March for Climate Change

Has everyone heard about the march for climate change movement?  I actually hadn't until a few days ago in art class but it seems like a pretty big thing.  If you haven't, click here for a little background on it!

Basically, it's an international movement to bring attention to climate justice, and carbon pollution.  It's pretty huge, many major cities across the world are participating in it!  Anyways, to relate this back to what we have been talking about lately; the attacks on Paris, the influence these attacks had on the world, and how people are responding; I will be focusing this post around Paris' march for climate change.

So, like many big cities around the world, Paris had planned to participate in the walk for climate change on the weekend of November 28th.  However, they have just endured a terrible tragedy and in result of this they decided to cancel the scheduled walk. "French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said earlier that the government hoped “to avoid any extra risk”, the Associated Press reported. The rallies—scheduled for Nov. 29 and Dec. 12—were expected to draw 200,000 or more people." As much as I'm sure all of the citizens respected and understood the reasoning behind this decision, many of the citizens still wanted to show there participation, and demonstrate there dedication toward this cause, and toward  the lost lives of friends and loved ones.

These images have been travelling around social media, I'm sure you've all seen one or another over the past few days.

"As the world gathers in Paris to stand up for climate action, let us also stand in the shoes of all victims of terrorism, war and persecution [...] and respond with compassion," - Ki-moon

This is a picture of almost 11,000 pairs of shoes laid down in Paris for 2 causes, climate action, and remembering the victims that can no longer stand up for any cause. "Some are sparkly glitter heels. Some have plants growing out of them. Others have messages for future generations."  Many activists, business man and children dropped off a variety of shoes in 'Place de la Repubilique'.  How does this have to relate to art?

So let's look at this visual display like art, photography is art, and we can analyze what we see going on in this picture, and others like it.

Okay, so I chose to look at this picture because it really revolves around the symbolism of the shoes, and not so much the people putting down the shoes.  It's a clear picture, you can see the variety of shoes, and it's pretty evident that it is Paris.

I think that this really shows how a community came together to make a statement.  I don't know if this started out by someone placing there shoes down because they were disappointed they couldn't have used them.  I don't know if this started because activists wanted to make a statement that the lost lives in the recent attack can no longer stand up for anything anymore.  I don't know how this started, but it did, and word spread and the shoes grew and deeper meanings and motives were presented.   I think that this can be considered art because this act is all about perception, did people who recently lost loved ones place there shoes here?  This could totally be a way to continue to remind people of the attacks.  In today's media, bad news seems to keep on coming, tragedies from last week aren't as important as they were before, we begin to forget, until we never give it a second thought.  But, those were peoples lives that were lost, those families will mourn forever, they won't forget that easy, so why should we be able to?  I think that this really kept the recent attacks in the media, making us all give what happened a second thought.

Also, the climate change movement was a pretty big deal, and I'm sure many people in Paris were looking forward to marching for change.  This display of shoes is like a silent protest.  Obviously people respected the decision to call off the walk, due to recent events, and safety.  But, does that mean that nothing can be done?  Sometimes, actions are more powerful than words, and this display of shoes could not be ignored.  Instead of being just another city marching for climate change, Paris found a respectful way to make this movement viral. 

These shoes basically take 2 completely separate issues, and join them together.  They show the strength in community, the desire to move forward, and the hope to never forget, but learn to move on from tragedy. 

Fade to Black: A Look Into The Impact of The Syrian War

Okay so this is a video made to demonstrate the struggle Syrian people (especially girls) are facing with the war.  My class was shown this video multiple times and was asked to explain what was going on, and what we thought the relevance of it was.

What's happening?

So this is a stop motion video.  Stop motion just means that it was put together through a series of pictures, not videos. The director of this short video is Amer Albarzawi, and the main female actor is Farah Presley. Throughout the video there are real people used to demonstrate the characters, and fake backdrops used to demonstrate the setting.  This video is about one minute long and revolves around one girl.  The music in this video starts off friendly and sweet, and quickly begins sounding dark and dystopic.  There is a real juxtaposition between the colors, themes, and sounds from the beginning of this video to the end. It is really dark and sad and defiantly leaves an impact on the viewers.

What influence has his video had on the media?  What do they have to say about it?

Youtube: "The uprising movement in Syria was stolen by the extremists , this short pixilation Film , tells how the Syrian people's lives turned to black, how their dreams were shattered, and how their future can no longer be thought of."

Toronto Urban Film Festival: "This short tells how Syrian people's lives have turned to black, and how their dreams were shattered. Everyone has become under the veil, even minds, dreams, and future."

PBS News Hour:

"The psychological toll of Syria’s war in one breathtaking minute"

As you can see, this video has had a real impact on the media and society.  But, why did these individuals decide to make such a touching video?  What inspired them?  

Read all about Amer's story here.  Reading about what inspired him to create this videos really helps me gain a better understanding as to what the meaning of this video is.  I like knowing a bit about the background of things before analyzing them, and this website gives a quick, but thorough summary of all the events that lead Amer to create this video.

So, what is the relevance of this video?  Why is it so important?  And what symbolism is in it?

The relevance of this video is quite simple in my point of view, I think that this video was created to show people that have never seen war what it is like to those who live there.  It is meant to give a third world perspective to first world people.  I don't know about everyone else, but when I hear of news of Syria, I always think of the murderers, dictators, and terrorists. I think of it as a cold war land; but this video shows what it's like for the people who aren't at war, this video shows the perspective of an average girl, one who has grown up in Syria, and now must face a new harsh reality.  Syria is a home to people, much like Canada is a home to me, and I cannot imagine what it would be like to feel unsafe in my own home.  I think this video was meant to bring attention to the average person, it was meant to expose the struggle of Syrians, and show that people are in pain over there too.  Not everyone in Syria is an extremist, or a fighter.  Not everyone wants to be at war.  Some people just want to live a normal life, and they are stripped of this dream because of where they live.

