my Livestream projecting the Livestream projecting the Livestream, and so on.
It made me think.
I thought about how most art and videos and performances you find now-a-days are copies, parodies, or heavily-inspired by other pieces. And, sometimes, even those pieces aren't the true, original source of inspiration. I've realized that it's really become quite difficult to find a piece of video art that is truly one-of-a-kind, a unique fresh taste.
From there, I decided I would try and watch a few music videos, and use Livestream while doing so. This would create a never-ending stream of overlaying video footage, with the video repeating itself again and again with each dive further into the Livestream.
What I ended up also discovering while experimenting with this is that the music also overlaps, and while I originally thought it might create a "dub step-ish" type of sound, it instead produced a screeching and scratching that sounded more like a Banshee. I even had to soften and muffle parts of the video because it practically made my ears bleed. There were a few parts where I realized that the sounds my laptop made when I'd change the volume made an interesting beat, and I abused this, i.e. with the beginning.
I advise that you turn down the volume a bit before watching.
But my project in "Questioning the Role of Technology in Our Lives" was to push the question "What do we use it for?"
I took the most simplistic and general answer I could come up with for myself - I use it as an escape. But while I know I have my own motives and reasons to use it as an escape, I was wondering how others might use it in the same way.
I took an old pair of sunglasses, taped my iTouches onto them and played two different music videos - Poker Face and Bad Romance - to symbolize how I use technology to blind me from what I do not wish to see. I duct-taped my mouth with the most popular and brainwashing of the technology brands - Apple - to show how you cannot disturb the paradise I have escaped to with mere words. I then stood out in very publics spaces with my shirt saying, "Technology is my distraction from ?", and held a marker out for people to answer.
I filmed this in Chicago, first at Navy Pier and then again at Union Station. In Navy Pier, I got the most responses and the most feedback, mostly because the people there were there for leisure, aka their own escape, and understood the message and were more keen to engage themselves in it. It didn't take long for people to catch on and brainstorm their own interpretations of what my shirt's message meant. I was highly pleased with the amount of enthusiasm I received from my audience there. Because of my excitement, the time flew and I wanted to keep standing there for more feedback, but had to leave because we were running low on footage, and I had been wanting to test it at Union Station as well.
At Union Station, most people either ignored or disregarded me, as at a train station people have places to go and people to see - there's no time for any sort of distractions. I stood there for over twenty minutes with no participation from anyone, despite the large crowds of people filing past as trains arrived. After about fifteen minutes, one of my friends went to demonstrate and write on me, to let those watching know that this is what they're supposed to do. Even after that, I didn't receive anyone stepping up until the very end. In fact, those girls annoyed the hell out of me. They had been standing there for nearly five minutes, giggling and whispering to each other as if I couldn't hear. They kept asking each other "should we ask her?", "what's this?", "do you think she can hear us?" They were lucky I had my mouth duct-taped. However, there was one kid who really amused me at Union Station - the little boy in red. He came dancing up to me, wanting to hold my hand and join me, asking what I was doing and why. His father pulled him away, though.
The funny thing was that even though the iTouches were covering my eyes, the metallic backs on them acted as mirrors and allowed me to see behind me. So even as some people thought they could stop and stare and point fingers without me knowing, I could see them behind me.
This was an amazing experience, and I'm so bummed I couldn't have stayed longer.
This is a rough draft of my performance art piece. It's still a little over the desired time length for the video, so I'll keep working on it to cut some feed out to bring it down closer to three minutes.
But my project in "Questioning the Role of Technology in Our Lives" was to push the question "What do we use it for?"
I took the most simplistic and general answer I could come up with for myself - I use it as an escape. But while I know I have my own motives and reasons to use it as an escape, I was wondering how others might use it in the same way.
I took an old pair of sunglasses, taped my iTouches onto them and played two different music videos - Poker Face and Bad Romance - to symbolize how I use technology to blind me from what I do not wish to see. I duct-taped my mouth with the most popular and brainwashing of the technology brands - Apple - to show how you cannot disturb the paradise I have escaped to with mere words. I then stood out in very publics spaces with my shirt saying, "Technology is my distraction from ?", and held a marker out for people to answer.
I filmed this in Chicago, first at Navy Pier and then again at Union Station. In Navy Pier, I got the most responses and the most feedback, mostly because the people there were there for leisure, aka their own escape, and understood the message and were more keen to engage themselves in it.
