Personal Space: Tuesday Audience

Once again were forced to judge and critique the work of our pears and I for one hate doing so but if I must, I must. Plus, there were so many good performances that I cant narrow it down so instead I will talk about the parts I liked and the parts I didn't enjoy much. So the spider web like ropes under the stairs looked so beautiful, they where just strait up aesthetically pleasing but they didn't do much after that. I guess it would have to be categorized as a sculpture rather than performance.

The dice and different things one can do with the person was brilliant in that it was perhaps the most creative performance I've seen. Hahaha. I don't know how she came up with it or how she came up with the different handshakes and so on. Overall the best of the day, at least in my opinion.

The skunk was hilarious, especially since the people around didn't really seem to question it. It allowed her to go about her skunk like business. All I can say is if some random person dressed in a skunk costume sprayed me with who knows what out of the blue, there would be hell to pay. Unless, it makes me smell ten times better and I can easily tell.

One last comment, although it was a subtle performance the whole playing the guitar and fallowing people was awesome. It was like they were getting their own theme song, and lets face it, when you have your own theme song thats when you know your bad ass. I just wish she would have sang at the same time. Oh well. Still a great performance and a wonderful day.

Link to Tuesday's Performances

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NhpYKg7vus&feature=player_embedded

Indis Vision

On May 22, 2011 I attended the Indis performance titled Visions. For those who do not know what Indis is, its a mutual club that ties all the smaller Indian/ Middle eastern clubs together under one common body. This particular performance was to make others more aware of the rich cultures and customs practiced within India and the Middle East. Truthfully, I went to the performance not so much because I was interested in learning a new culture but rather to support some friends of mine who where performing. I will say that I overall I enjoyed the performance and did learn.

Many of the performances used a two drum hand like apparatus called the tabla. I must say that watching people play this instrument was the highlight of the performance, well at least to me. It was mind boggling to see how the slightest shift in position of the hands and fingers created such unique sounds. Their was one particular student who was amazing. the speed in which his hands moved and the rhythm that struck out of the tabla was jaw dropping.

As far as the dancing goes, man I am amazed at the talent found in students who attend UCSB. The short belly dance performance had me completely entranced. The way in which they have such control over there bodies was breath taking not to mention seductive. That wasn't the only dance that was enjoyable. The very last performance was lively with rich movements and vibrant clothing to bring the whole ensemble wonderfully together. Overall I enjoyed the performance.

Final Exam and TA Presentation

The final exam wasn't so bad but I don't really know how they will be graded so I can only assume I did well. I wrote a decent amount of information on each image. The only thing is that I could not remember the names and I didn't attempt some of them because I'm bad at spelling. I think that there was one image that I didn't remember seeing in class, which is surprising since I never missed a Kip lecture and was only late twice, like 10 minutes late.

The most interesting part of taking the test was doing it in the Alternate Persona outfit. I was a ninja sitting near the front rows taking a final test. I remember telling myself that I had to do the test in my alternate personality so whenever I caught someone staring at me I would give them a death stare as if they where the next targets on my ninja hit list. Unfortunately I forgot to write the test like a ninja. Thats definitely my bad and hope the performance aspect during the test was enough to overlook that part.

As far as the class presentations are concerned, our class killed it. Lets face it, the other TA's really weren't prepared to go about showing the performances and not to mention that almost everyone who went on stage was from our section. Mad props to Desiree's Tuesday and Thursday section. I noticed that no one was writing their final while our video was playing. There was another section that had a video but it wasn't as energetic as ours. They made music with random noises where we made gun shots sounds with our mouths as we ran around having a hand gun war.

Personal Space: Least Favorite Place

I absolutely hate Canada, it shouldn't even be a country. Hahahaha no I'm just kidding. I've never even been there so how can I judge.
I really don't know where my least favorite place is. When I leave my cities its usually to visit beautiful or wonderful places. I mean I don't take vacations to slums or anything like that. Not to mention, I don't really go on vacation. So I guess my least favorite place is the Isla Vista Theater, room one. Ya that small little class room located in I.V. Man I absolutely hate that place. Its such a nuisance that I can't even stay awake during lectures. Not to mention every class I've taken there has been a completely boring class. I guess it mostly has do with the fact that I took most of my math classes in that room, so maybe I associate it with math.