This video is important basically just to bring awareness.  Maybe after watching this video people will feel more welcoming to refugees.  There's not really much we can do, which is unfortunate, but it's true.  This video won't do anything, it's the actions of the people who watch it that will make a change, it's the people inspired be this video.  I don't really know what can be done at this point, I don't really think anyone knows.  We are sending help, accepting refugees, but it's not our country, and sadly that's about all we can do for now.

There was a lot of symbolism in this video, and I probably missed some of it too.  It starts off with a blue sky, sunny day, birds whistling, and a happy girl.  Clear blue skies are a pretty good sign that everything's going good.  Also, the music is calm and soothing, the girls hair is curly, and bouncy, and her clothes are bright.  She's looking all around basking in the beauty of the world and boom; thunder cracks.  Thunder is never a good thing, you know as the storm starts rolling in the whole story is going to change.  Dark clouds begin creeping in changing the once blue sky to grey and black, and the music changes, now it sounds dark. The girl begins to look worried and the screen goes black for a moment.  The girl still looks the same, a little sad but still wearing the same clothes, and the back drop is now completely black.  The fact that after all of that change the girl is still wearing the same clothes lets the viewer know that the change was quick, and no one saw it coming.  People yell at the girl and she begins looking sweaty.  A man puts a hijab around the girls neck and it appears that it is choking her.  It is denying her air like she is denied her rights, she is being choked with all these new rules, she can't breathe, and she stops fighting.  She lets the hijab cover her face and now they have taken her identity.  She is not the same girl who started this video, she's just another unrecognizable face.  She become coated in back and can't escape as the world become dark, all her hopes, dreams, and wishes are gone;trapped, just like her.  Her hand escapes for a moment almost crying for help, but no one else is around to help her, so she slips into nothing, all her aspirations gone, the life that she knew, gone.

Analyzing Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei, or 'Eye way-way' for anyone like my who can't decipher different languages like me, is a contemporary artist who has been around for quite some time.  I've never actually heard of him before, until a few days ago when my art teacher asked my class to look at some of his work.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of the artwork we are looking at, but I can see that there is a deeper meaning than its appearance.  So, we have been looking at this one collection that basically focuses on people who are going to, currently in, or were in jail, for reasons that are kind of controversial.  Obviously where they come from it is reason enough to put them in jail, but here, in places like Canada or the States, the reasons can seem kind of bogus.

I think that he does this work to bring attention to all of us who are generally not exposed to that kind of penalty.  I  think that Ai Weiwei wants to show us that many people are mistreated, and misjudged, and that what we hear on the news may not be the full story.  I think that he wants us to give these people a second look, he wants them to be recognized not as villains, but as civilians, with a right to start again, and have people understand there story, and how they got into a situation that landed them in jail.  I think that Ai Weiwei is not afraid of speaking his mind and testing authority.  He has a message; he wants us to see these people as more than just another face on the news, and really understand there background, and there story, and he is not afraid to put this message out there for the world to see.

So here are a few of his more recent pieces and little stories beside:

He really just writes a short blurb about each person, but it eaves a real impact on the reader.

Okay, so I get why he wants to share these peoples stories; freedom of speech, and people have a right to know.  But, why does he present them in this manor? Why does he pixelate all of his pictures and make them so colorful and weird looking? 

I guess everyone could hypothesize a different reason, and he probably has reasons of his own, but here's what I think.  I think that Ai Weiwei makes his pictures look so unrealistic and phoney because the charges that sentenced these people to there terrible fate are unrealistic and phoney.  It seems like authority just wants to show how much control they have over people and send them away just to prove it.  I think that he pixelates these individuals faces partially to protect there identity, but also to show that appearance isn't everything. The most powerful stories are told through understanding, sometimes a picture helps us understand, but in this case it is the stories of these individuals that help us sympathize with and feel sorry for them. 

 

Although this cannot do much, it can bring awareness to there situations.  I think that Ai Weiwei is trying to make life easier for these individuals after there jail time is served, he's doing what he can do to spread these stories, it may not seem like that much, but with when dealing with the countries and circumstances these people come from, there is unfortunately not much that can be done.  I think that Ai Weiwei makes these faces so bright with color to really draw attention to them.  I don't this that he does this art for personal recognition, personally, I think that these pictures look over done, and they are a little lame looking.  However, I must say that they cannot be ignored, when scrolling through any kind of social media website, which is where Ai Weiwei posted these pictures, the viewers eyes are always going to be drawn to these pictures, and I think that that is the point. 

 

The pictures are used as a diversion to get all of these mistreated convicts stories out for the world to read.  Anyone is allowed access to read about the injustice in other nations, and anyone can do what they want with this information.  For some it may be nothing more than table talk or food for thought, but for others it may influence a law based career path or encourage other freedom fighters to take a stand.  Ai Weiwei has found a way to inspire through tragedy, and he did so in a respectable, light-hearted kind of way. 

Paris Attack

I'm sure everyone's heard of the tragedy that occurred last Friday in Paris, the 'city of love'.  Terrorist groups attacked, and killed over 120 people, and seriously injured hundreds more.  This leads me to wonder, what does make us human?  Compassion obviously isn't a common trait amongst all people, or there would be no terrorism.  There would be no killing of innocent people for no reason.  I understand that there are a few twisted people in the world.  What I don't understand is how all of these people find each other, and dedicate there own lives to destroying others.  I don't understand how these attackers can feel good about themselves when they leave nations in tears.

