1. My goal with this video was just to be myself and answer some questions.

2. I accomplished my goal because I was completely myself and unstressed and not trying to put on any persona.

3. I would do it a little earlier next time, the upload takes longer than I thought it would.

4. I might vlog again if I found a topic I thought was interesting and entertaining enough that I’m passionate about.

5. Jeff Cavaliere from Athlean X is my favorite youtuber because he really is a fitness expert and puts out incredible high quality content.

6. He puts great content out for free with the simple goal of helping people.

7. lessons I could take from him are to be knowledgeable and experienced about what I’d post about, and to be myself, just like he is himself in all of his videos, he’s just a normal guy.

8. authenticity is so simple, it’s just not trying to be anything you’re not or put on a persona and out out a false sense of self. it’s just being yourself.

9. performance is as simple as doing something, it could be for an audience, or might not.

10. authenticity and performance are not opposites and can be done together. you can perform well at something while still being yourself.

11. I think both clips are inauthentic. even the clip of Jeniffer Aniston’s interview from home is trying to put on a tone of authenticity, it still doesn’t feel completely authentic. Although I admit it has a more authentic feel than the studio interview, it still feels a bit forced.

my vlog link on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/407050977

While I could not find the extra credit assignment on the class website, I did go to Downtown LA and experience some of the iconic sights and places it has to offer. I visited the Grand Central Market, the Bradbury Building, and the Angels’ Flight trolley. These locations have been some of my personal favorites since I was a child, and it was truly a shocking experience to see the area so vacant due to the Coronavirus. The aesthetic and atmosphere of Downtown Los Angeles is unlike anywhere else I have ever seen and it was truly a wonderful time having an excuse to go visit this area of downtown again.

Artist: Sofia Grecco
Exhibition: Lucky Places for a Grave
Media: watercolor
Gallery: Dr. Maxin Merlino Gallery
Website: N/A
Instagram: @Sofiagrecco_art

Sofia Grecco is a senior in CSULB’s Bachelors of Fine Arts – Illustration program. In this gallery, she worked with another artist to create a collection of stories that integrated fairy tales and Jewish themed narratives that she would have liked to see growing up.

Sofia’s collection, titled “Lucky Places for a Grave,” depict modern, inclusive twists on old fairy tales she knew as a child. The fairy tale characters are in some cases beautiful, and in others grotesque. A large emphasis seemed to be placed on ambiguity, as objects could have been interpreted in different ways, shifting the perceived meaning of some of her pieces. Her work was taught provoking and eye catching, overall I enjoyed viewing her work and talking with her about her thoughts on them.

When I asked Sofia what was on her mind when creating this piece, she talked about making stories that she needed when growing up. Distraught with the stereotypical depictions of Jews and Jewish culture, Sofia sought to weave tales of a different side of her heritage in a more inclusive way, highlighting queer characters and attributes in a positive light. Her mixed heritage of Italian and Jewish were influential factors in her perception of her cultures growing up, and in creating her art for this collection.

Like most kids, I grew up on fairy tales. I didn’t know what depictions Sofia had been referencing off the top of my head, but after a couple minutes of speaking to her, I understood everything she said, although I know that with my realization, I could not relate to how she felt no matter how hard I tried. I like to hear other’s opinions of social issues and how it affects them, because it broadens my horizon of knowledge on how people can be impacted by these things. Our conversation was intriguing and enlightening, and increased my appreciation for her already beautiful art.

Lyrics:

when you walked into the class,

and the hours came to pass

sitting next to me, I felt the rush

and with the quarantine, I know

social distancing, time was running low

I had to make my move, or forever hold my tongue.

[chorus]

would you be down to get some boba some time?

out of my league but just know that I’m trying

times are crazy and we don’t know whats ahead,

we may die but I’ll choose to live instead

[verse]

we were meant to be

tell me why can’t you see?

I’ll always be here

when you need me I’ll be there

[chorus]

would you be down to get some boba some time?

out of my league but just know that I’m trying

times are crazy and we don’t know whats ahead,

we may die but I’ll choose to live instead

[repeat chorus]

1. I was thinking about a situation a friend was in recently.
2. my process was imagining a Taylor Swift song and trying to create my own lyrics to the same flow and music.
3. it was surprisingly easy, I think, as the words came with the flow of the song
4. I think my song would not be that successful with the lyrics that I posted it with. however, the initial lyrics – which shouldn’t be posted for academic reasons – were considerably funnier, and still romantic, and might have some success.
5. this was a pretty fun experience and I may just write many more songs with free creativity for the sheer fun of it.
6. if I wrote more songs, they’d likely be semi-serious pop or hip hop songs, with a hilarious line or two in the chorus just to throw listeners off for my comedic interest.

1. I cannot upload the photos for this activity because my phone is broken as of posting this and will not turn on and my photos are not backed up to the cloud 😦 so I will be as descriptive as possible in my post to try to make up for it 🙂
2. What I did was dress up as my girlfriend by putting on one of her navy blue hoodies and thermal leggings to imitate her yoga pants, with white Nike running shoes. I stood by the Starbucks (she loves Starbucks) near the student union and sipped a caramel macchiato, which is her favorite drink, and asked people three different questions. First, I asked them what they thought my major was (my girlfriend is a management major). Then I asked them to guess my name by just looking at me. Finally, I asked them what they thought my favorite color was.
3. unfortunately, no photos for this bullet point
4. I got a lot of different names, but some of the repeated guesses were Michael, Andrew, James, and Alex – which are all very common names. They thought I was a liberal arts student, a business student, or a bio student, although one person told me I didn’t looked stressed enough to be a bio or STEM student. And finally, the guesses for my favorite color were all over the place, with the most often answers being blue and white (probably because of the hoodie and shoes).
5. My conclusion about the experience is that the image of you people put together in their heads is largely dependent on what they see. Your appearance is important, and in this assignment, my appearance lead to a lot of assumptions about me. While I was asking them these questions, I think it goes without saying that we all make unconscious assumptions about each other based on appearance. Also, it was a fun experience mixing up my identity and being perceived as someone I’m not for this assignment. Leggings are really comfortable and I am a little bit jealous that for girls, they pass as pants.

Artist: Kelsey Steuernagel
Exhibition: Adelaide
Media: digital paintings/ illustrations
Gallery: LBSU School of Art, Gatov Gallery East
Website: N/A
Instagram: @kelseynoelart

Kelsey Steuernagel is a senior student in CSULB’s BFA Preproduction program. In this gallery, she worked with other artists to create a collection of Wild-West-meets-Fantasy themed art installations and highlight a lot of the overlapping elements in these larger-than-life ideas.

Kelsey’s piece, titled “Adelaide,” is of a cowgirl wielding a cosmic neon lasso. The cowgirl wears unmistakable western clothing like a cowboy hat and brown dress accompanied by her blonde hair. In addition to the neon aspect of the lasso, the extra terrestrial setting highlights the fantasy element with two moons in the background. The background seems like a barren planet, or a space desert accompanied with a space cactus.

When I asked Kelsey what was on her mind when creating this piece, she talked about blending these two classic genres together to make something fresh and new. Her greatest goal was to create, not a combination, but a blend of these two. Her efforts are shown in the overlap of not only big elements like the moons and cowboy hat, or the space setting and elf ears, but the added element of cosmic neon to a lasso shows how in depth she went to merge the two ideas into something all its own.

While I’m not the biggest fan of western or fantasy films, I love the premise of this piece. Blending two classic ideas that are old and thoroughly explored, and creating something that seems fresh and new and, most importantly to me, unfamiliar, is something I have admiration for. I think this is how we create new ideas in all aspects of thinking, and the fact it’s explored here has my interest. Kelsey was kind and excited to share with me her work and the ideas behind it, which added so much more energy to my experience viewing it.

