Pinterest Project

          For my Pinterest project, I decided to make dream catchers. I've always thought dream catchers were really cool and I found this the perfect opportunity to make some of my own. I found pictures of some on Pinterest that I thought were incredible, and I want to base my hand-made dream catchers around those. I don't want to copy the dream catchers in the pictures exactly, because that would take all the creativity out of the project. I'm simply going to follow the basic structure of the dream catchers and decorate them in my own way. I'm also planning on making a few, since one probably won't take a full six hours. 
         

          The first step I've taken in my project is purchasing the materials that I think I'll need. While browsing the shelves at Walmart, I was annoyed to find no wooden rings to use for the base of the dream catcher. So I had to improvise; I bought Styrofoam circles and some paper plates to turn into rings. I also bought a number of different beads, wires, feathers, and strings for decorating. 

          To get started, I carved out the middle of a Styrofoam circle so it created a ring, and I wrapped it with different colored string. The first image I showed in this entry from Pinterest was where I got the idea to wrap the ring with material so make it look better. I want this dream catcher to have an earthy feel, so I made it mostly neutral tones and light, calm colors. I used hot glue to stick down the thicker fabric, and for the string I just tied it around.

This is the finished product for the first part of my dream catcher, and I love how it turned out. I was actually surprised at how long this entire process took me, so I may end up only making 2 dream catchers instead of a few. The shopping, carving the Styrofoam, and covering the ring all took about 2 1/2 hours. My next step is to weave the middle of the ring, and attach the dangling strings and decorations. I have no idea how long this will take me, but the weaving seems like it will be difficult. I'm planning on finishing this dream catcher next week and depending on how long it takes, I will start a second one.

Free To Play

          I really enjoyed the film "Free To Play", but I have mixed feelings about the idea of gaming as a career. I was surprised about how big gaming really is in today's world. I had no idea there were tournaments so huge that gave out so much prize money, and I respect that gaming is a big part of culture for many people. But I don't think gaming will ever be bigger than sports. Maybe I'm biased because I've played sports my whole life and I've never been into video games, but I think sports are a treasured aspect of all cultures that could never be replaced. Humans have thrived off of physical sports for so long and although gaming is popular, it won't have the same influence on people's lives. Personally, if I were a parent, I would much rather have my child be obsessed with sports than video games. Sports allow you to exercise and be outside, and being active is a very healthy habit to have. Gaming requires you sit inside at a computer all day, moving nothing but your hands and making your eyes hurt from staring at a digital screen. I think if gaming were to take over popular culture, much of the world would be unhealthy. I have nothing against video games, but I think they should be used as a fun activity to play occasionally when you're bored.

           In terms of a career, no one should rely solely on gaming. Sports and gaming are similar this way: the likelihood of making enough money to support yourself as a gamer is very low, and the same goes for professional sports. One can definitely pursue a career in gaming if it is their passion just as someone can pursue a career in sports, but they should always have a backup plan, and they should never throw away their education.

Letters to a Young Contrarian 16 & 17

          Chapter 16 explores the idea of humor, and it's place in society. While the whole chapter gave Hitchens' interesting views on humor, there was one quote on page 115 that sums up his whole argument. He says, "Radicalism is humanism or it is nothing; the proper study of mankind is man and the ability to laugh is one of the faculties that defines the human and distinguishes the species from other animals". First, when he says "radicalism is humanism or it is nothing" just emphasizes the importance of the human race. Everything we know and believe today, everything that happens in the world, revolves around humans. We have completely taken over the globe, and if anything deals with something other than humans, it is irrelevant. In terms of humor, Hitchens basically says that in order to study humankind, you should have humor. You are bound to find many flaws if you decide to uncover the secrets of man, and humor can help you accept those flaws. One can be ignorant and ignore the fact that they have any faults, one can acknowledge their flaws and do nothing about it, or one can feel ashamed of their flaws. The best way to cope with your flaws is to laugh about it, and then try to fix those flaws. Humor makes any heavy or dark situation better.
          There was a passage in chapter 27 that I thought was brilliant. On page 126, Hitchens says, "The great reward, if that's the right word, lies in the people you will meet when engaged in the same work, the lessons you will learn, and the confidence you will acquire from having some experiences". I think this is a statement, or even a motto, that everyone should live by. While wealth, power, and the pursuit of material things may seem like the best things you can earn in your life, the biggest "reward" life can give you is intangible. Knowledge, memories, relationships, experiences; those are the best things life can give you, and they should be treasured.

