Work of Art
Four University Studies Goals
1. Critical Thinking
Fall 2015:
The assignment that I believe represents the critical thinking goal is, the second inquiry assignment. In this assignment, we chose a body of art from an artist mentioned in our main freshmen inquiry class. The body of art I chose was, In His Infinite Wisdom by Damien Hirst. I feel that this assignment represents this goal because, I had to think on a deeper level about such a minimalistic piece of art. Describing such an abstract piece of art in the most neutral way possible felt challenging to me. In the third paragraph of this assignment, I had to interpret the meaning of the art piece. This was a tough task for me because Hurst’s In His Infinite Wisdom doesn’t give you a lot to interpret. I was thinking long and hard about what Hurst could have meant by this sculpture. I felt that I was thinking the most critically when the responsibility of interpretation was left to me.
Winter 2016:
In this term of Work of Art at PSU, we were assigned to create a game based off of a art piece from the permanent collection at the Portland Art Museum. Art work that I chose was, Omega by Lynda Benglis. The game I created based off this artwork was a video game where the player creates their own version of Omega in a 3D space with color changing walls, and various music playing in the background. I believe this project represents the Critical Thinking goal because as the student, it took a lot of thinking, and planning to come up with a game from a seemingly vague boy of art. I spend a lot of time researching the artists, picking up as much information as I could behind her creative process, and the methods she used to create Omega. I found that Lynda Benglis was inspired by the general aesthetics of Los Angeles, and New York City. While she didn’t directly take from those aesthetics, her spending time between those two cities while creating Omega bled into the creative process. I wanted to simulate this in my game to demonstrate how the environment people live in subconsciously inspires them to make interesting creative decisions.
Spring 2016:
The assignments that I felt represent the critical thinking goal are the in class freewrites. These assignments were introduced to us in short notice. Usually after a lecture, in class reading, or a video that was shown at the beginning of class. My class would be given a topic to write about in 15 minutes. During this time, I felt like I had to really think about what I wanted to write down. Being put on the spot definitely felt stressful, but I liked how spontaneous it felt. Trying to get down as many important thoughts down onto the paper was an interesting task. After the 15 minutes were up, I would read back what I wrote down. Often I would see mistakes with my wording, and see new ways to write down thoughts. I felt that my writing improved because of these assignments. I was able to formulate my thoughts faster, and be able to make coherent claims in my writing on the spot. In these times I really did feel like I was thinking critically.
2. Appreciation of the Diversity of Human Experience
Fall 2015:
I was given the opportunity to choose a song that I strongly disliked, and dissect why I dislike it so much, but also think about why this song would be enjoyable to others. The song I chose was I Quit by female rap artist Tiva. I believe this represents the appreciation of diversity of human experience goal because, I was given the opportunity to step outside my personal tastes and listen to a song with a different perspective. Since I was looking for reasons why this song would be considered good to others, I appreciated the artist and the song itself more than I would have if I listened to I Quit on my own terms. Not only do I think my personal experience dissecting a non desireable song helped me look at it in a new light, but for my fellow classmates as well. Along with writing a paper in response to the songs me and my classmates chose, we did presentations talking in brief why we dislike the songs we chose. Seeing these presentations made me appreciate the wide range of music that is disliked by other people. Some of the songs that were attacked were personal favorites of mine. Some good points were made as to why a song is distasteful to most people. Overall, I feel that I came away from this assignment with a more open mind and a new appreciation for different genres of music.
Winter 2016:
My Work of Art Freshman Inquiry course at PSU was given the opportunity to work with artists at Project Grow, an art studio for people with developmental disabilities. I was able to see first hand what kinds of mediums the artist use, and see their creative process in action. I feel that the assignment that best represents the Appreciation of the Diversity of the Human Experience is the Project Grow reflection. I found my experience at Project Grow to be an interesting and enriching one. I was able to interview an artist named, Jamal. He likes to paint with pen ink and a bamboo stick on old maps. Speaking with him was interesting for me because he had an interesting perception of art. I asked him what he thought about art and he responded with, “it makes me happy.” His response resonated with me, it made me think about what someone without a developmental disability would say about art. Overall, I had a good experience with the artists at project grow.
