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.