Final project

"Banana"

Can't believe this is my last project for Kate's class. I'm not fogging up I swear, it's just my eyes are sweating.

My inspiration for this piece was English artist Julia Pott, and her incredible hand drawn 2-d animations. Her animations are adorable and portray very intimate ideas or small conversations. I think my animation is similar because I focused on one single relationship and not a big broad idea. Also, I tried to stick to a very handmade aesthetic, which I like and Julia uses consistently. I think our work differs because I didn't animate the whole body of the bird, just her face, which was a challenge in itself for me. Also our, drawing styles are very different so my animation's style is a bit more unique to me.

The consistency in all of her frame-by-frame animations is also way better than mine. If you click from the first frame to the last frame there a pretty clear difference in what is on character for her. It works though because I think as the piece developed I payed more attention to the way Brynn talks and how she would say things. Ya know, if she was bird. 

So, this piece I created in photoshop CS6 and then polished in Adobe Premiere. The bird's body and the bananas, I actually painted with water colors and ink and then scanned in using the flatbed scanner. A while ago I recorded a small conversation with my little sister, in which she tried to tell me a series of knock knock jokes, and I picked my favorite one out of those. I animated her facial features and the little bugs using the frame by frame animation feature. It was a huge challenge to try and sync up her mouth with the audio. There were a few times that I thought I had it, but it was actually too slow or too fast and I had to scrap the whole 10 or 20 seconds and start over. Frustrating.

Time was of the utmost importance when creating my piece because if the sound or animation was off by a lot it would be very noticeable and irritating. I know that there are a few times the beak does't completely sync up or the key frames were a bit rushed. But I just let that go and it's small enough that it adds a little handmade character. Also, it is alms exactly one minute ling which is kind of odd for me to make something that fits in a perfect time frame. 

I really just wanted to capture this one small moment with my very funny little sister. She literally always screws up this joke every time, so I wanted to show this quirky thing she does. Everything is informed by her bright "chirpy" personality and a bird seemed fitting for her voice. I'm not sure why, but I like art that is candid and personal, so I hoped to make something like that. I originally wanted a story of some significance to animate over, but I think a silly joke is more fitting to me and my sisters relationship. I set it outdoors because it felt natural to see a bird just sitting on a tree branch, however, since you can't see me on the other end of the conversation it feels more like an interview. A little bird interview.

-Avery Violet

Banana - my animated short film

Work in progress

Here's the notes and base drawings for my final project animation. yay!

Ephemeral art side effects

Forgot to post these. This is the aftermath from spending hours playing in the mud.

And yes that is a dinosaur.

-Avery Violet

Mystical shakespeare; Juno

-Juno-

The Tempest

-Avery Violet 

The Tempest: Ariel

I think I’m done with this. 

This is my interpretation of the character Ariel from the Shakespeare play The Tempest. 

I was inspired by the super old silent film version, where ariel is played by a little girl. I like that idea because it keeps at least one character untouched and innocent if she is a child. I also really enjoy when little girls are put in powerful roles, because it’s unexpected and sometimes scary. 

The theme for her costume is a mossy swamp vibe. Ariel was imprisoned in side of a clove pine so I thought woodsy/forest related items were appropriate to dress her in. 

also sparkles because she is a spirit after all. 

-Avery Violet

Assignment 6: Ephemeral art

Triangles

I constructed my project deep in the forest by the tennis courts on campus. The particular spot I chose is inside two parallel rows of trees, so when looking down the row it is very pretty. When the sun finally did come out, the trees gave a lot of shade but some beams came through. Everything was pretty still were I was. Although, the trees were so tall and thin they looked like pipe cleaners blowing in front of a fan. It was a calm space, with not a lot of changes. The thing that attracted me to the space, besides the beautiful hallway of tress, is the amount of movable sticks and fallen branches that were available. I went into it have a few ideas, but seeing all of those large logs it made me want to move them. There's something weirdly enticing and satisfying about moving big things.

