Xerox Project

For my project I decided to make a cocktail skirt. Incorporated into my skirt are the items I use everyday as well as some facial features. The top half is made of luffa's and hanging from the bottom are many different items. The items include: ears, nose, fingers, mouth / teeth, toothpaste, mascara tubes, nail polish, body spray bottles, pencils. For fun, I wanted to add the middle finger! Enjoy!

I Wish To Say by Sheryl Oring

I think the concept for this performance art piece is really cool. I definitely agree with Sheryl in the sense that not enough voice are being heard throughout our country and with this art piece, many people are able to voice their opinions and get their thoughts out.

Going through some of the different places, the main theme I recognized was that there is always an issue for money whether it be funding for the war or for schools or people asking for money to help support their families. Another issue that seemed familiar was the problem with unemployment in our country. Reading various different notes, there were several people who were unemployed and were desperate for jobs.

With many reoccurring themes showing in the notes, I think it would be highly beneficial for our government to look and address these issues. If so many people have the same problems, I think there comes a time when change must made. Yet, at the same time, there are always opposing views for each case in which the problem of fixing an issue gets sticky.

It was interesting to read the different notes written by people in various parks of America. I really like this performance art piece and I think it brings light to the many problems surrounding our country.

I Wish To Say

Dada Manifesto

Tristan Tzara, a Romanian and French avant-garde poet is one of the presidents of Dada. Dada was the first step towards surrealism. Tzara is an influential artist who's work had a great impact and connection to cubism and futurism.

Dada did not follow any rules and was a form of non-art and a rebellion of what was going on during the time of World War I. The public was revulsed by the art created during this time, yet this is exactly what the Dada members strived for, an emotional reaction from their audience.

In the Dada essay, I found the line interesting when it said "And so Dada was born of a need for independence, of a distrust toward unity. Those who are with us preserve their freedom." Dada was so against the norms of the time, they believe that rebellion was their way out though it shocked so many around them. I think this movement was very interesting and definitely a huge difference of the art shown during this time. Instead of oppressing their art and emotions during the War, they, contradictorily, opposed everything and expressed their inner selves through art.

Dada Manifesto 1918 by Tristan Tzara 

Grid Art Project

For my grid project, I decided to cut straw into little pieces. From there I cut my gasparilla beads apart and put them on top of the cut straws. The image I used was a picture of Walter White from my favorite show Breaking Bad. Though I thought this would work easily, many of the straws moved with every breath I took and by the end of the project, my were unaligned. I really liked the the project yet I was not pleased with my finished product.

Persuasive Games

I thought that this website was really interesting and cool. Games are something that everyone enjoys and plays, and by incorporating everyday issues in our society, a point is easily made.

The first game I played was Windfall. I chose this game because I love science and wind energy is an up and coming energy source that our world is using. In the game, I have to research different blocks of land and see which ones were on the highest hills / had the most profit. When finding the best ones, I was there to build a wind turbine and connect it to the power lines. Though it sound easy, you cannot place turbines near homes due to the community getting mad by having a turbine in their back yard, and you must make a certain amount of money in a time period without running out of the initial money the game has given you. 

The next game I played was Presidential Pong. The game was the simple pong game of hitting the ball back and forth, yet it was funny how you could rival different 2008 presidential candidates. I played Romney v. Obama. The animations of the candidates were really fun and goofy looking and this was a nice spin to put on the game during the time of the election. 

The last game I played Xtreme Xmas Shopping. I thought this game was funny. The plot of the game kind of had a Black Friday feel in which your character had to go around the store and collect their Christmas items on their shopping lists before the other players received them. If someone took the last item of something, you were able to go and fight them in order to get it back. Not getting an item means that you did not pass the level / game. I unfortunately, failed the first level when someone ripped Elmo out of my hands. 

Steve Jobs 2005 Commencement Speech

Steve Jobs - pure brilliance!

Thought the link was not working on the Blackboard website, I was able to watch it on youtube. Honestly, this speech gave me goosebumps and I wish I was there to witness this. The stories and the words of advice form Jobs and something I think we all need to live by and highly take into consideration.

The first story was something I think we can all relate too. Really, who knows what they want to do wit h the rest of their lives. I went into college as a Marine Biology major. I was certain that science was for me and I would excel at it greatly. Yet, when I got here, I soon came to realize that I didn't want to be doing that for the rest of my life. Now a Communications major, I can still say, I have no idea what I want to do. Yet, as my mom told me, my change in major was a blessing in disguise. Though I don't realize it right now, I believe in the future I will fit in where I belong in terms of my career and I should go with the flow right now. I don't know what my future holds, but everything always seems to work out.


I really enjoyed his second story. It was a shame how Jobs was fired from Apple originally. Yet, without that act, there would be no Pixar and NeXT - two great advancements in our society. I think this taught me that though one thing might not go my way, I shouldn't give up hope because it is a chance for a new beginning and something new to arise. One think always leads to another and everything that happens, happens for a reason.

The third story made me sad, seeing as how Jobs lost his life in 2011. Yet, once again, there was a very important message in the story. Live your life to the fullest and do not waste your days, because you don't know when it could all be over. Follow what you want to do and become and make that your number one priority.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Comments on Flip Books

Bryan
I thought it was a really cool idea. I like how you made your book all about the highlights in class of what we have learned so far. I can't wait to see the animation since we were not able to flip you book during class.

Leah
It had really good movement, especially in the caterpillar and when the bird grabbed him. Its small but that didn't take away from the book. I really liked it!

Holly
SO CUTE! It was really well drawn and showed good movement. The animals were adorable: the dragon, the shark, the fish. Good job!

Katelyn
Good idea and good movement! I like how the sun / character appears from the smoke. I also liked how the spiral moves and gets bigger. Good animations!

Andrea
I like how you started on the assignment when we wee first assigned it - Valentines Day. wary col how it was based on a true story and you incorporated those moving words right away in the beginning. It was a cute story story and seemed very symbolic. There were good transitions used and I thought it was absolutely beautiful! I thought it was even better when I was able to flip it at my desk and see all of the detail involved. Definitely one of my favorites!

Kyle
The creation of the city was really cool to see as well as the font writing itself. You used the full page really well and I liked how it was the overall Boston theme

Ralph
Good color and movement. I like the tetras part with the changing colors and the blocks coming down together. The colorful balloon was very detailed and the "shy" elephant was cute.

Kirby
I liked how it was nature themed like mine. There was really good movement through the pages and especially when the tree got uprooted. I also liked how the spirals turned into moving eyes, that was really cool and a nice idea to incorporate. The skateboarder moving was another great part of your book.

Spencer
You utilized the whole page really well. There were a lot of different aspects but they all flowed really well together. The movement was good and I liked how one thing turned into something completely different.

Mark Snyder Performance

Instead of having class today (Monday), we were assigned to go to a concert preformed by Mark Snyder. Mary does not create the typical kinds of music in which we would hear on the radio, rather he makes electroacoustic music and multimedia. Within this music, he plays everyday instruments such as the tuba, clarinet, and guitar and mixes them with prerecorded sounds and imagery in the background.

I did not know what to expect when going into this show. I thought it was going to be more upbeat music. Whenever I hear "electro" i automatically think of some sort of dance music. Yet, what he played was so much different. His music was very slow and had a greater and deeper meaning behind each song. He performed a variety of different songs for us using various instruments.

Yet, my favorite song he played for us was titled Harvey. The story behind the song was so emotional and it enhanced the music so much. This song was dedicated to a close friend of Marks who, along with his family, was murdered in Virginia. The song came out to be so emotional and touching and I could tell that this was a very important song for Mark being that he worked on it for a long time in order to perfect it.

All in all, I really enjoyed the music he played and it showed me how music can be so different than the songs we hear on the radio. This was something like I have never seen or heard.

For Marks page, visit : http://marklsnyder.com/Mark/Audio.html