Trinklets

My collection consists of bracelets because it symbolizes a memory that a person holds onto. A person wears a bracelet to present a precious moment that either he/she had. However, after our class discussion on Wednesday, I decided to expand on this idea. I want to create a collage of objects that can be put onto a hand such as tattoos, watches, wristbands, rings, stickers, etc. I'm planning on mounting the project onto multiple canvases. I want it to be a series of painting, sketching, and magazine cut outs. The projects going to be simple and clean; 3 16x24 canvases with an arm being drawn. It's definitely going to come off as an abstract project. On the sketched out arm, I'm going to have all these drawn out items to bring it color. It's definitely going to resemble a collage.

Materials:
- 3 or 4 16x24 canvases
- lots of elmer's glue
- scissors
- pencils
- magazines
- oil paint
- cardboard
- exacto knife

Expendable

An inquiry into the concept of expendable objects and concepts in our world. Objects themselves are expendable or more frequently expended, and are representative of a category of such objects. Expendable is defined as:

2. (of an item of equipment or supply) consumed in use or not reusable.

3. considered to be not worth keeping or maintaining.

Items already brought:
-deodorant bottle
-camera
-watch
-battery

New Items:
-watch box
-soda can
-popcorn
-flash card
-book
-shopping cart
-sign
-undershirt

tethering a shopping cart to a bike was fun. I'll probably end up using it as a container for the final piece.

Friendly Convenience

I decided for my bag collection I wanted to do something that had to do with the convenience of a bag. The recycle aspect of it is stressed greatly but is taken granted for most of the time.

The way I want to reproduce this is by stop animation. I will reproduce a bag by either plaster or creation of my own bag from the use of plastic and paper bags (whichever one that looks better). Each bag will come out from this reproduced bag, and they will go off walking away from the bag. After the last bag comes out of the reproduced bag, all the bags will come back with objects in them such as notebooks, groceries, garbage, etc. That is all I have in mind so does anyone else have more suggestions?

The bags include: 2 grocery size eco-friendly bags (green and white), 1 notebook size eco-friendly bag, 1 crumbled paper bag, 1 green bag, 2 plastic bag (white and blue).

Addition: groceries, notebooks, garbage, any objects a bag can carry

Hand make: plaster or remake another bag through other bags

Reproduction: stop animation

-Natsumi Shiraiwa

Travelogue

Focusing on the theme of travel, I plan to stress the idea of moving from one location to another: from here

to here.

This concept stresses the act of moving, incorporating both animate and inanimate subjects. Moreover, the Webster dictionary offered another interesting definition: to relocate successfully. This caught my intention in conjunction with my working thoughts on travel because being physically successful does not always mean one is mentally successful (for example, a man runs out of a burning house to save his life only to be confronted by a mob of rabid squirrels). Overall, I plan to combine the idea of traveling people and objects with a possibility of failure in their movement.

For the actual project, I plan to make a flip book (not the traditional one – refer to the images below for a better idea). I chose this form of presentation because it will serve as a medium for the viewer to undergo their own travel process as they explore different portions of the book. There will be a narrative element in which it becomes the viewer's objective to move from a starting to ending point. Like the example above of a man running out of a burning house, the viewer will be subject to a threat and given choices (composed solely of subjects/ objects that undergo a sort of travel) to escape. Depending on the viewer's decisions, their attempt to reach safety from their starting predicament may or may not end successfully.





Items brought to class + 3 new ones:
License plate
Postcard
Glass
Bullet
Newspaper
Clock
Mouse
Money
Sound
Spices
Light

Materials:
Paper
Hard Binding/ Binder
Pencil
Ink
Printer/ or some other coloring device
Computer
Glue

If you have any suggestions, let me know! =)

~Alicja Chrena

Spiritual Enlightenment

Buddha is a religious figure that conveys the idea of spirituality and peacefulness. One who has proven to achieve spiritual enlightenment and peace of mind. Not only does Buddha represent an awakenedment to nature, but represents beauty and tranquility. Many human-beings are unaware of reality, but Buddhas attain nirvana. I personally find great beauty in these figures and I feel as though they give great light to humanity and remind people to breathe and enjoy the surrounding nature. I have been a collector of Buddhas for several years and I feel as though this project is the perfect means for me to illustrate their tranquility.

