Visual Essay

I am really glad that I signed up on Tuesday -- because I had never had to present a visual essay before, I was really unsure how to even go about it. The "picking your own theme" concept was especially daunting to me! I had no idea how to go about it, but I found that once I started taking pictures and was out in the city, the theme came pretty easily.

I was also worried about the pecha kucha style, too. I tend to talk a lot and in circles, too, and was worried that I was going to talk too much. But, especially after seeing some of the other presentations, I think the pecha kucha style is really effective. My mind tends to wander during presentations, but I was attentive for everyone's presentation, they were short enough to hold my attention. Everyone did a great job on choosing themes, too, and some of the pictures were really nice!

I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the presentations today, and even though I was really unsure about the project in the beginning, I think they're all turning out really well, and I think the assignment is a good one. Really unique, interesting, and informative.

Good luck to everyone who hasn't gone, yet!

This is Not Graffiti

When I was touring around the city looking for good examples of public art and trying to come up with a theme for our projects, I kept coming across buildings (particularly all up and down Ponce) whose owners had commissioned graffiti artists to paint signs on the buildings. The signs for the buildings or advertisements were all done in graffiti-style, but they were clearly something that traditional graffiti is often not: purposeful.

I really enjoyed seeing artists incorporation of their own style into traditional building signs. I feel like it gave all of the buildings I viewed a sense of uniqueness and originality. I even found an old Kodak building whose sign had been painted long long ago!

Public Art - Bellagio Fountains

The Bellagio Fountains

When thinking about public art in class, I was reminded of the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas. The whole city is so alive and full of color and light, things to do, things to see. I had seen "water shows" before, but nothing like what the Bellagio puts on (multiple times a day I might add). The way they are able to manipulate technology and water in a way to create such a meaningful display of public art is really awesome. Because they have it all synchronized with music, there is a key auditory component, as well as visual, while integrating within it an additional sense of "performance" art. While many (if not most) things in Vegas can be viewed as public art -- the buildings, shows, performances, light displays -- I think the Bellagio Fountains are one of the most overt displays of public art. If you ever travel there, definitely stop by!

Laranda Photography

Laranda Photography
I'd like to take a moment to completely brag on my little sister.
She's a photographer, and I think she's awesome!
We just got back from spending the weekend at the Georgia Marble Festival, where she had a couple of pieces in a gallery, and where she also sold some prints at a booth. I was helping her "man" the booth all weekend, and it was so much fun. There is so much behind trying to be an "artist" than just doing the art. I never really imagined how much business skill an artist could need.
Anyway, I had a great weekend with her, and I can't wait to see how far she takes her art.

How to Write Consistently Boring...

I have to admit that this past assignment (Rhetorical Analysis of a Painting) was a great deal harder than I anticipated it to be. I took AP English in high school, like most of the class probably did, and I also took English 1101 when I was a second year, but had to withdraw from school.
So, here I am, a FIFTH year in an English 1101 class. At first I thought, Well, I'll be older than most of the other students, and this will be a breeze. I can crank out a paper fast. NOT SO! This was one of the most difficult papers I've written at Tech, EVEN WITH the rough draft process! It made me realize that while I HAVE been spending a great deal of writing, the KIND of writing I've been doing is totally different: scientific writing and lab reports! All past tense! Impersonal. etc. etc. etc. I know a lot of you know what I'm talking about. Anyway, I just wanted to say how funny I thought it was that I had such an unexpectedly hard time cranking out the paper, but it feels good to get that side of my brain working again.
I found a great paper talking about scientific writing, that pretty much summed up how I felt about the whole "art" of it all!
http://192.38.112.111/write/How_write.pdf