World Building

In order to navigate the difference between reality and designed reality, we must create a place where creativity and ingenuity work together. These coincide to point out new ways of exploration within a certain element. In Bleeker’s 2009 essay “Design Fiction”, we read about the way design is “A way of materializing ideas and speculations without the pragmatic curtailing that often happens when dead weights are fastened to the imagination.” So, certainly, this means that, when we design, we create a new world--a world where our imagination takes reign and the feasibility for communal change is possible. Designing gives room for improvement, for limitless ideas. With this Worldbuilding assignment, our group decided to build a world where Earth was not the only planet with human-like beings in the solar system, but the planet Mars has life on it as well. The humanoid beings we created are void of deep, intellectual thought. So, as a group, we made a news story covering the propaganda and new steps for and against the forced civilization of this newly discovered “primitive” life. We tried to set up the world by giving a back story to what the United Nations wanted with these beings and how the people on Earth were responding. To do this, each of us fulfilled different roles for this assignment; we split the work between our being news anchors, news casters, camera operators, gaffers, and writers.

Interestingly, the types of societies we each envisioned for this world were seen in distinct ways. Each of us brought forward different elements and ideas that helped form the backstory for this new world. As above mentioned, design is a way to open up options to up to new ideas, or open up the mind to more than just pre established concepts. So, by working together, through our project, we were able to make an almost social commentary on politics and community involvement. If humanoid life had been actually discovered on Mars in 2011, we imagined Earth’s people united. United in the way that political discourse would be an “us VS them” thing; this however,  still with a political discourse and contrasting polarization with dominant political power would overrule. That is why we decided to have “everyday citizen” interviews in the story: It showed what people might think if this story were to have actually happened, and the impact on society and the polarization therein it would have, and how governmental ruling would still be the louder voice.

To one end, this assignment brought forth questions of ethical nature for the people on Earth created in this society: Is it our responsibility to attempt to colonize and civilize this neanderthal-like community, or stay uninvolved in order to preserve their natural culture and progression? The element of design in this assignment was key in getting us to open up our thinking and perceive problems and environments that could arise in such a society where like ours, the power and freedom of choice is questioned.

William Knowles, Laurelin Ottesen, Marely Lee, Alex Aguila, and Jaye Abhau

Webspinna Battle

Artist Statement (for Jared Richardson and Billy Knowles):

Doing a “webspinna battle” was one of the most different things we’ve ever been assigned to do. The concept of using audio to illustrate a fight between two opponents was a foreign concept at first, but over time we grew to love it and let it guide our brainstorming process. Perhaps the hardest part was deciding what characters we would be. After much conversation and debate, we settled on two types of people we viewed as polar opposites: Mountain Men and Business Men.

We had our characters, but now we needed a good story/conflict to put them in. Billy came up with the great idea of having the mountain man enjoying the serenity of nature, only to be interrupted by the business man’s industrial agenda. This became our framing device for our performance, and it really influenced what clips we selected for it. The beginning segments, for example, were more introductory, with Jared looping movie quotes that use the word “business,” while Billy cranked up the Paul Bunyon and Monty Python lumberjack songs. Later on, though, we became more hostile, such as when Jared played the videos of someone explaining why “camping sucks” and brandishing wads of dollar bills. The ending was a little chaotic, but overall we were pleased with our illustration of our two opposing forces.

This assignment was a great exercise in sampling—using a wide range of unique sources to create a new type of performance. When you pause to think about it, though, sampling is something we do on a regular basis in more subtle ways. As Lethem suggests, we all draw on art that we’re familiar with when we try to make something original, effectively remixing or reorganizing it into something new. This can be subtle, such as when you incorporate the “Hero’s Journey” into a story you write, based on works you’ve experienced (such as Star Wars). In the case of the webspinna battle, this principle was much more literal, as we were taking direct clips and sounds and mashing them together to create new contexts. In this way, we created something different than the sum of our parts, and we consider it to be just as “original” as any other creation.

Tupac & Textual Poaching

You may ask why I chose to poach an image of a young black man? And not just any young black man, but Tupac Shakur, one of the most iconic Americans of the 20^th century. This assignment took me what seemed like eons to discover what I most identified with. Perhaps it’s just been one of those weeks where I listen to a lot of 90’s rap and its on my brain. I grew up in Miami, Florida but currently reside in Provo, Utah. Provo is somewhat culturally ignorant, at least from my viewpoint. This is certainly my own bias that affects my perspective but the more I analyze what goes on around me, the more I am lead to believe this a product of the societal conditioning that occurs in the "bubble."

You see in Miami you cannot afford to be culturally ignorant. A multiplicity of cultures surrounds you and shapes you as a human being from an early age. Latino, European, and various American cultures and traditions seem to blend to create a diverse balance. And on top of that, if you are ignorant to culture you will certainly feel the proverbial slap coming your way. Anyone from South Florida will testify to this circumstance. I love rap music and especially Tupac, but I feel like if I, a white male, were to state that at BYU it would certainly mean some raised eyes in my direction. I cannot express how many times I’ve heard the ignorant question: Why do you listen to rap music? You’re not black.” Or even worse off: “Why do you sometimes act black?” I don’t even know what the hell that means to be completely honest. I think it’s coming from a place where that person feels they are defending the culture, while they are actually making an inherently culturally ignorant as well as pretentious statement. It’s similar to when we state that an athlete has just performed a great feat because he is the first “African-American” to do so. Why can’t we just celebrate him? You may say: “Oh but we’re celebrating the triumph of this African-American,” to which many of my childhood friends would reply: “I am not an African-American. I am an American who happens to have initial African roots.” Rap is just a simple example to the product of a societal conditioning which I perceive, but it means something specific to me because I have actually experienced this judgement too many times over the course of my college career.