I used a variety of sticks and logs to create my piece. First, I assembled them into a "skeleton" of my structure so I knew how big I wanted it to be. I set it so that it connected three neighboring trees. Then it was just a matter of collecting butt-loads of sticks to fill in the middle. I made sure that each one was straight and there were no knobby-bits on the ends, and this did involve smashing some against a tree like a barbarian (New favorite thing to do). The mud was sometimes helpful, but also at times a vice. It was a good cement for the bigger branches, but unfortunately swallowed up the smaller  ones. Also, there is still dirt under my nails but honestly that was expected. I had a few encounters with bugs along the way (including a very lethargic bee), and stabbed myself with the sticks a few times on accident. Since it had just rained, a lot of the wood fell apart in my hands instantly as I picked it up, which at times was a let down and quite gross.

As I was working I felt like I had slipped into a trance in a way. I just kept working and looking for sticks so much that time passed quickly and I didn't even notice how hungry or sore I was until Jess mentioned that she was. I worked instinctively, fitting sticks in the places I felt that they would belong best. It was a really refreshing experience.

The finished piece is probably the largest sculpture I've ever made. It fits on the forest floor like a carpet. It blends in almost seamlessly with the floor around it but under further inspection it is a geometric puzzle. Triangles hold a significant role in my art lately. I like their ability to be sharp and crystalline, but also how simple and whole they are. Two points connected is just a line, but three points make a shape. They're visually pleasing to me, and it was fun to take what I incorporate in my digital art into a natural setting.

At this point in my life, it's not a big deal to me to know my art will perish. I've done big drawings with chalk outside and watched it slowly fade away. The way this piece is set up, being floor bound, I doubt it will disperse too far. However, if it does, I can accept that. I put in around four hours of hard work into making it, but I know that it isn't a waste as long as I enjoyed the experience. My labors are not in vain because it was incredible to make, and there's a small possibility someone will find it and suspect aliens or witchcraft, and that's always fun.

-Avery Violet

Andy Goldsworthy

I've been a fan of Andy Goldsworthy for a long time. I found some of his work on Tumblr, but didn't know exactly who he was until Thrasher introduced him in class. His work to me is very inspiring because I've always appreciated artists who can just make art from what surrounds them. I love that his only subject matter he uses is nature and having to do with nature. It brings attention to how important nature is not only to him, but to anyone who finds his work. I really like the shapes he chooses to construct. Sometimes they're circles, almost portal-like in nature. Other times they take on a more organic "squiggly" shape. It's like they don't necessarily have to make up a complex picture to be interesting, the true beauty in the work is how delicate and whimsical these abstract sculptures are.

I also appreciate how much time and effort he puts into his craft. I would've given up way earlier if any of my pieces fell apart during construction. Especially when they can be so delicate one slight breeze could knock it all down. Watching him try to finish a very thin ice sculpture by placing one very small piece of ice in a tiny gap, I found myself holding my breath. His work looks so effortless, as if the forest did it itself. When he was constructing one of his "egg" sculptures out of stone, he said that "the stone is speaking". He's very in tune with the materials he uses and what they're capable of doing, so that he can get the most out of them. Not just the materials, but also the landscape as well. He spends a lot of time getting to know the land and "shaking hands" with it. I can relate to him saying he has to work to feel like himself. I know a lot of artists, myself included, who get grumpy or irritated when they haven't made art in a while. 

His understanding of balance is what makes each piece successful, both structurally and aesthetically. Goldsworthy is creating ephemeral sculptures that are in his words "pushed to the very edge". He's drawn to the flow of rivers and water and uses it in a lot of his pieces. It's interesting to think about what a person would be thinking if they happened to come across his works in the forest. There is a slight evidence of hand in his work but only enough for it to stay standing. A lot of sculptures look like the earth grew them on it's own, and in their decay they'll dissolve back into the earth. He creates these sculptures knowing full well they could completely break down at any moment, but he still wants to make his ideas to be tangible at least for that bit of time.

"good art keeps you warm."

-Avery Violet

Birbs

Hello. Here's some art that I've been making on my own. I've been sticking around a theme of pretty things, girls, and birds. I made these over spring break so it's a little late.

-Avery Violet

Assignment 5: performance.

3/25/2015

My idea for this project comes from the normal need for personal space and what would happen if I displayed one simple unspoken rule on my body. I also wanted to make a statement about harassment and assault of women. In some cases one of the first questions asked is "what was she wearing?". People view it as a valid reason for an assault to happen. So I wanted to show the irony when I wear this sign if someone touches me. It's as if I provoked them with what I'm wearing, even though it says "Don't touch me.". It was one part making a statement about assault and one part an experiment to see how people would respond to the act.   