At Union Station, most people either ignored or disregarded me, as at a train station people have places to go and people to see - there's no time for any sort of distractions.
Propaganda and advertising have been closely related, though there are a few differences that set them apart. For one, propaganda is used for more assertive purposes, such as to publicize a popular or an aspiring religious faith, war cause, or politics. Propaganda tends to lean on the more serious tone in terms of the people and causes that use it, and have a more demanding "you must believe/agree" message. They do not simply want to catch the viewers' attention, they want to hold onto it and maintain control to make you follow the same path they're trying to establish.
Advertising, on the other hand, has a relatively more innocent motive. Ads are more or less used to simply promote products and the consumers' purchasing of said products. Their tones may be more amusing, comical, romantic, etc. While it must also be as aesthetically pleasing as propaganda, advertising is solely for the purpose of gaining money rather than followers and control.
Eva and Adele are a duet of artists who aim to create art through their own bodies. They claim that they are the canvases, and it is their goal to create art by displaying it with their own bodies. Both underwent plastic surgery to have their faces appear almost identical, and they adore others photographing themselves. Eva and Adele nearly always wear the same outfits, as a part of their art.
The two refuse to release their real names and identities, as it is a part of their work of art to create a new self, and a new whole together. They have performed for video pieces, as well as taking self portraits and collaging them with various newspaper articles.
They claim to have started out in Berlin, though no one knows for sure.
This is my Xerox Collage project. I xeroxed a copy of my feet, my hands, and my face multiple times and then made several copies of each. I used the stairwell in my dorm building as my canvas, and warped my collage around the wall, ceiling, lights, and window.
I'm quite well-versed in the world of creating images via simple pixels. I take commissions for people to draw their animal characters, and have done quite a few pixels. They're frustrating, simply because it's rather difficult to get a nice smooth curve or flow of color with mere boxes, but I'm still working and practicing on them.
Gianna (my character)
Madeline (not my character)
However, there are artists out there who have begun to master the way of pixel art. Below is a picture drawn by an artist named Arkyls, and it was a gift bought by another artist for me. The art is of my mascot character, Chicago.
For years there's been a controversy on whether or not the violence in video games transfers over to real life through the people (especially children) who play them. Parents argue that their children's innocence is at stake when they're exposed to such graphic and life-like violence. Their sympathy dwindles as they're encouraged and promoted to kill and physically beat their opponents in the games. Plus, seeing as the kids are spending so much time in front of the television and video game, itself, they're lacking in crucial social skills to help develop the respect for others, possibly contributing to a risk of social outbursts and violence.
Video game companies defend themselves with the ideas that their games are too unrealistic in the sense that what is achievable in the game is impossible in real life, therefore forcing the player to realize the distinction between reality and game. Other arguments have been made that it is up to the parents to help their children acknowledge the difference between real life and its expectations and fantasy worlds.
Another photo I have from the Macintosh back home.
Here's the screen and how everything was set up. Good ol' Space Invaders~
The Apple Macintosh was first introduced and released to the public in 1984 as a compact personal computer for its users.
I have had one of these Macintoshes since I was a kid, and frequently used it to play Puck and Invaders and various other games. Its screen is very pixelated and is in black and white. It seems extremely primitive when compared to the computers we have now-a-days, so it's hard to imagine that it was high-tech back in the '80s.
The mouse only has one clicker, and the keys on the keyboard stand up tall and are very loud.
The Apple logo on this computer is in the rainbow coloring.
There have been countless rumors as to how the company Apple Inc. received the name, "Apple". All center around Steve Jobs and his ideas or random thoughts. One of the rumors consists of having Steve Jobs being on an all-fruit diet at the time, and so he found the name Apple to be fitting. Other stories are those where the company members were spitballing different names, and none of them satisfied Steve Jobs.
However, he ended up choosing the name Apple because he - as was rumored - was on a fruit diet in an apple orchard. It was a simple name that was aesthetically pleasing to the ear and eye, so he went with it. However, seeing as the Beatles were also using this name for their record labels, there was a legal issue. Steve Jobs went to court and paid the Beatles over 25 million dollars for the rights, and thus Apple was born.
Ray Kurzweil is a well-known author, inventor, and futurist. His creative mind allows him to productively make estimations regarding the progression of technology and mankind.
He has several books published, such as The Art of Intelligent Machines. This particular book was widely recognized for its outlook into the history of computer technology, and Kurzweil's expectations of where its progress may lead us. In fact, this particular book received and award for the Most Outstanding Computer Science Book in 1990.
Kurzweil takes a profound interest in futurism and nanotechnology. He has taken a stand for nanotechnology with the belief that further interest and exploration of the science could help diminish and even completely eradicate certain global issues such as poverty, disease, and climate change.
He has a strong interest in the progression of technology and computers, stating that their development will rise exponentially - meaning that instead of a steady rise in technology, there's a progressively steep increase in its development.
Ray Kurzweil has worked together for various projects with NASA, Google, and numerous universities across the country.
My animation was an abstract idea of how to create this tattoo idea I've had in my head for years. I had a calligraphy pen sneak in from the corner to drop some ink, which splashed as it hit the "ground". From there, bits of the splash morphed into a needle, and the other bits morphed into the thread which looped around and through the eye of the needle. Eventually the needle moves up and off the page, dropping the thread to curl around and knot itself. A feather comes swerving in, turning into a snake that curls itself around the thread before turning into a quill. The quill moves up to reveal the quills of two feathers. Eventually the feathers reveal itself and color themselves, too. And at the end I have the word "Fly" appear.
On the day before Halloween in 1938, CBS aired a broadcast program named War of the Worlds - a program whose plot depicted a Martian invasion of earth. Due to several unforeseen factors, over a million Americans were sent into a panicked frenzy.
A series of tension and anxiety had escalated since the beginning of World War II, and with the grave tone the narrator used on the radio, many people were led to believe the story he told. 1.7 million people believed the tales being told of how Earth was falling victim to invaders from Mars, and the majority of them took action by packing their belongings fleeing their houses. Riots of fear struck towns and roads. Countless calls and concerns were dialed into the CBS headquarters and police stations, the citizens desperate for answers or anything to calm them down. Ironically, the vast amount of incoming calls short-circuited phone lines, leaving people unable to call anyone for any answers at all. This only fed the panic, as the fearful thought this the work of the Martian invaders.
For weeks on end, the newspapers fed off the effects of the scare, while CBS was defending itself against flustered listeners. Numerous lawsuits were filed, though only one made it through - a man insisting to be paid back for using his shoe money in order to escape from the invasion. Formal and informal apologies were broadcasted, and the usage of "We interrupt this program..." was unofficially banned from clearance, since its "dramatic effect" was too powerful.
I was formally instructed by my parents when I asked them about this movie to say that "they're too young and hip to remember such an old movie", haha.
Anywho, this movie was very important and memorable when it came out, because it used and manipulated the atmosphere within the movie theatre to really envelop the audience. The deep base sounds and sound effects were emitted through speakers on the floor, causing the ground to feel as though it were shaking - which was important since the whole movie was centered around a massive earthquake. This was a new experience that ended up catching many people off-guard, and led them to panic in fear of a real earthquake occurring during the film.
A new sort of "special effects" was also introduced with this film, where pristine, exact scale versions of the cities were used when it was needed. In order to really make it look like the city was being torn to bits by the shaking, without actually destroying an actual city, a small-scale 3D model was built and reverberated to the point where it crumbled the way it would've should it have been real. This helped the audience really get fascinated and struck in awe by the magnitude of what was happening in the film.
In "A Clockwork Orange", the song "Singing in the Rain" is used several times, and when I was looking around to find why this song in particular was sung and used in the background, I came to the same general consensus each time. Apparently the only song that actor McDowell knew all the lyrics to when director Kubrick told him to sing a song. I find it amusing that a song was chosen on such a whim like that, instead of some deep meaning or symbolism. But, the movie is still interesting even with this song.
When the film first premiered in Paris, it was so long that they had to show it over two nights, with the film lasting just around nine hours! Another complication it reached was that Gance used triptych shots for the last 20 minutes in order to capture the grandeur of the finale. Using three separate screens to film the vast size of the army, he place them side by side to create a horizontal layout that allowed the audience to really see the intensity of the scene. The only problem was that many of the theaters didn't have screens large enough to properly project this trick, so showings ended up being very limited due to these restrictions.
When I was watching this short film, I have to say I was impressed at how they were able to bring the camera outside to film some of the scenes. Usually, with other short films around this time period, all scenes would be indoors with minor props set about to give the feel of being in the outdoors and forests. Edwin Porter did a magnificent job using body language from the actors in order to bring out the full story of what was unfolding in this silent film. With only the clicking of the slides and frames to keep my ears busy, it was nice to be able to understand what was going on just from the visuals.