Week Nine

To further elaborate on what I did this week, I will start by saying that I started the week as a ninja. Sunday was a crazy day having to muster up the guts to actually dress like a ninja and go about my business. For the most part I stayed around my neighborhood but I did go to my fraternity house for a bit and chill as a ninja. At first sight everyone had a good laugh. After  I proceeded to go to campus and wait for the Indus performance to begin. I went to the Arbur to buy some subway, because I was starving, and the cashiers would not stop staring. It was time to initiate the death stare. Maybe I shouldn't mention this but I did change into normal cloths while watching the Indis performance. I felt like it would have been disrespect not to and I went to the event to support some friends of mine so I didn't want to do no harm.

On Monday I had one early morning class and surprisingly no one really noticed me. I think it had to do with a mixture of an early class and the fact that I sat in the back and tried to be as quiet as possible. The real fun started at 3:30 when I had to take the final for Art St 7A. My plan was to not speak and be as quiet as possible and if anyone noticed me and started to stare than the death stare would commence once again. I noticed that the TA who rhymes with fun, really liked to stare at me. I think she enjoyed the death stare because I could tell it made her want to laugh just about every time.

I did not go up on stage because I thought it would go against my character. I was an assassin ninja so I who dwelled in the shadows. Going on a brightly lit stage would have been a direct contradiction to everything my ninja character was.

Personal Space: Favorite Place

Where is your favorite space?
Thats an easy one. Anywhere I can call home.
Why?
Because I feel free do to the sense of comfort and protection. My room is like the Bat Cave. The greatest secret hide out on the history of the planet. Not to mention all the good shit goes down in there. Hahaha, but on a more serious note, theres a lot of things I don't think I could enjoy without being in the comfort of my home. For one; sleep is great only when I can enjoy my nice comfortable bed and sleep in without the worry of random people coming up to me during a vulnerable time.
Second, the restroom. I know people probably rather not talk about it but that morning shit can only be enjoyed when you're sitting in a bathroom within your house. A good day always begins that way.
Third, the couch. I've noticed that I can only enjoy the comfort of a couch when its present in a location I feel comfortable in.  If I sit on a couch when I'm uncomfortable an the presence is awkward, then I'll be sitting strait up in the worst positions imaginable. Now, when I sit on my couch at home and watch tv or play video games, then I sink into the seat and create my only little nest.

Home is where you make it. (cliche)

Alternate Persona: Thursdays Presentations

I think that the best presentation on Thursday was the silent girl one just because I thought the way she recorded her work and presented it was interesting compared to the performance. She spent two days without talking but yet she records the time using just sound and pictures that require no sound. It was as if she was recreating video  documentation. Overall I thought the pictures of her notebook be shown through the conversations was an interesting twist to the way most people would have presented and so, to me, it was a fresh presentation. If there was one thing i though that would have boosted the presentation it wold have been to add a short conversation of before, in which she actually contributes output and input so that we could here the difference. I think it would have helped since the point of her work was to become more prudent.

My least favorite presentation would have to be the super hero and super villain. Although their persona's were great and the whole little live action seen during the final made their persona's all the better I still think that their documentation wasn't that great. I liked the comic books but to simply pass them around wasn't the best way to go about. they should have also been skimmed through on the big screen and we should have seen pictures of them going about in society, not just during the comic scenes. But still a good art performance and an overall good amount of performances.

Alternate Persona: Tuesday Presentation

My favorite presentation on Tuesday would prob have been the bro on a count of I felt like she actually spent the time really attempting to be one of the guys. The documentation was well done and it even acted sort of as a documentary into the lives of that fraternity, although I'm sure it didn't capture everything they do and contribute to society. Following as a close second or possibly even a tie, I think the human hunter girl was a well done presentation of an interesting persona. The documentation was fun while at the same time capturing the point of the art assignment. I think the Australian accent she attempted to maintain busted the performance because it played along with our stereo type of what safari explorers or hunters would sound like.

