Reflection Paper

         Going to Paris for a month was an eye opening experience for me. I learned a lot about how other parts of the world view Americans and American culture. I also learned a lot about the French and their culture. The French seemed to really appreciate art; therefore I was glad I got to spend time studying art there, rather than other areas. Being in Paris and constantly thinking about the design principals made me think in a different way than I usually do. I was always looking out for the design principals when walking around the city. Constantly looking for the design principals made me view the city in a different light than I would of if I was there just for fun walking around. Every window and street corner there looked like it was designed intentionally for that site specific area. The city had a very uniform and precise feel to it. The Palace of Versailles also looked very precise and uniform, but it was several minutes outside the city.

            When I fist arrived in Paris I knew very little about their culture. I wish I had more knowledge about their culture and language before going into this whole experience. But since I didn’t know a whole lot about where I was, learning about the culture from our CEA staff was one of my favorite parts. Once I got some general information about what stereotypes Americas have of the French and what stereotypes the French have of Americas I was able to start putting Paris into a social context that I could understand. For example, when walking around the city I would see people looking very bored and expressionless. As an American, uneducated about the French culture, I saw this is as “oh the French are mean and unhappy people”. When a store worker would be short with me, or not obey social norms that we have in America I would take it personally and think I did something wrong; but as I continued to learn about the French culture I realized that’s just how they are. The way they act is normal to them, and as an American I can’t compare their actions to my own because it would be like comparing apples to oranges.

            After learning about what stereotypes the French have of American I made sure to try my best not to stand out. For example the French think Americans are obnoxious and talk extremely loud. When I was in a small place with a lot of people around, like the subway or a café, I would purposely lower my voice so I wouldn’t play into the American stereotype. From being in Paris I discovered that Americans like to be up in everyone’s business. We like to make eye contact with people walking down the street to acknowledge their presences, and smile excessively at people who we interact with. After being in Paris I realized all this unnecessary interaction isn’t super important. I really enjoyed how the French mind their own business. It seemed like when I was walking down the streets in Paris everyone was in their own world, unfazed by what was going on around them. Personally I think we could use more of that in America. I was just getting used to the French way of being an individual and not getting up in everyone’s business. Upon coming back to America I realized I couldn’t continue acting the way I was acting in France anymore because people would think I’m being mean or unfriendly, which is exactly the stereotype we have of them. This is when I discovered why Americans have stereotyped the French the way we do. The French have their idea of normal, and Americans have their idea of normal, so when the two culture are crossed assumptions and stereotypes are going to be made.

             Over the past month my understanding of the design principals has changed. Since I have been thinking about them constantly I start to see them everywhere. Because of this, my observation skills have really improved. I’m so much more observant of my surrounding and can look at details in a subjective way. I can look at something simple and can pick out a design principal that applies to it. So much in life is done intentionally, and when you look for design principals in everyday life you start to notice how people put a lot of thought into everything they do. I think looking for design principals makes you look harder at objects and life in general. While in France I could see design principal everywhere I looked, because I was looking at the city very intensely (it was my first time there and I wanted to absorb every little detail). Everything in France was just a little different than here in America (street signs, crosswalk signs, curbs, building types, windows, trashcans, doors, etc.) so I was always looking for the small details that were different in France than in America. Being in France and looking closely at how it is different than America made me realize that everything can have a form of design principal. When I create art now I’m going to think more about the design principals, and use them very intentionally. As we develop as artists I think we start to focus more on our work at that moment, instead of focusing on the facts that we’ve learned to apply to our art, such as the elements and principals. It will be good for me to think out which design principals I’m going to use before stating a piece of art, because a lot of the time I will finish a piece and retroactively pick out which principals I used.

