#another attempt at the one piece art style this one worse than the last :D

[haniswritingstuff]

Baumhaus Uni life just got even weirder

Hiiii People this is me author of the day ( honestly I just neglected all the work I need to do for 3 hours you better be thankful XD) I'll update maybe once a week? If I can make it? For now I just really wanted the idea out of my head and into chapter 1 :D It is not proof read, ignore any grammar or spelling mistakes XD

„Lea wake up. Lea. Goddamnit Julia could I get some help over here I really don’t want to be late for our first day!” Lea groaned and rolled over, not for the first time cursing her friend who was worse than any alarm clock.

She tried to peel open her eyes and saw Hanna standing in the door, still trying to fix her mess of hair with some product by looking into her mirror at the other side of the room. There were slow footsteps in the hall as Julia walked into the room and fell next to Lea on the bed.

“Move” she instructed, getting under the blankets. Grunting Lea wiggled to make room for her friend who pretended to fall asleep again. The only thing that was an indicator that she was already awake was the fact that she was dressed in jeans and a simple t-shirt and not in her RJ Pajamas. “Lier she already woke you up!” Lea accused and tried to grab the blanket from Julia again.

Dishes where heard clirring in the kitchen, followed by Hanna shouting “Wait girls, why is our coffee empty I thought we still had coffee, ohmygod how will I make it through the morning.” The stress was clear in her voice but that made the girls only laugh silently. “We’re gonna stop by Dynamite Coffee today don’t worry!” Julia answered loud enough for Hanna to hear. The girl came back into view. “Ah yes for us to make it in time though we really need to be out of the house in 5” she said, hands on her hips. Lea groaned again, though the promise of good coffee made getting up a bit more appealing. Dynamite had this really great Vanilla-Caramel Frappé creation, and as it was the first day of hell, aka the new semester, the motto was treat yourself with sugar. “Veto on the shower” she finally said, pushing the blankets (and Julia) out of the bed to get up. “Dude no need to call Veto you know I only shower in the evening” said Hanna, going back to her room. Lea blinked and looked down at Julia, who was apparently also dressed.

“Ok , at least give me 10 minutes”

 They somehow still made it out of the house with time to spare and luckily there weren’t that many people waiting in Line at the coffee-shop. Lea grinned when she saw Jimin was working today. Hanna ordered first, black coffee and the biggest vegan sandwich they had on display, Julia some iced tea and something sweet. Jimin grinned and went into full pose when he saw Lea, who had already gotten into some extra stance, with her hand on one hip, the other going through her hair as Jimin would often do. “Good morning Sunshine what can I get you?” Jimin said, completing his sentence with a wink.

Lea rolled her eyes. “More like raincloud you know what day it is today, though I appreciate the positivity.” Lea answered, following up with “The usual with extra syrup please.” Jimin went to work as Hanna and Julia went beeline for their usual seat at the window. Lea stayed at the counter for a moment longer, as there wasn’t really anyone waiting to order anyway right now.

“Why do you have the morning shift today don’t you have classes?” She asked her best friend, who was busy creating magic in the form of caffeinated drinks. “Hah do you think I’m gonna turn up the first day, people might think I’m actually taking studying serious. I really don’t want to ruin my reputation like that!” Lea grinned “I wish, But I think you-know-who drinking her black coffee over there would have killed me!” Jimin finished her drink and slid it over in one fluid movement, perfectly in sync for Lea to grab the cup.

“Yea, to be honest though most of my classes start in the afternoon this semester.” Lea nodded. Jimin was a dance major and most of the morning classes where often the theoretical kind in the lecture halls. And she couldn’t really picture Jimin turning up for dance history at 8am on a Monday morning either.

“Well, I’ll see you around then, I’m going to inhale this now and hope it helps with my class at least.” She sighed. “You know my magic always works” Jimin smiled. “Don’t worry what is it again that you have today? Fashion history? You passed that one with flying colors last semester and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you study for it.”

“Yeah, but only because I already know most of the material, which still makes it a super boring class to sit in” Jimin moved a hand through his orange hair in his trademark way, before putting it on Leas Hand, morphing his face into somewhat of a pretend-pity-pout. “Don’t worry I promise I’m going to invite you to our party on Friday if you live through the week” Lea slapped his Hand away, though her eyes gave away that she was intrigued. “Your fraternity already planning for the first party of the semester?” Jimin puffed out his chest proudly. “What do you think, Beta Tau Sigma doesn’t sleep, and like hell, we’re going to top last semesters opening party by far!” He announced.