Spring 2016:
Near the end of the Spring 2016 term, my class was assigned to create an art piece that represented something from the entire school year. We all got to present our art pieces in a gallery like setting in our classroom. I found this project exciting because all of my classmates brought something in that was special to them. The meanings and thoughts behind their art were all unique to the students. I felt that this project best represents the Appreciation of the Diversity of the Human Experience goal because, this first year of college was very different for most students in my class. I had a lot of life changing experiences, and made a lot of new connections with people this year. Seeing how my classmates summed up their freshmen experience was exciting. I saw a lot of positive and negative emotions being portrayed in their artwork. I really felt like their work was genuine, and an extension of their personalities. I really appreciated the diversity of my classmates first year experiences at Portland State University.
3. Ethics and Social Responsibility
Fall 2015:
Ethics and Social Issues are becoming very prominent in today's schools and universities. Subjects surrounding these topics can be very controversial and spark some heated discussions. I believe these topics shouldn’t be avoided, they shouldn’t be demonized and they most certainly shouldn’t be ignored. The assignment I feel represents the ethics and social responsibility goal, is the article summary of an article by Bell Hooks titled Postmodern Blackness. In this article, Bell touches on subjects involving race prejudice in the art world, and differences in social status based on race and gender pertaining to art. She makes a point of how the art world is dominated by white male artists. She has a vision to shed more light on black artists who feel restricted in their art. Bell points out how a lot of art made by black artists has social injustice messages embedded in the meaning of the art. She thinks this is a good thing, but she also wishes that black artists don’t have to feel bound to any specific subject matter. Bell thinks that black people don’t have to always leave social justice messages in their work. Me being a white male, I have privileges that are invisible to me, I am treated differently than people who have a different skin tone than me, or are the opposite gender. But, it is my responsibility to be respectful and aware of my privilege. I believe this article has opened my eyes to the social status of the art world. I found it to be extremely relevant to the Work of Art Freshmen Inquiry Class because of how race ties into the success of an artist. I think this assignment represents this goal in a very relevant and conscious way. I was able to think about what the perspective of a black person, or women in the art world.
Winter 2016:
In my Work of Art Freshmen Inquiry Class, we look at various forms of media, through articles, videos, and podcasts. One video we watched relating to the Ethics and Social Responsibility goal was the music video for Michael Jackson's song They Don’t Care About Us. The song was originally intended to fight against oppression towards black people. But, the way Michael Jackson wrote the song, it can be applied to other oppressed groups of people in society. This was applied to the struggles people in the poor neighborhoods of Brazil that weren't getting any financial support from their government. The music video was filmed in the favelas of Brazil to show the culture and music that thrives in these disenfranchised parts of the country. I think that this music video represents the Ethics and Responsibility goal because it demonstrates inequality and injustice in such a way where a vast audience can see the music video. Michael Jackson used his fame to shed light on a serious issue that afflicts oppressed people around the world.
Spring 2016:
On April 16th, I went to the Portland Art Museum to visit an art exhibit titled, “Next Level Fucked Up.” This exhibit was interesting to say the least. Featuring a room illuminated by a red light, old TV’s stacked in a pyramid shape, and handmade beanbags with pictures of dog droppings inside of a plastic bag sitting in a patch of grass. This exhibit was fascinating, but mostly confusing. My class was assigned to reflect on our experience at Next Level Fucked Up. Then we shared our thoughts on the exhibit in a class discussion. The general consensus on the exhibit was very negative. A lot of my classmates thought that the artist was trying too hard to make a compelling art exhibit about the shocking, and controversial “fucked up” things happening in Portland, and our nation. Pretentious was an adjective that was thrown around a lot during this discussion. While I agreed with a lot of the points that were made, I also took into consideration what was significant about the issues that were talked about in the movies that were projected on the wall of the exhibit. One of the videos shown touched on the gentrification problem in Portland, Oregon. Another video talked about the ethics of neutering dogs. To me these issues seemed irrelevant for 2016. But, after further investigation on the artist, I found out that these are issues that are rooted deeply in her life, dating back to her childhood. I had a moment of self reflection after these findings and realised that me and a lot of my colleagues all have problems that might seem insignificant on the surface, but deep down mean the world to that person. I feel that it is each individual's responsibility to respect and understand the issues, and hardships every person faces in their lives.
