My Blog Entries so Far; a Reflection (Blog Entry 14)

Looking back through my entries so far makes me think about how much I could write about if I took the time. In just a few short weeks I’ve managed to write a decent amount about a variety of subjects. Writing is something that comes fairly naturally to me, and I can just sit down and write about what ever subject I have been thinking about. This blog has made me realize that I should probably write down more of the things that I think about, for myself and maybe eventually for other people. It helps me to organize my thoughts and explore ideas, sometimes when I’m writing I learn I have opinions that I didn’t even realize I had. I think writing is something that is valuable to me as a way to explore my thoughts.

The entries that really stand out to me are the ones that I wrote on subjects that I actually care about, like the one about Keith Herring or my favorite illustration blog. Those are the subjects that are the most important to me that I wrote about, and I think the quality of my writing is better because of it. I’ve been forced throughout school to write about things I have no interest in, and when this happens I find that I’m not very engaged mentally in the writing process, and I tend to just write whatever I think will get me a good grade. Maybe that’s not something I should admit to, but when I look back at the entries I didn’t have as much of an interest in, I see that tendency, and my writing suffers because of it.

I also found that my writing is usually critical and analytical, which makes me think I would like to explore writing as a critic. I adore movies, television shows and art, and I tend to have very strong opinions on them. While this is usually annoying to my friends and family, especially when I critique every movie we go see, I think it could be an asset in the right setting.

As far as the actual blogging process and writing are concerned, this wasn’t a new way to interact for me. I’ve been involved in different internet communities since I was about ten, mostly focused on art, and I’m used to this sort of interaction. I think that the process of sharing work and having people tell you what they like about it and what you should fix is the best way to improve in a creative field like writing or art. These are things that you can’t really teach, all you can do is look at a bunch of examples of good work and bad work and try to figure out how to improve. I think this can be very hard for a lot of people, because they think that a critique of their creative work is a critique of them. It’s hard to not take personally, though it only gets easier with time. I think this class might have been improved if people were more ready to be more critical of everyone’s writing. I saw that most of the comments were people like gushing about how amazing everyone is, and I’m sure that’s not what everyone was thinking, and it doesn’t really improve anyone’s writing. But it is hard for people to not get offended if they aren’t used to that sort of thing, so maybe that’s why people tried to be so nice.

Seeing Things (Blog Entry 11)

(I thought I submitted this yesterday, I don’t know what happened)

So I don’t really believe any of psychoanalytic theory, I think Freud was projecting his own issues onto everyone else, like most psychologists. I think the only real accomplishment he had in his cocaine-fueled little career was the idea of the unconscious. However, I believe that most people were aware of the unconscious part of their minds before he defined the term, he just happened to define it. I am a believer in biopsychology and neuroscience because they use actual scientific method to study the brain, consciousness and unconsciousness. Most psychologists study patients but there is no legitimate data to back up their claims, while biopsychology and neuroscience use actual quantifiable data and testable hypothesis.

So with that being said, I will analyze The Black Swan using what I have read and been taught about biopsychology and neuroscience, which is a decent amount, though by no means professional. One aspect of the film had a connection to actual neuroscience findings. This was how Nina continues to see her own face or faces of other people where they don’t belong. This is something that is used throughout the movie. In the very beginning, Nina is going home late at night and she sees a girl on the sidewalk, but it’s dark, so you can’t see her face. Then, with a flash of light, it’s reviled to the audience to be her own face, then that of another woman’s. Later in the film, Nina is dancing late into the night, and the lights are shut off. When she starts to wander around to turn them on again, she runs into Lily and a man who appears to be the director of the ballet, being intimate. Then, it’s shown that Lily is actually having a fling with one of the male ballerinas, so this was likely another case of her recognizing the wrong person. Cases like this happen for several reasons. First of all, when people see faces, they often associate them with celebrities and familiar people they look like. This is something that happens in you brain after it has received a very large amount of visual data, but before a much smaller amount of data is actually perceived by your consciousness. So sometimes, if a face looks similar to one which has a strong emotional attachment, it could take several seconds for your brain to realize that it is not actually that face, and then you perceive the person who is really there. Since Nina is often worrying about herself and attracted to the director, she sees these faces on people who look similar.

American Beauty (Blog Entry 12)

There are few movies that have made as lasting of an impact on me as American Beauty.

“I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me, but it`s hard to stay mad when there`s so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I`m seeing it all at once, and it`s too much. My heart fills up like balloon that`s about to burst. And then I remember to relax and stop trying to hold on to it. And then it flows through me like rain and I can’t feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life. You have no idea what I`m talking about, I`m sure. But don`t worry. You will someday.”