My least favorite presentation would have been on the leisure guy who was naked under his robe. The idea was excellent but the presentation was a bit week mainly because all his pictures where of him in what seemed to be secluded areas. If he had shown some of him casually strolling through society then it would have definitely boosted the presentation.

Alternate Persona

NINJA

Born to a dead father and a dying mother, I was taken in by an elite group of ninja assassins.  Thus forth I was raised in the shadows, molded  to become the greatest assassin ninja that ever inhaled breath. Fairly new to the guild of assassin ninjas I vow to prove my skills and worth by taking out as many targets as ninjaly possible within the confines of UCSB.

 A ninjas chosen weapon.

Creeping in the shadows.

Alternate Persona: Artist

If I could be any existing artist I would be a singer, much like Anthony Green. Why you ask? I'll tell you. Singing is considered to be one of the few things that truly elicit joy amongst human beings and, plus, it creates some sense of common understanding. I enjoy hearing songs that say my feeling better than I myself can say them. It's as if at those moments I understand that I'm not the only one alive. Cogito ergo sum or I think, therefore I am. Plus, not to sound shallow, but I bet it would help me meet more girls and thats alway.

I mentioned Anthony Green because I personally believe he has a unique sound and is one of the best singers I've ever had the pleasure of hearing.Survive, his most recent band, is just simply amazing, and Soasin was a killer when he was the head singer. If I was a singer it would have to be a unique sound, almost in its own genre.

Alternate Persona: Super Villain

If I could be a super villain I would be Onslaught from the Marvel universe. The monster was created of both Charles Xavier and Magneto but with a pure intent to rule the universe. Within days he had managed to conquer Earth and eradicate over half the super hero population. I mean, if that isn't pear talent and strength then I really don't know what is. Unlike other villains who are all talk and very little action, Onslaught proved his efficiency at obtaining his goals. He was so powerful that he couldn't be killed, instead his entity had to be sent into another dimension in order to rid the Earth of his presence.

I would be Onslaught because lets face it, to be the best super villain you have to have the most power and Onslaught indeed did. I wonder how it must have to have others truly fear you down to their inner most thoughts?

Alternate Identity: Super Hero

So I'm going to choose a super hero that is part of the X-Men but chances are no one will really have heard of him, also his character is a bit ambiguous. I would be Legion the son of the greatest mind on the mutant plant, Charles Xavier. If you know anything of the comic book world then you will no that Legion is so powerful that his powers are unstable which ultimately have led to his own downfall. To my understanding Legion has the power to basically do anything with his mind, but do to his upbringing he has developed bipolar disorder. The alternate personas that coexist within his mind each carry a different ability.

If you've fallow the X-Men and have read the Second Coming arc then you know what I'm talking about when I say that legion is a bad ass mother "f"ing super hero who can't be stopped by virtually anyone. The guy can change from one being to the next and stop whoever stands in his way. Chances are, if you got a weakness then one of his personas is it.

I would choose to be Legion because that kind of unstoppable power would be just wonderful to have stored within. At the same time Legion understands that he's unstable and hes does whatever is necessary to keep himself from becoming a threat to others even if it means he has to stay in a dormant state for periods of time. Sadly Legion wants nothing more than to maintain the respect of his father and be loved by others rather than feared. He has great power that may be used for either good or evil and he understands it.

The One with the Flat Top Mohawk

Free: Bad Day

I quickly drew a picture for this post but I'm having a bad day so I'm not in the mood to post. later

LA Galaxy vs. NY Red Bulls

This is the one game out of Galaxy's season that I've been anticipating. How exciting the game was, especially for being two MLS teams. Landon Donovan and David Beckham against Tierry Henry and Raffa Marcus. It was well worth my money. The stands were packed and best of all, what seemed to be some die hard fans. Usually Galaxy games are preatty relaxed but on todays game, the stands were nuts, and I absolutely loved it.
Unfortionately the game ended in a draw but atleast its better than a loss. For the most part Galaxy was fighting just to tie the game but once they did it was all them from that point on. I still can't beleive Donovan missed what seemed to be a open net and forsure goal, but then again I have to give props to the defender for hustly back and stopping the goal. These atleaths must be in a hell of a good shape to maintain the top speads throughout the entirety of the game. Having played soccer for a good part of my life, I should know how difficult it is. Not to mention, they do it at a higher level of play.  If your not a fan of the game, then atleast consider this to be a beautiful part and all in all make the event an artist experience.

