Final

Creation of a Narrative

My thought process for this project began with what can be seen in the previous post. Initially I was just brainstorming ideas for concepts I could develop a narrative around. Most centered on photos/photoshop since I am stronger in that area than others. In the end I decided that I would try to create a narrative, composed of a series of photos that are somewhat realistic looking in nature, but that are blatantly impossible/not realistic.  

I started the final compositions by just brainstorming images that I thought would fit the above guidelines, that I also thought would be cool/fun to try and portray, and that I also thought I had the technical skills to at least put an amateur representation of the concept together. There were no connections among the images when I made them, I just made the 3 images and then decided to come up with a short narrative connecting them afterwards (located below).

Artist statement 

Before the project, I really wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't have much of an idea of what I wanted to do, or some standout concept that I knew would be perfect for the project. It had to develop kind of organically over time. While I was making the project, I liked where I was headed, although at times it was a little hard since I had such a lack of direction. Usually I know what I want to create when I start something, so to just kind put things together one step at a time and see where it took me was a little different for me, although I did enjoy the fact that the project kind of forced me out of my comfort zone. After completion, I think that my project is ok. I wanted to do more with it, and make more images to base the narrative off of, but the 3 concepts I worked on each took me more time than I had thought they would so for that reason I decided just to make the 3 and make sure they looked presentable.

It was a perfectly sunny afternoon, perhaps the finest Columbus has even seen. Young Craig Sonnenberg decided to venture out from his slum of a house to get some fresh air and embrace the beautiful day. "Where else is an Ohio State student to go on the most glorious of days, if not the Oval?" he thought to himself. And to the Oval he went. It was a marvelous stroll, that is, for all of about 30 seconds. Not halfway down the Long Walk, he came across a diabolical butterfly (likely birthed in the labs of the University of Michigan) who was laying waste to the the sacred OSU grounds. Fearing for his life, Craig fled as fast as he could, without looking back. He quickly found himself in front of McCracken Power Plant and, worried that the butterfly from hell may still be lingering about, he hastily made his way inside the building. It was not long until Craig was lost among the maze of metalwork and structures within the building. He soon found himself descending into the very depths of the building, and what he saw was as comical as it was disturbing; the entire power plant was being powered by a mass of hamsters. He tried his best to count the vermin, but they were so, so many. Were there other power plants like this? Was this something he could harness? Craig now had more questions rattling around inside his head than he could handle. What was meant to be a peaceful and enjoyable stroll had inevitably set the stage for a life long series of night terrors. Wanting to get it all out of his head and forget about everything for a while, he cautiously wandered back to his abode. Upon reaching it, he ventured inside and sat down upon his trusty couch. As he reached for the remote, a ghastly sight greeted him. A most human looking arm extended from the black nether of his television set, and with one click, the world around Craig faded to blackness. He had seen too much this day.

Ideas/Brainstorming for Final Project

Ideas for possible narratives:

• Series of images from an ant's perspective
• Series of images of a journey I go on as the size of an ant

• Journey across somewhere as I get continually bigger
• Start really small while walking down a road or something and by the end of it be obnoxiously large, like I grew 1000% in size during the trip

• Disappearing gradually over 24 hours
• Pictures of me in the places I'd want to go, gradually becoming more and more faded

• Android transformation
• Taking on parts of things you come in contact with continually/randomly

• Narrative developing out in the style of Erik Johansson, i.e me talking a walk around campus while witnessing a bunch of totally random and bizarre scenes for seemingly* no reason 
• http://alltelleringet.com/

Take 1

Blog 9

Carver "Cathedral"

I think what I found the most compelling about this piece was the voice and the way the author described the situation. I really felt like I got a good sense of what it was like to be in the husband-narrator's shoes. It is an all too familiar scene, a chatty wife/ladyfriend bringing over someone who they wan to sit and gossip with and a male counterpart who has little to no interest in the situation but has to feign something in order to keep her happy. This is a scene which I feel is represented much easier via video/visual means, but I thought the author did a nice job detailing in in writing.

