Living Planet

With this project I wanted tho show the narrative of life and death in relation to the passing of seasons in plant life. When people think of landscape photography, they think of beautiful, elaborate pictures with colorful flowers in full bloom. I wanted to play off of this and show the plants in their less appealing dormant state. When talking about ideas for my project, I was encouraged to look at the work of William Kentridge. An artist who altered the look of pictures using small changes at a time to show progression from one stage to another. This gave me the idea of making animated gifs to display the progression of life and death using plays on color and growth.

With this image, the colors reminded me of fire so I wanted to emphasize just the raw colors of the plant itself. to do this, I increased the contrast little by little so that at the end of the pulse, all you see is the simplified reds and yellows.

With this Iris, I noticed that the original flower had a lot of natural colors on it's own (because it is a early spring flower in bloom now) so I wanted to emphasize it's color by taking it away. I did this by using a sponge effect to dab away the color little by little until just the flower was black and white.

This dormant rose gave me the idea of how when it blooms the color seems to flow into the plant like water filling a cup. In order to achieve this effect, I used a color replacement tool to add color while making new layers at the same time and then creating a representation of the flower as it would bloom. This one took the longest time to do and I find it to be one of my favorites because, although my drawing skills aren't exactly the best, I feel it still seems really whimsical in it's nature.

Clever Cathedral

The first thing I see in this short story is the narrator's seemingly cynical point of view on life and his Jealousy towards Robert. I liked the character development of the husband because even though you would think the story is mainly about the blind man, it is more about the husband's revelation on life along with the new perspective he has gained.

I felt the beginning of the short story was a bit slow but like any short story, it is difficult to sum up years of peoples' lives and try to develop the basis of their character based on a few short paragraphs. I feel like this is a dislike I have with many short stories because sometimes it's better not knowing the whole character. Sometimes this can leave more to the imagination of the reader.

Tension

For our action word project, I was given the word tension to use. When I first thought of the definition of tension, I thought mainly of surface tension. While walking to classes everyday, it is the tension of the ground below us that holds us firm to the ground. If we were to replace it with another substance, for example water, we would not be able to walk on it. Using this ideology, I put together two images using pictures from the Olentangy River and Woodruff avenue bridge to not only show a competing level for surface tension but to also represent the tension between the wildlife and the cars driving by. I felt that many people can drive by the Olentangy river every day and not see or hear the wildlife that calls it home. I also put together an audio file in which you can hear both the geese and the cars competing to occupy the same space.  

Walking Among Strangers

The approach I took with this micro-project was to go along the lines of making myself invisible in natural surroundings. I used pictures from a recent shopping trip to Easton with my friends and photoshopped myself into the photos but when you look at the photo, you only see clothes where there should be a full body. I felt that my super power of invisibility was almost a double entendre in that I don't want other people to see me and to remain anonymous but to also note that we almost are invisible to the people around us every day. When we are walking to class or shopping in the store, we are walking among strangers who we've never met, will never see again, and will probably never remember their faces. With these pictures I wanted to show that although we may walk by hundreds of people everyday, we never truly see or remember them making them 'invisible'.

I actually ended up making three different photos to combine to make one photo set for this project because I really got into making the images. I felt the first two were quite simple in just rearranging some of the foreground and background layers to position the picture of myself in-between, so I took one of the more candid photos while we were eating and photoshopped my head out of the picture. This actually proved to be a little troublesome and I wish I could have spent more time refining my methods for making images of what wasn't there but I felt that it turned out pretty well. I really liked doing the last photo because it took some effort to align all of the lines that you wouldn't normally notice like the lines of the wall behind my head and the line of the counter behind me. Overall I liked in my pictures how I was able to capture (somewhat candidly) the other people around me going about their normal routine to emphasize that they didn't really notice I was there.

Finding my place...

For this micro-project, I found I struggled a little bit with defining a place I could call my own on campus. Other than class, I spend most of my time in my room on my bed studying. Therefore I actually chose two places to signify as my own on campus: my room and the classroom. I used this idea to blend the idea of both places together resulting in these three images. For my statue I also blurred the lines a bit into what we can define as a statue. Since I sit in my bed most of the time I found it fitting to use that as my focal statue for the images. In the first image I incorporated the bed onto a white projector screen. I used the projector screen as a starting point for this photo set because in a lecture hall it is the first thing your eyes are drawn to and the center of your attention for most of the time. I placed my bed on the screen to show my presence in the room and to provide a vivid connection between my role of studying on my bed and paying attention in class.

