Thanksgiving Narrative

Before I started this project I had no idea what I was going to do. When I realized I’d have Thanksgiving break to work on it I came up with the idea of doing a narrative of my families Thanksgiving dinner. Every year my family travels to Indiana to celebrate Thanksgiving at my grandmas. There is always lots of delicious food and lots of people around. I decided to document this through taking pictures. I then had many different ideas of what I could do with the pictures. The first idea was a collage. Another idea was a slideshow with music. I was also thinking about showing it in the perspective of the food looking really good at first and then slowly fading the pictures out to show when you get sick of so much food and just want to take a nap. I could have also just simply shown the pictures in an order that tells a story (the food being prepared, the food being ready and the food after it has been picked through.) In the end I just started adding all of my pictures into a photoshop document and the end result ended up being a collage. I ordered the pictures in a sort of circle around the middle picture of the turkey, since that is what Thanksgiving dinners usually center around. I have pictures from when the food is being prepared, when its ready and after its been eaten. To make my collage more appealing I added shadows to all the pictures to make them stand out. In the end I really like the direction my project took. I had not imagined it could have turned out like this.

final project brainstorming

For my final project I want to create a narrative out of my families Thanksgiving gathering. I want to use pictures that I took and show them in a way that they tell a story. I have not decided yet how I want to do this though. I have a couple of ideas how I could turn it into a narrative. The first idea was a collage. Another idea was a slideshow with music. I am also thinking about showing it in the perspective of the food looking really good at first and then slowly fading the pictures out to show when you get sick of so much food and just want to take a nap. I could also just simply show the pictures in an order that tells a story (the food being prepared, the food being ready and the food after it has been picked through.) I have thought of many ways to create my narrative, but I cannot decide which way I like the best. 

Failure Statement

I think my biggest failure this semester was the second Micro Project where we created a map of our journey to campus. This was one of the first projects and looking back on it now, I feel I could have been more creative with the way I chose to show my journey. I feel my projects have become more artistic throughout the semester and I am thinking outside of the box now. I did not realize it then, but now I see that I learned from this failure. Seeing my classmates final projects of their journeys to class helped me to realize that I could stray from normal conceptions in my art work. I think my biggest success was the fourth Micro Project where we created a sound clip of our favorite place. This was the ultimate showing of how I learned to be creative in my work and think outside the box. From this success I learned and more or less proved to myself that I am capable of creating interesting and creative artwork. One project I would redo if I had the chance was the second Micro Project. Instead of just using the concept of an ordinary map, I would add more pictures of my journey and distort them in a way so that they are from my every day perspective. I feel that the first version of this project is too simple and uninteresting. It does not bring together all of the senses I use to get to class in a relatable way for the viewer. Overall I am surprised by myself in some of the art work I have created. At the beginning of the semester and every project I could have never dreamed I would accomplish so much.

Identity at Play

Identity at Play project

I choose to use my shoes, my rain boots in this video, to represent my action words to bend and to impress. I wear shoes everyday and do not put much thought into what they do. Sure I take into account if they are stylish and look good with my outfit, but I do not usually think about how they work to move me from place to place. They protect my feet from the weather and other harsh environmental factors and bend and grip surfaces following what my feet want them to do. When thinking about an object I use everyday that both bends and impresses shoes came to mind. They bend when you transfer pressure to the balls of your feet and they make impressions on surfaces when they grip for traction. To show this visually I decided to make a video showing the process. I also took a picture of an impression from a shoe. I put these visuals together in a clip to show the complete process, altering the speed here and there to create a more entertaining piece. I also added sound effects of splashing in a puddle and leaves rustling to show the sounds shoes can create with the surfaces they come in contact with.