Many people are touched after tragedies like this one.  Many people want to help, and want cities like Paris to know that it will get better, and that we are thinking of them.  However, not many people know how to show there sympathy.  Very few people know what to do, and don't know how to show that they are thinking of places like Paris.  On Friday night, I saw so many Facebook posts, most saying things like 'Pray for Paris', or 'So sad to hear about Paris'.  Seems like a small gesture for such a huge event, but we live in Canada, what can we do?  How can we show that we are truly sorry for what Paris is going through?  How can we connect with the world, and share our feelings with others?  How can we display our remorse in a way everyone can relate to?  It's a lot to wrap your mind around, however, a few individuals managed to do it.  A few speakers and artists managed to share there messages with the world through speeches, and art.

So, as all of you know, this is my art blog.  So, I'm going to be focusing on how art can display emotional messages and deeper meanings when tragedy strikes.

Art is a way that we can all express ourselves.  However, we are not all great artists.  We may all put the same dedication toward our work, and try to portray the same message, but lets be honest guys; some people just have a natural artistic talent, and are able to show meaning better than others.

Has everyone seen this image?

Since the Paris attack, this image has gone viral.  Many people don't know where it originated from, but they can all connect to it.  The artist, Jean Jullien, is beginning to get recognition from this piece. I think that this is defiantly the most widely shared image that people have used to show there own sadness about the attacks in Paris. 

Jean Jullien is a perfect example of an artist who used his own artists skills to connect with the world.  People have seen this image everywhere, this image sends a clear, thoughtful, respectful message.  Through his own artwork, Jean has allowed many other people to share this image, in a way that lets Paris know that everyone that is suffering is in our thoughts. But why does this stand out to so many people?  How has this simple image made it's way into the lives of so many?  

This image is clear.  It does not beat around the bush, it is the Eiffel tower intertwined with a peace sign; Peace for Paris.  People like a clear message.  When analyzing art, we may like to think a little deeper, but when it comes to showing our own sympathy, we want the message we send Paris to be clear.  This image is bold.  It is a harsh black color on pure white paper.  It stands out, when gazing over a page it catches ones eye.  It is appealing.  This drawing does not scream disaster or tragedy.  It does not show bloody images and leave the viewers feeling disgusted and angry.  It is pretty, it is sad because of the context of why this image was created, but it is still pretty, and focuses more on looking forward, and trying to heal, rather than getting revenge.  It send good vibes Paris' way instead of sending vengeance and hate toward the terrorists.  

Very successful piece of art to represent tragedy.  This image will always remind us of what happened in Paris on that awful night.  This is how artists can make a real impact on life, when I think of the Paris attacks, I won't think of guns, blood, or gore, I will think of this drawing.  This piece of artwork is simple, yet it sums up the awful events that took place.  This image has impacted so many peoples lives, and has been shared world wide.  That is how art can make a difference.  

I have to applaud Jean Jullien for his work.  It takes a really talented artist to think of something so brilliant, in such a short amount of time.  Given days, or weeks, I would probably over think the message I wanted to send, and end up having nothing to show for it.  But, Jean managed to come up with this within a few hours, and gave people a voice, he gave people a way to share there own message. 

Response to Salvador Dali Part 2

Okay so something really confusing happened today,  I made a post about Salvador Dali around a month to a month and a half ago, and somehow it magically disappeared.. weird, I know.  And, also very inconvenient.  So I'm just going to make a quick one to sum up my thoughts that unfortunately got erased.

So this is Salvador Dali for anyone who doesn't know who he is:



He kind of looks like a whacko, but he has painted some really neat art and came out with this little blub that I will be analyzing today... again.

"Because I am too intelligent to be a good painter, to be a good painter you've got to be a bit stupid"

So my art teacher asked my class to analyze this and say what we think he means, and state whether or not we agree with it.  First off, I just want to say that he defiantly should not be saying this, I had to do a quick Google search of him to get a better idea of who he was and how to respond, and he has some really amazing, and unique art work.  He takes something, an object like scissors or something, and makes them look like a dancer.  He brings life to inanimate objects in a really visually appealing way.  I really get the sense that all of his paintings hold a message, everything he does has a reason behind it.  And, maybe that's why he said this quote, because he feels that he puts too much thought into his paintings.  I don't think that doesn't make one a good artist though, I just think it might make them different than other artists. 

I do think that this quote is interesting though.  I think that it could mean a variety of things, so lets just travel together on my train of thought for this post.  Pretty sure my other post was more thought out and organized, but it's gone so you guys are just going to have to stick with me here.

What do I think this quote means?

I don't think that Dali actually means you must be stupid.  I don't really think that ones intelligence influences whether they are a good painter or not.  I think that this quote means that the best paintings are painted with one thought in mind, with one message, or feeling that is meant to be understood or felt.  I think that this quote means that a good artist must not be so critical, they must not be so precise.  They must let there raw emotion and feelings be evident though there artwork.  They must lose themselves in there painting, and allow people to understand there artwork on a deeper level.  I think that Dali was putting into simple terms what can be so complicated and misunderstood.  What makes a good artist?  It can be anything really, people favour different art then other people.  It's what makes us different.  However, no one likes an over-thought piece of art.  We all like to put ourselves into the artwork, we like to think who? What? Where? When? Why? And how?  We like to analyse, we like to discuss, we like to hate pieces, and we like to love others.  We like artwork that make us happy, and we admire artwork that makes us sad.  We like to feel something, and we like to be able to relate.  Artwork must be a bit mysterious, it can't be completely clear, it must be a bit 'stupid'.

Minimum Wage Artists: Something to Consider

Please visit this link to see what I am focusing this post on.

Midterms are here, the holiday's are quickly approaching, and there's no time to slow down.  Before we start our new art unit my class is doing a few quick responses to some popular art, articles.  Yesterday my teacher gave us this minimum wage artist article to read, and reply to, but I had no internet, so I'm doing it today!

