Journals, woohoo!

Fun times making journals. I made one for my roomie because her birthday is...relatively soon, and she loves to write. Attempted to put exacto-skills to use by cutting out her name

:)

Irene

Bookmaking Workshop

this is the back of my book

this is my cover, you can also see on the right that i threaded my book together using black and white thread. Depending on who i decided to give this to i will title the top as well.

Make Something From Nothing.

“If you’re not dispossessed, why make art?”

I thought it was interesting how much this quote stood out to me from Aaron Rose’s short film, Beautiful Losers. In my Arts and Letters class we recently discussed the topic of finding opportunity in adversity. In an interview with Seane Corn, a renowned yoga instructor, she mentions how she used yoga to reconnect with the “shadows” of her past, allowing her to accept them and use those experiences to improve her work both as a yoga instructor and advocate for the prevention of HIV/AIDS. Aaron Rose beautifully demonstrates the stories that each of the artists had to share about their journey to self discovery. Most if not all of the artists claimed to have felt rejected by their peers, unsatisfied with conforming to the mainstream culture around them. Struggling to find who they were as people and as artists allowed them to find the inspiration that drives their work today.

Rose mentions that one of the reasons for the creation of his film was to inspire artists to not be afraid to pursue their passions. “Art can be for whatever reason you want…” I found this idea very inspiring, embracing the idea that art shouldn’t necessarily be about aesthetic appeal, but about the intent of the art and the message it is trying to illustrate. Creativity drawn from within the self as opposed to that driven by popular culture is the type of art that Aaron Rose encourages through his film. By using our past and present experiences, both positive and negative, as opportunity to create art, we can hope to place meaning behind our messages and ultimately inspire others to do the same.

Painting above: Chris Johanson, I Am What Is Called Human.

Beautiful Losers (such an original title, I know haha)

Tonight’s showing of ‘Beautiful Losers’ was a thought provoking experience, to say the least. Going into the showing, I didn’t really have any expectations, but in doing so, I was pleasantly surprised by its message and the depth that was presented by the film. No doubt, freshman year of college has been an enlightening and confusing time in life, and with all the general education and required (art) assignments, I think its easy to get lost in all the new artistic endeavours. With that being said, this film…. grounded me, in a way. It serves as a reaffirmation for my faith in art and all of the freedom that lies in creativity.

The free spirit of art is really captured here: the artists portrayed in the film possess the creativity and curiosity characteristic in children that so many of us lose as we depart from childhood. It demonstrates that imagination is not lost--that it can thrive in the adult world too.

Some of my favorite quotes/paraphrases from the film (but shucks… I didn’t get the names of the speakers):

“There is beauty within imperfection”à we are imperfect beings, it is the flaws that make things interesting and real, which is why I think its important for art to illustrate that as well.

“The dispossessed make art”à There is always some part, within everyone, that feels dispossessed, or… inadequate. It is this inadequacy that creates the need for people to prove and express themselves.

While it is necessary for purity to be maintained in art, it must also be acknowledged that (we) artists live in the reality of an extremely competitive ‘industry.’ If one is to survive in this business world, one must never become a slave to the whims of the industry’s desires, but at the same time, some values must be sacrificed for success. What I mean by that pertains to the precarious balance an artist must walk to remain true to his/her own vision and to become successful. Rose touched on this topic a bit in the question and answer round... and of course, its never so black and white as to say ‘give up this much value to yield this much success’. If it were that easy, the arts industry would just be a group of successful, soulless jerks. I'd like to be a little more optimistic... even though I often wonder: how much can one keep of him/her self and still be successful?

To which one could reply, art is not about money. Its just that simple.

On Tuesday night, I saw Savion Glover (Tony winning tap dancer) perform, and what he said parallels the message I took away from the film tonight: Only hard work and dedication will yield success, be it in the art industry, or in satisfaction with oneself.

I saved my favorite quote for last:

“Art lives and breathes. It has a pulse. It is not a stage, not something to outgrow.”

WORD.

The above picture is a funny thing I found on the interwebs whilst googling Aaron Rose. It’s a comparison between the artist Aaron Rose that made ‘Beautiful Losers’, and the artist Aaron Rose on Gossip Girl, who was Serena’s boytoy for a while.

Irene

Beautiful Losers

After watching this film, I realized various aspects of how some viewers may be against the content of the artwork. However, Aaron Rose said that even though many people may dislike the idea of the rebellious nature shown in his art work, it certainly does not mean that he should go with what the public thinks. He says, “Let your art guide the public.” I really like this message because there will always be people who like certain pieces and people who dislike certain pieces.There will always be rude and ugly critcism. However, in the art world, it is really important to not get discouraged!! The main message is to believe in what you do and have fun doing it! The film also delievers a message that at first, an artist may feel like he/she is doing something for him/herself, but later, they will begin to realize that they want to create artwork that makes the audience feel comfortable, such as the guy who painted the Cyclone roller coaster. He said at first he wanted people to know that he was the one who painted it, but later, he wanted people to feel like the roller coaster was their’s to enjoy. He expresses that it is a very happy feeling that people are having fun on something he painted. I was also really inspired by the topics of graffti because of the risks these artists are taking in order to produce these art works. It really expresses their interests and bravery in what they do. Aside from the creative art pieces, what the film delievered most to me was the messages and attidues of the artists.

Interview

Interview – Dave Muller

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