#CPSA Journal

[dothesamnthing-blog]

Journal: Artist pitch

My project, The History of the Braid: Explored through 3D Art is a different outlook on history, in this case, specifically the history of the braid. As a person that uses the braid on an almost daily basis, I began to wonder where it came from, and sought out the answer in this project. I narrowed the search down to four major regions and cultures within these regions that used the braid and applied various meanings to the braid. The braid’s origin was said to have started in Africa, where it was worn for practical reasons, and they made it an art by adding gold and jewels to their hair, and incorporating the styles worn into the carvings that they made. In the Greek society, the braid represented femininity and purity of the woman who wore it. In Native American society, the braid represented the “infinite” of life, whereas hair loose and flowing represented the free flow of life. Finally, in Asian culture, specifically in an era in Chinese culture, a conquerer made his male subjects shave half of their head and braid the remainder of their hair to represent their defeat. Later, the descendants of these once conquered people wore this same style of braid as a normal everyday hairstyle, phasing out its previous negative connotation.

[enpeiwcpsarts]

I think I’m done with my first recording! This will go along with the photo of my friend in the forest. I added bird sounds in the background to make it sound more nature-y! It’s a calm piece and it has good flow to it. My friend helped me record it!

[progressjournal22]

4/19/2020 week 10: This week has been really stressful. between family things, the pandemic and the work load of online classes I feel like I have not been able to catch a break. And when I think about all the due dates in the future I begin to feel even more stressed out. Because of this i have barely been able to work on my Capstone. I did play around with the site but that is really it. I fould a gallery thing that allows people to move from page to page pretty easily.

As for feedback from second look, I got some good adivce. I wasn't sure about how to go about the subject of people whom often have good intentions but end up saying upsetting things. I was told that it would be important to being this up so that people can know when they are being harmful even when they arent attempting to be.

[gfrocpsacapstone]

Process Journal 10

4/19/20

Show & Tell.  

I pretty much finished my website; above is a video of a bit of one of my pages for ideas of what to do to maintain healthy personal mental and physical wellness. I have shown the website to my family and have gotten very positive feedback, and I showed bits of it over the phone to friends who have told me they love it too. Overall, despite the craziness of the coronavirus and its impact on my project, I am pretty happy with how it turned out!

Second Look. 

My feedback was very positive; nobody really made any suggestions except for one person, who suggested to maybe add something related to art made during the pandemic. I decided to add another post to the blog portion of my website for people to be able to share their personal art, in essence creating a fluid gallery of exhibition visitors’ art within my website. I think it’s a great way to get people involved and add another arts element to the website.

[alvinycpsarts]

Process Journal #9 due 04/12 -- Advisor Conference #2

Show and Tell 

Today I finally did my first lip sync animation for my Minecraft character. It took a bit of frustrating set up (including switching Minecraft character rigs 2 times to fix certain issues in the program) but the animating process wasn’t as complicated as I thought it would be. Sadly, it took most of my afternoon and evening to do it so I didn’t have time to render it all out and I can’t show anything right now. 

Advisor Conference #2

The above image actually has to do with what I got from advisor conference feedback. The thing was that there were a bunch of items on my desk and they were really distracting. So I photoshopped them out. Because the right half of the frame is basically a still frame in the actual video, using a masking technique I can edit out all instances of those distracting items. 

[abbyccpsarts]

Process Journal

Link to my Learning Agreement

2.10.20

This week I organized all of the Polaroids I’ve taken thus far into mini books to help organize and protect the film. I’m still working on finalizing the list of “bucket list” items I want to complete, as well as what the journal entry prompts will be. Besides the pretty big gap in research that I have with this, my project doesn’t feel “substantial” enough right now, if that makes any sense.

Some of the photos below!

(above is from the museum I went to, below is from my trip to Israel!)

Additionally, I did a critical response workshop with fellow Arts Scholar Adriana Alonzo:

Critical Response Process-w/ Adriana Alonzo

Statements of Meaning:

- Likes how this project has an air of “fulfillment”

- “Fun” premise; Makes it real life, not a HW assignment

Artist as the Questioner:

Research angle: the mental health benefits of traveling, journaling; Research the individual aspects of your project

- Logging mental health over a long period of time

-follow up research on the ones I enjoyed

Neutral Questions

- How many “experiences” do you plan having; do you know

Goal between 10-12; subsections within each “header”; don’t have final list

- How are you going to set up website?

Current plan is to have a gallery, but also direct links to each experience; A more clean cut design than the original scrapbook

- Any research on website?

Probably gonna have a page about that; be the home screen? (maybe not)

Permissioned Opinions

- Do you like the experiences I’ve brought up?

