Objective:

• Learn about the First Amendment to the Constitution and US obscenity law.
• Examine historical and current incidents of Censorship in the US and their relationship to public funding for the Arts.
• Learn about the National Endowment for the Arts.
• Explore the relationship of cultural values to free speech and tolerance.

Original Post:

This is final research in this term, I learned a lot of knowledge about art and values, include concept of art, food as art and digital art etc. However, I find that the topic in this week is more interesting and attractive than before. The public art is related to our daily life, and it located on everywhere, but people ignore the beauty of them. For instance, there are some mailboxes and parking meters painted in the downtown Eugene. I didn’t watch them carefully until yesterday I went to my math class. I noticed that there are not only one are painted, and their style is same. I cannot tell what they drew, because they are really abstract. The artwork that displayed outside and exhibit to public can consider as public art, and it has many different forms, not just painting.

In the weekly reading, the author explains that:

“Public art is artwork in the public realm, regardless of whether it is situated on public or private property, or whether it is acquired through public or private funding. Public art can be a sculpture, mural, manhole cover, paving pattern, lighting, seating, building façade, kiosk…” (Doss 2006).

The Runquist Murals are two good examples, the murals are located in the Knight Library, East and West stairwells. The titles of them are “Development of Arts” and “Development of Sciences” which painted by Albert (b. 1894) and Arthur Runquist (b.1891). They painted the murals around 1930s and established by WPA in 1935. “A Response to Two Murals is a collaboration between the Digital Scholarship Center and the students, staff, faculty and public of University of Oregon”.

Next I will talks about my personal experience when I first time to see these murals. The public art is everywhere but people always ignore them. I went to Knight Library every week but I don’t know there are two beautiful Murals located in the Library in the before. They are quite big but I never noticed them.

“Development of Sciences”

I found that this mural in the website is unclear, so I went to watch this piece mural carefully. We can find that these two murals have same structures, but different events in two of them. First In the mural above, it shows the process of science development. It includes eight different important periods of human development of sciences. There is a tree grow in the middle,and the person in the bottom who kowtow to viewers looks like the root of the tree. I think Runquist brother want to express the relationship between human being and nature. The author in the reading said ” Public art is seen as a solution to the problem of placelessness, especially in its ability to remedy social alienation and generate sense of civic and community identity” (Dose, 2006). That is public art, which need to spread knowledge and culture or have certain meaning.

 

 

Another mural named “Development of Arts” is located in the east stairwells. It has 8 panels and includes Earliest Primitive Period, Later Primitive Period, Greek Period, Medieval Period, Renaissance and modern times. The mural records the history of art development, which are important evidence for people to study about art history.

Both murals are located in the Library and exhibit to all people. These murals are the great example of public art. In the reading, the author said “public art is as diverse as the people who view it. As Becker remarks, public art is a “multifaceted” cultural arena that is “open to artists of all stripes, without predetermined rules or a mutually agreed upon critical language” (Dose, 2006). The public art is open to all the people and located in the public area.

 

Reflection:

 

Future Goal:

 

 

 

Doss, E. (2006, October). Public art controversy: Cultural expression and civic debate. Retrieved from http://www.americansforthearts.org/pdf/networks/pan/doss_controversy.pdf

 

Objective:

• Become acquainted with copyright as a historic, cultural and economic paradigm and its value and pertinence to creative works.
• Explore the changing nature of copyright in the context of “Remix Culture” and the “Fifth World”.
• Examine their own and others values and paradigms of ownership and authorship of cultural media.
• Evaluate the meanings of real and fake and examine their intersection with personal and cultural identity and authenticity.

Original Post:

“Comparing Cultures. Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy” is the reading in this week talks about “remix culture”, and the remix culture is defined as “a society that allows and encourages derivative works by combining or editing existing materials to produce a new product” on the Wikipedia.

