Reading: Clement Greenberg's Avant-Garde and Kitsch

• "in the past... really important issues are left untouched because they involve controversy"

Avant-garde culture: 
-"appearance of a new kind of criticism of society, a historical criticism"
-coincided with the "development of scientific revolutionary thought of Europe"
-"emigration from bourgeois society to bohemia meant also an emigration from the markets of capitalism"
-function was "not to 'experiment,' but to find a path along which it would be possible to keep culture moving in the midst of ideological confusion and violence"
-"arrived at 'abstract' or 'nonobjective' art" bc of search of the absolute
-"imitate God by creating something valid solely on its own terms"

• "'art for art's sake' and 'pure poetry' appear, and subject matter or content becomes something to be avoided like a plague"
• turning "attention away from subject matter of common experience...turns it in upon the medium of his own craft"
• "cannot be arbitrary and accidental, but must stem from obedience to some worthy constraint or original"
• "excitement of [Picasso, Braque, Mondrian, Miro, etc.] art seem to lie most of all in its pure preoccupation with the invention and arrangement of spaces, surfaces, shapes, colors, etc."
• "expression mattering more than what is being expressed"
• "no culture can develop without a... stable source of income... provided by an elite among the ruling class of that society from which it assumed itself to be cut off"
• "academicism and commercialism are appearing" --> avant-garde: "unsure of the audience it depends on" (rich & cultivated)

Kitsch:

-"popular, commercial art and literature with their chromeotypes, magazine covers, illustrations, ads, slick and pulp fiction, comics, Tin Pan Alley music, tap dancing, Hollywood movies, etc.

-"a product of the industrial revolution which urbanized the masses of Western Europe and America and established what is called universal literacy"

-"destined for those who, insensible to the values of genuine culture, are hungry nevertheless for the diversion that only culture of some sort can provide"

-"vicarious experience and faked sensations"

-can be "turned out mechanically"

-"flowed out over the countryside, wiping out folk culture"

-"self-evident" & obvious meanings

-"culture of the masses"

• "proletariat and petty bourgeois learned to read and write for the sake of efficiency"
• "a pressure on society to provide them with a kind of culture fit for their own consumption."
• "artists will modify their work under the pressure of kitsch"
• "attitude of the masses both to the old and new art styles probably remains essentially dependent on the nature of the education afforded them by their respective states"

Repin (Kitsch) VS. Picasso

-peasant "suddenly discovers values in Repin's picture that seem far superior to the values he has been accustomed to find in icon art; and the unfamiliar"

-the "recognizable, the miraculous and the sympathetic... are not immediately or externally present in Picasso's painting... projected into it by the spectator"

-Repin: "'reflected' effect has already been included in the picture... predigests art for the spectator and spares him effort"

-"Repin, or kitsch, is synthetic art"

-"superior culture is one of the most artificial of all human creations, and the peasant finds no 'natural' urgency within himself that will drive him toward Picasso in spite of all difficulties"

• "minority of the powerful- and therefore cultivated" VS. "exploited and poor- and therefore ignorant. formal culture has always belonged to the first...the last have had to content themselves with folk or rudimentary culture" (kitsch)
• subject matter "prescribed by those who commissioned works of art" --> "content was determined in advance... artist was free to concentrate on his medium" & "relieved of the necessity to be original and inventive... devote all his energy to formal problems"

Regarding Socialism/Facism

-totalitarians will "flatter the masses by bringing all culture down to their level"

-"from the point of view of fascists and Stalinists...[avant-garde] is too difficult to inject effective propaganda into"

-"more useful to...please the cultural tastes of the...masses"
________________________________
Class discussion:

• first generation/point able to look backward & understand their place
• people/artists who recognize place in history & creating something that forces consideration & a different sort of viewing/literacy
• avant-garde coming from the rich, from the industrial, increase in education
• avant-garde: room for interpretation
• kitsch: trite reproduction, uncomplicated & unchallenging
• written in 1930s: he was jewish & it was the time around holocaust
• Greenburg saying that kitsch could be used to manipulate the masses; power in the imagery
• folk art (local traditions) drowned out by kitsch (global economy) --> everything the same

Introduction to Contemporary Painting

What is art history?

• history is how we retell & relate events

-there are no continuities/discontinuities in events (A-->B-->C)
-we order & prioritize the events relative to our present
-things in retrospect become clearer to us

• the tools/technology available changes us as people & artists

The questions to ask when looking at art work:

Who made it?

