Runquist Response

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The Runquist Murals are beautiful and represent an important time in the history of not only this university, but also our country. I do not think that they would’ve been chosen for display, had they been painted today because of the lack of diversity represented by the people painted in this mural. The murals mostly represent white males, ignoring people of other races, as well as females. However, I do think that these murals demonstrate the growth of humanity over time, in forms such as learning, inventing, and artistic appreciation. The murals demonstrate that humanity is ever changing. For this reason, I think that the murals should always remain in the Knight Library. Although the murals may not demonstrate complete equality, they are an example of the inequalities our country has worked – and must continue to work – to overcome. The tree in the middle of both of the murals can serve as a reminder of the continued growth of people and culture as long as the necessary work is put in to ensure that this growth occurs.

The Runquist Murals also represent the place in time when the library was built. They are a reminder of the people that put their hard work into the creation of the library and who wanted it to be a beautiful place of learning. We may criticize the inequalities evident in the murals, however, they do a great job of reminding us of the history of our university. In the article by Doss, she states that, “we are living in extraordinarily contentious times, marked by especially fierce talk about issues of political representation, war, reproductive rights, and immigration,” (Doss, 6). The Runquist murals may not have been installed in order to instigate debate, but because they are historical pieces of art, they should be left in place to spark these conversations into the future. They may serve as pieces of reflection and learning on our university.

I think that public art is a very important park of our communities. Doss stated that, “It’s difficult to imagine any kind of contemporary public art that might adequately address the multifaceted interests of today’s diverse America,” (Doss, 5). I find this statement to be extremely accurate, and also one reason for my personal opinions about public art. Because it is impossible to ever please everyone at once, the installation of public art should be very common in all communities. In addition, the art should vary in style, technique, and subject. This way, many people’s opinions and cultures may be reached. In addition, people may learn something from the art that does not necessarily represent their personal beliefs.

I try to notice and appreciate buildings that have artistic elements or that I find to be unique and interesting. For example, two obvious examples of this on our campus are the Jaqua Center and also the new Ford Alumni Center. These buildings are beautifully designed and add interest to our campus as well. It is clear that much planning and forethought went into these buildings to make them stand out as modern and advanced. I appreciate the unique modern qualities that these buildings add to our campus. In addition to these two buildings, I have always loved the look of the exterior of the Knight Library. I found this week’s assignment to be especially interesting because I was able to learn about the history of the design of the library. I like that the website about the Runquist Murals mentioned the heads that are around the perimeter of the exterior of the library, because I have wondered why they were included in the design. Upon reading the website, I learned that “Public art was added to the design, such as the fifteen stone heads by Edna Dunberg and Louise Utter Pritchard,” which I found to be very interesting. Furthermore, learning that Ellis F. Lawrence designed the Knight Library was interesting because I realized that I had heard his name before. He designed my sorority’s house, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

The design of buildings on the University of Oregon campus was one of the main reasons that I decided to attend this school. I like to remind myself how lucky I am to attend a school with such beautiful architecture and surroundings. Doss mentioned Miwon Kwon in her article, who states, “ public art has been charged with generating ‘place-bound identity’ and lending a sense of distinction and authenticity to the nation’s ever more homogenous public spaces,” (Doss, 5). The fact that the University of Oregon has unique building designs is not lost on me. I visited many universities whose buildings lacked interest and originality. Visiting the UO was refreshing and excited me much more than other school did. Clearly, in this case, the public art that has been implemented into the designs of buildings on this campus has caused me to appreciate this school more and to think of the history behind it. Among other reasons previously mentioned, these facts demonstrate that public art is contributing to public interest and learning.