So to sum it up, if you didn't read the article, it's basically this one guys opinion on how artists need to be paid more.  People take advantage of artists starting there career, and pay them brutally.  The author, Noah Bradley, wants to bring attention to this issue, and bring it to an end.  He says that being an artist is a job, and artists should be paid like any other job.

Now what do I think of this? How does this article contrast with what I know about artists? 

We've all heard of starving artists, but we've also all heard of millionaire artists selling each piece for hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Is this unfair?  I don't know.  I agree that some artists probably get taken advantage of.  But doesn't everyone at some point?  Should you rely on society's standards, or should you create your own and live by them?  I think that every artist should be shown this article, every artist should know there rights, and feel comfortable talking about money with there employer.  I don't however, necessarily blame the employer for underpaying artists.  If you can get a good job done for cheap, why not?  Why would someone pay more money for something than they need to?

When I was younger, I used to babysit a lot.  I watched these 2 kids, and there parents would pay me 5$ and hour, I thought it was awesome.  I then stared babysitting this other family the paid me 8$ an hour for watching 2 kids.  I informed the other family that my rate had gone up and they said they wouldn't pay more then 5$ an hour, so I told them that I couldn't babysit for them any more.  A few days later I saw those two kids with another babysitter, but did I feel bad? No, because my time was worth more than that. 

If you don't stick up for yourself people will take advantage of you.  And, while starting out and making a name for yourself, artists may have to take a few bad gigs.  It is there choice what jobs they decide to take.  It is completely within there rights to ask for more, but it is also completely within there employers rights to decline them what they ask.  Is this fair? Probably not.  But that's life, life isn't fair, life takes hard work, and to get what you want takes time, effort, failures, and if your lucky, success.  Becoming an artist is risky, if one is ready to take a leap of faith and take that risk, then by all means, they should do it, but they shouldn't expect everything to be given to them.  They must accept the fact the they may not make it to the top, the most there pieces ever may be worth could be 100$.  This sucks, but it's the reality. 

You decide what you are willing to settle for, and if your not willing to settle for less than 100,000$ a painting, then you will either work your butt off, make connections, and work your way to the top, or fail.  The payout can be huge, but it can also be nothing.  I think that that is something artists must realize.

Me And My Good Pal Scream Sharing Some Fruit

So the other day a few of us were playing around with the green screen a bit, and we were trying to incorporate art pieces into #fruitSelfies, (another school was doing a project). Here's mine!

 

 

This was just a quick little optional project, but it got me more familiar with how the green screen works!  Which I think is really good since my class is heading into art history soon and we will be making some presentations, and this is defiantly on option for me!  I can see how using a green screen could get frustrating, but I would like to try it as it is way more fun than the usual power point or prezi. 

Poem Art Done At Last!

Alright everyone, it's been a long journey to creating the perfect painting to represent my song.  I am insanely picky when it comes to anything I do.  I like to be proud of my work, and that takes time an dedication.  I know I'm not a pro painter like my art teacher ;) (bonus marks), but I defiantly gave this painting my all over the past week and a bit.  I dedicated a good 6 hours to making it exactly how I wanted.  So, lets get going with the pictures! Because they're more fun to look at then listening to me go on and on about my process.

So me and Kylie got let into a secret room in our school dedicated solely to painting our painting because we are such responsible students :)  So this is the room we came into everyday to paint.

Step one: Step up my station.

This is where I was working for about a week.  I've never actually painted on an easel before so I have to say it was a good first experience!  I usually paint on the floor, but since this piece was so much bigger than I am used to, it was nice to be able to step back and observe it from farther away.

Step two: Paint my sky 

I added a picture of the mixed paint here because I thought it looked really cool, but also because this is always how I blend my paint.  I don't like completely blending paint because I think it looks too basic, I feel like leaving some untouched colors gives is more depth.  Next, I just slapped some paint on about half of my canvas.  I had a different idea for the bottom so no point in painting down there.

Step three: Add clouds

Here's my paint for the bottom half of the clouds, thought it looked kind of like a bird.  This also go my thinking, is this considered art?

This is right after I finished my clouds and a basic outline of the trees.  Do do my clouds, I mixed paint like I have shown above, and used a sponge.  I've never used a sponge in art before, and I really liked it for this.  I cant think of much else besides painting clouds that I could use it for but I thought it gave the clouds a really neat look!

Step four: Paint a valley

My original idea was to add a valley.  I liked the way the bottom half looked, and the way the top half looked, but I didn't like them together.  I thought that the bottom looked too abstract whereas the top looked too real.  I decided to carry on with it anyways and see if my opinion would change.  *In the second picture I began to add definition to my big trees, and a few small trees in the background using a super thin paint brush, (very time consuming!).

Step five: Just go with it!

First picture is first attempt, but I thought it looked too basic, so I tried to add something else to my mountains.  I liked it, but it wasn't quite right.  I was honestly considering leaving it because the difficult part about art is that once you change something, you can't go back.  But, I wasn't completely happy with it so I decided to change it! 

I decided to try to make a more realistic version of a night sky.  I liked the look of this better, but I still really wanted to incorporate mountains. 

So, I hated the moon and the mountains were too tall.  Great. It felt like I was working backwards. Time to paint a night sky again. 

In all honestly, I liked my first night sky a little better, but there was no way I could get it exactly the same, and I was willing to work with this.  I spread blue, black, purple, and pink paint all over.  Then when it was still wet dabbed it with a sponge with a bit of white paint to look like clouds or fog or something.  I then used the good ol'toothbrush trick to create my stars.  I still wanted mountains again, just lower this time. 

I outlined then with a thin paintbrush in case I changed my mind again. 