For the second image, I repurposed my 'statue' a bit by covering the chairs in the lecture hall with the comforter print from my bed. I felt that this would provide a connection between the roles of where I sit to do my work both in and out of the classroom. To do this, I chose a row of chairs and covered the backs of them with my comforter print.

For my last and final image, I refocused my attention to the front of the room where the lecturer's podium stood. I wanted to make my 'statue' smaller in this picture because I felt this space for me didn't receive a whole lot of my attention. For this image I used the projection camera that lecturer's use to show their work up on the screen similar to how it would be used in a class. This also ties into my first image which portrayed the image on the screen. I especially like how your eye for this picture too is still drawn to the bed because of it's bright red colors against the mainly neutral background.

Connection & Communication

This is the final result of my collection of personal items arranged into a collage. I like how it ended up because I feel that you can use the various items to get a feel for what I enjoy doing. I used the photo of my computer as my base image because as I thought about it, all of these items have interacted with and/or directly/indirectly come from my computer. Using that idea I arranged my items sporadically around my computer and blended them back towards my computer to give the idea of them shooting off of my computer. At the top I used the text connection and communication to portray these items ability to help me interact with people around me and even those far away. One regret I do have though is not altering the background inside the computer screen. I wish I would have moved it around so it didn't look like there was just a hole in my computer.

10

Below I have listed the 10 personal items that I will be using with my collage for micro project 2 along with a brief description of why I chose each item.

Control

I chose my Apple remote control because I feel it has a notable place in my arsenal of electronic gadgetry because of it's ability to control things.

Create

I chose my Bamboo Tablet because I enjoy using it, especially with photoshop, to create new and exciting images.

Color

I used this picture of my Toy Story lunch box that I use to keep my crayons in for those days that I have nothing to do and I just want to color.

Collection

This book is part of my small collection of Doctor Who memorabilia that I enjoy reading to help me with my knowledge for my favorite TV series.

Case

I used this picture of my DS case because I enjoy playing games on my DS and I always want to make sure it is handy and safe.

History

I chose this book that I read a lot over the summer on the history of video games because I enjoy knowing how the gaming industry came to be from simple low graphic games to highly complex graphic puzzles.

Consume

I chose this mug which I use quite often to drink my tea because of its ability to help me consume beverages. I really enjoy this mug because it features one of my favorite TV shows, Doctor Who.

Connect

I do not know what I would do without this item. My computer is my lifeline that helps me to connect to friends and family everywhere and to inform me about worldly happenings.

Calculate

I chose my graphing calculator because I feel that it plays a vital role in my education. I have used it many times to calculate various equations for all of my differing classes.

Entertain

This is my Nintendo DS that I use to play games. It can entertain me whenever I want and because it is portable, It can come with me wherever I go.

The Composition Hunt

So I started off my blog post with my name photo set because I felt that it required the most explanation. With having such a unique name, I felt that it was important to represent that uniqueness in my image. I figured that most people would try to find signs and street names with their name on it or even compile letters from various different signs. Instead I chose to use something that we see a lot of on campus but that we don't automatically associate with our campus. This lead me to look at various trees on campus looking at how I could interpret the curvatures of the branches into letters which left me with this final result.

I feel that most of my images I took for this scavenger hunt lacked the sense of color and lighting that I normally like to put in my photography due to the overcast skies. Listed below are the results of my composition scavenger hunt and the images' corresponding labels.

Person Up Close

Person and their Surrounding Space

Symmetrical

Asymmetrical

Radial Image

Point of View: Ant

Stable Image

Unstable Image

Point of View: Bird

It really was no miracle. What happened was just this...

