Integrative Seminar 2: Journal Entries

2/1/19

When I think of Visual Culture, the first thing that comes to my mind is Media and Advertising, and its presence in almost every aspect of my life. I don’t think I can go a day without encountering media and advertising and the aesthetic trends that make up our culture, although the fact that my major is Communication Design doesn’t help. Also, being in New York City, it’s impossible to not go outside and see the visual culture I’m so used to, signs from big chain stores and restaurants, billboards and magazines, and most of all, visual culture trends in media that are unavoidable if I use my phone, which I definitely do. But all these things are often perceived as bad, even though we all participate in some way. I understand that too much of this visual culture takes humans out of the present and disconnects us, but its something that I’ve grown up with and can’t imagine not having. When I travel to India and visit my grandmother, who lives very differently from me, it’s something I notice I miss. There is still a very active Visual Culture there as well, but it’s not exactly like the one I’m used to. When I’m there, I’m quite literally disconnected, and it can be really isolating. The stores and logos are not at all like what I would see in America, the language and the advertisements are unlike what I know, and for the time I’m there I usually have very limited access to my own media and technology. I know this is just culture shock and pretty normal for people who visit different countries, but I think its incredibly interesting how influential my own Visual Culture and that of America’s is to me and how a complete change in the visual culture I surround myself with can actually be uncomfortable.

2/2/19

Another incredibly important aspect of Visual Culture is Art. Art is something that has persisted through history as a means of expression and communication and craft, and has an important place in my life as an artist and student pursuing a degree in Art. But from observation I’ve noticed the general disconnect between art and the everyday person. It might be in everybody’s life, but I don’t think everybody has a strong connection to it because the idea of it is quite isolated. Most people think of art existing in museums, and are to be seen on day trips or vacations to big museums with valuable collections. When thinking of artists, most people think of the few that were taught to us at an early age, like Picasso, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, or da Vinci. People value very famous artworks like the Mona Lisa, but don’t bat an eye at lesser known ones. Not to say that this is entirely bad, but I think many people haven’t found their own connection to art and rely on the general value that society and the art market places on it. I think this part of the Visual Culture has been separated to an extent that it is not quite accessible, and therefore less people want to make the effort to access it. I have felt this myself many times, and wonder if this attitude will start to shift. Personally, I feel more connected to the practicality of design, and feel that if the worlds of Art and Design could be seen more together, it would make a difference in the way people feel connected to art.

2/4/19

An object that holds a dear place in my heart and is attached to a lot of memories is my stuffed animal. It’s a small yellow duck with a little button on it that used to quack from a mechanism inside, though it long since stopped working. This single stuffed animal has been with me through everything since I was 4, and naturally I brought it along to college because I don’t really know why I wouldn’t. It’s comforting, it was a gift from my grandma, and something that has always been with me. It’s just a stuffed animal. It’s worn, and broken, and I’m probably too old to still have it but it’s something that I hold dear to me, for some reason. When I was little, I used to carry it almost everywhere I went. It was my friend and it kept me company. Now I know better. I keep it by my bed, because that’s where stuffed animals stay. I know it’s just an object, but I think deep inside my brain I will always feel the same way about it. It will always be there, it will always keep me company and bring me comfort, even if I don’t treat it the same as I once did. The interesting thing is that, out of all the stuffed animals I had as a child, the one I still have, was always the one I loved the most and kept with me at all times. I can’t imagine there was anything so special about the stuffed animal itself, but over time it has become something very special to me. I think an object can gain meaningfulness solely by persisting in someone’s life. Most of the things I love now are things I think are beautiful or cool or things I use all the time, but my stuffed animal is one thing I cherish that goes back to the beginning of my life. Now that I think of it, I don’t think anything I have in my dorm or on me have a history that deep.

2/5/19

When I think of art, I think of creativity, because it has been instilled as an associated trait that is required in order to be successful at art. But honestly, I think a large part of art is technique and craft, and often that is overlooked or not fully understood when people think of art. Creative thinking can be applied to almost any field or situation, but the techniques used in many forms of art are specific, and very practiced and repeated. In both the case of creativity and art techniques (e.g. sculpting, drawing, weaving), I think they can be taught. The tricky aspect that I think takes certain talented individuals is being able to combine technique, creative thinking, and concept to create successful art. For centuries, the technique and craft that went into creating art like porcelain vases and marble statues was taught in schools, and people practiced for years, though the best of those things had nuances that weren’t seen in all the other works. Now, with modern art, artwork is less focused on specific techniques and more conceptual, but still uses creative thinking, which can be taught. So both creativity and technique can be taught, but art itself comes from the ability to demonstrate conceptual ideas through the work that add purpose to the choices made.

2/6/19

I think my ideal place to live and work would be an apartment in New York, downtown preferably. I want an open space with lots of light, and something really modern and clean. I like a lot of white surrounding me because it reflects light and makes things look more clean. My ideal bedroom is very minimal, with lots of storage so things can be tucked and hidden away and everything has a place. And I would have a queen bed because I really hate having a twin bed and I need room to spread out. I think my ideal working space has to be separate from my bedroom because I know if I try to work in bed, I usually end up falling asleep. If I had a studio, it would be a large space with tons of storage, and an area for a photo studio. A photo studio is so important because I often wish I had an area like this between school work and my internship. In both places I have to set up a kind of makeshift photo studio every time and it’s really difficult to keep things consistent, and also taking things apart and putting them back together adds a lot of unnecessary time. Ideally, my studio would be downtown as well, maybe in Soho. I love the energy and happenings in downtown and the fact that many companies I want to work for have offices around Soho. Although, that’s why it’s so expensive and the reason I will probably never have a studio there. But ideally, I would love to be there. My studio would have to have a lot of light, of course, and I think it would be cool to have other artists and designers there, because I find it really helpful and motivating to have others around me and work collaboratively.