Poison and Wine cover

Radioactive cover

Beauty in What's Left Behind

Look at that face! Gorgeous!

My dog needs to be a model

Low-Fire Ceramics 2013

Final Project: His Eye is on the Sparrow

 

My daily act was to hot glue a couple of buttons to a piece of 11x14 white Bristol paper every day. Using the buttons, I filled in an outline of a silhouette of a sparrow on a branch that I drew the first day. I didn't always just take one picture per day, and I didn't only put a specific number of buttons on per day. I wanted a nice casual flow of the piece that showed progression over time, but I didn't want it to be an exact science. Towards the end of my project, I continuously layered buttons on top of one another to smooth out the edges of the silhouette and play with different color juxtapositions. Before I ever started gluing, I did a practice run to see about how many buttons I would need. That definitely changed, though, once I began the project. I couldn't remember where I had put most of the buttons originally, so I ended up needing quite a few more buttons that I thought I would.

 

As you look at the piece and touch the buttons, you can see all of the layers that went into the piece. You can see the time it took to add each layer and smooth out the edges. In the photographic documentation of the piece over time, you see the sparrow and branch take form out of the blank white space. I used a plain black shadow box to display my piece for practical and sentimental purposes. I needed a frame that would allow more room for the layers of buttons. I also wanted the ability to open the case to allow for myself, and others, to touch the buttons. Also, the idea of a shadow box is to display trinkets and things that have a special meaning. Everything that I put into this piece is very special to me.

 

I chose to do this piece as my final presentation for a few reasons. All of the reasons stem from things that are very dear to my heart. The reason I drew a silhouette of a sparrow on a branch is because of a quote that has always comforted me. The quote I wrote in my piece is "His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me." This quote has origins that can be found in the Bible, and it is also on the front of my diary. Both of these items I carry with me and use every single day. So, to me, this quote represents a personal daily routine of mine. The buttons came from the fact that I just absolutely love buttons. For years, I have been making greeting cards with them for close friends and family members. Therefore, the buttons represent the way I have marked time over the years with the passing of holidays and birthdays of my loved ones. The clean white paper is a fresh start. I will be moving away from home in the fall and will have a brand new life to begin and a chance to dive into who I am as an artist and woman. But I will always hold on to what is nearest to my heart; my Lord and my family.

 

 

 

Time-based Artist Presentation: Bruce Nauman

 

BRUCE NAUMAN



Fountain


Art Make-Up: No. 1 White, No. 2 Pink, No. 3 Green, No. 4 Black (still from video)