This movie makes me feel something indescribable. The last time I watched it was in the beginning of June and I feel like it’s been haunting the back of my mind ever since. There’s so much in this movie to think about, I could write entire novels and never repeat myself. For those of you who haven’t seen it, go watch it and try to keep an open mind or you probably won’t understand it. This is the kind of movie that people either become obsessed with or don’t understand and there’s nothing in between.

American Beauty is about a family living in the suburbs. The dad falls in love with his daughter’s best friend, a lot of traumatic things happen, mostly because of lies and misunderstandings, and the dad ends up dead. But it’s really not the type of story you can summarize, because this story is about the tiny unnoticed details, the everyday things in life people try to ignore, like trash bags floating through the air, or  the insecurities of teenagers. I believe the director, Sam Mendes, and the author, Alan Ball, created this film to show people how beautiful the world is. This might sound strange because so many horrific things happen in the movie, but despite that, or maybe because of it, it’s a beautiful story.

The way Mendes and Ball showed the beauty of this messed up situation was through little realities that peaked through the big picture. The big picture of this story is not beautiful. The depth with which the story is told is the main thing that really sets this movie apart from others. The audience sees their insecurities, desires, fears, hopes, self hate, lusts and loves. All of the characters are displayed in this naked, vulnerable state that most people never show to others. The characters break down completely, or lust after forbidden things, or bare their souls to one another. Visually this is done by keeping the movie at a slow pace, at the pace of everyday life in the suburbs. Then it shows the characters in a way that doesn’t feel like a movie, it feels more like someone has somehow gotten a window into their lives and their minds. The movie shows scenes not normally depicted, scenes that would normally be cut out for being too mundane. It also shows the main character’s, the dad’s, fantasies and memories. Though the audience can’t help but hate him for his despicable and disgusting actions, they feel a connection with him, so you almost feel sorry for him at the end.

The roses used throughout the movie are a strong symbol, and they have become intimately tied into it. I think they symbolize life, and the suffering and everything else that comes along with it. They could also be a symbol of lust, because they are often used in the fantasy scenes. The music is another thing that really ties the whole movie together. It’s soft and bittersweet, almost melancholy, but incredibly pretty. I think the music really takes the movie to another level, it takes it from just another movie to something that will haunt you for the rest of your life. I could keep going, really, because there’s so much in this movie that makes it amazing that I feel like I’ve barely started talking about it.

Here’s a link to a couple of scenes from it

Inner Turmoil (Blog Entry 10)

As a movie snob, most movies tend to disappoint me. Even if I like a film, there’s usually something about it I would change, something that I think would make it better. However, I can’t think of a single thing I would change about the Black Swan. This movie is beautiful, hauntingly dark and absolutely perfect.

The way Aronofsky directed this film is inspiring. He took a well known ballet, Swan Lake, and transformed it into a modern day psychological thriller, on the same level of excellence as Psycho or the Shinning. In the movie, the camera never really detaches from the main character Nina, which makes it seem almost like the whole story is from her point of view. Since there is such an intimate connection with the character throughout the movie, the audience gets to see all of the dark recesses of her mind.

The way that Aronofsky shows all of the psychosis of Nina is through subtle and reoccurring details within the film. He shows her compulsive behaviors with scenes where she carefully lays out the items she stole from her idol, the aging ballerina, and scenes where she obsessively washes her hands. These are behaviors that are not always compulsive, but the careful, methodical way  that Natalie Portman acts them out clearly defines them as such. He shows her desire for perfection, brought on by her mother’s need to live through her daughter, by her bulimic behaviors and inability to lose control. Her fears and psychosis are shown in subtle ways as well. Sometimes the person she sees in the mirror just doesn’t match up with her own movements, or she finds herself doing this unconsciously, often things to hurt herself. By the end of the film, after drugs and stress have brought on the full onset of her illness, the fears she has lose their subtlety. As she descends into madness, there are whole scenes of her hallucinations, making the audience question what is real and what isn’t. The music and the use of shadows show her slow transformation into the dark side of herself. In the beginning, this dark side is hinted at by the woman Nina sees on a dark street with her own face. It is also hinted at by Nina’s idol’s own descent into madness in the beginning of the movie, when the director says her self destruction leads to her perfection. This character, as well as Mila Kunis’s character and her mother, show different sides of Nina.  The aging ballerina is her future, and her fear of the future. Mila Kunis’s character is Nina’s sexuality that she cannot consciously accept. And her mother shows her drive for perfection and obsessive tendencies. The duality of the two swan queens is an expression of the turmoil in Nina’s head. She wants to be the white swan, perfect, untarnished, but through this desire she rejects all aspects of herself that don’t fit this image. When she works to try to be the black swan, after rejecting all the negative things about herself for so long, instead of no longer repressing those things, they completely take control of her. She becomes this dark side of herself that she cannot consciously accept is part of herself and so Nina then loses herself. She struggles throughout the final performance to regain control, but she is already gone, and she dies at the peak of perfection. This is exactly what she wanted, she finally attains the perfection that she always strived for and she dies right after, knowing she could never do anything as magnificent again.

