Final Responses

Devon Beckwith - Her shooting assignment was interesting.  It reminded me of the photographer, Sherrie Levine, where they took a photograph of a picture and called it their own.  Her use of light to distinguish the different photographs was interesting to me.  The use of light on the buffalo drastically changes the atmosphere of both photographs.  One looks like a normal cloudy day, but the transition changes to one that looks like a large storm is coming.
Her Final does introduce an interesting idea of social commentary.  The idea behind it is strong and yet has to be truly interpreted by analyzing the photograph.  It's idea is hard to come by, but once told everything becomes clear.

Mykala Shircliff - Her shooting assignment used times of days to show not only shadows, but atmosphere that is created by light.  Her use of transitions of the day is interesting because sometimes things go unnoticed and I feel that good photography can sometimes be distinguished by luck.  It was lucky she found interesting scenery by finding the right time.  The depth she creates in each photo is really interesting because the light and shadow comes more in focus by what you're drawn to.
Her Final invokes an interesting set of nostalgia.  It is composed of ideas she loves and so that kind of setting can sometimes trigger memories of past or a sense of similar love from your own past and dreams.

Jill Hughes - Her Final also invoked an important concept of society.  The idea where humans tend to destroy in order to expand has often been brought up by many activists and the photograph invokes a sense where nature eventually will over power us all and win in the end.  It is hard to go against nature and so in the end it will eventually be absolute.
Her shooting assignment incorporated interesting textures.  The way light can affect a texture by emphasizing some parts or darkening others to create a unique texture is well captured.

Meagan Walton - Her Final presents an interesting look at interpersonal issues.  The idea of feeling out of place can certainly be identified with many people, especially the younger population and so it provided a unique sense being lost.  I liked the idea of searching for your place in the world.
Her shooting assignment uses a mystery element to to each photograph.  The space she wants you to focus on can be interpreted one way only to find out it is something different.  It's almost like a puzzle where you are only shown a partial image.  The use of light adds to what is emphasized and what is hidden.

Lauren MacAleese - Her Final explores the mindset of a child.  A child's imagination is one thing that is lost when we become adults and so it is interesting and surreal to see a child's imagination come to life. I believe that adds to the idea behind her project and adds a sense of nostalgia for everyone who used to play.
Her Shooting assignment is interesting because the scenery is aided by the lights she uses.  the sun is a powerful light source that can drastically change a scene and so I liked how different each one is while still behind aided by natural light.

Kelsey Virden - Her Final project enteres a unique realm behind a child's imagination. When we are young we think the world is composed of mythological creatures or surreal landscapes, but when we grow up we know what truly is out there and how different the worldview truly is from when we were kids.
Her shooting assignment was good in that it used different sources of light with familiar objects.  Each light can represent different feelings in people plus they have different colors to them.  I think it was interesting how light can truly change and how an object is viewed based on that light.

Jesse Poytner - Her Final project invokes a sense of nostalgia.  At first nothing is wrong and so it takes a closer inspection to really see what is wrong with the composition.  The concept of looking back and seeing what was once there strong in our generation who are growing up and moving on towards different places.
Her shooting assignment used unique light sources and how they created shadows to accompany the space she was shooting.  The exposure was unique in how one would see the world around them and how light plays a part in photography.  Each light in a way reveals what is hidden and so their is a mysterious element to each photograph due to the time of day.

Yohan Vervatwala - First of all...Whats In the Box!?!?!  His Final was unique in how it is an extension of his first project he did.  The concept of how our generation is sometimes ignorant of the world around them is interesting.  With the world today we sometimes choose to ignore parts of the world and how some things are blatantly in front of us, but we can still choose to ignore it.  The world can be in a crisis, but some people will only stop for a moment to reflect and then quickly forget it the next second.
His shooting assignment was also interesting in how he showed different landscapes in how unreal the world can be when it light is perceived.  Each one almost seems out of place from reality by the use of light.

Rosie Garibay - Her Final project invokes social commentary about how people can be restless and never stopping to see what is around them.  It presents a feeling of nostalgia and how we choose to remember things and how hard it is to return to those past memories.  The feeling of tranquility is hard to achieve for some people because they have to keep moving, they have to keep going forward until they can finally slow down and rest.  (St. Elsewhere)
Her shooting assignment was interesting in how some photograph complimented others in respect to how some images can seem different and yet relate to another by its origin.  She creates a unique depth of field and how some objects are unknown until they are explained.

Bronwyn Huddleson - Her Final a surreal look into someone's own life.  It is interesting in how personal the image is and how others can relate to it as well.  You get the sense of being confused or lost in life not knowing which direction to go.  I believe that many people can relate to this by experiences in how others can feel lost and sometimes not know which way is the right direction.
Her shooting assignment was also interesting in how personal it was to her also.  The images she used are paths she has gone down and how it is part of growing.  The idea is strong in how many locations we have been or how many roads we have traveled.  The darkness is illuminated by the lights and how different they may seem in how we now view them when looking back on our lives.