What I liked least about the work was probably the end. There was such a buildup throughout the piece, with the author going into plenty of detail on so many trivial aspects of the story, and then there was this sudden change of heart by the husband at the very end and then it was all over. In like 3 lines. I did think this created a little dissonance which actually kind of made the work more intriguing, but regardless it still just left me with a slight uneasy feeling.

Micro-Assignment 6

The object I chose to work with for this assignment was my toothbrush. Initially, I was considering several other mundane objects I use every day without thinking much about, such as my house keys, but  in the end the toothbrush seemed to make the most sense in regard to the project and the specific task at hand. The words that I got were Spread and Remove. I chose to work primarily with "remove" as I could not think of much to do within the parameters of this assignment for "spread." I was initially going to videotape myself performing another action, such as opening my door with my keys, and have them disappear much like the toothbrush in the video does, but in the end I ran into problems with any other idea I came up with that I wasn't sure how I would work around. Although the video is hopefully pretty self explanatory, the idea behind it is that while brushing my teeth one routine morning, my toothbrush was "removed" from my hand, but that do to the fact that it is early in the morning, and that toothbrushing is such a routine and monotonous task that I don't really even think about any more, I did not even notice that it was missing and continued to carry on with my task. I took several videos of myself brushing my teeth and had a slightly different video in mind, i.e. having the brush disappear and reappear throughout the clip, but in the end the version I landed with seemed to make the most sense and best fit the requirements of the assignment.

Micro-Assignment 5

Videogames were very frustrating for me as a child. I loved them, don't get me wrong, but I can't even count how many games I eventually gave up on because I couldn't beat them (I'm looking at you, Final Fantasy VIII......) As frustrating as it was at times, Megaman 1 was definitely one of my favorite games as a kid. I chose the super pixelated Megaman 1 characters because A) they were from my favorite version of the game, but also because B) I thought the super pixelated, digital look of the characters helped to exaggerate the situation even more. I chose the specific Megaman pose that I did because it is the first image that pops into my mind every time I think of the game. I think it has something to do with me always thinking it is such a strange looking "jump" animation. I picked Iceman as my opponent because he was the first of the Megaman bosses that came to my mind.

Originally, I wasn't sure what I was going to do, I just thought it would be neat to turn myself into Megaman because he's one of my favorite old-school game characters and I have fond memories of this game. I was just going to turn myself into the Megaman character originally, but that seemed too easy and didn't really fit the requirements of the project. Once I picked the Megaman jumping pose that I did and started messing around with it, dodgeball came to mind since all of the Megaman bosses are always throwing things at you. So, I went down to the JO North, snapped a picture of the basketball court there, and superimposed a realistic, more politically correct Megaman boss fight (since shooting spears of ice and plasma cannons at each other would probably be frowned up by the JO staff).

I would have liked to have done something a little flashier and more creative with this project. I'm happy with the way my final turned out, but when brainstorming I was hoping to come up with something a little more creative since this was a pretty neat assignment. If I had the time, I probably would have tried to make a larger scene (i.e. all of the Megaman 1 bosses in a match against a group of people, with myself and Iceman maybe up front or something). In general though I think it's an ok image.

Blog 8

Wallace, This is Water

If I met and conversed with the author of this article in real life, I really can't tell if I would like them or not. I believe the author's intentions are good, and in many respects I like the end point that he is making about being generally more aware and conscious of the world around us. Yet, throughout the article, I found myself going back and forth many times, sometimes agreeing and thinking he was making an important argument, while other times thinking that the tone of the article and some of the sections were a little too pompous for my tastes.

In general, what bothered me most about the article were some of the more specific claims the author was making. I think in some parts, he over-generalized a bit and made some statements and assumptions that are actually a little more open-ended than he made them out to be.