Fifteen Pairs of Hands


Mystic Truths


Animal Pyramid


Walking in an Exaggerated Manner Around the Perimeter of a Square

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oDhuZ2Ya2wM

Walking in an Exaggerated Manner: 2013 Recreation

     In Walking in an Exaggerated Manner around the Perimeter of a Square, we basically see a compilation of all of the central themes that Bruce Nauman's work revolves around.  These themes include circularity, repetition, minimalism, and body awareness.  The setting of the ten minute video is an average, every day art studio.  There is a shabby looking stool and art work remnants on the floor.  There is also a mirror propped up to reveal what is off camera, what you didn't expect to see.  Bruce Nauman walks forwards and backwards around the perimeter of a taped off square.  He exaggerates every step and shifts his weight back and forth between his hips, creating a contrapposto posture.  He has a blank stare throughout the performance.  At first glance, the video seems like it would be incredibly boring with nothing changing throughout the piece.  But when you watch it closer, you notice the little moments of tension and anticipation when he struggles to hold his balance.
     Interpretations of the video can include the questioning of what is and isn't art, body awareness, minimalism, repetition, and circularity.  I believe that this piece was a chance for Nauman to show how the artist's awareness of his/her own body is communicated to the viewer.  There is a quote from an interview that Bruce Nauman did where he says, "An awareness of yourself comes from a certain amount of activity and you can't get it from just thinking about yourself.  You do exercises . . . So the films and some of the pieces that I did after that for videotapes were specifically about doing exercises in balance."  This piece, to me, is so simple and effortless, and yet so thought out at the same time. 
     After recreating this piece, I can honestly say that though it may look effortless, it wasn't!  I set up my garage to look as close to his studio as possible, with the masking tape squares, plain backdrop, shabby stool, tilted mirror, and remnant art work (my Honk if this is Art sign).  I even wore similar clothing.  My only real difference there was that he was barefoot and I instead wore socks (the garage floor was freezing!)  I practiced up a bit to figure out how many times I would need to walk around the square and decided on five times.  Then came the hard part.  Walking slowly in an exaggerated manner is really challenging!  It feels very awkward and unstable.  I lost my balance quite a bit but got through it. 
   When I first saw his piece I thought he had such a sexy confident tone to his strut without really trying.  I wanted my piece to have the same vibe.  This may sound a bit strange, but I didn't feel like I would be able to capture that feeling with my hands just at my sides.  I felt much more confident and feminine with my hands on my hips.  Hopefully that comes through to the viewers.  I didn't want it to seem like I was trying to walk "sexy" or anything, but just poised and confident which, inevitably, is sexy.
   The significance of recreating Bruce Nauman's piece is simply that the piece is timeless.  It was made years before I was ever even thought of, and yet when I watched it, I immediately was drawn to it.  Even after all these years it still feels fresh and relatable.  I think that is the power of minimalism.  When things are kept simple they are more open to interpretation, and therefore, can become much more relatable.
   

Time-based Artist Proposal: Bruce Nauman

"When I was in art school, I thought art was something I would learn how to do, and then I would just do it. At a certain point I realized that it wasn't going to work like that. Basically, I would have to start over every day and figure out what art was going to be." ~Bruce Nauman

For my Time-based artist, I chose Bruce Nauman, a contemporary artist who emerged in the 1960's.

To me, this quote from Bruce Nauman absolutely screams what I have been learning about myself as an artist lately!  High school was so focused on just meeting assignment requirements and never really thinking over ideas and searching for deeper meanings behind the intentions of the artist or what a piece could convey to the viewer.  This quote is perfection.  Every day that I walk into the studio I get to make the decision of what I am going to define as art that day and what I want to express through my work.  There's so much power in that!

I was instantly attracted to Bruce Nauman's work when I saw the performance video Walking in an Exaggerated Manner.  This is probably going to sound a bit weird, but while watching the video I felt sort of, well, physically attracted to him. His manner of walking was so simple and minimalistic, but it had this tone of just complete confidence!  He made me instantly think of the actor Sam Rockwell, who played in both Charlie's Angels (2000) and Iron Man 2.  Once again, I'm sure this all sounds odd!  But in both movies, Sam plays the bad guy, and he has this exaggerated strut that looks so arrogant, but you can't help but watch because he just seems so cool and confident.  I just love it!  When it comes to Bruce Nauman's body of work, I also really enjoy his I am a Fountain piece and his hand sculptures.  His photos of people pulling at their skin and making themselves look almost disfigured also intrigue me.  His Animal Pyramid is so beautiful to me as well.  For some reason I really love artwork that includes wild animals.  I think I enjoy the freedom and power that they convey.  Unfortunately, I'm not as fond of most of Bruce Nauman's neon works.  They're a bit too blatantly sexual for my taste. 

For my piece, I want to recreate his Walking in an Exaggerated Manner video.  I really want the sample simplistic vibe that his video has.  I will use my garage as the studio with its gray concrete floor and white garage door.  I will also prop up a frameless mirror that we have to expose to the viewer what may not be in the camera frame.  I will tape off a square on the floor with masking tape.  Also, I will probably wear something simple as well, such as black yoga pants and a loose neutral colored shirt.  After filming, I'd like to put a black and white filter on the piece.  My hope is to capture the same confident, thought out strut that he carries in his piece. 

