Poem Visualization

Annabel Lee

It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of ANNABEL LEE; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me. I was a child and she was a child, In this kingdom by the sea; But we loved with a love that was more than love- I and my Annabel Lee; With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven Coveted her and me. And this was the reason that, long ago, In this kingdom by the sea, A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling My beautiful Annabel Lee; So that her highborn kinsman came And bore her away from me, To shut her up in a sepulchre In this kingdom by the sea. The angels, not half so happy in heaven, Went envying her and me- Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know, In this kingdom by the sea) That the wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee. But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of those who were older than we- Of many far wiser than we- And neither the angels in heaven above, Nor the demons down under the sea, Can ever dissever my soul from the soul Of the beautiful Annabel Lee. For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride, In the sepulchre there by the sea, In her tomb by the sounding sea. Edgar Allan Poe My idea for this project was to take an older poem that many read and think of old imagery, and add a modern twist to it. I wanted to create images that correlated directly with the story, but gave the viewer a different way of looking at it. I also wanted each page to be similar to a movie frame with subtitles, further enhancing that modern feel. I had originally wanted to put the book pages in a coffin but that would have lead to me having to change the image sizes and possibly losing parts of some of the images. I am happy with how it came out though it took way more time than I had anticipated.

Collaborative Projects

I enjoyed both groups that presented their collaborative projects the first day. Diana and Christine's exhibit entitled The Intolerable Truth: A New Take on Consumerism was very interesting. This presentation included the artists Toni Dove and Christopher Jordan. Both of these artists were new to me and I felt they would work well in an exhibit together. They complement each other on the central theme of consumerism and the importance put on it in our society today. I really enjoyed Dove's video pieces especially because they were interactive. I especially liked the one where the voices of the characters were automated computer voices. This voice always creeped me out as a kid, so to hear that in an art piece to me makes it a bit more intense and uncomfortable. I didn't enjoy Jordan's work as much because I felt it was too literal, especially the ones of the dead birds with their stomachs filled with garbage. This almost seemed like it was beating it's audience over the head with the meaning, while Dove's left some room to think about it. These two artists worked well together though, and were definitely a good choice.

I missed the title of Sara and Nicole's presentation but it dealt with the artists Jessica Bruah and Graham Harwood. I really enjoyed Bruah's photos of the faceless people in awkward situations. Since they were faceless, it left you with more to think about and the ability to wonder who this person was. I liked that mystery about it. Both artists worked off the idea of identity which made them complement each other in the presentation quite well. Harwood was a bit more intense but still played off this concept of identity by telling stories with photos of faces. Bruah's work appealed to me more aesthetically, but there's really no reason why.

Jess and Liz's exhibit was also interesting. It was called "Interaction Required" and all of the pieces involved the viewer's interaction. Rebecca Allen's pieces were interesting because she used modern technology for the viewer to actually physically control the piece. Usman Haque's pieces were also very interesting. I really liked how the viewers voice was the main component in making these works successful. Without the viewer, the art wouldn't exist, at least the way it was intended to.

I missed the name of Kyle and Ryan's exhibit but it was all about manipulation. The artists they spoke about took finished pieces of art and manipulated them to create new pieces. Artist Lillian Schwartz combined the Mona Lisa and a self portrait of Leonardo Da Vinci because there is a theory that the Mona Lisa is also a self portrait. Cory Arcangel's work was pretty interesting too. He changed nintendo games and made them do what he wanted them to do. I always found programming crazy and can't even imagine how he tapped into these games and created what he wanted to. I also like the fact that both of these artists changed the meaning of the previous things they are working with. It leaves you with the question, what is art really worth?

Liz and Jess's exhibit was about Repetition and it included Pascal Dombis and Terry Mulligan. Dombis works with algorithms and line drawing with repetition being his biggest component. Terry Mulligan's pieces use geometric repetition so these artists were good choices to compare.

I also liked Alfred and Brian's presentation that included artists many people overlook. Both John Lasseter and John Knoll have done important things in the digital world. Lasseter created Pixar and Knoll created photoshop. I'm sure many people overlook these people as traditional artists but they deserve a lotof credit. Both have pioneered new ways of creating digital art.

Self Visualization Updated

While working on my self visualization project, I realized that I was heading in the complete wrong direction and had to turn around and retrace my steps. Some of the images remain, but the final concept is completely different. The piece ended up consisting of three pieces. On each piece were the unifying factors of the background, which was made up of different sections of walls of a house that I spent a lot of time in, crowds from all of the shows that my band has played which consist of most of my closest friends, and the main photos which I still made them have that "old" look to them. The middle piece is still of me, but on the left is the bay in Bayonne, while the right is the ocean in California. The meaning behind all of this is fairly simple. My band started in the first frame, and where I want it to go is the last frame. We all want to be the first band in Bayonne to get out, and that's what I am trying to show here. The house is significant because I have done most of my growing up here since high school. It was like our clubhouse and a place we could always go. It was recently sold and I probably won't be able to step foot in there again. This direction was easier to approach and see and I'm glad I went with something that was more comfortable to me than trying to create something I didn't really know.

Word Visualization

Book

For my final book project I was thinking about using Edgar Allan Poe's "Annabel Lee." In this poem, a man is very in love. The gods are jealous of their love so they decided to kill her and steal her away from him. Now, even though she has passed he still sits and lays at her tomb every night to be as close as he can with her. I chose this poem because it had very obvious visual components and I thought I would enjoy creating the imagery for it. Right now, I'm thinking of making a book shaped as Annabel Lee's headstone or something like that. Other than that I haven't had many ideas yet.

Distortions

I really enjoyed the gallery exhibit entitled Distortions: Contemporary Art From Mexico. I felt like this was one of the first times that I've been to an exhibit where everything in it worked together this well. Each piece was very unique, but when they're viewed side by side there is an added effect of unification, especially since they are all making statements about their culture and where they live. It was also very difficult to pick one artist and piece who was my favorite. If i had to, I think I would have to choose Gilberto Esparza's "Urban Parasites." I love the fact that when you walk into the room, all you see is this heap of garbage, but all of a sudden you notice movement all around it. I think the creation of these things are amazing. I have always been fascinated by robotics. The most interesting part about this piece is that they are all found objects. I really wish I could see the parts of this series in Mexico that ride the power lines. I loved this idea and I loved watching it.

Self Visualization

I don't think that I have ever thought so hard about an idea for a project in my life. I had a few different ideas in my head, but there is one I am leaning towards. Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the 1950's and how simple the times were. There wasn't much to do, there wasn't much technology, and there wasn't much variety. I often wonder what it would have been like to be a teenager during this time. Along with thinking about this, I have been listening to a band that are all in their late twenties, but write lyrics as if they grew up then. In my photos I'm wearing a simple white t-shirt and blue jeans. No logos, no gimmicks. I wonder if this simplicity would be a good thing. I always hear members of this generation saying "Those were the days." But were they?

That's how I came up with the idea to explore this scenario, and place myself into an era by aging the photographs. I also want to scan actual old photographs and use them as a background. Then, I came up with the sink or swim idea. Again, tying in with the same band, it has been a thought stuck in my head for quite some time. It's the simplest answer to life; you can either sink, or swim. It also ties in with where I live and grew up, surrounded by water. These ideas are very different but I feel like somehow I can connect them. Who knows.