-anonymous creator/unknown, guild, an individual

Who was the intended audience?

-a deity, congregation (a group acting as one body), an individual

How was it displayed or used?

-religious, decorative

-location: salon (salon hanging: paintings end at their frame, up against each other)

                white cube logic (justified line, adequate space around paintings)

How do we know if it is art?

-we call it art, so it's art

-the decision is coming from present us looking at it & recognizing the story/narrative

-we're projecting criteria on it

-interaction between artist, object, & viewer

• allegory: taking story from a different time & applying it to present day

i hang dream catchers in my room, hoping to keep the nightmares at bay
i hang dream catchers in my room, hoping they'd catch you
i hang dream catchers in my room, but they just hang there

we don't talk about anything meaningful
but every time we talk feels pretty meaningful to me

i almost forgot to write but the reminder randomly popped into my head the way you always do
maybe it’s the darkness in my room or the sound of the rain but i wish you would talk to me
i hate the rain & maybe it’s bc it makes me miss you

at an artist talk i went to, 

the artist said that as he grew older, color mattered less & less
but how could color ever not matter 

when that means i wouldn't be able to see the shades of browns in your eyes?
or the pink of those lips?
or the color of the week, whenever you dye your hair?
how could it not mean much when it means you wouldn't color my life the way you do?
when i wouldn't see the blush on your cheeks or tan of your skin?
i see purple, red, blue, green, orange, yellow, brown, black, & white
& every color in between when i look at you
you're the rainbow at the end of my day & if i couldn't see your colors

maybe art wouldn't mean as much to me

maybe i was a fool who didn't know what she was getting into
but maybe you could've been the one for me
what have i gotten myself into?

MORE writing (hopefully)

when i started a blog, i honestly thought that i was gonna write more. i love to write- kinda poems, prose, a couple of sentences here & there. i have notebooks that i used to just word vomit in, where i would just write literally anything that came to mind, especially when i was upset. & sometimes, in that mess of my mind, i would find a phrase or sentence that would seem especially brilliant

my notebooks are, generally, my eyes only. i've made one video on youtube that shared my writing (i have no clue if it was good or bad bc there wasn't really any feedback- who even watches my videos anyways?). i always wanted to write something profound, something universal, something amazing but the words have a way of alluding me

sometimes when my mind is a mess, i stop to breathe & grab a notebook. i just let my mind race, as it does, & spill it all out on paper. or i try very hard to concentrate on the moment- my senses, what i hear, what i see, the little details that i notice, the song that i'm listening to. it's very therapeutic sometimes

i've been writing everything down since forever. i've kept multiple diaries (all destroyed), multiple blogs (some have been deleted), & countless of words in my notebooks. despite not writing anything good, i'm still a writer. a person who writes. i just don't do it so often & so publicly. but why not? why don't i write more? why don't i share more? it only takes 2 seconds to write a sentence & post it

maybe that can be my thing for the year. write more. post it. it's not too late to start- "new year" is just an arbitrary human construct anyway. so i'm going to TRY to post a little bit of something. some kind of writing- a sentence, a phrase, what i'm noticing in the moment, etc.

i might not write every day but i hope i do. sometimes life takes over & i'm too busy to pause or i'm too lazy to write. but that's okay, as long as i'm trying, as long as i'm writing a bit more

Dec. 30- Jan. 5 | Week Vlog.

How Your Brain Falls In Love | Dawn Maslar | TEDxBocaRaton

an explanation of how men fall in love vs. how women fall in love. not the most exciting speaker but the content is interesting enough.

Dec. 23- Dec. 29 | Week Vlog.

december playlist

Pockiez- Awkwafina

Yellow Alert- Awkwafina ft. Dumbfoundead

Dirty Mind- Boy Epic

Magnified- Island Police

Out Of Love- Alessia Cara

Version Of Me- Sasha Sloan

La Vie En Rose- Cristin Milioti (HIMYM Soundtrack)

Be My Mistake- The 1975

Broken- Lovelytheband

The Funeral- Band Of Horses

On My Mind- Preditah, Jorja Smith

List Of People (To Try And Forget About)- Tame Impala

Come First- Terror Jr

I'll Be There- Jess Glynne

Sweet- Cigarettes After Sex

 Day 1- HONNE

My Vag- Awkwafina
Lost All Sense- The Queens

Dec. 16- Dec. 22 | Week Vlog.

