Moments like these I miss him the most
Chloe Stella
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Within Me (Dentro Di Me)
This project was an outlet. It
relieved some of the stress I have been feeling for the past
few months. It helped me realize how difficult life is for everyone and that in
someway or another we must all (learn to) cope. In fact, this project was meant
to make a statement about how we all may internally cope in very different
ways, but when we turn our feelings outward, we tend to express them similarly
(hair pulling, closing our eyes, taking deeper breaths). It makes me wonder
about the manifestation of emotion and whether our expressions are innate or
learned. To complement this thought, I chose to add the Tibetan singing bowl as
accompanying music. The sound the bowl emits is a sound of everything-ness. It
is a sound that heals, relieves stress, and gives a sense of well being.
Here is a link to the video: Within Us
Here are some of the stills I
captured throughout the stop-motion.
I am so thankful for all of the people who helped me create this project. Thank you Alexcia, Makenzie, Amelia, Madison, Ryn, Raina, Kyle, Michelle, and Sabrina. You're all amazing and I could not have made this without you!
Monday, November 16, 2015
SOMETHING IS HAPPENING
Because something is happening here
But you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?
This exhibition was a collective effort - everyone helped put it together in one way or another. By doing so, it really made the exhibit feel like a unified piece. Arranging everyone's independent works side by side - close to one another - created a lot of juxtapositions, while retaining to one continuous, fluid theme: "Something Is Happening". This theme allowed us to take our art in so many different directions. It also allowed viewers to make their own interpretations of the work, without knowing the artist's exact intention. My favorite part of the exhibit was definitely the books! I enjoyed flipping through them and getting to see all twenty of the photographs each student selected. I think it made the experience at the exhibit less formal, and more personal & interactive (which is not something I have experienced at a exhibit here on campus,yet - so that was cool!)
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
LAOZI/LAO-TZU/LAO-TZE and McLUHAN
Laozi was an ancient
Chinese sage/philosopher from the 6th century B.C. who is known as the father
of Taoism. The origin and life of Laozi is pretty ambiguous and even after
years & years of research very little is known about his life.
Nonetheless, his teachings have been passed down through time. Today he has
many Taoist followers. Why did McLuhan choose the passage about immateriality
and absence to describe the Western shift toward a more unified, fused society?
First of all, it is necessary to understand what Laozi’s passage means. Taoism
preaches that "nothingness" should be present everywhere. Without it,
there would be chaos. In the Tao Te Ching, order is accomplished by
including emptiness - thus, balancing something with nothing. Laozi
believed emptiness to be a blessing, without which life would all be too much.
McLuhan’s translation is a little different.
I think McLuhan chose this passage in order to emphasize the apprehension he has about the advancement of technology in Western society. Our society “our western legacy” of separation and isolation has been eradicated by the constant flow of digital information. Like a room, a wheel, or a vase, the usefulness of technology must lie in its empty space. But what is its empty space? Does it have empty space? Media information is now multi-dimensional and comes to us so abundantly and with such speed that we no longer have the ability to categorize it all, and in that sense we are now fusing everything together. We are no longer able to remain isolated. We are constantly involved and no longer detached. While this may be viewed as positive, McLuhan emphasizes its uncertainty. Where is the usefulness in technology when there is no absence of it anymore?
Laozi Riding an Ox, Buhzi Chao, n.d., Ink on paper |
Monday, October 26, 2015
McLuhan says "the ear favors no particular 'point of view.' We are enveloped by sound. It forms a seamless web around us. We say, 'music shall fill the air.' We hear sound from everywhere, without ever having to focus. Where a visual space is an organized continuum of a uniformed connected kind, the ear world is a world of simultaneous relationships."
I created this one minute sound montage by splicing twelve voice recordings taken over the past three years. I decided to focus on a sound that made me happy: laughter. It is a universal human expression that brings people together and cultivates happy and healthy environments. It symbolizes a state of freedom and loss of control. The release of laughter is raw and pure. It is liberating to let go and laugh without restrain. Hearing my friends laugh in unison is kind of overwhelming. The piece feels chaotic and untamed, but I still think the sound evokes happiness!
LAUGHING IS GOOD FOR YOU!
So, let laughter fill the air!
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