Mixed Media
In class Critique
Some advice that was given to me by peers was more focused on the setup of my website. The main piece I will take into consideration, is to separate planning and culture and have them be two different sections rather than columns. I decided to experiment and see how it would look and what others would think. In my opinion it might not make much of a difference but I’m still going to try it out. The advance helps reinforce my website because it helps me reconsider the setup I have so far and decide whether or not to change some parts in order to have a better display. Also, I was told that I would need to write a little more for the planning in order for me to go more in depth about how my ideas came about. As for process, one of my peers did not like the way I numbered them and recommended me to try to put into paragraph form so it can look nicer and further develop what I went though in the project. Other than the display, I had some spelling mistakes that I will have to look for. I will probably have to reread and check for anything that may not make sense and see if everything makes sense and or have a peer reread it for me to get feedback on word choice and mistakes that I might have made. My experimentation with the different aspects will help strengthen my website so it can be straightforward yet professional at the same time.
'We Need a Pencil'
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Meaning
“We’re about to break in Batman, do you copy? Over.” Rey Mysterio leans up against the door, ready to attack like those cool cop shows seen on TV. With his partner in crime, Batman, they need to extract the hostage from a three story mansion littered with traps by the evil Ms. Barbara Reyes.
“Wait for my signal. Over.” Batman puts on his gas mask in order to avoid any nose wrenching perfume that with just one whiff, can put an entire army of rats to an endless sleep.
“Ready. Now!” He yells through the walkie talkie and crashes through the roof with his laser gun ready to aim then- ”Explosions!” There goes our movie yet again. I turned to Migi and looked at him as if he were a burro trying to balance on a tightrope, over the Grand Canyon. “Migi, you know we aren't supposed to knock over Katy’s Dora house. It might break and then she’ll cry and we’ll get in trouble. I don’t want to get in trouble!” I warn him while picking up the action figures and doll house from the muddy puddle that formed when it rained the day before. Sometimes I hate summer because it can get so humid, I could practically taste the fish in the air.
Speaking of summer, since I don’t have school and my mom has to go work, she drops me and my sister off at our Tita’s house so we can spend time with her. ‘Tita’ is just short for abuelita since me and my cousin’s are too lazy to say the entire word, plus since I have two grandmothers, I call them differently so I can tell which one my parents are trying to tell me about. Or they just say Jefa, which is pretty awesome title for a grandma.
Anyway, today I’m spending time with my Tita, or my mom’s mom, and I’m trying to film a movie with my uncle Miguel. I don’t consider him an uncle because he’s only a year older than me and it’s weird calling him tio since he’s more of a brother, it’s almost like naming your dog ‘Cat’. What I think I’m trying to explain is that his mom is my grandma which is kinda weird but then again I have one year old aunts and uncles back in Mexico.
“But dude! What if we have Rey Mysterio break in with the batmobile, through the window and then he can fight Barbie with the pen-sword? Sorta like those gentlemen battles in those medieval novelas Liz watches on TV all the time.”
We’re always trying to find ways to make our movies cool even though we don’t actually film them. We come up with some pretty awesome stories but we don’t have anything to record them on so we try to remember them as best as we possible can. We did try writing them down a billion times but we always end up losing the piece of paper. We can never find a notebook to write in or a working pen and we end up writing on a random piece of envelope and crayon we find lying around the house. That doesn’t stop us or our imagination.
“Bro! That would be so cool! Then we can-”
“¡Tanya!” Aw man my mom’s here. Looks like I’ll be leaving soon.
“¡¿Mande?!” Word of advice always respond with mande or else mom will think you’re giving attitude if you respond with qué. “¡Vamonos!”
“¡Voy! Welp, duty calls see ya tomorrow Migi. Next time, we need a pencil so we can write our ideas down and not forget. Just in case. ¡Mami! ¿Nos podemos llevar unos panes que hizo mi tita para comer al rato?”
“Wait for my signal. Over.” Batman puts on his gas mask in order to avoid any nose wrenching perfume that with just one whiff, can put an entire army of rats to an endless sleep.
“Ready. Now!” He yells through the walkie talkie and crashes through the roof with his laser gun ready to aim then- ”Explosions!” There goes our movie yet again. I turned to Migi and looked at him as if he were a burro trying to balance on a tightrope, over the Grand Canyon. “Migi, you know we aren't supposed to knock over Katy’s Dora house. It might break and then she’ll cry and we’ll get in trouble. I don’t want to get in trouble!” I warn him while picking up the action figures and doll house from the muddy puddle that formed when it rained the day before. Sometimes I hate summer because it can get so humid, I could practically taste the fish in the air.
Speaking of summer, since I don’t have school and my mom has to go work, she drops me and my sister off at our Tita’s house so we can spend time with her. ‘Tita’ is just short for abuelita since me and my cousin’s are too lazy to say the entire word, plus since I have two grandmothers, I call them differently so I can tell which one my parents are trying to tell me about. Or they just say Jefa, which is pretty awesome title for a grandma.