             Going to the Palace of Versailles had a big impact on me. I really loved seeing the rooms in the palace, they were all so magnificent. The cluster of paintings and decorations in every room was like something out of a fantasy. You would never see a room decorated like that now so being there felt somewhat like a dream. Another aspect that I like about Versailles was how far away from Paris it was. I thought it was nice to get out of the city for a brief amount of time. Before we went to Versailles I felt that my brain had adjusted to Paris, I was getting immune to seeing the red corner awnings, two graphics on the crosswalk signs, and many other things. When we left the city I felt like I was in a different world, although we had only traveled 40 minutes outside of it. I enjoyed my time at the Palace but I couldn’t wait to get back into the heart of the city. Being gone for just that short amount of time made me realize that I wanted to get back to my home at the time. Once we got back I fell in love with the city all over again, I felt like I was in an entirely new place again, which made me really appreciate it.

            I think I used my time in Paris effectively. I was always looking around at my surroundings observing interesting details about the city and its people. I’m so grateful I got a chance to learn about the American and French stereotypes for the CEA staff. I think it was crucial to understand the differences between our cultures while living there, and not to mention it was extremely interesting. I’m also very appreciative that by getting out of the city for a moment gave me that “I want to go home” feeling. This was a good feeling to have considering I was only going to be there for a month, yet I had already felt that I immersed and adapted myself to the culture and felt that Paris was my home. Looking back it still amazes me that I was studying art in Paris this summer, I’m so glad I had this opportunity and took it. 

Altered Page

The pages I used for the altered page project came from the book London Bridge, by James Patterson. The pages that I ripped out were about a man who was completely overwhelmed by his friend’s apartment. He explained how all the furnishings in his apartment were different from the one he lived in himself. When creating my altered page I tried to convey my feeling of being overwhelmed in Paris. When I first got there I felt like there was so much to look at and so much to learn. For about the first week the subway overwhelmed me, all the lines and shapes on the map were so confusing. This is why I have lots of street names and metro lines on my altered page. I added the French flag and Eiffel tower to my page because to the French these are things they see everyday, but to me seeing these two cultural icons in their respected location was very impactful and overwhelming. I couldn’t get over the fact that I was actually in France, where the Eiffel tower was build and where they fly the French flag, not the United States’ flag. Sometimes while I was there I felt like I was in a French storybook because it all seemed so surreal. I made sure the word “Chapter” was visible because the whole study abroad trip felt like a new chapter of my life. I also added music notes in the background very vaguely wrapping around the page because throughout the whole trip I felt like there was some kind of music being played. Whether there was music being played in the subway, on the street, or from my IPod I felt like there was somewhat of a soundtrack that carried my overwhelmed mind through my whole trip in Paris. I also added graffiti to my altered page because when I was walking around Paris I was amazed at how much graffiti was there. My eyes were overwhelmed by the graffiti because I wanted to look at each beautiful mural. 

Reflection Composition- sent to your email

 

Performance Reflection

 

As we walked up to the Venue for the performance We Were Horses I noticed how large the building looked. The courtyard in front of the building was also very large and open. Once we got inside everyone was lined up against the wall. Along the wall were rectangular windows, which had colored pieces of plastic hanging in front of them. The sheets of plastic had small slots where two tiny pieces of wood were stuck in so the plastic could hang from the metal frame around the window. This design was very minimal and resourceful, but also very effective. When we got into the stage area I noticed how dark it was. The only part that was lit up was either side of the stage where the bleacher style seats were. When you looked strait across at the other seats it kind of looked like the were floating in space. Overall the venue had open and spacious feel to it, I like this because it made it easier to focus on the performance.

 

I would say the unifying vision for the world of the play would be nature and the natural world. The actors and actresses we all doing very natural movements and actions which lead me to believe this play is taking place somewhere in nature with little human disruption. The performance also used variety; there were a variety of characters and rolls that they played. Sometimes one person was chasing someone, then in the next scene that person was chasing someone else. The audience usually connected with a certain roll or character that was drawing the most attention at the time. Rhythm and pattern were used a lot throughout the entire performance. The music that was playing was very repetitive and had a lot of patters. The horses ran in lines and circles a lot, while I was watching this, and listening to the music I zoned out and could really notice the rhythm the two had made together.