“It’s cute! I think the mix you have is good; always people to relate, like you want”

2.12.20

I had my advisor conference today with Heather and she gave me some really great advice on avenues I can go down for the research end of things. One thing Heather said that is really sticking with me is what she said about making this an experiment of sorts—I’m not just going to complete these bucket list experiences, but having a common theme/experiment throughout that will help me connect them. What if this experiment was prose related? I wanted to add in a writing element other than journaling originally so this could be my opportunity to do that.

I’ve also decided to use Wix for the final web format. It’s easy to use but also has the opportunity for “advanced tinkering,” as I like to say.

2.17.20

I’ve had a breakthrough today—I was hanging out with my writer friend and I remembered a while back she was talking about how one of her english classes had them do an assignment where they had to “people watch” for thirty minutes once a week and write down some of the conversations they overheard. My friend used this to help better her dialogue in her writing. I’ve decided to emulate this but take it a step further: I’m going to go to places I’ve always wanted to go to, but I’m going to people watch at these places—write down snippets of conversation I might overhear, etc—and then choose a subject/person to write a short story about. This allows me to not only experience new things, but try and put myself in a new mindset, context, by writing in these places about someone/something else. Because there’s a new, more time-consuming and creative-consuming element to this capstone, I think it’s wise that I aim for 5-6 total pieces/experiences instead of the originally intended 10-12. 

2.19.20

I had my first look presentation today and overall I’ve gotten some really good feedback from everyone. I still need to thoroughly go through the flashcards I got from everyone, but so far everyone seems to like the direction it's going, even giving some great suggestions for what format the stories should be in (flash fiction maybe? Or even dabble in poetry as well) and how I could narratively tie all the stories together. Below is the google document I used to succinctly point out the differences and similarities between this “new” capstone and the old one.

A Collection of Stories Inspired by People (or Wizard) Watching

SIMILAR ELEMENTS

Still In a web format

Still involves me going out and trying new things; simply asks me to be more engaged with my surroundings and other people there

Still involves reflection/journaling on my part

Still involves a photographic complement

DIFFERENT ELEMENTS

New narrative element- I’m writing a short story about a person experiencing the space I’m in;

Possibly contrasting and/or complementing that story to my own personal emotions tied to that space

Story is going to be the main focus, while my own thoughts are going to be secondary

RESEARCH

Fairly new idea, so I’m working on curating a new list of sources, but I’m going to primarily focus on researching the benefits of people watching, actively being creative in a new space (seeing how that affects my writing process), etc

2.21.20

Today I started messing with Wix a bit. I’m definitely jumping ahead on my schedule and ignoring what I should really be doing (research!!) but I’m giving myself some breathing room to get my thoughts and such accumulated to this new idea. I don’t want to share any pictures of my website bare bones until 

2.24.20

My goal for this week (on top of research) was to compile a rough list of the places I want to go for writing this story. A lot of the preliminary reserach I’ve done on writing/being creative in a new space suggests having a “control;” this means, in regards to this particular project, that I need to write in a space I’m familiar with and see how that differs from writing in a completely new space. Then there’s also the question of how I’ll write at the beginning when I’m first introduced to the new space, and then how’ll write once I get slightly more acclimated to the space. Regardless, here are my ideas for where to people watch/write as of today:

(1) Starbucks route 1 [serves as my control for this “experiment”]

(2) Bookstore/Restaurant (I’m visiting one next Thursday for a comedy show)

(3) “Somewhere” in NYC (visiting w/ scholars—write during free time?)

(4) Center of a campus (not UMD— maybe Towson? over Spring Break?)

I don’t want a totally “complete” list yet, as I want opportunities to present themselves as I go along, but I still think it’s good to have a basic list of things to do. I think the first thing that I’ll end up doing is either the Starbucks one (my control) or the bookstore/restaurant since I’m attending a comedy event at one next Thursday.

3.1.20

I haven’t really made much headway in research, writing, or anything to be honest. I had a pretty busy weekend—worked most of Friday and all of Saturday— and now I’m starting to get a little bit nervous. I’m switching up my weekly plan a bit and having this week be primarily research and working on my annotated bibliography. Then maybe I’ll have a good idea of how I want to go about people watching for the comedy show this Thursday. 

3.4.20

Last week we had arts scholars alumni join us for our weekly discussions. While I was expecting a plethora of great advice from each of them, It was also great to hear about how they each struggled, and that changing your mind is okay. 

3.10.20

Tonight we heard that school is going to be closed down for the next month or so because of the current worldwide health situation (it might be a pandemic. we don’t know yet). As much as I hate to admit it I’m more annoyed than anything, but I understand how paramount safety and health is over any frustrations I might have. I know we’ll adjust accordingly. I hadn’t really thought about how this was going to affect my capstone until now. Hopefully I’ll still be able to travel to new places. Everything’s pretty hectic right now so we’ll see what the next few weeks bring.