Glitch Art

I decided to use the idea of gay marriage for my glitch art. Many people see gay marriage as a glitch in society, and many even view gay people themselves as glitches. Whether they be extremely religious, extremely hateful, and extremely biased, those that do not support gay marriage will think that gay people have something wrong with them; that there are glitches in their genetic makeup that made them this way. I believe being gay is not a glitch, but it is a lifestyle choice that may be different from the norm. We as a society and as a culture need to embrace the fact that gay people are different, that they choose to be different, and that they are not harming us. If they are glitches, then they only make the system of our world better by adding diversity and spreading more love. 

The results of the glitching I did to this photos is so interesting. The first image is of the equality symbol, which is a well-known image associated with gay rights. I like the way this glitch came out because the top half of the image didn't change that much, so you can still see the original picture, but the bottom transformed into different colors and textures. The next image is of two men that just got married, and the glitch changed the colors and the horizontal lines of the picture. The last image is similar, but it was more difficult to glitch. Because the picture is so big and complex, I changed so much in the code but it still didn't change that much. It still distorted the image though, and it came out really interesting. While the changes I made to the code only changed the colors and horizontal lines of these three pictures I still really like the outcome.

Video Games

          I've never been a big fan of video games. I can probably count all the video games I've played on one hand. When I was younger I liked playing computer games on insertable CD's, I had a fairy game and a Sesame Street game. But since my childhood, I've only really played the pinball, hearts, and solitaire that came with a windows computer. Those games came out in 1998 when they were included in Microsoft computers. and I know they were very popular to anyone with a Microsoft computer. They showed that while computers are useful for research and communication, they can also be used for fun. Other than those games, I never had a game-boy or a playstation, and I'm not an avid player of iPhone games. I played Ruzzle for a while last year, which I actually loved. It was like Boggle, where you have to form as many words as possible out of a selection of letters. But other than those few video games, I can't say I've been a huge video-game player. 

Letters to a Young Contrarian 14 & 15

          Chapter 14 discusses a theme that will always be relevant to society; the power of the masses in relation to the influence of the individual. There are two quotes that reveal this theme, the first being on page 95. Hitchens states, "Those who need or want to think for themselves will always be a minority". This represents the relationship between the individual and the entire population. The majority is formed based on a common similarity between most of the people; whether it be a common race, a common belief, or a common social class. In terms of beliefs and ideas, the majority is formed when most of the people think the same thing. Most of the time people either don't agree with the majority or they have no opinion, but in order to fit in and feel like they belong, they will pretend to agree with the masses. This leaves those who chose to create their own path and say what they really think to be the minority. 
          Another quote that relates to this is on page 96: "People have a need for reassurance and belonging". This reinforces my statement that people often follow the crowd regardless of their own beliefs. People are willing to be fooled by common beliefs. Even if a person doubts what the masses believe, they would rather feel comfortable than enlightened and express what they truly think.
          I found a passage in Chapter 15 that resonated with me on page 111: "I don't seem to have said enough about the compensating or positive element of exposure to travel. Just as you discover that stupidity and cruelty are the same everywhere, you find that the essential elements of humanism are the same everywhere, too". This chapter consists of Hitchens discussing the importance of traveling the world and experiencing new cultures. But regardless of where you are in the world, humans are all the same. Obviously we have different physical appearances and different mannerisms and habits based on our cultures, but the underlying fabrics of our beings are all the same. It is fascinating to think that someone who is thousands of miles away might being feeling the same emotions you are right now. Certain aspects of human life are present in everyone, such as personality traits and emotions. It just shows how we are all connected no matter what is going on around us.