Beta Tau Sigma was probably most known for their party’s and pretty boys around Campus and while there were a bunch of different fraternities as Jimin would say “Don’t fraternitise with the enemy, especially not alpha delta psi”. In that moment the doorbell rung, signalizing a new wave of costumers. Lea turned around one last time saying “Don’t forget to keep me updated” before going to sit over to her friends. When she turned around she saw an old woman, maybe a professor?, stumble while she was trying to stand up from her table. Without thinking and in a moment of unknown agility Lea helped steady the woman and her tea set, so it wouldn’t shatter into a thousand pieces on the floor. “Wow are you alright?” She asked when the woman didn’t move for a second. She turned her head up and blinked up at her with incredibly light blue eyes. “Ah yes, thank you very much young lady!” She moved to put back her plate and cup and went to the door, when Lea shook her head and noticed she had left a little bag on her chair. She grabbed it and ran after the woman but when she looked around it seemed like the old lady had vanished into thin air.

“I guess I’ll maybe take this to the campus fundus later” She shrugged and placed the little item in her bag before joining her friends for breakfast.

“Ah Lea!” Hanna said, while swallowing the last of her sandwich. She placed her heads on the table and leaned forward in a serious manner. “Guess what Tae is actually in my art history class this semester!” She smiled and Julia gave Lea the look, they always shared when it came to Hanna and that certain boy. “Yeah guess how she found out, Tae just messaged her happily how his best friend ever being in the same class is just the greatest thing that happened to him today” Lea snickered and took a huge slurp from her drink. Whatever they put in there truly was like magic, lighting up her mood. Or maybe it’s just the sugar. “Hanna blinked at them, but before she could ask why they were being weird again Lea decided to share her news. “And guess what I just heard; beta tau sigma  is returning to the scene this Friday with their legendary semester opening party!” Julia clapped her hands together “Dude yes we totally need to go!” She high fived Lea, both of them starting to plan their outfits and makeup for the day. “I have to hope there’s just no student council on Friday or I’ll just come Later” Hanna, who had just taken out her calendar and was nibbling on her pen said. Lea took her calendar and a pen from her bag, before writing in big, bold letters PARTY in the spot for Friday. She closed it, throwing it back into Hanna’s’ bag. Hanna gaped at her, but she just took another slurp of her Frappé “Don’t tell me you want to miss out on the chance of Tae freestyling something again for boring student council”  Hanna started mumbling something about “Not that boring but…” when Julia groaned and leaned back in her chair. “Now that you mention that maybe I will come a bit later when that part of the evening is over” “Well I’m sure Suga is already appointed as the real DJ for the evening.” “Touché I’m back on board”

  Lea entered the Lecture hall right on time, heading straight for a place in the last row, before pulling out her I-pad that automatically connected with the university Wlan. Thank god for that because without some distractions she truly wouldn’t survive the class. Fashion history, while being one of the more interesting subjects, was taught by an old white man called Mr. Park Jin-young and his lecture style was awkward at best and dead-boring at worst. She was really just here for attendance credits anyway, as most of the material she already knew from her free time research. The decision to study fashion was really something that happened after a failed- first attempt at studying  “something useful” as her father had called it, while she just spat on it as economics hell. Julia might be convinced that subject was actually exciting, but she wasn’t fooling anyone. Economics was really just the first nail in her coffin and after dropping all her mandatory classes after one semester she decided to switch over to something that actually interested her. While she didn’t want to go full design category, though that would’ve put her in some classes with Tae or Hanna, she decided to major in Fashion history and Costume design, hoping to work for film or theatre one day, whichever way it worked out really.  The class passed slower than ever, Lea caught up with the Baumhaus Blog, a university legend really as it was written by someone who clearly had all the intel into not only University politics but also most classes and famous people. Some thought it was led by the actual university president itself, as he was the only one who was always present for the last 20 years when the blog had first started out as a makeshift website. Another popular theory was that the blog was passed on from the founder to different people and every time they graduated the moderator would change as well. Lea thought that theory was more plausible, because not only would it be weird for the Uni president to trash himself in third person but also it seemed like the style had changed ever so slightly last year and 3 years before that, as Julia had once explained to her. The newest entry was about the Party on Friday, which wasn’t that surprising because for Beta Tau Sigma to keep a secret for more than an hour was nearly impossible. Not only did they have the eyes of fangirls on them, but the own members weren’t really secretive about their activities either, as much as Jimin would like to make it out to be.

The class wrapped up a tiring 2 hours later and Lea’s stomach grumbled, reminding her that she hadn’t really eaten anything this morning. She stood up, after quickly noting down the first assignment because of course Mr. Park wanted them to have an essay ready by next week already, that asshole.

The prospect of Jimin maybe still being on shift made her steer back to Dynamite Coffee, as it was also the most convenient option around Campus unless you actually dared to eat the Mensa food.

