My Brand of Art

Without art, the world would be an extremely dull and lifeless place, and life itself wouldn’t be as enjoyable. Think about it. Art is everywhere from the paintings hanging in museums to the spaghetti we make for dinner. It’s one of the only things in life that doesn’t have to always follow guidelines or rules. It allows for creativity and passion to be expressed freely. For many people, art allows them to do what they love, and simply enjoy life. 

Art plays a huge role in my own life. I don’t paint or sculpt, I play and create music. I recently performed in my first concert for the orchestra at Penn State. This was a great experience all around, but my favorite part was performing in the Eisenhower auditorium. The hall had two balconies and was larger than any auditorium I have ever performed in. When people think of art, many only think of the basics like painting, sculpting, etc., but for everyone that’s a part of the orchestra, including myself, the music we create is art. The sound bounces off the walls of the stage and throughout the auditorium in such harmony and power, mesmerizing the audience and even me at times. How can we not call this art? 

I believe that music is one of the most powerful art forms that we have. Yes the only thing you physically see is a bunch of people playing instruments being directed by someone waving a baton. However, the synchronized movements of the bows of the string section, the way everyone seems to sway to the music, following the different tempos, all of this can be art in itself. Going beyond the physical sight of the performance, each written piece of music tells a story. Just as a movie has different scenes and actions that take place, so does music. The slow, soothing part of the piece can demonstrate a romantic part in the story, but just as quickly as this begins, a shift in tempo and key occurs and there’s a sense of frantic terror that’s created. 

As musicians, it’s easy for us to picture what is happening during each section of the piece. For me, all I have to do is close my eyes, listen, and I can paint a picture in my mind about what is happening in the music. Music influences and enhances mood and has inspired millions, and has definitely has inspired me.

Unfortunately many school districts nation wide have chosen to cut not only the music programs, but also many other art related classes. This has effected my family personally. My mom is an elementary music teacher who has lost her room at the school she taught at. She now has to travel to six different schools throughout the school district, teaching new kids every few weeks. This is not only terrible for her, but for the kids as well. Music and other art related classes are an important part of the curriculum especially for young children. Art classes utilize a different part of the brain than any other type of class and help children grow and become well rounded. These classes need to remain in schools. Either way, music is and will forever be an important art form and part of society.

Self-Evaluation

As my first semester of college comes to a close, I want to reflect on everything that I've learned and experienced. This past semester truly did fly by. In my first college english class, I think the most important thing I learned was to think about the audience and who will be reading what I write. This was important for me because many times when I write, in my mind everything seems to make sense, but I have trouble realizing that other people don't necessarily see it the way I do, or interpret what I'm trying to say. English 15 helped me to overcome this problem, and essentially helped me to become a better writer. A few things I never knew about before English 15 was the ethos, pathos, and logos infused in writing. With the incorporation of these three utilities, writing can be much more effective, and in turn made my writing better.

 Other than learning about the characteristics of writing, I learned much about Penn State itself. Through everyday discussion, I became aware of much of the problems, and also just basic knowledge about Penn State. Being a freshman, I didn't think that Penn State had changed in the past year. I knew that the scandal had put a dark cloud over the university for some time, but I didn't attend school anywhere near here, so I had no idea how the school functioned and acted before it happened. During class, my eyes were opened to how much the students, faculty, and community were actually effected by one man. I never would have thought that this year in particular was different from any other previous year. It's hard to imagine a place you've been living in and gotten accustomed to, to be drastically different only a short time ago. It's hard to explain, but being in English, and through our class discussions, I became informed and more widely effected by the scandal myself, even though I wasn't here when it happened. I think that this, along with the information we learned pertaining writing and the course material, was the most important part of our class. As a Penn State student, I have become more aware and better educated as to where I live and what it truly means to be a student at this university. Coming into the year, I felt like somewhat of an outsider and just a freshman, but this class has taught me how important my freshman class truly is. 

