Site Specific Project Thought Process

I began brainstorming with my group mates from before. What I wanted to do was something on a larger scale, time willing. I wanted to do something with less of a theme and more of a shock value. I wanted to capture people's attention for some time. Time is a resource that I had problems with all semester long. And I found myself envying those who had time to take a break even though they may not have even realized. I thought about doing reverse graffiti somewhere. Cleaning a dirty area with household cleaner in small portions to create an image. I couldn't find a place that would allow me to do so. And I didn't want to get arrested at the end of the semester. My group members and I came up with the idea of hanging capes on all the light posts and trees around the Belk tower area. This wouldn't have any particular idea behind it, but people would stop and wonder what these capes where for. During this time period, however short it was, people wouldn't be thinking about thier exams or thier money issues or problems at home. In essence, they would be taking a break. Again resources became an issue. We weren't sure about time because we would have to speak with facilitities management to make sure that these activities weren't illegal. And facilities hadn't returned any of my phone calls. We had also spoken with the building manager in Rowe about chalk drawings on the outside of the building. He said it would be okay if we cleaned up after ourselves. And then another roadblock. The weather forecast said that it would be raining all week. WTF?!

Activism Project Thought Process

I began this project by missing the day to choose groups. Not a good way to start off. I thought about using either the topic of homelessness or the topic of racism. I thought it would be a good idea. But as I thought about them I realized that I really had no idea of where to go or where to begin for that matter. I got some ideas from watching the art 21 videos. The art that I wanted to do wasn't so much "protest art". What I wanted to do was just make people aware of what was going on around them. I decided to make my own group for "social awareness". I felt that I couldn't focus on just one topic so why work on one topic? I could create a sort of umbrella group that contained all of the groups in one. "Social awareness" is basically the awareness that you are a part of the issue whether you want to be or don't want to be. I thought about an installation piece. I threw out the idea to my teammates and they liked it. I wanted to create a space where the issues took over and forced the viewer to address the fact that they are apart of it. I thought about a room full of boxes covered in different materials and different styles emulating the idea or issue that it pertained to. Each of the boxes would have either a mirror or a shattered mirror inside. The boxes would take up so much space that the viewer would have to walk around them delicately and carefully as not to knock anything over. After my group and I started to map out the time frame and resources needed, we came to the conclusion that we did not have enough time to do all of what we wanted to do. I thought that maybe we could save alot of time by using arrows. The arrows could still overwhelm the room by forcing the viewer to walk on them or over them. The mirror could still be there but maybe in a smaller box signifying the way that people don't pay much attention to this simple fact. They are responsible. They can have a say.


Finished Project:













This project was alot of fun, but it was a TON of work. We pretty much worked non-stop for a 2 days. Well worth it.

Consumption Project Thought Process

I started by thinking about what type of consumption I should illustrate. I wanted to go against the grain and do something about how we consume TV. We watch an insane amount of television in the US and I think that should be addressed. I thought about somehow making a parody of one of those infamous "reality TV" shows that we love so much. But wasn't quite sure how or where to begin. I also thought about illustrating how emotions can consume us. And I thought about using "fear". I wanted to illustrate the overwhelming effect emotions can have on us when they consume us, but that was a really abstract idea and I couldn't figure out how to create it in a tangible art piece. I began to look through all the things that I had kept a log of when I consumed them. I realized the amount at which I consumed based solely off of where I was. I usually bought things that I didn't necessarily need when I was in certain areas, such as the mall. When I thought about it, I realized that we all consume with our eyes first and everything else second. In America, if we see it and it looks appealing to us, we automatically want it. I wanted to capture the idea that Americans all consume with our eyes way too much, which make us "blind" in a way. We should actually pay more attention to our "wants" versus our "needs".






I enjoyed making this project. It was a challenge to get the image to look how I wanted, but I like how it came out.