Anna Lavery-Song Assignment

"For the Longest Time" by Billy Joel

I'm that voice you're hearing in the hall,

And the greatest miracle of all

Is how I need you

And how you needed me, too

That hasn't happened for the longest time.

Once I thought my innocence was gone

Now I know that happiness goes on

That's where you found me

When you put your arms around me

I haven't been there for the longest time.

Who knows how much further we'll go on

Maybe I'll be sorry when you're gone

I'll take my chances

I forgot how nice romance is

I haven't been there for the longest time.

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Anna Lavery-Movie Assignment

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I was inspired by the "Family of Man" in the movie that we watched during class, in which the similarities between all peoples of all nationalities, races, and ethnicities were shown. The photography exhibit toured around the world, and people were able to feel a connection after World War Two had torn them apart. In the above photos, I tried to capture what it is like to live in a retirement home that I had been filming in. I wanted to capture the quiet serenity of the woman drinking her coffee in the first one, which may also resemble some loneliness that senior citizens (or many different people) may feel, as loneliness is universal. I also wanted to capture the essence of friendship, as is seen in the second photo, because they are whispering over a game of Bingo, and it reminded me of the whispering and laughing that little children do over their own games. Feelings and friendship span across not only races, but also ages.

Anna Lavery-Gallery Assignment

Anna Lavery
Professor Phrene Hoeksema
PHO 236
14 December 2017

I took the above photo at the Gerald R. Ford Museum, in which there was a special exhibit provided by the Newseum and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that showed the impact of rock and roll (and other music influences) in America's history. The reason that I chose to take a photo of these artifacts (a guitar, note written by a rocker, and handwritten lyrics for "American Idiot") is that the main focus, as far as I could see, was interesting and also rang very true; creativity, many times, is about speaking out about the things in the world that we do not like, and bringing awareness to things that are ugly so that consumers will think. In this way, people could come up with solutions to these problems, as art usually touches a portion of a person's soul that cannot be reached with mere talking.
 This particular part of the exhibit focused on artists' responses to the War on Terror in the early 2000s, and there were many angry, explicit words stated about America's politics, and though I was very young when the War on Terror began, looking at an actual guitar with lyrics scribbled on yellow notebook paper made it seem that there is a connection between me as a creative person and the occurrences of that time. Just as there was upset in the early 2000s, there is still upset now, and now that I am older and can research and understand events around me, I can fully appreciate the fact that I, too, can make a difference. While I didn't take the time to muse over the entire exhibit, I feel that that is the most interesting part of this portion itself, the presentation is not very artistic, so I can't give it merit for being extremely creative in its presentation (except for the choice of lyrics). The feeling that it left me with, however, is what has continued to stick with me.

In this photo, I used the composition of compiling my friend's one-line poems on the floor as she touched the poems with her hands, circling the word "human". This conveys a sense of flowing creativity (and hand-written, spur-of-the-moment writing, as can be seen with the handwritten "American Idiot". There is nothing but handwritten poems, that have the author's literal touch. My friend also writes many times about the shortcomings people may experience when it comes to creativity, or the loss of compassion and critical thinking that people seem to embrace, just as the songwriters had done. The word "human" is the focus, the focal point. That is what all art is or should be about--that no matter what kinds of problems we face, we are all human, and we all have things that make us similar, no matter what period of time we live in.

Luke Wood - Gallery Assignment

I chose “Looking Right/High Noon” by Frank Sawyers. This painting is in Calvin’s art gallery. It is an oil painting on a canvas, depicting an old man in a ten-gallon hat looking to his right, with the blue sky in the background. He is lit up by the sun with most of the light fall down over his face. The shadows of his face are lit up by the reflection of the presumably desert landscape. While most of the background is blue, there are small orange patches spread along the edges. The blue of the background also whitens toward the bottom of the picture, signaling the approaching horizon.

            The old man himself seems disturbed. His right eye is squinted as well as his left, but his left eye is lazy. The shadow of his hat covers most of his face, but it is soft shadow. It does not erase his features, only fading them even more. His skin is wrinkled and worn. There are bags underneath his eyes and his forehead is furrowed. His hair is wiry and gray and it disappears into his skin. There is no defined hairline. His ear is large and protrudes out awkwardly. The old man’s nose is the smoothest feature on his face. It shines from the light caught by the sun. The sun also illuminates his mouth. His expression is somber and terse. The man has a bushy handlebar mustache that is wily. Some of the hairs stick out oddly and are lit up by the sun. Overall, the features of his face are worn and complicated. Nothing seems to fit one way or the other, yet the whole face looks as if it has been through the same tragedy.

            Despite all this, the painting is warm and bright. It uses the light to show the face as is. The color contrast makes everything about the man, who is full of warm colors, feel dignified. It raises him up, as wrinkled and worn as he is, as royal. He is the king odd his own domain, and the vastness and lack of details of the background make his domain large. I like these qualities about the painting. It exalts the man, burdened and all. The artist seems to say that it matters is where the man stands. In the beauty and sheer wonder of the desert, this man can be dignified.

This is why I like the painting and think it to be good.

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       In my picture of Jake I strove to communicate the same type of contrast. While Jake's face is young and barely stubbled, the background is coarse and unfeeling. In a small sense, this picture of Jake could be considered a part 1 to the previous image. Jake here is young and barely worn. Yet, the shadows fall on his face and weigh down his eyes. He is weary of the life ahead. While his surroundings now are uninspiring and potentially hurtful, it cannot stop him from becoming like the old man in the first picture.

Luke Wood Studio Light

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         Diagram:

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                               subject

           bounce board

                              camera

fill light with soft box

Amanda Walicki - Gallery Visit

 

Amanda Walicki

Prof. Phrené

PHO 236

12 December 2017

Gallery Visit

I visited Fredrick Meijer Gardens for the gallery visit. I found this family piece toward the entrance of the building. I was drawn to it because of the family aspect. This piece titled “Mom, Dad, and the Kid” is a sculpture of black penguins with white stomachs. There is no fine detail of eyes or flippers, but the flippers are visible. In this sculpture, the father penguin is standing tall, looking over the mother penguin as if he is watching for predators. The mother penguin has her neck bent and is looking down as their baby is looking up to its mother, with beaks almost touching.

            I chose the piece, because it displays the stereotypical family roles. The father is protecting his family and the mother is putting her attention into her baby. I never really grew up in a family like that due to my parent’s occupations, so it was fascinating to me that even animals portrayed the family roles like that. It appeared that the artist sculpted this piece out of stone, but I was not able to find out for sure. I believe that the artist made this to show the family roles. In society today, the family roles are sort of crumbling, but it has always been said that the man of the house is to protect and lead the family. Which, in the piece, appears to be the case. With the father looking over the heads of his other half and their child, it gave me the feeling that he was watching over them. The mother, looking down at her kin, gave me the impression that her energy is put into her child, which is common in society.

            Personally, I really liked this piece. I liked how there was little detail, but the animal was still able to be identified. As mentioned above, I did not grow up in a home where the stereotypical gender roles were followed as my parents were never home, or never home at the same time. I have always dreamed of that well-rounded family aspect, so it was a reminder to me that it can still happen.

            The photo I took is of two fish that my roommate and I own. These two fish have reproduced a couple times and they still stick together. There are multiple fish in our tank, but these two always stick by each other and their kin that are still alive. Just like that of the penguins in the sculpture. These pictures also share contrast within the colors in them. The penguins are black and white and our fish are black and orange in a darker lit tank.