sometimes i think too much- actually, make that ALL the time, i think too much. i'm never not thinking & through this nonstop process, sometimes i come to weird realizations. one of these realizations is about why i'm not normal

i know, i know, everyone thinks that they're not normal, or that they're "different," or whatever but hear me out- every movie ever tells a story about the weird kid that just wants to fit in so they try to do the same things that everyone else does to conform. but i want to fit in too (sometimes). so why don't i try to do the same things as everyone else?

after analyzing myself w my limited knowledge of psychology (1 semester of psych to be exact), here's what i've got: i'm too insecure to be "the same." you might be thinking, what is she talking about? well, you know how kids are always too insecure to be different so they try to be like everyone else? i'm the opposite. think of all of the stuff that i don't do- those stupid dances (like the fortnite one or whatever) or saying "big mad" & turning into one of those ukelele girls that post covers on twitter

i'm way too insecure about myself to even TRY to do those things. i always think that i'm going to look stupid or sound dumb so i never even attempt it. i'm too scared of the unknown, too afraid to do something that i've never done before. so while all the kids are out here looking dumb collectively, i'm over here looking different, singularly

my friends all are outgoing, silly, crazy, loud people. they will do the weird dances, in public, in front of everyone. i don't even try to do them in my room, alone. my friends will talk too much, make weird noises, laugh so loud, & i'm over here going "omg shush" instead of laughing w them. they're out here being dumb while they're still young enough to be dumb (though honestly, they'll probably be this way forever) while i'm being completely boring & never doing anything dumb

all my life, i've had to have it together- to be a good daughter, to take care of my siblings, to get good grades & be a role model, to do everything right so that i wouldn't get yelled at- that i never got the chance to make the small mistakes & do dumb things & learn. now i just feel behind, different, even dumb sometimes, bc i never had those experiences bc i was always afraid of failing, or of letting someone down. i was never enough & it made me insecure & basically ruined everything for me

being too afraid of doing anything made me so "straight-edge" & "shy" & whatever else i've been called. now when my friends do ridiculous things or say something weird, i just shake my head & laugh awkwardly. i don't know how to be like them, like the kids these days. while i was busy being "mature" & "smart," i missed out on being "silly" & "dumb"

i don't even know where i was going w this post but i just wanted to share that realization. i guess it got me thinking about how i never let go or do anything crazy, even if it's just something small that's probably not even really considered crazy. maybe it's something i should start trying to change- not being afraid to look stupid

i've been wanting to get into photography for a while now but so many of my friends are photographers & it makes me feel insecure about the photos i take. i'm a slow learner so i still can't figure out all of the settings on my camera & i get embarrassed in front of a lens but i never know how to pose someone else when i'm behind a camera. i only ever experiment w photo-taking when i'm alone taking photos of myself

i don't feel comfortable enough to have other people be my model but i also don't feel comfortable enough to do some of the things that i want to do. if my vision has nudity, i don't want to ask anyone else to model for it but i also don't feel secure & comfortable enough to be in it myself. sometimes this means i don't get to take the kind of photos that i have in mind which sucks but it is what it is

while looking through my box of facepainting supplies, i found some fake blood & figured i could use it some day. then one day, i had a photo idea but i didn't get around to taking the photos for a while bc of work & bc, honestly, i kept forgetting to bring the fake blood into the bathroom w me. but finally i remembered. it's hard to take photos of yourself w a DSLR where you can't see what you look like in front of the camera (unless you set up a mirror behind it on live view mode) & no tripod. but i recently got an iphone xr & i heard the camera was supposed to be a lot better so i tried to play around w the different lighting modes

i don't usually have a "meaning" or a huge deep concept behind some of my stuff other than "i thought it would be cool." usually, through the process of creating the work, a meaning forms after. these photos started w "i wanted to take photos w fake blood" but while trying different poses & re-taking photos, trying to figure out how i want to edit them & what would look good for each photo, i veered toward a darker (not literally bc the photos are pretty bright) idea

this one is my favorite out of the 4 photos i took

they turned into a representation of my fears/monsters/darkness. no specific thing but just the general, cloudy idea. i see my past experiences, my bad times, my dark places but i feel like anyone could look at these photos & see their own, different monsters, different darkness. sometimes i hate that people try to be so deep in art when some pieces don't mean anything more than the fact that the artist wanted to do it. but i love art where you look at it, & you feel something, like you can understand it

party | dodie

this song is literally how i feel when my friends invite me to things 

I (attempt to) DO DIANA'S MAKE-UP!