Creative Culture Discussion

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I personally believe that the RW culture of creativity enables creative expression to continue indefinitely. The RO culture is stricter and gives artists the ability to have “their expression framed just as they intend it,” (Lessig, 56). I think that this could inhibit artistic expression because people are not free to form their own opinions, and are only able to take the information provided to them at face value. The ability of people to think creatively about another person’s ideas allows for in-depth discussion and innovation. The “RW culture extends itself differently…It is offered as a draft. It invites a response,” (Lessig, 56). I think that this form of artistic expression allows people to expand upon each other’s ideas and creations in pursuit of novelties. This type of artistic creativity is what drives our culture and our world into future success. Without the ability to expand upon each other’s innovations, we would not have all of the technology we have today.

Technology Research

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  1. Correctly identify the primary thesis of “Computer Graphics: Effects of Origins.”
    1. I believe that the primary thesis of “Computer Graphics: Effects of Origins” is that although the modes of artistic expression continue to change as our technology continues to develop, the past modes of artistic expression still influence modern artists. Jones states, “New forms of art and technology are frequently cast in the mode of old forms, just as other aspects of material and symbolic culture have been,” (Jones, 51). I think this means that although we move forward with new technologies and inventions, the old forms of artistic expression will always influence our present expressions. I think this is an especially relevant point because we would not be where we are today without learning from our past and allowing it to influence us every day, so art should be no different.
  2. Identify one of the three historical examples Jones provides as an illustration of her thesis.
    1. One of the three historical examples that Jones mentions in her essays is that, “In the 1940′s analogue computers were used to generate the earliest computer graphics and display them on oscilloscopes. Ben F. Lapofsky and Herbert W. Franke were among the pioneers creating these images. Frotnke’s graphics were phase forms, presented as events rather than as static imagery” (P. 52). Jones goes on to describe the many other artistic achievement’s during this period including “Fetter’s seven system man…[and] Nicholas Negroponte and the architectural machine group Seek produced experimental computer-controlled environments at MIT,” (Jones, 53).  These were all among the first computer-generated graphic images. This period also marked some tension between science and art, as the lines between the two separate subjects began to blur.
  3. Provide a compelling and accurate illustration of Jones’ thesis at work in today’s culture.
    1. I believe that an example of culture changing but still being influenced by the past is apparent in the use of the mobile photo app Instagram. People are obsessed with this application and choose to use it to document their every move. This app is available on every smart phone and allows people around the world to access each other’s photos. The use of the different “filters” that people can apply to their photos allows them to have personal discretion over what their photo looks like. In addition, there are many filters that make the photos look more old-fashioned. This shows that people are still interested in and enjoy the look of photographs from the past, while embracing current technology.

 

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

Paramecium

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I found the article about the game Pacmecium to be extremely interesting. I would never have thought about creating a game using live microbes. I thought this was very creative on the part of the video game creator, Ingmar Riedel-Kruse. I was curious about how the electrical field attracted the microbes to it. This was an integral part of the game and I was curious as to whether the attraction that the microbes had to the electrical field was what inspired Ingmar Riedel-Kruse to create the game, or if he wanted to create a game and went searching for the perfect way to create it using bacteria cells.

Creative Spirituality Reflection

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–       How do you define “spirituality”?

  • I believe that spirituality is the belief in a greater being, separate from humanity. To me, this being could take on many forms. I do not believe that spirituality must mean that there is even a God to worship. Spirituality could mean that a person simply believes that each person has a spirit, or an entity that is timeless and lives on beyond that person’s life on earth.  I consider myself a spiritual person, because I believe there is a higher power and a greater reason beyond evolution and natural selection that has lead to humans being on earth.

–        Does spirituality differ from religion?

  • In my opinion, spirituality and religion are different. I believe that being religious is the adherence to a specific set of beliefs and values that a group of people shares. For example, Catholicism is a religion that has values and customs that differ from the Mormon religion, but all of these people are also spiritual. As stated previously, I think that spirituality is the mere belief in a higher power, or God. I would not consider myself religious because I do not adhere to a specific religion or practice the customs of a certain religion, although I would consider myself to be spiritual.

–       How do you define “creativity”?