3.25.20

Creativity; Time Management Chosen Technique: Incubation. While I’ve utilized “taking a break” while I’m working, (going to take a walk, etc) I’ve never really considered it in the context of “this is my time to let my thoughts marinate.” I really enjoyed reframing my mindset while taking incubation breaks and found that it allowed me to not only work longer, but more effectively.

3.31.20

It’s been an interesting month to say the least. I’m going to have to change my capstone quite a bit in light of the rest of the semester being online and not being able to travel to write my pieces. I’m really not quite sure what I’m going to do, but we’ll see. I have nothing to show at this time. I have my research but I haven’t dived into writing because I’m unsure of what direction to go in. Perhaps after I talk with Heather I’ll have some more direction.

4.5.20

Curation Rapid Prototyping Exercise: essentially, my sketching revolved around the various menu tabs I want for my website.

- An Artist’s Statement/Process page (BTS)

- Research page

- A central page for someone to visit that organizes all of the pieces onto one “table of contents” that links to each pieces individual page

- An individual page for each piece

- A contact page?

Second Advisor Meeting: 4/9/20

I met with my arts advisor (Heather!) over ZOOM today and thank god because I can salvage this capstone. I honestly with I’d reached out to her sooner. We’ve found a way to salvage my research and redirect/reword it to fit the current situation. I’ll be writing about rooms in my house that I’ve changed emotions for. It plays into my research on the Differential Susceptibility Hypothesis (our susceptibility of change due to environmental factors) and change itself. I want these pieces to encapsulate a clear before and after, and how that may have negatively or positively affected me.

Second Look Presentation: 4/17/20

Going into the second look presentations I felt more grounded in what I wanted to write about and the literary mediums I was going to write about. However I still feel like I’m lacking focus. Heather’s feedback on my central question really had me think about how I can clarify and specify the focus and the audience of my capstone. I’ve decided to rephrase my central question as: What’s new? It proposes that something has changed, but it allows me the flexibility to offer different answers with each prose. I intend to add some context to this question on my Wix page (perhaps in the process section?). 

4.21.20

For my show and tell I’d like to share a screenshot of the brainstorming process of my pieces right now, alongside a few little rough excerpts. I’ve also thought of doing a mini photo shoot to provide visuals for each of these pieces if I have time.

[christinadcpsarts-blog]

I have bought fabric from G-Street fabrics in the colors light grey, black, and dark grey. I love both greys but am not sure I will be using the black. The satin is so appealing and similar to the texture I am going for in regards to lightening bolts. These pictures above showcase the fabric after a bodysuit pattern has been cut out and I have begun pinning the bottom hemline prior to sewing. Pinning is imperative to sewing!!

[daniellcparts]

Tumblr Process Entry #1 3-16-17

Continuing on my experiment, I have been keeping track of two volunteers (friends) while they listen to a specific playlist of sounds and music for studying. The sounds/music on the playlist mimic auditory integration therapy and rhythmic auditory stimulation. These deal with attention deficit and Parkinson’s disease respectively. From just general feedback, the two volunteers have suggested a broader genre of music; however, in comparison to other music they have listened to, they personally believe they have a much better time focusing on work. Another test I am to try is a memory test while listening to music. 

[juliettepcpsarts-blog]

Journal #1 - Critical Response

For this journal, I met up with Balbina Yang so we could exchange feedback on each other’s Capstone Projects so far using the Critical Response Process we learned about in class. I found this process to be extremely beneficial. The feedback I received helped me navigate some of the questions or problems I was having early on in this process.

STEP 1: STATEMENT OF MEANING

Overall, Balbina thought my project was a very good idea, especially in light of recent events relating to representations of gender in media (like the Gillette ad that recently came out and sparked controversy). Balbina also provided me with some insightful videos related to the topic of gender norms and stereotypes that I can use as inspiration and to further my research. This videos are included below: 

“Hear Kids’ Honest Opinions About Being a Boy or Girl Around the World”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B3ea7IGwLA

“Miss Representation”: http://therepresentationproject.org/film/miss-representation-film/about-the-film/

STEP 2: ARTIST AS QUESTIONER

I was wondering whether I should just focus solely on representations of femininity in media for my project or if I should broaden the topic of my project to focus on gender stereotypes in general and include a male perspective on the issue. She mentioned that I could start with the perspective of women as a foundation, but that I should also bring in some topics that affect everyone since gender norms affect all people.