“Social conditioning is defined on the web as the sociological process of training individuals in a society to respond in a manner generally approved by the society in general and peer groups within society. The concept is stronger than that of socialization, which is the process of inheriting norms, customs and ideologies.” So in this case I have most definitely been conditioned by the society in Miami. In my opinion Miami has more pros than cons but it is my home and I cannot overstate my bias.

I felt that combining the images of a contemplative Tupac, the words societal conditioning, and an image from the March on Washington during the Civil Rights Movement, I hoped to push forward the point that it is imperative for us to move past the figurative chains that bind us in order to pay tribute to the monumental moments and figures of American society. There are essentially two trains of thought when it comes to race relations and the mixing of cultures in America. We can either acknowledge what has happened in past American history and choose to see race and culture as a poignant reminder of how to avoid this or we can choose to wipe it aside completely and not see race at all. Honestly, I believe we need a little of both in order to progress as a society. Rap should not be defined as African-American music; in that it limits the medium. Nevertheless, it is crucial that the cultural roots of the music are not swept aside. Instead, let us embrace all cultures that make up the greater American culture. We should point out that we are all Americans. Whether you are black, brown, yellow, whatever skin color you are labeled as, you are an American, and your uniqueness, your culture, and especially your authenticity contributes to the beauty and greatness of this country. Instead of labeling certain aspects of culture present in artistic mediums as distasteful or ‘bad’, we should aim to thoroughly examine and look to appreciate these mediums. Pretentious is not a word with which one should hope to become associated with.

I love rap music because I relate to it. It paints the reality which I knew as a child growing up in Miami in an impoverished area and home. It paints my reality of a father who left my mother and I, for another woman instead of taking the accountability that is associated with fatherhood, which is a common theme in Tupac’s Dear Mama and many other musical mediums. Much of Tupac and his artistic medium is derived from his own reality. Jenkins, in How Texts Become Real, explains how different media creates different meaning based on the connection that someone develops to that specific media and meaning. As a child, I developed this unique connection with Rap music and with Tupac’s poetry because it represented a significant portion of my reality. I hope that I can grow past my social conditioning and appreciate everyone for their own individuality and unique culture. I hope that I can succeed in not casting that very same judgement on others for who they are, that I have felt time after time cast upon me. Instead, I plan to cherish and embrace the cultures around me while striving to rise above the effects of societal conditioning present in my life, mainstream media, and the areas I choose to inhabit.           

Medium Specificity

What is art? How do we define art? A quick search on Google would define it as: the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. An even broader definition is: the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, literature, and dance. The art form of painting, which was my medium of choice, is a vessel which can hold any number of ideas and messages. 

For the medium specificity assignment, I chose to model the work after the artwork of Piet Mondrian. Piet Mondrian was a Dutch painter in the early 20^th century famous for his works involving primary colors and geometric shapes surrounded by vertical and horizontal black lines. His style was influenced by Picasso and Braque as it morphed into his signature non-representational form which he termed Neo-Plasticism. Neo-Plasticism experimented with elements of cubism which would follow soon thereafter. 

I personally love art that has been produced from the Northern parts of the world such as the Netherlands, Norway, or other Nordic countries. The soft light associated with that region of the world as well as the use of that light in art is fascinating to me. The flat picture and structural lines were also particularly drawing to me as an aspiring cinematographer due to the use of line and depth of filed in film. Another huge aspect of cinematography is the use of shape and color to develop mood and tone throughout a narrative. 

This medium serves as a celebration of the Neo-Plasticism and work of Mondrian. I would say this piece serves as a celebration of the life and work of Mondrian because it incorporates the stylistic use of black lines, geometric shapes, primary colors, and even elements of nature. In the piece, there is the shape of a lily that outlines the majority of the shapes and colors that exist within. I wanted to experiment with the fundamental shapes- triangles, squares, and circles that stemmed from the base of the flower, mirroring the veins of an organic flower. I thought that the use of text within the piece also lent some mood and overall theme of the piece.What I found most interesting is that in the earlier and later life work of Mondrian, Piet explored naturally occurring shapes both in nature and geometric's. Evening: Red Tree is an example of this mesh of primary colors and a shape found in nature, blended by bold, blackened lines. This earlier work signifies the beginnings of Mondrian towards his later artistic style. 

I wanted this piece to tie back to the abstract use of art and qualities within the medium. Similar to the 4'33" by John Cage that spoke about the use of sound in a live performance and the qualities associated with that medium, I wanted to create a discussion centered on the emotions evoked by different mediums within art. In this piece, I wanted to explore the themes derived from Mondrian's style and using a medium that was rich with his signature. What does this piece say to the individual? What are the themes that one can derive from piece? Would it be more similar to the wintry climates of his earlier work or the exploration of space and shape in his later work? These are questions I hope that would spark a discussion from the piece.  

It’s important to note that this piece breaks the rules as exemplified by Mondrian’s style. The blend of naturalism and realism incorporated into the lily illustrates Mondrian’s roots meeting his signature Neo-Plasticism style. The geometric shapes filled by primary colors, and, connected through curvy black and bold lines, breakaway from classic Neo-Plasiticism by using the background lily shape. I thoroughly enjoyed this specificity assignment. It helped me to appreciate the exploration of different mediums to voice my artistic voice and draw parallels through a variety of art mediums.