One last shout out: "Good Shit Rickets"

Documentation

Pun
For the pun assignment I created a can of Whoop-Ass.
http://j05ham.blogspot.com/2011/04/assignment.html

Nexus
I create a falls story about a conspiracy theory based off of a real story where newspapers were taken and replaced with older ones.
http://j05ham.blogspot.com/2011/04/beaking-news.html
http://j05ham.blogspot.com/2011/04/assignment-breaking-news.html

Act of Beauty/Kindness
I bought extra blue books to randomly give out to student before our midterm.
http://j05ham.blogspot.com/2011/04/anonymous-act-of-kindness.html

Altered Activity in Public Space
I did my activities in ways that would push the personal space boundaries of other individuals.
http://j05ham.blogspot.com/2011/04/personal-space.html

Confession
I confessed that I don't fit in with my family and have a sense of exclusion from them.
http://j05ham.blogspot.com/2011/04/confession_21.html

Sequence/Narrative
I created an image, shot a picture, and drew a sketch that illustrated a short fable. 
http://j05ham.blogspot.com/2011/05/narrative-project.html

Flash Mob Experience

I was cool with the idea of doing the flash mob but upon waking up and going to clash I low key felt nervous. I was questioning whether I could do them in a public setting or not but to my discovering I had a blast and truly enjoyed the exercise. Slowly I've become less embarrassed about what others think and just kinda do or experience now. It's a nice feeling to now that people no longer have such a hold on me. I do believe the entire class enjoyed the event. Honestly, you could see in everyones face that they were having an enjoyable time. I remember how into the gun fight some of the girls in the class were, a little surprising since the media depicts males as the gun loving type. The first gun fight was probably my favorite event. The people around had no clue what was going on and the gun shots echoed within the room; absolutely PRICELESS.

The other three events, although one of those was the gun fight again, were fun but they didn't turn out as well with respect to our audience. Within the library not that many random students passed through the tunnel, but I must say that the exit act was fun and creative. The ninja fight was awesome but lacked a bit of choreography. We didn't know when to die or what to do. I guess it kinda worked that some people fell on the floor and others ran off but to tell you the truth I was lost.  Good thing there were people there to watch so we at least left our mark.

Quarter

Overall my quarter is going well. I will say that I didn't expect the work load to be this demanding since I'm only taking three classes all in the art department. To my underestimating belief, I had the impression that art was one of the simplest majors and could be done by just about anyone. Fortunately for me I have quickly seen the errors in my judgement and can now say that I have an extensive respect for artist of all types of art work.

What you should know is that I just recently switched into an art history major from electrical engineering. I went from taking math, science and engineering courses to art history and studio courses. Honestly a huge shift. Instead of having set answers to problems, now I have the creativity to not only create an answer but mold the problem or question to my liking. Another shift is going from numbers to letters. No more having to compute page long equations, but sadly now its off to doing pages after pages of writing both in blog and essay form.

The shift is taking me a bit to adjust to. My papers haven't gotten the highest grades, they have all been in the B range, so I do plan to change this for the final papers in my art history courses. At the moment I believe I'm sitting on all B's, which is fine but I'd prefer to get some A's.

Monday Lecture 6

Mondays Lecture was about ....

