Bridge 5: Mining Your Archive

Bridge 5

-What was a moment of productive failure? Did this impact your subsequent work?

I always had a lot of trouble trying to come up with ideas for the project. I was always so used to making work without meaning (which I still believe is something thats okay because not all art needs meaning) that when I had to make something with significance behind it, it was hard for me. I tried for so long to think of ideas but my brain literally felt empty and I had so much trouble, especially with Bridge 1. I thought go my idea the week the project was due and it was difficult for me to finish the project with no time. This helped me grow more as an artist because it helped me with my creative and thinking process. I’m able to brainstorm more easily and produce many ideas and end up breaking them all down into one.

-What materials did you use that you had never explored before? Do you think you will continue working with them?

I never worked digitally because I was always so bad with photoshop. I worked with photoshop when I was creating my portfolio during the application process but even then I didn’t know all of the things that we could use on the application. When I worked on Bridge 5, it was kind of a process because I taught myself how to use it while working on the project. I watched several tutorials and read so many articles explaining how to do each step that was necessary for my project. Now, I can say that I’m pretty skilled at photoshop, even if I’m still not the best at it, I know the gist of photoshop and I will definitely  be using it in the future. I actually used it for my other final and know that I know how to use it, I think it turned out a lot better than it would’ve before.

-What surprised you? Was there a particular subject matter or material that you had never imagined working with before?

I never talked about race or my struggles growing up a Korean American in my artwork before because I didn’t think people would understand me. Growing up in a mainly white suburban town, I could never talk about these things with my friends because they would brush it aside, not take me seriously, or just make fun of me. But I was able to express my anger, frustration, and the struggles that I faced and the class was able to understand or at least be educated on it, so it was nice and reassuring and quite surprising at the same time that for my first and final projects for the semester were based on race.

-How had your idea of words as material changed?

I never considered words as a material for projects, but seminar helped me realize that writing itself is an art form. It’s a way to express yourself when taking won’t do it, its a way to let your thoughts out to the world. Writing and words help you feel emotion, it helps you visualize what the artist/person is trying to portray or let out to the world.

-What aspects of what you have learned this semester do you see yourself using as you move forward with your practice?

Although I believe that some artwork is made simply because the artist likes it and does not need a meaning each time, I learned that for some pieces, having a strong meaning and background behind a piece makes it stronger. It gives an insight to the audience and can change their perspective on how they viewed it the first time without knowing the background information. Having a strong argument/information on the piece can change a project entirely.

I also think as a writer I have grown a lot. I’ve learned how to express myself through words and I think I’ve found my own writing style which I think is an important thing to have. I’m not the best at expressing my emotions in person and I just don’t like talking to people about my hardships, but seminar helped me not only improve my writing but to express myself and be able to say the things I have trouble saying in person, on paper.