JACOB SPENCER, MAKING IT WORK: MUSIC MATH AND MECHANICS

AN INTIMATE LOOK AT THE BUSY LIFE OF A 23 YEAR-OLD COLLEGE STUDENT

Jacob Spencer isn’t your average Math undergrad, finishing up his last semester at St. Edward’s University his passion goes far beyond science and mathematics. On top of his full course load Spencer has worked for automotive shops, oil manufacturing companies, and has composed music for his own band. This may seem like a lot to take on for a 23 year-old undergraduate student, but Spencer enjoys spending countless hours tenderly nurturing each of his passions. “Music and cars are my passion and math is what grounds me,” Spencer said. 

At the moment Spencer is working on releasing an EP with his band Follow Through, with Spencer (right) on guitar and his roommate JR Torres (left) on drums. “We started making music for fun around the house and it kind of turned into an obsession. Jacob does most of the editing and uploading, and I mainly help out with the beats and filling in missing sounds,” Torres says. Spencer spent years teaching himself how to play guitar by watching videos online and looking up chords to his favorite songs. He is inspired by metal artists that his mother introduced to him growing up, but enjoys creating more low-fi sounds. “I spend a lot of my free time messing around on garage band and creating riffs based off of some of my favorite artists. Playing guitar and making music is very meditative for me and helps me relieve a lot of stress from school and work,” Spencer said. Spending anywhere from 6 to 12 hours a week making music Spencer hopes that after graduation he can dedicate more of his time developing his skills as a musician.

On top of music and math, Spencer has always enjoyed automobiles. Working in an automotive shop at the age of 16, he enjoys being around mechanics and appreciates the intricacies of car design. When Spencer isn’t working on homework or making music, he is going to car shows and drawing car designs in his sketchbook. “My grandpa and neighbors introduced me to cars when I was growing up, and living in Houston I would see a lot of really unique automobiles that kind of kept the flame burning. I love going to car shows and whenever I’m feeling extra stressed out and need an escape I get in the car and drive out of the city. It’s very soothing to get away, and sometimes I really need that change of scenery,” Spencer said. He is also an avid collector of Hot Wheels diecast model cars, with hundreds on display in his Austin home and even more at his grandparents house in Houston.

After working for automotive shops for four years, Spencer moved in to manufacturing with a company called Megas. Liam Khuen, a friend and employer at Megas says, “Jacob is a dear friend and a hard worker, when I learned he was looking for a job I introduced him to Megas right away.” Spencer works part-time making parts for the oil manufacturing company, he uses his skills as a mathematician to aid in the engineering process and spends a lot of time crafting the products for sale. “The work is pretty labor intensive but I never get bored and really enjoy my co-workers,” Spencer says. 

Spencer grew up in Katy, Texas and moved to Austin for school in 2015. His hardworking personality and seemingly endless energy levels contribute to his success with all of his hobbies. Spencer prefers staying home and working on his passion, but maintains an avid social life with his outgoing personality. Edward Brown, a close friend of Spencer’s says, “Jacob has been a good friend of mine for a few years now, he’s the sweetest guy I know and not at all afraid to speak his mind. He’s a big goofball and he gets along with everyone he meets.” Although Spencer is a very busy person, he maintains his friendships by meeting around campus for study sessions and having jam sessions at his house. Juggling so much can seem intimidating for some, but Spencer has come up with his own unique ways to cope with all of his responsibilities and passions.

readings #4

  1. I am not self-conscious about my ideas, although sometimes I will have doubts while in the process of creating them. But as long as I follow through and finish, I am not self-conscious about it.
  2. I think the nothing-to-lose attitude is good. It allows you to tear down constructs and other such barriers so you can openly explore your ideas without restraint. The only con I can thing of would be carelessness when it comes to things that are out of your control, such as laws.

Readings #2

1.) I make most decisions based off of my own opinions. If the decision is based off of a criteria I’m supposed to meet, then it usually has more influence from external circumstances. Although I trust and have faith in my own ideas, they don’t always meet the expectations of those around me. The pressure of pleasing others, rubrics, and other such things can advise my decision making.

2.) I never know if something is “good” in any of my work. But, I do have a feeling for when i’m liking the way it’s going or coming out. This is when I realize if something is “working” for me. It usually happens when I get excited about the progress. Typically it’s when a composition or color scheme starts taking a personally satisfying form. Then I know, at least for myself, that I like the way it’s going.

3.) I rework projects usually by adding to them. If the original is unsatisfactory then I will reuse the parts I believed were successful and start from scratch on the rest.  If I’m reworking it just because I’m inspired by a particular part and want to add to that, then that’s what I’ll do. I will let the old one act as fuel for the base of a completely new idea. This usually helps create a new piece of “working” art.

Readings #3

1.) To be better prepared for creating aesthetic objects I would first need to know what my guidelines were. The aesthetic I’m theoretically trying to achieve must fit with the rubric I’m given. Although knowing the general history and trends of art and design will always be helpful when creating, you must also have a deep understanding for your own style in order to best execute your abilities. Combine those two forms of knowledge, with a good sense of what people want, I believe anyone can be prepped for creating objects and their aesthetics.

2.) My main form of exercising my creative muscles is my sketchbook. I keep it on my person wherever I go so I don’t miss an opportunity to jot something down. I use it not only for drawing sketches but also writing down ideas, philosophies and revelations, quotes from people around me, random observations, and anything else that catches my interest. This helps me to realize my thoughts and finalize them by making them permanent on paper. It acts as an extension of my own thought process and is where I go to gather my ideas.

