This is AMERICA

November 6, 2012, by DC

Four our final poem in counterculture we looked at contradicitions. From that came a diverse amount of poem about hypocrits and contradicitions where called out the fakes and phonies. I am proud of my piece and glad I get to end on it. Below you will find by piece which talk about Americans and our contradicition and fale beliefs and ideas that make us hypocrits. Enjoy 🙂

 

This is America

I am from America land of the brave and home of the free
As for bravery our politicians hide behind podiums and armies
we claim to be free, preach equality
but hold back and oppress those who protest because we do not agree
In america water is no longer free
and I wouldn’t be surprised if they started taxing the air that we breathe

This is America and this is the life we live

Learning to beg instead of work for something
Learning to receive but never give
Drowning in our sorrows instead of striving for our happiness
Learning to stop reaching for goals and settle for this

The life we live in is reckless
Leaving hard workers check less
Breath takers breathless
Dreamers dreamless
Mothers childless
And children fatherless

I don’t know about you but I am tired of this
I am tired of schools that have no money for books
But have brand new metal detectors
The government claims there’s no cash for better schools
But then takes tax dollars to build prisons

Now you tell me who’s the fool

And who do you think they plan to imprison
The poor
The young
The black, Latino
The minority
The men
The life we live in
Where people are just pieces of a puzzle
And we throw away the ones that don’t fit
We call them misfits
Make them ashamed because their different

This is the life we live in
Where we right our wrongs with checks
No apologies no regrets
Just throw a couple dollars
And pay us to forget
Where is the respect

For these problems we blame
music videos, video games, the media, and tv
but they are only replicas of the things we  live and see
happening  in the government and military
Where money and power
Come before ethics and pride
A place where we steal,kill and lie
these are things they teach
this is the foundation of America
Home of the brave
and  Land of the free

Nature-> Humans -> Machines Kinetic Sculpture

October 5, 2012, by DC

This is my power animal kinetic sculpture.  I created this sculpture to show how my power animal, cars, and humans make the same movements in different ways. There are many aspects to the projects like the deign of a natural element for the background, wire used to make linear movements, and beads to show how they move. I learned a lot about making connections but also the importance of seeing the differences. I love how it turned out especially the way the brown for dirt and green for grass and tress mixed together. I call this project Perspective of Perception.

DeDe Curtis
September 2012
Perspective on Perception
Box, Wire, Clay, Paper, Markers, Cardboard,
13’’ x 9.5’’ inches

 

In our Art class “Great Pretender” we  researched our power animals. With lots of research, I found my power animal, the lioness. Some of the research included the IChing, watching animals videos, and researching over the internet. The IChing is a Chinese based way of fortune telling that uses symbols to give advice. We watched a video about how animals connect to natural elements and what that means. After we had a few ideas of what animals we felt we should pursue to see if they connected to us we did research on the characteristics that the animals had and if they were similar to our own or some we wished we had.Then we started going into depth on the movement aspect of the animal. By watching videos and looking at images of the animals in action, this is when we began to sketch our own simple drawings of the animals. With this we made a 9 frame collection of images of the animal in motion. Then we expanded it into a flip book.We got more into the movement focusing on how they inform us about the power animal.  I chose the eyes of the lioness and how they perceive their surroundings and strategize when looking for a prey.  After that we had to find a way that this movement is replicated in a machine and human form. For the machine form I chose car mirrors and how they are controlled in a way that goes either inward and outward or up and down. For the human replication I chose basketball players using peripheral vision.After finding those three components we had to create the motion in linear forms. While doing this we were able to see the differences in the motions depending on if it was the machine, animal, or human performing them. For example, depending on which of the three things motion I was looking at the timing changed. If it was the human vision it was fast and switching around and seeing from different angles but it wasn’t clear and precise more blurry. On the other hand the lion was a little slower but the vision was clear and they could see farther. The car mirrors were slower because you had to switch between up and down and in out which slowed it down.
Once we were done deciding on the linear structure we made a three dimensional version using wire. Then we created legs with clay that we stuck to cardboard. After the legs were made we created beads to put on it to go through the linear structures. The beads where the element that made it a kinetic sculpture by showing the flow of the different pieces. Then we began to decorate the board based on our animal’s natural element. My animal’s natural element was earth so I used the colors green and brown. I tried to mix the colors instead of separating the green and brown. This was  to show land and dirt mixing and at some points becoming one. I chose to make the surface rough instead of smooth because the earth isn’t perfectly smooth or soft.

Scruffy

April 26, 2012, by DC

 

GCE Winter 2012

Integrated Performance and Visual Arts

String Theory: Puppets in Motion

Junior/ Seniors

Thursday 04.26.2012

Character Profiles:

Name: Scruffy

Age: 5

Hometown: Chicago

Current Location: West-side of Chicago Austin

Family: orphan

Education: Sidewalk High

Occupation: Con Artist

Hobbies: eating , scamming, running

Variables in your life:Get the most out of very little

Are you the puppet or the puppet-master of your life?: Puppet-master

THEME: variables in the character’s decision-making

Crime and Comedy

CHARACTERISTICS:

• Driven

• Hungry

• Unlucky

• Clumsy

• Smart

Scruffy has had an unlucky life, born an Orphan. Which has taught him to take care of himself and get by however he can. Everything he knows he learned from living on the streets. His a dog Con artist. He may fool you with his sad eyes and long tale but this doggy is smarter than he looks. He commits petty crimes and gets away with it every time. He’s never had to think about anyone else besides himself. But then when he meets an old man that helps him get away from getting took to the pound, he must give up his selfish ways and use his street smarts to help return the favor to his new friends.