I noticed once or twice, for the rather violent or potentially harmful moments against the actors, that Edwin did the stop-frame edits. He'd stop filming, have everyone freeze where they were, and replace one of the actors or objects with a dummy, and then continue filming. This would not be able to be picked up on unless someone was looking for it, and it'd make the viewers think that the violence received by the dummy was actually being received by the actor that had just been there.
I also believe that they used blanks when they were shooting their guns, to create the sudden smoking effect without actually shooting anyone. At first I thought they were just using puffs of smoke, but in the final scene where the robbers are in a face-off with the townspeople, I realized that the horses were acting jumpy; so I feel it's right to assume there must've been sharp sounds, such as is typical in shooting a blank from a gun.
Overall, I actually rather enjoyed this film, and was rather disappointed at how short it was. It makes me more appreciative of how the creators and writers were able to make a whole story begin and wrap up in such a short amount of time, unlike today's movies which drone on for hours to tell the whole tale - not that it's necessarily a bad thing, though.
I was so excited to receive this assignment to investigate and look into Melies's "Trip to the Moon".
Having seen Hugo, which I absolutely love and adore, I had a bit of a background knowledge on the story of George Melies's movies and how he revolutionized the film industry. He provided a creative mind that no one had even contemplated working with - his films were literally "something out of a dream". From the way he envisioned his works, to the manner in which he thought up ways to bring them to life, he was incredible. And, seeing as he started his whole career as a magician, it's no wonder he was able to think in a new perspective and to think of new ideas that would change the way everyone thought.
The idea of traveling to the moon is brought up in this 12 minute short film. There is a group of astronomers who try to think up ideas of how to get to the moon, and after much debate, they decide the best possible way is to place themselves in a rocket - in the shape of a bullet - and literally shoot themselves to the moon. It's only as they're in the process of reaching the moon do we know that the moon has a face, and feelings. The bullet rocket ends up shooting into the moon's eye, hurting and upsetting the moon in the process.
As the men exit to explore the moon, they find themselves confronted by truly strange experiences, such as giant mushrooms, transformations, and weird creatures that certainly do not want them there. These creatures capture the astronomers and take them to their leader, who ends up being shattered to bits by one of the astronomers. Fleeing for their lives, the astronomers try to escape, only for the leader to attempt and foil their escape by tampering with their bullet rocket. However, despite it all, the astronomers survive and are found and carried away by a steamboat that finds them in the ocean, and they share their delight in their experience.
I watched Hugo the other night, and am completely in love with it and the history it aims to tell its viewers. This story, along with George Melies, are the main focus of the history that is revealed and explored in the movie, and I for one will keep re-watching it to see if there's any more details I can pick up on.
Film and its origins and progression have always been an interest of mine.
In Peter Pan, where Cathy Rigby (Peter Pan) demonstrates the flying capabilities of her character, the technology is very important to engage the audience in the reality that they're meant to believe. With the thin, yet highly strong and durable, wires and harness holding onto Cathy, she's able to easily glide up and around, even preforming some acrobatic flips and twists to make it appear as though she truly has the gift of flight. The colorful lighting and childish glee associated through the tune and the other children's engagement with Peter Pan, the excitement is portrayed wonderfully.
I do appreciate Cathy for having control over her body as she soars, so that it doesn't just look like her body is being flung around. I give her a lot of credit for being able to hold her body in certain positions, such as leaning forward or back, to help contribute to the illusion that Peter is in full control of his flight.
"Defying Gravity" from Wicked had a spectacular display of lights and emotion in the set. It is all too easy to be enveloped in the mood and experience that is being presented, not only by the musical number itself, but also the way the lights are used. Deep blues and bits of lighter blue to insinuate a bit of mystical magic, with sparkles here or there to show that it's a positive, awe-inspiring sort of music. As Alpheba soars into the sky on a moment's notice, with veils of blue draping beneath from her, it's obvious that the audience was supposed to be in shock and awe. The light brightened a bit, rotating to show a change in pace or mood of the storyline. As others rushed in, with the smoke and fog at their feet, there was an excellent example of using props and special effects to really get the audience deeply involved in the story being told.