 So for my performance art project I will be wearing this sign attached to my clothes, around campus all day.
Here's the rules:
I can't take it off, I can only cover it in my zip-up hoodie
I won't say anything before someone goes to touch me, only after
The only people allowed to touch me are those I give consent to
If someone touches me I will keep a tally
I will also try to photograph them
I will take notes of how people are reacting
I must act as if nothing is on me

This is what it will look like:

  

3/26/15

taken in the library later in the day.

during art history class.

taken in the library earlier in the day.

taken in the bathroom

During the day I took notes on my phone to document how I feel and what happened.

Responses:Jacob asked me why I was wearing that sign. I said because I like it!Dude behind the counter at the cafeteria just kept staring at me. It's really hard to not notice when someone is staring at you.A few weird looksI sat with people and they were like that an art project?! And some got it some didn't."That's hella rad"It's weird to put out a kind exterior while wearing a sort of hostile sign."Not touching you" while they hold their finger a few inches awayI explained how the sign was a possible provoker and well he agreedGave a high five. Nonverbal cues but I give consent.One lady gave me a weird quick disapproving look. Like damn lady what up.Sam is a doof.He asked if he can kiss me so that's nice. He asked to hold hands in the library and I said no. It sort of feels good to have that power to say no when asked.No one is noticing. I think that's okay.Friends have mostly been asking. No strangers touching me so that's good.The guy who handed me tea didn't make eye contact until after reading the sign. I immediately could feel him reading the sign.When he handed me my cup of tea he was very careful not to brush hands.One girl stared at me when I was waiting in line.Yes I see you staring at me. It weirder when we make eye contact.No one cares.Good.Class felt weird. I kept feeling like my teacher was going to point it out but maybe I'm just being paranoid.I zipped up my hoodie because I felt weird and frustrated that I can't fold my arms properly.Ran into Alex from digital imaging and he put a thingie on yik yak to see if anyone would respond."What's up with that don't touch me sign girl?!"Sweet. I hope everyone is pissed.Seems like everyone who's guessed what it was about nailed it on the head.
walked into art history class and someone saw me and smiled. then I think he asked his friend about it but it might just be the paranoia kicking in.


To be honest I expected the worst. The night before I had so many nightmare situations running through my head. I was thinking people would try to touch me all day and maybe it would get disturbing, maybe even violent. I'm a worrier in nature. But really I pretty much had the opposite or just a watered down version of the scenarios I had in my head. It felt more like an experiment.
Some people, mostly  friends of mine, noticed right away and asked politely about it. Others noticed from a far and just stared at me. It got really hard to pretend that I didn't notice them staring. For example, when I went to buy my lunch there was a guy behind the counter that just stared at me the whole time. Just a continuous long stare. I glanced at him momentarily and he just kept on staring at me like I had three heads. Sometimes I worried that people may have thought I had some weird disorder or disease. One lady looked at me like I had a swear word written on my face. Overall, I had very few weird results. One person said what I was doing was "hella rad" so that's nice. It was a rainy sleepy day, so maybe that's why. One of my friends posted something on YikYak after I told him I've had little response. At least one person noticed and replied so that's cool.

At one point when I met with my boyfriend at lunch he asked me if he could hold my hand, sense he wanted to respect my art even though usually it's not asked about. I denied him and then later gave him consent to hold my hands. It felt good to be asked and good to say no or yes at my own choosing. Earlier in the day one of my friends was left hanging for a high five and instead sent me the non-verbal cue for high five, to which I accepted. I was going to keep track of how many people touched me but that was redundant since I gave them all consent. 

It did feel very strange. Throughout the day the project became a little less about how people respond and more about how I felt. I noticed I become more paranoid. I'm a shy person already and I'm not the kind to be hostile or bruiting in anyway. So, being someone with a typically friendly exterior, wearing a sort of hostile sign was very strange. It was good to know that people generally followed that rule so good job society. 

-Avery Violet

Minimalist Shakespeare covers

Hey I made these. I'm digging Intro to Shakespeare.