Internet Art Chapter 3

          For chapter three I researched Maciej Wisniewski, a well-known digital artist. His work reminds me of Annie Abrahams internet art from chapter two because Maciej also relates his exploration of the internet with humans. His first major project was Netomat, an interactive network-based experiment that allowed people to communicate without using traditional internet search engines. It brought up pages and internet sources that matched whatever someone typed in the search bar, so essentially it was the first form of "Google". Maciej also invented a new language that is compatible with Netomat; making this project an entirely new, revolutionary milestone in internet communications. These inventions by Maciej are groundbreaking, and I haven't even mentioned his artwork yet. He is clearly a very influential artist in the digital world, and his efforts seem to have hugely contributed to internet art and programming. The piece of art shown in "Internet Art" that first caught my eye is "Instant Places", just because of the visual appeal of the hawks on the pale blue background. This piece created a connection between different networks that had no outside influences such as time and place. His work brought people together using the internet and networking, which is what the ultimate goal of the internet should be. Below is an image representing "Instant Places".

          The second artist I researched was Amy Alexander, an artist with a very wide range of talents. She is a performance artist working with film, music, and video as well as an internet artist working with screen-based software art and net art. What first caught my eye was her piece called "b0timati0n", shown in "Internet Art". This project was so bright and so colorful that I couldn't look away, and I was even more impressed when I found out that it is actually a search engine that uses patterns, light, and sound to create a visually stimulating image. Amy uses a background in musical performance to influence her internet art, which can be seen in "CyberSpaceLand". The link for this is provided below, and it is clear that Amy combines many different forms of art into this piece to create a diverse internet masterpiece. I think Amy is an extremely talented artist, and I am thoroughly impressed by how much she actually does. She is not only an internet artist; she explore many different areas and fields. It is important for different aspects of art to intermingle with each other so that new forms of art can be created, and Amy definitely does that. 

http://amy-alexander.com/live-performance/cyberspaceland.html

Internet Art Chapter 2

          An artist that caught my attention in chapter two was Annie Abrahams, a Dutch internet and performance artist. She combines the art of performance with the internet to explore communication and interactions between people, the web, and the world. After growing up in the Netherlands, Abrahams studied numerous fields including biology, fine arts, and psychology. I find it interesting that she has such a broad range of knowledge and is able to incorporate all of that into her networking and internet art. For example, you can see her interest in psychology with her project "Being Human". This involves a number of different internet installations that explore the human condition and how people relate to one another. A similar piece is the one featured in "Internet Art", called "I Only Have My Name". In this project, Annie used question and answer sessions to talk to people online and see if people could recognize her. She finds that certain human-like qualities are lost via internet communication. I think it is fascinating how Abrahams uses something as non-human as the internet to explore certain aspects of life that are human. It is important that the technology we use does not take over human life; technology should support human life and help us discover more about ourselves. Below is the website to Abraham's website where you can see part of the amazing project "Being Human". 
http://www.bram.org
          Another interesting artist from chapter two is Mark Napier, a net artist that strayed away from the world of traditional art and used the internet as his artwork. He studied fine arts at Syracuse University, having experience in painting and later working with programming and hypertext. Napier's work integrates symbols, themes, and meanings from modern culture and combines them into digital masterpieces. Shown in "Internet Art" are Digital Landfill, The Shredder, and Riot; all pieces by Napier that expose hidden meanings and web art features. Napier describes his work as "raw" because it breaks down web elements and turns it into artwork. I think all his pieces are incredible because there is so much going on, yet they are still visually appealing. I could stare at his images for hours and continue to find new ideas and images every minute because they are so packed with information. While Napier's work is intricate and creative, some of his pieces have created controversy with society. Napier's "Distorted Barbie" angered the corporation of the popular children's toy, but it still sends a powerful message. He takes an icon of modern culture, the Barbie, and transforms the perfect doll into a distorted masterpiece using internet art.  Napier's work goes against the grain of traditional art, even though he studied painting and fine art. It's those types of artists that make a statement and aren't afraid to stand out that I find impressive and inspiring. Below is the link to Napier's "Distorted Barbie".
http://users.rcn.com/napier.interport/barbie/barbie.html

LinkedIn

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/gabrielle-boucher/92/71/5a1
Here's my LinkedIn profile! 