Foundations post #1

  1. In order to be able to accurately express my views about the differences between designers and artists, I would have to have extensive experience in both fields. I can only assume what it is like to be one or the other. Based off of the readings, I can assume that being a designer is more of a “job.” Meaning that you are working to satisfy someone else’s needs, whereas an artist creates for their own reasons and becomes successful through publicity and social acceptance/rejection. But I think it could be argued that neither of these things should be categorized, and instead should fall under the cloud of creation which always includes self-expression. Both the artist and the designer create, whether they are drawing inspiration from past designs or using traditional techniques, they still create something that is to be useful in some form. Designers create things that are typically used for practical functionality, whereas the artist typically creates to make meaning or communicate a thought; both are still made to achieve a goal. It would be irresponsible to say that unlike art, design is functional, because art serves a function as well, even if it may be a different one.
  2. If I had to place myself in a category, I would probably fall under the artist more than the designer one. Only because I have had little to no experience with design solely based on functionality, but have had much experience creating fine art pieces. I have done many commissioned pieces where I was confined to create what my “employer” wanted, which I believe could be related to the designers tendency to create for other’s.

Extra credit post

Choi XooAng

Choi Xooang is a contemporary hyperrealistic and surreal sculpture artist. The majority of his works are made from resin and they are meant to portray his concern with the human condition in society. Most of his work is figurative with small twisted renderings to create beautiful eerie scenes.

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post #12

part I

I think this course was extremely interesting and informative. I took a course similar to this in high school that helped the students create websites, resumes, portfolios and other things that are important for the real world of art. I really enjoyed the guest speakers, especially the professionals in the art field that came to present.  I do wish it had been a little more interactive with the students, and maybe more productive assignments. Although I think the reflective blog posts were very successful

post #10

Part I

The game designers that spoke in our class definitely taught me a lot about the gaming industry. I always knew it was a complex industry with a lot of important details, and I am very interested in the artistic side of it. After hearing about all of the opportunities for technically skilled artists, I have become very interested in that side of gaming.

Part II

How do you make connections to show your work?

Blog post #7

Istvan Sandorfi

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Title unknown medium oil paint

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oil paint

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oil paint

Istvan Sandorfi is a hyper-surrealsitic painter. His work typically portrays people or still lives that vanish into thin air. He was born in Hungary but was a french painter. He got his formal education at École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts and at École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs in Paris. I am extremely inspired by his work, as I’ve always been intrigued with surrealism and strived for realism. He was introduced to oil painting at the young age of twelve, and from there decided to perfect his painting technique to create realistic hyper-realistic paintings with his own twist of surrealism.

PreSequence

Sequence number 2

In the beginning of the film It shows the passing of people and the overlapping and intertwining of their lives. It portrays this in a very chaotic way, speeding up the video and quickly zooming in on to a few specific characters, whose stories are written and rewritten throughout the movie. The story that is re-written is one primarily focused around the life of a young woman named Lola. In her story, her boyfriend’s life is in danger due to a drug deal that he lost the money for. She only has a few minutes to gather 100,000 dollars in order to save her boyfriend’s life. Throughout her first attempt to find the money, she briefly encounters some other characters whose interactions may seem somewhat irrelevant at first but as the film goes on become crucial to the overall meaning. This story is re-written three times; restarting each time after a main character’s death.

The first re-write, or do over, began after Lola’s boyfriend attempted to rob a grocery store, and as they were escaping, Lola is accidentally shot in the chest by a cops bullet.. As she falls to the ground, she has a flashback about the idea of reality and love and what would happen to the others around her if they had never met. She tries to understand the connection between two people and asks whether it was meant to be or if it was just chance. She specifically asks her boyfriend, Manni if he loves her, and asks what that means. She doubts its authenticity because of the probability of different outcomes. Stating that he would be in love with someone different if he hadn’t met her.  After watching this flashback, she decides that that isn’t how it was going to end, leading to the next section of the movie, where we begin again where Lola was at first, running down her stairs to Manni’s aid.

Because the first attempt was a failure, we are taken back to the beginning of the story, but this time there are slight differences in the interactions that Lola encounters during her journey. But, in the end this story line also doesn’t solve the problem. But instead, Manni ends up being hit by an ambulance truck. Next we’re taken to his flashback where he was asking Lola what she would do if he died. In this instance he is questioning the authenticity of their love by realistically comparing it to death. He exclaims that if he were to die, she would mourn for a while, but would eventually get over it and move on to a new love. In this instance he is questioning chance and feelings. To which Lola responds, “Manni, you are not dead yet.” After this scene, we are back at the beginning of the story for the third and final re-write.

In this re-write, the slightest changes in time, prove to be the most influential moments that can completely change the outcome of a situation. I think by utilizing this story line the producers were attempting to convey the fragile settings that we all live in, and express that the slightest fluctuations in movements and speech can lead to the most drastic of changes in human life. I believe this film focused on the idea of fate, and the probability of different outcomes within it. Although it didn’t specify how the different events took place, different situations kept happening to create different endings. It also utilizes minor characters to create a deeper look into this reality that the film has created. By showing flashes of their lives, you are able to see how drastically the slightest change in interaction shapes their everyday lives.