- Avery Violet

Proposal for assignment 5 (?)

Hello!
So for this project I have a few ideas and I don't know which would be more interesting.

Ideas:
1.) Wear a sign all day that reads "please don't touch me" and record how people respond. I'm aware that it is possible that people will touch me anyways just to make a joke. With this I really want to emphasize on personal space and issues many women face with unwanted touching or closeness. Some could argue the sign is provoking that reaction, but what it says is contradictory. Kind of like when people say "what she was wearing provoked him".
Also, I hate when people touch me without consent or if I don't know them. I feel like slapping some hands... (just kidding). What I hope to point out is people's inability to follow a simple unspoken rule once it's plastered on my body.

2.) unravel a sweater or long knitted garment while talking aloud about nothing at all or something personal. I'd probably film this.

3.) play violin without knowing what I sound like in public.

4.) read aloud on film every horrible name you can call a woman, and then a man. Compare lists.

5.) smash a bunch of snow globes.

I think I like the top one best but I haven't really developed the other ideas yet.

-Avery Violet

Assignment 4: This is what you want to see.

Let me begin by saying I do not support 50 Shades of Grey, the books or the movies. I have not seen the movie, but based on the original trailer alone, I don't really think I'm missing out on any cinematic gold. Also from the parts I have read, or heard read on youtube, the writing is so bad it's hysterical. The actual plot of the movie is not that exciting so here's a really good youtube channel that goes through each chapter and critiques it in a funny concise way. She's much funner to watch and also free so there's that.

For my project I took the trailers and a few movie clips from the movie 50 Shades of Grey and transformed them into a "trailer" for a romantic comedy version of the film. The goal for what I created is that I want people to watch my version and then watch the original (posted below) and see how very different they are. I honestly want to make the original feel like a horror movie trailer. This is entirely because the storyline is in all actuallity very problematic and potentially dangerous.

The biggest problem with the book/movie is that it cloaks domestic abuse under a thin veil of "romance". Some of Christian Grey's behavior towards Anastasia is controlling and non-consensual. Not to mention a little creepy. At one point in the book he gives her a list of things she can't do, eat, or wear while they're involved. In a few of the more racier scenes he ignores her asking him to stop. In my trailer any trace of him stalking her or harming her in anyway is wiped away. It looks as if they have a grand ol' time together. In the scene where they first meet she look nervous and uncomfortable,   almost scared of Christian. He looks at her as if she's food, very predator like. When I watch it, I feel scared for Ana.
In my version, he looks at her like he actually in interested in her and she's just nervous because he's handsome or because of this attention. The hardware scene was crucial to get because the acting is sort of comedic and fun. I wanted it to actually look like christian was just a regular nice guy asking Anastasia on a date at work (and not showing up to her work creepily). They go on dates, they're passionate, they go on adventures, every clip I selected makes it all seem very positive and sweet.  

The movie's big plot point is that Christian is into BDSM. Like really into it. However, some have commented that the book shows a false representation of the BDSM lifestyle and plays too much on the stereotype that the female always has to be submissive. Personally, I don't know anything about BDSM or kinks. But from what I've researched, the two biggest non-optional rules are that everything must be consensual and safety is top priority. In some scenes involving this sexual behavior it seems that those rules aren't even on the table or are completely ignored.
So, when I thought about including a nod to that part of the story, it was very hard to find footage that showed either of them actually excited about it. The shots they used were probably supposed to be "mysterious" and seductive but they came off scary and awkward. Honestly, I can only think of one clip that would've worked., where in it, Ana holds her hands up and says "yes please", but unfortunately I can't find it in any of the trailers. I say this because I don't want it to seem like I excluded that part of the movie almost entirely to shame people who engage in BDSM or even sex in any way. I don't have a problem with that; I do have a problem with there being no consent prior to the act occurring.