Performance Project: Validation

My performance is a video documentation of the time I spent standing on my street corner on the outskirts of Bucyrus with a sign reading, "Honk if this is art."  For some reason, this is the first thing that popped into my head when I learned about this assignment, and it stuck with me the entire day.  What really pushed me to do it, though, was when I told my mom about my idea.  Her first reaction was, "What? That's not art!"
So, I made my sign and walked out to my street corner, which is in the middle of a pretty rural area.  There are fields and a barn right across from me.  I believe my environment played a huge role in the reactions I received.  I stood out in the cold for fifteen minutes at least and only received one honk and a thumbs up from a little old lady.  A few others waved, but most just kept driving by.  Also, I'm sure it probably took some people a little while to even figure out what I was doing and had already passed me by then.
So, does art exist if the artist claims it to be art?  Or does the work only become art if others validate it as art?  These were the questions that I was trying to explore.  Art is very subjective.  If I had been on a busy street corner in San Francisco or New York, I probably would have received numerous honks.  In the rural area of Bucyrus, Ohio, though, I probably only got honked at because of my effort of standing out in the bitter cold.  Abstract art is always under question of its validity.  My art in this instance was all about validation.  That one little old lady brightened my day with her honk.  Without it, I probably would have felt the need to try my sign on a different corner or just talk about how no one around here understands abstract art.  But that one little lady gave my piece validation and showed me that even in the most rural, traditional area, abstract works and performances can be validated as "art."

Cumulative Acts Proposal

I have always been fascinated with buttons.  Over the past few years, I have made a habit out of making birthday and holiday cards for my loved ones.  My special trademark I always include is a button.  I incorporate them in various ways and experiment with new uses for them with each card I make.  Though this project was very open ended and I could take it in a lot of different ways, I kept picturing something made with buttons.  In my head I saw a piece of clean, white Bristol paper with a silhouetted image made of buttons and a scripture or phrase below it. 
I will draw a basic outline in pencil of the silhouetted image, so I have a map of where to hot glue buttons.  I will add a couple buttons each day.  I will take at least one picture each day of the development of the image. The documentation and the probability that I will most likely have to add multiple layers of buttons will show the time put into the work. 
I plan on framing the final product and hanging it where I can see it everyday, because I know I'll love it! 
I already went out and bought lots of buttons, because I was running low at home.  I think I want a multicolored sparrow on a branch.  The saying beneath will be one of my favorites, which is also on the front of my diary.  It will read "His eye is on the sparrow And I know He watches me."  I will write the phrase in something equivalent to a MicronPen.
This piece will be very me.  The buttons are all my favorite colors, the background will be clean and simplistic, the bird will have a vintage feel to it, and the saying will be about God.  I'm excited!

Abstracting Place Composition

I knew that I wanted to create a piece from within my house.  I just wasn't sure if I wanted to use my entire house or a singular room.  I searched high and low.  Then, I walked down into my basement and saw where my mom had hung wind chimes on my bicycle that had been stored hanging from the ceiling.  Just like that bike, I was hooked!  I couldn't get the image and sound out of my head.  It was so odd and intriguing.  I began looking around further and found quite a few other odd subjects.  I was also interested in all of the different light sources that were in my basement.  The variety of sounds caught my attention as well.  

As I collected footage, I found myself attracted to existing groups of objects that seemed out of place. For example, the wind chimes on the bicycle, or the fact that a Christmas tree was still up and it is almost March.  I also loved playing with light.  At first, I was just going to use a spotlight that my stepdad uses when working in the garage.  Then, I took notice of the different ceiling lights, light from the television, Christmas tree lights, and candles.  Sounds played a big role as well.  I am usually annoyed by the squeakiness of our ping pong table, but found it perfect for this assignment!  Also, I enjoyed the shrillness of the dart board sounds.  I used my mouth to make sounds in the panning scenes.  My absolute favorite sound, though, came from the woman on the television.  As a viewer, you are in the basement where you are so focused on objects, and then all of a sudden you hear a human's voice.  It definitely gets your attention.  

