Course Objective

• Consider gender, race, and ethnicity in relation to representation in art.
• Examine the political, regional, economic, technological, religious, ethnic, gender, and generational influences that shape conceptions of art.

Learning Objective Achieved

• Investigate how physical appearance affects definitions of identity and belonging.
• Analyze values and belief systems of physical appearance across cultures, sub-cultures and
  generations.

(I selected this photo because it represents what this assignment asked us to complete. This is the perfect situation to people watch.)

Original Post:

When I went people watching I decided to sit on 13th street out in front of the book store. Here are the three people that I have chosen to write about:

1. While people watching, someone who stood out to me was an Asian male student as he was walking parallel to campus on the opposite side of the street. The reason he stood out to me was due to the way he was fashionably dressed. This student was wearing clean, bright red shoes with a darker jean. In addition, he was wearing a white shirt with a cool design, a very fashionable, charcoal jacket, and designer glasses. Based off of these materialistic factors, I assumed that he was an exchange student. The reason this came to mind is because many of the Asian exchange students that I have encountered dress very nice. Based off of these observations, I assume that the Asian culture puts a high value on materialistic items such as nice clothes and cars. Although it is hard for me to admit it, these assumptions can reveal that I am slightly materialistic as well. If I did not care about designer goods, then I would not have been able to identify them one this student.

2. Another student that I saw was a white male who looked like he was in his early 20. He was wearing sweat pants, a jacket, and a beanie. I assumed he was on his way to class because had his backpack on. It was difficult for me to guess exactly why this student was wearing what he was wearing. I feel as if he was dressed casually because it was early in the morning and he had just gotten out of bed. However I made another speculation that this individual does not put an emphasis on the way he is dressed. I think part of the reason I picked these two scenarios for the way he was dressed is because I fight that battle within myself on occasion. If it is an early morning class sometimes I just throw on sweats but other times I wear them because they are comfortable and I don’t really care what others think about them.

3. The third person that I am going to describe was a male who looked as though he was from India. The student was wearing timberland boots, a light fade jean, a pastel blue button down shirt, and aviator style glasses with a blue lens tint. When I noticed him, he was leaning up against McKenzie Hall with his backpack by his side and smoking a cigarette. It was interesting because he was not talking to anyone and was just watching people walk by. After watching him for a little while, I feel as though he was trying to look cool. The reason I thought of this, was due to the way he was leaning against the wall and attempting to make eye contact with everyone who passed him. Although he was skinny, I also assume he might not be in the best shape since he was smoking a cigarette. The assumption of him trying to act cool and not being in shape I think was a subconscious rational for my dislike of cigarettes. These subconscious thoughts were not something that I realized at the time.

Reflection

Although I think I achieved every objective listed above, the one objective that stood out to me the most was considering how “physical appearance affects definitions of identity and belonging.” I achieved this particular objective because while I was completing this assignment, I realized that I could create an entire life story for the person I was watching just by what they were wearing. This demonstrated to me the impact that physical appearance has on my mind. Although I do not think this is necessarily a good thing, but by making up a story for the person that I was watching, in my mind, I was creating an identity for him that I believed fit with their social “belonging.”

I chose to include this artifact in my portfolio because I enjoyed this assignment. This assignment gave me the opportunity to realize that I can be judgmental based on materialistic items people are wearing. This is something that I do not want to become. Although I do appreciate nice things, I do not want to be consumed by them and define how I see people. As of now, I am nowhere near that stage but it something that I want to be conscious of as I continue down my road through life. This is especially prevalent for me because wealth is number four on my life values.

(I chose to use these two pictures for my artifact because both are cars that get you from point A to point B. However, the car on the left is over $200,000 more expensive than the car on the right. These are the type of material objects that in reality should not define who a person is. However if someone was driving a the car on the left, I would think of them much differently than if they were driving the car on the right. This is something that I want to get better at.)

Future

Next year I will be graduating college and will begin work in the “real world.” As I begin this journey and start making money, it will be much easier to get caught up in the materialistic world. This is why I am going to write a reflection today on what I want to become and what I do not want to become. I will then sit down with this reflection twice a year and make sure that I am on track to become who I want to be.

References

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/CVC2012aaa.jpg

http://miamiexoticcarrentals.me/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/2015-lamborghini-huracan-white-front-three-quarter.jpg

https://ttwv.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/110160136_fa231cc7b0.jpg

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