  • To me, creativity is the ability to think “outside the box” and to put these ideas into a unique form. For example, I think that musicians are creative because they are able to take their thoughts and feelings on various subjects and form them into unique melodies. I would also consider an inventor to be creative when they come up with a new idea that makes a task easier or faster. I would consider the CEO of a company to be creative when they inspire their employees to work hard because they love their jobs. I think that creativity comes in many forms and is a main factor in a society’s future success.

–       What is the source of creativity?

  • I believe that the main sources of creativity are inspiration and knowledge. For a musician to come up with a new song, I believe that they must be inspired by a certain subject and feel that this subject is important enough to be given more thought. In addition, they must have knowledge about their subject, whether this knowledge is their own personal feelings or instead, the massive social implication that this certain subject has. An inventor must be inspired by his world to create something that changes that world and he must also have knowledge about what currently exists so that he or she can create something unique. A CEO must be knowledgeable about the current state and morale of his or her employees. With this knowledge, the CEO then must believe that this does or does not need to change in order to be inspired to take action and improve working conditions.

 

 

Spiritual Creativity

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I enjoyed the reading this week, because I tend to see myself as a spiritual person, but not necessarily religious. I believe in a higher power, but do not belong to any specific organized religion. I found the beginning of the reading, where the author, Grey, described a close encounter with the death of his loved ones to be very emotionally compelling, as I’m sure many of us have great fears of something similar happening. The author then draws us into the spiritual aspect of art by first saying that there are

“three eyes of knowing: the eye of flesh sees the ‘outer’ realm of material objects; the eye of reason sees symbolically, drawing distinctions and making conceptual relationships; and the mystic eye of contemplation sees the luminous transcendental realms. Artists need to be able to see on each level in order to bring technical beauty, archetypal beauty, and spiritual beauty to their work,” (Grey, 73)

I had never thought about art in this way before, something that requires that an artist look and see through many different angles. I have believed that artistic individuals tend to see aesthetically pleasing features more easily than others or that they are able to draw these features out of seemingly uninteresting situations. I have wished that I had this ability, but perhaps now I could if I were to try to look at the world through new eyes.

Grey then made another point that I found very interesting. He stated that looking at and observing a work of art are different from seeing deeply and actually understanding that work of art. He explains,

“In order to experience art fully viewers must go through a mini ego death by placing themselves in the inspired mind of the artists, who themselves are out of their minds and only acting as channels of creative spirit…To understand is to see through the rough image made by the artist’s hand and recognize the transcendental archetype that is the empowering source behind the image,” (Grey, 74).

I understand the author’s point in this instance, for I always try to place myself in an artist’s shoes when I am looking at a work of art. I even do this when I am listening to music. I always listen to the words and try to understand what the artist’s original meaning was. Songs always become more meaningful to me in the end when I feel that I can understand what the artist hoped to convey. I feel that I could become even better at doing this, however, because many times when I feel that I understand the author’s message, I try to relate it to my life and do not fully remove myself from my ego or go through the full “mini ego death” as described by Grey.

Another section of this reading that I found to be incredibly interesting was when the author described a dream he had where he was in a hallucinogenic state. Later, the author took the drug DMT and found himself in this exact same state that he was in in his dream. These two experiences lead the author to decide to paint the experience and to later display it for the public. Grey states,

“Art is the transmission of states of being. Viewers appreciate art because they resonate with those states of being. No matter what state of being is expressed in a work of art, universal creative spirit is the prime mover behind all art media,” (Grey, 79).

I found the description of this experience to be extremely interesting. My initial thought that the author must have been seeing through his mystic eye of contemplation during this time. In addition, I thought that this must have been the description of the artist’s spiritual experience that is brought into his art. I found this very interesting because I didn’t picture using a drug as a spiritual experience, but perhaps this is because I have never used drugs and cannot relate. Finally, when Grey stated that “viewers appreciate art because they resonate with those states of being,” my question was answered. I fully felt I did not fully appreciate Grey’s painting simply because I couldn’t relate to it. This does not mean that I don’t appreciate the artistic technique, hard work, and emotional labor put into this work of art, however, I feel that I cannot see what it truly means. Finally, this statement answered an assertion that I made previously in this response. I stated that I felt that I could become better at looking at experiencing the “ego death” and looking at art removed of my personal biases. But I now think that this may not be what the author intended to mean. Perhaps he meant that people must first look at art in a state where they are removed from personal biases in order to understand the artist’s intention, but then they must resonate with the art to fully appreciate it.

