wileycarriii

[wileycarriii]

Impressions 3

Here are 5 more artifacts:

1. Painting with Stephen Wright

I really enjoyed working with Stephen and creating art. If there was one thing that I would recommend for future classes, it would be working with him. The drawing you see before you was not made by me. It was created by a friend of mine, and Stephen had us switch drawings. We were also told to tear each other’s work up; I was to tear my friend’s piece into six pieces, while he had to tear mine into sixteen pieces. Once I tore his creation, I made it my own. I tell a lot of stories, and so I created a story mirroring what happened in my life.

The right half of the piece remained untouched, and I use it to represent the happy times (as illustrated with the dude sticking it’s tongue out). The grey line separating the two sides represents smoke or a veil of greyness that changes the times. On the left, you have a broken man drowning in black (my metaphor of The Valley of Shadows). He has wings, but his wings contains the broken pieces. He does not even remember his name, since that is in the happy times area. He is reaching out towards a gear that is flying towards the happy times, but can’t reach it. In the upper left corner, the sun is shining, but the man can not see the sun or its rays.

Creating the story was very emotional. I tend to not show my emotions, but I am tangling with them on the inside. The night before, I wrote an essay about the loss of my Abuela, my Tia, one of my father’s friend’s mother, and the first friend I ever had. So to say that it was very emotional is correct. It shows what I’m battling on the inside, which most people do not get to see.

2. Sand Tiger Shark

Ok, you got me. Sand Tiger Sharks are very beautiful creatures, but they are not art. Instead, they are artists in their own right. This year, I missed Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, which I have not missed since I was nine or ten. So, I persuaded my sister and her friends to go to the aquarium with me. It’s needless to say that I love sharks. They may be villainized and talked badly about, but they are remarkable creatures. So to see the shark move throughout the water in a strategic manner and seeing it observe it’s surroundings was cool.

3. Rothko Paintings

I already wrote about the play Red, which was about Rothko and how he painted these paintings. But we were fortunate enough to go see his works at the Tate Modern. Many people just see a red painting and say that it is not art. But it is art. For example, this painting looks like a door frame. The bright red square outlines the door and makes it look like you could walk in and out of the painting. However, the door is the same color as the background...meaning there is no door. The person is trapped and can not cross to the other side. To me, it tells me a story of how he felt trapped in life. Now, that’s probably not the correct interpretation, but it is mine.

4. Brixton Village Pole

During our second part of the Mapping Project, my group decided to visit Brixton Village. We were surprised at how quite and more green the area was compared to our first city of Covent Gardens. We decided to walk in the residential area and we noticed that this pole did not look like the others. Across the street, there was a pole that looked like this type of pole, but it was erect and had a solar panel attached to it. There are two possibilities here. One, somebody ran into the pole and caused it to bend. Or two, an artist decided to put a half bent pole in the middle of a residential area. I think the former is correct, but who knows.

5. The London Eye

Well, I’m certainly not the King of London, but it felt like it. My sister and friends decided to go on the London Eye, and I tagged along. It was an interesting experience seeing the city and the Thames from high above the ground. I even saw a chair floating in the river when we reached the top. To have a bird’s eye view of a city is something that most people do not want to have. Why do you think nobody ever looks up...we are always looking down at either our feet or at our phones. I felt like I was piecing together the city from up there. Lambeth will go here, Covent Gardens right by it, oh wait a minute, I need to put Westminster somewhere first. It just felt like I was creating the city

So the question of the day: how do these five artifacts relate? Well, I can tell you in one word...art. Each piece was art itself. The story about what my creation with Stephen was, that was obviously art. The Sand Tiger Shark was creating art by the way it navigated the water. Rothko’s painting was art. The bent pole in Brixton Village. Some would call it an accident, and it probably was an accident, but it became art to me. And then the London Eye experience, piecing together a story of a people. That is art.

[wileycarriii]

Impressions 2

Here are 5 Artifacts that I found:

1. Her Majesty’s Theater

I saw Phantom of the Opera when I was 12 or 13 in New York on Broadway. I’ve been in love with the musical ever since. My friends and I are going to see it here in London soon. I’m interested to compare and contrast the two productions, even though it’s the same play. I’m just excited, even though I know what happens. Being a theater person will do that to you!