Letters to a Young Contrarian chapter 13

          A prominent theme in Chapter 13 was the relationship between power and fear. Many believe fear is necessary to enjoy power, but Hitchens provides numerous viewpoints on the issue. On page 87, he says "These mammals are also unnecessarily vain in the extreme, and often wish to be liked almost as much as they desire to be feared". This shows how many people want others to be afraid of them so that they can be in a position of power. Machiavelli said the same thing in "The Prince". He believed it was better to be feared than loved because no one will dare take advantage of you, and thus you will be superior. Rulers like Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini used Machiavelli's words to institute fear to the public so that they could rise to power.
          Later in the chapter, however, Hitchens describes a leader who gained power without using fear. He gives us the story of Nelson Mandela, saying that when he was allowed to leave jail, Mandela refused to leave unless everyone else can leave and tyranny is "abolished". This is an example of a successful and influential man who would rather be loved than feared. Mandela never promoted violence or cruelty; he only every wanted peace and the betterment of humanity. His devotion to equality earned him the respect of the people, and therefore he earned power. This chapter shows two different ways people search for power; through fear or through love.

Letters to a Young Contrarian Chapter 11 and 12

          These chapters had so many passages that I thought were insightful, so I will only go into detail about two. The first is on page 72: "Books that were once banned or ridiculed or both, from the time of the forbidden Ulysses, have had to be saved not by the crowd, but from the crowd. The evidence of our own revolution had to be broken to people very gently...". My first instinct was to be angry at the media. They were, as Hitchens states, saving banned books from the crowd, as if the crowd weak and could not handle what was written in those books. The whole point of literature is for authors to comment on human nature and connect with the audience. Why should the public be prevented from reading books that were written about us? But when Hitchens states that certain books need to be broken to the public "gently", it made more sense. People don't want to hear the truth about humanity. Authors are brave enough to criticize humans through their art, and many people probably can't handle that. Who wants to read about how flawed we are? Who wants to have to come to terms with everything that is wrong with humanity? Sometimes, people can be fragile and even ignorant; they do not want face criticism and learn about the dark side of human nature. I think people need to swallow their fears and be willing to accept the truth about the human condition, and literature is the best way to do so.
          In Chapter 12, I was intrigued by the passage on page 82: "One must have the nerve to assert that, while people are entitled to their illusions, they are not entitled to a limitless enjoyment of them and they are not entitled to impose them upon others". I think Hitchens is saying that people need to help other people see the truth for the betterment of humanity. While it is not a crime to have false ideas or "illusions" about something, one should always be warned about their lack of truthful information. I think many people would refrain from telling someone truthful information in hopes of making themselves look better. If one person is wrong, and proceeds to share their wrong information with others, the person who is right looks that much better. Hitchens wants people to forget about their pride and forget about being right so that they can focus on the general truth. He later says "Allow a friend to believe in a bogus prospectus or a false promise and you cease, after a short while, to be a friend at all".  He believes truth, and loyalty to your friends, is more important than any pretentious desires to be right or superior to people.

Letters to a Young Contrarian Chapter 10

           So far in this novel, I have noticed that Hitchens creates patterns, and often includes recurring themes. In past chapters, he has described his disdain for organized religion and challenged those who do practice religion. I noticed more of that in chapter ten, especially when he referred to religion as "masochistic". While this seemed like a very intense statement at first, I realized it makes sense the more I thought about it. The Bible includes a large amount of rules and guidelines that devoted Christians are supposed to follow, but many of them promote revenge, racism, sexism, and many other controversial ideals. In a way, the Bible wants traitors and people who are different to be punished, thus living up to Hitchens's term, "masochistic".

