Room Drawing and Warning Label

The idea for this assignment was to create a space we either live in or would like to live in and create a warning label for that space. I chose to recreate my bedroom at home where I spend a lot of my time doing art projects. Before I start a project, my room appears clean and untouched; however, once the art making begins, there is no stopping the disaster that is surely on its way, thus giving way to the warning sign I created using special effect brushes to portray art marks. For the room I made use of the pathfinder tool, gradients, and drop shadows to give this space more of a 3D quality. I chose an analogous color palette that reflects the true colors of my room. At first I was not too excited about this project because it felt like an architecture assignment but once I started adding the little details and getting creative (like with my art desk in the lower right hand corner) I began to enjoy this project much more.

Photography/Printmaking Lecture

This lecture included faculty from Tyler's photography and printmaking facilities. The guy discussing photography talked about how our future is rapidly becoming digitized and how Tyler is the first school to have color photography (how cool is that!?). He encouraged us to take at least one of two electives as a sophomore - Digital Imaging, which covers the basics and not-so-basic things in Photoshop, and Photo 1, an introductory to photography class. In Junior year we are eligible to take Photo 2 where we can shoot film, work in the dark room, and discover the whole photography experience. Another elective that a student who is interested in photography might consider is Digital Projects, a course in web design that teaches Dreamweaver. Tyler also houses a lighting studio where students can check out lighting equipment for their photography use.

The guy discussing printmaking was a tad late, so Gerard attempted to keep the students' attention by playing some infamous YouTube videos, including a video of a flying elephant and a Yale admissions pitch that was set to dance and music. It didn't go over very well, but the next speaker showed up soon after that and immediately got into the details of printmaking, saying that this art form is the only type of art that always requires the transfer of one material to another. Printmaking also plays a role in the social concern of people, and it is cheap and easy to distribute among masses. He showed us a few examples (I especially liked the Japanese woodcuts and Frank Stella prints - see picture) and ended by briefly talking about the Silkscreen elective class next year.

Text Drawings!

These text drawings were the first computer-related assignment we had. I really enjoyed working solely with text to create images. It was challenging at first but then I started to know which letters would be useful for which shapes I was trying to portray. In some pictures (like the leg) you can discern the letters I used but in others (like the guitar) I manipulate the letters to a point where they become unrecognizable. After looking at the other students' work I began to think I could rework some of these and put them in a setting so they really are "drawings" and not just images.

Painting, Sculpture, and GAID Lecture 2/16

The lecture today focused on the majors of Painting, Sculpture, and Graphic & Interactive Design. Frank discussed the painting classes Tyler offers and talked about the importance of the artist's painting palette in relation to their actual painting. He handed out a sheet that listed possible painting/drawing courses we are eligible to take as sophomores and stressed the importance of traveling to Rome junior year. Jude was the next speaker and she represented the sculpture major. In doing so she showed us slides of some student work and also works by other artists (such as Tino Sehgal) which were really cool. I especially liked the river turned green (see picture) and the walk-in capsule that makes everyone inside look black and white (both by Olafur Eliasson). Jude thinks it's a good idea to take the sculpture class twice in order to be more familiar with the processed and materials. The final professor introduced Tyler's Graphic and Interactive Design (GAID) major. He discussed the basic differences between print design (brochures, t-shirts) and interactive design (animation). He also suggested GAID majors should study abroad in their sophomore year so they are not behind once they declare their major in junior year. The only design course offered abroad is in a 6 week summer session titled Collaborative Design Workshop. He finished by talking about an active internship program for GAID where students can receive credit for studio electives if they are involved in a paid internship.

3 videos on copyright laws concerning technology

These three videos address copyright issues. The first documents a 16-year old girl named Alison who was made the subject of Virgin mobile ads in Australia without her consent. Virgin got the picture of her from Flickr where her friend posted it. I think this is wrong because she is not a legal age and she or her friend were never reached to inquire if they will allow Virgin to use the image. Companies should make an effort to contact the person who owns the image to receive their consent, no matter how old the person is. This instance is a basic breach of privacy rights. Just because a picture you like is on the internet does not mean you can take it and post it all over the country. I hope Alison wins her privacy back from Virgin because that is a right everyone is entitled to.