Dec. 2- Dec. 8 | Week Vlog.

november playlist

Raw- Sigrid

Nobody's Home- Gnash

Crush Culture- Conan Gray

Bad Time- Sabrina Carpenter

Feel Nothing- The Plot In You

Thank U, Next- Ariana Grande

Want You Back- HAIM

Stay- Post Malone

You & Jennifer- Bülow

Disarm You- Kaskade, Ilsey

Come Out And Play- Billie Eilish

Bring Me Flowers- Hope

First Time- Seven Lions, SLANDER

Man Down- Jeremy Zucker

Without Me- Halsey

Nov. 18- Nov. 24 | Week Vlog.

Women in Television | Ellen Pompeo, Gina Rodriguez, Gabrielle Union, Emma Roberts

VICTORIA DOES MY MAKE-UP

block review (ahhhh!)

what is block review, you may ask?

well lemme tell you all about it! basically, it's a portfolio review day where you find out if you officially get into the graphic design program or not. at the University of Houston, you've got to take Fundamentals of Graphic Design, Colors Materials + Methods, Introduction to Typography, & Intermediate Graphic Design before you can go up for Block. the assignments/projects that you do in those classes (& some other ones, should you choose to include them) are the ones that you put up for professors to see. sure, some of your professors have already seen your projects but all of the design professors are "judges" so some may not have seen your work before. also, you could have redone the work from previous semesters bc they weren't good enough to put up for Block

so when you take these classes & you feel ready (or it's just time), you sign up to go up for Block. then on a certain day, you come to campus w all these things that you need & your projects, & set it up in one of the designated classrooms. now, this sounds easy but it was a lot more stressful than i'm making it sound. anyone in design would agree

this was my wall: 

this semester, there were some complications. there was a football game on the Thursday of Block Review so we couldn't really park near the art buildings. many students (including me) came Wednesday night in order to set up & then came back on Thursday (if we could manage to get parking/get dropped off/etc.) after 4 pm, to see if we got in

luckily for me, i have a great friend, Kevin, that drove me to campus, helped me set up (as much as he could), & kept my stress levels down as much as he could. i stayed downtown overnight & in the morning, he took me back to campus just to check on my stuff (i was worried people would mess w it or something would fall before Block Review). then we spent the day away from campus to keep my mind from freaking out. 11 am was when the professors came to judge & they were finished around 4 pm. we came back to campus to 1. find out if we got accepted 2. take down all of our stuff

i was so anxious about whether or not i got into Block that i didn't even open my envelope. i spent my time taking all of my projects down & people kept coming in & asking if i got in or not but i kept saying "i haven't opened it yet." finally, after taking all of my stuff down, i ran into a group of students that also went up for block. they asked me again if i got in & told me to just rip off the band-aid & check. so i had one of them do it for me. & i found out that i had been accepted

the graphic design program at the University of Houston generally accepts 24 students a year. that's ideally 12 a semester & this semester (Fall 2018), 10 students- including me- were accepted. i was in disbelief that out of 30+ students, i was one of the ten that got in. but i am so excited to have been accepted alongside these amazingly talented graphic designers

so starting Fall 2019, i will be in the Graphic Design Block program 

october playlist

Girlie- Alexandra Savior

K.- Cigarettes After Sex

Finest Hour- Cash Cash ft. Abir

If You See Her- LANY

There's No Way- Lauv, Julia Michaels

Two Punks In Love- Bülow

When The Party's Over- Billie Eilish

Thick And Thin- LANY

This Is Halloween- The Citizens of Halloween (Nightmare Before Christmas Soundtrack)

Sally's Song- Amy Lee (Nightmare Before Christmas Soundtrack)

Middle Finger- Phoebe Ryan, Quinn XCII

Sucker Punch- Sigrid

Me- Laura Marano

Malibu Nights- LANY

Paris- Sabrina Carpenter

TNTT Fall Picnic 2018 | Doan Kito Vua Houston

Comparing yourself to others | Anna Akana

september playlist

Come Thru- Jeremy Zucker

Expectations- Magic!