2. Red

This play challenged me. I never have been interested in learning about paintings and never considered them to be part of a story. Paintings were cool to look at, I just never got it. This play had me reevaluate that thought and made me reconsider what goes on when painting. I began to see that paintings were like children. They need to be cared for and need us to understand them, even though they can’t necessarily talk. I really enjoyed the play, and it was different for me, so I enjoyed the challenge.

3. Invisible

This piece of art was in front of the National Gallery. This piece really stuck out to me because of the message it has. My Abuela died eight years ago due to an unexpected illness. She was buried in Mexico, and my family has never been the same (literally). Even though she’s not in this world, I’ve never forgotten her. She’s always around and I hope she’s proud of what I’ve accomplished. The butterfly was her favorite animal, and whenever my mom is thinking about her, or whenever my sister or I am thinking about her, a butterfly comes and visits us (that is why the butterfly is important in our family). I could and will never forget about her.

4. Beachy Head

We visited Beachy Head for the Death class. It was a beautiful area, but it is plagued with a dark history. Many people come here to end their life. This lighthouse contrasts with that history. The lighthouse will produce light in the darkness, and will lead many ships to safety. I see it as a metaphor for the light coming into the darkness and hopefully saving someone’s life. Maybe that’s just me and how I think due to my past (being bullied and constantly trying to find the light), but I think it’s poetic.

5. The London Dungeon

We went to The London Dungeon for the Death class. I had a lot of fun with it. I love horror and I do believe in the paranormal...so a “haunted house” attraction is up my alley! From Fernando being operated on to be saved from the plague, to meeting Sweeny Todd and Jack the Ripper, it was all around a blast. Granted, it was a little cheesy, but it was put together rather spectacularly.

Now, how do all of these things match? Well, not all of them do. Her Majesty’s Theater and Red are both in the drama department. One has a great show in it, the other is a great show. The London Dungeon and Beachy head match because they were both about death. And in a way, the piece “Invisible” relates to The London Dungeon and Beachy Head because it also relates to death. But none of them really intersect outside of that.

[wileycarriii]

The Tempest Vs The Play That Goes Wrong

The Tempest

This was my third time seeing The Tempest. Out of the three productions I’ve seen, this was by far the best production. I enjoyed it and it was a good time. Now, the last time I read The Tempest and saw The Tempest was in high school. So I did forget that a couple of things happened, but I did not feel lost. Now, for those that did not read it, or even see it before, I think it would have been confusing for them. I really liked Ferdinand, I think he did an amazing job at the part. I also enjoyed Trinculo and Stephano, those two were fantastic. And I can not forget about Ariel. She played the part really well, and I kept finding myself amazed when she came on stage.

The space of the play helped me stay in it a bit more. I do think that having the audience move from set to set engaged me more and that it is a good idea. It made me appreciate the detail that went to each set. It also allowed us to stretch our legs. As for responsibility, I didn't really feel it. The characters would tell us to move or to go somewhere, but to me, that felt more like direction and an obvious nod to those that weren’t interested that we are moving.

An experience that I feel that I can tie into this play is the graffiti walk. Now, it sounds completely insane, but to me, there is a connection. Each wall we stopped at to look at the graffiti was a “set” and each “set” was different. We walked from “set” to “set” and a different story was told, but it all tied to the same story.

The Play That Goes Wrong

The Play That Goes Wrong was by far the best non-musical play I have ever seen. I’m still quoting the play whenever I go on excursions for the Death & Dungeons class. Every time the word “murder” is said, I have to say the title of the play “The Murder at Haversham Manor” and then pose the way the characters posed when the word “murder” was said. I just really enjoyed it, and being a theater kid in high school, they did EVERYTHING that could possibly go wrong. I especially loved the scene where Perkins forgets his line and the Inspector is getting frustrated while Sandra’s brother keeps being served “flammable liquid” that is supposed to be alcohol.

The space was interesting. I did freak out a little when the upstairs study began to fall down. But the space was right with the atmosphere. Even at the beginning, when the stage crew were looking for Winston the dog, it fit the mood. It just helped put me back in my theater mode, and I really loved it.

How can I relate anything to this? Well, on our way to London, my sister left her passport in her purse. Normally, this isn’t a problem, but I carried the purse onto the plane because it was “my second carryon”. So my sister almost didn’t make it to London because she gave me her purse. It was a scary ten minutes.

[wileycarriii]

Impressions

Here are 5 Artifacts that I have found throughout my first week here in London:

1. Jack The Ripper

During our graffiti walk, the tour guide decided to show us a piece by Stick. Right next to that piece was this one. It hit me pretty hard, because the piece’s message is right. All of us are mystified by Jack the Ripper, that we forget that he was a complete monster and murdered 5 people. Instead of caring about the victims, we care about the murderer. Now, I’m not condemning anyone for this. When I was younger, I did just focus on Jack, so I am part of this as well. But as I’ve grown, I’ve realized a lot and one thing I realized is that we should shift the focus from the monster to the victims.

2. Broken-Hearted

Towards the end of the graffiti walk, our tour guide showed us this piece. I really liked this piece because it says it all in one picture. This person had their heart ripped out, and it could have been caused by a lot of things. The reason I can relate to it is because I’ve had my heart ripped out and broken so many times. Those who I thought were friends decided to stab me in the back like Julius Caesar and Brutus. Maybe I have a different view of life because of that, but that’s part of the story.

3. The Jousting Helmet

This jousting helmet comes from the Tower of London. Now, why would I choose to include a jousting helmet? Well, the answer is simple....I find jousting to be interesting. Ever since I was a kid, I have had this romanticized view of the Medieval period. Good kings, stable kingdoms, jousting tournaments for fun. Of course, the Medieval period was all but paradise, but I always held jousting in this high place. Nothing like trying to knock each other off of horses for honor (or money).

4. Platform 9 3/4

Platform 9 3/4 is part of Harry Potter. Now, I may not let it show, but I’m kind of a Geek and a Nerd. And I improvised a prop choice. Since I do not actually own a wand, I used a pencil. But, some of my friends thought that the pencil was a wand....so awesome! Harry Potter has been part of my life since I was a child, so having the chance to actually be at Platform 9 3/4 is amazing!

5. The Long Lost Onion??

Ok, so the onion wasn’t really long lost. It was probably dropped into the Thames about a day or two before, but this is still an artifact. Now, what does this have to do with the assignment? I went to the river expecting to find pipes or maybe some coins. However, the first thing I found was this onion. It was just funny and completely unexpected that I had to hold on to it until we came together.

Ok, so those were my 5 artifacts. Now the real question is, “Do the artifacts make a story or relate to each other?” In some aspects, yes. They all made me pause and think about my past or the present. But in all reality, I don’t see any commonalities. Perhaps the Broken-Heart and the Jack the Ripper pieces relate in the sense that hearts were broken while Jack was active (and many years later). But that’s a huge stretch. The onion doesn’t really relate to anything, but the jousting helmet and Platform 9 3/4 pertain to my childhood. However, not all five artifacts relate to each other.

[wileycarriii]

Introduction

Hello! My name is Wiley Nelson Carr III. Whew- almost ran out of breath there...again. I’m 21 years young and I will be a Senior at Bellarmine University. I study Finance and I’m hoping to get my MBA from Bellarmine as well. As for what I do at Bellarmine, I am part of Residence Life, this will be my 3rd year as a Resident Assistant, I am a 4 year veteran of the Pep Band, and I am a member of Alpha Phi Omega, which is a service fraternity.

I guess you want me to answer the big 2 part question...”Why did you choose to come to London, and what do you want to do?” I wanted to come to London because it’s a new experience for me. I have never traveled to Europe before, so I’ll get to see a different culture. As for what I want to do, I want to learn as much as I can. One thing my family would say about me is that I love learning history, so I want to explore the different museums that are available. Another thing I want to do is see a play and compare it to Broadway. Every summer. my family takes a trip to the East Coast of the US, and we watch plays on Broadway. I want to compare a Broadway play to a London play...although my family will say that it’s the same.

Am I a creative person? Well, that depends on who you ask and what the context is. If we are talking about drawing, the best I can do is stick figures. But, I can come up with costumes on the fly, and make them work. This is due to my favorite holiday being Halloween. I also play the trumpet, and I’m a DJ of sorts. Some of my favorite musicians are Jimmy Buffett, Meat Loaf, Panic! at the Disco, The Refreshments, Social Distortion, and The Goo Goo Dolls. I also love the theater, and I was in the drama club in high school.

Well, there is a bit about me. I hope to see you all soon, and let’s have some fun!!