Personal Space Assignment

As of right now I think I want to go with my shower idea. The plan is to have a fairly large bucket full of water with a bag containing soap and a sponge inside as well as a smaller bucket that may be used to lift water up to pore on my body. What I will do is have two people carry the bucket and sort of appear to drop it off randomly in front of SRB, probably on the grass area. They will leave bucket there and just casually walk off, one of whom will record project from a distance. Then a few moments later, like 3 to 5 min, I will appear from the parking structure. I will show up with a white t-shirt, some shorts, sandals and be relatively filthy looking. I want it to be to the point where if people see me they will be like man he needs a shower. I may want to come from a farther area just to see more peoples reactions. When I arrive at the water bucket I will step into it and begin to soap up the sponge as to proceed to shower. I think that stepping into the bucket will work best since I don't want to pollute area around, the only problem is I may not end up as clean as I wanted to. I think it will work best if I take a shower close to 10 minutes long just so people can pass bye and hopefully react to the project. I will make sure to inform the camera person to not only film me but the people around. Once I'm clean I will step out of the bucket and walk off as if I'm merely proceeding with my day. My two friends will then go and pick up the bucket and walk off as if nothing changed with the bucket they had originally left. This might actually work best if I have three people so that I can capture the people placing and taking the bucket away. I might also attempt to sing or whistle while showering as to greater create the sense that I am showering in a private space.

3 Proposals

Personal Space
I'm a bit confused so I currently don't have anything that I'm really set on doing. I assume we are just going further into our previous projects of doing something we would normally do at home in a public space. But what confesses me is the example of the guy who taped himself to a building. So can we just occupy a space or must we be doing something in a space that normally wouldn't be done there?

1. For one idea I'm thinking of taking a shower or at least cleaning myself in a public place. I'll be all dirty and have a bucket full of water with soap and a sponge to dip in the water and wash off the dirt.

2. In one of the middle sections where people are allowed to wait to cross the bike path I was thinking of sitting on a chair and just relaxing as if it was a place for down time.

3.

Flash Mob

I'm 100 % down to initiate a flash mob next week on Thursday. I honestly feel like it'll be a challenging event but one of those that once it's done you're so glad you participated in it. In clash we saw a few videos to stimulate ideas and I got to say that my favorite was the X-Box commercial where they start a finger gun fight inside what looks to be a mall. My only thing is that it is advertising violence and I know that one student in the class felt strongly against promoting violence within our flash mob. Truthfully I have no idea what to do, I know I want the class to do something original but its pretty hard to come up with original ideas.

Movie Critique

La Haine

Just recently I saw the 1995 French film La Haine by Mathieu Kassovits and man was it an inspiring film. The character development was so superb by the end of the film I honestly felt like I could feel each and every emotion within them. to speak a little about the film, the entire movie revolves around three male friends and there struggle in understanding there place in the world. The three friends are of different ethnicity but what creates a common ground amongst them is the fact that they have all grown up in the slums of France. Within the slums most people come to the realization that they have little value to the economic world and the simple fact that they are from the slums will forever weigh them down.

The film was shot in black and white even though color film was already developed. The contrast between the two colors further eludes to idea of these kids living in a two set world of either good or bad. For them there is very little in between. Within the movie there is a 15 min scene where the characters are just sitting in the park talking pure non-sense. Honestly, the scene feels like dead space but it adds to the overall importance of the film because it shows how they have nothing in their lives. No one has jobs nor is there even school for them to attempt to progress in society. But honestly the greatest part of the film is the character development. Each of the three characters have such unique characteristics. There movements create body language which illustrate there standpoints on the living conditions. One character, Saïd, is content in life and basically making the most out of it. His interpretation is basically slinging drugs to make money and get girls. Throughout the story Saïd makes jokes and provides the humor, this tells us he's basically laid back and not so worried with responsibilities. Another character, Hubert, wants so badly to change his life for the better and leave the slums. He attempts to open a gym and make money but its burned down. We constantly see Hubert with this slouched posture as if to say hes ashamed of his life. The last character is Vinz, he probably the most impact full character. Vinz's facial features tell his story better than words might be able to. Not to kill to much of the story but because Vinz's character allows the audience to see into his soul, when the final events transpire one wants to cry, or at least I did. 


Great film, for those who haven't seen it I highly recommend that you do.