 

Grey, A. (2001). Art as Spiritual Practice. The Mission of Art (1st ed., pp. 205-233). Boston & London: Shambhala.

Horror Research

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Article 1:

In the reading, the author’s question why we would seek horror in art and fiction, while it is something that we would, “ordinarily seek to avert,” (Carroll, 276). The first article I found is an article from the website Medical Daily, which gave a psychological answer to this question. This article gives two reasons for the desire to watch horror movies. First, the author, Rivas, states that, “we put ourselves in situations to be scared because we want to understand what our population fears as a whole,” (Rivas). For example, people will go to haunted houses seeking the trauma that people in movies endure. In addition, this reasoning means that horror films tend to evolve over time, developing various themes as the fears of the population change. Rivas describes that,

“post-9/11 films were largely centered on the theme of torture-as-terror, which could have been a way for people to comprehend the tragedy. Zombie films may have become popular due to the outbreaks of influenza and the threat of biological warfare, all of which threaten whole populations,” (Rivas).

This reasoning is based on peoples’ desires to relate to the masses and understand their fears. The second reason provided in Rivas’ article is that “people enjoy excitement, even if it’s from a negative source,” (Rivas). The article describes a study where people were shown clips from horror movies and then had to describe their emotions. This study found that  “all participants expressed similar levels of fear at the end of the clips, [but] those who reported being horror movie lovers expressed more happiness than those who were horror movie haters,” (Rivas). The reasoning behind the varying levels of happiness is that people who have a higher sensitivity to the neurotransmitter dopamine, which is released in reward situations, tend to enjoy the horror films more. These people also tend to be sensation-seekers and enjoy the physical response or arousal their body has to the fear brought on by the movies.

The reasons provided in this article for the desire to partake in horror-art, have both similarities and differences to the reasons provided in the assigned reading by Carroll this week. Carroll states, “to a large extent, the horror story is driven explicitly by curiosity. It engages its audience by being involved in processes of disclosure, discovery, proof, explanation, hypothesis, and confirmation,” (Carroll, 279). The first explanation provided in Rivas’ article fits with this description. Rivas explained that people want to understand the fears of their society, which fits with Carroll’s belief that people are driven to horror by curiosity. People are curious about the fears of their society so they seek the horror movies, thus finding the confirmation and proof that they need to understand and relate to their society. The second explanation provided by Rivas in this article is much more related to the bodily response to fear experienced in horror and is not related to Carroll’s reasoning. Carroll does not focus on the psychological responses to fear in her analysis, and only focuses on the fascination felt by people when they view art-horror.

Article 2:

The second article I found that gave reasons for why people enjoy scary movies was similar to the first article I discussed, however it does provide additional reasons. This article, by Margarita Tartakovsky, first describes the “Excitation Transfer Process,” which is similar to Rivas’ description of people enjoying the physiological response that their body goes through during and after watching a horror film or going to a haunted house. Second, Tartakovsky states that some people are “simply wired to enjoy high levels of physiological arousal,” (Tartakovsky) which is also in alignment with Rivas’ explanations. Next, she describes that people may decide to watch horror films because of the novelty. She explains that, “all of us are wired to pay attention to anomalies in our environment…Since danger disrupts routine, curiosity about change is important for survival,” (Tartakovsky). This explanation is new and adds more dimensions to the shared ideas of the two articles. The final reason given in this article is that gender socialization allows men to “derive social gratification from not letting a scary film bother them…It’s the idea of mastering something threatening,” (Tartakovsky). This idea is also new and provides a broader explanation of the desire to watch horror films.

