Final Project Response

_____It took me a long time to decide what my final project image would be. I had trouble finding inspiration. Just as I was trying to find a picture to post, I decided I was thirsty for some orange juice. As I grabbed it out of the fridge, I noticed how Tropicana had changed their logo and thought about how much I liked the old carton better. It used to have a perfect looking orange with a straw sticking out of it, symbolizing the freshness of the juice. It was then that I decided to pick the old Tropicana carton for my project image. I knew it was well-known enough, and I've always liked it.
_____After picking the image, I wasn't sure what to do with it. I really enjoyed the pimp, hack, and mod project, but what could I do to an orange juice carton? Also, as much as I loved the project, I didn't want to do the same thing over again. But I stuck with my image and I trusted that something would come to me. I was still having a trouble a few days later, so I brought out my sketchbook and scribbled and waited for ideas to hatch. I decided to draw the orange with the straw. After I finished it, I wondered what other fruits would look like with the straw. So I drew a pear and added in the straw. I liked how it turned out, so I did the same thing with an apple next, then a strawberry, a lime, a mango, and many other fruits.
_____After flipping through my drawings that were made just for fun and because I was in the drawing mood, I decided to use them for my final project. I thought of what a Tropicana fruit juice carton would look like and thought it would be humorous if they had pictures of all the fruits on the front of the carton of fruit juice. So I decided to alter my orange juice picture into a fruit juice picture. I took my idea and put it in my sketchbook and posted it right away.
_____The next day, I colored all of my pictures and cut them out. Then I took them to a scanner and put them all on the computer. My intentions were to scan them all and put them on a white background and add the Tropicana text, but I was having lots of Photoshop difficulties. I was getting frustrated with trying to remember how to import, edit, and layer the photos. So I just decided to hand-make the project. I put my fruit pictures on the back of my "Pimp Cell" picture that I did for the pimp, hack, and mod project. Why not recycle the paper? I drew on the Tropicana title and the Fruit Juice title and took a picture. I was so pleased! It went right up on the blog.
_____Next came the critical comments. I got together with my old critical friends and we helped each other out. Both comments were positive and had the same advice: To add something to the background of the fruit to make their colors pop more. I thought they might get lost on a black background, so instead I outlined each fruit with a thick black line. I loved how it turned out, it really did make them pop a little more. It made it a little less dull. I'm glad my critical friends suggested it. The final draft went up on the blog.
_____Overall, I had fun doing this project. I like how we had so much freedom. It was a challenge to find what sparked my creativity (in this case it was being thirsty for orange juice!). I like how it turned out and it was enjoyable to see other people's projects as well.

Final Draft

Draft Final Project: Tropicana Fruit Juice

Sketchbook Draft Final Project

Essential Questions of Philosophy

How do we know what we know?

My slideshow was of the United States landing on the moon. This topic is an interesting one to explore because a common myth is that the whole thing was fake and filmed. How do we know what's real? Is seeing believing? We can see pictures, or as Plato would say images of images reflecting as the eye would see.

Out of all the senses, we use sight the most as a base for our evidence. We can see an image of Neil Armstrong standing on the moon with the flag, but how do we know its real? None of us have seen space, so how do we know? We trust history. And I have seen other launches to space on televison, proving that its possible.

The slideshow goes from beginning to end: the launch, being on the moon, and landing in the ocean. It documents the whole process and doesn't show us just outer space. We can tell by the pictures that it is real. We know that a rocket can be launched from the surface of the earth, and we are familiar with the ocean. We have enough evidence to believe it is real.

Final Project Image

Pimp/Hack/Mod/Mashup Videos

1. Honda Meets Rube Goldberg
This is an example of hack. To me, hack means taking something apart to make it better or to update it. In this commercial, a "Rube Goldberg" machine is made up of Honda parts to show how well they work. I thought it was really interesting how they used most of the parts of the car in the commercial. The hacking showed that Hondas are reliable.
2. Aquarium Computer
This is an example of a mod. They took a regular computer and modified it so that the hard drive would be cooled in mineral water instead of by fans and still work while submerged. They took the cooling system and modified it and made it better and perhaps more futuristic. They showed examples of how the mod happened by showing the specific parts of the hard drive that are were submerged. Mod to me literally means to modify, but not to add any more functions or capabilities. They took the regular computer and modified it to make it cooled in water.
3. Beer Throwing Fridge
This is an example of a mashup between a bridge and a catapult. And it's very cool and clever! Mash up to me means to combine atleast 2 products and made a new product out of them, such as Heely sneakers (skates and sneakers). In this case, the two products (fridge and catapult) combined make a "beer throwing fridge".

Definitions

PIMP: Changing something and making it more decorative. Usually very flashy and expensive (show Pimp My Ride).

HACK: Changing a device and giving it new features. Gives the user features that are usually unavailable and are usually taken without permission (computer hacking).

MOD: To change for the better. To modify or fix.

MASH UP: A bunch of changes to a group of things.