I think the feeling of my trailer is light spirited and sweet. It really shows a couple meeting and having an adventurous enjoyable relationship. With the music, I made a deliberate choice to use a song that I've already seen used in romantic comedy trailers/movies. The song is Sweet Disposition by Temper Tramp. It's beautiful, light, and nostalgic so it fits in well in almost any rom-com. I picked soundbites that were light-hearted and could denote a positive relationship. He asks her about her interest in literature, and when she says something that's self deprecating he twists it in a positive way to show he likes her ("look at me..." "I am."). It was a matter of taking these small lines and strategically placing them so that it's shows how their fondness of each other grows (in a healthy way). What was weird was including the line "I'm incapable of leaving you alone". It strikes me as obsessive alone, but it somehow didn't completely come off that way in the context I put it in. Leading up to it you believe they've already fallen in love, so why would he want to be without her? He comes off sweet and devoted, and she wants him to stay just as much.

What's sickening to me is that people have mistook Christian's obsessive stalking behavior as romance or love. I actually had a friend describe them as "in love", but that's not what it looks like to me. I created the trailer with that thought in mind and gave them what they want to see from this story. I appeased the masses that said it's a love story, only to reveal how it isn't. Not only that, but also I conveyed how easy it is to cover up an abusive relationship with a little editing. 

-Avery Violet

Assignment 3 - "Emergency Sprinkles"

For this piece I really took kate's instructions to heart and played with my footage and premiere. I didn't really have a narrative in mind when I began collecting clips, but I had a few ideas in mind.
I noticed after the fact that a lot of the things I filmed happened to be things loosely intended to make me more comfortable. Besides the thumbtacks- that was mostly fore aesthetic. I call the sprinkles my "emergency sprinkles"- hence the title- for when I have cake that has no sprinkles or vanilla yogurt. I filmed tums and sleep aid pills the same way, and those tend to help me with the daunting task of falling asleep. My walk to class is included because I spend what feels like most of my day walking through the woods to and from class. This time is spent thinking and listening to music, which is sometimes therapeutic. I layered film of my pretty fairy lights because it gives the room a calming atmosphere, and I prefer dark places to light places. All these things, filmed in an intimate way, make everything warm and comfy.

I'm not sure where I got the idea to put my camera in a bowl of sprinkles and shake it around a bit, but I love the way that turned out. I set the blending mode to overlay on the footage of the sprinkles over every video clip so that you see both at the same time but not through each other. Parts of the video actually have it set to "pin light" so that the sprinkles look more liquid-y. When I filmed my lights I had a piece of saran wrap over the lens and expo marker colored on two of the edges so it has a faux vignette look. The sound was collected while I was filming, and I later removed it from the clips and mixed it in premiere. It's mostly the noises of sprinkles in a bowl and f.r.i.e.n.d.s playing in the background slowed down or reversed.

When we started talking about experimental film, I thought of Yayoi Kusama's early brush with film and her piece "self-obliteration". (I did extensive research on her life and work for John's class last semester, and revealed that I am a massive Kusama nerd. She's terrific.). In the film she paints her trademark polka-dots on naked people, dogs, film strips of buildings, and herself. The film overall is really poor film quality, but super hippy-dippy-trippy and defiantly homemade. So when I thought about getting experimental with film, she was my inspiration. My sprinkles were sort of an homage to her polkadots, and the fairy lights are like the club lights she filmed. The sound in her film was weird and distant, and mine is very abstract and detached. It wasn't intentional, I just noticed how parallel they kind of are as I was working. Minus the nudity, of corse.

The feeling of my piece is either really nostalgic and positive, or like a sinister drug trip. It can go either way. I like how it turned out looking like a home movie; very shaky and kind of crappy quality. The overlapping of the sprinkles and the pills/tacks, sort of make it seem like they're chasing each other. It reminds me of waves coming in at the beach. Like a swirly vortex of candy and lights.

-Avery McGrail

Nancy Floyd: Weathering Time

Weathering Time is comprised of a collection of black and white, self-portrait photographs of the Artist Nancy Floyd. The pictures were taken daily over the span of thirty years and all together they show the slow progression of time. 

She's pretty much centered and her whole body is visible, in every photo. Each picture presented in the work is unique, but because of the way she composes them they all tend  to look uniform and cohesive. Some of the collections have themes such as "misbehaving pets", where her pets in the photos are moving or interrupting the picture. The one I included above features the evolution of the typewriter into a mac computer; this shows the passage of time technologically as well as her age. Two of the pieces are pictures only taken during a short period of her life (like a month or two) and these really show how certain events effect her appearance and whether or not she could take a photo.  I also liked how she kept the blank spots in her film when she didn't take a photo because it keeps the eye moving. Also, I appreciate how none of her photos are edited because it shows how real and human this process was; there's mistakes, blurs, and sometimes half of the picture is missing. 