 

The production made me feel good. I felt like I was watching humans act in a very natural and honest way. Although there was no talking, I felt like I could hear what the actors and actresses were saying by their body language. While there was interesting acting going on in the middle of the stage, there were ladies on horses gracefully riding back and fourth. My eye always had something natural and beautiful to look at through the performance. The performance made me think about the life on an animal and how their life is so much more natural than ours, as humans. Humans have so much technology and knowledge that take us outside of the natural world, and into a world that we have created. Animals don’t have nearly as many possessions or emotions that the average human does; therefore they all live a life that is very instinct and nature based.

 

 

 

sound project

I went down to the river,

I set down on the bank.

I tried to think but couldn’t,

So I jumped in and sank.

 

I came up once and hollered!

I came up twice and cried!

If that water hadn’t a-been so cold

I might’ve sunk and died.

 

But it was Cold in that water! It was cold!

 

I took the elevator

Sixteen floors above the ground.

I thought about my baby

And thought I would jump down.

 

I stood there and I hollered!

I stood there and I cried!

If it hadn’t a-been so high

I might’ve jumped and died.

 

But it was High up there! It was high!

 

 

“You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintery light. But you knew there would always be the spring, as you knew the river would flow again after it was frozen. When the cold rains kept on and killed the spring, it was as though a young person died for no reason.”
― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

 

 

 

Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast and Langston Hughes’ Life is Fine were both written in the Lost Generation, during World War 1. As a group we chose these two pieces of literature to interpret as a soundtrack without vocals, representing the growing storm a person undergoes while contemplating death in the face of fall turning to spring. We wanted our listeners to have a growing sense of uneasiness and melancholy because our quote is very dark and the anticipation of death looms throughout the text. Using the idea of a glimmer of hope, “[knowing] the river would flow again after it was frozen” (A Moveable Feast) we allow a lighter note to come through a building composition only for it to be crushed out in the idea of “a young person died for no reason.” The heartbeat at the end of our piece refers to both Hughes constantly contemplating suicide but never following through with it and to the young person who died.

 

 

Sketches

1) Christopher Wool is the name of the Artist who created the first image I have. Wool was born in Chicago in 1955, now he resides in New York. In Wools abstract works he brings together figures, spontaneous impulses, and well thought-out ideas. He usually draws lines on canvas with a spray gun, and then directly after wipes them out. He continues this process several times to give the artwork a sense of time and history. The kind of art Wool does can be considered Neo-Pop painting. I sketched a picture in my sketchbook that resembles the piece he has at the Pompidou Center. I loosely sketched in areas where he had lots of paint, versus where he has little to no paint on the canvas. After I had it sort of mapped out I went in and layered a variety of shapes and lines that I thought were interesting. If I saw an interesting shape in the negative space around it I would outline the shape and make it stand out more. I played around a lot with line weight and shape. 

 

 

2) My other artwork I chose is Cypress a Cagnes by Henri Edmund Cross. Cross was born in May of 1856. He was a French painter and printmaker. Cross was most acclaimed as a master of Neo-Impressionism. I chose this painting because I thought the composition was interesting. I liked all the vertical lines that draw your eye upward, which contrast to the horizontal hills and orientation of the paper. When I sketched this painting I tried to really emphasize that contrast by using the vertical trees and horizontal clouds. I like that I didn’t add any shading to this piece. The bold lines make for a unique sketch. After I took my picture I started adding more lines and I did not really like it as much, no shape stood out as well and it just seemed less visually striking.

 

Weekend Assignment

1) For my weekend assignment I chose to go to the Luxembourg Gardens. The gardens seemed like a good place to go for this cultural event assignment because they seem to be such a symbol of Paris. I went on a Thursday afternoon and there was more going on there than I had expected.