Kid Wonder- Allie X

Sunflower- Shannon Purser

Drew Berrymore- Bryce Vine

Happier- Marshmello

Crush- Cigarettes After Sex

Don't Leave Me Alone- David Guetta ft. Anne-Marie

Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby- Cigarettes After Sex

Pretty Girl- Clairo

You're Somebody Else- Flora Cash

Dear Insecurity- Gnash ft. Ben Abraham

In Your Absence- Senses Fail

Punk Rock Girl- P.M.O., Mike Squires

Not OK But It's OK- Lil Bo Weep

Sorry For Writing All The Songs About You- Clara Mae

downtown adventures ft. gfbfl

world suicide prevention day | we'll see you tomorrow

it's world suicide prevention day & i've blogged about it at least once before on my blog in previous years but there's never a day where this topic is not important

suicide is something that a lot of people find to be a hard topic to talk about but do you know what's even harder? wanting to commit suicide. the stigma around suicide & depression & mental illness creates a toxic & isolating environment which only makes things worse. talking about these feelings & being understanding or showing love back is how you change things. sometimes all you need is one person who understands that you feel the way that you feel & they show you love in return, in hopes that you will feel less of the bad feelings & more of the good

some days are easier than others, some days have more worth living for than others. some days you need to remind yourself of why you hold on, why you stick around

here are some of my reasons to stick around:

• my awesome little sister (who's one of my best friends)
• my loving mother (who always tries so hard for us)
• my strict father (who i know loves us a lot)
• my annoying brother (who i've been stuck w for all of his life)
• my best friends (who always make me feel special)
• my TN kids that i teach every week (who make me laugh)
• pretty colors in the sky
• sunflowers on the side of the road
• books that suck me out of my head & into their stories
• music that basically puts my feelings into words
• to spread love & positivity so that people don't have to feel the way i do

i hope that all of you have your own little list of things that get you through your bad days bc the world would suck if you were not in it. with that being said, "we'll see you tomorrow" (TWLOHA)

Sept. 2- Sept. 8 | Week Vlog.

Trey & Alyssa | HOW I PLANNED MY BOYFRIENDS BIRTHDAY (vlog/diy)

guys i will never not crey at how cute they are

body image

i was on youtube, watching random videos & ended up clicking on this one:

\

"i don't have a thigh gap... that makes me not normal, that makes me not beautiful"

"i just wanna kinda fit in"

"i would literally slouch so i was shorter"

"people that don't look good in bikinis shouldn't go out in public in bikinis"

"i dressed as madonna & the kid in my grade... goes 'isn't madonna supposed to be skinny?'"

"i didn't necessarily struggle w an eating disorder but i definitely like went through periods of time where i would be like fasting"

"a term nowadays is slim thick, so even if some parts of you are slim, other parts of you have to be full"

"honestly i don't feel comfortable in my own skin sometimes"

"i just don't look in the mirror often & call it a day"

these girls are 6-18 years old; they're all younger than me but i can still remember feeling like this about my body during those ages & still feeling that way even now. we always hear about how girls feel like they have to "change to conform to society's beauty standards" but why does SOCIETY still not change THEIR beauty standards to conform to US? these crazy & outrageous standards are detrimental to girls' self-esteems/self-image but here we are, continuing to perpetuate it

why should we be self-conscious about our height, our weight, our facial structures- things that we can't control/were born w? why should we hate ourselves when we were created this way? if we were born to look a certain way, we should be able to love ourselves that way

sure, we have a bit more representation now than before- we have some models that are black, white, hispanic, plus sized, gay, etc. but it's not enough. we need MORE. MORE representation, more diversity, more NORMAL body sizes, MORE variety, MORE ways to show our beautiful girls that they are all normal, they are all beautiful, they are all valid

"find something you love on your body"

learn to love everything about your body

august playlist

Superhero- Lauv

Thru These Tears- LANY

4u- Blackbear

The Night I Drove Alone- Citizen

Liquid Smooth- Mitski

Honest- Eli

Bellyache- Billie Eilish

Almost Back- Kaskade ft. Phoebe Ryan

Watch- Billie Eilish

Let Me Down Slowly- Alec Benjamin

Only You- Cheat Codes ft. Little Mix

Sunflower- Rex Orange County

The 1- Blackbear

Pete Davidson- Ariana Grande

Breathin- Ariana Grande

Feelings Are Fatal- Mxmtoon

zero degrees

guess where the newest zero degrees opened up? right on barker cypress! finally, a location close enough for me to actually make the effort to go to

so alli, brenda, & i went to zero degrees bc 1. i needed to go somewhere to work on my project & 2. brenda's friend works here

i've been wanting to go here for a while now, just bc of the split cups (literally what it sounds like, a cup that is split in 2 sections, so that you can get 2 different flavors if you can't decide)! brenda & i shared one (bc i know i wasn't gonna finish a whole drink) & i got coffee horchata while she got the strawberry horchata

we also got the hot cheetos fries (which, according to brenda, is the most popular/most posted on social media) & some popcorn chicken (the portion was a lot more than i expected)

if you haven't already, you should check out zero degrees (tho i feel like everyone has been there already & i'm just late to the game)

Aug. 12- Aug. 18 | Week Vlog.

