Giving

For our first unit of Systems and Models, a STEAM class that studies people and their roles in society, we self-reflected by taking a range of personality assessments. Each of these assessments brought to light something new such as how we deal with conflict or what our motivations are. I very much enjoyed taking these tests because they made me realize things that I wouldn’t have otherwise. For our action project, we were assigned to create a self portrait using any type of art that shows how we see ourselves and reflects some of the information we gained from this unit. I’m proud of the things I’ve learned this unit because, after reflecting on them, I have been striving to be more conscious of my actions and reasonings.

Title: Giving
Medium: Video
Length of Video: 2 minutes and 9 seconds

With all the tests we took, I had results that reflected how social I am. One of the tests we took was the Enneagram test which tests your motivations. My result was a Six - Loyalist, which is someone who would do anything for their closest friends. I was also very close to being a Two - Helper, which is someone who strives to help people and be kind to everyone. Both of these are very true for me; I’m a very social person who always tried to help others and I definitely would do anything for those closest to me. Sixes are described as “reliable, hard-working, responsible, and trustworthy” and Twos are described as “friendly, generous, and self-sacrificing,” again all traits that the people in my life tend to describe me as. I care about helping others and making sure others are happy, because other people’s happiness leads to my own.

In the work setting, I got similar results: someone who is very social. The DiSC test, an assessment of how one interacts with others in a work environment, reinforced that. I got the result S/i a blend of Supportive and Inspiring traits, which describes me as people-oriented and as trying to solve conflict. At work, this is exactly how I am; in fact my actual job is basically that. Instead of having an exact role, I just help with everything around the office. Anything my boss and coworker need me to do, I do. Any issues that arrive, I solve. I have a number of roles depending on who needs what each day, and that just shows even more so, that I am someone who does all that I can to help others.

Another test we took in class was the Myers Briggs Test which tells you which personality type you are out of 16. My result was ENFP, which is Extraverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Prospecting. Some of the terms used in a longer explanation of my personality were “compassionate”, “connect emotionally with others, giving them cherished insight into what motivates their friends and colleagues”, “empathy and sociability”, “ such strong people skills”, and “supportive”. Once again, the results showed that I am a social person who cares about the wellbeing of others. There were different categories that you could choose to look at deeper, I explored all of them to see how I related to others. It told me that outgoing types gravitate towards me but that I also strive to get to know more reserved people. It also stated that I am someone who knows how to be friends with all different types of people and all types of different groups and that I am someone who boosts moral in different types of settings.

One of the tests I that took outside of class, was What Divergent Faction Would You Be In? While this may not be as accurate as the ones assigned to us in class, it showed me similar results. I was put in the faction Candor, which revolves around Honesty above all else and doing the right thing. I don’t think I value this as seriously as those in the movie who can come off as cold and putting honesty before people’s well-being, but I do think honesty is important and that it is an important trait to have when it comes to others.

Aside from all the tests we took, we also looked at many different case studies. The one that grabbed my attention the most was the Stanford Prison Experiment because it showed that, in the right situation, everyone has an evil side. I tried to put myself in that scenario and I can’t imagine myself ever acting the way the guards did; I couldn’t even inflict any sort of psychological torture. I’m sure I’d enjoy being in power but I know my limit and what line not to cross and I don’t understand how some people don’t have that restraint or why anyone would want to act that way. Similarly, there was a study done at Yale, with a “teacher” and “learner” where the teacher is being told to shock the learner. I understand this one more because you assume that authoritative people know what they are talking about and we are taught to listen to them. However, I know myself and know that I wouldn’t be able to do that to anyone. I am a vegetarian because I can’t think of animals being hurt and if I can’t hurt animals I definitely couldn’t personally cause pain to any people either.

My self portrait is a video clip of my life: an action of service for the people around me. I decided to bake, wrap, and give my loved ones cookies, which I felt it perfectly represents my life, and all the results I got. I am someone who does things for others to try to make them happy and just to be nice. The reason I chose to give them to the few people that I did is because they are the people in my life closest to me and the people I care about the most; they are the people whose happiness I care about the most. As a Loyalist, it is hard to become someone who is very close to me, but once you are one of those people, I would do anything for you. While I have hundreds of friends, I didn’t go and give them all cookies because there are less than a handful of those friends who are a part of my close circle.

The purpose of my project was to show what kind of a person I am while at the same time making the people I love happy. I wanted to do something that wasn’t just ordinary art, and something that would allow me to go out into the world and do something positive. In an interview I conducted with an experienced artist, I was advised to create something with a purpose and make it clear why it is important to me. I might not have made a huge impact on the world with this project, but I know I made four people’s days a little bit brighter and that all I need to make me happy. I hope watching this video provokes people to think about their loved ones, and inspires them to take the time to go out and do something nice for those loved ones.


