Webspinna Battle

Elephant Love Medley (25 seconds)

Bon Jovi - You Give Love a Bad Name

L.O.V.E. - "Stop Seeing Each Other" 500 Days of Summer

Love Story/Love Quotes

Cee Lo Green - Forget You

Close Your Eyes x Three Days Grace - I Hate Everything About You (1:04)

The Notebook Love Scene
The Notebook Break Up Scene

Plain White T's - Hate

Titanic/Gone With the Wind themes - The Dark Night "I hated my father" & Indiana Jones - "I hate snakes"

Titanic "I'm flying" x JoJo - Leave (Get Out)

A Thousand Years

Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone

Pride & Prejudice

Ted How I Met Your Mother - "Winning this break up"

 "All you need is love." According to The Beatles, our lives are complete the moment we have obtained the highest point of a relationship-- love. But according to the Book of Mormon prophet Lehi, "it must needs be, that there is opposition in all things." How could we ever have love if we never had its petulant arch nemesis, hate? By exploring the contrast of these two opposing principles, we can find ourselves feeling the love, or burning with hate.

       In class we explored some different pieces of media to really exploit these contrasting characteristics. One piece we explored in class was DJ Spooky's "Rhythm Science." In his piece he took a group of random words and had them correlate in a not so linear way. He took different words, such as "Cool, Theater, The Idiot, and Vector," and put them all in the same space. By definition, none of these words really have any correlation with each other. The difference in this piece is that although they are not similar in definition, they are all linked by their occupation of space. They have all been placed together to convey a meaning. The meaning that came to us was pure confusion. In the Webspinna battle, we took a vast variety of media that came from all different sources, and put them in one place to cause some confusion. Is it a song of love? Or a song of hate? The contrasting elements come through and disorient any idea of a linear narrative.

       One example of these contrasting and disorienting pieces happened in the middle of our battle. "Close Your Eyes," a soft sultry ballad sung by the heartthrob Michael Buble was thrown to the wall by the harsh vocals from the band Three Days Grace in the song "I Hate Everything About You." While you were beginning to orient yourself in the milky twilights, you were quickly pulled in a different direction completely. 

        Another source of media that conveys this confusion is the piece Marie-Thérèse au béret rouge et au col de fourrure by Pablo Picasso. When you first begin to view the piece, you can see the expression is one of complacency, but as you continue to stare that idea is moved around and morphed into the chaos Picasso is so famous for. It's even hard to tell what emotion the person is trying to portray. At an initial glance you may see it as something mundane, but as your eyes shift you see traces of sorrow. It is just as the battle we held-- should you feel happy or sad?

            In our battle we wanted to explore different perspectives of love and hate. We brought in scenes from The Notebook, Moulin Rouge, and Titanic to show people expressing their love in different ways. Then we contrasted that with break-up scenes from the same movies. When romantic love is torn because of mis-communication or offense hate surfaces. The song, “Close your Eyes” shows the romantic magic of love and “Love Me Do” shows the fun, happy, dancy side of love. Taylor Swift explores immature teenage love while LOVE from Frank Sinatra sings the classic, mature love. And most of the hate songs reveal broken hearts. We wanted to visually represent these songs through our dress. Love is more pure so Chad wore white with a full heart on his chest. Hate is darker, so Hunter wore black with a broken heart on his chest. Most hate starts with broken hearts. Everyone needs to be loved, if someone is not, hate can develop.

       The battle of Love vs. Hate is legendary and will never cease to occur. While we make our way through our lives we'll find ourselves flip flopping between the two as we attempt to orient ourselves to the proper side. Until then we will continue to be at war.