After I was happy with the shape, I filled my mountains in and added little trees all over them.  Now it was time for my moon.  I wasn't a real fan of the white moon last time, so I decided to try a black lunar eclipse style moon,

Nope, looks more like a black hole to me then a moon. 

That's better.  Last step: just wanted to add a bit more definition to the moon and put a few more clouds around it. 

Voila!

Final thoughts:  I am really happy with how it turned out!  I'm glad I tried out more than one option.  However, I still do like the look of the abstracty looking one near the top.  I with I would have played around with that a bit more before dismissing it completely. However, I do still really like this one.  Poem art=success! What do you guys think?

Update On Visual Poem

So, as all of you know, I am working on the song 'A Dustland Fairytale' by The Killers as my 'poem' choice!  Over the past week I have done quite a bit of brainstorming, and gathered some ideas that I would like to peruse. I want to make my visual interpretation of the song more literal than the video.  I want to be able to incorporate as many song lyrics as I can into my piece of art.  I thought of a few ways to do this, until I decided on one.

1. Stop motion animation: I worked with stop motion once in Grade 9, and once in Grade 10 I believe.  I really liked the final outcome of it, but I found it very difficult, and time consuming. I'm kind of a perfectionist, and I couldn't achieve the flawless transitions in my stop motion that I've seen in the past.  As much as I do like watching stop motions, because of my frustration with them, I decided this was not best for me.

2. Pottery:  I really like pottery, and I would like to work some more with it, and I felt that this assignment would be fun to do with pottery, however, I am not the biggest fan of the clay my class has.  The clay easily gets lumps, and it's really hard to make the shape I want with the clay.  You can't make it too thin, or it collapses, and I don't like the look of clay when it's too thick, so I decided not to go with this option.

3. Painting:  I am pretty familiar with painting, but I have this weird thing where I only paint during the winter, I don't know why, I think I feel more motivated to stay inside my house and paint, than go outside where it's all cold and snowy.  But, anyways, it has been a while since winter, so I haven't painted in a while, and I thought that this would be a good way to test the waters with where my current skills lay.  I have always found painting beautiful, and I think that it would be easy to represent my song through a painting.  So, I did decided to go with a painting.  I stretched a canvas for myself for the first time, and I made it bigger than I am comfortable with.  I am used to painting things on a small scale, but for this assignment, I decided to kick it up a notch!

So, after establishing that I wanted to paint my visual representation of a poem, the next step was deciding what to paint.  Like I said before, this is one of my favourite songs ever, so I did go into this having quite a few potential ideas of what to include in my painting.  The next step was to limit down my ideas to things that fell under my 'literal interpretation' theme.  Here are some song lyrics from the song, with ideas that I could represent them with.

Moon River, what'd you do to me?- Some kind of river, lake, or ocean with unusual colors to display the uncertainty of this line.  The river could be in a different shape, or could be shown through raindrops?  The raindrops could be different colors, pouring into the plain river, changing its color. 

And the decades disappear, like sinking ships but we persevere.- I could have some kind of ship, or tombstone at the bottom of my river.  Or I could start the bottom of my river darker than the top, to represent to the change in years.  It could begin black and white to show that this all started a long time ago, (as old film was black and white), and it could progress toward color to show that this is where we are now.

Castles in the sky sit stranded, vandalized. - So, I kind of want this to be the backdrop of my whole painting.  I want my 'castles in the sky' to be the silhouette of trees against a sky.  I don't want castles, because I've never seen a castle, why would I paint something I'm not familiar with?  But I think that the trees standing tall gives the same kind of feeling.  I want trees against the sky because the still image of that can be beautiful, but we also don't know what is happening behind those trees, we don't know what has happened there, or what will happen.  We don't know who lived there, or who partied there, or who grew up there.  I want to paint this silhouette, and the paint inside of the trees for the rest.

Straight to the valley of the great divide, Out where the dreams all hide... - I want to have some kind of cold looking valley inside my trees.  Maybe have some black hills leading up to it, I don't want it to look welcoming.

Is there still magic in the midnight sun?- As this is one of the final lines of the song, I want it to leave an impression.  I want to paint some kind of weird looking sun rising out of the 'valley', out of the 'moon river', and above the 'castles in the sky'.  I'm not exactly sure what I want it to look like yet, but that's where my mind is right now!

If anyone else has any idea, please checkout the lyrics and write down what you think I should include! :)

Art and Craft

Alright, so this is that big, long post I was preparing everyone for.  What is art?  So I’m going to start with my own personal definition of what I feel art is.  I think that art is anything anyone creates.  I think it must show expression, and it must makes people feel something.  I think that art can be temporary, or permanent.  I don’t think it has to be around forever, I think it can last for one day, or a lifetime, and either way, I think it is art.  I don’t necessarily think there is a difference between art and craft.  I think that originality and expression is key in both.  I think music is art, and movies are art, and video games, and graphic design, and jewellery, and paintings, and sculptures, and carpets, and clothing, and landscaping, and buildings and almost anything really.  I think we can find art in anything and I think it is presumptuous and close minded to put restrictions on what can be ‘classified’ as art.  One person’s view of beauty does not have to be another’s.  So who is anyone to say what I consider to be art, is not?

The difficult part, is drawing the line.  If I say landscaping is art, when is it, and when is it not?  I think that this is the real question.  If we do begin to open our minds and allow new artistic possibilities to enter, when does it stop?  There aren’t any rules to this, because it is a relatively new concept; considering non-traditional pieces of work to be ‘art’.  But, I do stand by what I said above, art must display expression (in my opinion).  I think that is where the line is drawn.  I think that if you feel you’ve created a piece that will trigger emotions, you have created art.  If you view something, and it brings you back to a certain time in your life, or makes you feel happy, you are viewing true art.