Sometimes it’s Better to be Tacky! (Blog Entry 9)

One of my favorite books when I was little was Tacky the Penguin.

This is a book about a penguin and his friends.

The story starts by introducing Tacky the Penguin. He isn’t like his friends, instead of saying hi politely he slaps them on the back and yells “WHAT’S HAPPENING?!?!?!?!”. Instead of marching 1-2-3-4 in a line, he marches 1-23 4-2 3-6-0 2 1/2 0. Instead of diving, he did cannonballs. It shows how Tacky isn’t as graceful as his companions, instead he is loud and odd. Then, one day, three hunters come, and all of the penguins hide except for Tacky. Tacky asks them “What’s happening?” and they say they’re looking for penguins. Tacky then proceeds to show them how he is not a penguin, by showing how he doesn’t march 1-2-3-4 or dive gracefully or any of the things penguins are supposed to do. His friends copy Tacky and the hunters are eventually driven off by their terrible singing of “How many toes does a fish have?”.

The illustrations in this children’s book are very effective. They really make you feel Tacky’s character. His loud, unusual behavior is very entertaining, even with only images to communicate who he is. It also helps that he is so ridiculously adorable! The images also convey the differences between Tacky and his friends. This can be seen in the second picture above, where Tacky is happily eating a fish sandwich while his friends all have their noses in the air. His friends come across as snooty and pompous, while Tacky seems, well, tacky. His Hawaiian shirt, contrasted with his friends formal bow ties, also helps to create contrast. Even now, years after my childhood obsession with this book, I still can’t get over how cute Tacky is. I think the two pictures I chose really help to show his cuteness. I think this book also conveys a positive message to kids. Tacky isn’t afraid to be himself, even if it means he is different from everyone else. And, in the end, this saves his life and the lives of his friends. It also shows how much more likeable Tacky is as himself instead of someone who is trying to conform to the group. I found that this is usually true in real life too, that people like you more when you aren’t pretending to be something that you’re not. I’ve also found that I like people more who may be a little strange, but who are genuine. So that’s why this book continues to be inspiring to me, even many years later. There’s a lot of pressure in society to conform, and Tacky the penguin shows how it is ok to ignore those and just be yourself.

Bitches Get Stuff Done; the Character of Snow White (Blog Entry 8)

The character that stood out to me the most was Snow White. In the original fairy tale she didn’t have a lot of character development. She was basically just the opposite of her sister, instead of enjoying to go out exploring, Snow stayed inside and read. In Fables, Bill Willingham has transformed her into an intelligent, edgy woman. Snow White is basically the leader of the Fables community, she does all the work while the Mayor acts as the leader. This makes it so she can do what she needs to without the public eye watching her and without having to put on appearances. She knows what to do to keep the Fables community together.

Snow is also always questioning everything, making sure that no one is hiding anything or lying. This may be because Prince Charming cheated on her with her sister, and that made  loose her trust in the people around her. In this crime investigation this is a valuable trait, because there is cause to question everything.

Snow is smart, beautiful and doesn’t hold back. Her one character flaw could be that she lets her emotions take control of her at times. She is overwhelmed by sadness when she thinks her sister is dead, as well as feelings of hatred towards whomever might have killed her. She is also brave at times, like when she rushed in with the vorpal sword to save Bigby. For the most part I think her character was meant to be a foil to Bigby’s character. When she is emotional, he is the voice of reason, and when he is aggressive and uncouth, she is there to explain his actions. Having a relationship between the characters like this makes the story more interesting. They don’t always agree with each other, but they work well together.

Is Rose Red Alive? (Blog Entry 7)

I don’t think anyone killed Rose Red, I think she faked her own death to get out of her engagement with Bluebeard (who was most likely going to murder her on her wedding night) and to keep Jack from finding out about it. She destroyed her apartment herself, then covered it in her blood and escaped. This makes the most sense because none of the suspects introduced so far seem to have the motive to kill her. Rose Red, however, has plenty to gain by faking her death. If she hadn’t disappeared, then she would have had to marry Bluebeard, who murders all his wives. Also he gave her a considerable sum of money to agree to marry him, and it could be that she just wanted to take the money and run.