Narrative Presentation

The presentation I enjoyed the most was the video of the children's story between the kid and the ocean. The visual artwork went perfectly with the gloomy story. The black swirly lines created an outline of a child but at the same time they showed confusion and sorrow. Within the story we find that the child is alone within the world and only the ocean presents a sense of companionship. He treats the ocean as a friend but at the same time its distant from him as if the friendship only goes one way. The ocean itself is an interesting aspect of the overall work. The visuals that go with how the ocean changes from day to day are impressive and convey the emotions that even the child finds them to represent, such as the crashing waves actual being a dance. Throughout the story there is a scratchy child like voice telling the story. The voice adds to the overall theme of the story. The child like aspect adds to the children story but the scratchy muffled sound conveys the idea of sorrow and death. Within the story the ocean eventually causes the death of the child. We see that the story is a sad one but there where a few moments of love, such as the child sitting in the rain as a way of comforting the ocean. I honestly really enjoyed this work of art and feel like the author should attempt to get his work published on a higher level.

Monday Lecture 5

Today was Monday Fun Day, and what an exciting lecture it was. The presentations made me want to become an artist of free word.

Relay 4 Life

I don't know if you will accept relay for life to be a art show but I definately feel like it should be especially since the center of the field has a stage where a bunch of  student's are performing. To tell the truth most of the student singers were preatty bad. I felt like they were just copying someone elses sound rather than actually developing their own. I did however enjoy the live performance of the UCSB Hawaiian Hulla Group. That was an interesting and somewhat captivating performance. The girls definately know how to move.

I also think that the actually event in an intirety is an art event in that its suppose to utalize the healthy human body as to raise money for those with breast cancer. If anyone can appreciate this art then I would say you (Desiree) should having done your thesis on Art and the human body in boxing, plus ur a girl. Atleast I got to spend the beautiful day with my brothers and I think I walked like 18 miles so not bad, not bad at all.

Personal Space and Alternate Identity

I honestly fill lost about this assignment, not because I don't understand the project or the meaning behind it, but simply because I don't feel like I can live up to the examples of students given in class. Also, I want to add some originality but I feel like almost everything has already been done, and that which hasn't, isn't popping up in my mind.

Narrative Project

For my Narrative project I decided to take a short story, or in this case a fable and retell it with my own style of language. The fable I used is titled "The Tortoise and the Eagle"  by George Fyler Townsend.

There once was a turtle who had become tired of his boring routine life. He wished for a change and sure enough along came that change. An eagle passing bye saw this golden opportunity and seized the moment. The eagle approached the turtle and whispered in his ear, "I can show you the sky." The turtle desperate, hastily replied, "yes, yes, please do." Ah but the eagle was cunning, "Sure but it will come with a price." Desperate yet again the turtle replies, "anything." So the eagle swoops up the turtle and carries him high. Oh what a beautiful sight but sadly it only lasted an instant for the eagle released the turtle and the turtle began his rapid decent. A simple shift in force caused the beautiful sky to transform into the gateway of the afterlife. The turtle smashed into the ground and the eagle had received his reward, the turtle had become his lunch.

I stumbled upon the fable one morning while eating breakfast and was inspired to use it within my narrative project. At the same time the concept of eating breakfast played into the story and so I felt creating an image out of my cereal would be a creative way to interpret and visually tell the story. Yet I decided that fables may be short but they contain many elements to them and so I decided to change the style of art found from one image to the next. To illustrate the bird, a sketch was introduced. The vast detail showed the importance and intelligence of the bird. For the mountains and scenery I went with a photo of the mountains located here in Santa Barbara with the understanding that my audience would be able to relate to them, and perhaps find a parallel to the the turtles need to see their beauty from above.

actual fable (I in no way claim ownership to the fable)

The Tortoise And The Eagle

---

A TORTOISE, lazily basking in the sun, complained to the sea-birds of her hard fate, that no one would teach her to fly. An Eagle, hovering near, heard her lamentation and demanded what reward she would give him if he would take her aloft and float her in the air. "I will give you," she said, "all the riches of the Red Sea." "I will teach you to fly then," said the Eagle; and taking her up in his talons he carried her almost to the clouds suddenly he let her go, and she fell on a lofty mountain, dashing her shell to pieces. The Tortoise exclaimed in the moment of death: "I have deserved my present fate; for what had I to do with wings and clouds, who can with difficulty move about on the earth?' If men had all they wished, they would be often ruined.