This final explanation given by Tartakovsky actually fits with a brief analysis found in Carroll’s article. Carroll states,

“that audiences for horror fictions are often adolescent males, some of whom may be using the fictions as macho rites of passage. For them, horror fictions may be endurance tests. Undoubtedly, this is not the brightest aspect of the horror genre…However, one must admit that the phenomenon exists, and that…an integrationist account…may be necessary,” (Carroll, 291).

I found it interesting that both articles mentioned the masculine desire to prove themselves by watching a horror film and not letting it upset them. I had never thought of this as a real reason to watch a horror film, but I believe it is a viable and intriguing explanation.

Another interesting explanation by Tartakovsky was that we are all wired to pay attention to novelties in our environment. I found that this fit with Carroll’s idea that people are interested in the outcome of a situation. If a situation is novel, it will be cause the person to be interested in what will happen next. Carroll explains,

“The interest that we take in the deaths of Hamlet, Gertrude, Claudius, et al. is not sadistic, but is an interest that the plot has engendered in how certain forces, once put in motion, will work themselves out. Pleasure derives from having our interest in the outcome of such questions satisfied,” (Carroll, 276).

I found this article supplemented Carroll’s explanations fairly well. I was intrigued by the psychological explanations that I found online and was surprised that these types of articles were the majority of what I found. I had never thought about the reasons that people enjoy art-horror prior to this assignment and it was enlightening and interesting to learn about this subject.

Citations:

Carroll, N. (2002). Why Horror?. In Neill, A. & Riley, A. (eds.) Arguing About Art: Contemporary Philosophical Debates (2nd ed., Chap. 17). New York, NY: Routledge.

Rivas A. (2013, Oct 22). Why do we Watch Horror Films? Some Want to Understand Archetypal Fears While Others Crave the Psychological Ride. Retrieved from http://www.medicaldaily.com/why-do-we-watch-horror-films-some-want-understand-archetypal-fears-while-others-crave-psychological

Tartakovsky, M. (2013) Why Some People Love Horror Movies While Others Hate Them. Retrieved from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/10/31/why-some-people-love-horror-movies-while-others-hate-them/

 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

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Non-diagetic Sound:
An example of non-diagetic sound occurs when the creepy, skeleton-looking man opens the small box and the dark and ominous music starts to play. The music continues as the white smoke-like things come out of each person’s mouth that the camera pans onto and then immediately stops when the smoke is collected into the small box. This music adds to the drama of the scene and implies that something bad is happening. This music clearly comes from outside the story space and is solely for dramatic effect. This scene is also an example of an improbably sequence of events, is relatable because the people are sleeping and unknowing about the world around them, it is dark and ominous, and the scary skeleton-looking man at the end is unexpected and frightening.

Diagetic Sound:
An example of diagetic sound in this Buffy the Vampire Episode is when the young girl is singing during Buffy’s dream. This sound is off-screen, yet we know that it is made by something in the story because Buffy reacts to the sound. She asks the man with her whether he hears the sound and follows the sound until she finds a young girl singing. This diagetic sound began as an offscreen sound and then became an onscreen sound when Buffy followed the voice into the hallway, where she found another character, the young girl. I chose this specific scene because I found the voice of the young girl singing to be purposefully creepy. In addition, she was found alone in a hallway staring straight ahead, which added to the spooky feeling. This scene fit perfectly with the common elements of horror. Buffy was having a normal day in class, when she is called up front to kiss a boy in front of the class, suddenly the class disappears, and the room goes dark, then a spooky young girl’s voice begins to sing. This scene demonstrates an improbable sequence of events, is relatable to the average college student because of a normal day in class with other students, the scene becomes dark and ominous, and the young girl singing is unexpected and frightening.

Mise-en-scene:
An example of mise-en-scene occurs during the part of the show where everyone loses their voices.