How to Turn Depression Into Millions | Lilly Singh on Impact Theory

if anyone were to ask me "who is someone that inspires you?" i'd have to HAVE to say Lilly Singh. if you don't know who she is, look her up. she is iisuperwomanii, a youtuber, a comedian, an influencer, a BAWSE. & if my hyping her up isn't enough, watch this video. i watched it & i feel so inspired to hustle hard, to be efficient, to follow my dreams, & to make things happen

july playlist

Knees- Bebe Rexha

Nowhere Else- Eden

Rewind- Goldspot

God Is A Woman- Ariana Grande

F*ck Around And Fall In Love- Olivia Noelle

If You're Over Me- Years & Years

The Best Idea I Ever Had- Sew Intricate, Joel Faviere

I'm On Fire- Riley Smith

Story Of An Artist- Daniel Johnston

Schedules- Sigrid

Obsessed- Maggie Lindemann

Out Of My League- Fitz And The Tantrums

Fight Like A Girl- Zolita

Bad Intentions- Transviolet

Sugarcoat- Jaira Burns

Don't Panic- XYLØ
Messy- Kiiara

time lapse #15

July 8- July 15 | Week Vlog (+ an extra day).

why i will end up being in college for 6 years (transferring sucks)

ever since i got my associate's degree from community college & transferred to a university, i've felt kind of.. behind. in total, i'm going to spend 6 years in college just to get my bachelor's degree. my family (mostly my parents) & my friends don't understand why & every time i try to explain it, i think it just gets lost on them

basically, i did all of my basics & MORE at community college bc i got my associate's. to get it, you have to take everything that the community college requires, not just the basics that you will transfer over to university. i did this bc i figured since my parents want me to be at community college for 2 years anyways, i might as well finish off that degree. i took every class that i needed to transfer over to the school of art at the University of Houston & i expected to go straight into the design program after that

what they didn't tell me was that at the University of Houston, you have this thing called block. block is basically block design classes, like back to back of just that class. you have to get into junior & senior block by going through a block review which is a portfolio review of all of your design projects from the design classes you take before getting into block. the design professors look at everyone's projects & they decide the limited amount of students that get in. the classes you have to take before block are fundamentals of graphic design, introduction to typography, colors, materials + methods, & intermediate graphic design

when i transferred to UH, i realized i wasn't going to be there for 2 years (community college: 2 + university: 2 = 4 years for a bachelor's). when you're at the community college, they don't really tell you that you should transfer just basics or that you have to take these classes or that there's a thing called block. i already had been in college for 2 years but block is also 2 years & i wasn't in it yet. i had to take the 4 design classes first but i couldn't take color & type until i took fundamentals. so it set me back a few semesters but on top of that, block classes are only in the fall so i had to take all of these classes & get into block by fall which wasn't possible. so i had to split it up & i became a part- time student bc i wasn't going to spend extra money on classes i didn't need

so i stressed a lot about being so behind- 2 years!!!!- but i realized that i would be able to take my time w design & have time to do my projects really well so that i can ensure that i get into block (well, not exactly ensure bc you can never be sure). my parents don't understand that & keep telling me to try to finish college faster, when i literally cannot. it's not like i WANT to be in college longer, i am the type of girl who is always on top of things & on track & now i am off track & they're not helping by stressing me out

& block really really stresses me out. i try really hard to do everything so perfectly bc i know that graphic design is really nit-picky & the word "perfect" is all i can ever think of when i do my projects. it's so different than "art" bc in art, you can paint a little outside of whatever you're painting & it's fine but in design, that's bad craft. i think that people don't understand the difference btwn art & design & that's why they always think it's so easy for us. don't get me wrong, art can be hard too but i've always done art & design is me challenging myself

maybe if i went straight to the university when i graduated, i would be on track but my parents really wanted me to go to lonestar & i wanted to save money (which i did, don't get me wrong- 5 classes at lonestar cost me about $1000 something while 5 classes at UH cost me $5000 something). but it's kind of too late to dwell on it bc you can't go back in time but at least now i know so i can warn my friends that wanna do graphic design at UH!

this explanation got a little word-y but yeah, that's why i'm gonna take 6 years to graduate from college & why i need everyone to stop assuming it's easy & acting like i don't wanna finish faster!

