Color!

       After comparing my choice with those of 200,000+ individuals, I found that we had the same associations for Pure= While, Dignity=Dark Blue, Sexiness=Red, Mourning= Black. All of the other choices differ but a few of them were close in the color spectrum. For example, I selected orange for happy and many others selected yellow. The one association I found most interesting was, “Which color do you associate with a deity?”.  I most people have selected white. I wonder if white represents a deity to most because some speak of seeing a white light after they have had a near death experience. According to our textbook, “Color is light. White light is the mixture of all colors of the spectrum visible to the human eye.”  I personally chose that I do not have a color that I associate with a deity because I view a deity being on a spiritual plane which our eyes do not see instead of our physical realm. I tried to just select the first color that came to mind without thinking too much into it. It is very interesting to analyze the reasoning behind my choices. This color survey could be made into a fascinating psychoanalytic exercise focusing on people’s beliefs and emotions. I am curious as to how colorcom.com is going to use the data they collect. Angelica has a very tedious career matching color. It was interesting to learn how printed color differs from screen color and what steps are taken to align the two.

 

My Favorite Color

 

 

Dignity

 

 

 

Good Luck

 

 

 

 

Commercial Photography

          I do not usually drink soda but I would purchase strawberry Fanta after seeing this advertisement. I like the idea of my tongue taking on a strawberry taste after I drink this beverage. It reminds me of being a child and sticking my tougue out for a photo after it was dyed by some popsicle, candy, or drink.

                 

                                        My brother and I in the early 90s!

          The photographer used tight cropping. According to the textbook, by using this micro-perspective "...they force us to look at the subject in a new way." I enjoy the similarities the strawberry has to the tongue. It is a comparable color and shape and the seeds look like taste buds. I also appreciate the color choices of the photo; black, white and tan are very neutral. The pink and red give an extra visual appeal.  The strawberry was probably coated with something to make it shine more in the light and shot separately then photoshopped in. The diagonal lines in the image along her mouth and chin create a dynamic element of movement. Jim reminded me of the painstaking process in shooting commercial photography. After his lecture as I look at this image I think about how long that poor model had to stick her tongue out. I wonder if her jaw was tired after the shoot!

Animoto

Here is the link: https://animoto.com/play/8ujwgb1JZ0Nq3YHnG0GaaQ

                My creative process was first deciding what I was going to shoot which could tell a short story. I was already going to go support my boyfriend by watching him perform Friday night. I thought it would be nice to compile a little video tribute to the band, Mortgage Freeman. On Thursday I familiarized myself with the Animoto website so that I knew what I needed to capture on camera. I asked my boyfriend to provide a recorded song and their band logo to give it more of a personal vibe. I came up with a rough list of what I saw were the elements of my story:

-Topic: A Mortgage Freeman Gig, Local Milwaukee Music  

-Beginning: Landmark 4/8/2016 Pictures to Introduction the Venue & Set-up

-Middle: Clips of each of the band members during their performance

-End: Clips of the whole band and the audience clapping

                The creative process continued as I looked over and organized all of the footage to tell the story. The Animoto website took a very long time to upload the video clips which was frustrating since I had a strict deadline and I wanted to produce quality work. I really enjoy the vintage vinyl template and thought it was a perfect fit for what I was trying to present. I was very relieved that the site gave the user the ability to rotate the videos and post-process photos otherwise that would have been a technological nightmare. I very much enjoyed my experience documenting the band and editing the video. I was even thinking about creating another Animoto video for my mom for Mother’s Day!

Appreciating Artwork

     Sacagawea Award 2004

Beth Sahagian-Allsopp

 

Bronze

 

"The Articles which floated out were nearly all

caught by the Squaw who was in the rear. This

 

accident had likely to have cost us dearly; for in

 

this pirogue were embarked out papers,

 

instruments, books, medicine, a great proportion

 

of merchandise. The Indian woman, to whom I

 

ascribe equal fortitude and resolution with any

 

person on board at the time of the accident,

 

caught and preserved most of the sought articles

 

which, were washed over-board."

 

-Meriwether Lewis

         

 

 

 

 

"I chose to symbolize Sacagawea through both

 

the boat (as in boat launcher) and the bird (as in

 

bird woman) two interpretations of

 

her Lemhi-Shoshone name. Instead of riding on

 

the prow she rides on the edge where she can see

 

all around her. The pirogue like vessel is a

 

Cornucopia spilling its contents. The boat is a

 

metaphor for the womb, the cradle, the feminine

 

vessel of transformation and the protector on the

 

sea of life."