As far as manipulation goes, I cut up the panning around the room scene and distributed it throughout the composition.  I shortened and abstracted five second clips from various videos in between.  I added echos to sounds, as well as adjusted their volumes.  I created fade in and outs with the pen tool.  I also used the bad film effect on the entire piece to create a creepy vibe.  I also layered videos and adjusted their opacity.

I definitely feel that my piece creates an uneasy, unsettling, and confusing mood.  The clicking sound creates a lapse of time that, personally, makes me feel on edge.  The darkness plays on the fear of the unknown in the dark, and after you see a few of the objects I present, you know why that fear is there. For example, the Dopey figurine that once looked joyful, now has a sinister grin when spotlighted in the dark.  Overall, the piece is filled with anxiety because of the play on darkness, and the odd combinations of objects only add to the confusion.  At some level, I believe we all have a fear of darkness and the unknown.  At the beginning of this project, I had no problem being alone in my basement.  By the end of it though, I began freaking myself out watching the videos in the dark.  Needless to say, I got out of there quick!

  

Home

To create this piece, I simply walked around my house and kept my ears open to any sounds that caught my attention.  I recorded short clips for about forty different sounds.  When using Audacity, I narrowed it down to about 11 sounds.

In the process of collecting, I was attracted to sounds that built up, such as the fan.  I also enjoyed sounds that had a distinct rhythm to them, such as the clock and my cat's purr.  I also really liked juxtapositioning harsher sounds, such as doors and drawers closing.

I really didn't want to do too much to change the sounds, because then it wouldn't have sounded like my home.  Mostly, I just faded in and out, adjusted the gain, moved sounds from right to left to create a three-dimensional space, and stretched out and trimmed sounds.

Before I ever even started this assignment, I had always enjoyed certain sounds, and of course, was annoyed by some as well.  Until I began this assignment, though, I never realized just how big of a part of my life sounds are.  I literally can't do anything without making a noise!  It's insane!  I began noticing every little sound I made.  Some were really fascinating!  But what intrigued me the most were the sounds of my house.  There were many sounds that I deemed universal of almost all homes, such as doors opening and microwaves turning on.  Then there were other sounds that were specific for just my home, like my dog's nails that are in dire need of trimming clicking across our laminate wood floors and my cat as she purrs beside me in bed.  Granted now, I'm sure other people hear similar sounds too, but just like my mom's voice is comforting to me, so are my pets.  When I move away, I know I'm going to be missing those sounds, and I wanted a little piece of home that I could listen to any time I wanted.  Also, I noticed a really interesting rhythm to my home, and I'm sure it is the same with many others.  In the morning we are so hesitant to break the silence.  One creak in the floor could wake another person up.  Every little sound seems so loud.  Then, by mid-day, there are so many different sounds going that it's almost hard to distinguish what all is going on.  You are literally surrounded by sounds of chaos!  Then, as the day turns into night, the silence returns.  Everything slows down and begins to quiet down as well.  For example, throughout the day a cat purring would go completely unnoticed.  Lying in bed, though, the cat's purr is enough to keep you awake.

All around, I think I conveyed the ebbs and flows of a home really well by creating a three-dimensional space and using sounds that listeners can identify with.  I believe that these ebbs and flows were conveyed through my fade in, build up, and fade out.  I really enjoy the piece and feel it accomplished what I set out to do.