Have your parents ever told you that you are there biggest masterpiece?  My mom used to, and I always thought it was kind of silly.  I mean, I’m a human, I’m not art.  But, is that completely relevant? We all trigger emotion, and we all have memories, and we all bring joy and sadness, and experience joy and sadness ourselves.  We base ‘art’ off our own emotions, and our own perceptions of beauty.  So does that make us the real art, and our pieces just copyright of our own feelings?  I’m honestly find it impossible to define art. 

I mean, some parents would define their 4-year olds drawing of a stick figure family as art, while others wouldn’t even consider it.  I think that art is weird.  And defining art is weird.  I think it’s a matter of opinion, and preference. 

I just have to say, I’m not sure what art is.  And, I’m not going to be so ambitious to say that I do. I was planning on sharing some images of what I thought art was, but after getting about half way through this post I realized that I don't have a clue.  I have my own idea of what I consider to be art, but I would be willing to listen to other opinions, and discuss it further.  I think the sunrise is art.  And no one created that, it is just there.  I love the sunset, and the constellations are a masterpiece.  So I really don’t know.   I just think that in any art class, or in any art museum, everything should be given a chance.  I don’t think that certain pieces should be shut down so quickly, and considered a ‘craft’.  I think that each piece should be given a fighting chance, and that the artist should be able to express why there piece is art.  I don’t think that this battle of what is art and what is craft will end anytime soon.  But, I do think it is a question that should be widely considered.  Art and craft is not so black and white anymore, there is a definite grey area, and I look forward to seeing what becomes of that grey area.  

Little Art Testing

Okay, kind of jumping topics here, but a few weeks ago my art teacher brought a few 'sample' things to art.  This included molding paste, and paint that worked well with the molding paste.  My and me friend, Kylie, decided to test it out and do a collaborative piece of art.  We brainstormed a few ideas, while waiting for the gesso to dry on our newly stretched canvas, and came up with something we both liked the sound of.

 

Before we actually began to pain on our canvas, we just tested out the paste and a few of the colors on a plain sheet of paper.

We decided that the red, and blue blended really nicely together, and wanted to make that our background. We contemplated mixing the paint with the paste right away, or using the paste, and painting after.  In the end, we decided to mix it.

I suggested using a spreading tool as it would give a cool vintage looking texture. In the end, I thought the background looked like a kitchen wall in an old Greek movie, I really liked the way it turned out!

Next step was where the molding paste really came into play.  We used a tool most people use for oil paintings to make our center focus; our big flower in the middle.  To create this, we used large amounts of the plain white molding paste, and smeared it at different angles across the canvas.  I've done this once before with oil paint, so I was a little more familiar with it.

We then added a bit of yellow as a color pop, just to spice things up a bit!

Final verdict on molding paste:  I thought it was really interesting! I always wondered how artists add texture to there paintings, and now I know.  I would defiantly like to try an individual piece with molding paste something!  It had a really grainy texture, and dried very solid. I was impressed.  

Series Artwork- Idea #1

Have you guys ever heard of wire wrap necklaces?  There really neat and I’ve been fascinated with them for the past few years.  Last winter, I made a couple, and it was really difficult, but the turnout was really cool looking.  Here is a picture of the 2 I made last year.

So, I was thinking that making a few more with charka stones would be a cool piece for my series, then I could maybe photograph them in a cool setting and incorporate photography as well.  I thought that this would classify as art, as it is original, it would require a lot of work, and I would have a final creation of my own at the end of the process.

Also, there could be a lot of symbolism in these necklaces.  For one, the stones I choose will hold a message themselves.  Different cultures have different meanings for different stones, and I would really like to explore what some of those meanings are, and be able to choose these stones accordingly.   Secondly, the way I decide to wrap the wire around the stone could hold a different meaning; I could wrap it tight to represent some sort of confinement, or loosely to represent freedom, I could bend the wire into waves to represent calmness, or storm/fear, or swirls, to represent confusion.  Also, the length of the chain on the necklace could represent how close to the heart one holds that certain value, or message, do they distance themselves from it?  Resulting in a long chain.  Or suffocate themselves with it? Resulting a short chain. Or does it fall somewhere comfortable, in the middle?  This will probably begin to make a little more sense as I start making my necklaces.

But, anyways as I was discussing this idea in class, my teacher brought my attention to an idea.  Is this an art, or a craft?  Is there a difference?  Where is the line drawn of what defines art? What do I define as art?

Poetry Ideas- A Dustland Fairytale

Okay, so. I had 3 main poems in my last post, and I wasn’t really sure which one to choose.  I decided I should go with the last one, just because of its short length, but then I also thought that I should really be able to see the poem as I am reading it in order to represent it by art.  As much as I think that all of these poems are awesome, I couldn’t really visualize any of them.  A little later, I was riding home on my bus, and listening to a song by The Killers called ‘A Dustland Fairytale’.  It’s a pretty cool song I think, it’s fairly poetic, and really rhythmic.  I can really easily get into, and visualize that song!  Plus, I was partially drowsy while listening to it so a bunch of images were coming into my head, and I knew that was the song.  I can totally relate to it and I love the words chosen, sentences assembles, and the flow of the paragraphs!

Over the past 3 years, most of my favourite one liner quotes have come from this song, it is defiantly a personal favourite.  (And, I must really like because really, who still likes a song after 3 years, most songs become super annoying, but not this one)

A Dustland Fairytale:

A Dustland Fairytale beginning

 With just another white trash county kiss in '61.

 Long brown hair and foolish eyes.

 He'd look just like you'd want him to

 Some kind of slick chrome American prince.

 

 A Blue Jean serenade

 Moon River, what'd you do to me?

 I don't believe you.