Another question I had was how I should go about recruiting people to participate in the project. Balbina suggested some good ideas for reaching out to people who may want to participate in the project through Art Scholars Weekly, reaching out to certain organizations, and spreading the word among friends who may know people that want to participate.

Finally, I wondered whether I should make a video of all the interviews conducted for my project in addition to the visual art exhibition I’m making to present at Arts Fest. Balbina liked the idea of a roundtable discussion among participants, but also suggested that I focus on one medium so I can go more in depth with my presentation and won’t become overwhelmed by the project. She mentioned making the portraits resemble polaroids with quotes from each participant’s interview written on the bottom of the image. I thought this was a good way to incorporate the prominent messages in the interviews while still maintaining my original idea of a visual art/photography exhibition.

STEP 3: NEUTRAL QUESTIONS

Are there specific topics within the gender issues you want to focus on or do you just want to see what everyone has to say?

This question helped me think more about how I want to structure these interviews because while there are some topics I want to hit on (e.g., double standard between genders), I also want the interviewee to have the freedom to discuss whatever they topic they find personally important. Maybe I will feature some questions targeted at specific issues but also offer some more open-ended questions that allow the interviewee to guide the discussion in whichever direction they wish.

STEP 4: OPINION TIME

Balbina thought the project idea covered a very important topic but cautioned me to focus on one art medium (visual art portraits) rather than trying to make create two different exhibitions in two different mediums (video and the portraits).

[lilyhucpsarts-blog]

A background that we actually ended up not using 

[evanwilliamson-blog]

CPSA250 Learning Agreement

[dothesamnthing-blog]

Journal #3

(Process binder #4)

[enpeiwcpsarts]

critical response journal notes! I did this with Fiona Yang and these are the notes I took on it.

I have some photos to choose from! These are from a photoshoot I did recently with my friend and I think they reflect different moods, especially with the contrast in lighting in a lot of the pictures. They’re also taken in an abandoned house, which gives it a different air as well. It could be ominous or adventurous. 

[progressjournal22]

4/12/2020 week 9:

This week ive been trying to balance finishing up the drawings and editing what ive already done. I’ve cut out quite a bot but hopefully it will keep things from getting too repetitive.

The advise I got this week was to play around with the layouts on Wix in order to figure out how I want the pages to flow. Next week I plan to start uploading and organizing the pages I have so far in order to get a sense for things.

[gfrocpsacapstone]

Process Journal 9

4/11/20

Show & Tell. 

This past week, I worked on putting together my website exhibition. I actually really like putting together the website because it offers me a lot more ways to impact viewers with my capstone. I am able to accomplish so much more than what I could have with my animation alone, like offer ideas about maintaining one’s mental and physical wellness during this time and resources for DIY cloth face masks, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant wipes. I am excited to continue working on the virtual exhibition.

Advisor Feedback.

I got really great feedback from Harold this past week. He felt that my animation was effective in accomplishing my goals for it, like evoking an emotional response from the viewer and acting as a PSA about the coronavirus. He liked the things I changed in response to our first advisor meeting and the ideas I had for my website, which was great and motivated me to start working on my website and implement as many of those ideas as possible.

[alvinycpsarts]

Process Journal #8 : Curation Plan (due 04/05) 

Show and Tell 

Shots / Scene List 

(Voice only) I feel like this world is against me

Steve wakes up in an unfamiliar world

Steve tries to punch a tree but it doesn’t work (Voice narration)

Steve complains to Alvin about his situation (Lip Sync)

Includes a flashback on how he came here. (Portal VFX) (Lip Sync)

Steve thrown out of portal into real world

Steve meets Suspicious Minecraft Character (SMC) and gets his butt kicked (Lip Sync)

(Cuts to) Alvin shows promise of sending Steve home (Lip Sync)

(Cuts back to) Steve gets kicked around

Portal opens in Alvin’s room and Alvin waves goodbye to Steve; Steve walks through; Alvin closes the portal with his hands

Steve arrives in a desert world; SMC waits for him and says “you thought that was it” (One word lip sync)

The past week has been a wake-up call about the quality I want in my final video vs what I’m headed towards. In my preliminary edits using storyboard drawings, I had the video planned to be almost 3 minutes long. However, 3 minutes was barely realistic with the amount of free time I had during spring break, and now I don’t think I can make it at all without significant corner cutting. The video itself also wasn’t interesting the way it was edited. That took a toll on my overall motivation levels to work on it. 

The main issue was that I was stuck between having the video as a trailer or as an animated short with a more coherent story. Unintentionally, I had the video a mix of both which made them terrible at doing either job. I eventually chose the trailer option and edited the video down to 1:30~ long, removing anything I saw unfit. Above is the current scene list I have to complete and the scenes I’ve completed at this point. I feel a little more confident and motivated about animating this now.