The frame I chose to analyze is on page 54, in the center. In the frame, Bluebeard is telling Bigby and Snow White about his engagement with Rose Red. The Text reads: “A year ago — at the remembrance day gala — rose red and I because engaged. For reasons all her own, she insisted on keeping our engagement secret for one calendar year; a condition to which I agreed.” In the frame, Bluebeard and Rose Red are shown wearing black tie attire and embracing on a balcony overlooking the city of New York. The full moon outlines their heads, the sky is a soft pink color and city lights are sparkling below. The image is surrounded with an art nouveau style border in a golden color. Beyond the edge of that are little pink flowers surrounded by blue that look like stained glass. Everything about this frame is soft and romantic. It gives a pictorial representation of the memory that Bluebeard is telling them about it, along with the emotions he associates with that memory. This relates to the rest of the story because it shows how Bluebeard’s account of that night was seen as genuine to the detectives. He describes it in a way that communicates his emotions for Rose Red. The romantic way he tells the story lessens the suspicion of Bluebeard and adds a depth to his character. He’s seen as another person who wants to find Rose Red instead of just a suspect.

I thought this frame was interesting because it’s a romantic memory being described to other people. The way it’s drawn brings to mind sappy romance stories. You can practically heard the kind of music that would be playing if this were a movie. I also chose it because it stood out from the others, I think it was an effective frame.

Living Portraits (Blog Entry 6)

Transfixed 2

This is a picture of one of Alexa Meade’s Living portraits. It was painted on a young man, most likely in his twenties. He’s sitting in front of a beach umbrella, wearing wayfarer style sunglasses, a tank top and shorts. The image is bright and colorful, reminiscent of a sunny day at the beach.

There is much in this image that is competing for attention. There are several lines across the picture plane, going in different directions. In the figure, the lines are predominantly horizontal, helping the seated figure to look more still and casual. The lines in the umbrella radiate out from the center, while the poles bring the eye back in. The result is a kind of circular motion, that adds energy. Since there is so much going on with the lines and colors, this image could have easy turned into a complete mess. However, the concentration of darks near the figure’s head add a central focus. Though this helps to balance it out some, it’s still hard to focus on any one point at a time and hard to even look at after awhile. The model in this photo is looking off to the side, with an air of aloofness. The sunglasses create distance between him and the viewer, making this less like a portrait and more like a fashion ad. The high gloss appearance created through Meade’s use of exaggerated highlights also creates a link with fashion photography. Though this use of highlights could have been to create the effect of skin covered in sunscreen. The overall painting style is sloppy, almost unfinished looking, like the artist was just trying to quickly lay down color and value. If this were an actual painting, it would look unprofessional. However, since this is done on a person, Meade most likely had an intention to exaggerate the style to contrast with an unpainted person.

I think the reason why this image appealed to me is because it’s somewhere in between portrait painting and fashion photography. If I didn’t already see this in the context of Alexa Meade’s other work, I would think it was an artsy RayBan ad. It explores the line between portraits and modeling. This is interesting because both are photographs of people and there is no clear division between the two, though it is usually easy to tell the difference. I think both are representations of who a person could be perceived as, and not who they actual are.

I don’t think Meade is really breaking any new ground with her art as a whole. I think what she is doing is exactly like the cheesy living statues that they have in Vegas and other tourist destinations. It’s momentary entertainment and I don’t think she will be a successful artist for long if this is all that she can do. I wouldn’t be surprised if some other artist had already done this same thing back in the 60s or 70s. Artists have been painting and dressing up people for performance art for a long time, and doing it in more interesting ways than Meade. For example, someone recently created a living version of a Lichtenstein girl and Keith Herring often painted images on models. I believe the only reason she has gotten any attention for her work at all is because of the internet. If her fame were to be dependent on the art world alone, I don’t believe she would be as well known. In the context of the art world, she isn’t doing anything new or interesting. However, she seems to be well received by people on the internet. Most people on Flickr don’t know anything about art and aren’t familiar with many artists or what their art means. Flickr fame is fleeting though, as is any fame on the internet, so I think Meade needs to do something more interesting with her work that relates to the art world if she wants to continue her career. Her painting style needs to be able to stand on its own, even though she is working on people, and right now it just looks clumsy and adolescent.