–       Production Design: The set is very dreary looking as Buffy and her friend walk through the town. People are crying and stores are closed. Then, they buy white boards to write messages to each other. These props are used to exemplify just how difficult it is for the people to talk.

–       Color: The mood is set using darker brown and gray colors in order to show what is going on in the town with people unable to talk. It show that the whole town is breaking down with the difficulty of living without voices.

–       Lighting: The lighting is darker and casts the scene as very somber. The lighting looks almost brown.

–       Actors’ Performance: The actors show their emotions very clearly through the expressions on their faces of shock and concern. Once Buffy and her friend get to Giles’ house, they look exasperated.

All of these things contributed to being able to easily discern what was happening in the scene. The people’s emotions were clear, as was the desperation of trying to fix the problem. This shows that without talking, movies and TV shows can still be followed quite easily. This contributed to horror because it was a very unlikely scenario to happen to an entire town. The mood was downcast and you couldn’t tell what was going to happen next.

Personal Adornment

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I would say that I dress like most of my peers. I usually dress according to trends that are popular and get most of my fashion ideas from my friends. I think that most of my friends dress in clothes that are fashionable and flattering and I try to model my own dress code after them because of this. I love to dress up for more formal events and enjoy looking feminine in fun clothes.  My friends and I hold ourselves to high standards in school work, jobs, and relationships. We do our best in all situations and I believe that our fashion choices also represent this. I do not have any tattoos, and only a few of my friends have tattoos. These tattoos are all in places that are easily covered by clothes and jewelry in order to be sure that job opportunities in the future are not lost due to biases against tattoos. In addition, very few of my friends have outstanding body piercings. I know a few people who have multiple ear piercings in their cartilage, but very few of my peers choose to have facial piercings. I have a piercing in my belly button, as do a few of my friends. As of right now, I would not get any other piercings because I do not want to do anything that could hurt my chances of getting a professional job in the future. I think that my friends and I all influence each other’s choices in body modification like tattoos and piercings because we all have similar beliefs that body modification should be done sparingly.

My family is relatively conservative.  Nobody in my immediate or extended family has any tattoos or body piercings.  Everyone tends to think that getting tattoos is somewhat taboo, or unacceptable in our family. In addition, my parents believe that we should not alter our bodies in ways that cannot be undone. I don’t have any strong opinions about tattoos, but I think that they can be flattering. I have thought about getting a tattoo before, however, I think it would be something I regret doing. Currently, there is nothing important enough to me that I want to look at it on my body for the rest of my life. My family values hard work and dedication to family and friends. They are a huge influence on the way I choose to dress and represent myself. I understand that people form opinions about others immediately upon seeing the way that people dress and adorn themselves, and I wouldn’t want anyone in my family to judge me negatively because of any body adornments.

Over the years, I have become much more accepting of body ornamentation such as tattoos and body piercings. As I’ve grown up, more and more people I know have decided to get these things done and I’ve become used to it. In the area that I grew up, young people would get tattoos without telling their parents because most parents held beliefs similar to those of my parents. I used to be surprised when people would get tattoos because of the conservative nature of my family and neighborhood, however, I feel that tattoos have become much more common in popular culture. They seem to have broken through to mainstream culture now, whereas they used to be much less common. Perhaps it only seems this way to me because more people choose to get them as they get older and I am around many more people with tattoos now.

I believe that I make the choices I do because of the way I’ve been raised. I feel that families always have a huge impact on the choices people make in their lives and that I am no exception. I have branched from my family somewhat in that I think tattoos can actually really look nice on people, even though I would likely still never get one. In addition, I do have a belly piercing and my parents accepted this because it is not seen by anybody. In high school I got my ear cartilage pierced, which my parents never liked. It was something I thought looked fine, but chose to take out after a couple of years. My parents have always tended to let me choose all my clothes for myself and I feel that this has helped me to develop self confidence and independence. I am sure that my thoughts and feelings about body ornamentation will continue to develop throughout the years as I get older and as trends change.