The internet allows people to express their creativity with a wide variety of people. It allows people to freely express themselves with the world, but along with freedom comes the fear of judgement from other people. The internet allows people to freely express themselves, but that also means that it allows other people to express their opinions which can either be negative or positive. The internet can empower people to post and create things, but it is also risky because it allows everyone to judge your work. I don’t know a lot about Copyright, but I believe it is currently working well as it is. I think if it had to be modified that it could maybe be strengthened, because I think it would be awful to have someone be able to steal someone else’s hard work. I chose to license my piece of work as Attribution CC BY. I chose this license, because I did not take any of the pictures myself, I just used Flickr to find photos on the creative commons and I would like to give other people the ability to build upon my work. When deciding on what kind of remix I wanted to make I knew immediately I wanted to use photos and not make a music remix. I chose to combine pictures of nature with pictures of industrial cities, because those two are very different. I chose photos from Flickr’s creative commons, and then made a collage out of them and combined them. The final product came out as I expected it too, and I’m very happy with how the contrast between the two came out.

This week I drew my name in bubble letters. I used to draw my name in and just write in bubble letters all the time when I was younger, but that doesn’t mean I used to be good at it. I still don’t think I’m that great at writing in bubble letters, but it was fun to try and do it again. It took me two tries to get my name to look the way I wanted I wanted it to look because I had an issue with making it look more square than round. I first wrote all the letters in pencil and then drew in the little lines to make the letters look more bubble like. After I had it all outlined in pencil, I went over all the lines in sharpie. After I had it all outlined in sharpie, I chose green, orange, and blue colored pencils to color in the letters. I don’t think mine really came out looking like graffiti, but I still really enjoyed this activity.

Artist: Kiyomi Fukui

Exhibition: The Green Thumb Project

Media: Scrap paper, seeds, raised beds

Website: kiyomifukui.com

Instagram: @kiyomimiz

Kiyomi Fukui is an artist who is half Japanese and half Korean who lives in Long Beach, California. She views art as a therapy and as a cathartic release. She uses her art as a creative outlet. Her projects usually rely on participants and not objects. She also views art as conversations she’s had with people and wants to capture the experiences she’s had with people.

In her exhibition, “The Green Thumb Project” Fukui created a casting of her mother’s thumb out of scrap paper and planted seeds in the middle of it. She planted the castings and put them in raised beds for the exhibition. The raised beds were light brown wood and were all different shapes consisting of long rectangles to small squares. The castings she planted grew into plants that were green in color and all shapes and sizes. The casting of her mom’s thumb was a white grey color, and not only did she cast her mom’s thumb but hers as well. You can tell the difference between the two thumbs because Fukui’s thumb has a longer nail.

This project was to help Fukui go through her mother’s passing. Her mother passed away 6 years ago due to cancer and was living in Korea when she was sick while Fukui was in California. When Fukui learned of her mother’s depleting health, she flew to Korea to get a mold of her mother’s thumb. Fukui is still not over her mother’s death and believes life will never be the same without her. She decided to make a casting of her mother’s thumb out of scrap paper and put seeds in it. She knew she wanted it to be decomposable so that’s why she made it out of paper instead of something else like metal. She liked the idea of her mom being able to spread her roots somewhere even now that she is gone. She said that she doesn’t really have a green thumb, and that whatever plants don’t survive she composts.

I really enjoyed listening to Kiyomi Fukui talk about a couple of her exhibitions. I was stuck trying to decide whether I wanted to discuss this exhibition or her “Conversations on Conflict” exhibition. I chose this one because I liked her idea of letting her mother plant her roots even now that she is gone. I also don’t have a green thumb, but I still try to take care of plants which is something I relate to her with.

I decided to do Ephemeral art and going into it I knew I wanted to create something on a piece of paper and then burn it. It was difficult for me to think of what I wanted to create, but when I was scrolling through tiktok I saw someone write out their name and then write their name over it in cursive and color in the holes. I thought it looked interesting so I decided to put that on the piece of paper that I would be burning.

            The materials I decided to use were paper, markers and a match that would then burn my artwork and create the ephemeral art. I do think my piece was able to accomplish and express what I was aiming to do. The piece was essentially burning my name, and, in the end, I was able to burn it and destroy it completely. The choice of materials I used influenced my art because I had to choose to create something that would easily be destroyed since I wanted to create ephemeral art. I knew that paper was very easy to destroy by either ripping it apart or burning it, which is why I decided to create my art on a piece of paper. I decided to burn my art piece instead of tearing it apart because I thought it would be more dramatic and it would completely get rid of the art I created.

            I think a kiss should last as long as the people participating in it want it to. I don’t think there is a definitive time that a kiss should be. A great meal should last as long as it takes for everyone to enjoy it and finish it. A work of art should last as long as the artist wants it to last. It should last as long as it needs to get its point across to its viewers and to make an impact. A marriage does not have a definitive time limit, I think it should last as long as the people in the marriage want it to last. In a perfect world a marriage would last until death did them part, but people fall out of love so there is not a time frame. Human life also doesn’t have one designated time limit, I think it should last as long as someone is happy and accomplishes everything they want to.