As I stated in my previous post, I based a lot of my piece off of various allusions to the Wizard of Oz some of which can be seen quite easily. I chose to use a picture I took of a brick wall on campus and recolored it yellow, 'the yellow brick road'. I wanted to use a lot of bricks across my image because of all the things I saw when walking to class, bricks outnumbered all of them. Other Oz references include the Red-Laced sneakers, in lieu of the ruby red slippers; the green balloon representing the wizard's hot air balloon made from the sign at Oxley's Cafe; and finally I added a quote from one of the beginning scenes from the wizard of Oz to signify the start of my journey both to class and through this class. In my previous post I also made mention to Google maps as a primary source of finding how to get from one place to another. To represent this, I used pins to show my point of origin and destination, just as you would see in an actual Google map. The yellow brick also alludes to the tan layered background of a Google map. At my point of origin, I took the building in which I live, Barrett House, and distorted it to add to the playful theme of the piece. This can also be seen as another allusion to the Wizard of Oz in which Dorothy's house lands in Oz and becomes distorted from the fall. Next to illustrate how I get to class I showed a picture of my shoes moving in a walking motion as to get from one place to another by walking, my main form of transportation. I also showed some of the key features I pass on the way: the numbers garden and Oxley's Cafe. Another integral part of my piece was the use of signs and symbols. I used a lot of signs I saw on my journey to illustrate my progress when getting to class. I also added some painted features to add more visually cartoon-like effects: the grass at the numbers, the clouds, and a string on the Oxley's sign to make it look like a balloon. I also used some dodging and burning effects to emphasize the bright sun that I had seen in previous days from the top right corner of the image. Overall I feel as if my image could use some more minor tweaks but also represented an interesting first task.

The Wizard of Art

For my first micro project, I began to think a lot about the things that I saw and did as I walked to class each day. When I first started thinking about it, each day I had walked to class prior had been sunny and bright topped off by the fact that I was really enjoying myself in this class. This lead me to my initial idea of something, bright, colorful, and cheerful. The more I thought about my 'journey' I began to think of different 'journeys' that we make every day and how we got there. One idea that came to mind was our constant use of GPS and mapping programs such as google maps. The word 'journey' can also have a different psychological denotation. For example we experience the journey of growing up as we attend college and begin to make something of ourselves. One interesting journey story that came to mind was that of one of my favorite books, and subsequently it's movie counterpart, The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. This also plays into the ideas of connotation and denotation with its well known political subtext. With all this in mind, I decided to approach this project explaining my journey through a colorful, cartoon-like projection of my journey to class with allusion to the Wizard of Oz

Accidental Masterpiece

I really was fond of the artist's representation that not all art is great art because it truly does lie in the viewers perception of the big idea. An art viewer wants their mind to be challenged by a piece but not so much that the big idea is at all relevant. I feel like the author means to point this out so that we can also become better art viewers because like any business, everything depends on the consumer as well as the producer.

I suppose the one thing I didn't like about this article was seeing from an outside view and not being able to truly understand the full context of the book. I feel like it would have helped to read the actual book as well as this article. I also didn't like the format of letters being sent back and forth between the two which caused the lines to become somewhat blurred of what they were trying to get across.

What's the Big Idea?

In the article Big Ideas and Artmaking by Sydney Walker, I felt her explanation of the way we interpret art and the artist was very easy to understand and helped to simplify the process to get us to think more about why an artist is doing what they do. She talks of both subject matter and the big idea and how they can be both similar and different. I especially liked her example comparing classical artists like Van Gogh to more modernist artists like Jennifer Bartlett. By comparing these two artists, we were able to see how they were alike and how they varied in the message they were trying to convey even though they had similar subject matter (Landscapes).

Conversely, I feel that the article could have delved deeper into the understanding of how these big ideas interrelate with one another. I felt the article explained them well superficially but not as well in how they work together.

In Interpreting Visual Culture by Terry Barrett, the author illustrates for us how we subconsciously understand our visual surroundings everyday.  I thought the author's view on the human psyche was quite accurate in developing our notions of what is good and what is bad and how imagery forces us to see one thing or another. This idea of connotation and denotation very cleverly describes the aspect of art that we don't see with our eyes but rather our mind. The imagery only provides part of the picture and interpretation the rest.

I also felt that this article spent too much focus on examples rather than explaining the topic itself. I felt that the examples could have been more integrated into explanation of topics rather than just filler. Overall though I felt the article was quite successful in explaining it's topics and opened new insight into our visual interpretation of the world around us.

Cheese Monkeys and Heresy

After reading the excerpts from Cheese Monkey by Chip Kidd, it was quite obvious to me that this was not a conventional author. His writing seemed to lack the utter draw and pizazz of your more typical author but nonetheless, he was able to raise some very valid points on the human evolution of perception. Kidd talks a lot about how the human psyche focuses our attention to various points left to right and top to bottom, etc. It gave vivid insight into our views and juxtaposition of words and people.

On the other hand, I felt that some of the ideas Kidd represented here were left a little out of context since we did not get the full perspective from the novel which made the first two excerpts seem a little pieced apart from the rest of the excerpts. I felt that those first two excerpts provided the most trouble for me because it was difficult to understand what he was trying to conclude from his observations.

