Micro Project 2: Write-up

Unfortunately my first journey to class didn’t consist of me walking, aimlessly, around the stadium. On my first trip to class I walked with my friend John Silvestri, who is also in this class. Because he had taken this class last semester for about a week before dropping it, we found the classroom no problem. Finding the class on that first Friday however, was a little more difficult. You see every Wednesday John and I walk to class from our dormitory. But on Fridays I have class beforehand, so I walk here by myself from the Science and Engineering Library, after getting my morning cup of coffee.  I actually had to backtrack a little bit and find the original path I had taken on Wednesday in order to get to class.

It’s amazing how different senses are put into focus as the walk to class has become more routine. For example, the first time I walked to class most of my attention was focused on sight. I was looking around, finding landmarks, and making sure that I will be able to replicate this walk for next class. Touch, taste or smell really didn’t faze me. However, now that I don’t have to focus on sight to find my way to class, my other senses are becoming more of a factor.

Blog Post #9

Article 1: Carver

                This article is a short narrative about a blind man, Robert, who comes to visit an old friend and her husband, told by the husband. One thing I really enjoyed about this story was the change in the husband’s point of view on blindness. At first, he seemed to look down on blind people, insulting not only themselves, but also their spouses. Anyway, about halfway through the article the three of them are having a conversation. Maybe it was because of the 5 or 6 drinks they had, but the husband started to almost envy Robert. Even though he was blind Robert seemed to have a deeper connection with his wife than he did. In fact, his relationship with his wife almost seemed shallow and loveless. I think it stumped him that a blind man had such a meaningful life, when he didn’t.

                Literally the only thing I didn’t like about this article was that they never told us the names of the man and his wife. It made writing this reflection a lot more difficult and confusing than it needed to be!

Blog Post #8

Article 1: Wallace

One thing I liked about this article is when Wallace claims that a liberal arts education “teaches you how to think” rather than just throwing information at you. I can’t really speak about this in a liberal arts setting but I think that this translates to many other subjects. For instance in my engineering class we are looking at two dimensional representations of three dimensional objects. Rather than just showing us how to solve the problem, they help us figure out how to approach the problem and visualize the object looking at only one or two of its sides. That way when we come across another problem, where the object has unique dimensions, our brains will know how to figure it out.

One thing that I did not like about this article is when they started to talk about how the mind “is a terrible master” and that this is why people commit suicides by shooting themselves in the head. I found this to be very distastefully and frankly, foolish.

Micro- Project 1

 Person up close

 Person and their surrounding space

 An image from the point of view of a bird















 
An image from the point of view of an ant

An unstable image ===>

A stable image
















Asymmetrical image

                                                            Symmetric image

 Radial image

                                                    My name on campus... kinda

The experience was similar to that of the first 10 pictures because in both cases I was randomly taking pictures of my surrounding while confused pedestrians walked past. The main difference between these two experiences was that in the first set I was just taking pictures without really thinking about it. However, for the second group of pictures I had to actually think about my surroundings and find images that follow at least one of the guidelines. The process of taking the first ten pictures was definitely more enjoyable than the second because I wasn’t limited to only taking pictures that expressed one of the ten guidelines... Also it was significantly colder the day I decided to take the second, 10 pictures. My favorite picture was of the paper towels. When you first look at the picture you see two circles, the cardboard interior, and the outer “shell.” However, the role of paper towels is actually made up of dozens of circles that are so close together you can barely make the distinction. I also enjoyed taking the “close up” picture of my friend simply because of the process, and his confusion after I took it.

Pictures

Blog Post #7

Article 1: Kaprow

One thing that I liked from this article is when Kaprow talks about how brushing his teeth has become routine. He predicts that 99 percent of his life is dedicated to routine tasks that he no longer thinks about. Although I think this percentage is an over-exaggeration, I would be interesting in finding out what the true number is.

However, I do not understand how this could be linked to art.

Article 2: Weschler “Desert”

The thing I found most interesting about this article is when he was talking about Michael Heizer and his work, and how his photo-murals somehow lost everything that was important in the translation.

One thing I didn’t like about this article was that Weschler didn’t show anyone his “work.” I have a hard time appreciating art work I cannot see or hear.

Article 3: Saunders

One thing I found interesting about this article is the idea of living your entire life as if you had just survived a near death experience. I’ve never experienced a near death experience but I’d imagine it would be like being like an extended adrenaline rush.

As for something I didn’t like about this article, there really wasn’t anything except for maybe how lengthy it was.

Blog Post #6

Article 1: Cardiff and Miller

                The one thing that I liked in this article is on the first page. I liked how they described the sound of the explosion that felt as real as one’s own heartbeat.

For me, this article has been the most pointless article I’ve read for this class. At first the writer makes Cardiff and Miller out to be sound producers, like for movies or other soundtracks. But after a while they start talking about “audio walks” and staring at your IPhone while walking aimlessly through a bus station. I don’t understand how they got from sitting in a trailer listening to a soundtrack based off of war, to that. To sum up, the main thing that I don’t like about this article is that it seems like they’re saying a lot of different things, but I have no idea what I’m supposed to “take” from it all.