 

 Saw Cinderella in a party dress,

 But she was looking for a nightgown.

 I saw the devil wrapping up his hands,

 He's getting ready for the showdown.

 I saw the minute that I turned away,

 I got my money on a pawn tonight.

 

 A change came in disguise of revelation, set his soul on fire.

 She said she always knew he'd come around.

 And the decades disappear

 Like sinking ships but we persevere.

 God gives us hope, but we still fear what we don't know.

 

 Your mind is poisoned.

 Castles in the sky sit stranded, vandalized.

 The drawbridge is closing.

 

 Saw Cinderella in a party dress,

 But she was looking for a nightgown.

 I saw the devil wrapping up his hands,

 He's getting ready for the showdown.

 I saw the ending when they turned the page,

 I threw my money and I ran away.

 Straight to the valley of the great divide

 Out where the dreams all hide.

 Out where the wind don't blow,

 Out here the good girls die.

 And the sky won't snow

 Out here the bird don't sing

 Out here the field don't grow

 Out here the bell don't ring

 Out here the bell don't ring

 Out here the good girls die

 

 Now Cinderella, don't you go to sleep?

 It's such a bitter form of refuge.

 Why don't you know the kingdom's under siege

 And everybody needs you.

 Is there still magic in the midnight sun,

 Or did you leave it back in '61?

 In the cadence of a young man's eyes.

 Out where the dreams all hide

 

Here is how the artists perceived the song:

 

 *Seriously you guys all watch this music video it is one of the best music videos I have ever seen.*

I can totally see how they imagined it like this, and it defiantly makes the song more emotional to listen to.  But, I think it could represent many other things not as extravagant as well.   

I think that this song is about heartbreak, and how nothing will ever compare to teenage years and high school no matter how bad we want it to.  We are all really stuck in this mindset that high school is where some of the most important memories will take place.  But, when we look back do we remember what really happened? Or do we fantasize about what should have happened? How much truth is in our own perception of reality?

This song sounds very dreamy to me. Like nothing is really real, but everything makes so much sense.  The story is blurred ad the blanks we must fill in make the song perfectly clear.  I think that this song is about someone coming to terms with their own mortality.  Where did they time go?  I can relate to this, as I am graduating Gr.12 this year, but I remember walking through the high school doors the first time like it was yesterday.  How can that feel so close, yet be so far away? 

This song is about being stuck in a place, mentally or physically, and not being able to break free. Suddenly summers are not meant for tanning, swimming and partying anymore.  The innocence of being young is gone and you’re stuck in the real world. 

This song can be about so much.  It is going to be difficult to put these words into art.

 

Art and Poems

As a bit of an extension from my last post.  We've been looking at poems that we can create through art. I've found a few great ones, and wrote a quick blurb of what I think the mean underneath.  Let me know what you think of them!

Phantasia for Elvira Shatayev by Adrienne Rich

 
The cold felt cold until our blood
grew colder then the wind
died down and we slept

If in this sleep I speak
it's with a voice no longer personal
(I want to say with voices)
When the wind tore our breath from us at last
we had no need of words
For months for years each one of us
had felt her own yes growing in her
slowly forming as she stood at windows waited
for trains mended her rucksack combed her hair
What we were to learn was simply what we had
up here as out of all words that yes gathered
its forces fused itself and only just in time
to meet a No of no degrees
the black hole sucking the world in

I feel you climbing toward me
your cleated bootsoles leaving their geometric bite
colossally embossed on microscopic crystals
as when I trailed you in the Caucasus
Now I am further
ahead than either of us dreamed anyone would be
I have become
the white snow packed like asphalt by the wind
the women I love lightly flung against the mountain
that blue sky
our frozen eyes unribboned through the storm
we could have stitched that blueness together like a quilt

You come (I know this) with your love your loss
strapped to your body with your tape-recorder camera
ice-pick against advisement
to give us burial in the snow and in your mind
While my body lies out here
flashing like a prism into your eyes
how could you sleep You climbed here for yourself
we climbed for ourselves

When you have buried us told your story
Ours does not end we stream
into the unfinished the unbegun
the possible
Every cell's core of heat pulsed out of us
into the thin air of the universe
the armature of rock beneath these snows
this mountain which has taken the imprint of our minds
through changes elemental and minute
as those we underwent
to bring each other here
choosing ourselves each other and this life
whose every breath and grasp and further foothold
is somewhere still enacted and continuing

In the diary I wrote: Now we are ready
and each of us knows it I have never loved
like this I have never seen
my own forces so taken up and shared
and given back
After the long training the early sieges
we are moving almost effortlessly in our love

In the diary as the wind began to tear
at the tents over us I wrote:
We know now we have always been in danger
down in our separateness
and now up here together but till now
we had not touched our strength

In the diary torn from my fingers I had written:
What does love mean
what does it mean "to survive"
A cable of blue fire ropes our bodies
burning together in the snow We will not live
to settle for less We have dreamed of this
all of our lives

This poem is about a group of women who died while mountain climbing, this poem had a different style of first person narration, because it was told through the eyes of a dead woman. The poem started off with the women slowly dying, and then continued to say what she thought, and felt while laying dead on the cold mountain.  The poem was set on the Lenin Peak Mountain, where the tragedy took place. The purpose of this story is to show the strength, and determinations of these women.  They never gave up, and never turned back, even when they knew the odds of them making it to the top of the mountain were not in their favour.  The conflicts the woman faced in this poem were breaking gender stereotypes, showing that women are just as good as men, and the weather.  Although the weather was not the main conflict, it still played a part, because in the end, it was the weather that stopped these women from completing their goal. The audience that this poem appeals to is women of all ages, or more specifically, women who are determined and want to make a point, or who have been told that they cannot do something because of their gender.  The voice in this poem is accomplished and calm, not at all sad or frightened like it might have been thought to be.  The woman feels successful, because she knows that she will be talked about and admired a long time after her death.  She has come to terms with that fact that she is dead, and died peacefully doing what she loved to do.  This poem was really well organized, and demonstrated to the reader what the women’s thoughts were, without going into too much detail. 