A Lost Century of Book Illustration (Blog Entry 5)

http://50watts.com/Space-Teriyaki

The blog that I chose to write about is called 50 Watts. It’s an illustration blog that I have been reading for years, though it was originally called A Journey Around my Skull. The original blog still exists, however the author, Will Schofield, chose to upload the entries to his new blog, which is more accessible. This is the best art/design themed blog I have found so far. Schofield is a historian of illustration, he actually catalogs a lot of work that would otherwise be lost and forgotten. The blog consists primarily of illustration from the 20th century and comes from all over the world. Much of what is on his site was never even considered art at the time. Illustration is commercial art, so it is rarely appreciated because of its own merits.  I believe that Schofield originally created the blog to share his collection of illustration with the world and it grew from there. This is one of the best art/design blogs to me because it offers something genuine that the others seem to lack. Schofield doesn’t have any agenda to promote his own design aesthetic, he merely wants to share something he is passionate about with the world. I think that is the key to success for an art blog; a lack of pretension and a genuine passion. The audience is anyone who wants to look at amazing illustration, it is accessible to anyone. The purpose is historical preservation and appreciation.

I chose the “Space Teriyaki” entry because it is a good example of why I love this blog and have continued to read it for years. There are actually five “Space Teriyaki” entries and this is just the first. It shows science fiction book illustration from Japan in the 70s and 80s. Science fiction books provide illustrators with some of the most creative freedom of any genre. As a result, the images in this series have an imaginative and psychological depth. I think there is added interest because of the state of Japan during this time period. In the 70s and 80s the memory of the atomic bombs still haunted the Japanese while they pushed for rapid technological progress. I believe that prominent cultural fears often underlie the science fiction of a given place, which makes Japanese sci fi more interesting to me. There’s a dichotomy between the old and the new, and the vastness of space compared to the intricacies of the human mind.

50 Watts is a particularly effective blog because much of the content cannot be found anywhere else of the web. Also the author takes the time to research the illustrators and provides their names. He is well informed and presents the information in a way that is both accessible and intellectual. The design of the blog itself is good, everything is simple so as to not draw attention away from the artwork. All of the entries (700+) are well cataloged and easy to explore. Also, though there is a large amount of content, the reader doesn’t feel overwhelmed quickly. I find this is a problem with other art blogs, though I’m not sure I could explain why it doesn’t happen with this one.

The more I learn about art, the more I enjoy this blog. I also enjoy it not just because of my interest in art, but also as a total book worm. I have always read a lot, since I was a very little kid, and I remember how magical and amazing book illustration seemed to me. Good artwork can make the book come alive; while the book itself gives new meaning to the artwork. I highly recommend this blog to people who are interested in art, design, illustration, books or psychology. I also recommend it to people who need to find a way to kill a few hours or days on the internet. However, be careful because this blog is highly addicting!

Survival Training for Awkward Situations (Blog Entry 4)

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/03/awkward-situation-survival-guide.html

I chose this blog post because I thought it was kind of funny. Also I think awkward situations are something everyone can relate to (unless they somehow lose the capacity to feel awkward, in which case they probably just go around making everyone else uncomfortable (maybe that means they’ve already read this guide)). This post is a guide to surviving awkward situations. Like a survival guide, it lists several situations and what to do to neutralize the awkwardness. The situations it describes are everyday occurrences that most likely everyone has experienced at some point in their lives.

Here is the section that stood out to me the most:

Responding to someone who isn’t talking to you

The Solution:  You have several options

I think the imagery is very effective for this section. I think it’s obvious to see what is going on. Three people are at a party or social gathering and the third overhears a compliment and assumes it was intended for them. Though the people are all abstract stick figure representations a lot can be communicated through their body language and facial expressions. In the first picture, it’s obvious that the first two people are in a conversation and the third is not really paying attention just by the directions they are facing. The third person heard the compliment and then responds, thus creating the awkward situation, as shown by their unhappy expressions. The next three pictures show possible solutions to dissipate the awkwardness. In the first and second he tries to continue the sentence,to either make it unrelated or to make it make sense. If that doesn’t work you can always set yourself on fire. The third panel, is of course, not an actual suggestion, but a comic one.

I believe this particular section is obvious and would make sense out of context. The first panel so clearly shows a well known situation that any reader could immediately pick up on the author’s intention. However, if the words were removed, there are many other possible ways you could use these images. I think this section is funny. I believe it primarily relies on hyperbole for it’s humor, like most of the comics on this blog. I think hyperbole is particularly effective for comedy. This is because the exaggeration makes any situation instantly recognizable and often points out the ridiculousness of everyday life. Obviously no one is actually going to set themselves on fire because they are too embarrassed, but the suggestion is funny.

I think the way the author creates humor with hyperbole is largely effective. That being said, after reading a couple entries, I’m bored with it. Using the same technique over and over again makes the humor in this comic stale, in my opinion. Also this same technique is running rampant all over the internet and it’s losing it’s entertainment value.