In The Heresy of Zone Defense I especially liked the author's view on how rules can set and define us as human beings but in the same way change us for the better. He also talks about adaptation to these rules and how that affects us as well. I believe that as humans it is in our nature to feel as if rules don't apply to us but in the same sense I feel that it is human to not feel a sense of rebellion against these rules. Yes, some people may say they are opposed to say a political ruling, but it is within our nature to not do anything about it. Generally we will take a back burner and wait for someone else to take the reins.

Although I feel that the author raised a valid point on societal rules and functions, I feel like there may have been a better example to use than the basketball metaphor. I feel as if he could have achieved the same emotional response from his audience without distracting the reader with this basketball narrative.

Art Education 252-Introductions

Now on to some introductions!

My name is Kory Munk. I am a Sophomore at Ohio State University majoring in Exploration. I grew up in  a small rural suburb just outside of Sandusky, Ohio (Cedar Point if you're not familiar). In high school I guess you could've classified me as the nerdy band geek and occasional teacher's pet. My high school friends and I are still pretty close and like to hang out whenever we get the chance that we are all home at the same time, generally over breaks. 

As a college student I have found out very quickly that it takes a lot more work than what I was normally used to. My freshman year unfortunately did not turn out very well for me but I have started to 'repair' my grades this year. I am not entirely sure what I am going to do with my life after school or even what I'm going to major in for that matter, but I feel like I will be able to figure it out eventually. In college I've found my interests have changed quite drastically from those in high school where I used to enjoy the natural sciences but have recently grown more fond of understanding human behavior.

Outside of school I mostly like to sit at home and watch tv shows although I have the most fun when I can get away from everything and just spend time with my friends. Even when I'm having a rough day or even a rough week, my friends can always turn it around and make me feel so much better. I also am quite fond of music and although I can't say I have a definitive genre that I like, I generally like music created by talented singers. I actually enjoy listening to music for it's harmonies and musicality. I'd rather listen to someone or something that sounds real, raw, and challenging than listening to talentless singers screaming into a microphone.

Now onto my top 5 list:

TV Shows

1.) Doctor Who

Image from: http://geeksofdoom.s3.amazonaws.com/GoD/img/2009/10/2009-10-06-doctorwho_logo.png

I came across Doctor Who fairly recently within the past year and it has since consumed my life! I don't know what I did before it.

2.) Merlin

Image from: http://assets.huluim.com/shows/key_art_merlin.jpg

Another show I have come across quite recently, Merlin has quickly climbed up the ranks of my favorite shows.

3.) Torchwood

Image from:http://images.wikia.com/tardis/images/0/04/TorchwoodLogo.jpg

I actually started watching this show, a spin-off of Doctor Who, with great expectations left by the Doctor Who Legacy. Unfortunately it didn't quite live up to the same standards as my favorite show but it still created a convincing story that was easy to love.

4.) Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Image from: http://assets.huluim.com/shows/key_art_buffy_the_vampire_slayer.jpg

Officially off the air in 2003 this show really drew me in with it's lovable characters and it's strong plot development (and my friend would kill me if I didn't mention it) but yes this show was introduced to me by my friend Brooke.

5.) Glee

Image from: http://www-deadline-com.vimg.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/glee2_20110702015133.jpg

And rounding out my top 5 favorite TV shows is Glee. This show has somewhat come down in its ranking on this list over the past year. It used to be one of my top favorite shows but the lack of continuity in Season 2 left this Gleek unimpressed. Thankfully this 3rd season has begun to show some promise but it still has a long way to go.

Well I guess this about sums up most of me and I look forward to meeting all of you.

ANONsense???

So I want to start off by explaining my choice in blog titles. As you can see, the word ANONsense is an amalgamation of the words anonymous and nonsense. I use these two words loosely in their meaning in that I feel like anonymity plays a large role in our everyday life throughout our interactions with complete strangers. As a college student, I feel this sense of anonymity is very prevalent in classroom interaction. We may sit next to the same person every day in class but do we ever actually get to know them. I could tell you that the person I sat next to in my class last quarter was named Megan but the information stops there. Nonsense on the other hand describes the other facet of my life throughout my interaction with friends and family. I live based on a very nonsensical mentality living each day with a lively attitude taking anything that comes at me as lightly as possible and trying to (as corny as it sounds) live each day as if it were my last. So mashed together I feel these two words describe a lot about me in how I interact socially with people I do know and those I don't.