Critical Analysis of Devon Rinn's Piece

As I approached the bench between the Baressi and Cannon dorms, I saw a figure collapsed on the bench. Her head flopped backwards and her arms and legs were completely limp. As i came closer, I realized who this morbid character was. Here was Devon, in almost all black (except for her socks), sprawled across the bench looking very much "dead." I had not read her artist statement ahead of time but I knew right away what she was trying to portray. It was pretty obvious from the way she sat and how she had done her makeup.

I loved the lighting on her when we went to view her performance. The sun was very intense and made it seem as if she had died during the night and was just left on the bench for the morning. It made me wonder what her "cause of death" had been. I also couldn't help but stare at her. I almost hoped I would catch her move. I wondered if Garrett's cigarette smoke was going to bother her and show on her face when the wind blew it by her. But she really impressed me by how motionless she was, even her breathing was extremely shallow. I want to know if anyone approached the bench and worried that she really was dead. It would be interesting to see how many good samaritans there were that would call for help or see if she was ok.

The fact that Garrett was next to her smoking was a funny coincidence. It did seem to look like she had died from second hand smoke or that she was a look into the future as to what would happen to Garrett.

The one thing that did bother me about the piece was that she was fighting for attention between Garrett and Lauren's piece. It was kinda like she was squished in between them. I feel like her piece would have been much stronger if she was all alone.

First sound project

Automita

Final: The Coldness of Death

For my piece, I died.

Well, looked like I did. I put on my best funerary clothes, and painted my face, and slumped myself on that bench. I endured the cold and pain of my arms falling asleep. I also managed to keep a straight face while everyone came to see us. I was listening to them talking about me, and commenting on how I must have died from secondhand smoke from Garret Colbert. I wanted to be able to laugh with them, and be able to stick my hands in my pockets.

On the bench, I felt like such a party pooper for spring. All around me were birds tweeting, and buds growing on the tree, and here I was, dead.

Fear Project

I faced one of my fears for this final project. I have a strange irrational fear of bridges, so I faced it head-on by suspending myself on a wooden platform underneath a bridge. For three hours, I braved the height and the cold. I didn't speak to anyone or open my eyes except to occasionally take a photo of myself with my remote camera shutter.

There would be a slideshow of all the photos here, but since I've tried to upload it exactly 13 times, and all attempts have failed, I guess that tells me there won't be one. I guess I could try to upload all 77 photos I took here...but that would waste space.

Evaluation on Lauren Carli's Piece.

The piece of artwork I'm evaluated is of Lauren Carli's. When I fist came across her, I have to say, I had no idea it was her. I spend about 50 seconds looking at her, and wondering if this girl was ever even in our class. Lauren was dressed up as a black and green ballerina with all her joints attach to a giant marinate strings. The audience was invited to play with her, and move her arms or legs however they want.

The reason I didn't recognize Lauren was because I've never seen her wear makeup like that. Lauren is not someone I think "Ballerina" when I see her. She has more of a kick ass kind of attitude than that of delicate and graceful. I hear her bickering with Chip constantly, and it wasn't a surprise that Chip didn't pass the chance to play with her arms and make her act like a dinosaur. You could see in the expression of her face how annoyed she was, yet she was helpless.

I didn't read the the artist statement but I didn't have to. I could tell Lauren didn't like the idea of being helpless or having other control her and that she was playing this fear. Being dressed up as a ballerina I think sort of shows how society might view women. All dressed up and pretty, but anything she does is controlled by Chip. I think the whole performance was very creative. I do question the chair that was on the base of the tree. At first, I thought you were suppose to sit on the chair and then pull the strings, but where the chair is, it makes it awkward to pull the strings. Maybe this a symbol that a chair is right there, but Lauren can't reach it and she has to stand for three hours, never resting. I also think that it would have been better with out the artist statement, because the message Lauren is trying to get across is so clear, it doesn't need it.