            I think giving things like art and human life a finite time does make a difference in the way that we experience them. When it comes to human life, we constantly worry about making memories with people and spending time with them so that we don’t take their life for granted once they are gone. Art can leave an impact and make you cherish it even more if it has a finite time. I think that clean water, air, and land should be sustainable and long lasting. These are all things that we can’t live without, so I think it is important for us to take care of our planet to make sure these things never die out. I think one person can make a difference in Climate Change, because if everyone goes in with the mindset that they won’t make a difference then no one will make a change and things won’t improve. If everyone believes that they can make a change then solving a problem like climate change should be possible.

I decided to explore artists igloos on club penguin. At first, I was unsure on what theme to choose, but then I decided I wanted to curate an art gallery that’s focus was on the outdoors and plants. I decided on this theme, because being in quarantine makes me want to go outside and I wanted to express this through the art I curated. I chose to show isawatigers’ igloo because half of her igloo had a garden which represents my theme really well. Her garden was very bright and colorful with the flowers and the bright bench. I also chose to show P4671630’s igloo because not only did she have a beautiful garden, but she had a bunch of indoor plants as well. I really liked the pond she had in the garden and how she incorporated indoor plants in her igloo. The last artist I decided to show was ChickenPiar6 who’s whole igloo was outdoorsy. I really liked his igloo who had the vine backdrop and the trees surrounding a pond.

isawatiger

This was the first artist I encountered on club penguin who was very eager to show me her igloo after I told her what the theme of my gallery was. Her whole igloo was green in itself which is one of the main colors I think of when I envision the outdoors. She also had an overgrown garden which I loved. I also liked how she had a wishing well that had plants growing up the side of it.

P4671630

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This was the second artist I found on the website, and I feel like her igloo best represents what I was envisioning for my gallery. I love her garden which has a large water feature and even has a tree stump seat next to it. I also really enjoy the indoor plants, because even when you are inside her igloo it still feels like you are one with nature and outdoors will all the plants she has. I love the ivy growing up her walls inside her igloo which is one of my favorite parts of her igloo.

ChickenPiar6

This was the last artist I found, and I really loved how his whole igloo was outdoorsy and how it made you feel like you were in nature. When you enter the igloo, you are put behind the wall hanging of plants which I really like. He also has the ponds that I really love and a bridge between them, so it feels like you are walking over the water. I also really like the bush shaped like a fish and the tall trees surrounding the pond.

My goal with this video was to show everyone what a day in my life is like during quarantine. I thought it would be interesting to see how someone’s day is like during this quarantine. I tried to be as personal as possible in this video and not have anything scripted. I also wanted to come across as genuine. I didn’t have a lot of editing experience at all as I’ve never vlogged before.

I think I accomplished my goal in making a video that is raw and unscripted, but I think I failed in the sense of showing off my whole day because if I were to show you my whole day it would have been a very boring video, as I spent most of the day studying.

I would try to plan more things to be put into the video next time to make the video a little longer and more diverse. I would also improve my editing, because this was my first time ever editing a video and I did not know what to do so if I were to ever do this again, I would include more editing.

I don’t think I’ll ever vlog again because I hate being in front of a camera. I did not enjoy going back over the clips of myself and it made me insanely uncomfortable rewatching myself on video. It took lot of courage to even record myself in the first place, so I don’t think I’ll be vlogging again.

I don’t watch a lot of YouTube but when I do, I usually watch Kurtis Conner. I also like to watch a lot of makeup tutorials.

I like watching Kurtis Conner, because his videos are funny and entertaining, and I like that he comes across as genuine in his videos. I like watching beauty youtubers because they inspire me to try new things with my makeup.

Kurtis Conner uses a lot of editing in his videos to make them more entertaining which is one of the things I would apply to my vlogging if I were to ever vlog again. He also plans what he’s going to talk about before recording which I could also apply to my vlogging to make it more entertaining to watch.

I decided to do the automatic drawing with my roommate. The experience itself was fun and entertaining. We were kind of laughing the whole time creating it because we were unsure as to what was going to happen. Halfway through our drawing we decided to switch the color to green to make the art look more interesting. We started the drawing with a blue/purple colored pencil placed in the middle of the paper which is where the drawing is the most concentrated. After we were done with the drawing I noticed that we got more confident when using the green pencil as the strokes are a lot darker than the blue/purple color we used. The drawing looks like a bunch of squiggles which you could consider abstract as the drawing did not take on any form.

This activity was difficult for me to start because I was unsure on how I should shape the map. I knew of the different buildings and where they were but was unsure on how to make their placement clear on a piece of paper. I knew I wouldn’t do that great on this activity, because my sense of direction is very off, but I’m impressed with how many buildings I actually remembered. My map still makes our campus look very small, because even though I thought I remembered a lot of buildings I left out like half of the campus. I have a big question mark on my map because I couldn’t remember any of the buildings that came after the hall of science.