As of right now I am unsure of what I am going to do with my project. I plan to collect several Buddhas and take pictures of asian religious figures and somehow depict them in an artistic way. I was maybe thinking of taking a frame and printing pictures of buddhas on some sort of cloth or fabric. If anyone has any ideas, I would love your input. I am still unaware of how I can depict them in an artistic manner.

Things I brought to class:

Two Buddhas

pictures of other buddhas off the internet.

What I plan to add:

All statues of Buddhas and other asian religious figures

Best friend

To me, dogs are almost like people (I have a mild dog obession, by the way). I've worked closely with dogs (and I'm sure those of you that have pets all know this) and from what I've learned is that they all have their own personalities. There is an established friendship a dog can make with you, or perhaps and established caution towards you, just like the people you around you; perhaps your peers, co-workers, family members, etc. Dog ares also known to protect their families, or their "pack" from danger.
A dog is a companion, curious, adventurous, dangerous, sweet, scary, cute, cautious, small, big- the list goes on. But, in a metaphorical sense, the word "dog" can be used to describe a boy (or a girl) who sweet-talks you into bed. It can be used to describe a messy person, or a person who ditches their friends.
We are all familiar with the term "bitch," known as the female dog. In the modern day, the word bitch is used as a derogatory term for a girl who seems to act irritated and short-tempered.
"Dawg" is also used by teens when they call their friends. It is a synonym for "homie" and "home-skillet."

From this definition, what I can take from it is that although actual dogs are often seen as a companion, the metaphorical terms seem to be a bit derogatory. This is absolutely.... paradoxical. I want to play with this idea of paradoxes and create a project starting from that. I still need some help... But my idea so far is to have a cardboard cut out of a dog, and paper-mache it so that it protrudes out where it's half 3-D and half flat. I was initially thinking about using fabric and cotton to fill half of the cardboard instead; but since I'm playing with paradoxes, perhaps a paper-mache dog will take away from the comfortable cuddly-ness of a dog. From that, I plan on making little pockets on the dog where I will put the pictures that I brought to class on Wednesday. On the back of the pictures, I'm going start by putting obvious adjectives that we usually use to describe a dog. As I move from front to back, I'm going to put adjectives of dogs that are not so ordinary; like "Rapper" for Snoop-Dogg (Someone in class suggested this, Thank you whoever you are! :] )

What else can I include to this paradox? I am totally open to suggestions. Please help me out!
List of things I brought:
Peppermint Bark box
Three pages of my own pictures of dogs,
nine pictures of magazine dogs
four calender pictures of dogs
two sketches of dogs


Someone also suggested that I make a peppermint bark dog house. Tell me what you guys think!
Also, if any of you guys have dogs and have pictures of them, may I have some for my project? That would be great... :)

Love,
Sheila

P.S. Things that I might want to add:
Stuffed animal, a bone, a collar, a steak, a tracking device.
I was also thinking about having a playlist of youtube videos of dogs playing in the background when I finally present the project. Again... tell me what you think :)
Here's one of my favorite videos if you guys would like to watch, it'll make you laugh, I PROMISE!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L28TM48bF0
Enjoy!

Fox in Socks

One box, small box, big box, blue box.

Wait, is that a fox?

In a cave,
A place that you may brave?

Or how the boxes will stack,
Up, over there, back-to-back,
Tape and glue they shall not lack,
This, my plan of attack.

Tada! My collection,
And some sort of direction.

Dear classmate(s),
A few boxes I hope you will donate;
Thank you for your time,
And please excuse my poor use of rhyme.