Winter break has finally started!

MThis is officially my last college break because I'm graduating in May and I plan on spending as much of it as possible in bed or with Kev. And luckily tomorrow starts his 10 days of no school or work (except for our time at the rock gym)!! 

So far we've planned gingerbread houses, seeing Christmas lights, sushi, and pajama days! Nothing sounds better than just having a few days of solid relaxing especially when I get to spend it with Kevi.

PS: we have a coupon for a dozen free donuts from Krispy Kreme that starts December 26th and we're more excited about that than Christmas.

final project results

This project was a little more stressful than other projects because it depended wholly on the support and interaction of my peers. If no one chose to interact that at the end of the project I would have a white sheet of paper, and no evidence of the piece. 

One of the biggest challenges I feared was getting a first reaction. I believed that in the same way people do not like to cross a line that they would also be wary of "dirtying" something so clean as a blank white sheet of paper. To combat this I placed the first photo (girl in bottom left) to start a response and also give other students an image to 'work off of'. This worked very well and the following images are the results of the project, taken in increments of two hours from 5pm to 1am on Monday December 15th. 

The ending result was more than I could have hoped for, however it was also very surprising how some people choice to interact with the piece. I was surprised how many people were comfortable with breaking the frame of the piece, as this can be counter-intuitive. Additionally I was interested in how people placed the images. Many people would take a few pictures and post them together, while others would select just one image and keep it surrounded by white space. There seemed to be a large divide between people interacting with their peers work and people just placing their own images.

I would have liked to see the white of the board more covered to give it more of a 'collage' feel, but I didn't want to prompt people to participate and I also didn't want to involve myself more than I already had. By starting the project I already put the project on a certain trajectory. For example, perhaps because I didn't break the frame with my first image others felt prompted to break the frame. I really wanted this project to be a campus collage, and I felt that if I started and finished the project that I would have just molded it into the image that I wanted, instead of allowing it to be a representation of how students were feeling.

Burning the Syllabus

"The College Collage"

This project will be used to lessen the amount of stress felt by many students during finals week and, hopefully, serve as a create outlet. Collage can allow for a creative outlet that is free from a perceived "goal". A person who is tasked with making a collage is under less stress than someone who is tasked with, for example, painting a tree because the end outcome is not defined (source). This project will involve leaving a blank canvas for the campus to interact with and use as a means to de-stress. The blank poster will be placed just outside of the library (in the hall between the library and the annex) along with magazine cut outs and glue sticks. Directions for the project will also be posted.

The goal of this project is to capture the feelings of SMCM students at the start of exam week. Many times this can be the most stressful time because a full week of intensive study and exams lay ahead. While this project is meant to be an interactive way for students to de-stress, it will also give a tangible display of emotions based on colors chosen, flow of the piece, and willingness to participate.

Materials: large white poster board, easel or other way to display poster board, glue sticks, tons of cut outs from various magazines (approx. 150-200)

Plan: leave the easel and cut outs in the hall between the library and the annex with the following directions: De-stress a little during exam week by letting your creative energy flow! Please take a few of the cut outs and add them to this board as a representation of how you currently feel, how you would like to feel, things that make you happy, things that make you sad, etc. Please do not draw or write on this board.

I will display the board from 10am Monday 12/15 to 10pm 12/15. While the board is out I will check on it every two hours and document the developments through notes and photographs.

Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/07/art-therapy-techniques_n_6103092.html
http://intuitivecreativity.typepad.com/expressiveartinspirations/self-expression-therapy-activities.html
http://creativityintherapy.blogspot.com/2012/07/collage-art-therapy-part-1.html
http://uvmbored.com/event/de-stress-with-soul-collage/

Review: Elkins

Firstly this paper was incredibly difficult to read, I couldn't tell if that was because of my ADD, the quality of the scan, or because Elkins thought it would be funny to put every three lines into focus and then out of focus. Regardless it should not have taken me over an hour to read this paper, but it did, and I digress.

I think this essay had a lot of interesting dialogue and I was interested in viewing the images that were discussed, because I believed that they would aid the reading. I searched for the first few images without luck, but The Sexuality of Christ had a lot more results than I would have anticipated prior to reading Elkins. This image in particular is discussed as Elkins reviews pornography:

In this image Jesus is being visited by a young boy, possibly an angel, who carries a cross. He is also visited by a large female angel. This scene is possibly depicting the 8th day after Jesus's birth, the day that he was named and circumcised. The young boy is touching Jesus and all the attention of figures in this scene is focused on that. The female angel, Mary and Joseph are turned toward and looking at the young boy and his grasp on Jesus's foot. None of the movements are very active though, the angel seems to be dropping a hand that was previously raised in protest, and Joseph's gaze seems to be turning toward Jesus. Mary also has a softened look of interest. I believe that this picture is depicting a moment when Jesus's mortality and "human-ness" were evident.

Additionally, in this image the infant Jesus uses his own hand to cover his penis. This was done for two reasons: because the sight of a penis would distract from the painting as well as put it at risk for being destroyed and because seeing Christ's penis would have been a way of defiling him or making him "too human". This is clear because Elkins cites Steinberg as saying that "He was not a half god who had sent his image to earth, while remaining in heaven, but God himself, who could achieve perfect fusion of human and devine forms" (Elkins 118). In this quote Elkins is drawing on Steinberg, who wants to claim that Jesus was so godly that his sexuality was innately tied to his godliness. I disagree with this section.

I believe that in showing Jesus in such a human way, like the image above, it makes him seem more like a prophet or normal human, than as a radiant god. Images like this make Jesus seem much more godly:

In the first image Jesus is being touched, examined, and looked at by everyone in the scene. In the second painting Joseph and Mary are not touching Jesus, but rather Jesus is trying to touch them. Joseph is praying while Mary appears to be restraining herself from reaching out to Jesus. These actions are similar to the actions when meeting a great Lord, as Jesus is supposed to have been. In this painting Jesus is seen as much more Godly and therefore Joseph and Mary are considered much more unworthy of touching him.

Walter Mason Response artwork

My response project to Walter Mason's land art is in my own interpretation of land art. Instead of using only natural materials, I took an environmentalist perspective, and used recycled materials (the wax casings of Babybel cheeses). I placed the wax maple leaf in nature in various areas with various backgrounds to see how the leaf looked in a natural area. I really liked this series of pictures because it is similar to Mason's pieces, but I was able to incorporate a lot of my own style. I would have liked to photograph it with other, real red maple leaves, but with the snow I was unable to find any on the ground.

          

IVT Progress!

The progress I've made so far has been pretty slim. I'm just figuring out how to work with wax and sculpt, because both are very new to me.

I'm really liking the impact of my finger prints on the soft wax, and considering incorporating this into my completed project.