Artist: Mahsa Soroudi

Exhibition: Natures Cadence

Media: Succulents

Website: http://www.mahsasoroudi.com

Mahsa Soroudi is an artist who is Iranian born and educated. She grew up and lived in Tehran which is a metropolitan area with a lot of culture. Tehran is considered the art capitol of Iran and has some of the best universities. She grew up in a moderately Muslim family, with a father who was a painter. She travelled to many different countries and even lived in Malaysia for a year. She decided to move to California with her husband to gain better opportunities but made it clear that if she stayed in Tehran, she would have had a comfortable life.

In her exhibition “Natures Cadence” the focus and media used was succulents. In one of her pieces she trimmed a bunch of succulents and propagated them. She placed the succulents in a plastic container that divided each succulent. Each looked different as some had pink roots sprouting while others did not. Some of them even had a succulent starting to bloom that was a blue/green color. The succulents were a range of different green colors while some even looked a little blue and purple. In another piece she had a bunch of grown succulents in a planter. The succulents ranged in sizes as some were short and round while some of them were very long. The succulents were green, blue, and brown in color. The tall succulents had a lot of movement to them as they grew away from the soil.

In her first work where she was propagating succulents the leaves were planting their roots to form a new plant which represents her life as an immigrant. The leaves were planting their roots in a new place to grow something new, which is what Soroudi did when she immigrated to California. She was planting her roots in a new place in hopes of finding better opportunities. Soroudi claims that you never know what’s happening underground with the roots of the succulents in her second piece which she can relate to as an immigrant, because she might have been really still for a couple of years but in reality she was growing roots in order to feel at home. She explains that succulents are resilient and was able to connect that to herself as she was coping with feeling homesick.

I found the interview with Soroudi very interesting to watch and listen to as she was able to connect her life story to succulents. I myself have a couple of succulents and it was interesting to listen to her take on them. I thought that the meaning that she drew from the succulents was powerful. She related her own experiences to the experience of a succulent growing and thriving in a new environment.

“Oh wouldn’t it be nice

If we could talk again

Funny how quickly things can change-

Summer was just here-

I wonder what fall has in store

For us, for me, for this fantasy of mine”

When writing this song, I was thinking about someone that I used to talk to and be friends with who I am no longer in contact with. I was thinking about someone who I no longer talk to and was wondering if either I’d ever reach out to them again or if they would reach out to me again. It was Romantic in the sense that in an ideal world we would come in contact again.

It was difficult trying to think of something to write about, because I’ve never written a song before. I used to write poems and thought that maybe if I start out with just a simple poem, I could make it into a song since they are very similar. One of my friends is a song writer and I asked her for some help and tips to help me in writing the song.

I think this was one of the more difficult projects that we’ve had to do, because it was completely out of my element. I’ve never wrote a song before and getting started with it was difficult for me. It was also difficult for me to think of what I wanted to write about that not only applied to the romanticism guidelines but also applied to me.

I think it was pretty successful as it was my first song that I’ve ever written. I always think there is room for improvement especially when it’s your first time doing something. My song met the requirement for the guidelines and in my opinion came out pretty well.

After this project I don’t think I will be writing another song anytime soon. This project made me realize that it is just not something I’m passionate about. Although I don’t think I’ll write another song it did make me want to start writing poetry again.

If I had to write another song it might be about loss and moving on, but I don’t think that I will ever write another song. This song was pretty much about loss, but not so much about getting over it, and I think my next song would focus more on overcoming a loss but once again I probably won’t write another song.

Artist: Ashley Anderson

Exhibition: Lucky Places for a Grave

Media: watercolor, graphite, charcoal, pastel, acrylic

Gallery: LBSU School of Art, Merlino Gallery

Website: ashanders.com

Instagram: meownderson

Ashley Anderson is currently an undergraduate student in the School of Arts illustration program, and is studying to get her BFA. Her interests include watching horror movies and reading horror related literature. She also enjoys reading comics, nonfiction, and folktales.

The work she created were paintings that were all about the same size, but some were taller, and others were wider. In one of her works called, “Pata De Chiva” she created a goat like creature that had the head of a goat mixed with a more human body. She used more neutral colors in this piece and used line work that gave it texture. She also created a piece called, “Little Omies Revenge” that shows a hum head emerging from water. She used neutral colors and blues to create this piece, and the media she used to create it allowed it to be textured.

The exhibit was very interesting to look at as it was her own spin on folktales. It caught my attention because of the use of watercolor and the colors that were used. Their idea was to create an exhibit that showed the impact that folktales have on ourselves and our identity. They also wanted to show how people from different backgrounds view the same folktales. She wanted to rewrite folktales to reflect a greater reality. The exhibit was very research heavy as she had to research a bunch of folktales. She chose folktales that she grew up with, and ones that she had a personal attachment to. She also wanted to make it clear that all of these pieces were new and made quickly in order to meet a deadline.

I definitely grasped onto the folktale element when I walked into the exhibit. Although I was not familiar with all of the folktales that they twisted into their own, all of the pieces were interesting to look at. My favorite piece was “Pata De Chiva” which was happened to be the artists favorite as well. Her art exposed me to new folktales as well as well as helped me view ones I already knew from a different perspective.