Gladis Mason

For my Counterfactual Identity I created a Facebook of a Grandma that I haven't seen since I was in 5th grade. She lives in North Carolina, and is my dad's mom. We're not very close to his side of the family so I created the relationship I wish I had with her, like things used to be. I named her Gladis Mason and kept true to how tiny my real grandma is. I decided to make her current hometown Fullerton. On Facebook we are incredibly close and she is also really close to my boyfriend. I have been waiting to post about it on here so I could get more activity. I already have people that do not know it is me commenting on my statuses and updates which is strange to me! I just got a friend request yesterday from someone I don't even know. The fact that people want to connect with a really old Grandma whose user picture is her holding a gun shows that people just want to "connect". The internet is a place of just exploring and feeding your senses. I want to keep this up to see how many people are willing to interact and develop relationships to my "grandma". I never thought I would actually be dealing with activity on this page or anything and I am pleasantly surprised. It makes me want to create more Identities as maybe an outlet of feelings and to see just how desperate people are to have friends on there.

This is her profile page. I will update it with more exciting activity as time goes on, I think it's hilarious.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003213702555

Every Artist At First Was Amateur

For my painting experience I decided to create and paint a couple different little things. I typically paint outside under the beautiful sun which makes the work dry much faster. With the wind interference I painted in my garage with the door half open. It was so cold and windy but so far so good! I listened to mainly Jack Johnson and Imogen Heap. It took me a while to find some inspiration and bounced all sorts of ideas inside my head. I was hoping to create some Christmas gifts or new decorations for my new room. I wanted to make a painting about us all being "one". The canvases I bought turned out too small. I wanted to also include many people to make it more of an experience and to gain inspiration and creativity from others but schedules did not match up. I made a bird house, picture frame, and one painting so far. I only have a picture of the painting for now that I am calling "with support"

In my boredom I decided to also paint my face...

I will post the rest of the projects once they are lacquered and dried!

mOtHeR eArTh aRt

Laguna Wilderness Park 

Another project I loved was capturing art amongst nature. I really really wanted to find something undisturbed that resembled art. I looked around for shaped rocks or pebbles. I alway tried looking for curves or shapes in plants, flowers, and and the ground itself. I was hoping the wind somehow would have knocked something over or created movement among the habitat. What I found instead was equally as interesting though. I traveled to the Laguna Wilderness Park. I hiked with my boyfriend for over three hours in search of beauty and inspiration. We ended up finding several spots where people who were there before us made rock stacks. Some piles had 2 small stacks. Others were stacks in lines up the paths along the trails. I decided to photograph a couple of stacks that were at the very end of our hike since all I had was my phone. I was going to add a stack of my own to this pile but decided to leave the trio as it was (although I regret not contributing now). I plan on going back and starting my own art wall using washable chalk inside a cave I found. If I can get back down there this week I will post photos of that as well!

Beall Center of Art Museum

Last week I went to the Beall Center of Art Museum. It is located at the University of Irvine and is completely free. I witnessed the electronic art, interactive installations created by Golan Levin. There were about 8 installations that all required participation. The very first one we interacted with was called Eye Code. You stand on footprints that put your eyes in line with a camera in the wall. It then records your eyes after you blink a couple of times and puts them in a sequence with all the other eyes the camera has seen. My favorite one was a noodle robot art that recorded your image as a noodle painting and mirrored your movement. It was so much fun interacting with all the electronics. It is perfect for a fun art experience and can be enjoyed for hours by anyone, any age. I plan on going back when I have more time before his gallery is replaced with another one.

I took a photo of the outside because I wasn't sure if cameras were allowed. It is a really small gallery space.

This was an interactive pad that created explosions of electronic art by stroking your finger on the pad. This one created a bacteria effect. Once you touched the pad the points your finger hit started spreading this pretty green leafy paint.

This was a machine that used our vocal sounds to create imagery. This one created bubbles that floated up to the ceiling then with other sounds you created made them fall and bounce around!

Beauty and Presenting

Last week in art 100 we started off the night discussing what the definition of beauty was. A lot of people had a lot of different definitions that all seemed to fit in different circumstances. We watched the dove beauty campaigns which I love. I think that now, more than ever, it is so difficult to be a female. The standards for beauty are unachievable. Young girls are fed so much different information about what you're "supposed" to look like. To me beauty in mass media changes as much as every year. What was beautiful in the 1920's was drastically different in the 50's, and now beauty has a completely different image. The horrible thing about beauty in media today is that technology is making it impossible to look like supermodels on billboards as one Dove video showed. To me beauty is something that speaks to you the second you see it. You have an immediate, natural reaction to it. To me beauty never fades and can't be altered. The most beautiful things to me are the most raw and honest things. People that are honest, kind, and open are the most beautiful. Others think that beauty is pleasing to the eye, which of course when something is beautiful it is going to be pleasing to you, however what makes something beautiful. One persons trash could be anothers treasure. Even in my own family we all have drastically different ideas of who's beautiful, what cities and animals are beautiful. I think what makes beauty so interesting because is that it cannot and will not ever be concretely defined. Abstract ideas are the best kind and leaves it open to let everyone be an individual. I also got to present Banksy last week. I was so so nervous, I absolutely have public speaking. I think over all it went really well though and I am happy about the way everything turned out although I wish I had a few sound bites or videos. Everyone else did a good job and I am excited for the rest of them tonight!

BANKSY

                     His method, message and mystery has given him the notoriety he deserves.

  "The people who run our cities don't understand graffiti because they think nothing has the right to exist unless it makes a profit"

Window Lovers

Bristol, England

Stonehenge using Port-o-Potties

Glastonbury Music Festival 2007

           "People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible, and childish. But that's only if it is done properly"

The death of the Phone Booth

Pink Angel

Exhibition in Bristol

West Bank Wall Barrier 

Created 9 images regarding the illegal separation of Israel and Palestine

 "Prehistoric" piece snuck into the British Museum

Buried British Phone Booth

Created Pounds using Princess Diana and his name

One Nation Under CCTV

Banksy's "Self-Portrait"

 

Maid in London

"A wall is a very big weapon. It's one of the nastiest things you can hit someone with"

"Self-Portrait" using yellow street lane lines

"Graffiti will ultimately win over proper art because it becomes a part of your city, it's a tool"

"Laugh Now"

presented at Warhol vs. Banksy Exhibit

Art Presentation

Last week we saw 4 totally different presentations in class. I thought they were are pretty good. My favorite was definitely Damien Hirst. I thought his diamond skull was incredibly beautiful and different. I wish I could see that in person. His art was something I haven't experienced yet and I loved learning about him. I was also really excited about the Japanese artist Ikeda. I did have a really bad headache in class so listening to those sounds for that long was starting to get to me but I really loved it anyway. I had no idea one could actually make music using such emotionless and statistical sounds but I want to explore it more. I am fascinated by light as well. I think it's beautiful and it triggers something really emotional in me for some reason. I wish I could experience the light show he did outside with all the beams pointing into the sky. It looks like such a special experience. I am so glad people have presented such unique artists, and have opened my eyes up to new worlds. I present Banksy tonight and I am really nervous as I hate public speaking. My fascination with Banksy's art and the world as he sees it makes it worth sharing though. I hope everyone enjoys!