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street art. a media text that goes unappreciated. unique. adds to the graffiti collective. started out with keith haring and vandalism. has grown into a platform for many artists. edgy. grunge. adapts with the city. becomes one. has influenced my personal art in its inspiration.

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concerts. the best form of experiencing an artist's craft. a vision comes to life. you play off of the energy of the crowd. the concert is its own cumulative. the connection you have with the artist comes full circle. a live media text. establishes human interaction. not easily attainable, but makes it more valuable.

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jean-michel basquiat. biracial contemporary artist. touched upon social issues through graffiti art. abstraction. i learned about his craft in art history. i fell in love by the mess. disheveled. poetry and images. mirrors the pages of my very own journal.

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leandra medine. self made blogger. creator of manrepeller.com. style icon. has redefined what fashion is to me. has shown me the quirky side to fashion. has introduced me to “maximalism”. i have searched for outfits mimicking hers. i have embraced her attitude on fashion and applied it to my own collective on style. i want to intern for her company in new york. i hope to work for her or with her in the near future.  

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june third

I hate thinking about the impossible

Because there is always the danger of hope

hope lingers into your head, seeping through the most minimal of cracks

its like smoke in a sense, it wisps and twirls

spreading elegantly through the atmosphere

hope is a dangerous idea

it allows for imagination

for blissful fantasies and beautiful daydreams

it accumulates sentiment

hope ruins the impossible

creating unrealistic situations that seem so real

hope ruins love

hope destroys self control

hope encourages that will, that burning will that tingles through your body, that ignites a fire within your soul

hope ruined us

-IGS

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donald glover. childish gambino. musician. producer. actor. photographer. fashion icon. a human being who has influenced my taste in music, clothing, and just general way of looking at the world. he has formed a collective identity, he has formed a brand. created a platform which has brought people together. people with similar minds. people who vibe with his sound. his mellow beats. soft spoken raps. lyrics that spill his stories. stories of love. injustice. i have related to his stories. i have sung his lyrics. i have felt his emotion. 

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fashion. the fashion industry has been present in my life since i was five years old and wold stomp around in my mother’s heels looking through her vogues. i wanted to be those women. have those clothing. i idolized vogue. i idolized the clothing. 

my evolution in fashion and the way i dress stemmed from my mother’s sense. she dressed me as a child. always presentable. changed me three times a day. i grew out of her control. i started to use fashion as a tool of expression. i drew inspiration from brands such as zara, valentino, topshop, gucci, dior. i took to social medias, following pages such as manrepeller. a blog dedicated to quirky fashion. these all shaped my collective identity. i developed my sense of fashion and expression through these brands and their designers. i have embraced the the skater chic trend that has taken over the runways. my style has become a part of who i am. a significant part. for clothing makes me feel confident. i express my emotions through my clothing. 

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film. film has changed my perception of life to an incredible extent. i come out a different person after each film i watch. they have served as inspirations to my art, my poems, and have added to my collective. my father has always been a presence to guide me in this relm. he has always enjoyed quality productions and has sat through countless films with me. my media studies teacher has also influenced me in mr choice and awareness of film. she has shown me the "good stuff". the films worth watching. the films that have sparked my curiosity and have led me to mold my own taste. films such as american beauty, american psycho, across the universe, moonrise kingdom, the grand budapest hotel, her. films that replay over and over in my head. films that touch upon social issues and make one think.

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music. i grew up on queen and the eagles. my dad made sure that i had my daily dosage of classic rock. he molded my ears to the grunge and eccentricity of 70′s music. that i now have an appreciation and love for. associating them with childhood memories. and leading me to enjoy bands such as the arctic monkeys and alabama shakes. bands known for their grunge in sound and classic rock influences. 

rap. my brother was my influence in rap. i synched his rap playlists to my ipod nano. kendrick lamar. lil wayne. drake. made their way into my musical vernacular. since then i have immersed myself in the genre. exploring artists such as childish gambino. frank ocean. post malone. chance the rapper. which have a more mellow sound and have redefined the rap genre. its not just the rap but the culture that comes along with it. these rappers have grown into visual artists and clothing designers. they serve as influencers. they have influenced me in my fashion choices and in forming my collective. they have influenced me with their lyrics and their standpoints on social issues.  

song choice. frank ocean’s remix of hotel california by the eagles. embodies the two genres that have shaped my collective in music. the old. the new. the song hints on societal issues of marriage and the american culture.  

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my writing. my poems have been influenced by the stylings of contemporary poets such as rumi kippur. how she says so much. with so little. my poems have been influenced by Romantic writers such as walcott and wodsworth. discussing the relation of human kind to nature and the delicacy of life. my poems have been influenced by authors such as heller and camus. debating the purpose of our existence and the impact of our choices. my poems have been influenced by my surroundings. by the pain of injustice and the melancholy that surrounds my day to day. by the yellow butterflies that follow a certain emotion and the emptiness of a world full of screens. my poems have made me who i am. followed by the people and events that influence them. that have sparked my love for writing as well as my inspiration. my poems have become a vital part of who i am, i view the world in words. and these media texts have formed them.

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books. books have had an immense presence in my life since i was 9 years old and read the entire percy jackson series in a week. i soaked up every ink-printed word. created movies in my head. got lost in a world where demi-gods slayed monsters on the streets of new york. this fervor for books expanded into poetry and philosophy and ended in a deep appreciation and curiosity for literature. which fueled my love for writing. ive gone on to explore texts from existentialists such as camus and heller. to fall in love with romantic poets such as wordsworth and walcott. they have influenced my perception of the literary world and have shaped my thoughts on existence and life.

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the cumulative. an accumulation of all the media texts that have shaped me into the individual that i am today. all of the influences. a collection of the people, photographs, books, music, films, videos, etc. that have left a mark on my persona. my identity. my collective. starting with this painting. starry night. vincent van gogh. a painting that i came across whilst flipping the pages of an art book. i was seven years old. something in me connected. i had to paint. to paint the swirls. to paint the colors. this led to my appreciation for the arts. this molded me. left an impact on my personal collective identity and led me to pursue painting. led me to take an art history class and fall deeply in love with art and the history it holds.