The ringing of the bell for a second time that day and the smell of coffee was so comforting, she nearly forgot all about the assignment that she had to finish already this week. Well, nearly. Lea looked around, the coffee shop was a lot busier now, as many people had the same idea to drop by during classes. Behind the counter it actually wasn’t only Jimin now, but also another guy with black hair. His sleeves were pushed up over his elbows revealing tattoos that were all over his forearm and fingers. Lea vaguely remembered seeing his face somewhere, though she couldn’t quite place it. Before she could catch Jimin’s eye he vanished in the back for something, and she sighed. “Eh excuse me could I take your order?” She looked up, confused that it was already her turn but apparently the people in front of her were in a group. She looked at the food options to the left. “I’ll take one grilled cheese sandwich and a Nutella muffin” She said, looking back up at the waiter. And suddenly she remembered where she knew him from. “Holy shit you’re stock-photo guy!” She blurted out. The guy just took out her muffin from the display and nearly dropped it because of her sudden outburst. He blushed and looked at her stammering something incoherently. “Oh my god I’m right! I always see you in memes all over Tumblr oh my god!” In that moment Jimin came from the back grinning at Lea and throwing an arm around Bartender guy. “I knew I heard your voice and yes this is our newest addition to the team may I present Model and photography student Jeon Jungkook”. Jeon Jungkook looked very uncomfortable and busied himself with trying and somehow failing to place Lea’s muffin in a bag. Lea shook her head in a small laugh, her blonde hair falling out from behind her ear. “Damn Jimin and I thought you were the only model allowed to serve coffee out here, seems new guy as you beat in popularity as I saw his ‘model photos’ somewhere else than his own Instagram thirst-tap page.” Jimin crossed his arms in mock-offend while Jungkook finally gave the bag with food over to Lea. “Here’s your dude- I mean food” he said groaning a little about his slip of tongue. “Thanks dude” Lea grinned, placing her EC card over the card reader to pay. “You’re taking it to-go?” Jimin asked. “Yeah I wanna go home for a second before my next class, I want to pick up a book that I left lying there and you know I need a good book to survive literature” “Wow that is so wannabe-author of you” Jimin answered. Lea picked up her things and waved “Thanks I’ll take it, Bye Jimin, bye stock-photo-guy!”

 Considering that she had some time before her next class Lea sat down in the kitchen with her freshly-warmed up sandwich and looked around her bag for her iPad. She placed it on the table, when her hand felt something else inside the bag.

Confused she pulled it out of her bag and placed it on the table. It was the thing the old lady had forgotten in the coffee shop earlier that morning. ���Shit I totally forgot to drop it off at the fundus” Lea said. Curious she opened up the bag, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to take a small look inside. It was a silver ring, beautifully crafted. She turned it around in her hand admiring the weight and style of it. Her own fingers were always full of different rings and this one was actually really pretty the more she looked at it. Before she could put it back in her bag her phone suddenly started ringing. Lea carefully placed the ring back on the little bag it came in and fished out her phone from the depth of her bag. “What the-“ The caller ID showed Julia’s name, though that was weird, because Julia was supposed to sit in class right now and she usually wasn’t one to ditch a class that easily.

“Hello girl what’s up?” Lea asked into the phone. Through the line she could hear some wind crashing and other sounds but Julia started speaking before she could even wonder further. “GIRL, where are you right now?” She asked kind of frantically. “Huh I came home for my break why?” “There’s a supervillain that just crashed into your lecture hall and I didn’t remember if you still had class” Lea pulled her eyebrows together, concentrating to make out Julia’s voice with all the background commotion. “What is that some joke?!” “You need to look at the Baumhaus blog, there’s some footage up already” Julia continued talking, through most of it was drowned out by the bad connection while Lea swiped her iPad open. And somehow, she couldn’t believe her eyes. “What the fuck-?” she whispered, when the line went dead. Suddenly worried Lea jumped up and whirled around when a bright green flash illuminated the kitchen. She screeched some high note and fell back against the sink closing her eyes. When she reopened them, she saw something floating over her left-over sandwich. Said something sniffed her half-eaten sandwich. What was happening? “Oh my god is that … cheese” Said something exclaimed. “I haven’t had that in a century!”

Lea, finding her voice and body connection again jumped up from her place at the floor and she pointed accusingly at the thing that had just started eating her lunch with huge bites.

“What the fuck!” She exclaimed again, and while it wasn’t her most eloquent moment, she truly couldn’t find any words to better describe the situation.