-Beth Sahagian-Allsop

 

          After taking the time to look at all of the artwork, I spent twenty minutes concentrating on the 2004 Award by artist Beth Sahagian-Allsop. At first I studied all of the shapes spilling out of the canoe. There was a shell, an animal’s jaw bone, a cluster of berries, a maple leaf, a turtle, a looking glass or telescope, a star, a crescent moon, an open book, and a bottle among others that I could not distinguish. I realized the lines in the water and the winding rope were highlighting a path for my eye to following and giving the piece movement. Some of the objects were consistent with materials that could have accompanied Sacagawea, Lewis, and Clark on their journey.  Others could have been things they saw in nature during their travels. The sculpture was made of bronze and was unified by brown tones throughout. I wondered what process the artist used to make the sculpture and how tedious the method must have been.

          Then I looked at the work from the Left side and noticed how exquisitely beautiful it was from this angle. I wondered if it was consistent with the golden ratio. I thought about measuring and gridding the sculpture to apply the rule of thirds but soon realize that it was not flat work and that would be difficult and inaccurate. I did not know the formula to make a calculation therefore I quickly gave up on deciding if the golden ratio was used in the sculpture’s construction. I assume it was because of the position of the bird and the aesthetic appeal. This side was simpler than the front with just one bird as the focal point. The bird was perched on the edge of the canoe and had a wave splashing against it just below. The vertical lines of the wave and the diagonal lines of the canoe gave the work balance and a dynamic flow. After taking the time to describe the work in my mind, it began to wander to a thought of where I was. Not just were I was physically, spending an hour of my Friday afternoon on the second floor of a beautiful Rotunda, but where I was in life.

            Before I came to look at the Sacagawea Art Collection at Alverno’s Galleria I spent the morning assisting people who had been victims of disasters through the American Red Cross. A women there was telling me about what she has learned through her years of volunteering with the Red Cross. She told me a story of an interview with a couple and their little son who recently lost everything they owned in a house fire. The father was upset because he had just bought a $200 pair of sneakers. That and other experiences made her realize just how much value people place in expensive material possessions instead of focusing on their primary needs being met. She mentioned that a lot of people use the money given for disaster relief to purchase items that in no way benefit their current needs or future recovery. Standing in the empty second floor of the Sister Joel Read Center, I realized that many people do not have the time to contemplate art or the resources or opportunity to spend time pursuing a higher education. They instead need to focus on solving the problems of poverty and recovering from hardships. Leaving the campus I was filled with a sense of gratitude.

Visual Literacy

                According to Brian Kennedy in his Ted Talk entitled, Visual Literacy: Why We Need It, “Visual literacy is the ability to construct meaning from images. It is a form of critical thinking that enhances intellectual capacity.” With so many stimuli around us we often do not actually see things even when we are looking directly at them. Being visually literate goes hand in hand with the term “mindfulness” which we have explored throughout the Alverno curriculum.  Mr. Kennedy states that the process to become more visually literate has the following steps. You must look, see, describe, analyze, interpret, and construct meaning.

               

 

          The object I have chosen to focus on is an aesthetically beautiful triangular table which has been in my living room for the past two years. I have often admired it from afar but never really looked at this piece of furniture.  It is made of wood and the pattern looks to be painted with light brown, dark brown, tan, and black tones. When looking closely I noticed that there are birds and faces in the decoration on the table top. It is of excellent design and follows the rules of form and function. After reading chapter 1 of the textbook a sentence stood out to me, “The rules of design are equivalent to visual culture’s grammar.” That prompted the questions, “Of what culture did this table derive? What is the artists chosen pattern telling me?”

          After researching online I found that this table was not painted but instead was beautified by a technique called Italian marquetry. In marquetry an artist uses different veneers to create shapes and pictures. If I were more visually literate I could pin point which Italian style the image was. I am guessing it is a Renaissance or Baroque pattern.  I am very curious as to what kind of wood the piece is made from and what historical time period it was created. There are many questions I may never have the answers to but this exercise into visual literacy gave me a better understanding and appreciation for the table that I see every day. 

               

My Pet Peeve

One of my pet peeves is watching old men lick envelopes. It makes me cringe and slightly vomitus! I used to be a teller at a credit union and customers would purchase about twenty money orders to pay their bills. Then they would proceed to and lick all of the envelops right in from of my teller window. So gross!

 

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