Mathilde Bowen

How did your group approach the concept of shelter?  Was it successful? Why?   

We wanted to create a feeling of safety, hidden from the outside world. Conceptually, we wanted it to resemble a place where people go in their minds that is quiet, calm, and peaceful. Originally the idea was to have a circle base however that ended up being more difficult than expected, so we shifted to a rectangular base which did not affect the overall feeling we wanted to create. The shelter was extremely successful and while there were a few complications with the structure being moved and dismembered, we were still able to put it back together and further finish it up. I also feel that the structure is sturdy enough that the debris used to cover it can be removed and covered with different materials, which was also a motive of mine. I wanted to create a ground structure that could be molded into creating different moods. It could easily be draped in sheets, christmas trees, canvas, ornaments, or even umbrellas.

What was the group budget for the project? Where did you source your materials and how did they cost?

The budget was $30 however my partner and I did not use any money in creating the shelter. The pallets were pre used and came from Office Depot, the 2 x 4’s were found in a pile near Zilker, the overhead netting was previously used as a gate for animals, and all the branches and leaves used to cover the structure were found in nature.

Was the workload equal? Explain.

The work load was 50%, 50%. Elliot and I went together to find our materials (Office Depot and Zilker), we came in on a Friday’s to build the structure together, and we moved the structure up to the hill in a friends truck. We continued to build the structure over a few days together and further covered the structure with leaves and debris. All work done on the shelter was done together in good company.

What was the strength that you added to the group, your weakness?

Strength: Creativity, ideas, support, decorating 

Weakness: Carpentry, and physical strength (saw)

What role did you find you played in the group dynamic?

Elliot had some experience with making forts so he had a good idea of how to execute the build of the structure, so I feel I worked well with his ideas. We both kept really good spirits and were open to each other’s’ thoughts. We did not have any sort of conflict and besides the physical strength (elliot had more) I feel our roles were the same. In addition since there was only  2 of us I feel like  we were both “executive designers” throughout the entire process of building.

What advice would you give to the next group that must complete this project?

I would advise further students to go outside “the box.”  Every other project for this course may restrict you, but this project can’t. This project lets out the kid inside, the magic we all know and love. This project allows for true creativity and emotion where all the other projects do not. While the other projects may restrict students from freedom of art this one does not. So I would tell them to, “Let loose, have fun, and enjoy the process.” Create something you actually enjoy, you don’t have to do it for the grade like other projects because the feeling/artwork will speak for itself. Good luck to the future students, I hope you will let the rules go and do what makes you feel good.

Nipple Jesus
Reading through the eyes of the narrator, I felt everything he felt, I road the same roller costar as he did. I felt his marriage, his life, his anger, and his thoughts. Martha says on the bottom of page 123, “Art is about provocation” this short story in it of itself provoked me. Just as the narrator wanted answers I did too, I felt sad and frustrated when Nipple Jesus was destroyed, and finally I was left in wondering disappear with Martha’s attitude toward the narrator and the destroying of the painting. Now that I have read it I sit hear and ask my self, “So if I cant take much away from this story myself, what is the author wanting me to take away? Do they want me to see art from different individual perspectives? Do they want me to see how something’s can be provoking multiple feelings (beauty and ugly)? Do they want to teach me how a single story or art piece can mean different things to different people (narrator vs Martha)? Do they want me to feel something at all?” But was this story really did for me was show me how controversy provokes, if the painting was only of Jesus or only cut ups of breasts from porn mags, would there really any internal connection to it? And that is incredible art, a single piece that makes people wonder, think, hate, love, react.

Cathedral
The short story, “Cathedral” didn’t make me think as much, though I can understand the way it challenges the narrators perception and the assignment itself is familiar (experiencing objects or just moments with closed eyes). I guess the writing just didn’t conjure up or provoke much out of me like the Nipple Jesus story did. But applying what I learned from Nipple Jesus I realize that’s just my perception, all audience members internalize things differently.

I walked into this project thinking I would have no problems, hiccups, brain freezes, or mental blocks. On the surface it seemed easy, familiar, something I would enjoy doing and probably get done in 45 minutes. Once I was just 10 boxes in, the mental freezes began, it was almost like I was searching in all parts of my brain to find the cabinet labeled “Mathilde’s Millions of Lines and Patterns Supply.” Unfortunately I learned I was not supplied this specific cabinet, rather I had to build it in myself. I created a basic cabinet from this project, it’s not full of millions or completely organized but it’s there for the using when I need it. Now I’ve got a hand crafted mind cabinet labeled, “Mathilde’s Lines and Patterns (in the works but here)” and a paper chart to prove it.

Circle Book: Elements and Principles Dictionary

For the 4-D line project I created a time lapse. On a day to day basis we all experience lines we stand in lines, standing in lines, seeing lines, walking in lines, but we also experience them through time. Time is a 4-D line. I wanted this project to reflect my daily life, so I decided to time lapse myself while setting up and decorating a blank wall in my room. I do this almost once a week, for some reasoning rearranging and creating a new environment is stimulating and also calming for me. To record this process for the first time was really weird and interesting; through this project I was able to watch my own personally mundane process come to life. It brought up a completely different feeling than the feeling I have when I am in the action of doing it. Here I could watch it on a time line, start to finish, watch the wall come to life, watch my thoughts, my actions, and the art come together into one constant stream. I will start doing this more in my daily life, with changing my room, and with other things. I think the idea of the time lapse line brought me awareness of time, life, moments, which are all lines- really all a part of one continuous line that right now has a start point and not yet has an end point. This project pushed me to use a media I wasn’t so familiar with and now I want to begin doing it in all different situations, really shifts your outlook on moments and how they seem, feel, and appear different in a frame than the way they do internally.