Mike Smith - His final presents a representation of opening one's self to the world or to others.  It shows a personal feeling where one relied on themselves until they have to eventually open themselves.  It shows the transition of being guarded then it being torn down at the right moment or by the right person.  He uses music as a way to express himself and how absorbed in it he is when he plays.
His shooting assignment incorporates elements from Edward Weston's work in how objects can be perceived one way and how it can be presented in a different way.  The way the light interacts with the objects can somehow change the images into something new or they can enhance them too.

Video

I found the video to be confusing.  I figured it had to deal with women and how they are in society or some aspect of that, but other than that I did not really understand.  I felt that it was confusing for me, but that other would understand it.  I thought that it had a couple creepy aspects to it as well as some humorous undertones to it.  If it were explained to me then I would get a better grasp on what I saw.

Faculty Gallery

I found the Faculty gallery to be interesting though there were many aspects of the art that I didn’t quite understand.  It would have been easier if the artists had their artist statements along with their artwork so that everyone could have a more clear idea what the artist was thinking of at the time that he made the work.  Since I have relatively no art experience it is harder for me to derive my own conclusions when it comes to the world of art, especially when the answer is vague in its own sense.  There was one art work that caught my eye however and it was explained to a group of us by Lynn when we asked her. 

The artwork was the cloud one, though the name I cannot remember well.  I thought it was very interesting, not only because of its size, but when explained to me the meaning was very interesting too.  She explained that on one side it represented what the true cloud is supposed to be.  There is no form, there is no true line surrounding it and on the other side was a more cartoon or drawn aspect of what a cloud is.  The outline was heavy and clearly visible.  It lost most of its texture and the color was different.  Normally we would separate these two, but the clamp was holding it together. 

She explained that in society what is true and how we perceive it can be different then how we represent it and these two things can’t be separated easily anymore.  I think it is an interesting idea when dealing with how society views a real landscape as opposed to art.  Art is an imitation of something and so whether it is a landscape or a portrait it will never truly we exact, but now that notion has been more warped into more of an exaggeration of what something is.  I think I found this the most interesting because today there are so many types of art and some people would say that other types of art aren’t fine art, but in the end society holds them together in a metaphorical clamp as one that cannot be separated because the strength of a society’s mind.

Artist

For my next project it was between M.C. Escher and Salvador Dali.  Ultimately I went with Dali because I am really interested in his surreal paintings.  I'm interested in how I can shift the medium from painting to photograph.

Environmental Portraiture

The idea behind my project was to display with life of my friend with each having it's own standing concept.  I presented the project as a past, present, and future with everyday actions that have a deeper meaning of my subjects past, present, and his possible future.  I also used colors to represent certain meaning such as red for the conflict or blue for a sad or neutral feeling.  Each photograph presents a meaning behind what is photographed from the colors to the locations seen.  I wanted to have the viewer look at my subject's life not as if he was posing, but as if you were looking through a window with him not noticing.  Still, even if I wanted to have an updated snapshot feel, I still wanted it to be staged so as to have that deeper concept within my photographs.

DV8 Physical Theatre

I really found it interesting.  I remember seeing it from last year and how different the concept was to me and how unique.  I thought that this type of thing wouldn't normally work unless you think of it in different ways.  I thought these people were talented and that this new type of genre can be further explored

Appropriation

To idea of appropriation can be traced from many different places.  If you think music then today we have countless DJ's and Musicians who sample older songs and put their own unique spin on them.  If you want to discuss art then you could cite artists and photographers who based their images on the past such as American Gothic or images from Andy Warhol in popart.  If you want to discuss films then you could cite Quentin Tarantino who films movies using scenes he has scene before or George Lucas who was inspired by the hero's journey and flash gordon.

The are countless examples that continue from this: art, music, film, math, science, ideas, or even inventions.  The list goes on.  The idea of copyright infringement is a hard topic to discuss because you could spend hours, days, or maybe months on this topic.  People who support copyright are those that probably want to get compensated for their idea, but sometimes they take it to the extreme out of greed. Those who support the freedom of ideas are those that believe everything should be part of the domain, nothing is private, everything should be public. Both sides truly have their arguments and it is difficult to choose what is right or wrong.

To think of an idea and lay claim to it is something people can do everyday, but isn't it enough to know that you created it first?  Isn't that accomplishment enough instead of seeking compensation?  People do not always profit off of the appropriation of other works.  Cite examples of famous artists who created iconic works and people tried to copy the work and sell it as the original.  This doesn't always work because the original is so well known, it would be easy to spot the fake.  Or you can think of the idea a Stradivarius violin.  Iconic workmanship that went into the violin that even fakes can be weeded out easily.  My point is is that if you create something so iconic, so memorable, that it doesn't matter if you get paid for it or not.  People will remember that you created it.  People will recognize who you are simply for creating the idea.

Even today we honor people who created ideas that paved the way for the future because those ideas were lasting.  Hell, we even honor people who stole ideas without people caring because sometimes stealing ideas makes history that overshadows the original.  (Benjamin Franklin, Oreos, Captain America, etc)