World Building

Artist Statement

• Before a baby learns to talk, they smile. Body language is a major part of human interaction that begins at infancy. In the world of Dancetopia, the only way by which people communicate is through body language. Dance is the sole form of self expression citizens use to interact with one another. Analyzing this aspect of Dancetopia causes one to reflect on communication on Earth. Dance and body language is an integral facet of communication on Earth, a fact that is made clearer through the exploration of Dancetopia. Throughout Earth's history, political gestures have been made popular by the leading figures of government. Dancetopia also features politicians with their own particular political gestures. The first scene in our short film is a presidential debate between two candidates – a strictly conservative female candidate and a passionately liberal male candidate. The conservative candidate has very closed-off and concise movements that are symbolic of her belief in having less taxes. The other candidate, however, demonstrates free, open movements that represent his willingness to happily be taxed and give in order to benefit of others. In the country of Germany on planet Earth, Adolf Hitler required the Nazi salute to be performed by his citizens to indicate their loyalty to him. Richard Nixon used the V for victory sign as a trademark of his. The presidential debate scene in the short film prompts one to reflect on how Earth politicians have used physical movements to rally their supporters and sway public opinion. In Dancetopia, citizens are either of the upper class, the lower class, or the religious class. Those in the religious class differentiate themselves from society by physically altering their appearance. Religious Dancetopians dress all in white, decorate their forehead with a spiral, and move in a manner in which their bodies are directed either towards or in submission of the heavens. Religious people on Earth have similar practices. Jewish people wear prayer shawls to demonstrate their faith in God. Some Hindu people place a bindi ion their forehead to protect against demons. Individuals of all faiths worship God by bowing or orienting themselves towards the heavens in prayer. The religious dance ceremony in the short film mimics Earthling religious worship and shows the audience that worship on Earth can be viewed like a dance. Dance and body language are a prevalent part of our beings and touches on many characteristics in our lives. Classes are distinguished from one another through their bodily "diction." The upper class of Dancetopia moves in a very elegant and smooth manner, while the lower class dances closer to the ground. As Earth, certain genres of dance are sometimes associated with a specific class of people. In Dirty Dancing, Baby was not suppose to affiliate with those who danced dirty because she belonged to the upper class. In Dancetopia, the varying forms of dance represent the individuals' social standing. Dance can be a signifier of class status, a fact that is true in both Dancetopia and Earth. In the final scene of the short film, we see a family unit at home eating dinner. In this particular scene, the strongest expression of emotion is depicted. This is very reminiscent of the music video for the song “Valtari” by Sigur Ros, in which two subjects communicate to one another passionately through interpretive dance (warning: there is graphic content in this music video). Emotions are strong and are only portrayed through dance. Similarly, in this scene, the father explodes in anger, which is represented through violent, passionate, and Footloose-esque movements. Julian Bleecker had stated in her essay, Design Fiction, “[Worlds] are assemblages of various sorts, part story, part material, part idea-articulating prop…” Our world is designed through various observations that we have made. Earth is a potpourri of interpretations and thoughts, a product of experience. Similarly, Dancetopia is a product of our past associations with dance. Dance and movement on Earth communicates basic wants and desires that one experiences since infancy. Body language is key to communication on Earth, a facet of our society that is focused on in the world of Dancetopia.

Textual Poaching

Artist Statement

          Since the beginning of my life I have always been a little brother. Being a little brother hasn’t always been an easy thing, and especially so when the older sibling is a sister. For my textual poaching I took a music video of the boy band N’SYNC that was popular just barely after my birth, but greatly influenced those around me, especially my older sister. Because of this, I was inadvertently affected by it, and have created a product that exemplifies this influence in my life.

          My older sister was born in the late 80s and because of this she got the full experience of the 90s. She had always been a fan of the arts and wanted to see her director dreams be realized in any way possible. This led to the many productions and pieces that left me, the younger brother, to star in, whether I liked it or not. This piece of media is especially identifiable with me, however, because it marked one form of how I was able to bond with my sister and have a stronger relationship with her. I placed within the actual music video, real footage from my childhood in which I danced along with the N’SYNC song. I feel that this represents the importance that this project has in my personal life, and shows the lengths I was willing to go to make my sister happy.

          In class we took a look at the piece L.H.O.O.Q. by Marcel Duchamp. In his piece he changed something we all know very well and put his own style to it. In my own piece I also took something that is relatively well known and put my own style into it. I feel that Duchamp’s piece showed a bit of his personality. Perhaps he is a very wild and spontaneous person. By the piece I did you can tell that I’m a bit dorky but willing to try new things, even if it could be embarrassing to myself.

          Apart from the piece we looked at in class, another wonderful example of this concept can be seen in other works of art by Marcel Duchamp. One of his pieces, known as Fountain, is another interesting take on something we all know so well. He took a urinal and photographed it and altered it in such a way that it has become something of value. When making art, we must make something that can be valued, and he did so by taking an ordinary object. I tried to take a common video and turn it into something personal, and something that I can value myself.