In the reading, the author is mainly illustrates the differences between RO and RW in the beginning. Writer said that “One (RO) is fueled by professionals. The other (RW) is fueled by both professionals and amateurs” (Lessig, 2008). In the article, Lessig also concerns about the relationship between copyright and creativity. Some people think copyright block the growth of creativity. “Copyright law supports this control in the digital age because of a deceptively simple fact about the architecture of copyright law, and the architecture of digital technology” (Lessig, 2008) explained by author. For my perspective, I hold an opposite view point as the author about copyright. I think copyright doesn’t block the growth of creativity, On the contrary, it promotes the more original art work due to the regulations of the copyright law. If there isn’t copyright law, everyone can copy others’ work, there will be less creativity.

In the TED talk video “Laws That Choke Creativity”, it also introduces the RO and RW which are same as the article described. But it talks more about the influence of copyright, the speaker think that copyright law affects cultures and our lives. All in all, copyright is really important for human society.

 

Reflection:

 

Future Goals:

 

Lessig, L. (2008). Comparing Cultures. Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy (pp. 84-116). New York: Penguin Press HC, The.

Wikipedia. Remix Culture. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remix_culture

 

Objective:

• Learn about the history of computer graphics.
• Examine the role of technology as a force for cultural maintenance and change.
• Discuss the validity of art created with the aid of machines.

Original Post:

In the weekly reading article, “Computer Graphics: Effects of Origins” by Beverly Jones, the author mainly illustrates that the relationship between art and technology. According to this, the thesis of the article is found on the page 21, “it is a premise of this paper that old cultural patterns do not die. They may fade or become more evident; that is, they may be deemphasized or emphasized. Only as part of the general ‘nonexpert’ culture can such patterns contribute significantly to maintenance and/or change” (Jones, 1990). The idea that writer brought up in this article is unfamiliar for most people who don’t know the relationship between computer graphics and real lives. In this article, author wants to explain that the importance of the computer graphics, and how it helps world to get better.

I found the one example at the bottom of the page 22, “not all images served technological research or practical purposes: some were done in ‘spare time’ by engineers and technicians. For example, an image called Stained Glass Windows, a graphic designed in the Army Ballistics Research Laboratory, reflects a desire by individuals not trained in art to produce aesthetic imagery” (Jones, 1990). This is an example that using computer graphics in the force field, it can provide technology is important for human lives.

I think one of the most compelling and accurate example of Jones’ thesis is “Computer Animation”. I found it in the Wikipedia, “it is the art of creating moving images via the use of computer” (Wikipedia, 2015). Computer animation is a technic that use 3D images to create a stereo figure. There has been a number of changes since the creation of computer animation. It has been used in many fields, such as film industry. The film “Avatar” is a milestone in 3D films because it is the first film that uses computer animation. The success of the 3D film is because people can feel the figure directly from the screen. It is like it happens right in front of people, and people can easily be brought into the situation. Computer animation is absolutely a grand invention of 21 century. In my opinion, this high technology is invited to help

 

Reflection:

 

Future Goal:

 

Jones, B. J. (1990). Computer Graphics: Effects of Origins. LEONARDO: Digital Image – Digital Cinema Supplemental Issue, pp. 21-30.

Objective:

• Become familiar with was in which spirituality influences artists.

• Discuss the differences between spirituality and religion.

• Examine spirituality as a generative force and a well spring for creativity.

Original Post:

How do you define “spirituality”?

First of all, I understand this word by its definition. Spirituality is same as inwardness which denotes a process of transformation. I think that there isn’t a specific limitation about “spirituality”. In general, it can refers to any meaningful activity or personal experience. Some people think that it denote some religion believes, and there are many things related to the “spirituality”, but many differences between different cultures. So, the definition of “spirituality” is very wide.

Does spirituality differ from religion?

Yes, of course. In the modern, “spirituality” is different from religion. In the past, these two things are almost same, but it got change after world war two. Spirituality is more focus on subjective experience, while religions are some ideas about worldview. In my opinion, they many differences now. For example, religion always is an institution which normally requires people’s loyalty, though spirituality also is about loyalty but it focus on personal quality. Like justice or compassion.

How do you define “creativity”?