I also learned a thing or two about the arts here at Penn State and just in general. As a musician, I considered myself to understand what art was pretty well. I was sadly mistaken. There were many things I considered to be art. I considered art to be anything from sculptures to Beethoven's fifth symphony. Through this class however, I learned that almost anything can be art. A prime example of this was when we took a trip to the Arboretum. I wasn't necessarily that intrigued with the idea of going to look at a bunch of flowers, but as I took pictures of the hundreds of different kinds of flowers and plants, it became clearer and clearer. Art is whatever you make it out to be, you just have to be creative and look at something from a different perspective than you normally do. I still don't know if I would go see another play at the theatre or visit the Arboretum again, but I definitely view the world from a different perspective now than I did before I took this class. 

All in all, after having taken this class, I can honestly say that I've not only grown as a student, but as an individual as well. I believe that I am one step closer to becoming a successful individual in society. I'm not saying it's a giant step, but if I take it one step at a time and I think I'll end up okay. 

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Arts/Cultural Response: Wiz Khalifa Concert

In the beginning of the year when deciding what arts/cultural event to attend, I never would’ve guessed that it would be a Wiz Khalifa Concert. I went to the concert with my two friends, also fans of Wiz, and we were all extremely anxious to see what songs he was going to play. The energy level, the loudness, and the amount of people at the Bryce Jordan Center was incredible. Before Wiz came on stage there were four other performers that opened for him. The first two artists to appear were Berner and Tuki Carter, two artists I had never heard of. Both however performed pretty well, and managed to generate a decent energy from the crowd. The next two artists to perform, Chevy Woods and Juicy J, I was familiar with. Last but not least, Wiz came on stage and the hinges came off the roof. For every guy that yelled in the stadium, three girls were screaming at the top of their lungs. 
Before attending this event I had never been to a live concert, and wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. I figured it would be very loud, not the greatest quality of music, and a lot of screaming. I’ve been told if I were to go see an artist live not to expect them to sound anything like they do on their recorded tracks. This was quite the contrary for Wiz. He sounded fantastic, much like how he does in the songs you can buy on itunes. He played a wide variety of songs in his repertoire, which was very exciting because I had always wanted to see him perform songs from earlier in his career. 
The only negative part of the experience was that being on the ground in the standing section, people were constantly bumping and pushing you, trying to get closer to the stage when there was already no room to spare. I figured that it would be very crowded, especially where I chose to stand, but I had no idea of the constant barrage of bodies. Being so squished in a confined space also generated a tremendous amount of heat causing everyone to sweat. 
My favorite part of the concert was when Wiz played the song Young, Wild, and Free. When he started the song the entire crowd seemed to morph as one. looking around, everyone was singing along to this youthful anthem, there were girls got on top of the shoulders of guys, and there was an aura of such intense, yet carefree energy it gave me chills. It seemed like the stadium was transported back to the sixties, everyone singing and swaying together, all having a good time, not having a care in the world. It was such a strange yet enlightening feeling, something I never could’ve imagined, and something that is impossible to portray on paper. It is something that everyone needs to experience and it changed my outlook on life. It made me realize that not everything in life is such a big deal and so serious.
My friends and I thought the concert was extremely fun, and each one of us would go to another one again. It was a completely new experience for me and was unlike anything I have ever attended. I always wondered why anyone would go to a crowded arena full of obnoxious fans screaming over the sound of the performer, but I understand fully now. Something special happens when thousands of people who love the music being played get together. Something that only happens at concerts, and it’s what makes them so special.

In the Red and Brown Water

       The Play In the Red and Brown Water brought up many different emotions, thoughts, and overall confusion. This high energy show is about a girl named Oya who lives in projects with her mom. Oya is an extremely talented track runner, and is offered to run at “State”. However, her mother is getting sicker and sicker by the day, and she declines the offer in order to stay with her mom. Unfortunately, soon after she makes this decision her mom passes away, and Oya’s offer is no longer available. After this, two men come into her life to keep her company and try to help her through this time. The first man, Chango, comes off as a very arrogant, headstrong guy who simply wants to get with Oya. He comes to her in her time of need, and she falls for his tricks. He later enlists in the army and leaves Oya at the curb. This is when Ogun, a man who has loved her since the first time he saw her, makes his move. He only wants to take care of her and love her, and they live together for some time. Throughout their time together, Shango periodically makes visits back home, only to steal Oya from Ogun. Oya deceits Ogun on various occasions, sneaking away in the night to meet with Shango. Oya’s main goal is to get pregnant since she can no longer run, but neither of the two men have given her a baby. Ogun has treated her with nothing but love, but she can’t deny the compassion and love she has for Shango. However, when Shango returns home once again, she finds out that he has impregnated another girl. When Shango arrives at her house, she tells him that she heard the good news, and wants to give him a gift for the baby shower. Oya enters the room telling Shango she wants to give him something he can always remember her by, and hands him her ear. 

What struck me the most about the story was Oya’s deceitfulness towards Ogun. She was willing to risk the love a man who truly cared about her, for a player who was getting around with other girls. It somewhat bothered me also that she felt the immense need to become pregnant, and was willing to do it with practically anyone that do the job. What compelled me the most about the performance was a combination of the african dance and the music. The addition of the tribal dances and instruments created an exciting tone from the very beginning of the play, until the end. It added a very interesting flare to the already fast paced script. 

I don’t really have any critics for the play. The performance overall covered all the aspects that a play should, and performed them well. This was not my first time seeing a live theatre performance, but it was the first time being front row and being that close to the actors. At first, being in the front row seemed a little daunting, but as the play went on, it helped to pull me into the play and added to the experience. I have seen many live theatre plays, but this was probably one of the most intense plays I’ve attended.

“You’re my boy blue!”

Old School

By: Eddie Milisits

Director: Todd Phillips
Writers: Court Crandall, Todd Phillips, Scot Armstrong
Starring: Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Jeremy Piven, Ellen Pompeo
Length: 91 min.
Released: 2003

Old School is an instant classic about three men trying to recreate their college years by being as wild and reckless as possible.

Whether it’s ky jelly wrestling matches, getting shot with a rhinoceros tranquilizer, or streaking alone through town, Old School keeps you on your toes and undoubtably keeps you laughing. In the beginning of the movie, Mitch (Luke Wilson) comes home from a business trip to find his girlfriend having an affair with two other blindfolded strangers, and decides to move out. He rents a house that just so happens to be located outside the campus of a nearby college. The Dean of the college, Dean Pritchard (Jeremy Piven), was bullied in high school by Mitch and his two friends Frank (Will Ferrell) and Beanie (Vince Vaughn), so he tries to do everything in his power to get Mitch evicted. Dean Pritchard orders for the house to be zoned for additional student living space. Beanie and Frank challenge this by coming up with the idea to turn the house into a fraternity. Mitch doesn’t necessarily like the idea because he’s trying to impress his high school crush Nicole (ellen Pompeo). Nevertheless the trio then go through many hilarious and wild antics while acquiring pledges. Subsequently, Dean Pritchard then throws another curveball at the gang by forcing them to be subject to a charter review. If the fraternity as a whole is unable to pass, the house would be taken and all students involved would be expelled. 

Old school provides a hysterical outlook of three men trying to relive their college dreams. The type of humor infused in Old School is similar to that of other movies featuring Ferrel or Vaughn, such as Wedding Crashers, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and Dodgeball. Keeping this in mind, the comedy style at times can be somewhat halfwitted. For instance, there is a debate that occurs where Will Ferrell, seemingly feebleminded throughout the movie, is able to answer the question extremely intelligently and win the debate. There is no precedent that would explain why this would ever happen. However, this is only one of a few instances of dry comedy throughout the movie. Instances of insanely comedic scenes such as dressing up as kidnappers and stealing pledges in a white van, or a 90 year old pledge named Blue wrestling two half-naked college girls in a blowup pool of ky jelly, are present throughout the entire movie. 

Overall, Old School gives a hilarious outlook on certain aspects of college life. There isn’t a dull moment throughout the movie, and you can never guess what’s going to happen next. However, the movie is rated R, and contains a good amount of sexual content, profanity, nudity, and a lot of partying. Nonetheless, Old School will make you laugh and is definitely worth the watch.

Flowers, Flowers, and more Flowers

Before our class field trip, I had never been the Arboretum or even had any idea what an Arboretum was. Penn State offers a wide variety of small gardens and other nature affiliated areas throughout the campus, but the Arboretum blows them all out of the water. Being my first time visiting, I was in awe at the vast amount of beautiful flowers and plants that were in the garden. The great assortment and variety of different flowers made the garden more radiant than anything I have ever seen. The collection of vibrant flowers created a sea of color, and seemed to make the garden glow. I have never seen such brightly pigmented flowers, especially all grouped together in one place. It also shocked me to see that a good amount of the flowers were still bloomed and fully alive. With the way the weather has been, not to mention the hail storm we had a few weeks ago, it surprised me to find how well intact the garden seemed to still be in.

Whether I am a nature-lover is debatable. I appreciate certain aspects of nature such as the leaves changing in the fall,  how everything seems to glow when it snows, the animals that are always scurrying around, and many other things as well. However, there are also particular characteristics of nature that at times force me to stay inside. One aspect of nature that most people would agree they could live without, are the insects. Whether it's flies, ants, beetles, bees, or spiders...ESPECIALLY spiders, insects are the single reason why I am not a fully pro-nature type of guy. For instance, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip to the Arboretum. It was a very relaxing and soothing break from the stress of normal classes, and it put me at peace. I was at peace, however, until i got up close to take a picture, when all of a sudden 5 bees decided to try and assassinate me. This turned my serene and relaxing experience into a traumatic fight for my life. Once they left me alone, I was able to resume my relaxing walk through the garden, but was more alert of the potential threat of another honeybee attack.

Other than being attacked by rogue killer bees, I saw many interesting plants and flowers. For instance, I had never seen a sunflower that wasn't yellow. There were hundreds of sunflowers throughout the garden, but I came across a batch that were red instead of yellow, as shown above. I had no idea that sunflowers could ever look like this, and it reminded me of something out of a scary movie. I could see a batch of sunflowers like this growing in the backyard of a serial killer's house. Other than the demonic looking sunflowers, I saw a multitude of different flowers varying in size, shape, and color. A group of extremely bright orange flowers caught my eye right away, depicted in the picture below. These, plus the purple flowers included in the picture, were my favorite bunch in the entire garden. There were also a few other random items that were included in the Arboretum as well. These random items included gourds, lily pads, bamboo, and some sort of rock monument or structure. There also seemed to be construction going on at the time, so hopefully they keep adding to the garden to make it even bigger.

Although the Arboretum is a very beautiful and relaxing place, I would not consider going there again on my own. The Arboretum is a very beautiful and relaxing place, but I don't necessarily have the time to make another trip there by myself. However, this seems like the perfect and cheesy place to bring a date, or even my Mom when she decides to visit. In any case, if you go to PSU or ever decide to visit, I highly recommend visiting the Arboretum. It is something that everyone should experience at least once.

Life in a toy box

Sarah Bernhard

- Vik Muniz

Walking into a museum you expect to see some interesting artwork, however I was not expecting to see anything quite like this. The first thing that caught my eye was the massive array of colors that seemed to project from the wall. It seemed interesting from afar, but as I got closer to the picture I noticed that it was composed almost entirely of random toys and small items. A few of the toys I recognized to make Sarah Bernhardt included hot wheels, Spongebob, dominos, Shrek, legos, jacks, and hundreds of other assorted toys.

The artist, Vik Muniz, was born in 1961 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and currently lives in New York City. His artistic career started in the 1980's as a sculptor, but was best recognized for a series of pictures he created with chocolate syrup called "Pictures of Chocolate". In this series of photos Muniz recreated famous paintings such as The Last Supper and The Mona Lisa, with the only material being chocolate sauce. A film called Waste Land documented two years of Muniz's work, and took place at one of the largest landfills in Brazil. He bases much of his artwork off of other works, but puts a twist on them by creating them with unusual yet interesting materials.

Rebus is when a work of art is created using unrelated visual elements to create something with a larger meaning. Muniz took part in a project for the Museum of Modern Art called "Artist's Choice" where his exhibition "Rebus" was held. During "Artist's Choice", Artists acted as curators selecting works from the Museum's collection to create an exhibition.

Muniz recreated works of art using garbage, chocolate syrup, as I mentioned earlier, toys, and many other odd materials. I think he chose to use toys to recreate the portrait of Sarah Bernhardt for a few reasons. Sarah Bernhardt, the model of the picture, was a French actress, and considered to be one of the most famous actresses ever. She was well known for her performances on stage during the 1870's, and gained fame all across Europe. She was known mostly as a serious dramatic actress, which is one of the reason why I think Muniz decided to choose her for one of the pieces for his "Picture of Rebus" series. Because Sarah Bernhardt was considered a much more serious actress, what material would better contradict her than countless amounts of small toys. Other pictures included in the series such as "Death of a loyalist" or an extremely sad looking self portrait of Muniz all have the idea of seriousness or sorrow, but are countered by the playfulness of the toys.

I think Vik Muniz was trying to express to the viewer that no matter how terrible, extreme, or serious life may seem, we have to enjoy it. He's trying to tell the world that when things may seem at an all time low, or too intense to handle, life goes on. Using toys to create such serious images helps us understand the value of life and to be a little more easy going and just enjoy ourselves. It makes us appreciate the way we viewed life as kids.

When I first saw the picture, I had no idea who Sarah Bernhardt was, and I was confused as to why she was made of toys. After learning more about the artist and who Sarah Bernhardt was, I understood and appreciated the meaning of the picture. Seeing all of the toys reminded me of my childhood and eye spy books. The thought of those memories made me smile. Muniz was trying, and succeeded, in helping me remember a more carefree time in my life, where my only worries were if I was going to have enough time to finish my dinosaur battle before dinner, or whether or not i had enough legos to create my spaceship. Muniz wanted the viewer to take a moment and remember how simple life was, and in one way or another, how simple and wonderful it still is.

This was my first time going to the Palmer Museum, and overall I enjoyed it. I liked the Palmer because it had a good combination of the older, more religious pieces you would expect to find, but also had a lot of modern and abstract art. I've been to almost all of the museums in the D.C. area and I wouldn't mind going back. However, I don't know if I would go back to the Palmer in the near future because I was just there and nothing has changed.

Blog Analysis

Template: Being a student creating a blog mainly for other students and/or my professor to view, I found it easy to pick what layout I liked. I simply thought what would be easy to view and read from a students perspective. I chose a basic setup with posts on one side, and any additional information on the other. This seemed to be easiest to read in my opinion. I also chose the baseball themed background to give a better sense of who I am.

Title: I wanted to create a clever title that not only engaged the reader, but also had some relevance to the course and literature in general. If you didn't realize it, To Argue or Not To Argue is a knock off of the famous quote "to be or not to be" from William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Because the course textbook is named everything's an argument, it felt appropriate to question whether we should make an argument out of everything, hence my title. However questioning that is an argument in itself... I'm confused.

Color: This was simple. The background I chose of a baseball laying in a field of green grass made me choose green to have as the background color of my title. The title is white simply because it was easiest to read on a green palate.

Font: I'm not really picky when it comes to fonts. If i can read it, most of the time I like it. The only exception to this is the font of my title. I have terrible handwriting, I'll admit it. So when choosing my title, like many of the other segments of my blog, I wanted to put a little bit of myself into it. Of the fonts I saw, I thought this best portrayed a crude penmanship similar to mine.

Pages: I do not have any separate tabs for different information. I like the fact that all of my blogs entries will go in chronological order from the beginning of the school year. This gives me a sense of organization, how my blogs have improved over time, and somewhat of a timeline of my first college semester. Also, I have my "about me" section posted on the side next to where my blog entries will be found, and I feel that this will be the only supplementary info other than blog entries that will be on my blog.

About me: I decided to give a brief overview of some of the things I like to do and who I perceive myself to be. I included information about a few things I currently do or am a part of at PSU, to help give the reader a better image of myself.

My Blog: I think that my blog does reflect who I am decently well, however there is a lot more to me than I can fit in a simple blog. I thought that creating this blog was relatively easy and somewhat fun. I also think that throughout the course the whole 'blog' concept will become a little more clear and I will understand why it is such a big fad!