Most influential image

The most influential image I would have to say is the Olympic one because.....

Irán thru Persepolis

My view on Iran was partly influenced by Persepolis. In all honestly I don't really know much about Iran or its culture aside from what we see in TV or hear. Yes, there are extremist in Iran but there's also innocent people that have to live in those conditions. Sometime we forget about them because the media only portrayes one side of the story. Persepolis shows the other side of the coin and shows how a young girl has an internal struggle and is confused as in her identity. Makes me wonder how I would react to an environment where you are molded per say into thinking a certain way and then think of the young children that have to go through that everyday of they're life. Persepolis didn't really change my way of thinking it sort of just reminded me that there is more than what the media shows of Iran and its people.

Student art show

             In side the student union building the first picture I was that captured my focus was Charles Lamb's “ War is yellow” (65PH). It’s a photography that contains a biohazard sign, gas mask, a toy soldier, and what appears to be some sort of gas. This picture was medium size with a yellow mustard tint to it, hence the title war is yellow”. I think what intrigued me the most was how real it felt. We live in a society where we are constantly looking over our shoulders to whether other countries have nuclear weapons. The toy soldiers on both sides of the picture gives it a feel of reality of some sort. The second picture that called my attention was Chris Beaman's Music Room at Talieson (6DW). This sketch won 1st place at the art exhibit. This drawings was made by pencil marks of light and dark shading. Such detail and time was put into this sketch and can be seen by its clear straight lines and glossy look of the piano. Music has had such an impact in me that I feel attracted to anything music related such as the drawing.

Aspiration

Aaron Douglas was a famous American painter during the early 20th cencentury. He was famous for his murals depicting social issues at the time during the Harlem renaissance.  For my blog post I decided to examine a popular oil canvas painting called Aspiration. Aspiration is a four part mural collection, its composed mostly of dark shades of green,brown,and black. It can be classified as cubism because its 2 dimensional and the shillouests of the man and woman are abstract.

Existential hero

Sartrean imposed the idea that we are fully responsible for creating our own future. If we fail to take control of our fate we are acting in bad faith. Bad faith is the idea of accepting someone else's way of living and taking it as ours. As children we are raised to think, talk, and behave a certain way. We are taught many thinks and as we grow up some of those beliefs or ideas stay with us. We are also expected to achieve certain goals set by our parents or society as a whole. What if we didn't have those ideas implied on us? What if we could choose to be anything or do anything we wanted to? What if money, time, and how society views things did matter? What of we could actually be free to choose...to create our own future?

On Tuesday in class we talked about existential heroes and how they make their future even when odds are against them. If i was a hero in the making I honestly feel that I wouldn't be where I am today. I would not be working at my current job, probably studying for something else, or simply I wouldn't be me. I feel like I'm the type of person that looks for people's approval in all aspects of my life. I was raised with certain values and principles which have shaped who I am as a person. I was always taught to be well mannered and treat everyone as if they were superior. An existential hero doesn't really care how people view them they do whatever it takes to fight against what they believe is wrong. I honestly don't know who I would be.

Lyrics

Music is such a powerful outlet that has the ability to transmit a range of emotions thru well throughout words and rhythm. It has the ability to change one's emotions from happy to sad, bring back memories, and bring up issues that affect our current state in society. For example, one of my favorite would be  “Where is the love?” by The Black Eyed Peas. A small but powerful excerpt from this would be:

If love and peace is so strong
Why are there pieces of love that don't belong
Nations droppin' bombs
Chemical gases fillin' lungs of little ones
With ongoing sufferin' as the youth die young

This song touches many social issues such as: discrimination, sexuality, hate/love, stereotypes, and more. This song was released in 2003 a little after USA attacked Iraq so I think that's what it's referring to when “Nations droppin’ bombs, chemical gases fillin’ kings of little ones…” Young ones are the one that suffer the most in today's society. Also how the government is the one that decides to go to war and doesn't ask for the people's opinion. The chorus of the song repeats saying “where is the love? Where is the love? Where is the love?” It's a very powerful messages that helps us reflect on how we as humans treat others. I like this song beacaue it keeps a steady beat and it's lyrics reflect what we still see now adays even after 15 years.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/blackeyedpeas/whereisthelove.html&ved=2ahUKEwjxoMnUwtTZAhUN8GMKHeowCQ4QFjAXegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw0YCg9P2sshdu8bjSiMxjtX