By the definition, we can simply define that it is an ability to create some things new. Creativity is very important in many fields, and it includes many things. For instance, an idea, an invention or artwork, etc. In general sense, creativity is always related to intelligence, but it is not depends on intelligence. Creativity usually have two ways, which are thinking and producing. These two are very important, if someone have a good idea but not to do, it cannot call creativity.

What is the source of creativity?

In my opinion, the creativity comes from their knowledge. When people have enough knowledge, they can have general idea about how to create an idea or some things new. Additionally, just like I said in problem 3, creativity divides into two processes: thinking and producing. If someone have a good idea but cannot produce it, because lacking of relevant knowledge, it will not called creativity. Therefore, I think knowledge is the source of creativity.

Reflection:

 

Future Goal:

Objective:

• Explore the psychological and emotional curiosity for and impact of horror art on individuals and society.
• Analyze the unique aesthetic qualities of horror art.
• Understand and utilize some basic principles of film and television analysis.

Original Post:

We studied “why horror” in this week. Through the article and weekly videos, I learned that how to identify diegetic sound and non-diegetic sound in many videos and films. Besides our course reading, I find an article online named “Why Horror is Good for You (and Even Better for Your Kids)” (Ruth, 2014). This article is different from course reading, it mainly explains that why horror is good, especially for children. There are six reasons to support it. First of all, the writer thinks that the childhood is scary. “childhood was not a skip-hop through a candy-cane field of butterflies and sharing and sunshine, that is was in fact a terrifying ordeal he felt compelled to help kids survive” (Ruth, 2014). He or she explains that childhood is not always sweet, there might be many difficulties in their life. Hence, it is necessary that to teach children how to survive. Second, “power to the powerless” (Ruth, 2014). The writer thinks that horror can give children a playground to show their power. In the horror movies or books, people can learn many survival principles which can use in our daily life. Third reason is that horror is ancient and also can teach people too much. This is almost same with second reason, she or he thinks that there are many ancient culture retain in horror stories. For instance, zombie, vampire and werewolf and so on. Many of them are come from different religions. Therefore, people can study ancient culture through these horror stories. Fourthly, author illustrates that horror can verify secret truths. “The end result, for me, at least was a great sense of trust in scary movies I never got from my parents, who tried to comfort me by telling me ghosts weren’t real. Horror told me they were, but it also taught me how to face them” (Ruth, 2014). The author wants to express that horror can tell some truth which others cannot tell. There are two more reasons in the article. One is that horror can let people together. It is easy to understand this opinion. Children always want to watch horror together because they can feel that they are not alone. The final one is that the facts of life are same as horror. All in all, these six reasons can support that horror is good for children and adults.

The second article is “Horror Movies: Why People Love Them” (Fink, 2009). This article primarily talks about why people love watch horror movies. First of all, people have desired effect. People accumulate many pressure in their daily life, they wants to see blood and monsters. Normally, horror has huge attraction for male because they are easier attracted by violence scenes. The writer also explains that entertainment can affect people in many ways. Second is that horror always has suspense. People usual want to know and discover the plain suspense. The final reason is that horror is a behavior of human brain. Human brain can image the different scenes about horror. The author states that how the neuron works in human’s brain, and he describes the idea that the fear for the horror movie is not only a biological reaction, but also an emotion such as fear. He explains why we scared about the horror films, and interested with it.

These two article are differ from course reading and weekly videos. The first article is focus on what are benefits of horror, especially for children, because some people think horror is terrible for their children. The author uses six reasons to support his or her ideas. “childhood was not a skip-hop through a candy-cane field of butterflies and sharing and sunshine, that is was in fact a terrifying ordeal he felt compelled to help kids survive” (Ruth, 2014). This is different from course reading because the course reading doesn’t mention the benefit for horror. In the second article, the author wants to explain the reason why people like horror. And the supports of his or her view are scientific, not like the course reading. The course reading mainly introduces that elements of the horror and some history of horror. “Horror thrives above all as a narrative form” said by Carroll in 2002.  The course reading explains more the art form and horror principles. In the second article, the author use a question to open the topic. “The question is: Why? If our best selves find the horrific so repulsive, why do we pay good money to watch it again and again? “(Fink, 2009). All these two article are illustrate different things from course reading.

