My Final project is going to be a collaboration modeled after Kerry Tribe’s “North is West, South is East”. I plan on asking other people from different areas of life to draw a map of Iraq and answer two questions about war (what it means to them and how it has affected them). After collecting the maps and answers from people I would like to combine them in some way and put them on display. I haven’t decided what the best way to create the final project would be but I’m leaning towards a book or a poster of some sort.
By: apetzing on January 14, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Recently, I have been interested in the ideas of rationality, truth and pure reason. As members of modern (post-modern?) Western Culture, our lived relations to the real have been shaped and formed by the modern hegemony of Rational, Liberal Humanism. This ruling ideology has elevated itself and many of its key ideas (pure reason, TRUTH, strict or loose materialism) until they are almost unquestionable in their assuredness. For my project, I want to explore the legacy that our Enlightenment forefathers have bequeathed us; not as unquestionable truth, but as another interpretation of the world, a modern mythology. Thus, using elements of myth (mostly Classical Greek), I want to destroy liberal humanism and dialectical materialism as untouchable truth (the very idea of Pure Truth comes to us only from this movement) and represent / re-present it as I view it to exist; as contemporary mystagogy. Just like any mythology, the mysticism of Enlightenment thought exists through constant collaborative cultural dialogue, and it is my belief that any such cultural dialogue is also essentially aesthetic in nature. Although I’m not entirely sure what form this project will take yet, I’m thinking of crafting a sort of lofty, fragmented pantheon of enlightenment thought and the deified men / humanized deities responsible for its creation. Such a form would be put together from found texts, illustrations, diagrams, and other detritus of the same Western Civilization it contains. Elements of Dada, Heideggerian mysticism and general surreal obtuseness might be used to reveal the real irrational mythology behind the legacy of the Enlightenment. If this concept can be presented at 51 Main in a way in which the viewer is mystified by an unfamiliar representation of their ‘rational’ culture, I think that my goals of defamiliarization and conceptual deconstruction would be well served.
By: nbujalsk on January 14, 2009 at 6:15 pm
(Trey btw)- I plan on working on a text narrative for my final project. I am not sure exactly how I want to integrate this at this point. I am sure that I want to do something in terms of visual art that accompanies the narrative which I am going to create. To begin with, I plan on taking some work of art (or many works) and interpreting the intricacies and form of that piece of art into a working narrative. Some of the thoughts I had in mind was to possibly take a large picture(s) of a statuesque sculpture(s) and then imagine if that sculpture got up and started to walk around (imagine if the venus de milo became animate- how would it move- what would she be trying to do- where would she be going?). I have also thought about using all the pieces in our exhibition and creating a narrative out of that, or just working with one other person from the class in particular (anyone interested?). Also thought about doing a performance piece where I create the narrative at the exhibition itself (obviously more thought and structure and sanctions will have to be considered for a performance). I was also thinking about having someone narrate the narrative during the exhibition, while a slide show displays the text itself and the visual images that accompany it. All of this is very loose and I’m still working on exactly what I want to do and how I want to do it, but any comments, suggestions, or any interest in collaborating is appreciated.
By: cairo119 on January 14, 2009 at 6:24 pm
For my final project, I was hoping to take the ideas of ekphrasis and direct influence and run with them in a few different ways. The first part I was thinking about would involve my choosing a number of images within visual art (paintings, drawings, sculpture), and responding to them in a literary way, by composing poems and “shorts,” which I think of a really really short stories (maybe a page or a few pages) that describe/characterize the artwork, or use it as a departure point for the writing.
Another part of my project will hopefully involve my friends and peers. I want to present a group of people gathered together with a series of images and ask them to respond ekphrastically, spontaneously, to what they see. I’m not quite sure how I will incorporate these responses, whether or not I’ll play with them/incorporate them into my own writing, or simply present them as they are. I also thought it would be cool to incorporate this same interactive activity with visitors to 51 Main on the day of the presentations, perhaps showing them the examples that my friends completed.
Finally, I was really intrigued by the Typing Explosion activity that we engaged in today, and thought that for my project I could similarly rely on a number of different people – strangers, friends, family – to come up with titles, or maybe lines, of poems or stories, and use those as a jumping off point to write my own pieces. So those are some of my ideas – thanks! – Samantha
By: spack345 on January 14, 2009 at 8:19 pm
I’m collaborating with Tucker to film a structuralist influenced movie about Middlebury. We plan to film public areas on campus, in the town, at the Snow Bowl, for long periods of time. We will then play with the timing of the clips and will eventually string the lightly edited footage together in the hopes of creating a portrait of our little bubble. Some of these shots will use time-lapse filming, others will be at regular speed, and perhaps some will be slowed down to emphasize the visual effect of whatever happens to occur in front of our lens. Hopefully, we will be able to film from morning to night over many days with the aim of filming a day in the life of Middlebury. This whole project springs out of a sense of profound luck at our being in such an incredible place, as well as an interest in how seeing something familiar in an unfamiliar way can change one’s perceptions. As for the actual presentation, depending on how central sound is to our movie, we were considering projecting our film at 51 in a continuous loop throughout the evening. This format would lend itself to the long, simple shots we plan on employing. Tucker is going to write her own comment, and I’m sure she’ll have some other ideas or ways of interpreting our project.
By: Timothy Henderson on January 14, 2009 at 8:37 pm
For my final project I am going to be working with Tim H in an attempt to create a raw video of Middlebury College students daily lives. Both of us are under the impression that many Middlebury students lead exceptionally privileged lives (inculding ourselves). We wish to explore this concept through “surveillance” of the campus (and maybe even clips from our own lives). This will then hopefully be combined with clips and/or photos of others lives in different areas of the world. I would also like to add in quotes from books that I have read to emphasis our point. So as of now our project seems to be going in the direction of a social message. I do not want it to be an obvious message, though, and I want it to be multi layered so different people may derive different outlooks based upon our final production. I am hoping that we can combine similarities within daily life habits, such as driving, but place the clips in a way that people are able to see, for example, driving in a completly different context. We may also decide to add in poems, paintings, photos to take clips even more out of context.
In order to create this film, we are going to have to spend a lot of time filming different social spaces on campus, filming our own lives, and doing research in order to obtain the necessary material that will enhance our final product. When we do finally display the film I do not want it to be a typical screening. It would be cool to have contrasting background music and/or a clutter of voices playing while multiple screens played different segments of the film at once.
By: tburton22 on January 14, 2009 at 8:56 pm
I am very interested in the Works Progress Administration (WPA) which was started during the Great Depression. The WPA was the governments attempt to employ a variety of artists, writers, and musicians to produce work that could inspire people and enhance the quality of life in America. Essentially this government intervention tried to create a national identity and culture further trying to jump start the economy. Some key artists include John Steinbeck,Milton Avery, Stuart Davis, Mark Rothko, Willem deKooning, and Jackson Pollock. Although these artists did separate projects I am interested as to how they worked as a whole in an attempt to create a national identity during hard times. Although it was not a direct collaboration with one another they worked together to help a bigger project. I somehow plan to collect interviews of people during the Great Depression and present these views with the different forms of art during this era. I would also like to connect this type of art with present times and see how it would affect the economic issues we are experiencing right now. If it worked for the Great Depression would these types of art movements work for our economic current economic recession? Hopefully I can find a good way to combine all these artists and ideas together.
By: jhunter2187 on January 14, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Our project will include collaborations from other artists as well as ourselves to make our final piece (yet to be imagined). We are going to start off by listening to Viva La Hova, a Jay-Z and Coldplay remix, we will break each song down and ask for a volunteer to blindfold themselves with headphones playing a particular song. The volunteer will then rhythmically paint or draw how the song is portrayed in their minds. We will do this for every song in the album and create a final mosaic of pieces from the album.
By: Taylor Robinson and Charlie Schoppp on January 14, 2009 at 9:02 pm
there are two short stories which i have been fixated on for years, that i find i am constantly re-reading. one is “the jungle book” by rudyard kipling, and the second is “the incredible and sad tale of innocent erendira and her heartless grandmother” by gabriel garcia marquez. both of the protagonists, mowgli, and erendira, represent youth and the nobility that comes along with it. while mowgli is faced with the dangers of the jungle, not fitting into the animal or the human kingdom, erendira is forced to repay her whale-sized colossal grandmother, for the house she burned down, by selling her body. there is a similar spark of determination in each of them, and although their lives couldnt be more different, they are both alienated by their bizarre situations. i am very interested in the modern day symbolism of these stories hold in our society today, and my personal connection to them: especially the significance of shere-kahn, the lame-footed tiger bent on mowgli’s destruction, and erendira’s selfish grandmother.
i want to hypothesize what would happen if innocent erendira and fearless mowgli were put into the same story. what would happen when they meet? how would they interact? what if i change the setting, or time period? i want to experiment with this through a number of mediums, writing, painting, movement, sound, flesh. i suppose i’ll start by taking the stories apart, i’m not quite sure what i will do with them. if i will collage sections of each story, or simply rewrite a new story with both characters. since i mostly practice oil painting, i am hesitant to use the word “illustrate”, but i would like to create a series of paintings to accompany the written piece. perhaps this will even move off the page and canvas and onto the human body. i am contemplating building a scenery/background and placing a living erendira and mowgli onto it, choreographing movements (i’m tempted to say dance, but not dance) for them to act/move, as music is played, and segments of the tampered writing is read. or perhaps i will just use these actors and the scene to shoot a series of photographs. this all sounds very loose now, i’ll have to experiment with all of them and then see which one seems the truest.
By: lingjielizabeth on January 14, 2009 at 9:25 pm
I’m really interested in typography and the design of fonts and how letters form words and ideas. My final project will experiment with the collaboration between an audience with forms, fonts, and letters. The audience at 51 Main will encounter the physical nature of letters and fonts fused together with visually projected letters. Materials will be provided for them, and they will create and design different fonts, words, and ideas through the combination of the physical materials and projected letters.
It’s possible that I will have my Wacom tablet set up so they can actually from scratch create something to be juxtaposed with a pre-existing letter or form. I’m still toying with certain ideas, like the different perspectives that can come about (2D, 3D, below/above eye level) when using letters and forms. Different perspectives achieved by the audience can produce a final mixture of type forms that have rarely been created before.
Therefore, my project will ultimately be for audience collaboration and it will test their creative sides to see the variety of forms that result. A collaborative effort on the design and form of type will prove to be interesting because it is usually done independently by designers…
By: Stephen McCombe on January 14, 2009 at 9:47 pm
I would like to create a wallpaper design for my final project. It will hopefully be presented in a floor to ceiling length of printed paper–either silkscreened or printed on the large format printer in the library.
My design will come from a collaging of different campus architecture and public art on campus. I want to create an imaginary environment that looks foreign but is comprised of recognizable elements.
I am thinking about getting different people to sketch places or buildings on campus that are important to them, and then pulling and changing elements of their drawings in Photoshop to create a final design that will be put into repeat for the wallpaper. I would love for people in the class to help me with drawing.
The types of collaboration for my project are direct influence and collaging of outside artists’ work.
By: hillaryp on January 14, 2009 at 10:02 pm
For my final project I want to use catch phrases and one liners from news media and pop culture regarding conceptions / misconceptions of poverty and Africa. I want to generate lines by getting people to respond to different photos of people, especially children from East Africa. I want to play with the images NGOs and charities use to try bring in donations as well as photos from my friends and homestay families in Kenya. I am imagining a display of a pile of garbage, photos, and oversized quotes, or maybe certain quotes repetitively emphasizing different words. I want to highlight just how ridiculous ideas like “$1 per day” and “20,000 children a day”. I might incorporate audio from pop culture as well. Essentially I want my presentation to be a testament to how life is overdetermined in Africa just as it is anywhere else.
By: Brian Swartz on January 14, 2009 at 10:13 pm
My project is going to be dealing with the music that is used by the American military during interrogations and to induce sleep deprivation. Some of the artists I will be featuring are Metallica, Niel Diamond, Eminem, Drowning Pool, Rage Against the Machine, Bruce Springstein and various others…
What I plan on doing at this point is playing some of these songs around campus to see how people react to it and what emotions it invokes in different people. The reason I find this so interesting is because much of the music that is used is extremely surprising. However, it is easy to understand how listening to the same song over and over again at an extremely loud volume could become mind wrecking. I am also going to compile some sort of poster board display of the different songs and lyrics, as well as a little on each artist and how they reacted when they found that their music was being used for torture. I will also create some sort of journal on how certain people react when they hear these songs around campus. I am still in the beginning stages of my planning and would love to hear any ideas that other people have.
By: Jonathan Ercole on January 14, 2009 at 10:13 pm
I am going to be doing a photographic crush list. Inspired by the general creepiness of crushlists, and the growing use of Facebook to “stalk” people, my crushlist will be photos taken as if by a stalker. I will hopefully be working with the various people on my crush list to stage the photographs in different settings which would mimic a stalker’s photographs, chronicling different moments in a person’s daily life. I will take them with a telephoto lens.
I am deciding whether to push the project toward a more fashion shoot aesthetic or to make it more straight photography.
The collaboration will be with the models, in an attempt to set up the shot and adjust the locations and images. I am also considering accompanying the images with a poem written by the subject concerning their daily routine. Or maybe to have them write a love letter…
By: andersmeyer on January 14, 2009 at 10:26 pm
For my final project I want to experiment with bringing the variability of the oral tradition of storytelling to visual arts. Every time a story is told orally it changes a little because each new storyteller brings with him/her their own style, personality, and techniques. I hope to develop a “visual narrative” in a similar way.
What I hope to do is to start this narrative off by creating a peace of visual art. I’m not sure yet what this will be but I think I would like it to be something inspired by a story that was passed down through oral tradition. Then I will pass my piece of art on to a friend. This friend will have a day to look at the piece, to contemplate it, to see how it makes them feel. Then, I will take the piece away and my friend will have one day to recreate the “story” in their own way. They can take a picture, or make a painting or write a poem, as long as to them, they are retelling the story. Their piece will then be passed to the next storyteller. I hope to do this as many times as possible and then to collect the works and display them in a progression, either displayed on the wall or in a book.
I don’t think this project would fall under any one type of collaboration. If my original piece is inspired by a story that would be direct inspiration. But the real heart of the project comes from my friends being inspired by my or each other’s work. This would probably be considered direct collaboration.
By: deetambo on January 14, 2009 at 10:43 pm
originally, I wanted to re-create a college dorm room inside 51 main. It would look like any normal dorm room from Middlebury (or any college), except for one thing: everything in the room would be recycled and reused. Nothing would be bought at a place like Wal-Mart or Target. I would love to show that it is possible to decorate stylishly and still have a minimal impact on the environment. I am very interested in the collaborations occuring all the time between those who call themselves “environmentalists” and those who call themselves “designers.” You can buy an “eco-friendly” version of almost anythign these days, but it’s even more eco-friendly to buy something that has already been made.
Since a dorm room setup would be really hard inside 51 main, i am thinking of gearing my project more toward the decoration of 51 main itself. For the night of our show, and the days after, I will add touches to the decor in the space using objects found at Round Robin, Bejeweled, and Neat Repeats. The local economy benefits from the recycling of these objects. I would also like to look more into the college’s recycling, especially on the move-out days in may. How can our college throw out less stuff? How can we improve the system to better recycle the students’ things that end up in the recycling center? I will augment my “decor” with interviews from the people at the recycling center and possibly some statistics.
By: 07howardl on January 14, 2009 at 11:22 pm
I’m not sure quite how to explain the idea I have for my final project, but I’ll try. It is based on an idea of life as possibly the most important art form. In this sense, we are each artists in the creation of our own lives and our individual paths.
Something I find particularly interesting is that while every individual is unique in his/her individuality, there is absolutely no such thing as an individual who is separate from the rest of the world and the rest of the human family. Every person and every person’s life is full of collaboration. I’m only here because my parents decided to have a child. My parents both had their own sets of parents. The sweater I’m wearing right now….what infinitely long chain of events and people and animals brought this alpaca sweater to be on my body right now? See what I’m getting at?
Furthermore, while we all live in our individuated and subjective versions of reality, there are threads of commonality that run through us. One of the major ones being: we all want to be happy. I often explore in my own consciousness the idea that deep, real, lasting happiness (in sanskrit, ananda, or bliss) can only come through learning to truly accept ourselves and others for exactly who we are. I do not think that acceptance of the self and acceptance of others can be separated.
Life, specifically leading a life of happiness, is an art form, and by nature of our existence as individual humans in the infinite and interconnected web of life, an inherently collaborative art form. I often, however, forget the beauty and sacredness of daily life, the freedom of being myself in my own version of relative reality, and the freedom that comes in recognizing other people as whole and entire beings with their own lives and stories and loves and sadness. So for my final project, I want nothing more than to create a little nook in 51 Main that provides a sacred space in which the beauty, individuality, and interconnected collaborative nature of the human experience can be tasted, even just a little bit. I want to serve chai and offer henna tattoos for anyone who wants them, but more than anything I just want to create a space with the intention of exploring the human experience of just being who we are, together.
I will use art (both henna and the work of other artists) to create the space, of course, but the most important collaborative aspect I think we will be among people within the space, and between people and the space.
I don’t know specifically what type of collaboration this would be considered. And I think I’ll be able to better explain this in person. Toodles.
By: shivani108 on January 14, 2009 at 11:40 pm
To be entirely honest I am unsure as to what physical form my project will take…I’m debating between a three-dimensional, mixed media wall piece or a standing structure. I think that decision will depend largely on the materials I end up working with or that are available. My hope is to look towards nature for inspiration, perhaps incorporating cultural motifs to create a juxtaposition of images. My hope would be to make unexpected links, or bring overlooked details of nature and/or culture to the forefront. Perhaps this can be achieved by creating a natural scene using unconventional materials. I really don’t know, I tend to develop projects as I go changing as I see what emerges. Of course I would love ideas and suggestions to give me direction and inspiration.
By: Christine Downs on January 14, 2009 at 11:55 pm
My final project will be a collaboration between humans and the natural world. The purpose of my work will be to show the similarities between the human body and the workings of the Earth. Through showing these similarities I hope to connect people to the rudimentary functions of life that are all but forgotten in today’s technology and greed based society. I shall show comparisons between the human nervous system and natural formations found in nature. My work will be most aligned with the work of Katharine Harmon in her piece “You Are Here.” Essentially I will be showing the geography of the human body by mapping it out.
To visually display my work I will use video, photography and drawing. I plan to capture the channels that ice form by using natural dyes and videotaping the routes the water takes through the ice. I shall also photograph ice formations and root and branch formations of trees and other plants. Using images of human anatomy I shall draw my own replications of the nervous system.
My presentation will be a combination of matted images and a projected film. I will project my video close to a window of 51 Main that faces Otter Creek so that it will be possible to watch both the flowing of the water through the ice and the flowing of the river simultaneously. The images will be arranged in pairs showing comparisons between similar formations found in nature and in the human body.
Tucker and I have completely changed fields. We were going to film a movie, but, in light of the current strife in Gaza, we have decided to deal directly with that issue. Our new project asks participants to express – through pictures, words, charts, or whatever they want – what they think needs to happen for there to be peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict. We provide our collaborators with a piece of construction paper and a Sharpie, and they are limited to those materials. We plan to collect the resulting pages in a book to display at 51 Main. So far, the results have been politically, visually, and culturally interesting. It is possible that we will put the Arab-Israeli question to bed after a bunch of pages have been created and will instead ask participants what Obama’s inauguration means to them. I have to credit Hillary’s interest in handwriting with planting the seed for this project in the third mind created by Tucker and me.
By: Timothy Henderson on January 19, 2009 at 7:56 pm
My Final project is going to be a collaboration modeled after Kerry Tribe’s “North is West, South is East”. I plan on asking other people from different areas of life to draw a map of Iraq and answer two questions about war (what it means to them and how it has affected them). After collecting the maps and answers from people I would like to combine them in some way and put them on display. I haven’t decided what the best way to create the final project would be but I’m leaning towards a book or a poster of some sort.
By: apetzing on January 14, 2009
at 4:52 pm
Recently, I have been interested in the ideas of rationality, truth and pure reason. As members of modern (post-modern?) Western Culture, our lived relations to the real have been shaped and formed by the modern hegemony of Rational, Liberal Humanism. This ruling ideology has elevated itself and many of its key ideas (pure reason, TRUTH, strict or loose materialism) until they are almost unquestionable in their assuredness. For my project, I want to explore the legacy that our Enlightenment forefathers have bequeathed us; not as unquestionable truth, but as another interpretation of the world, a modern mythology. Thus, using elements of myth (mostly Classical Greek), I want to destroy liberal humanism and dialectical materialism as untouchable truth (the very idea of Pure Truth comes to us only from this movement) and represent / re-present it as I view it to exist; as contemporary mystagogy. Just like any mythology, the mysticism of Enlightenment thought exists through constant collaborative cultural dialogue, and it is my belief that any such cultural dialogue is also essentially aesthetic in nature. Although I’m not entirely sure what form this project will take yet, I’m thinking of crafting a sort of lofty, fragmented pantheon of enlightenment thought and the deified men / humanized deities responsible for its creation. Such a form would be put together from found texts, illustrations, diagrams, and other detritus of the same Western Civilization it contains. Elements of Dada, Heideggerian mysticism and general surreal obtuseness might be used to reveal the real irrational mythology behind the legacy of the Enlightenment. If this concept can be presented at 51 Main in a way in which the viewer is mystified by an unfamiliar representation of their ‘rational’ culture, I think that my goals of defamiliarization and conceptual deconstruction would be well served.
By: nbujalsk on January 14, 2009
at 6:15 pm
(Trey btw)- I plan on working on a text narrative for my final project. I am not sure exactly how I want to integrate this at this point. I am sure that I want to do something in terms of visual art that accompanies the narrative which I am going to create. To begin with, I plan on taking some work of art (or many works) and interpreting the intricacies and form of that piece of art into a working narrative. Some of the thoughts I had in mind was to possibly take a large picture(s) of a statuesque sculpture(s) and then imagine if that sculpture got up and started to walk around (imagine if the venus de milo became animate- how would it move- what would she be trying to do- where would she be going?). I have also thought about using all the pieces in our exhibition and creating a narrative out of that, or just working with one other person from the class in particular (anyone interested?). Also thought about doing a performance piece where I create the narrative at the exhibition itself (obviously more thought and structure and sanctions will have to be considered for a performance). I was also thinking about having someone narrate the narrative during the exhibition, while a slide show displays the text itself and the visual images that accompany it. All of this is very loose and I’m still working on exactly what I want to do and how I want to do it, but any comments, suggestions, or any interest in collaborating is appreciated.
By: cairo119 on January 14, 2009
at 6:24 pm
For my final project, I was hoping to take the ideas of ekphrasis and direct influence and run with them in a few different ways. The first part I was thinking about would involve my choosing a number of images within visual art (paintings, drawings, sculpture), and responding to them in a literary way, by composing poems and “shorts,” which I think of a really really short stories (maybe a page or a few pages) that describe/characterize the artwork, or use it as a departure point for the writing.
Another part of my project will hopefully involve my friends and peers. I want to present a group of people gathered together with a series of images and ask them to respond ekphrastically, spontaneously, to what they see. I’m not quite sure how I will incorporate these responses, whether or not I’ll play with them/incorporate them into my own writing, or simply present them as they are. I also thought it would be cool to incorporate this same interactive activity with visitors to 51 Main on the day of the presentations, perhaps showing them the examples that my friends completed.
Finally, I was really intrigued by the Typing Explosion activity that we engaged in today, and thought that for my project I could similarly rely on a number of different people – strangers, friends, family – to come up with titles, or maybe lines, of poems or stories, and use those as a jumping off point to write my own pieces. So those are some of my ideas – thanks! – Samantha
By: spack345 on January 14, 2009
at 8:19 pm
I’m collaborating with Tucker to film a structuralist influenced movie about Middlebury. We plan to film public areas on campus, in the town, at the Snow Bowl, for long periods of time. We will then play with the timing of the clips and will eventually string the lightly edited footage together in the hopes of creating a portrait of our little bubble. Some of these shots will use time-lapse filming, others will be at regular speed, and perhaps some will be slowed down to emphasize the visual effect of whatever happens to occur in front of our lens. Hopefully, we will be able to film from morning to night over many days with the aim of filming a day in the life of Middlebury. This whole project springs out of a sense of profound luck at our being in such an incredible place, as well as an interest in how seeing something familiar in an unfamiliar way can change one’s perceptions. As for the actual presentation, depending on how central sound is to our movie, we were considering projecting our film at 51 in a continuous loop throughout the evening. This format would lend itself to the long, simple shots we plan on employing. Tucker is going to write her own comment, and I’m sure she’ll have some other ideas or ways of interpreting our project.
By: Timothy Henderson on January 14, 2009
at 8:37 pm
For my final project I am going to be working with Tim H in an attempt to create a raw video of Middlebury College students daily lives. Both of us are under the impression that many Middlebury students lead exceptionally privileged lives (inculding ourselves). We wish to explore this concept through “surveillance” of the campus (and maybe even clips from our own lives). This will then hopefully be combined with clips and/or photos of others lives in different areas of the world. I would also like to add in quotes from books that I have read to emphasis our point. So as of now our project seems to be going in the direction of a social message. I do not want it to be an obvious message, though, and I want it to be multi layered so different people may derive different outlooks based upon our final production. I am hoping that we can combine similarities within daily life habits, such as driving, but place the clips in a way that people are able to see, for example, driving in a completly different context. We may also decide to add in poems, paintings, photos to take clips even more out of context.
In order to create this film, we are going to have to spend a lot of time filming different social spaces on campus, filming our own lives, and doing research in order to obtain the necessary material that will enhance our final product. When we do finally display the film I do not want it to be a typical screening. It would be cool to have contrasting background music and/or a clutter of voices playing while multiple screens played different segments of the film at once.
By: tburton22 on January 14, 2009
at 8:56 pm
I am very interested in the Works Progress Administration (WPA) which was started during the Great Depression. The WPA was the governments attempt to employ a variety of artists, writers, and musicians to produce work that could inspire people and enhance the quality of life in America. Essentially this government intervention tried to create a national identity and culture further trying to jump start the economy. Some key artists include John Steinbeck,Milton Avery, Stuart Davis, Mark Rothko, Willem deKooning, and Jackson Pollock. Although these artists did separate projects I am interested as to how they worked as a whole in an attempt to create a national identity during hard times. Although it was not a direct collaboration with one another they worked together to help a bigger project. I somehow plan to collect interviews of people during the Great Depression and present these views with the different forms of art during this era. I would also like to connect this type of art with present times and see how it would affect the economic issues we are experiencing right now. If it worked for the Great Depression would these types of art movements work for our economic current economic recession? Hopefully I can find a good way to combine all these artists and ideas together.
By: jhunter2187 on January 14, 2009
at 8:57 pm
Our project will include collaborations from other artists as well as ourselves to make our final piece (yet to be imagined). We are going to start off by listening to Viva La Hova, a Jay-Z and Coldplay remix, we will break each song down and ask for a volunteer to blindfold themselves with headphones playing a particular song. The volunteer will then rhythmically paint or draw how the song is portrayed in their minds. We will do this for every song in the album and create a final mosaic of pieces from the album.
By: Taylor Robinson and Charlie Schoppp on January 14, 2009
at 9:02 pm
there are two short stories which i have been fixated on for years, that i find i am constantly re-reading. one is “the jungle book” by rudyard kipling, and the second is “the incredible and sad tale of innocent erendira and her heartless grandmother” by gabriel garcia marquez. both of the protagonists, mowgli, and erendira, represent youth and the nobility that comes along with it. while mowgli is faced with the dangers of the jungle, not fitting into the animal or the human kingdom, erendira is forced to repay her whale-sized colossal grandmother, for the house she burned down, by selling her body. there is a similar spark of determination in each of them, and although their lives couldnt be more different, they are both alienated by their bizarre situations. i am very interested in the modern day symbolism of these stories hold in our society today, and my personal connection to them: especially the significance of shere-kahn, the lame-footed tiger bent on mowgli’s destruction, and erendira’s selfish grandmother.
i want to hypothesize what would happen if innocent erendira and fearless mowgli were put into the same story. what would happen when they meet? how would they interact? what if i change the setting, or time period? i want to experiment with this through a number of mediums, writing, painting, movement, sound, flesh. i suppose i’ll start by taking the stories apart, i’m not quite sure what i will do with them. if i will collage sections of each story, or simply rewrite a new story with both characters. since i mostly practice oil painting, i am hesitant to use the word “illustrate”, but i would like to create a series of paintings to accompany the written piece. perhaps this will even move off the page and canvas and onto the human body. i am contemplating building a scenery/background and placing a living erendira and mowgli onto it, choreographing movements (i’m tempted to say dance, but not dance) for them to act/move, as music is played, and segments of the tampered writing is read. or perhaps i will just use these actors and the scene to shoot a series of photographs. this all sounds very loose now, i’ll have to experiment with all of them and then see which one seems the truest.
By: lingjielizabeth on January 14, 2009
at 9:25 pm
I’m really interested in typography and the design of fonts and how letters form words and ideas. My final project will experiment with the collaboration between an audience with forms, fonts, and letters. The audience at 51 Main will encounter the physical nature of letters and fonts fused together with visually projected letters. Materials will be provided for them, and they will create and design different fonts, words, and ideas through the combination of the physical materials and projected letters.
It’s possible that I will have my Wacom tablet set up so they can actually from scratch create something to be juxtaposed with a pre-existing letter or form. I’m still toying with certain ideas, like the different perspectives that can come about (2D, 3D, below/above eye level) when using letters and forms. Different perspectives achieved by the audience can produce a final mixture of type forms that have rarely been created before.
Therefore, my project will ultimately be for audience collaboration and it will test their creative sides to see the variety of forms that result. A collaborative effort on the design and form of type will prove to be interesting because it is usually done independently by designers…
By: Stephen McCombe on January 14, 2009
at 9:47 pm
I would like to create a wallpaper design for my final project. It will hopefully be presented in a floor to ceiling length of printed paper–either silkscreened or printed on the large format printer in the library.
My design will come from a collaging of different campus architecture and public art on campus. I want to create an imaginary environment that looks foreign but is comprised of recognizable elements.
I am thinking about getting different people to sketch places or buildings on campus that are important to them, and then pulling and changing elements of their drawings in Photoshop to create a final design that will be put into repeat for the wallpaper. I would love for people in the class to help me with drawing.
The types of collaboration for my project are direct influence and collaging of outside artists’ work.
By: hillaryp on January 14, 2009
at 10:02 pm
For my final project I want to use catch phrases and one liners from news media and pop culture regarding conceptions / misconceptions of poverty and Africa. I want to generate lines by getting people to respond to different photos of people, especially children from East Africa. I want to play with the images NGOs and charities use to try bring in donations as well as photos from my friends and homestay families in Kenya. I am imagining a display of a pile of garbage, photos, and oversized quotes, or maybe certain quotes repetitively emphasizing different words. I want to highlight just how ridiculous ideas like “$1 per day” and “20,000 children a day”. I might incorporate audio from pop culture as well. Essentially I want my presentation to be a testament to how life is overdetermined in Africa just as it is anywhere else.
By: Brian Swartz on January 14, 2009
at 10:13 pm
My project is going to be dealing with the music that is used by the American military during interrogations and to induce sleep deprivation. Some of the artists I will be featuring are Metallica, Niel Diamond, Eminem, Drowning Pool, Rage Against the Machine, Bruce Springstein and various others…
What I plan on doing at this point is playing some of these songs around campus to see how people react to it and what emotions it invokes in different people. The reason I find this so interesting is because much of the music that is used is extremely surprising. However, it is easy to understand how listening to the same song over and over again at an extremely loud volume could become mind wrecking. I am also going to compile some sort of poster board display of the different songs and lyrics, as well as a little on each artist and how they reacted when they found that their music was being used for torture. I will also create some sort of journal on how certain people react when they hear these songs around campus. I am still in the beginning stages of my planning and would love to hear any ideas that other people have.
By: Jonathan Ercole on January 14, 2009
at 10:13 pm
I am going to be doing a photographic crush list. Inspired by the general creepiness of crushlists, and the growing use of Facebook to “stalk” people, my crushlist will be photos taken as if by a stalker. I will hopefully be working with the various people on my crush list to stage the photographs in different settings which would mimic a stalker’s photographs, chronicling different moments in a person’s daily life. I will take them with a telephoto lens.
I am deciding whether to push the project toward a more fashion shoot aesthetic or to make it more straight photography.
The collaboration will be with the models, in an attempt to set up the shot and adjust the locations and images. I am also considering accompanying the images with a poem written by the subject concerning their daily routine. Or maybe to have them write a love letter…
By: andersmeyer on January 14, 2009
at 10:26 pm
For my final project I want to experiment with bringing the variability of the oral tradition of storytelling to visual arts. Every time a story is told orally it changes a little because each new storyteller brings with him/her their own style, personality, and techniques. I hope to develop a “visual narrative” in a similar way.
What I hope to do is to start this narrative off by creating a peace of visual art. I’m not sure yet what this will be but I think I would like it to be something inspired by a story that was passed down through oral tradition. Then I will pass my piece of art on to a friend. This friend will have a day to look at the piece, to contemplate it, to see how it makes them feel. Then, I will take the piece away and my friend will have one day to recreate the “story” in their own way. They can take a picture, or make a painting or write a poem, as long as to them, they are retelling the story. Their piece will then be passed to the next storyteller. I hope to do this as many times as possible and then to collect the works and display them in a progression, either displayed on the wall or in a book.
I don’t think this project would fall under any one type of collaboration. If my original piece is inspired by a story that would be direct inspiration. But the real heart of the project comes from my friends being inspired by my or each other’s work. This would probably be considered direct collaboration.
By: deetambo on January 14, 2009
at 10:43 pm
originally, I wanted to re-create a college dorm room inside 51 main. It would look like any normal dorm room from Middlebury (or any college), except for one thing: everything in the room would be recycled and reused. Nothing would be bought at a place like Wal-Mart or Target. I would love to show that it is possible to decorate stylishly and still have a minimal impact on the environment. I am very interested in the collaborations occuring all the time between those who call themselves “environmentalists” and those who call themselves “designers.” You can buy an “eco-friendly” version of almost anythign these days, but it’s even more eco-friendly to buy something that has already been made.
Since a dorm room setup would be really hard inside 51 main, i am thinking of gearing my project more toward the decoration of 51 main itself. For the night of our show, and the days after, I will add touches to the decor in the space using objects found at Round Robin, Bejeweled, and Neat Repeats. The local economy benefits from the recycling of these objects. I would also like to look more into the college’s recycling, especially on the move-out days in may. How can our college throw out less stuff? How can we improve the system to better recycle the students’ things that end up in the recycling center? I will augment my “decor” with interviews from the people at the recycling center and possibly some statistics.
By: 07howardl on January 14, 2009
at 11:22 pm
I’m not sure quite how to explain the idea I have for my final project, but I’ll try. It is based on an idea of life as possibly the most important art form. In this sense, we are each artists in the creation of our own lives and our individual paths.
Something I find particularly interesting is that while every individual is unique in his/her individuality, there is absolutely no such thing as an individual who is separate from the rest of the world and the rest of the human family. Every person and every person’s life is full of collaboration. I’m only here because my parents decided to have a child. My parents both had their own sets of parents. The sweater I’m wearing right now….what infinitely long chain of events and people and animals brought this alpaca sweater to be on my body right now? See what I’m getting at?
Furthermore, while we all live in our individuated and subjective versions of reality, there are threads of commonality that run through us. One of the major ones being: we all want to be happy. I often explore in my own consciousness the idea that deep, real, lasting happiness (in sanskrit, ananda, or bliss) can only come through learning to truly accept ourselves and others for exactly who we are. I do not think that acceptance of the self and acceptance of others can be separated.
Life, specifically leading a life of happiness, is an art form, and by nature of our existence as individual humans in the infinite and interconnected web of life, an inherently collaborative art form. I often, however, forget the beauty and sacredness of daily life, the freedom of being myself in my own version of relative reality, and the freedom that comes in recognizing other people as whole and entire beings with their own lives and stories and loves and sadness. So for my final project, I want nothing more than to create a little nook in 51 Main that provides a sacred space in which the beauty, individuality, and interconnected collaborative nature of the human experience can be tasted, even just a little bit. I want to serve chai and offer henna tattoos for anyone who wants them, but more than anything I just want to create a space with the intention of exploring the human experience of just being who we are, together.
I will use art (both henna and the work of other artists) to create the space, of course, but the most important collaborative aspect I think we will be among people within the space, and between people and the space.
I don’t know specifically what type of collaboration this would be considered. And I think I’ll be able to better explain this in person. Toodles.
By: shivani108 on January 14, 2009
at 11:40 pm
To be entirely honest I am unsure as to what physical form my project will take…I’m debating between a three-dimensional, mixed media wall piece or a standing structure. I think that decision will depend largely on the materials I end up working with or that are available. My hope is to look towards nature for inspiration, perhaps incorporating cultural motifs to create a juxtaposition of images. My hope would be to make unexpected links, or bring overlooked details of nature and/or culture to the forefront. Perhaps this can be achieved by creating a natural scene using unconventional materials. I really don’t know, I tend to develop projects as I go changing as I see what emerges. Of course I would love ideas and suggestions to give me direction and inspiration.
By: Christine Downs on January 14, 2009
at 11:55 pm
My final project will be a collaboration between humans and the natural world. The purpose of my work will be to show the similarities between the human body and the workings of the Earth. Through showing these similarities I hope to connect people to the rudimentary functions of life that are all but forgotten in today’s technology and greed based society. I shall show comparisons between the human nervous system and natural formations found in nature. My work will be most aligned with the work of Katharine Harmon in her piece “You Are Here.” Essentially I will be showing the geography of the human body by mapping it out.
To visually display my work I will use video, photography and drawing. I plan to capture the channels that ice form by using natural dyes and videotaping the routes the water takes through the ice. I shall also photograph ice formations and root and branch formations of trees and other plants. Using images of human anatomy I shall draw my own replications of the nervous system.
My presentation will be a combination of matted images and a projected film. I will project my video close to a window of 51 Main that faces Otter Creek so that it will be possible to watch both the flowing of the water through the ice and the flowing of the river simultaneously. The images will be arranged in pairs showing comparisons between similar formations found in nature and in the human body.
By: Oakley Jackson on January 14, 2009
at 11:59 pm
Tucker and I have completely changed fields. We were going to film a movie, but, in light of the current strife in Gaza, we have decided to deal directly with that issue. Our new project asks participants to express – through pictures, words, charts, or whatever they want – what they think needs to happen for there to be peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict. We provide our collaborators with a piece of construction paper and a Sharpie, and they are limited to those materials. We plan to collect the resulting pages in a book to display at 51 Main. So far, the results have been politically, visually, and culturally interesting. It is possible that we will put the Arab-Israeli question to bed after a bunch of pages have been created and will instead ask participants what Obama’s inauguration means to them. I have to credit Hillary’s interest in handwriting with planting the seed for this project in the third mind created by Tucker and me.
By: Timothy Henderson on January 19, 2009
at 7:56 pm