Shirly Jones sings "The Sound of Music", and there is an elegant sort of grace shown here. Her beautiful outfit, with the dazzling background filled with enticing signs and twinkling lights, the audience is captured and held in by her voice as it's exemplified by the stage set up behind her. Sometimes less is more, such as here where it's blatant that the focus should be Shirly and her solo, so the background isn't nearly as busy as it could be. The set gets the audience in the mindset of a graceful sort of poise, though simplistic in the sense that there is no dramatic movements so that all eyes are directed to Shirly and her words.
In "42nd Street", there is an abundance of focus on the colors and the light used. There is a surplus of twinkling lights almost everywhere the audience looks, from the title letters to the borderlines and the steps, themselves. The cast is wearing a multitude of outfits consisting of shimmering sequins that reflect all the light back, only contributing to the spectacle. Even their shoes are shiny so as to amaze the eyes of the audience. It is truly a sight to see, with the exciting and rhythmic dance motions and movements for the number. The lights that shine down on the cast add a hint of color to them, with the main focus being the couple in the center as they wear blue as opposed to the rest.
The cast was also engaged with the audience, which was very interesting as they ran around the theatre.
"King Herod's Song" from Jesus Christ Superstar is a great example of how well color and light can be used in a musical number. This piece has a lot of blues and reds, each complimenting the other as they're backed up against each other in the outfits, the set pieces, and even the background lighting and walls. The golden "H" stands out brilliantly, now making sure that all three of the primary colors are present, each complimenting the others wonderfully. The dazzling sparkles and shining on the cast members' outfits, save for Jesus, the audience can easily understand how Herod and his underlings have the good life, and are really proud of it by flaunting it around. There's a sense of pity set up for Jesus, as he's there, backed away from the "party" wearing not much more than a cloth robe - which is exactly the mood that the people are supposed to be in.
"The Circle of Life" from Disney's The Lion King is, by far, one of my favorite Broadway numbers. I'm a sucker for Disney, and when I saw this number, I couldn't help but watch it over and over again. The use of bright and beautiful colors is incredible, as the oranges and golds and yellows and reds create the feeling of warmth and comfort. The costumes and set designs were... unbelievable. The mechanics used made me wish I could create something like that, as the costumes were manipulated to represent the desired animals, such as rhinos or cheetahs. The cheerful and energetic dancing numbers make the audience watch in awe, sharing in the cast's excitement, while the incredible use of lighting and color keep them watching and eagerly waiting for more. The busy motion of the cast members flowing gracefully, creates a sense of beautiful nature that the wild is known for. As everything seems to "flow as it should", everyone can feel and understand the meaning of "the circle of life" - everything works according to how it's supposed to, even if it seems like it might not.
It'd be an understatement to say that "Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious" from Mary Poppins definitely used colors to their advantage in this number. With the idea of how atrocious and crazy that particular word is, the exuberant use of various colors, some contrasting and others complimentary, helps get the audience into thinking the same. The outrageous outfits and makeup worn by some of the cast members on stage causes the need to laugh or giggle, which is exactly the whole point of this piece. The swift and energetic movements give off the feeling of a game, of something fun and exciting, and with this tied in with the colors, this musical number exemplifies itself very well.
I've personally always been a fan of the Jazz music, finding it to be an odd, yet unbeatable combination of a steady beat - urging me to dance - and the flow of the soul. I'm always one to fall for swing dance music, and so Jazz has had a place in my heart for quite some time.
Jazz originated from the hearts and souls of black slaves in America, who used music as a source of some sort of freedom, which eventually evolved into their own music style. It had basically been a prerequisite of Blues and Jazz music that they grow from the heartfelt emotions, whether they be joy, longing, or just pure energy. As jazz began to grow, it migrated up north to cities such as Chicago and New York, where they became a staple; Chicago became very well-known for its fair share of Blues artists. With technology advancing so that it became more and more easy for the public to have access to different sources of media - i.e. music from the radio - it was no surprise with how quickly the people started to catch on to the swing of Jazz.
During the 1930's, Jazz became an essential source of escape, happiness, and enjoyment for the American people as they suffered through the trials of the Great Depression. Even with the greater part of the population suffering through poverty, music was still something that could be shared with ease, and its ability to lighten the spirits of the people was contagious.
Before when we were talking about the methods people went through in order to manipulate their voices for Opera, I couldn't help but think of this man. He's fantastic, and can mimic dubstep just with his voice! It's definitely worth checking out - I always replay it over and over again!
(accidentally posted this on my other, testing blog, haha. time to repost.)
