Attempting to see beyond the white curtain: The Podcast
I had a lot of fun with this quarters pieces. It reminded me of when I was younger in art class and we did block prints a lot. My favorite piece in this would have to be the Golden Ratio collage. I like the contrast of he pinks to the blue. It made me really happy to finish it because I liked it so much. To do these pieces I did a lot of research and it helped me to see what I could take from what I saw and make it my own. I guess other people were a big help in inspiring what I did this quarter.
I like this class a lot and doing this type of stuff because it shows me the kinds of things that I am good at and what I like to do. I get to learn about all these different types of art, and I am excited to see what we get to do in the rest of the year.
During my writing process I explored the idea of belonging. After watching several videos and reading excerpts that described how we find our identity. It helped me to examine bigger ideas such as the process of building our identity and how many factors go into the destruction of our identity. But I’ve came to the conclusion that our identity can’t be destructed unless we allow it to be. Our identity can be reconstructed, because throughout life we will have different encounters that help us shape and form our identity. Another idea that stuck out to me during my research was that we do form our identity based off of others people projections,because when we come into this world we are told things and we base our own projections on their own.
I’m very happy with the outcome of my essay and podcast. I was able to interview my family members and understand their perspective on belonging and forming our identity. In the future I want to be comfortable with educating people about identity and I also want to stay comfortable in my own skin and not rely on the presence of others.
I wanted to make a collage of something/or someone that I love. I’ve always loved Audrey Hepburn and so I decided to make a collage about her. Before making my collage I did a little research on Audrey Hepburn and discovered that she was born during the time of Nazi Germany, but the most interesting fact I learned was that she at bulbs of Tulips to stay alive and so I decided to make the shape of my collage a tulip bulb.
For the draw fabric assignment I decided to draw a gown. I’ve always loved and been interested in fashion and so this was my favorite assignment in quarter 2. Before I started drawing I did some research on what draw fabrics looked like. I found a lot of images of what looked like to be drawing of a big sheet or clothing.
The picture I chose to edit is of my sister and I. I chose this photo because this is one of my favorite photos of my sister and I. This photo was originally taken in color.
I based my illustration off of a Shel Silverstein poem called: Early Bird. The first poetry book I had had this poem in it. It’s also where I learned the phrases: early bird get the worm. I decided to draw a picture of a bird because it’s the main subject of the poem.
My goal for this podcast was not sit down and get to know my great grandmother more and also receive some elderly knowledge. I think some of our youth could use some of this knowledge and use it throughout their life.
what went well with this podcast was my grandma responded to the questions I asked well and she also elaborated good too she made it somewhat easy to interview her . what was challenging about this podcast was I used my phone so I had to keep switching my phone from her mouth to mine and some times I would move the phone before she finished speaking and I got stuck in between questions so I would start stuttering too much.
Overall, I can honestly say I enjoyed working on this project. I learned a lot about my sister and her experiences, and also about different definitions of identity and belonging. The checkpoints were really helpful for me, although they were frustrating. The first interview I did with her was a failure, it related to identity but was not what I pictured my final product looking like. So, after I redid the interview I was very satisfied and looking forward to editing and showing her the final product. I really did like this project, though, simply because light was bought to my knowledge and I was definitely enlightened.
Throughout current culture in America, and arguably all over the world, communication is constantly evolving, and so are the mediums we all choose to express ourselves. Instead of walking up to each other and establishing a connection, or explaining to each other why we like the things we do, we just read it, maybe in the 140 characters of a tweet, or the 150 characters of an Instagram bio. The information we choose to post or the media we share with our followers is our definition of ourselves, ‘This is what you see, and that is how I want you to see me.’ In other cultures names or titles define who people are, what relationships they will have, and can convey storybooks worth of information, with just a few syllables. For the purposes of this paper the culture that will be examined is that of Bengali individuals and their lives portrayed when immigrating to America in the book, The Namesake written by Jhumpa Lahiri.
The main character, Nikhil Gangoli spends the entire book agonizing over his name, torn between his inherited Bengali culture, and his born to America lifestyle he spends all his time letting his name define him. He thinks people don’t take him seriously because of his name, originally Gogol, when he finds out, or rather as the reader you find out the only person not taking him seriously, or constantly doubting every move he makes, is himself.
“He is afraid to be Nikhil, someone he doesn't know. Who doesn't know him...It's a part of growing up, they tell him, of being a Bengali.” (Chapter 3 Paragraph 13) This quote taken from The Namesake is from Gogol’s early youth, when he gets renamed from his pet name, Gogol. Originally he is not fond of this name, because it is unfamiliar and uncomfortable for him to change what everyone calls him, his life title. So as a young boy, he chooses to stay Gogol, which later on he regrets, thinking his pet name is stupid, and changes it back to Nikhil. This back and forth struggle over, what people will call him, how people will view him, and the struggle of defining himself through a title that, at the end of the day doesn’t matter is the biggest theme of the book, and for many throughout their entire lives.
Through the way media has evolved, to include every part of our lives, people no longer know what it is to define one’s self, everyone simplifies and belittles what and who they are, to be interesting at a glance. This makes everything less meaningful, when people throughout the world should be able to just embrace their complexities. In a recent podcast titled, Finding the Self in Selfie (This American Life, 2015) a few teenage girls were talking about their experiences and familiarity with the rules of interacting on Instagram, and what it means to comment or double tap.
“Especially because we, like just started High school, so we’re meeting a lot of new people, so you would comment on someone’s photo who you’re not really super close with or that you don’t know really well, and it's sort of a statement, like, ‘I wanna be friends with you’ or ‘I wanna get to know you’ or like, ‘I think you’re cool’. If someone that you don’t know very well commented on your photo, it's sort of like an unspoken agreement that you have to comment back on their photo. Like when you’re making new friends, if they comment on your photo, you comment on their photo.”
Almost to say that the way to meet new people and force friendships is through your online persona, how you present, or even more to the point, sell yourself. Later in the interview the incoming freshman girls admit, that the way you present yourself online, is almost like you’re marketing yourself, like you are the product, manager, and the marketing team, trying to keep people interested and concerned with knowing about you and your life. Squeezing anything cool or notable about yourself into an Instagram bio, or caption, and sticking a filter on a group picture of your friends having “Tons of fun!” being the only thing keeping us, in this generation current. And beyond that, people making friends and even romantic partners or hookups in the private message sections, or DMs of Instagram.
“...I tell her, don't you hate when you get screenshot, Bitch that DM wasn't for everybody, I love tha gram I love tha gram, I'm addicted to it I know I am...” A piece of a very popular rap right now, brought to us by Yo Gotti, who may not be a credible source at first glance, but as a voice for the young of this generation, and the behavior now known as normal, very trustworthy. People being debased to a steady photostream on their phones. This is being highly studied all over the world, and the impact of the internet in general on the mass public has been scrutinized by many since the mid 90’s, but the most powerful words, come from an actress, a media personality, and someone you think would be completely uninvolved in public speaking, Thandie Newton, who in her thirteen minute TED Talk addressed embracing self, and otherness.
“We each have a self, but I don’t think that we’re born with one...The fundamental state of ‘oneness’ is lost on us very quickly...it’s no longer valid, or real...” This transition from having a fundamental sense of ‘oneness’ to being completely withdrawn from everything comes quickly, almost without warning. Unfortunately though, most young adults choose to isolate themselves into different internet profiles in an attempt to recreate that oneness through a self-constructed image that in truth can never fully capture their entire presence. That being said, this trend will likely never end, but the self imposed need to sell ourselves on our media will hopefully be less impending through the different voices pointing out this almost self destructive behavior.
Sources
Ghosts in the Machine, NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/27/magazine/ghosts-in-the-machine.html?_r=0
Quotes from The Namesake
http://www.shmoop.com/namesake/identity-quotes.html
Thandie Newton: Embracing otherness, embracing myself. (TED Talk)
https://www.ted.com/talks/thandie_newton_embracing_otherness_embracing_myself?language=en#t-560227
This American Life: Status Update
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/573/status-update
Yo Gotti, Down in the DM
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/yogotti/downinthedm.html