1914 poetry

1914 A very complicated year; Austria attacking Serbia, Germany declaring war on Russia, Germany invading France. A complete outbreak of chaos 1914 the start of what would be WW1. Thousands of men mostly composed of 17 or 18 year old sent off to fight for a greater cause. Many poetry and arts came out of ww1 that depicted what was happening at the time. For example, Laurence Binyon’s poem “For the Fallen” talks about young soldiers who lost their life. An excerpt from the poem says:

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.


They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

This poem has a very sad truthful tone because it talks about how these young men will not grow old how “They mingle not with their laughing comrades again.” They had their lives ahead of them yet they will not be able to enjoy a single day more. In the poem the author would say “ they shall grow not old” or “ they mingle not…” instead of “ they should not grow old” and “they will not mingle…” . This type of word choice seems to give the poem a more poetic vibe although it's something I'm not used to. It hadn’t been till recently that I started to be interested In poetry. Ofcourse, a different type of poetry but poetry nonetheless. I like how poets write with what seems such ease and can put words on a piece of paper and convey such a strong feeling for the readers.

Picasso's Guernica (1937)

My first reaction to Picasso's Guernica was overwhelming. In the left corner we see a distraught mother holding her dead baby. There's a lot of violence and chaos see with the other people. So much is going one in this painting that I feel like it's connects to the time Picasso painted it which was the after math of the bombing in 1937. The horse in the middle has a spear running through it. On the right we see a woman who has seen all this violence unfold and is shocked by it. Guernica is a landscape painting that includes many geometric shapes which at first seem difficult to sort out. Picasso uses mostly triangles with a black and white color scheme. Overall I think Picasso's work is interesting, mostly because he had the ability to incorporate geometric shapes and lines into his artworks.

Auvers Town Hall on 14

In Chinese culture weren’t dragons some form of spiritual deities. Well in Van Gogh's painting of Auvers Town Hall on 14 we see an building in the middle which according to the title of the painting I assume is the town hall. However, what captured most my attention was the fact there is a walkway made by walking between these two trees. At first they same like simple trees but when you look at them a little closer you see that the trees foliage is actually the body of a young dragon. This backs up that idea that Van Gogh had changed his view on religion, he no longer just looked in the heavens but also in everyday nature like shown with the dragons. This painting gives me a mood of festivity and alive. Although the painting itself doesn't have a lot going on, I like Its simplicity of decorations.

www.vangoghgallery.com/catalog/Painting/10/Auvers-Town-Hall-on-14-July-1890.html

Cultural Diet

As humans we are attracted to other humans that share some of what makes us, us. Everyone has a different “cultural diet” as you can say; however, we find similarities in others. What makes each one unique is what we consume in the aspects of arts and music. For example, I consider myself to be a lover of music and poetry. I listen to all genres of music but, my favorite at the moment are Indie and  Hispanic music. Whenever I am feel happy or upset I listen to music and it gives me a sense of relaxation. I'm not very musical but I'm interested in learning to play many instruments. I have played the violin for 7 years and enjoy classical music quite a bit. I get the chill listening to how the cello or violin all have their own sound and are able to make such moving music together. Reading books isn't really an interest in mine however I do love poetry. The fact that they can put feeling and emotions into words that someone they don't know can relate is a gift. I would like to learn how to express myself in such a way instead of keeping my dwelling bottled up. I enjoy watching movies, action preferably, and tv shows such as comic books, police investigations, and medical shows. Who I am as a person I think can be reflected on what I like to do,listen,or see. I'm open to new ideas and meeting new people who share or don't share the same interests I do and that's what makes me, me.