To me, this show is very raw. It's a simple idea; she just takes pictures of herself everyday for thirty years. But what came out of that is so complex and emotional to grasp. She has catalogued her life basically. What she wore, her family, her house, her job; she captured how she and everything around her has changed in a simple, raw way. During her artist talk she talked about the future of her project and how it in some ways reveals her mortality. In the progression of photos you see her age over thirty years, and it was sad to realize that she can't keep taking pictures forever. You don't really think about the artist as part of the art (even though they are the biggest part of the art!). They're the behind-the-scenes workers. Honestly, for some of the pieces I forgot that the woman in the photographs is the artist as well as the subject. I agree with what professor Thrasher said about him feeling like he knew her just by looking at her work. It's very personal and intimate, like a scrapbook.

I had the opportunity to talk to Nancy a little before the show opened, and even though I'm probably the most awkward little pipsqueak on the planet, she was so kind and warm. I told her about how I filmed parts for the next assignment using sprinkles in a bowl, saran wrap, and my camera to make a trippy surreal effect, and much to my surprise she went "That sounds FANTASTIC!". She told me about Cal-arts and how it's the place for animators. It was cool to feel like my art making made another artist excited, even for a little bit. I mean, her work definitely inspired me, so after meeting her I was stoked! Moral of the story: talk to artists. She was full of great advice on moving for school, being an art student, and creating art. Basically she's awesome.

Assignment 2: Breathe

I call this piece "breathe".
The sounds I used to create this piece are:
the tiny clock from my bathroom
the strings of my ukulele above the knot
keyboard typing
Beyonce's performance at the grammy's (reversed)
book pages being flipped through
my violin strings (plucked by my playing hand)
the washing machine
and my yawn

When I picked out what sounds to record for this project I was keeping in mind that I wanted an airy feeling to the piece. I originally wanted to do a whole composition made of sounds made from wrongly playing any of my instruments. However there isn't a lot of wrong ways to play instruments that make an unusual sound, so I had a small selection of violin and ukulele noises to incorporate somehow. I recorded bits and pieces of the Grammys to use and Beyonce's singing was so beautiful, I wanted to include it. However, I reversed it so that is sounds less like singing and more like a moaning of some kind. I sort of "fanned" the noises from left to right so that the listener is surrounded in it's atmosphere when they listen to it through headphones.
During the working process, I gravitated towards sounds that were light and airy, but also repetitious. The sounds create a building and rising of noise until a "breath" of resolution.

Working sonically was a challenge. It's really easy, almost too easy, to make everything sound creepy and cryptic. I tried to stay away from that because I'm not good at creepy. In my head I still had to visualize what the sound should "look" like. Which is weird because you can't see anything. For me, the layers of sound were equated to layers in photoshop, and I worked well that way. I made my piece very quiet in nature on purpose, however I think I may have made it too quiet. It was hard to tell if every layer was being heard and was working well together.

The atmosphere of my piece is very open. I used a lot of echo and paulstretch effects to give certain sounds more depth. It's starts out soft and almost silent and then grows into a flash of sound. I reversed the twinkling sound at the end and added a few more layers of sound to make the ending louder. The piece gradually builds and then there's a brief moment where it all dies down. Beyonce's "moaning" through the TV is very poltergeist and very creepy, but I wanted that to be subtle and faint. It adds a mysterious vibe.
It feels like anxiety or thoughts building up, and then being blown away. The ticking you hear softly at the beginning and end, signifies time continuing even as the stress mounts. It doesn't have a dark vibe of stress, instead it more neutral. It carries the essence of being anxious with out totally freaking the listener out.

-Avery Violet

Hello yes, I made this.
I collected sounds from walking around oval wood.