Anyway, today I’m spending time with my Tita, or my mom’s mom, and I’m trying to film a movie with my uncle Miguel. I don’t consider him an uncle because he’s only a year older than me and it’s weird calling him tio since he’s more of a brother, it’s almost like naming your dog ‘Cat’. What I think I’m trying to explain is that his mom is my grandma which is kinda weird but then again I have one year old aunts and uncles back in Mexico.
“But dude! What if we have Rey Mysterio break in with the batmobile, through the window and then he can fight Barbie with the pen-sword? Sorta like those gentlemen battles in those medieval novelas Liz watches on TV all the time.”
We’re always trying to find ways to make our movies cool even though we don’t actually film them. We come up with some pretty awesome stories but we don’t have anything to record them on so we try to remember them as best as we possible can. We did try writing them down a billion times but we always end up losing the piece of paper. We can never find a notebook to write in or a working pen and we end up writing on a random piece of envelope and crayon we find lying around the house. That doesn’t stop us or our imagination.
“Bro! That would be so cool! Then we can-”
“¡Tanya!” Aw man my mom’s here. Looks like I’ll be leaving soon.
“¡¿Mande?!” Word of advice always respond with mande or else mom will think you’re giving attitude if you respond with qué. “¡Vamonos!”
“¡Voy! Welp, duty calls see ya tomorrow Migi. Next time, we need a pencil so we can write our ideas down and not forget. Just in case. ¡Mami! ¿Nos podemos llevar unos panes que hizo mi tita para comer al rato?”
Artist and Inspiration
Haygarth, Stuart. UFO. 2009. Clear and transluscent plastic objects, monofilament line and painted MDF ceiling platform. Stuart Haygarth. Carpenters Workshop Gallery . Web. 7 Feb. 2017.
Haygarth, Stuart. Sharps Project. 2003-6. Sharps Project. Stuart Haygarth. Carpenters Workshop Gallery . Web. 7 Feb. 2017.
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My artist inspiration for this piece is Stuart Haygarth. He work revolves around everyday objects found on the street or donated to him. I was first inspired by his piece 'UFO' because the craftsmanship is very neat and I was intrigued on how he was able to hang them perfectly to create a parabola. I was also inspired by his 'Sharps Project' because it reminded me on how easily I overlook everyday objects and not appreciate them or feel lucky that I have access to these everyday items. Being able to see them be laid done in a certain order, gives a sense of satisfaction which I found weird since I wasn't never the type of person to care about everything needing to be color coded or organization in general. I felt like these two artworks represented his meaning the best for myself. His artwork made me have a greater appreciation, not only for everyday objects, but to organization as well.
After looking at his 'Sharps Project,' and several other of his art works, I knew that I wanted to use one type of item. I was inspired by writing and the object I was holding during a presentation. In other words, I wanted to do something with pencils. The reason being because I realized I never really acknowledge my pencils or pens. Without them, I would be able to write down important notes or reminders about important events. In a broader sense, having the ability to write is like a luxury because I consider it being a foundation to education. A lot of the worlds population don't have access to education and if they do, it's not the best due to the lack of basic materials needed. Looking at something small or something with little to no significance, are actually objects that assist in everyday lives that without them, I wouldn't be able to have opportunities today. Just like a simple pencil. |
Planning
I knew from the beginning that I wanted to do something with my experience with education. Something that's important in education is a writing utensil and the one most people use the most is a pencil but I realized there was only a limited amount of types of pencil. So I thought 'what else do people use to write throughout their life?' It wasn't a hard question to answer because pens. As a person gets older, the more pens they use rather than pencils. I then got the idea of the evolution of pens throughout a persons life, and thus, I though of the name 'Penvolution.' In order, to show what I was trying to portray, I looked at Stuart Haygarth's work and made the choice of placing them on a wall starting with the pencils I used in kindergarten to present time.
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Process
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The first step to the process is collecting as many different types of pencils as possible. Then, I measure out I big I wanted the white dry to be since I didn't have a white wall to glue the pencils on.
Starting with the longest pencils, I started laying out how I wanted them to be positions. I used the shortest pencil in order to fill in any space where a regular sized pencil wouldn't fit. I decided to also use pens, markers and colored pencils since I often used them when I was younger and I had no other writing utensil to my disposal. After I decided on a layout I preheated the hot glue gun. When it was ready to use, I started glue each individual one as precisely as I could. Some I had to remove and readjust because I would accidentally move them. Finally, after finished the assortment and making sure it was dry, I cleaned up any hanging strings of glue. |
Experimentation
The main aspect I experimented on in this project was the organization of the pencils. I thought about organize them based on their color like Haygarth, but I felt that the meaning wouldn't make sense anymore. Another reason was that I had more of one color than I did of another so I ended up randomizing the assortment. Later I realized that I didn't have the right amount of pencils in order to fill up the entire board so I decided to fill up as much as the I could. The only difficult part was making sure the pencils were as straight as possible. I also experimented on doing a jagged type of design, almost like mountains, but I scratched the idea since it didn't really connect to myself.