          Another passage about religion was on page 63; "If people cease to believe in God they do not believe in nothing but in anything". I am actually so intrigued by this statement, and I find it very enlightening. Often times, people who believe in God look down upon or even pity those who do not believe in God. I have even experienced this in my life; people I know have felt sorry for me because I do not believe in God and I do not practice organized religion. Religious people may think that non-believers are foolish for "believing in nothing", but Hitchens's think that non-believers "believe in everything", and I agree. Just because I don't believe in God doesn't mean I have no beliefs. I believe in everything around me. I believe in humanity, in nature, in society. I believe that the world around me will work out in its own way; I have faith that the universe and everything within it will just do what it needs to, and I don't need a God to tell me that.

Minaret post

One Response to “Please Keep It In Your Pants: Unwanted Nude Photos Become Trend”

1. Natasha Wilder says:

   Mar. 5, 2014 at 11:19 am

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   http://theminaretonline.com/2014/02/20/article32888#comment-6518

Remix Project

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLBQDK3N3hE

           My journey with this project has been rough. I attempted all the brainstorming ideas I posted about earlier, and for some reason I just was not satisfied. I tried many other ideas but I couldn't turn my ideas into an actual video. Eventually, I found an idea that worked; the glorification of being famous. Many people (including myself) have dreamed of being famous, whether it be for the money, the attention, the awards; there are tons of reasons why an ordinary person would yearn for fame and fortune. A perfect example of this is shown in Weezer's song "Beverly Hills", which is about an average guy who wants to be like the "beautiful and clean" movie stars. While fame can seem appealing, personally I think it is overrated. I think non-famous people take their lives for granted and don't realize how amazing it is to be able to live without millions of people watching our every move. So to create an ironic situation, I played "Beverly Hills" in the background while visually showing the downsides of being famous.
          I picked my clips in a way that would give the video variety. I opened the video with shots of what fame can bring: fancy cars, gorgeous houses, expensive clothes and jewelry; basically showing what many people assume fame is all about. When the chorus starts, I switched gears and revealed the negatives of fame: people being swarmed and disrespected by paparazzi, stars having to hide behind their bags and aggressively confront crazy photographers, celebrities having mental breakdowns, and other videos like that. I chose clips that portrayed fame in a negative way, which made the video ironic because the singer in the background is talking about how much he wanted to be in the celebrities positions. I finished the video with interviews and quotes of famous people expressing their issues with fame. They talked about how they dislike being followed and photographed all the time, how they don't have any privacy, how every mistake they make is magnified, and how they wish they could just be treated like normal people. My video would be considered "bidding", because it juxtaposes song and lyrics with visual footage that creates a conflict.

RIP Remix Manifesto

          Overall, I thought the film was interesting and definitely relevant to where society is right now in terms of remixing and access to different medias. A lot of the film focuses on the art of remixing itself, which we've obviously talked about in class and on our blogs. I thought it was interesting that the film referred to music as "untouchable". In a way it is, because while remixers often create new projects out of existing music, the original tracks cannot be changed. I think that is a very important part of remixing. While new mashups can be interesting, it is essential that the originals stay intact to show where the remixer got their material from. But in a way, the term "untouchable" is ironic, because with today's internet, everything it touchable. People have access to everything and anything because of internet downloading resources, which we even get to use first hand in class. Because everyone has the ability to take music or videos and manipulate them into their own work of art, all music and artwork out there CAN be touched. So the term "untouchable" resonated with me in terms of the art of remixing.
          Speaking in terms of the whole film, I think it was presented in a very accurate way. It describes how great remixing is, but how it is also dangerous. With so many rules in the copyright industry, anyone looking to create a remix has to be extremely careful. But I think copyright laws are pretty reasonable today, considering how many people can make remixes without getting in any trouble. Without any copyright laws at all, famous artists would struggle to make money and they would lost their pride. If everyone was able to take the music of the world's greatest musicians without any fees or restrictions, the artists would never be rewarded for their hard work. In terms of where we are headed, it could go many ways. Copyright laws could become stricter in order to limit the amount of remixing, but I think people would still find a way around it. Or, copyright laws could become more lenient because they are aware that people would find a way around their laws. Personally, I think the laws should remain the same.