Works Cited

• Abel, A. (2015, March 05). Quiz Alert: What Divergent Faction Would You Be In? Retrieved February 09, 2016
• ENFP Personality (“The Campaigner”). (n.d.). Retrieved February 09, 2016
• Free DISC Test - DISC Personality Testing. (n.d.). Retrieved February 09, 2016
• Gregoire, C. (2013, October 18). 10 Psychological Studies That Will Change What You Think You Know About Yourself. Retrieved February 09, 2016
• RHETI Sampler - The Enneagram Institute. (n.d.). Retrieved February 09, 2016

Overcoming the Mural

For our final action project in the course If These Walls Could Talk we had to bring to life the image in our groups’ swatches, and turn them into a mural inside of our school’s new building. For our entire last unit we focused on making plans to enlarge our mural and make those plans happen. We looked at all of the different options and tested out our different ideas to see what would be best for the area we were given to work in. Our options became more limited when it ended up that we couldn’t work in the actual space until 3 days before our project was due, so we are still in the process of finishing our mural, but we expect a great looking outcome, and for everything to be finished this week.

This mural is a tribute mural to GCE as well as a revolt mural showing GCE’s mission to reinvent education. It depicts a golden boat with 3 people inside going towards a huge wave. The boat is made out of a banner and has the words “Overcoming the Wave” written in it. There were a lot of steps going into making our mural into large-scale. We first made a sketch on a regular piece of paper, then we projected it and traced it on paper, piece by piece, for a total size of 112 x 352 inches, then we mixed paints to get the colors we wanted and painted the pieces of paper, as well as spray painting part of it. We currently still have to wheatpaste the papers onto panels in the new building, as well as add acrylic media as a final touch. For the paint we used mostly blue hues, with a touch of green. We kept a similar color for a lot of the mural and only changed the value and intensity. We also made our boat a shimmery gold to stand out and show victory. Our mural gives a strong and powerful representation of GCE, which is perfect for our space because it is in the entrance, so it is the first thing people will see when they walk in.

Working on the mural was a challenging but very fun experience, there were many bumps along the way and things to work through, but I was really glad to get to work on this amazing project because I think in the end it will end up looking great. There were four different roles during our process-- Artistic Director, Director of Operations, Mule, and Documenter. I had each role at least once, as did the rest of my group members, but in general I was someone who often organized things and kept people on track with what they were supposed to be doing. Throughout the whole process I was also always a part of the cutting, sketching, painting, and pasting. My favorite role was director of operations because I was managing what people were doing and making sure everything was going smoothly which is something I’m good at, because I’m someone who is good at organizing things and managing people to make sure they’re doing what they are supposed to. My least favorite role was being the mule because I don’t like doing the dirty work of running around and fetching stuff, I felt it was an ineffective use of my time because it would be more useful of me to help more with organizing and planning.

We hope that in the end our mural ended up looking as amazing as we planned. I would have preferred to get to work on the space directly instead of having to paint of paper and then wheatpaste. There are four panels in the space and working directly on the walls would have probably looked neater and we would have seen exactly how what we were doing would look, instead of having to wait and hope for the best. On paper you get a thinner paint look, and when you wheatpaste you can tell that the art was done on paper and not directly on the surface. Both options can look really great, just different.

Overcoming The Wave Of Mediums

For the second unit of If These Walls Could Talk, we studied different types of media used from the 1920s to the present, such as wheatpasting, block-printing, acrylic media, and many more. This was something I really enjoyed because I got to work with a lot of different types of art media and technique that I never have before. We looked at different murals that used these mediums such as work done by Banksy who is known for spray paint murals, or JR who uses different media in each of the countries he visits. For our action project, we were assigned to work in a group to create one image, and then each member of the group chose a media to work with. Afterwards we had to each chose two sections of the finalized sketch, to create material swatches using each of our chosen material. At some points, my medium was difficult to use because it’s pieces are bulky and they were difficult to get in the small spots that had more details, but I managed to overcome that struggle to create a really cool image. I’m really excited for the next unit, to see the bigger, final version our our mural.

AG
Overcoming The Wave
12/2015
12” x 5” and 12” x 4”

Coarse Pumice Gel Mixed with Acrylic Paint on Canvas Paper
In our image you see a small boat, with four people inside, rowing towards a big wave. This is supposed to symbolize GCE’s mission to reinvent education and the school going against the traditional education system. The people inside the boat represent our community, because we are the ones who actually make this vision possible and make it happen. They represent both the students and the staff. The wave represents the traditional education system we are working to change and improve.