What I liked most was the main point that the author was trying to make. I've several times in my life taken to trying to be more observant of and understanding of the world around me, and to avoiding looking at things through my own personal lens all the time. I've found it both very difficult and very beneficial, much like the author suggests. It was interesting for me to hear the arguments and validations the author made regarding why individuals need to do this. I'm not sure if I would associate the real value of college education with simple awareness, but I think it was a noble and well thought out commencement address.

Blog 7

Kaprow, Art Which Can't Be Art

What I found most engaging about the Art Which Can't be Art article was definitely the section regarding the author's personal reflections on tooth brushing. The author commented on how their right-handedness caused them to always enter their mouth from that side, which is very similar to a thought I had just the other day. I wondered whether the fact that I always do the exact same thing had any measurable effect on my teeth and their state of being, since this would mean the same side of my teeth always get hit with more toothpaste. It was interesting to me to think about how the author of this article, who was attempting to look at things from a more artistic perspective, came to this same realization.

What I found most difficult in this article was the author's attempt to define art, or to talk about art like it is so easily defined. No matter how many people try to put it into a specified box, I have never thought of art as something that can really be so concretely defined. As I understand it, art is relative. One person can choose to declare something art, and others may or may not accept it as such. It was a little confusing to me why a person who claims to be an artist is so concerned with what mainstream society identifies as art.

Micro-Assignment 4

Micro-Assignment 4: Identity and Place

I chose the bench seen below for this assignment because it is one of my favorite places to sit in between classes when I get the chance. I lacked the technical skills and time to make this look more like what I actually wanted, but essentially it's supposed to be a silhouette of a person using a computer that, in real life, would have been painted onto the bench. It is supposed to be representative of me sitting there using my computer like I do all the time. I chose to represent my computer because while most of the time I am actually using my phone when I am on that bench and not my computer, I didn't think the tiny little phone would look very good and be very recognizable. There are two ways I would like to viewer to interact with the image. Once I am not around OSU any more, I would like for the viewer to be able to sit there and feel a sense of companionship, knowing that the image represents someone who used to sit there not long ago, who was going through and doing much of what they probably currently are. For the next 6 weeks, however, the image is meant to mark my spot and tell everyone to stay the hell away from my bench.

Micro-Assignment 3

Identity and Objects

In the unfortunate event that my house were to burn down, the following 5 items are the most likely candidates that I would attempt to save:

1) My computer

Very rarely does a day go by when I don't get on my computer. Being a college student, it has become a staple item helping to hold my life together. Even though most of the stuff on it is backed up elsewhere, I would still hate to lose it since i've put some much time into it, and spend so much time on it.

Words: Memories

2) My wallet

I would choose to save my wallet because it would probably be the most urgent item I would have to replace if I lost it. My money, credit cards, and ID alone are important enough and would be difficult enough to replace, but if I didn't have any other stuff and also didn't have those, i'd be in serious trouble.

Words: Security

3) My passport

Although I probably won't need it, it was a real pain to get in the first place, so i'd rather just not go through that again. 

Words: Convenience

4) My car keys:

If I already have my wallet and computer this wouldn't be as bad, but I feel like if i've lost everything else I would like to have my car keys so that I can get around to the many places I will now inevitably  need to go.

Words: Reliability

5) My black suit

While I likely won't need this, if I'm only going to own four other items, I might as well be able to walk around in style so that I don't look like the homeless but that I now am.

Words: Identity

I think that this final image shows my identity pretty well. I don't really have a lot of very sentimental items or objects, so if I were to have my worldly possessions stripped down to a bare minimum, I would generally prefer to have these few items above which would help me to keep my life functioning as normally as possible. I think the above items don't really show a lot about me as a person. They demonstrate the importance I place on keeping my life organized and in order, but they don't really show much about my personality or anything like that, at least not without maybe a little more explanation. 

Blog 6

Sullivan Feet in Smoke

I thought this was a very interesting article. The part which I found most interesting were the random bits of phrases and information the author recorded while his brother was recovering, and the way he portratyed them in the article. I like how he descibed it as, "It was like he was on acid,' but that wouldn't be quite true. Instead, he seemed to be living one of those imaginary acid trips we used to pretend to be on in junior high, you know, 'Hey, man, your nose is like a star or something, man.'" When I read this part, I instantly thought of all the times i've heard people who are pretending to be more drunk than they are try to say these type of steryotypical/hollywood esque drunk phrases to be funny. It's much funnier when you can tell it's natural, like the episodes the author recalled regarding his brother.

What I probably had the most trouble with from this article was the section regarding death. It's definitely a little strange that someone whose mind is so fried they can't even tell where they are would be able to comprehend that something like that had happened to them, so like the author I found this part a little unsettling. The references that his brother used as well, referring to Charon and the River Styx, was a little creepy too. This, and the unfortunate fact that i'm now all but certain i'll be a little uneasy the next time I told a microphone up to my mouth.

Micro-Assignment 2

My Journey to Class

I'll be the first to admit that my journey to class is typically less than spectacular. That being said, when paying extra attention there were a few noteworthy things I observed that I could post about. On the first day, I found the classroom relatively easily since the stadium is a hard landmark to miss. I wasn't sure where I was going to go once I got there, but there were plenty of signs up that directed me to the location of the classroom which made the navigation pretty easy. As of right now, I have walked to class every day and will likely continue to do so. My sense of sight was the most obviously activated of my 5 senses. I notice the standard things like cars, people, buildings and the like. The most likely visual cue that will stand out on any given day is if I see someone that I know that I don't typically see on my walk, since I make it at about the same time and walk the same route each day. My sense of smell is activated as soon as I step out of my house, because the house I currently live in is old and musty so I always look forward to heading out for a while to breathe some better air. The primary way my sense of touch is activated is by contact with the ground while walking. The primary sounds I hear each time I make the walk are those created by other people, no particular sounds usually really stand out to me, unless someone talks to me or talks near me. My sense of taste is most heavily activated by any gum I am chewing, which I sometimes put in before I get to class. I don't eat or drink anything on the way to class so if it's a good day, I probably won't have this sense activated by anything else.

There isn't much that makes my journey to class unique. One of the main things might be the pace of the trip. I am frequently told that I walk faster than most people and since it's a long, early walk this one is usually particularly brisk. I think walking by Fisher makes the walk a little more unique for me, since i've seen several people I know around that area on my way to this class. Going to the stadium makes my journey a little unique as well, since not too many people have class there. Lastly, I would say the fact that I don't listen to music on the walk helps. I like music as much as the next guy, but I purposefully don't listen to it during walks to class because I see so many people wearing headphones walking around like zombies oblivious to everything going on around them.

Below is my map. Notable icons include the monster, which is the mean old lady that lives next door to us and complains to our landlord about everything we do. The allied-territory smiley face indicates the fact that I usually see at least one person I know around that area of the trip/map when i'm headed to class. Lastly, the clock face symbol is representative of the fact that that part of the trip usually brings my average speed/pace down the most, because I have to sit and wait to cross Lane and High both ways (South and West).

Post 5

Blog 5: Wexner Review

Out of all the works that I looked at, I thought that the Blue Construction sculpture was the most interesting. The piece was confusing enough in form alone, but then the artist had to go and throw the blue coloring all over it to baffle me even more. I really couldn't make much out of it, or offer up any sort of reasonable interpretation for it. Yet, in spite of this, and for reasons that I wasn't really able to rationalize, I still found the piece interesting and semi-aesthetically pleasing.

It's hard to say what bothered me the most about this particular work. It was kind of all over the place, and every time I started to hone in on something that made me think, "yeah, i'll write about that for the 'what I liked the least' part of my blog post," I found myself suddenly distracted by something else that disturbed me about it. I like the work, but it also just kind of bothers me. I think what I actually like least is the name. Blue Construction. After looking at the piece, and realizing I forgot its name, I thought, "ok, i'll look at the name again and now that i've been studying the work for a while, the name should help me have an epiphany and figure this thing out." And it didn't. So yeah, the name is what I have the biggest problem with.

Micro-Assignment 1

Micro-Assignment 1

While obvious similarities did exist, my two photographing experiences were each distinctly unique. For similarities, there was the fact that I was using the same camera and taking the same number of pictures. Further more, all of my pictures are of pretty simple and similar scenes in both takes. The primary difference between the experiences was the amount of thought I put into each. For the first 10 photos, I just walked around and took photos of ten things I thought could make relatively interesting photos. The second 10 photos took a lot more mental preparation and planning. I had specific objectives and goals for each of the photos, so I had to have a relative idea of what I was going to shoot before I even pulled the camera up.

I think the 2nd set of photos was more enjoyable for me. I had a little more structure and direction for these photos, so it was easier to think about what would make an interesting shot since I had a defined framework to work within.

The 10th photo of my original 10 is my favorite (even though I couldn't get the lighting right :/ ) because, I mean come on, it's a skull with a mustache on it.......From the new set, I think the photo from the view of an ant is my favorite. I think that it is a kind of cool looking shot, and I also won a lot of basketball on that hoop this weekend.

Asymmetrical Image

Symmetrical Image

Radial Image

Person and their surrounding space

Person up close

Image from the point of view of an ant

Image from the point of view of a bird

Stable Image 

 Unstable Image

My name on campus

(Bulletin Board in Schoenbaum Hall)

10 Pictures

10 photos taken in/right outside of my house in Columbus

Post 4

Nipple Jesus

What I found most engaging in the article was the unique perspective and internal dilemma that the narrator had regarding the Nipple Jesus painting. As he said himself, "If i'd had read about 'Nipple Jesus' in the paper, or seen it on the news, i'd have thought it was wrong, no question. -- But it's more complicated when you actually stand by it all day." The narrator knows that like so many other individuals he would have innately been against the premise of this art work, but due to his unique situation he finds himself in a sort of moral quandary/dilemma, which makes for an interesting narrative.

The most troubling part of the story for me is the ending. There is so much build up throughout the entire story, and the author goes into so much detail on so many things. Then, they spend about 4 pages wrapping everything up with the destroying of the painting and the exhibiting of the movie. I thought that this did fit the context and style of the narrative, but it nevertheless did seem just a tad abrupt. 

Post 3

Walker Big Idea

Walker's analysis and differentiation of "subject matter" and "big ideas" within a work was the most engaging part of this article for me. I thought it was interesting how he described the differences among the 2 things. Before reading this, my natural tendency probably would have been to assume subject matter and big ideas were one and the same in many works. Walker's analysis makes it clear, however, that these 2 concepts are distinctly unique. Every work has to have direct subject matter in order to make it comprehensible, but I thought the way that Walker illustrated how big ideas in a work don't necessarily have to relate to the subject matter was good.

The section I have the most trouble with in this article is where it talks about the rules and systems imposed regarding Jennifer Bartlett's garden drawings. This section talks about how, "Bartlett's big idea represents a significant human idea that students could purse: rules and systems represent human attempts to impose order and meaning." For starters, I think that the rules and systems described are important because they provide a framework and sense of direction for projects. Where I have a little trouble is with the amount of rules and systems the article talks about imposing. This section of the article makes it seem like the only way to create good art is to have a very structured, systematic approach to it, which to me is the opposite of the free thinking open-ended kind of things I usually think of when I think of art.

Barrett Connote/Denote

I get that this article is a little dated, but the fact that had difficulty defining the word "booty," in the obvious context in which it is being used is by far the most troubling part of this article for me. It make me question the very type and nature of the students who were reviewing the magazine cover, and frankly once I read that part, I wasn't even sure if I could trust the rest of their observations and analysis.

I thought the section about interpreting the middle school student's apparel as an attempt to teach the concepts of connotations and denotations was the most engaging part of the article. I liked it because it showed how you could teach the concepts in a more hands on and spontaneous way, rather than having a boring structured lecture. I found some of the insights they made interesting as well, such as the analysis of type faces and fonts, and the connotations they derived from each of these.

Post 2

Kidd The Cheese Monkeys 

I found to section about Left to Right the most engaging part of the Kidd The Cheese Monkeys excerpt. Many times in Western culture, the left to right phenomenom/hierarcy is taken for granted. Often, individuals fail to think about the processes and reasoning about why so much of what we read, write, and display is organized in this way and I thought that the way this excerpt made that point, with the analogies and whatnot, was interesting.

I thought that the section on Top to Bottom was the problematic. The author described Americans as wanting to “begin in the depths of something and climb our way upward.” First and foremost, I don’t believe that the ideal state for many Americans is to begin in the depths. Secondly, I think that when people are exploring things, they’re more interested in finding their way out, not upward, so they know where one thing ends and another begins, to be able to better understand something.

Hickey’s The Heresy of Zone Defense

What I found most engaging about Hickey’s The Heresy of Zone Defense excerpt was his Jackson Pollock reference. I liked how he mentioned the rule that Jackson “civilized his violence,” through, which was that it’s ok to drip paint. I thought it was interesting how the author both showed how this applied to his life, and went on to mention how by the time he enrolled in a university, it had become widely accepted that  if you didn’t “drip paint,” you had no soul.

The section I have the most trouble with in this article is in the beginning, when the author credits Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s defense for making Erving’s shot both necessary and possible. In a sense, the defense did make the shot necessary. It did not, however, make the shot possible. Even without his defense, someone could make the same pass and take the same crazy maneuvers that Erving took to make the shot. While Kareem’s defense is what led to the shot happening, it could theoretically have been thought up and done without the defensive presence.

Weschler’s Uncanny Valley

The most insightful part of Weschler’s Uncanny Valley article to me was the section on the complexity of lighting when animating simple things like milk. Typically when I think of animating or creating digital images, I think about the stuff the article mentioned in the beginning, like replicating something very complex such as a face. I don’t think about things as basic as milk, but it makes sense that the soft, transparent texture would be very difficult to work with since it’s hard to figure out exactly where light goes and comes out after it hits/enters such an object.

The section I had the most trouble with in this article was then the authour asked, “

Such visions, however, raise a further question, and in some senses the very question with which we began: is such an ambition even conceptually possible? Will anyone ever be able to digitally replicate a human soul?” This questions is a little ridiculous in my opinion, because it’s not hardly even agreed upon what a soul is, let alone whether or not we will be able to digitally replicate one. It seems to me there are better or more specific questions the author could have asked.

Post 1

Hello. This is my first post for ARTEDUC 252. My name is Craig Sonnenberg. I am currently a 4th year student at Ohio State University (graduating in June) and majoring in Business/Marketing with a minor in design. After having toiled through many a GEC, I find myself in this class to cover what with any luck, will be the last general education class that I ever have to take.

I hail from the far off and foreign land known as Cincinnati. I have 2 brothers, one who graduated with a degree in music from OSU last Winter and one who currently studies mechanical engineering here.

Outside of class, I enjoy pretty standard activities such as sports and hanging out with friends. I enjoy playing golf, tennis, basketball, swimming, working out, and most recreational type activities, although I am not an all-star at any of the aforementioned. I enjoy marketing and participating the AMA (American Marketing Association) at OSU as far as classroom/educational activities are concerned.

For current top 5 favorites TV shows I would list:

Game of Thrones
The Walking Dead
How I Met Your Mother
The Office
Community

Oh and this is me:

Thank you for reading and I hope you learned something wonderful.