Next Day by Randall Jarrell

 

Moving from Cheer to Joy, from Joy to All,

I take a box

And add it to my wild rice, my Cornish game hens.

The slacked or shorted, basketed, identical

Food-gathering flocks

Are selves I overlook.  Wisdom, said William James,

 

Is learning what to overlook.  And I am wise

If that is wisdom.

Yet somehow, as I buy All from these shelves

And the boy takes it to my station wagon,

What I’ve become

Troubles me even if I shut my eyes.

 

When I was young and miserable and pretty

And poor, I’d wish

What all girls wish: to have a husband,

A house and children.  Now that I’m old, my wish

Is womanish:

That the boy putting groceries in my car

 

See me.  It bewilders me he doesn’t see me.

For so many years

I was good enough to eat: the world looked at me

And its mouth watered.  How often they have undressed me,

The eyes of strangers!

And, holding their flesh within my flesh, their vile

 

Imaginings within my imagining,

I too have taken

The chance of life.  Now the boy pats my dog

And we start home.  Now I am good.

The last mistaken,

Ecstatic, accidental bliss, the blind

 

Happiness that, bursting, leaves upon the palm

Some soap and water--

It was so long ago, back in some Gay

Twenties, Nineties, I don’t know . . . Today I miss

My lovely daughter

Away at school, my sons away at school,

 

My husband away at work--I wish for them.

The dog, the maid,

And I go through the sure unvarying days

At home in them.  As I look at my life,

I am afraid

Only that it will change, as I am changing:

 

I am afraid, this morning, of my face.

It looks at me

From the rear-view mirror, with the eyes I hate,

The smile I hate.  Its plain, lined look

Of gray discovery

Repeats to me: “You’re old.”  That’s all, I’m old.

 

And yet I’m afraid, as I was at the funeral

I went to yesterday.

My friend’s cold made-up face, granite among its flowers,

Her undressed, operated-on, dressed body

Were my face and body.

As I think of her I hear her telling me

 

How young I seem; I am exceptional;

I think of all I have.

But really no one is exceptional,

No one has anything, I’m anybody,

I stand beside my grave

Confused with my life, that is commonplace and solitary

 

This poem is written and interpreted through the eyes of an older women.  The purpose of this poem is to communicate the struggle of one coming to terms with their own mortality, and how strong of a desire one feels to be youthful again.  This poem is intended to make the readers feel connected, it is not very specific so it allows for everyone to relate their own lives to this situation.  Although I feel everyone can relate to this situation in one way or another, the intended audience would have to be people who are over the age of 50, or people who are struggling with the change of their physical appearance because of aging.  The voice of the women telling the story is very sad.  I think that she is trying to make the best of her situation, but is having difficulties coping with her old age.  I think that she regrets being so set on finding the perfect husband, and house, and having children in her youth.  I think that she wishes to go back and just enjoy life instead of worrying who she would marry.  The voice in this poem tells me that although the women is struggling, she keeps her problems to herself.  I think that she does not want to burden anyone with the issues she faces.  This poem in well organized, it is a little choppy and jumps subjects a bit, but it is easy to follow and keeps the reader intrigued.  This poem is set in a grocery store, where the old women thinks back to being young and reminiscences over her youthful body.  She thinks about how she is seen now compared to how the world used to see her.  The main conflict in this poem is self against self, she is fighting a battle she cannot win against her youthful self. It is very sad, but really allows for the reader to empathize, or sympathize with the women.

 

Gretel in Darkness by Louise Gluck

This is the world we wanted.
All who would have seen us dead
are dead. I hear the witch's cry
break in the moonlight through a sheet
of sugar: God rewards.
Her tongue shrivels into gas . . .

Now, far from women's arms
and memory of women, in our father's hut
we sleep, are never hungry.
Why do I not forget?
My father bars the door, bars harm
from this house, and it is years.

No one remembers. Even you, my brother,
summer afternoons you look at me as though
you meant to leave,
as though it never happened.
But I killed for you. I see armed firs,
the spires of that gleaming kiln--

Nights I turn to you to hold me
but you are not there.
Am I alone? Spies
hiss in the stillness, Hansel,
we are there still and it is real, real,
that black forest and the fire in earnest

This poem is about either a girl, or women.  She has done something terrible for someone, and is trying to deal with it by herself.  The purpose of this poem is to sum up some of the events in this woman’s life, and demonstrate the way she feels about them.  The audience that this poem appeals to could either be someone who loves somebody that doesn’t love them back, or someone who has done something for somebody, only to have that person walk away from them.  The age group that this poem would relate to most would be anywhere between 20-40, because between these years, people face many heartbreaks, divorces, fights, and kids growing up and leaving them, after all they’ve done for them. This poem would relate mostly to women, but men could relate to it as well.  The voice of this poem tells me that the narrator is scared, angry, and lonely.  She is used to having people watching over her, and she does not like being left without anyone.  All she wants is to love and to be loved in return.  This poem is well organized, it demonstrates the important events in this woman’s life, and it becomes progressively harsher and darker to read as the poem unfolds.  This poem seems to be set in the woman’s mind, she could be anywhere, but she feels like she is in a dark forest, all alone, with nowhere to go.  The woman faces a conflict with her own actions over the course of this poem, she is not proud of what she has done, and she now must live with the consequences of it with no support from the ones she loves.  She thinks back to the days when she was loved, and she longs for those days to come once again.