Project 3 pt. 2

Homework 6

- Why do you think "writing about what you know" leads to terrible stories?

If you write what you know, when will your imagination ever be put to use? It is like your talent will never progress because you're stuck in the same knowledge forever. Before writing, I think it is very important to put yourself as the audience as it will encourage you to be the writer you truly want to be.

- Within your chosen major or career path, how can you make better stories? Or, what are some of your ideas to progress stories that you think are not finished?

 I mentioned this before but ever since I was little I wanted to work for Pixar. I always wanted to be the one who thinks of the story plot for the short animations that play before the actual movie. I always like to rewatch them and try to find something in common in the plot. I noticed that many of the shorts have their main characters become lost in the beginning but eventually find their way back to each other. So I then took this plot and applied it to ideas of my own. I think it is important to start off slow and take your time. I used to always want everything to be my own idea completely, but I realized you won't really get anywhere unless you learn from others and grow from them.

- Within a creative practice, is working in a physical and/or non-digital way important to you? Describe how you do creative work (any writing, drawing, photography, playing sports - anything)  independently from a computer. How does a computer enhance or take away from your creative process?

I also mentioned this before but I love to listen to and write slam poetry. While I agree that a computer may rob us of the feeling of being creative, etc., I think a computer can be very helpful for a different reason. It is the one thing I definitely need as a part of my creative process. I am a very, VERY, forgetful person, so when I have ideas and try to write them down, I forget them along the way. A computer helps a lot more because I type faster than write, so I can easily jot them down without forgetting.

- What are the things you use to procrastinate? How do they then feed into the other areas of what you do or what you study? 

Even though I procrastinate a little too much, I always feel guilty. For some reason I like to think that working on my poems as procrastination would make up for procrastinating in the first place because at least it I am doing something productive for myself. I feel like this is kind of like a win-win situation but at the same time I won't be able to create a poem to the best of my ability because I constantly have the thought of needing to finish work that is due the next day.

Homework 5

• What are your standards for yourself when you decide something is worth "stealing" or appropriating? 
• If I wanted to appropriate another person's work, it would have to relate to something I have always been interested in or if I know I can create something more amazing (to me). For example, I love slam poetry and sometimes I would take certain lyrics from artists and use it to create a line for my poem. In "A Beautiful Mess," by Jason Mraz, I took his lyrics "I guess it just suggests that this is just what happiness is" and changed it to "I guess this suggests you express your utmost distress, so that our happiness is earned by a better reform process" for a slam poem I made about the minimal education funding. I just loved the flow it had from the song so I wanted my poem to sound just as smooth. Like Jim Jarmusch said, I steal the work that speaks directly to my soul and if I do this, then my work will be authentic. 

• Is the idea of "nothing being original" indeed depressing? Or is it freeing? Why or why not?
• I don't take this idea as depressing, but rather inspiring. Reading this book has really encouraged me to continue to do art. Knowing that originality is not what's important but rather what and how you transform a previous work into, makes me realize that it's possible my work will be admired one day.

•  What is the difference between creative hoarding and creative collecting? 
• Creative hoarding is when you don't take into account the meanings/feelings that a work conveys, and when you don't think about the relevance between that work and yourself. Creative collecting is where you only take in the good ideas; you choose them selectively as it will benefit you and your imagination. Whenever I come across a piece of art that I like, I would save it to my camera roll. It doesn't have to be something that I want to appropriate; it's usually something that simply speaks to me. This is the latest I have saved: 
   
• Even though I had no idea what exactly I would do with this, I just really liked its style and I knew I wanted to create something similar because it gave me the feelings that I would want to give to others. 

•  What does Marcel Duchamp (who you should all know) mean when he says that he doesn't believe in art, but he believes in artists? 
• I think what Marcel Duchamp means is that it is the artist who makes an artwork so amazing, especially since nothing is original anymore. The artist still has the ability to be as creative as someone back then who's work was completely original.

•  Who are Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe? How do you think they "faked it until they made it"? Do you think it worked for them?
• Patti Smith, a musician, and Robert Mapplethorpe, a photographer, both wanted to be artists. They decided to act like they were who they wanted to be until they actually were. So as the world believed they were artists, I think it definitely helped them grow with confidence and success.

•  What's the difference between "practice" versus "plagiarism"?  
• Practice is when I copy my brother's drawings/designs because his work actually inspires me. He used to always doodle this design for a tattoo and over the years I would see that design evolve into something better. I want that kind of process, not just plagiarizing, or stealing his tattoo for my own.

• What's the difference  between imitation vs emulation? 
• emulation is the step that comes after imitation; once you are done with gathering your ideas, finish copying the artists that inspire you, and reach that level where you are the amazing artist you are, you finally create the thing that you have wanted to ever since the beginning.

Project 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2J2qdOrW44

Homework 4

Art can evoke so many different feelings, so judging another person's work to decide whether it is protected under fair use is going to be very difficult, especially since there are many artists who engage in the transformative use of existing images. Although Appropriation and fair use are very similar, appropriation deems to have a more negative effect to it. Both Appropriation and fair use are very sensitive to work with for artists, so it is very hard to analyze when brought in a court case.

There was one concern that I had regarding the court's decision. It is said that the court found most of the works by Mr. Prince to be permissible under fair use because they “have a different character” from Mr. Cariou’s work, giving it a “new expression” and employing “new aesthetics with creative and communicative results distinct.” However, they then decided that five other works were not considered fair use by a reasonable observer so they were sent back to the lower court for a determination. I wanted to know, like Brian Boucher, who would be considered a "reasonable observer?" Like I said earlier, there are so many different aspects to analyze and so many artists who are in the same position, so how would the court go by this?

I think the matter should be focused on making sure the appropriation of an artwork has good intentions. This can be unlimited, as long as it does not provoke a negative connotation that mocks the original work on purpose. So even if it did not "add value" or transform it in a way, I don't believe one should be sued and put in court. With that, it is up to the artist to articulate his intent. On the other hand, although this is very important, I don't really believe in having to explain your artwork. Like I said in my other homework post, an artist creates art simply because they feel compelled to. But if that art is brought under court, THEN it is something that needs to be explained on.

Project 2

At first I wanted to create a collage based on a happy experience, but I realized that the dreams I usually remember are nightmares. I feel like the same goes for everyone, and that we tend to remember a scary dream because it is a lot more interesting in a way, rather than dreaming about something happy/pleasant. 

My background was originally a room full of mirrors. I realized that I never dream of one thing overnight, and that one dream would always change into a completely different one after another. With this, I wanted to create a scene that involved some kind of portals that lead to different nightmares of mine: Getting lost, being chased by someone, drowning in a lake, and jumping off a cliff/falling. These are actually some of the most common nightmares around the world and I thought it would be nice to use them for you guys to relate. You can also see the scene as kind of like a sequence. There are two "portals" that are pitch black- as if we don't remember what we dreamed about in between or just in general. I also tried emphasize this by applying layers of clouds; it creates a smoky effect which shows how dreams are dull to our minds rather than memories are vivid.