Reflection:

 

Future Goal:

 

Carroll, N. (2002). Why Horror?. In Neill, A. & Riley, A. (Eds.) Arguing About Art: Contemporary Philosophical Debates (2nd ed., pp. 275-294). New York, NY: Routledge.

Fink, L. (2009). Horror Movies: Why people Love Them.http://www.livescience.com/7949-horror-movies-people-love.html

Ruth, G. (2014). Why Horror is Good For You (and Even Better for Your Kids). http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/05/why-horror-is-good-for-you-and-even-better-for-your-kids

Objective:

• Evaluate personal values and paradigms around body decoration and physical beauty.
• Investigate how physical appearance affects definitions of identity and belonging.
• Analyze values and belief systems of physical appearance across cultures, sub-cultures and generations.

 

Original Post:

I take some time to consider these questions. I have many different styles of dressing in the different age. I think everyone is same to me, nobody can remain the same style since they are a child. However, I have a special thing never changed for about five years. It is a Bodhi seeds prayer beads, mother asks it from a monk. I wear it on the wrist as a bracelet, and I also wear it on my neck because it is around 2 feet long. There are four pieces ambers beads on it. It is my belief, I think it can give me good luck and health, so I always wear it. I also bring it to America, I wish it can bless me to happy every day.

For human beings, clothes are items which can cover and warm our body. Therefore I put more values on health, I always wear proper clothes in different seasons. It is normal that girls always wear skirts or silk stockings in the winner but it is bad for their knees. Everyone has their own personal views of values, they could focus more on their beauty. Additionally, I also pay a lot attention on my outlook. I think that if I dress well I will feel more self-confidence. For example, in the society, people don’t know each other when they first meet. They will judge everyone by their dress, so I don’t want to give strangers a bad impression.

Considering recent period, I really like Korean style. I’m a Chinese, but I like the dressing style of Korean people because it is trendy in Mainland China. Many trendy Korean brands are really popular in my country. The one I liked the most is called Pancoat. I have many Pancoat T-shirts and pants. I like Pancoat because their mascot is duck which is same to Eugene. I think it is very close to the local culture, and can let me integrate into American life. Many of mine Pancoat T-shirts have a big duck logo. Some of them also have big duck eyes. In the campus, many people ask what brand of my T-shirt while I go to the lecture hall. I got my best American friend through talking about my T-shirt. I think my style of dress let me become more self-confidence. It gives me more chance to communicate with local native speaker, which improve my English skills a lot.

In this decade, I have changed many dressing style. On the on hand, I need to wear proper clothes in different ages. Most children like Mikey and Donald, I like them, too. It is difficult to see a person wear a T-shirt which has a big Mikey face in my age (I’m 21 now). I like plaid shirt very much when I was around 18 years old. I have many color plaid shirts, red, blue, gray and white. I like white plaid shirt the most because it looks very clean and easy to match with any pants. To be honest, I don’t have any specific style of dress until I came to America. However, I have few favorite clothes, white plaid shirt, tan casual pants and black coat. I like these clothes because they can make me looks slimmer. On the other hand, I changed different style when I live in different place. For instance, I live in Eugene, so I wear T-shirt with duck logo. And I have a piercing on my left side ear. I got it in the last year, I didn’t do that when I in China because Chinese think it is not a boy things. In America, we are free to do what we want, so I got it. I think it is very suit for my recent style.

The core value in my family also is self-confidence, so I also required to dress well. In my hometown, people through their watch, shoes, and belt to show off their status. Therefore, my father give me a quartz watch which is very expansive. He let me wear it when I attend to some parties of my parents. My parents always wear black and white clothes, I think it is too boring, so I always wear colorful in my daily life.

In my peer community, people like to wear casual clothes but these people will put lots of money on their adornment. Although they are just student, but most of their family are rich, they like wear famous brand bags and watches. Some people think that their core value is personal development. They through famous brand bags, watch, and shoes to find friends who have same economic condition for their future development.

 

Reflection:

 

Future Goal: