micro project2-identity

My French textbook—I chose this item because this is a course that I’m currently passionate about. I had a crush on French language and French culture when I was 18 years old. 18 was the year I turned an adult by a mentally means and the year i began to understand what love is. When I speak French, I can feel the romance and joyfulness in my heart. I believe romance and the ability to love, to show love is one of the most significant elements that makes humans distinctive from all other species. learning how to love, what to love are very important lessons i will have to learn in my future lives. I'm fascinated about French culture because obviously they are really good at expressing love and affection. And visiting Europe is one of my life dreams, learning the French culture and language is definitely beneficial for realizing my dream and deepening my understanding of love and romance.

romance lessons

My iPhone--- this is the only communication tool I use to contact my family because my parents in china don’t really use skype on internet, so the only channel I get news from them and they keep in contact with me is making phone calls and message texting. They don’t call me really often since the winter starts as last quarter. But I know they care about me and miss me more than that I could imagine, just as much as I miss them. I keep my iPhone with me all day long. I never turn off it in case they want to hear from me in the middle of the night.

Family detachment

My ipod--- I listen to music almost 24/7. I played piano for 13 years since 4, but I hated so much that in the end my parents gave in and freed me from classic music. To be honest, I was never a talented pianist. Although I still appreciate those melody and peaceful tunes, I listen to pop only nowadays, which is more of my style of music. But if it was not for the ‘miserable’13 years, I would never know music would be this important to me. It is part of who I am now---fight for what you truly love, face and admit what you hate and what you will never be good at.

Courage

A golden lock---I bought it 2 years ago when I was in an IELTS intensive training camp in Beijing to lock my personal storage room in the dorm. Only after I joined this camp, I decided to study abroad in the US. Most students studying in that camp had the idea of going the UK or New Zealand at least 3 years earlier. I had always wanted to see the American study and lifestyle since middle school, but that dream was never realized because I thought I was going to be like an average Chinese student: go to a top 10 Chinese university, find a decent job and live a common life. My initial purpose of joining that camp was to boost my English level, but after I went back home I told my parents that I’m going to the US for undergraduate. They were surprised but supportive because they understood this decision concerned my future, not their prospect out of my life. I will probably keep this lock forever. Not only it witnessed my first life-turning decision, but also for it opened another door for me, which is difficult, but never regretful.

Life-changing

A bottle of milk--- Milk is my favorite beverage. Mom told me it’s probably the amount of milk I drink since I was little that helps me grow up so fast and taller than my peers. Unlike some of my tall girlfriends, I’m proud of my height. In Chinese culture, girls with medium height and slim shapes are considered beautiful. But I have different points of views. Being tall allows me to do many interesting things those girls never want to or are suitable to do. For example, although playing basketball is not a privilege for the taller, but it’s definitely easier. Basketball brings more fun than I could describe. I really appreciate the invisible power milk conveys to me.

Pride

The necklace---this piece of necklace belonged to my mother. But she gave it to me when I came here. It reminded me of many beautiful and respectable qualities of her: she’s always considerate; she was so elegant and beautiful when she was young as far as I can see from the old album of her youth; she’s reliable and willing to sacrifice everything for me and my dad; she’s devoted to both her career and the family; she’s always so kind and gentle as a mother and a daughter. She’s like the perfect role model for me.

Female role-model

My winter scarf--- I bought this scarf in HK when I was taking the SAT tests. I fell in love with the city immediately I got there and always wanted to visit again ever since. Frankly, HK is the dream city I want to settle in. The city is both western and eastern, just like whom I will become one day. She’s part of China but she belongs to the world. The city is always energetic; it’s forever young. The society changes day by day, and you will never be tired or boring in this city because everybody is either making progressing inconspicuously, you will be left behind if you stop working even just one day. I prefer the fast pace lifestyle although others may enjoy a cozier one. I always believe that life is too short to waste, so live young and die without regrets. HK is the place that provides me with tons of opportunities and I can actually make a difference before I burn myself out.

Burning life

Sports water bottle---I love doing sports just as much as I love my life. Sports time is my favorite time of the day—not even bed time or lunch time. Sports give me energy. They make me see the strongest and most encouraging side of humanity. Not only the athletic spirits represented by great athletes in the world, but also the perseverance and spirits of keeping challenging oneself I see in ordinary people including me. Sports make me realize I can be a stronger and active person I respect and I deserve.

Strong personality

My travelling suitcase—I love travel, because I could experience new and exciting things I couldn’t try normally. It is not what you see or whoever you meet that makes you feel different during travelling, but the mood, the state of mind that determines you are a free man without restrictions and obligations in a spiritual world.

Spiritual freedom

My working cap--- This Ohio cap represents my ever first job in my life especially I’m in a foreign country and unfamiliar situation. It implants faith in myself that I could depend on myself and I could be a wanted person. Although the pay isn’t high, I can afford the things I truly want without financial support from my family. It means I’m responsible for myself and I can be regarded as an adult just like my parents.

Adulthood starts

final project

I use the light pink combines with flesh color as my background filling for the following reasons: first of all, it’s close to pink, so it represents that I’m a girl with feelings and emotions; second, the color is not too serious, which indicates I’m still during my life transition, the life stage is not exactly under huge pressure of survival in this competitive society and I can still enjoy the privilege of having some fun without full responsibility for my family; last but not the least, I like the romance that light pink represents. Just like how I introduce my French textbook in the previous blog, romance and love are what humans have been trying to interpret for thousands of years. It’s a necessity for life, and it’s what I will experience and try to pursue in the future. Romance is not only an element we can utilize to amplify our lives, but also an unattainable quality. However, although I have so many serious thoughts about love and romance, I understand I’m ready for it yet or not capable of handling the intensity and distractions it may bring. So, I put French textbook in the far behind. It’s not because I don’t enjoy my French classes, on the contrary, I love the class and the professor; but the meanings and the topic behind the exotic culture isn’t suitable for me right now. Other than the textbook, the Ipod is also in the background and it occupies a large portion of the image. Music will always be the background in my life, and the quality of courage that my musical pursuing experience has taught me is really what I need whenever, wherever. I used courage to conquer my fears when I left my family and came here, and I will depend on courage to generate energy to inspire myself and become a miracle. The lock and the travelling suitcase on the right and left corners represent my past and my future. The lock changed my life forever and the suitcase will change my faiths for life. I can’t stress enough why the lock is important to me, since it’s the only souvenir I keep from that English camp, but I’m more looking forward to what magic power the suitcase would bring in the future. The other five objects in the downward part of the page is my present. From left to right, they represent independence, family, pride, energy and strong spirits, and female qualities. I especially like the cow in the middle: it’s hippy and vital, and the “health” upon his head is also what connects the iPhone and water bottle. I tried to send my best wishes of keeping healthy and happy every time we make phone calls since I’m on the other side of the world and there’s no way like before that I can keep an eye on their health condition. Likewise, in case they will be worried, I try to exercise whenever I can to keep myself healthy and strong, both physically and mentally. One thing I want to point out about the necklace is that I isolated the necklace with flaws on purpose: it’s not a complete one. Although I admire my mother so much, she’s still human with drawbacks, not a goddess. The incomplete parts on the necklace reminds me of the mistakes she made when she was young, so that I won’t do the same thing. Finally, it’s the scarf in the middle. According to my last blog, the scarf tells my dream city. I put it in the middle because that’s I study and work so hard everyday to fight for. The scarf surrounds my neck, my head to protect me from coldness of the outside world and to inspire me to fight tooth and nail every minute. There is still blank space in this picture, because my independent life has just begun, and I’m still identifying and recognizing myself each day. There must be other objects that can tell more stories of me. In general, this picture tells my past and present: I’m a determined person with courage and romance complex, I will fight for what I like and I love my family so much. However, this picture only contains my blessings for my future, it does not predict my future. So it doesn’t tell the viewer how surprising, amazing or even terrifying my future would be.

photography scavenger hunt

1. asymmetrical image

2. symmetrical image

3. radial image

4. person in their surrounding space

5. person up close

6. ant view

7. bird view

8.a stable image

9. an unstable image

10.my name on campus

micro project-1 maps

I walked from Denney Hall, which is my 7:30 English class every Tue/Thurs, to Ohio Stadium on my first day to the art education class. I was still sleepy after a 1hr+40mins class, but I remembered one thing: it was a freaking chilly morning, and of course I felt it was an endless journey although it only took 8-10mins, depending on how sober I am every morning. Fortunately, I met one of my best girlfriends in OSU that morning. After that, we say hi every Tuesday and Thursday on the road across the RPAC. Those were some refreshing coincidences.

I didn’t use the Google map my first day to find the Ohio stadium. But it took me some effort to reach the classroom inside the stadium. I think universal maps are quite useful during travels or complex journeys, but not so accurate inside the street or navigating exact locations. Technologies are advanced, but never as sharp as human instinct for locating.

This jpeg document shows my personal map I imagine every class day from Denney Hall to Ohio Stadium. I use pinpoints that I would normally notice to remind me if I reach the correct location. It is straightforward way from Denney Hall to the stadium, but i usually do a lot of thinking during the short journey. So this is the reason the pics combine in a relatively messy order instead of a straight line of the pinpoints one would notice along the way. my feet and my instinct for destination never wander but my thoughts float from place to place. that girl is the friend I meet every morning. She is one of the pinpoints as well. If she doesn’t show up one day, I may doubt that if I’m late for class…oh, and I listen to IPod all the way there, I thought that would be a good way to keep me awake until the art class ends.

