Friday, January 13, 2012

Assignment 3: Artist Influence - Robert Longo

An artist that influences me is Robert Longo. His artwork is very expressive, using people doing poses or actions in a overdramatic way.

 

His artwork is a lot like the same, almost repetitive, but at the same time it's captivating and interesting. I can't pick just two pieces of his work to put here. 


To me, Longo's use of people in dramatic poses seem to speak a lot about how people sometimes feel on a day to day basis. They are often dressed in formal/work attire, which I think speaks a lot about their daily working lives and the frustrations and stress that comes with. I think it says a lot about how we all have to obey or commit to a certain daily ritual day by day in order to make a living in the world. I almost get a zombie feel to some of these pieces, as if we are slaves to our repetitive daily routines.
I feel like Robert Longo's art is a lot about people's longing to fulfill their desires but have to do what society expects us to do, and do what others think is appropriate, or right, or "normal". I feel like Longo's art is what people feel like behind their fake smiling faces, for those who are not truly happy in what they do. My Big Idea is having a sense of belonging, and I feel like a lot of the people within Longo's art lost their concept or feeling of what their sense of belonging is, and so they go along with the rest of society, because they have to and since they don't know where they belong, they go with what they think they belong to, or what others think they belong to.






Thursday, January 12, 2012

Assignment 2: Answering the Questions

Why do we all yearn for that feeling of acceptance?
Everyone wants to have that feeling that they're accepted for who they are, whether they are kids or adults. We yearn for it because it gives us a feeling of satisfaction or relief that it's okay to be who you are, and people respect who you are.

Why do some people pretend to be something that they’re not?
When it comes to the sense of belonging, some people, teenagers essentially, want to belong to a part of a clique or a group of people, it gives them a sense of importance they believe they lack. Even if the group won't accept who others really are, some people really focus on trying to mold themselves in that perfect fit the way others would like them to be, instead of trying to find a group that will accept them for who they are.

Why is it so hard to find who we are?
At a very young age, kids are influenced by their parents, siblings, peers, and media that sometimes as we get older we get lost on who we are, what we want to be, what our family wants us to be, what our peers tell us what's cool or not, and what the media tells us what's cool or what's not. We get tangled up in what others say who we are, rather than what we say who we are. As we get older, it becomes more difficult for some, to the point where it's hard to know exactly, sometimes we don't know at all until we start to search within ourselves.

Why do we constantly try to search for who we are?
Your identity is like a 1,000 piece puzzle that you are putting together since birth until adulthood, and probably are still putting pieces together even then. If we don't know who we are, it's like having a giant hole in your chest. We yern to find our belonging and who we are in order to fill that hole, because it doesn't feel right.

Why aren’t we all the same?
It would be a boring, boring world if we were all the same. We wouldn't learn about the differences in the world which are essential in everyday life. We would just associate with people just like ourselves, and where is the learning in that?

Why are we all different?
Differences are what make the world. Different personalities, different opinions, different ideas, different people. You will constantly meet people who are different and disagree with what you believe in, and that's okay. Because we are all different, we learn to tolerate and to accept, and to make ourselves a more rounded.

What is normal?
Normal has such a broad definition, and is constantly being debated about. What exactlyis normal? What's "normal" to someone is just a matter of opinion. What might be normal to one person, might not be to another. It depends on how you were raised, and the environment you live in. Everyone has different views and opinions on the world, and what's considered "normal" in it.

What is strange?
Just like normal, strange is just a matter of opinion. What might be strange to someone, is normal to someone else and vice versa. Everyone's brains works differently, and everyone is raised differently. So in retrospect, isn't everyone strange in some way?

Assignment 1: The Big Idea - Sense of Belonging

Big Idea: Sense of belonging

Potential Topics: deviating from social norms, the missing piece, loss of identity, found identity, cliques, outsider looking in, peer pressure, community, linked chains, broken chains, depression, happiness, feeling of relief, coming together



v  Why do we all yearn for that feeling of acceptance?

v  Why do some people pretend to be something that they’re not?

v  Why is it so hard to find who we are?

v  Why do we constantly try to search for who we are?

v  Why aren’t we all the same?

v  Why are we all different?

v  What is normal?

v  What is strange?



v  Sense of belonging is about finding what fits you

v  Sense of belonging is about finding what doesn’t fit you

v  Sense of belonging is about finding what doesn’t fit you

v  Sense of belonging is about being who you are

v  Sense of belonging is about who you are not

v  Sense of belonging is about searching for you purpose

v  Sense of belonging is about sense of community

v  Sense of belonging is about filling that empty hole

v  Sense of belonging is about different kinds of people

v  Sense of belonging is about individuality

v  Sense of belonging is about reaching out to others