After gluing all the pencils, I took the board outside to get the best lighting. I tried to take pictures from different distances until I got an image I thought I could work with. I was recommended to use photoshop to help enhance the image. I experimented with the brightness, saturation, contrast and vibrance. |
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Reflection
I liked how this piece turned out but there are many things I would change if I thought of the better ways to go about doing this project. For instance, I would have asked for help in gathering pencils since I ended up not having enough to fill up the board, which comes down to me not being able to communicate properly. Thanks to a few friends I was able to collect stray pencils around the school and get help from a lady who cleans a middle school. I also need to remember to take images of every experimentation and step since I get too concentrated to the point where I forget. I honestly did enjoy the process because it was one of the easiest processes I gone through so far and if I had the idea earlier, I would have ordered some staking pencils or thick pencils to add to this piece. Finally, I should have used a straight edge to assist me in making the pencils and straight as possible rather than free hand the placement.
My main artist inspiration was Stuart Haygarth. He is an artist who uses regular objects to create beautiful installations such as chandeliers. I chose to base my art piece on UFO and Sharps Project because I liked the use of random types of household object yet the organization of common, found object. I decided to combine both concepts and use pencils to fill up a certain amount space. Compared to Haygarth, his installations were more organized and color coordinated, mine is more random which was what I was going for. Also, his pieces tend to involve more hanging and placement. Instead, I used more glue and a steady hand to achieve what I was going for. Overall, I felt like I was able to emulate some of Haygarth's art works yet still add my own meaning into the piece which was my memories of writing utensils and how much I appreciate them.
My main artist inspiration was Stuart Haygarth. He is an artist who uses regular objects to create beautiful installations such as chandeliers. I chose to base my art piece on UFO and Sharps Project because I liked the use of random types of household object yet the organization of common, found object. I decided to combine both concepts and use pencils to fill up a certain amount space. Compared to Haygarth, his installations were more organized and color coordinated, mine is more random which was what I was going for. Also, his pieces tend to involve more hanging and placement. Instead, I used more glue and a steady hand to achieve what I was going for. Overall, I felt like I was able to emulate some of Haygarth's art works yet still add my own meaning into the piece which was my memories of writing utensils and how much I appreciate them.
ACT Questions
1) How are you able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork?
My inspiration used an assortment of found objects to make ordinary objects into art pieces. I used pencils I found to do something similar but with my own meaning.
2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author stated general facts and points about the artist but didn't go into depth about each separate piece. It mainly stated the artist timeline rather that analyzing.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I came to the conclusion that ordinary, everyday objects aren't appreciated as much and often over looked because they aren't things that seem 'of great importance'.
4) What was the central idea for theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea in my work are memories and appreciation. This is represented by the large amount of pencils and the assortment that they are in.
5) What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I can infer that certain types of art aren't consider art and are overlooked by critics as 'junk' that was collected and put together. They tend to not look deep enough and really analyze.
My inspiration used an assortment of found objects to make ordinary objects into art pieces. I used pencils I found to do something similar but with my own meaning.
2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author stated general facts and points about the artist but didn't go into depth about each separate piece. It mainly stated the artist timeline rather that analyzing.
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I came to the conclusion that ordinary, everyday objects aren't appreciated as much and often over looked because they aren't things that seem 'of great importance'.
4) What was the central idea for theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea in my work are memories and appreciation. This is represented by the large amount of pencils and the assortment that they are in.
5) What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I can infer that certain types of art aren't consider art and are overlooked by critics as 'junk' that was collected and put together. They tend to not look deep enough and really analyze.
Bibliography
-Haygarth, Stuart. UFO. 2009. Clear and transluscent plastic objects, monofilament line and painted MDF ceiling platform. Stuart Haygarth. Carpenters Workshop Gallery . Web. 7 Feb. 2017
-Haygarth, Stuart. Sharps Project. 2003-6. Sharps Project. Stuart Haygarth. Carpenters Workshop Gallery . Web. 7 Feb. 2017.
-"Stuart Haygarth." Museum of Arts and Design Collection Database. Museum of Arts and Design, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2017."Stuart Haygarth." Museum of Arts and Design Collection Database. Museum of Arts and Design, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.
-Haygarth, Stuart. Sharps Project. 2003-6. Sharps Project. Stuart Haygarth. Carpenters Workshop Gallery . Web. 7 Feb. 2017.
-"Stuart Haygarth." Museum of Arts and Design Collection Database. Museum of Arts and Design, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2017."Stuart Haygarth." Museum of Arts and Design Collection Database. Museum of Arts and Design, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.
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