The something looked up at her as if just remembering she was here. “Oh hi. I’m Plagg. Let me just eat first than we can go deal with that akuma”

“Aku-what?” Lea asked slowly sitting down in front of the black creature. It kind of resembled a small cat now that she looked at it. Plagg ate the last of that sandwich in a huge bite that shouldn’t be possible for his small statue and happily rubbed his belly. “Look girl, I am a kwami, and the god of destruction” he started, flowing from the plate towards the ring. “And it’s just your luck you seem to be my new holder, as you own my ring now.” He took the ring and placed it down in front of a still silently staring Lea. “This is a dream or something, maybe I woke up in one of my fantasy novels” the girl whispered, taking the ring hesitantly. It felt cool and very real against her skin. She slipped it on one of her fingers and found out it somehow fit perfectly. “Nonono this is actually real life; I know that because I just ate very real yummy cheese, and it tastes better than in my dreams. Now we have to deal with a supervillain, but don’t worry Ladybug will surely help you so you won’t have to fight him alone. We need her power anyway as you will sure learn. Your power is more awesome anyway it’s called cataclysm and it is all about destroying stuff. Anyway listen. You mustn’t tell anyone about this okay, most important rule. “Lea blinked down at the small creature. Ladybug? Fighting a supervillain? What the hell was going on?

“Now after you say, ‘claws out’ we can actually start trying to find that villain-“ Plagg certainly wanted to go on, but as if still in denial Lea repeated “Claws out?” confused and everything happened at once.

The small creatures’ eyes widened, and he opened his mouth but suddenly he was gone, and Lea was standing in the apartment in a leather suit. She looked down at her hands that were clad in leather as well, her nails seemingly got sharper under the material.

She rushed out into the hall, towards the mirror and stopped as she looked at herself. She was wearing a freaking leather catsuit. “Again. What. The. Fuck” She looked down at herself and up into the mirror. Her eyes where light green and very cat like under a black mask that obscured her face around the eyes. Lea turned around, admiring how the material seemed to fit just right in all places and she noticed a little stick in her belt, that also kind of looked like a cat’s tail. She took it and pressed a paw-shaped button, causing the thing to open up with all kinds of options. And suddenly she somehow, as if it was instinctual, knew what she had to do. She ran back into the kitchen, checking Baumhaus blog which was still reporting life on the incident. The supervillain apparently had moved on toward the art building And Lea remembered Tae and Hanna were supposed to be there right about now.

She sprinted out onto the balcony and in a jump, that could only be described as very daring or downright suicidal, she leaped over the street. Her staff expended and like a pole-vaulter she reached the next rooftop unshattered. She stopped when her feet hit the roof, looking down at her slightly trembling hands. “Wow.” She breathed out and her face turned into a smile. “This is awesome!”

She pole-vaulted her way towards the campus which resulted her being there in second’s time. Deciding that looking at what was going on first might be a smart idea, she hid behind one of the chimneys. She peeked around again just in time to see something red and spotted crash down in front of her. On the roof. There were no red spotted giant birds as far as she was aware.

She peeked around again just in time to notice a guy with dark hair sitting up. He groaned and rubbed his head. He looked around and their eyes met, both blinking at the other person. “Wait…” Lea started, remembering some things that Plagg had been trying to tell her before she transformed. She eyed the suit that was skin-tight, showing the lean muscle of the guy in front of her, but most importantly it was reminiscent of a certain animal “Are you the Ladybug? Nice biceps by the way!” The guy shrugged and stood up to his full height. “More like Mr.Bug as you can see. And who are you?” He shot her a charming grin. Lea rolled her eyes. “I’m L-leather dressed superhero lady noir as you can see” For effect she bowed down. “And I thought my getup was bad but here you are running around like a domeownatrix!” Lea’s eyebrow twitched under her mask and she decided that maybe, she did not like this guy. “I’d take my suit any day over that spotted fashion disaster you are sporting.” She shot back but Mr.Bug only smiled, striking a pose. “Oh, really you don’t spot something you like?” “More like you are bugging me already-“ she started, when suddenly a huge rock was thrown their way causing them both to jump apart and turn around.

Oh right. There was that problem with the supervillain.

LMAO :D:D:D:D:D Did you see that coming? A reverse Miraculous AU because I can. And we are only just getting started.

[journey2maya]

Narratology: Second Draft

Analyse your chosen narrative with close reference to the Hero’s Journey or another appropriate template

For this essay I have chosen to talk about the narrative structure of the 2017 film My Little Pony: The Movie. I will be making a structural analysis with reference to the Quest plot type as described in Cristopher Booker’s The seven basic plots. [1] to paraphrase; in any quest story there is always a priceless goal which drives the hero’s passion to succeed. The hero and some companions must embark on a perilous journey filled with monsters, temptation and helpers, to reach their goal. The story is unresolved until the overriding objective has been secured.[Booker 2004 pg 69] I will be taking a look at how the animation enriches the narrative through choice of design and also touch on how the songs drive the narrative at certain points.

The movie was produced by DHX media in collaboration with AllSpark pictures using Toon Boom Harmony production software [2] which specialises in integrating 3D elements with 2D characters. [3] the film emphasises traditional animation and is supported throughout with modern 3-D solutions. The TV show is animated using flash and along with this change of animation software there also came a change in art style. To quote Art Director Rebecca Dart; for the feature film, the characters became more volumetric overall, meaning they have more of a roundness and softness for the 360 degree world of Equestria and beyond that we created for the movie.” [4] This extract from the ‘art of’ book shows a comparison of the two styles.

Figure 1. A style comparison. Page 20, 2017 [4]

These small changes really make the difference on the big screen and giving the ponies’ ears an inside fold allows the ears to swivel and be more expressive, closer to real life horse ears. The shimmer of the eyes also adds to the depth of emotion and these small changes are an example of how small changes really make the difference.

The plot of the movie is as follows; Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity embark on an epic journey to save Equestria from the tyranny of the Storm King. Along the way, the Mane 6 meet new friends and face challenges as they travel beyond Equestria for the first time ever. From this summary we can pick out the key features of a quest story. The call; a sudden threat has arisen that gives purpose to a journey. [Booker, 2005 pg. 70] for this story it’s the threat of the Storm King.  The hero’s companions; Apple Jack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity, along with the dragon assistant spike, accompany Twilight on her quest. The journey; the essential party of any quest story where our hero and their companions go through a series of terrible ordeals, receive help and guidance and are met with challenges they must overcome [Booker, 2005 pg. 73]. For the mane six this spans most of the movie. They go to a range of locations that play respective roles in pushing the narrative and I’ll be looking at each location in further detail. The helpers; characters that serve as an aid to the hero and her companions [Booker, 2005 pg. 77] ( the new friends they meet along the way) the helpers in this particular movie are quite important as they not only help during the journey but they also in what booker calls the ‘final ordeal’ it is the last battle between good and evil, where the hero comes to the edge of their goal [Booker,2005 pg. 78].

At the start of the film we see the ponies preparing for the first official Friendship Festival in Canterlot, Equestrias capital. Everywhere is bustling. The event is highly anticipated and each of the mane six are helping prepare by putting up decorations,and erecting tents and booths to sell many different wares through this we get introductions to our characters, including spike, to show a little of their personality. This is important because it makes the characters seem more real. They’re not just an accessory to Twilight's adventure, they’re individuals and they’re part of it in a big way.  Twilight Sparkle, the unofficial leader of the friend group, is being true to character and is worried that the festival won’t be perfect. As the Princess Of Friendship the pressure is all on her to make sure that everypony has a good time. Twilight’s friends rally around her in an attempt to reassure her that everything will be fine in the form of the song ‘We Got This Together.’

This song highlights the mane six’s teamwork and interpersonal relationship as strong. This Song also carries heavy foreshadowing as it implies that true to form, of a quest story, everything is certainty not going to go to plan but that the mane six will indeed face any problem together. However the genial atmosphere is cut with a knife when dark clouds loom over Canterlot, blackening the perfectly clear sky. Normally this wouldn’t be anything to worry about but in the lore of MLP, Pegasi ponies can control the weather. Twilight even gets frustrated because she “ordered perfect weather.” It’s a huge contrast to the previously established setting.

We are introduced to our first antagonist: Tempest Shadow. A jaded unicorn motivated by anger and a wish to be whole again. She is dedicated to being the Storm Kings Hench-pony and chief bounty hunter, all so he can retire her horn after she delivers on the promise to retrieve the magic of the four princesses for the Storm King’s use. Tempest is supposed to look different and like an outcast because it relates to her story arc and past. She has a darker palette than we would normally see which instantly makes her read as an antagonist. She doesn’t look like the other characters and we don’t know her so we shouldn’t trust her. A great example of changes the design department made were for the better.

Figure 2. Design concepts for ‘Cosmos’ as Tempest was originally going to be called.Pg 46 2017 [4]

Tempest asks for surrender which, of course he princesses refuse. This is when things go from bad to worse. An army of Storm creatures are revealed as their air ships emerge from the fog. They come down on Canterlot, capturing ponies who dare to flee.

Tempest turns Three of the  princesses,Celestia Luna and Cadence, into obsidian statues.

Figure 3. Cadence is about to be engulfed [5] 2017

Figure 3. Twilight saves Princess Luna from smashing to pieces [5] 2017

The final words of Princess Celestia, to her sister Luna, is to fly south and seek the help from the queen of the hippo…

She is unable to finish what she was going to say and Luna I’m unable to carry out the mission as they are both encased in an obsidian prison.Twilight is the only princess left and so, with her friends, they all make a daring escape over on of the waterfalls that make up Canterlots architecture. Unequivocally this is what Booker refers to as ‘the call’ [Booker, 2005 pg 70]] Tempest's arrival and disruption is the reason why the mane six must embark on the quest the Friendship Festival has gone terribly wrong and the stakes are high. Twilight and her friends have to make this journey to set things right. As said in Booker, ‘surrounded by an atmosphere of menace and construction, the Quest hero and her friends feel under intense compulsion to get away.” [Booker 2005, pg 71]  This is exactly what has happened to the mane six and we now have a definite goal- to save Equestria from the Storm King and Tempest Shadow.

The next stage, perhaps one of the most defining of a quest story that Christopher Booker has identified, which is certainly present in the movie, is that Twilight isn’t alone in the journey she has to take. Twilight is accompanied by her friends who each have their own virtues and abilities that contribute to the success of the adventure. Or to the detriment.

Pinkie pie is a particularly important part of Twilights company as she represents one of the 4 basic forms that a hero’s companion should be. A subtle alter-ego whose role is to serve as a foil, displaying qualities of the opposite of those shown by the hero.[Booker 2005 pg 72] for example in the ‘Epic Of Gilgamesh’ whenever Gilgamesh displays assets of courage and confidence it is Enkidu, his brother, who expresses fear and doubt. [Unknown, C.1800 BC tablet 2] In the MLP Movie when Twilight shows concern and worry, Pinkie Pie is only concerned about how much fun can be had and she derails the situation with her silly antics.

Through all the obstacles that the Mane 6 face. Their arrival in seaquestria is the most crucial. It is where Twilight is faced with one of the specific obstacles that Booker notes must be present. Twilight succumbs to a temptation. Seaquestria is the underwater world that the hippogriffs were forced to inhabit to hide from the Storm King. The Queen of the hippogriffs used a magic pearl to turn her subjects into sea ponies. Pinkie pie makes friends with Queen Novos daughter, Princess Skystar and Twilight realised that the pearl can transform the ponies of Canterlot into

An army that can defeat the Storm King however Novo refuses to give her it. The mane six go to leave but notice that Skystar is sad because her new friends are leaving. Twilight, surprisingly, encourages Pinkie pie to cheer her up with a song. When the song is finished we find out that this was just a ploy so everyone would be distracted whilst twilight tries to steal the pearl.

Figure 4. Twilight is tangled in the jellyfish cage that guards the pearl. [5] 2017

This leads to The mane six’s forced exit from seaquestria and more importantly Twilights downfall. Because Pinkie Pie was able to cram a lifetime of fun into one song the hippogriffs were going to give them the pearl as a thank you. Twilights lack of faith in her friends causes a big argument between her and Pinkie Pie which leaves twilight sitting alone on a greyscale beach. This makes her look even more isolated and alone as she is the only colourful thing in the scene. She is captured by Tempest who has been on the groups tail since the start. Tempest shares her backstory with Twilight. This gives us an insight into tempests motivation and creates a vulnerability in her. and she is taken back to Canterlot where we finally see the Storm King in full glory as he is able to steal the magic from all four princesses, channelling it through the staff of succannas, becoming omnipotent in the process. The Storm King casts Tempest aside, refusing to restore her horn as he had promised he would.

After Twilight is captured and left weak without her magic we get the last stage of a classic quest story; the final ordeal Where the heroes come to the edge of their great goal [Booker 2004 pg 78] Twilight’s friends engage in an epic battle against the storm creatures with the help of Skystar and some other friends they made on their journey. Near the end of the battle the staff creates a wretched Storm that takes Twilight, the Storm King and the staff away. Twilight's friends are of course distraught but this is the part in the story where our hero has her last ‘thrilling escape from death’ [Booker 2005 pg 83] and returns with the staff and settles the skies.

Unfortunately the fight isn’t over as the Storm King also survived the storm. it seems like he has the upper hand and is about to turn the mane six into obsidian statues. Tempest jumps in front of the mane six to save them, reforming  herself and pushing the Storm King over the edge so he smashes to pieces. The mane six save tempest and together the seven of them release the princesses and save equestria. Our hero Twilight has reached her goal and so the quest has ended.

This version was more focused but it was still too detailed. I took out the images that weren’t needed and I went in a slightly different direction. Choosing only to focus on one of the locations the mane six voyage to so I could focus on it more and make a more detailed and structured analysis. 

[micaramel]

Artist: Vincent Fecteau

Venue: Wattis, San Fransisco

Date: September 5 – November 9, 2019

Click here to view slideshow

Full gallery of images, press release, and link available after the jump.

Images:

Images courtesy of Galerie Buchholz, Berlin/Cologne/New York; greengrassi, London; and Matthew Marks Gallery, Los Angeles. Photos by Johnna Arnold and Nicholas Lea Bruno.

Press Release:

1. These sculptures are tools.

Some artists begin with an idea or an opinion, and use it to make an artwork—first comes the meaning, then comes the object. But for Vincent Fecteau, ideas never work. His sculptures don’t come as a result of an idea but are the tools he uses in his attempt to generate ideas and make meaning.

He begins with an initial impulse or desire (the specific trigger quickly becomes irrelevant) and proceeds by folding, cutting, twisting, trimming, adding, leveling, scraping off, smoothing out, carving away, turning over, twisting back, and adding again. He ties knots into other knots. Bit by bit, he locates the sharpest edges of whatever emerges—the parts of an object that cut into meaning in a way that makes ideas nervous or that puts them on alert. Eventually, each sculpture is wound up until it can’t be made any tighter, sharpened until it can’t be made any sharper, and it is released into the wild, perhaps to become a tool for other people as well.

2. These sculptures are abstract.

Everything is abstract. By which I mean—a thick sludge of matter, energies, and consciousness is all there really is, at the end of the day. And these sculptures are simply tools that try to access the abstract. They work at getting a bit closer to it, maybe even to stick their toes in it, to get dirty with it. Fecteau doesn’t invent an abstract form as much as he learns how to find one.

These sculptures don’t believe in distinguishing the abstract from the really real. Abstraction is not a chosen style or a composition but is deeply human—it’s about the lived experience of locating and co–existing with it. Any other artwork, be it a figurative painting or a realistic photograph, is just as abstract as Fecteau’s, only differently so.

That said, these sculptures aren’t anchored to the world by being connected to a recognizable topic, message, or, worse, an instruction for how to think or what to believe. Instead, they communicate by speaking a language art is particularly good at—that of arranged shapes, colors, textures, intuitions, and intentions. I decided not to approach content directly, but to trust that it would follow me as I moved around the room. (Fecteau).

3. These sculptures are made by Vincent Fecteau.

Fecteau grew up on Long Island, went to Wesleyan, studied painting, interned with Hannah Wilke for a summer, didn’t like New York that much.He took time off from college and moved to San Francisco in 1990 to work with ACT UP. He worked as a studio assistant to Nayland Blake for a few years, handpainted ceramics, and ended up as a florist. He had his first show in 1994, consisting mostly of photo–collages of cats. When Blake decamped for the East Coast, Fecteau took over his apartment and has been making his handcrafted sculptures ever since. When I asked him what he was reading these past few months, he mentioned Now the Night Begins, a novel written by the French filmmaker Alain Guiraudie (Stranger by the Lake). He lives near Balboa Park in the Mission Terrace neighborhood. There is a great painting by Tomma Abts in his kitchen. He bikes everywhere.

4. These sculptures are necessary.

Like practically any other work of art, these sculptures are made by someone who needs to make them. The question is not to ask how Fecteau makes them but why he makes them. The answer, always, is somewhat embarrassing or humiliating, since the sculptures end up saying more about the artist than anything else. They reveal too much, because all self–portraits reveal too much. In all they say about his achievements and capabilities, they say just as much about his limitations. They contain his secrets.

But these objects also embody the contradictions that all of us are: they appear calm yet agitated, exposed but also secretive, fully formed but still formless.

5. These sculptures are traps.

Vince sends me a Youtube link. It’s a talk by the artist Don Potts, from 1981.

You go to that feeling, you work on the trap, the trap sucks the feeling in, makes the feeling a little bit more concrete, you go back to the trap, you get rid of the junk, you build a more pure version, you go back to the feeling, and you just go back and forth. And over the course of the whole process, you start sucking this thing in, sucking this thing in—the trap is starting to catch it.(…) And then, one part of this trap becomes very important. No fussing around in this area. Other areas, you know, there’s some glue hanging off it, or maybe an inch too big, it’s not important. (…) What you’re trying to catch is something you’ve never had your hands on. It’s subtler than you can think, than your awareness can comprehend. So the trap has to be subtler than any trap you’ve ever made. You can’t use old trap–making techniques. It will just get you so far, but it won’t take you that last step, to catch that thing. So you’re all alone, well not all alone, mom is always around, [laughter], but you can’t go to history books, you can’t go to past work, you have to just respond to what it is you’re trying to catch. And it gets incredibly exciting. (…) At the last moment, when you put the last touches on the trap, something will happen. It’s not a trap anymore, it is what you’ve been trying to catch. This thing becomes that awareness or that idea, or whatever—you can’t talk about these things with words, you know. And there it is. And you look at it. And there have been times when I’ve just, you know, cried. Not, you know, going– to–lie–down–on–the–bed crying, [laughter] but emotion will just pour out of my eyes. (Don Potts)

6. These sculptures are leaps of faith.

The painter Agnes Martin talked about surrendering the intellect. For many, to allow experience to precede cognition is a scary proposition. It puts us in a vulnerable place—walls need to be down, filters off. But what is art about if not vulnerability? Clicking back to Don Potts: you need to be working right at that bottom edge of your nervous system.

Fecteau never draws and never makes preliminary sketches—he jumps right in.When he makes a cut into a shape, he can’t click undo but can only allow consequences to determine his next set of decisions. There is no safety net. It’s like when you delete that sentence you’ve become really attached to, even though you don’t yet know what will replace it. These sculptures don’t know, they believe.

These sculptures are made the way kids build backyard spaceships, with meticulous attention to detail, a grudging respect for the trash he works with, and no real hope of re–creating what he sees when he closes his eyes. (Dennis Cooper)

7. These sculptures are new.

Even if they resemble others that came before it. They were made all at once, as a group, over the period of a year and a half. Decisions have migrated from one to another, making them siblings, of sorts—related but self–sufficient. They are made of carved foam, painted papier–mâché, and bits of resin clay. Some 3–D scanning and a 5–axis CNC router were also involved at one point in the process, which, for the artist, has been an experiment.

8. These sculptures are evidence.

These sculptures are the physical traces of a desire, an intention, or an impulse. They provide evidence of personal and material limitations. They capture the artist’s present state of mind, putting it on display for all to see.

They are also evidence of a battle between what is and what needs to be. They began on an open battlefield, where possibilities seemed endless. The material made a move, the artist made another, and art made yet another, each maneuvering itself away from, around, but also closer to the other. As they close in on each other, the decisions get smaller and smaller. The grip tightens.

To some of you, these sculptures will resonate, or strike a chord. They will prove that you share something with someone else. They are evidence that you are not alone.

9. These sculptures are here.

They sit on white pedestals, on display in a gallery. They claim space,perhaps even compress space. They are not models or surrogates for something else. They aren’t also elsewhere, the way images can be. They exist in the world irreducibly and uncontainably (Fecteau). Their job is to make manifest, in physical form, some of what is not here, or at least not visibly so—the psyche, the libido, and everything else that remains unsaid and unsayable.

Also here are photographs by Lutz Bacher. She and Fecteau have been friends for many years, often sharing ideas and inspirations. Sometimes, Fecteau would come across an object or a situation and would immediately know—that’s a Lutz. He would have to pull over or stop to take a picture, and send it to her. She would usually respond with an emoji or two. Years later, much to his delight, he would find out that she had turned the image or object into an artwork. Before she passed away, just a few months ago, the two artists had the idea of including some of those in this exhibition—works by Bacher that had originally been images Fecteau had found and sent her. They come back to him now, charged with life and friendship.

10. These sculptures are untouchable.

Which is ironic, because they were made by hand and consist of nothing other than the physical traces of the artist’s own touch. But these sculptures are untouchable in the way sound is untouchable—physically felt but impossible to actually hold on to. They look like what a polyrhythmic piece of music might look like, where many rhythms are made to intersect and overlap, even if they’re all happening at the same time, on top of each other.

I imagine an artwork as a fire that people gather around, Fecteau once said. His sculptures are untouchable not because they might burn your hand but because the “art” in them is located in the energy they generate and in the emotions they mobilize. And, like the warmth of a fire or a melody, these sculptures can’t be photographed. Should you try, most of the object will be absent from the image—and that’s sculpture’s great advantage over other forms of art: it’s always hiding something. As Don Potts said about his traps, if too much of the hook is exposed, the fish doesn’t bite.

P.S. These sculptures are not art.

Art is an ideal. It’s not an actual object. Objects can be evidence of an aspiration to “art,” but I think “art,” as a concept, is something bigger. It’s truth. It’s beyond museums and galleries and even artists. It’s out of our reach. How we use our limited means to try and approach this truth can be very moving. (Fecteau)

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Vincent Fecteau (b. 1969, Islip, NY) has had solo exhibitions in prestigious institutions around the world such as Secession in Vienna (2016), Kunsthalle Basel (2015), The Art Institute of Chicago (2008), and The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archives (2002), among others. His work was featured in the 2002 and 2012 Whitney Biennials in New York and the 2013 Carnegie International in Pittsburgh, among other major group exhibitions. In 2009, he curated an exhibition of works from SFMOMA’s collection. The MacArthur Foundation named Fecteau a 2016 MacArthur Fellow. He currently lives and works in San Francisco.

Anthony Huberman

Link: Vincent Fecteau at Wattis Institute

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