Illustration Symposium

On Friday, November 20th I attended the illustration visual symposium held by KCAI. The presentation was not the most exciting, but the information given was. The main thing I liked about the symposium is that real, professional jobs can be obtained through this major. Publishers are looking for illustrators all the time, especially in this age of digital media.

This symposium really gave me a lot to think about. I have worried this whole time about what department I want to get into, and I realized now that I don’t need to. While I am still open to going into other departments, I know now that illustration is my back up. I am very interested in creating narrative and I can illustrate fairly well. Apart from that I am interested in this department because it is closely related to graphic design. I have always liked the idea of being a creative leader, and in graphic design you can do that. I don’t have a lot of interest in graphic design, however, but I still want to be able to lead a team of designers, even if I have a background in illustration, and that is possible in this field. While different training is needed, I have always been interested in developing my leadership capabilities in order to advance myself further. The best thing they told me when I asked about the ability to still be an art director with an illustration background is that “ideas are the currency we work in.” That really struck me because ideas in this field are tangible, and fairly accessible. Some of the fine arts, such as painting, have ideas, but they go to far for my taste. I like the idea of producing for the masses. For creating things that the whole world might see, and changing ideas that way. Because of this I am now leaning towards illustration more than any others.

Mapping Part 2 Proposal

For the second part of the mapping project, I will be creating a series of photo realistic drawings, one being a portrait, with four others being hands. They will be arranged in a pleasing way, but also one that shows the order in which I contacted these people. Each one will have a small snippet of my encounters with these people as well. They will be short and to the point, with only my physical encounters and conversations, not my perception of them. This will create the myth as it will allow the viewers to perceive the people of Brush Creek as they choose. I am using Brandon Stanton’s work “Humans of New York” as my main influence when creating this piece. I feel that his work is very powerful, with dynamic portraits that capture the viewers eye and glorify these average humans into a new light. Bridget Booher’s body mapping is also some of the influence I am going to use. Her writing style is one I think I could use very well as it is short and concise but still evokes emotions.

The portraits are being made using a grid system and recreating pictures I took from my adventure. They will be done with graphite on stonehenge to make them as realistic as possible.

Altered Map

In this exercise we were to take an existing map and alter it into something new, whether that be a whole new map or replacing the information already on it. I chose to create shoes with my maps. I used maps of Kansas City watershed and natural environments to construct them, with yarn for the laces so that they would actually be functional. The piece was intended to be worn but with the wet whether they would not be able to hold up. While they were supposed to become semi destroyed, I didn’t want them falling apart completely. The idea of using maps to create shoes is something that I would love to explore, especially with the amount of meaning they could hold. The shoes could contain the information of where you traveled not only in a literal sense, but in a conceptual sense as well because when worn, they become a record of the places you have journeyed. I would love to create some shoes specifically from a map of a place that I would actually travel with the shoes being worn. It would be a very interesting concept.

Ceramics Symposium

On Friday, November 13th, I attended the ceramics symposium at the Kansas City Art Institute. While the lecture given was extremely boring, there were some very interesting ideas that were brought up, ideas that I had never linked to ceramics before. The main idea that struck me was the idea of hygiene being associated with ceramics. When I thought about it I realized that it was as ceramics are still used to this day for pottery and practical utensils, even toilets are still made of ceramic. It is cheap, easy to form, and durable. The main example that struck me was the funnels made for women so that they could stand up while using the restroom.

Ceramics have always interested me. I took it at my community college and absolutely loved it. While I have never considered majoring in it I’d like to think that I am fairly decent with the processes involved. I would very much like to be able to use the ceramics department for making certain things, and hopefully continue practicing the craft as a hobby, but not necessarily as a way to make a living. Even so I don’t think I’d be opposed to the idea of creating ceramic works.

Mapping Response

This article was extremely interesting. I have never thought about maps in such a deep and intricate way. It really made me think about the maps of our lives and how each one is different, even if we’ve been to the same places. This is due to our different experiences had at each location, based entirely off of memory. The main point that struck me in this article was the idea that maps are intertwined into the human experience so deeply that they cannot be removed. This is very profound as maps are used whether physically based or memory based in order to orient and find our ways. I once read a book on habits that talked about a man with Alzheimer’s who would always walk with his wife around the block. Once he developed Alzheimer’s he could not recognize the street he lived on or any of the houses on the street, even his own. But even with the Alzheimer’s, he would leave his house and walk around the block in the same fashion and return home as if he knew the way the whole time. It’s just another way that maps are infused in our being as they allow us to orient ourselves in the world. But maps don’t show us everything as the article says. What they really show is what we don’t know, and that is completely true. A map turns the unknown into the visible, but it will never show the true experience of traversing that land as the person you are now. Every experience will be different to the individual, and that is a truly humbling thought.

Sculpture Symposium

On Friday, November 6th I attended the symposium on the sculpture department at KCAI. It was one of my favorite symposiums to this date. There are many reasons for this besides the fact that I have been interested in the sculpture department. Some of these include the freedoms and possibilities that the department offers, as well as the attitude on life that the presenters had.

To start, the sculpture department has an attitude that I can really relate to. They are extremely concerned with humanistic values, with retaining the elements that make us human. One of the ways I can already see this being achieved is the fact that pieces created in the department will require physical labor to be created. Not only will there be need for a mental process and a steady hand, but the body will actually be strained in order to move and process materials. This causes the artist to be completely invested in their works, mentally, spiritually, and physically. Another way they do this is through site specific art. With this they can bring to light concerns about any situation or event that can or could be occurring, or possibly one that has already occurred.

One of the coolest things about this department was the freedom they offered. The fact that they said the only limitations were the ones you created was mind blowing. It almost seems overwhelming as I know as a person I am someone who likes to take things to the extreme which may lead to some downfalls, but at the same time its extremely exciting to know that they will cater to my drive to go big. Not only will they let me go big, but I could also possibly install my work wherever I wanted as long as I can transport it. That may prove extremely difficult to do but it is awesome to know that I can do so if I can find a way, because the only limits are the ones created by myself.

Collage Proposal

For my collage, I have multiple ideas in mind. My first idea consists of creating a flat collage piece located on a wall. I then thought that i would add having pieces of colored plastic film hanging from the ceiling so that they would spin and change the experience of the colors. I also thought that instead of that I would have the viewer hold the pieces of plastic film to look through during cues of the sounds in order to enhance the experience and change the colors. I have not decided on a material and I am not dead set on this idea because I am still leaning towards a digital approach as it will challenge me but also give me more freedom.

Interactive Arts Visual Symposium

On October 30th, I attended the Interactive Arts’ Visual Symposium at KCAI. The lecture was extremely interesting as I had no idea what interactive arts were. There was a lot of information to take in, but I believe this was because there were a lot of opportunities to expand this field. It was pretty interesting to see the concepts, and how similar some of the things in the lecture were to the Filmmaking Symposium. The ideas of combining visual interaction with the real world to create a new world was interesting as it allowed for a new way of seeing the world we live in.

My favorite part of this lecture was the idea that this technology was being made simply to see if it will go anywhere. While some of the creations are impractical, it still is a step in a direction that may lead to the creation of some greater technology or art form. While this idea is a little worrisome because it could lead to something devastating, there is a lot of promise in this field. Not only that but it is that sheer fact that this technology could be used with any discipline to enhance the experience. It inspires me to add interactive elements into my pieces, especially when he said that the average person looks at a work of art for about 7-10 seconds, while an interactive element causes the average viewing time to go up to 3 minutes. That would only allow for a greater audience.