Faculty Presentations
The first presenter, Bob, provided a timeline of his love for video games that began with playing pinball. He shared his personal experience of watching video games evolve rapidly. He named many of the games he began to play, such as pong. He went on to say that video games were his calling and he decided to enter the industry. He also spoke about the game industry and the artistic beauty of video game design.
As someone who rarely plays video games, I surprisingly enjoyed this presentation very much. I enjoy seeing video games through an artistic lens, so I found his talk interesting. He is very passionate for the subject and it shows throughout the presentation.
Alex presented art from a new phase in her life which used simple mediums and her daughters as subjects. Alex spoke of how she initially saw her children as a hindrance to her work, but after realized that they made her create in a new direction. She creates GIFs out of iPhone photos her daughters take. It is an experiment to see what a child sees and to know what they like, dislike, and feel.
Out of all the speakers, this talk was my favorite. I have a difficult time balancing my art and loved ones, and I often times see them as distractions. This talk helped me realize the importance of family influence in art, as it is not a hinderance but a new influence.
Joe presented an ongoing photo project documenting different generation of his family. He had intimate photos of all family members, from babies to matriarchs. Along with the photos, he told stories of the family members that showed different qualities of every family member. They were captivating and very moving.
I found this presentation to be a beautiful presentation of the different facets of family that create a lineage. Some stories were positive, some were not. However, I liked this about the photos and stories, as it represents real life. In some ways, the story of the person in the photo shifted my perspective of the subject. This was not just a photo of a person, but a story that builds a family tree.
Reflection
This semester was very tough for me. I had many things go wrong and I realized that I had a misconception in my expectations for college. That being said, I am thankful for this bad start, as it has made me much stronger. I am very proud of all the work I have made and astounded by how much I have learned is such a short time. However, I do feel horrible for not earning sufficient grades (by my standards) and missing so much class. There were so many factors that were out of my control that affected my mental state.
This course was not a good fit for me. It’s not because of the content/instructors, but the format of the class. Lecture classes do not work for me, as I thrive in smaller classes. The large group of people make me feel anxious and diminished. Theres nothing to fix, as it is just how secure dynamics affect me. I feel like I would have done better in the class if more direct discussion was provided. I enjoyed the speakers, especially the ceramicist that showed in the gallery.