          Being the little brother is full of many different experiences, good and bad, but I am happy to say that most of mine have been good. Although it has led to me doing some pretty outrageous things, I’m glad I did them. Dancing along to the music of N’SYNC has become more than just a passing fandom to me, but instead had become a treasured memory that is my own to keep and value. The ordinary can become important to us; that is where we find extraordinary.

Medium Specificity

Artist Statement

     Everybody is different. Or at least everybody claims to be different. And while everyone claims to be different from everyone else, everyone else is claiming that everyone is the same. Hence, we get stereotypes that seemingly limit our freedom to express and be who we want to be.

     In class we read over McCloud’s comic piece Show and Tell. In his medium, he demonstrated how comics, pictures and words, could effectively tell a story. In my own piece I did something similar. I used several photographs put together to create a work of art that explores a certain subject. Just as McCloud used in one portion of his piece, I too demonstrated how words and images can work together to have the audience fill in some of the blanks for themselves. An example of this in my piece is when I shade the character black and then write the word “sports” above his head. It’s obvious that there is a connection between the image and the word. It is highlighting the stereotype that all black people are good at and love sports. By doing this, I was able to link words and pictures together, and convey a specific message.

     The Chicago School of Media Theory also explored the importance of medium specificity and said the following, “Eliot argues that a writer never starts on a blank page, and by the same token a painter never begins with a blank canvas, and the same follows for all media. In order for a medium to have characteristic qualities it must be grounded in a tradition that has established these as intrinsic properties.” In my video you see that I do start with a blank page, but I did not just start drawing with a blank mind. Everything we do is just the product of everything that has happened before us, and my piece helps us to see that. There are plenty of ideas and words that have been said pertaining to man, and I attempted to capture that by saying that all of these stereotypes are influencing people to become what others expect them to be. In a sense, you could say that the lives of people are an example of medium specificity themselves.

     At the conclusion, of my piece, I drew a box around everything that had been written and put of the word “Freedom???” There is a trite phrase that people like to use when saying they have a different way of thinking. That is the phrase to “think outside the box.” While people believe that’s what they are doing, they are in fact becoming a product of what the people around them expect them to be. That is why I pose the question of freedom. Is it freedom if we just become what everyone thought of us to be? That is the question we have to answer for ourselves.

Historical Piece

Artist Statement

            “We went from children who were afraid of gunshots to now children who were gunshots.” – Ishmael Beah (former child soldier in Sierra Leone)

            As we approached our topic of child soldiers and war, we found it difficult to write our script due in large part to our lack of experience with such matters. Drawing largely upon stories Hunter had heard on his mission in Sierra Leone and research, we were however able to articulate our ideas into a coherent script.

            Having served in Sierra Leone, a country in which child soldiers were employed during the civil war of 1991-2002, Hunter was able to hear several stories from Africans who had fought as child soldiers. These stories were both shocking and disturbing. One such survivor spoke of arms being cut off at the wrists or shoulders depending on if the victim wanted “short sleeves” or “long sleeves.” Another survivor was betrayed to rebels by his father. These ideas cast a vivid backdrop to our story and allowed us to achieve some level of authenticity, despite our lack of personal experiences in such matters.

            Despite the gruesome and disgusting nature of these stories, however, we desired to write a script covering the theme of redemption. We found this to be a very realistic theme due to Hunter’s experiences with survivors. Many of them have gone on to live normal lives. Some are cooks, some are tailors, some are just moms. They are tied together through their experiences as child soldiers, but even more so through their quest for and eventual triumph in humanity. Through this idea, we came up with the concept of art as a redemptive medium. Kolleh, based off of an actual person known by Hunter, is able to remember and reconnect with his own humanity through the art and actions of another.

Although redemption was our ultimate goal, we also wished to portray some of the horrors of child soldiers. Drawing from Neufeld’s “After the Deluge” we wished to show the confusion that comes from innocence and ignorance. Just as the victims of hurricane Katrina didn’t believe that the hurricane would be so severe and went on with their normal lives, we wished to show the normalcy of life within a war zone, characterized by Kadi’s capturing of the butterfly.

In conclusion, we were able to achieve an almost archetypal narrative with hints of personality drawn from stories of actual survivors. Although we are not experts, we are human and are able to understand to some small extent the sorrow and despair that can be washed away by the joy and elation of redemption.