-Avery Violet

Listening Exercise

For this assignment I sat in my kitchen in my tiny apartment. Before I started listening, I started the kettle on my stove so that noise was sort of inevitable. All the other noises were just normal everyday noises.
During the ten minutes I noticed how loud our furnace is. It was possibly the loudest thing I heard. I'm not sure if it's because I was sitting right next to it or if it seemed loud because there was no other sounds happening. I realized that usually I would consider the kitchen silent, even with it on. But when I really listened it became overwhelmingly noisy.
 My kettle got increasingly louder and I noticed that I forgot to turn off my TV. I could hear my roommate start up a shower and her moving things in the bathroom. I could hear the fridge make that weird out of  nowhere knocking noise that in my experience fridges always make.
My kettle was heating up the entire time I listened and I began to feel anxious. The sound of the kettle just became so apparent to me. It makes a weird cracking noise, like the heat is cracking it. Then it grew to a full boil and it sounded like rain falling on a tin roof. I guess the welling tension of the kettle boiling sort of resonated the feeling of an anxiety attack with me. I know it was going to start whistling soon so I actually had to get up and turn it off.
The sound of the shower going off is sort of exciting to me. I really enjoy showering and getting clean so that sound is like an alert to my brain like "it's shower time oh boy!". But when it's someone else showering it's a weird feeling like I'm listening in on something personal.

-Avery Violet

Assignment 1: Stop motion animation

For this animation I decided to use watercolor paint. Watercolors can be very temperamental and sometimes not do what you want at all, so I was a little nervous about doing something that requires concise perfection, like a stop motion. (Water drips in ways I don't want to, mixes with the wrong colors, comes off more or less pigmented than desired, etc.) I chose it because I think it's beautiful and possibly my favorite medium. I noticed that when I began to paint I was gravitating towards images of nature and fluid movement. Water and rain are represented by the blue droplets that pile up. Sun and light represented in the globe of yellow light my hands "put out". I think I have a thing for painting evergreen trees with watercolors because I do it almost every time I "doodle" paint.

It was very hard to do this without a plan because I was constantly second guessing myself. It's hard to go back and change things if the paint has already dried or its in a tricky position. I would've preferred to go off of a plan, just so I know where it's going. I had trouble concluding it because I had started over a few times. Next time I think I'd make a plan or shot list.

I think the overall mood of the piece is optimistic and happy. One of my favorite things with watercolor illustration is that you can be very minimal and still make an impact. So with this animation everything stays simple and bright. A big aspect to this piece is "breaking the forth wall" in a way, when you see my hands moving the paper or the paint brush interacting with the images. It's a take on how I interact with my art. I like it's homemade, "sloppy" look.
Also I have very tiny hands.

Avery Violet

Mess

Show Review: Capital Yes - Derek Larson

January 20, 2015

Derek Larson's show titled "Capital Yes" presents a new kind of art with displays of light and technology integrated with paint and sculpture.
The show features light and animations projected on cut-outs of strange organic shapes. Larson's choice in color palette makes a poppy atmosphere, using bright "cosmic" colors. He suggests that this was to mimic advertisement's attempts to catch viewers eyes. The shape of the surface the animation is being projected on is crucial to piece because it gives the light a physical presence. The sculptures are cut-out in a way that the projections fit perfectly on them with a bit of over hang to give them even more depth. They're eye-catching and very large, consuming the space as viewers give way for the projection to reach the sculpture.
Larson's work reminds me of street art. It's very poppy and "weird", like modern graffiti. In contrast, it looks sleek and modern when presented with technology as it's media. The largest piece in the show titled, "Double blind", is shaped almost like a billboard thats dripping and melting. This relates back to his theme of advertisements, but the melting suggests a decay in modern ads. The melting and dripping parts of his pieces reiterates a sense of decay and possible morbid undertones. This especially in the smiley face instillation because it is odd to see a recognizable happy symbol "dying" and melting.
For me, it didn't change the way I perceived the artwork. It's always nice to see the artist, but sometimes my questions go unanswered or I like my interpretation better. In retrospect I wish I would've asked about the painted panels of light, because I'm still a little fuzzy on their significance. However, getting some insight into how he uses animation and sculpture together was inspiring.

-Avery McGrail

Time Map

So for this project I drew a cat every time I thought about going back to bed and being "warm and cozy" during a very cold and dreary day. I recorded the time too so I knew when it was that I got tired and possibly where. 

I've realized I think about cats a lot and there are many different ways to draw cats. 

-Avery Violet

hello.