Sound Preview-Fan

Stuck in Bed-Deep Listening Exercise

Ever since last night, I haven’t been feeling well at all.  I’ve had a sore throat and an achy body.  Today at school, all I wanted to do was climb back into bed, so that’s the first thing I did when I got home from class.  I decided to do my deep listening project from my mom’s bed, since that’s where I’d be spending my day.  I thought it’d be interesting to gain a deeper familiarity with my everyday surroundings.  I set my phone alarm, opened up a blank document on my laptop and just listened.  A few sounds were extremely frequent.  The strong winds made our siding creak.  Since there is a window just to my left, the creaking was moderately loud.  Soon after beginning, the kitchen clock struck once, signaling that is was now 2:30pm.  The television was shut off, but I heard random creaks from it.  My laptop began humming.  I had always heard its faint humming before, but listening to it in silence reminded me of the winds that you would hear in a movie when there was a tornado coming (very Wizard of Oz).  There was also the rumbling sound and slight vibration from cars and trucks going down Lincoln Highway, just off of my road.  I could hear my own breathing and the breathing (and snoring) of my dog, Gabby, who was lying at my feet.  My pillow rustled as I moved my neck to try and relieve some of my aches and pains.  I also heard the scraping of me scratching my forehead, a smoothing sound from me rubbing my brow, and the hard swallowing due to my sore throat.  My laptop stopped humming, and in its place, was the sound of my stomach gurgling from a mixture of yogurt and a free Starbucks drink.  I got a gift card in the mail.  Hallelujah!  Throughout the entire ten minutes I also, of course, heard myself typing.  Finally, my phone alarm went off, alerting me that my ten minutes of deep listening had finished.  There were a couple conclusions I came to at the end of this exercise.  First off, I make a lot of sounds with my body.  Secondly, this may sound silly, but there’s no need for anyone to fear creaks in the night, because they happen just as frequently during the day.  Lastly, before starting this exercise, I figured it would consist of ten minutes of me shutting myself off from technology and just listening to my environment.  Well, as it turns out, much of my environment consists of technology.  I even used technology to keep track of time and record the sounds I encountered.  Usually when I sit in the quiet, it is to read, think or pray, so it was new for me to sit and try to actively listen for what was going on outside of my head, and I really enjoyed it.  

Afterwards, I told my dog to look up and got this awesome picture of her.

 

Laced Stop Motion Animation

Above, is my stop motion piece "Laced."  Going into this project, I thought it would take me hours and hours to accomplish.  It ended up only taking about one hour and forty-five minutes.  Once, I got the ball rolling, or rather the shoe moving, the process went very quickly and smoothly.

During the project, I only encountered a few minor challenges.  One was propping the shoe up when I wanted to show it resisting.  I managed to prop it up, though, with a tube of lip gloss and and eraser.  Also, there were certain times when I needed to have the lace tips in places where they couldn't hold themselves up.  I achieved this effect with a little help from some masking tape rolled onto the back the tip out of sight.  There were also just a few times when I bumped the tripod.  Fortunately, I had taped off where the feet went onto the floor and at what level "Lace" should appear on my camera screen.

At first, I planned on this piece simply being a shoe that gets laced without any human help.  Then, as I began to take pictures, I decided I would have the lace drag in the shoe against its will.  Next, I had the shoe escape the bondage of the lace and run away.  Unfortunately for the shoe, the lace slithers its way back into the scene and recaptures the shoe.  The shoe fights back, but is ultimately no match for the constricting lace.  The shoe, now "Laced", falls in defeat.

I had figured that the piece would be comical.  I still think there is a funny, round up sort of quality to it.  Now, though, I also see a sad, oppressed tone to the piece.  I think the muted gray tones add to the somber mood as well.  The shoe, an object that we typically associate with aiding in walking or running away, is unable to run away from the object that is intended to help hold it together.  The lace becomes oppressive and takes away the shoe's freedom.  The shoe falls in defeat, losing all hope of escaping bondage.

There are a few questions that come to my mind after watching the video.  What happens when a human decides to wear the shoe?  Does this slight unlacing tease the boot with its longing for freedom? Does the shoe get its hopes up only to be let down time and time again?

Storyboard

First Jump-Stop Motion Animation

Self-Portrait