30 song challenge

1. a song you like with a color in the title: red- taylor swift

2. a song you like with a number in the title: 1965- zella day

3. a song that reminds you of summertime: drunk on you- luke bryan

4. a song that reminds you of someone you'd rather forget: god gave me you- blake shelton

5. a song that needs to be played loud: misery business- paramore

6. a song that makes you want to dance: hips don't lie- shakira ft. wyclef jean

7. a song to drive to: featherstone- the paper kites

8. a song about drugs or alcohol: love me- lil wayne, drake, future

9. a song that makes you happy: electric love- borns

10. a song that makes you sad: welcome to my life- simple plan

11. a song you never get tired of: so contagious- acceptance

12. a song from your preteen years: picture to burn- taylor swift

13. a song you like from the 70s: i will survive- gloria gaynor

14. a song you'd love to be played at your wedding: thinking out loud- ed sheeran

15. a song you like that's a cover by another artist: skinny love- birdy (orig. by bon iver)

16. a song that's a classic favorite: i write sins not tragedies- panic! at the disco

17. a song you'd duet with someone on karaoke: gotta go my own way- vanessa hudgens, zac efron

18. a song from the year you were born: truly madly deeply- savage garden

19. a song that makes you think about life: topics- nevertheless

20. a song that has many meanings to you: skyscraper- demi lovato

21. a song you like with a person's name in the title: song for isabelle- pierce the veil

22. a song that moves you forward: brand new eyes- bea miller

23. a song you think everybody should listen to: 18002738255- logic, alessia cara, khalid

24. a song by a band you wish were still together: little things- one direction

25. a song you like by an artist no longer living: tell my mama- christina grimmie

26. a song that makes you want to fall in love: if i tremble- front porch step

27. a song that breaks your heart: scars- allison iraheta

28. a song by an artist whose voice you love: true- tillian

29. a song you remember from childhood: every time we touch- cascada

30. a song that reminds you of yourself: let me love the lonely- james arthur

surrealism | avant garde

surrealism:
-(unlike dada) highly organized group of artists rallied around andre breton
-adopted basic premises of psychoanalysis
-objective reality of the dream
-automatism, hallucinatory & irrational thought associations, recollected dream images offered means of liberating the psyche from enslavement to reason
-automatism: process of tapping unconscious by writing in trance-like state & registering involuntary, vivid images that tumbled out
-subconscious mind, repressed desire, imagery of dreams

-devoted to individualism & alienation --> no stylistic consistency
-two major directions: automatism & illusionistic dream imagery

first surrealist manifesto- andre breton:
-no fixed method for analyzing dreams
-chance: an obscure divinity
-believe in future resolution of dream & reality --> surreality
-the marvelous is beautiful
-surrealism: pure psychic automatism by which it is intended to express the true function of thought
thought dictated by absence of all control exerted by reason & moral preoccupations
belief in superior reality of certain forms of association, omnipotence of dream

• reconstructing fragments of humanity & psyche
• investment in the erotic, eros, love
• "if you love Love, you'll love surrealism"

photograph of a "waking dream" seance- man ray
artist as clairvoyant
primitive space of individual/unconscious

• many dada members moved over to surrealism after dada broke up

• andre breton- founder of surrealism

-works were mainly text
-introduced freud's ideas into surrealist circle
-travels to vienna to meet w freud

on dreams- sigmund freud:
-theories were instrumental in forming modern concepts of human nature & motivation
-writings on dreams & unconscious changed traditional ideas about origins of visual imagery
-dream-thoughts are represented symbolically through similes & metaphors, includes recollections of impressive experiences
-psychial complex: portions represent foreground & background, conditions, digressions, illustrations, evidence, counter-arguments
-reproduce logical connection by approximation in time & space
anti-rational vision but different than dada

• dereve- marvelous chance encounters
• trying to find enchantment in disenchanted world in aftermath of WWI

luis bunuel & salvador dali, un chien andalou 1928

parisian surrealist group in 1929 around a painting by magritte
eyes close= anti-seeing