 

2) A dominant art principal I would use to describe the gardens is unity and variety. Everything in the gardens was unified because of the style, but when you looked at different parts individually you notice all the variety. In the picture I attached to this assignment you can see how the grass and trees are unified with the building in the background because of their shape. The tree’s shape frames the building well so I would say these two aspects of the gardens are unified. But when you actually look at the building and then take a separate look at the trees and grass you notice how different they are, one is natural looking and the other is very symmetrical and sharp.

 

3) Being in the gardens made me feel like a Parisian. Everyone around me was speaking French and I was just there listening. I took a six minute recording of the chatter I heard around me so if I wanted I could relive being there while in the states. The atmosphere at the gardens made me feel relaxed. Everyone was relaxing in any way they could, and the best part was everyone minding their own business. People were running, smoking, talking, walking, drinking, bike riding, playing, and eating. Everyone was there to just do whatever he or she wanted, which made the atmosphere very relaxing, because I was just there to people watch. While at the gardens I learned that parks seem to play a larger roll in French culture opposed to American. When I was sitting at the park observing people it seemed like this was the place to be; the gardens are a place where people meet up and hang out for something to do. Something that surprised me and affected my experience at the gardens was this man that came up to us talking about hypnotism. He was part of a group that hypnotizes people. He came up to us and explained what he did then preformed a simple hypnotism that included us pushing our fingers together so when we released the tension we could feel them pulling back together, like they were magnetic. After he left I thought about how something like this can be called normal here. As he was going through his performance I thought about how if this happened at a park in America the experience would not feel the same. 

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Weekend Assignment

1) For my weekend assignment I chose to go to the Dynamo optical illusion exhibit. I went to the exhibit this past Friday, May 31^st, in the morning. The exhibit was filled with lots of 2D and 3D optical illusions that you could experience up close and personal. I chose to attend this experience because a couple of my friends were going and it sounded really interesting to me.

 

2) While walking through the exhibit I saw all the principals of art in action. Each piece of art there was unique; it was easy to spot the different principals of art in them. One principal I noticed a lot was repetition. A lot of the optical illusions at the exhibit showed repetition; there were lots of repeated patters and lines throughout the art there, which over time can start to trick your eyes. There was one piece there that was about seven feet tall and four feet wide, it only had straight thin white and black lines on it and when you looked at it your eyes went crazy. Parts of the piece started popping out and others started to warp.

 

3) I’m really glad I ended up going to this exhibit. It was just a really fun time, the art was extremely captivating and the staff surprisingly really nice. While walking through the exhibit I kind of felt like a little kid. I was fascinated with each piece of art and wanted to figure out how it worked as soon as I saw it. A lot of the pieces there were hands on, which also made me feel like a child in the way my face lit up after seeing an interactive piece of art light up and spin as I pushed a button. While doing this I noticed how optical illusions could be shown in a wide assortment of medias. When at the exhibit I saw lots of optical illusions where the artist used paint, but I also saw lots where the artists used metal, light, and glass. Optical illusions can be shown with an assortment of medias and media can sometimes be extremely important to the illusion itself. Something that affected my experience was the amount of people there. I went at a good time and there were not a whole lot of people there. The fact that I went during a low traffic time of day really affected my experience in a positive way. I had plenty of time to leisurely walk around and see all the pieces of art without feeling rushed or physically pushed. Something that I learned about the culture was how the French seem to appreciate art more than we do in the United States. It amazed me that this super cool exhibit was so cheap; I thought it was because more money has been put into these types of things here. Whereas in the United States I would of paid more to see a much less extensive and captivating exhibit. Something I learned about myself was that I need to slow down when walking around museums and exhibits. Occasionally I will look at a piece too quickly and move on, not understanding its full intent. I walked by a couple piece at the Dynamo exhibit because I didn’t understand them, but when I gave them a second look I noticed what the piece’s intent was and how cool that piece really was. 

Latin Quarter Project