The next video talked about Photosynth which takes numerous photos and compiles them into one image. It is a neat program and I really liked the panoramic shots and images of the Notre Dame cathedral where you can really see the amount of 3D space in a 2D format. However, the guy talking about this program mentioned the pictures are taken from a variety of sources, such as the internet and cell phones. I wonder if Photosynth requires consent for photos to be used by anyone, even though I'm not sure in this case it is that important. None of these superimposed images are used for advertisements seen in public so I don't think it violates any privacy rights.

The last video discussed 'laws that choke creativity' and how kids these days are much different than adults were when they were young. He shows examples of this in how kids remake videos and mix tapes to say or portray something in a different way. He also touches on the subject of theses actions possibly "trespassing" violation rights, but in a different way than one of his first stories on how planes flying over a farm did not get permission to fly there and as a result caused the chickens on the farm to run into a wall in their following the plane's flight. In all these cases I think the main concept is protecting rights if new images are going to be brought into the public eye. This is a time where copyright laws should be followed all the way through because it is only fair to the parties involved. If someone does not want their picture on ads all the way around the world, they should get the choice to say no. However, creating images for our own personal use should not necessarily require permission. I know we do this all the time and if we needed permission constantly it would become a useless mode of creativity. All in all, when it comes down to public images, the laws should be followed much more carefully in order to not cause a havoc like it did in the first video.

response to 'Digital Designers Rediscover Their Hands'

This article greatly interested me because I feel like I fall into this category of designers. I have always been fond of designing art on the computer but I enjoy working with my hands also. I feel this experience offers the chance for artists to have the best of both worlds and not only make use of their hands just to maneuver a computer mouse. I think creating things with your hands can make you a more creative and well-rounded individual because you can learn a great deal concerning material usage and the way objects work together that you cannot learn from the computer. I like the quote "You learn by your hands" said by Mr. Burnett because I feel it's so true. You can learn such different things by working physically with your hands instead of solely on design software. Plus the chance for designs to become safer and longer-lasting makes these hands-on workshops worthwhile. I hope I get the chance to do this if I end up choosing Graphic Design for my major because it is something I have always liked doing. I have been afraid of choosing the computer as my main form of art and losing the ability to make art directly from my own hands, but these guys showed it's possible to do both, which I'm all for.

Ceramics, Jewelry, and Flying Ring Pops!

The lecture today featured faculty from Ceramics and Metals/Jewelry/Cad-Cam. The woman talking about Tyler's Ceramics major discussed the various ways ceramics are used today, from ceramic tiles used in space shuttles to knives and contemporary looking Japanese pots dating back to 10,000 BC. She also explained the different processes on how to create ceramics, such as mold making, salt kiln firing, potter's wheel, and hand building. Last semester in my 3D class I was able to experience mold making which was a quite interesting and laborious art form (see picture). Lastly, she briefly discussed some ceramic artists, including Allegheny Meadows, Sanam Enmani, and Kristin Keifer. At this time Gerard began pelting the audience with Ring Pops and stressed that Tyler is not reliable for any injuries as a result of his bad aim. The next lady represented Tyler's Metals Department. She showed us a variety of works students have done as part of this major, like body adornment jewelry and home and table objects. My favorite piece was the necklaces made out of balloons because I feel these pieces captured a unique quality that they could not have reached with a different material. She stressed the idea of function which is the basis for all the projects Tyler students create. She finished the lecture by talking about Business Practices - a course designed for the artist's life after Tyler which includes making business cards, artist statements, and photos of the artists' work.

Art Education, History, and Repono - 2/2 Lecture

Today's lecture featured professors from the Art Ed department, Art History department, and the community arts group Repono. The first speaker discussed Art Education and how urban education is highly regarded these days. She listed the numerous pre-requisites, such as passing the Praxis and taking both ceramic and printmaking courses, as well as describing a good candidate for this field: someone who loves kids and really wants to teach. Next a guy from Repono talked about the community arts and showed us some previous projects the students worked on. My favorite was a wired bust on a dress form that represented a female trying to protect her children. It was made out of barbed wire. You only need to complete 4 courses to get a certificate that signifies you as a community artist. This type of art is a very different type compared to the normal fine arts courses at Tyler, and the community aspect is not limited to Philadelphia. The final speaker, who is actually my Art Heritage professor, was none other than Dr. Kline! He taught us how simple it is to receive an Art History minor - you would only need to take 2 extra art history classes. Having a minor in this field shows that you can work in both an academic and studio field. It can easily pay off and make a difference even though it requires a little extra work. He strongly suggested this because nowadays landing a job is highly competitive and a minor in art history may just make the difference between getting your dream job and getting a job that you are less than pleased about.