Responses to the Kimmelman’s article

I like the structure of this article. The writer is giving an introduction and review of the new art critic book called ‘the accidental masterpiece’. The book aims at suggesting the real art, the prestigious masterpieces are originated from the daily life, and that’s how common people can recognize them and truly appreciate them because they are natural, common, and unpretentious. The writer is absolutely right about one thing: we live in art, which regulates our tastes being neither too pulp nor too courteous. We live in it and we continuously create our own legends of art.

One thing I don’t really understand about this book according to this article is that if we live in art and we are highly associated with the collection and creation of all forms, why are most of us not artists but common people with prosaic taste of arts? is it because we are too ignorant to notice beauty and elegance in our lives or arts choose people with artistic talents?

Responses to Sydney Walker article and Terry Barrett article

What intrigues me in the Sydney Walker’s article is the process he describes when Jennifer Barnet created her works: she set up rules or followed the rules in her original works but then she jumped out of restrictions and utilized all kinds of recourses to get out of the trap she set for herself. All these struggles of creating, improvising and innovation serve only one purpose: the big ideas. All artists are trying to expand their works instead of prolonging the popularities of them, that’s how and why we appreciate masterpieces.

One thing I don’t quite understand is that from my previous knowledge, artists are meant to use more emotions than rationalities. Normally I can’t tell too much logic in paintings and it’s their imaginations that impress people. But why at the first stage of producing creations, artists still need to learn how to control the images they are creating? Isn’t it a waste of energy and inspiration? Or just most of the artists are hard working instead of natural geniuses?

The denotations and connotations Terry Barrett tries to explain can be compared to the subject matters and big ideas when interpreting the fine arts. it amazes me how descriptive and meaningful a single magazine cover can be and how immense the information can be conveyed to readers. Our brain must be highly functioned and well-trained to help us understand so many connotations unwittingly.

What I don’t agree is the discussion the students engage in about the sexually appealing images on rolling stone cover. The way they dress themselves shows the female power, the desire to show their healthiness and great confidence to concur a territory of their own in this male-dominated society, which is to the contrary of showing their weakness and shallowness.

responses to 'the cheese monkeys' and 'The Heresy of Zone Defense'

What caught my interest about the cheese monkey is the four forms people concern when they create arts: left to right, top to bottom, big and small, and back and front. This is the exact procedure how our brains function in daily life in a space dimension. We choose to evaluate things and come up with solutions using our normal sense and instinct about the space, the form, the appearance first and then, maybe consider how time zone could be detriment or benefit to us. When we meet someone new, we look from head to shoes. When we write down journals, we write from left to right. That’s how people think and what people do. So artists improvise with their specialties and prolong their creation using the time zone to control our emotions.

What I don’t like about his opinions is that he compares the admirers or audiences as enemies. This really bothers me. Any form of art is not about invasion or intrusion; it’s about sharing and compelling. A good piece of art may put a spell on people, but that’s because it creates resonance and people can’t help but being printed by it. True artists are peace lovers even though they could be extremists…

The Heresy of Zone Defense talks about the meaning of rules. I appreciate how the writer could analyze how rules manipulate or purify our lives from a dialectical perspective. Rules are supposed to simplify our routines and by following the rules, each of us can earn the best interest out of the inputs we have donated in the means the rules require. But sometimes, rules hurt people, just like it ceases the real fun of playing basketball.

There is one point that I cannot completely agree. It doesn’t make us barbarians if we don’t set up or follow rules. Rules are set up by humans, and the only initial purpose of doing it was to protect our species, our bothers and sisters. Although nowadays some of us may exploit and take advantage of kindness of humans, or someone deliberately ‘improvise’ their ways of dealing with rules with less regard of general interest, barbarians are way too ancient and harsh to the modernized human beings.

Something I want to declare about myself.

First thing you should know about me is that I’m not a big fan of all kinds of art. I don’t like art galleries; that place makes me sleepy and sometimes when I look at the paintings, I found them really familiar to me because they look no difference when I accidentally poured my cappuccino on my piece of homework. But what annoys me most is the truth that those art forms are dead, not alive, and most of the masterpieces people admire today are composed by artists living centuries ago. Maybe they were creating their works with huge pumps of passion and thrills, but unfortunately, I can’t see the stirring moments when they were turning up side down the whole concept of art in their times. That’s why I always prefer the live arts. I like watching movies or theatres. I still remember the first time I went to see a music play. It was the premiere performance of mama mia in shanghai. I couldn’t stop crying when the play was over, and I just jumped and yelled with the other audiences until the lights turned up in the hall. That was the best moment in my teenage years. Later on, I went to other more exquisite performances, including ballet. I was impressed and astonished, and I truly admired those artists and what they had scarified for art, but it could never compare to my ever first music play. I really wish I could give a performance one day. I know I would love it because it’s living, it tells stories, it has emotions, just like our life, and I never doubt the fact that how grateful I am for my mother giving my life. C’est la vie…

My top five pop music artists:

1. lady gaga

2. beyonce

3. maroon 5

4. rihanna

5.chris brown