4. Communication
Fall 2015:
At the beginning of the Fall 2015 Term, communicating my thoughts through writing and quantitative literacy was a challenge. There was some sort of mental hurdle that was felt impossible to get over. After reading a piece of literature that we were assigned to summarise, I came away with these certain feelings and reactions to the reading. I just didn’t know how to express them through my writing. The assignment that I think represents the communication university study's goal is, the quote summary from the chapter readings in the book Let’s Talk About Love by Carl Wilson. More specifically, the quote summary from chapters 1-4. Carl Wilson discusses taste by expressing his distaste for female pop singer Celine Dion. In these chapters, Wilson says something that I don’t think I’ll ever forget. “as a former bullied kid, I always figured it started from rejection. If respect or simple fairness were denied you, you’d build a great life (the best revenge)” Page 8. This quote resonated with me on a personal level. This quote related to me because I was also a bullied kid when I was younger. I felt trapped, I felt like I was always going to be inferior to every person who didn’t respect me. The only way I was able to find my way around being bullied, was being successful. Since my words didn’t seem to have any effect on people who would put me down, my actions spoke louder. After doing this assignment, I was fully able to express my feelings about this quote. I was able to fully communicate my appreciation for Wilson and how I related to him through this quote. I feel like writing about our thoughts on these smaller quotes from a short reading was the best way I was able to sharpen my communication skills in my writing.
Winter 2016:
During the Winter 2016 term of Work of Art, we looked at disability, and the implications of what it means to be disabled. One article we read was “Crip Time” by Petra Kuppers. In this article, she talks about people who suffer from cerebral palsy and can’t walk or talk very easily. She later talks about sanctuaries that are created by abled bodied in public spaces, such as a public park. In these sanctuaries, abled body people serve as a disabled person's legs, or arms. The person receiving treatment from the servants can talk to them about anything they want, or express how they feel about something. They can also hold someone out of their wheelchair, if they want to know what it feels like to be weightless, or what it’s like to stand and dance. For me, I believe that this reading represents the Communication goal because, communication doesn’t always mean it’s with words. Emotions can be conveyed through movement and feeling. Crip Time was an empowering article that communicated to me what it is like to communicate through the help of
other people.
Spring 2016:
During the Spring 2016 term of Work of Art, our class was involved with a variety of different projects, assignments, and concepts. One assignment that sticks out the most, that I believe represents the communication goal is, the Advertisement and Oil Painting comparison assignment. This assignment involved picking an advertisement of our choosing, doing a slow looking writing assignment, and finding an image of an oil painting online that resembles, or has visual elements in the painting that corresponds with our chosen advertisement. I felt that communicating what the comparisons of the oil painting and advertising had in common was a challenging task because most of the comparable thing were visual. I found myself describing a lot of what I saw, and explaining what about visual elements resembled something from the advertisement, or vice versa. For my advertisement, I chose an ad from a skateboarding magazine. The ad was for a new skate shoe designed by a professional skater. The ad depicted the pro skater’s arm extending across the spread, holding the shoes by the laces with their fist clenched. When I began my search, I didn’t expect to find anything that resembled my advertisement. Until I came across a painting by Leonardo Da Vinci titled St Jerome. The painting shows what I believe to be St. Jerome himself kneeling on the ground with his arm extended exactly like the pro skater in the shoe advertisement. I found the similarity to be quite uncanny.