Exemplary Product: Cell Phone

Comic Analysis

Looking at the comic as a whole, you can see that the same 2 characters appear in most frames. The They stay stationary throughout the comic, which you can tell by each frame having the same background and characters in the same position. They are engaged in dialogue, which is shown by speech bubbles and the character's body language. They are facing toward each other. In the first frame, the monster (which you know is a monster by his appearance) is towering over the girl (who you can tell is a young girl by her appearance) yelling "rarr". The girl's facial expression shows that she is not scared. In frame 2 there are symbols representing how each character feels. Question marks coming from the monster show that he is confused, and 3 periods coming from the girl mean that she is waiting for what's next. Again, you can tell by their facial expressions that the monster is confused and that the girl is not amused. In frame 3, the dialogue continues. The speech bubble comes from the monster, so he is the one speaking. His body language (arms thrown up in the air) symbolizes that he is frustrated. The girl's body lamguage and expression remains the same. In frame 4 the girl speaks for the first time in the comic. He mouth is open and the speech bubble comes from her. The monster's expression and body language tell us that he is wearily listening. His brow coming over his eyes in a U shape show that he is somewhat nervous for her answer. He has his arms timidly by his side. In the fifth frame, the comic concludes because it's the last one. There is suddenly s change from the other 4 frames: It is a close up of the monster's face and the girl is not present. You can still tell he is in the same spot, just zoomed in, because of the same green backgound. His expression has drastically changed.He looks angry (by his brow bent into a V over his eyes) and he is showing his large teeth. The girl's words in the last frame have made him angry. Small yellow stars around his mouth symbolize how shiny his teeth are. He is annoyed at this and at the girl's response, so he "sighs". You can tell he is sighing by the word "sighh" coming from him. Overall, throughout the entire comic, the monster goes through many different emotions: intimidation, confusion, frustration, nervousness, and anger. The girl has one simple bored expression the whole time.

Slideshow

US on the Moon

my comic!

Comic

In the Peanuts comic that I chose, Charlie Brown in feeding Snoopy. He brings the food bowl to Snoopy's dog house, sets it down, then walks away. Snoopy anxiously starts eating his food and looks very satisfied after. Then he lays down on his bowl with a shocked look on his face, and thinks about how sickening it is to him that his meal is the highlight of his day.

Comic

Collage

Feldman's Model: "Glove"

Contrasting against a pure white background, a fake hand (at least I hope so) is dressed with a fur glove. The hand is of a Caucasian female with fire engine red nail polish. It is placed palm down with all five fingers extended, as if she were waving. The fur glove covers the entire hand except for the fingertips. The fur has different hues of a dark, rich brown. It looks soft to the touch.
I have three thoughts on this piece. The first is based on wealth. I can imagine this woman being so rich and wanting to flaunt it that she covers herself in fur. Wearing real fur is a sign of wealth; like wearing long mink coats. However, this woman was so arrogant as to go beyond the coat and dress her hands in fur as well. It may look foolish, but if it's fur then it's stylish. This piece symbolizes how the upper class flaunts their wealth and how they can be arrogant.
The other thought I have on Oppenheim's "Glove" is a mix between humans and animals. There is a clash in this piece between a furry beast, perhaps a fierce bear, and a woman. This shows the animalistic side of humans, a theory of Darwin's. This piece shows the animal instinct in humans, even in a young woman. Vice versa, animals can show human behavior as well. We can see this through the different personalities of our pets, like dogs.
This piece also represents how we, as humans, have evolved from apes. In "Glove" there is a cross between a female and a furry ape. Perhaps Oppenheim is a believer in evolution, another theory of Darwin's. I am wondering if she is a strong follower of his ideas. Evolution is a very controversial theory, even today. Oppenheim made a big statement with this piece.

Oppenhiem: "Glove"

Manipulations with Photoshop

Original pic with mascot

original pic

KIC scan

flatbed scan

Ekstasis Paper

Katie Lozano
02/02/09
Art Gallery Visit

The first thing that came to my attention when I walked into the art gallery was this huge, machine-like piece of art. I probably noticed it first because it was gigantic. It had a long piece of wood that was slightly angled upward and toward the door. It was supported by two, vintage-looking metal wheels that were on an axel. Coming from the axel was a wheel that held a chain that looked like a giant bicycle chain. It connected to a big, wooden crank on the side of the wood. It was painted red and green.
It looked as if it would move if someone turned the crank. But if it did move, it would just drag across the floor, not roll. This is because the other side of the wood didn’t have wheels. It just sat on the floor, but had a long, dark brown, leather tail-like thing coming out of it. The leather was maybe three inches wide and didn’t look very worn. It was definitely placed along the floor with care. There was only one twist in the leather. Even though it was just a big piece of leather, it looked beautiful along the floor the way it was placed.
Honestly, I have no idea what the artist was thinking while he or she made this piece. I guess I found it the most intriguing in the gallery because I had no idea what it was. I think that it is meant to look like some sort of machine that could move. But why is it art? The most interesting part to me was the leather tail and how it was placed. It just added grace to the piece. I would really like to know what the artist’s point was for creating the machine, because I really don’t know.

Creativity

Creativity is unique for everyone. It can be found anywhere. By using creativity, one can express and interpret something in their own way.

picture