-not stylistically coherent
-shared set of ideas & tactics
-anti-retinal: rejecting privilege of visual, alternative forms of seeing (in unconscious)

ad in the surrealist revolution no. 1 (dec 1924)
"we are at the eve of a revolution. you can take part it too"

the surrealist centrale- man ray 1924

• pseudo-scientific aspect

^exquisite corpse drawings published in la revolution surrealiste 1927
collective drawing practice
invades rational
constructed in fragmented way

• automatic writing & drawing
• alternative logics

la revolution surrealiste
-would be revolutionary artistic practice
-transforming experience of the world

andre masson: 
-abstract calligraphy: rhythm of swift lines or cursive brush marks generated images of violence & dramatic encounters of form

untitled (automatic drawing)- andre masson 1924

• rejecting rational = rejecting modernity?
• investment in meandering, collective, seeking connections

the lugubrious game- salvador dali 1929
"lugubrious" = looking sad & dismal
illusionistic painting, dreamscapes, fluid, continuous line

the figure- andre masson 1927
liquid glue & sand

joan miro:
-derived forms from childhood memory
-didn't embrace trompe-l'oeil techniques
-automatism

the kiss- joan miro 1924
line references organic life forms
abstract?

birth of the world- miro 1925
abstract

the key of dreams- rene magritte 1935
seemingly didactic
abstract meaning?
dissociation of image & text

max ernst:
-dada --> surrealism
-frottage technique: textures by rubbing objects & surfaces on sheets of paper

little machine constructed by minimax dadamax in person- ernst 1919-20
uses type to create mechanical portraits of himself

self-constructed little machine- ernst 1919-20
uses type to create mechanical portraits of himself

man ray: 
-dadaist --> surrealist
-photography was ideal medium to literalize dreams

minotaur- man ray 1934
double seeing
objective instrument used to create abstract images

untitled- man ray 1920

anatomies- man ray 1930

• women's bodies used a lot in surrealism

the primacy of matter over thought- man ray 1929

• critique of modernism as philosophical
• interested in bringing art back to every day, here & now

the world at the time of the surrealists 1929

new mexico published in La R.S. no 9-10

andre breton's home in 1960
interest in the fetish & created own fetishes through surrealist objects

georges bataille

dark, nihilistic, violent dimension

rejection of values of western humanism

acephale- society & journal; interest in human sacrifice

vs. 

andre breton

beauty, erotic drives, aesthetics

suspended ball- alberto giacometti 1930-31
kinetic sculpture
might be mimicking sexual relationships
new: you have to touch it in order for it to move

disagreeable object- alberto giacometti 1931
strange fetishes, taboo desires

• objective chance: experience of chance on finding a marvelous objects; chance & fate

iron mask (that giacometti finds) (photograph)- man ray
mask that soldiers wear?

slipper spoon (that breton finds) from breton's novel l'amour fou
"cinderella ashtray"

invisible object- giacometti 1934

object of symbolic function- salvador dali 1931
invented use value for objects
imagined function

• uncanny: the familiar returning to you in a strange guise 

la poupee series- hans bellmer c. 1934
animate + inanimate
assembling doll parts & photographing them in weird ways

photograph printed in minoutaure 1937
locomotive w plants grown over
motion & stasis

happy independence day!

IT WAS THE FOURTH OF JULY,

YOU & I WERE,

YOU & I WERE FIRE, FIRE, FIREWORKS

can you guys guess what my favorite holiday is? 

i know there's a lot of bad that could be said about America's independence day but i just really love dressing up in red, white, & blue & i absolutely love love love fireworks. they're so beautiful & make me so happy

i didn't plan on having a great fourth of july bc we didn't really have any plans but we ended up hanging out w friends & eating crawfish & independence day cupcakes

at the end of the day we walked around my neighborhood in search of the fireworks that we kept hearing. we found some so we sat on the curb & watched my favorite part of the holiday (i actually recorded them bc we knew they were going to do a big finale, in which they set off a bunch at once)

needless to say, my night was made. i got to wear a cute outfit, eat until i was going to explode, & see fireworks. we managed to make the best out of a potentially boring & rainy day. happy independence day everyone!

U.S. flag bandana
white "texas strong" pocket tee w texas flag
hand painted (by me) american flag shorts (mudd)
"USA" ring (kroger cupcakes)