1. I chose this idea for two reasons. The first reason being the touchy topic of suicide which can be interpreted through this picture, as well as uncertainty as to whether or not this happened on purpose. The second reason I chose this idea is for the personal entertainment of using an illustrative pun. This week’s theme is “shocking art,” after all!
2. I hoped to communicate, if nothing else, that using a hairdryer in the bathtub is a bad idea. Many art pieces communicate big picture ideas, but I don’t think art has to necessarily only communicate big ideas. Small ideas like this have a place too, especially when an average of 290 people annually in the U.S. are killed by bathtub electrocution.
3. I think I was pretty effective in communicating that message, and even did some light editing (despite my lack of editing skills) to accentuate the shadows and give off a slightly darker vibe to make sure the viewer knew the limp arm and hand symbolized death.
4. If I were to do this again, I think I would maybe include the plug in the wall to make it that much more clear what’s going on here, but I don’t really see it as that big on an issue.
5. Another idea I might explore through “shocking art” is a pool in a lightning storm. This is also a serious topic, and having been a swimmer most my life, I can confirm that it does scare swimmers to be in a pool during an electric storm. Additionally, it would be an even bigger pun and I would still get my satisfaction.

1. I chose this story because snowboarding at Mount Baldi is one of my and my friends’ favorite activities, and we had been planning this day for a couple weeks.
2. I did better than normal. Being an intermediate snowboarder, I have plenty of improving to do and I enjoy it every step of the way. I think the pictures capture a lot of the perspectives we had but nothing can capture the thrill and adrenaline of carving down a mountain.
3. I think the picture of me and my friend walking toward the snow lift with our boards in hand is probably the best photo in the story.
4. I think the image of the fence and the mountainside is not in itself a great picture, but it is important because it shows our perspective from the top of the mountain.
5. What I would do different next time is remember to bring the GoPro, which my friends have, but we forgot to bring, so that I could include some first person shots of myself.
6. I’d like to also tell a story of a morning surfing, I think that would be another exciting experience to document and tell in a photo or video story.

Artist: Amanda Quinlan
Exhibition: Fog
Media:  Mixed- Media, Photography
Gallery: LBSU School of Art, Max L. Gatov Gallery East
Website: amandaquinlan.com
Instagram: @anamandaquinlan

Amanda Quinlan is an undergraduate student in the CSULB School of Art. She is in the Photography program. Amanda’s work consisted of straightforward photography, but also included interestingly adapted prints from the ink of polaroid film in a process I didn’t quite understand when she explained it to me.

The photography she took was sharp and detailed. She said her intention was to capture the character of old town Pasadena. As for the prints of the Fog collection, they were blurry – abstract even. There were no shapes or images to be clearly seen, which I liked in contrast to the clarity of her other piece, the photographs. The prints were gloomy, soft, with jagged outlines. From a distance, it was hard to make them out, this is a piece that must be viewed up close to appreciate.

Amanda’s work explores the relationship between history and fantasy. More specifically, it explores the space in between objective reality and the simulacra humans create to meet that reality. The work is intentionally abstract in that sense, that its not real, only what we perceive it to be. Yet at the same time, the image is so familiar to us that our brain is able to attribute the image of fog to it.

At first, I didn’t think much of this piece, yet as I heard her explain the painstaking process necessary to create it, and the thoughts behind the work, I came to appreciate it much more. This idea of objective reality is one we’ve spoken about in class and one that intrigues me, so I was amused to see it as a motivating factor in this art. Overall, my experience at the art exhibit was a pleasant one. Not only did I get to speak with Amanda about her work, but I got to see so many other impressive works of art as well.

Due to issues uploading multiple images in the same post, I have put all four sketches into the same picture.

Sketching for me is relaxing, yet I do not have a lot of time to sit down and doit for fun.

I think that if I practiced this consistently I would get significantly better at sketching.

I think that sketching offers a possible alternative to digital graphic design as. you can sketch your vision without the constraints software puts on an idea.

I suppose drawing is a language, in that it can say things without words. I find it a stretch, however to extract a message from sketches of inanimate objects.