I must say that when I heard we were going to be studying and looking into Opera, my first thoughts were "Oh, exciting!" and then I did a double take and it turned into "Oh... opera..."
But then we actually started looking at different operas, and I realized that there's actually a true, unbelievable art form at work that requires all this dedication and creativity and talent! After watching The Birth and Life of Opera, I find it hard to comprehend how much actually goes into each and every opera there was - and there's a lot of them! I always found it hard enough to think of intriguing characters and plot lines for my personal creative writings, so I have a much better appreciation for opera, which goes a million and one steps further than that by creating a tangible, visible, and audible new world!
And not only did it come to master so many different talents, but it did so progressively as to not lose its tie with the people it used to create these wonders. There were so many leaps and changes that were aided in being brought about by the shifts in storylines, plots, and characters used for operas. Seeing and hearing about them now, I'm sure that I couldn't appreciate it nearly as much as I could've if I had been there when all the hype was actually happening. It's hard to imagine being there alongside 10,000 other people, all lined up and eager to listen and see the exciting drama and love unfold onstage.
Personally, I think it's an understatement to say that opera was and still is an important influence on the world and its arts.
Hey. Sorry that I might switch things around for a while - I'm still getting used to this blogging way of life, and so I will most likely be testing the waters around until I feel a bit more comfortable. I've got a new layout, though, one that is more interesting and colorful. and out~
I had the pleasure of watching Pjotr Sapegin's adaptation of Madama Butterfly, an opera by Giaccomo Puccini. This short adaptation was animated, and I find it to be an amazing work of art just for that, seeing as I've tried various types of animation and always found it to be extremely challenging.
On to the story, now. I cannot even say how much I loved the manner in which Sapegin decided to tell this wonderful tragedy - the simplicity of the layouts and the animation itself forces the watchers to quit looking at the superficial details and acknowledge and appreciate the underlaying messages. I felt much more interested in the actual storyline and what was happening. The emotions and body language was perfectly touched upon so that I could not only understand, but feel connected to and sympathetic towards Madama Butterfly. The hope she clings to, and her pure sense of love and devotion is more than captivating as she awaits the return of the Lieutenant.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who absolutely loves the abstract symbolism in this animation. I'm always one to fall in love with stories that are able to bring in new ideas to resemble something so well-known. The stages of her pregnancy and mother-daughter bonding was fantastic, and I felt as though the fish in the fishbowl resembles the protection a mother offers her unborn child by bearing it safely within her own body. And the umbilical cord that wasn't cut? I love it, though I was confused at first, heh. As someone who feels an oddly deep connection to my own pets, namely the bird I've single-handedly cared for and raised for over six years, I can completely understand and relate to that feeling - the inability to be disconnected to the one you can't help but love.
And, with this in mind, I also empathized with Madama Butterfly at the cruel separation as the Lieutenant returned only to steal the daughter away. I ended up losing my bird only a few weeks ago as he flew away, unable to come home due to unfortunate circumstances, and so the connection I felt with Madama as she literally tore herself apart was frighteningly strong. The need to create something else, to start over new (which is conveniently what butterflies symbolize) could easily be seen as the only option for a grieving, deceived mother. Another thing I noticed was that both the Barbie wife and the Lieutenant squeaked when they moved, as though their "perfect bodies" and "perfect selves" were phony, and underneath there were problems (perhaps with their souls or hearts?).
Overall, this adaptation was incredible and amazingly artistic, I'll probably watch it a few times more than I already have just to see if I can catch on to anything else.
Hmm, well. Never really had a blog before, but there's always a first time for everything, right? I guess I'll roll with it~
Out of what I've gathered from the first day of class, I have to say it was definitely different than what I had expected. The entire course outlook has a different route - where I had thought that perhaps we were going to be talking about how to work with various art programs and learn the history of them. Don't get me wrong, I'm more than excited for what may come for the actual schedule of the class. I'm a huge history buff, and combined with my love and passion for the arts, I don't think I could've been settled into a more perfect course.
I find myself to be a more reserved and passive person who learns from observation and then applies these lessons when I am in need of them. I've a love for animals and their behaviors and perspectives, and always like to look at new opportunities and situations with a completely open and intellectual mindset. If I can get myself embedded into the fabric of a problem or a viewpoint, I feel I'm much more likely to figure out where to go from there. I hope that this class offers more perspectives for me to learn from, and enforce my belief that the best way to learn for the future is by studying the past.