BKJ, NVA, MF, LL, AG . Sketch . 12/2015

We didn’t come to create this image right away, however, it was a long process that didn’t just take one day. We started by looking at all our group members' sketches from the first Unit, in order to figure out the best elements from each image. We started out with MF’s Japanese wave because we really liked the details and how is looked. We also really liked LL’s layering, the simple message behind NVA's cellphone image, the detailed banner from BKJ's sketch, and the use of silhouettes from my sketch. We then tried to think oh how we could put these all to use into one image. We brought our images together, and decided on a silhouette of a person, pushing the wave over a symbol, we hadn’t yet decided on, that would represents traditional education, and a banner at the bottom that holds a sort of caption. We researched the meaning of the Japanese wave and found that it meant strength, which we thought is symbolic of GCE. After talking to our teacher, we decided to simplify the image and to switch our symbols so that instead, traditional education is the wave, and the thing it is above GCE. We decided the perfect thing to put in was a little boat with four people, swimming towards the wave. This was to represent GCE and their fight to go against standardized education and reinvent the system, and like I stated earlier, the people represent the GCE community that makes the idea of our school happen and come to life. We also decided to make the boat out of a banner, and write inside of it the title- “Overcoming The Wave”. This mural is both a revolt mural against the education system in America, but also a tribute mural to our school for all that they do for us and make happen. We recognize the battle they fight and appreciate all the work that is done to help make all this possible, and we want others to realize and appreciate this as well.

For my material, I chose to use coarse pumice gel mixed with acrylic paint. I chose this because when experimenting with many media in class, this was my favorite one. I enjoyed working with it, and even more so, the way it looked when it dried. Aside from just enjoying this medium, I also just thought it would look really cool for the foamy part of the wave. It makes that part of the wave seem to come out, and the crunchy part is almost like the bubbles that create the foam. I had a vision in my mind of the final mural, and that is what I saw for that part of the image. In the end I think my image was pretty cool because of the way it created the three-dimensional look I was going for, and it was really interesting to look at. However, I didn’t think this would work for the entire image, when everything has that “pop” it takes the attention away from from all the important elements in the image. That’s why it’s important to only have it for part of the image.

    

          AG . First Swatch. 12/2015                AG . Second Swatch. 12/2015                 AG . Close Up Of Swatch. 12/2015

In the end, we really like the way everyone’s swatches looked and wanted to use each of the media that were chosen by the members of the group. We decided for the majority of the wave we would use both the semi-gloss soft gel, as well as regular gloss soft gel. For the foamy part of the wave my medium- coarse pumice gel. We decided the sky would look best in just acrylic paint, that the boat would be spraypainted, and the people be as well, but with stencils, not free handed. We think using all these different media will help draw attention to the key elements. Our boat will be a glittery gold that will really stand out and show that the symbol for GCE is the most important part of our mural.

BKJ, NVA, MF, LL, AG . Collaboration One . 12/2015

BKJ, NVA, MF, LL, AG . Collaboration Two . 12/2015

Walking With The Dead

For our first unit of If These Walls Could Talk, we learned about the history of murals. We looked at art during different periods in time, from Prehistory to the Italian Renaissance. We examined all their different techniques and styles of art. We were then assigned to design our own murals that fit the needs of a community of our choice. I really enjoyed the things we learned in this unit, because it was interesting to see how art evolved over time.

AG

"Walking With The Dead"
11/2015 

 11”14” 

 Printed Images, Glue, Paper

Today, we know Lincoln Park as home to a zoo, a conservatory, stores, restaurants, schools, and homes. But before that, Lincoln had had a vast history. It was first established in 1824, back when the area was primarily forest in which the US Army built a small post. In 1837, Chicago became established as a city with today’s Lincoln Park neighborhood as its northern boundary. Over time more settlers came, and the area began to transform into more of how the neighborhood is today.

Lincoln Park has changed a lot throughout the years and holds many memories and secrets. But what’s the biggest secret? Very few people know this, including Lincoln Park’s own residents, but during the mid-19th century, this area was a cemetery where more than 35,000 people were buried. What’s more, is that while many bodies were exhumed and relocated to other cemeteries, about 12,000 bodies still remain. That’s right, under all these homes and schools there are dead bodies buried.

This is why I decided to create this mural as both a tribute to all the people buried in Lincoln Park, and as something that will bring awareness, since most of the residents don’t even know about the cemetery they live over. I find it sad that people who lived in Lincoln Park have just been built over and forgotten about. No one deserves that, and this mural is to honor them and the lives they lived.

This mural is not only to honor and bring awareness to all the people buried in Lincoln Park, but also to bring the community together. Right now, Lincoln Park’s community is pretty torn. For example in the election for Alderman, the votes were split almost exactly 50/50. This means the community has very strong opposing sides, so this mural is supposed to remind them to step back and remember that we are all the same and to help them come together. As grim as it in, in the end we will all die and be buried in the same Earth together. Just like the people before us who were buried in Lincoln Park. So, instead of arguing and being against each other, they should spend time together and live their lives to the fullest.

I chose to mimic the style of Prehistoric cave paintings in my mural because a lot of Prehistoric art dealt with the the spiritual world. People from Prehistory believed that spirits and live people were basically the same and could still communicate. While I’m not so sure about the bodies buried in Lincoln Park communicating with the current residents, I do think that the people who have passed are the same as the people who are alive. I also mimicked the colors used at that time, or rather the lack of colors- my mural is only black and white to make it more simple and to show, even more so, how we are all the same.