Rachel Stewart (Sophomore) Self-Designed Path of Study
Disciplines of Interest: Music, Comedy, Horror
As an artist who expresses herself through a variety of mediums, my current state of mind has lead me to gravitate toward sharing Allison Schulnik’s stop-motion film The Mound and Martin Newell’s song “Gunslinger” (1982). These pieces drive me to produce raw, uncensored art for my own community to see. Being a writer, musician, and filmmaker, I feel these two pieces shine light on some of my favorite curiosities: decadence, decay, and denial. Allison’s piece inspires me to create content that blends, molds, and transforms its subjects into different, ever-changing versions of themselves. I also admire how her clay creatures give life to the lifeless. The line between identity and existence is one that has always interested me, and I hope to delve deeper into this concept within my own craft.
Although the melody in Martin Newell’s song ‘Gunslinger’ is one that initially left me feeling somber, recently it has been planting nothing but sunny thoughts into the garden of my mind. After listening on repeat, his tune transports me into a portal that moves beyond memories of darkness and into a sacred space of appreciation and love for what pushes me to create. The concept of decay interests me more than that of creation, and I feel both of these pieces embody these undying aspects of the human spirit with a gloomy yet cheerful tone –while one does so visually and the other sonically, both are nonetheless constructing a beautifully haunting harmony.
A link to my vimeo: https://vimeo.com/user9622667
