What Face Are You?

In my second action project this term, the second unit, "Understanding the Five Faces," was all about learning the five faces of genius and who they apply to. We researched an assortment of famous people who displayed distinct features of each face. For example: Chance The Rapper is an Alchemist because he loves to mix different genres to create his music. I now look at people differently because of learning these faces, I like to just sit and observe and it has been a fun experience. This project was slightly easy because it’s mostly opinion-based, like how you can pick the famous people you want to review. It’s also really fun to analyze some of your favorite role models to see how they think.

There are five faces of genius. These five titles are given to certain types of people:

1. Seer: A Seer is someone who uses visualization in everyday life, like picturing things and visualizing the past and future. 
2. Observer: An Observer is someone who is trained to look at all the small details and then come to a conclusion from them. 
3. Alchemist: An Alchemist is someone who is normally inspired by something and likes to combine two things to create something, sometimes even more beautiful.
4. Fool: A Fool is someone who doesn't look at problems as serious or simple. They like to mix things up and are inspired by absurdity.
5. Sage: A Sage is someone who uses simplicity and history to think about things. 

Earlier in this course, I took a survey that helped me define who I am. I definitely agree with my five faces survey. My more dominant faces are based off absurdity, which should not be much of a surprise to those that know me in real life. For example: whenever a problem occurs, I usually say something ridiculous and my friends just ignore me. This happens a lot. This can very well classify me as a Fool. My second face is Alchemist, for example: I use my characteristics of absurdity to make up ideas, one of my ideas was mixing Pineapple Pop and Orange Juice to make a Pineapple Orange Pop which is delicious by the way. My least dominant face, that I scored 0% in is the Seer face. I'm not really surprised since I am always denying my ability to be visual and also because visualizing things isn't the first thing I look to when in a situation.

I interviewed TC, a student from my school. I asked him a question that I found interesting. As all my questions were yes/no, I felt like this was one of my more dominant questions that identify Sage: Do you find simplicity as a benefit to society? He answered yes to this question, which definitely could classify him as a Sage. Also TC answered all my Seer questions yes, identifying him as a Seer.

“Do you find simplicity as a benefit to society?”
"Yes"

Me And TC. Interview, December 10. 

Adora Svitak is a 12 year old that believes adults should embrace “childish” beliefs and that adults should be more willing to learn from kids. She shows signs of Fool and Sage. She uses absurdity because kids don’t teach adults and this is quite crazy because it elaborates on the fact that she is one of the more educated children in the world. She also uses Sage techniques because of the simplicity of her thinking, it may sound crazy, but how simple would it be to just reverse the roles of teachers and students.

I love the quote below because it's stated in a sarcastic way and it makes me smile because I can definitely relate to being called childish:

"Every time we make irrational demands, exhibit irresponsible behavior or display any other signs of being normal American citizens, we are called childish."

"Adora Svitak"  Wiki. Web, December 13th. 

Chancellor Bennett, also known as Chance The Rapper is one of the most inspirational people to me. He displays characteristics of a Fool and Alchemist, as do I. He likes to make music using different genres like jazz and R&B. Also if you really follow Chancellor, he displays Fool techniques in plenty of his personality. He loves to have fun and make people smile and laugh, and he is definitely absurd because if you know anything about him, he is always making statements that are rather peculiar and unreasonable in his music and in his personal life. Maybe this is why I follow him, we think alike!

I love the quote below because it defines how I think about the world. The man who created the iPhone is no different than the man who created Peanut Butter, “we just people with ideas” 

“In the real world, we just people with ideas.”

"Chance The Rapper" Wiki. Web, December 13th. 

These are some ways I can implement the five faces in making my service project effective: For Seer I could make it look nice and presentable, I could also use Seer techniques to envision my own success and make my goal easier to reach because of my confidence in succeeding. For Observer I could make sure everything is in the right spot and things come together nicely. Also for Observer, I could use small details in my art to create a better experience for my local Chicago people. For Alchemist I could mix things up and create things using two ideas, such as: using quotes from real celebrities that people look up to or follow and making their quotes useful to my cause. This combines press and art, or trends and art. For Fool I could use absurd thinking to create problem-solving by maybe implementing abstraction to my art. I feel like abstract art can make a very nice contribution to my piece by attracting more attention. For Sage I could keep it simple, understandable, and relatable. As far as these three aspects go, I think they make things feel real for the viewer. I feel like making things simple and relatable, it will make the viewer understand me more. It will feel like I'm there in person presenting it to them. I was thinking about raising awareness for resource distribution problems by leaving a mural or some art in a public park somewhere because I feel like we have the food and resources to feed millions but these things are being wasted because we aren't sending them to the right places! I could also make stickers that say Don’t Shoot to contribute to that cause because I am growing really interested in that campaign. Or maybe even put "Don’t Shoot" on napkins around the Chicago area! The "Don't Shoot, I Want To Grow Up" campaign is something related to the violence and shootings in Chicago, and I want to join the cause. 

"Hands Up Don't Shoot" Flickr. cactusbones. Web, December 17th. 

References:

"Top 10 Dopest Lines" Vibe. Web, December 13th.
“Adora Svitak” AS. Web, December 13th.

Becca and Deshawn's Review on Fruitvale Station!!

In this term, the second unit, "Production," made me and my peers understand what it takes to create a presentable screening of a movie or play. We discussed actor's performance, lighting, camera angles, and what the producer envisions. Throughout this unit, I have broken down the actual excellence of actors and how good they are. I now have a better understanding of how to analyze the performance of some of my favorite actors and see how excellent they actually are. I didn't have that much of a hard time putting together this assignment, it was really fun and the film was excellent. Check out my video review of Fruitvale Station below!

Movie Review on "Beasts of The Southern Wild"

In this term, the first unit, "Pre-Production," allowed me and my peers to dive deep into what it takes to create a film. We watched several movies and discussed their costume designers’ and set designers’ inspiration. We came to the conclusion that movies aren't just a story, it also includes the setting and costumes. This unit made me respect the art of making the movie more. Even though, I hate when some of my favorite movies are called "bad" and "stupid" by critics, I have created my own Movie Review for the film, "Beasts of The Southern Wild."

Tribex. "Beasts of The Southern Wild." (2013)

"Beasts of The Southern Wild" is a film released in 2012. "Beasts of The Southern Wild" is a critically acclaimed movie that took the risk of hiring a 5 year-old girl as the lead. This film is about a little girl who is one with her homeland. She said in the film, "when it all goes quiet behind my eyes, I see everything that made me flying around in invisible pieces. I see that I'm a little piece of a big, big universe." This quote summarizes her as a character because her curiosity about the world drives her as a character throughout the film. She tries to interpret her own definition of life by going on a journey to become a man. Her father believes he should teach Hushpuppy to be a man because that’s the only way she can take his place and survive. This excellent drama-filled movie was created & produced by a man named Benh Zeitlin. The setting of the story was inspired by an assortment of different isolated fishing communities under attack by erosion, hurricanes, and rising sea levels. It is a tribute to places with such environments, specifically in Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana. The inspiration of the screenplay was the one-act play, "Juicy and Delicious" from Alibar. Based on real-life inspiration for the film, it is no surprise that the content of the story had to be so strong.

“Beasts of the Southern Wild” takes place in a bayou town in Louisiana, named “Bathtub”. It was filmed at a location in a Terrebonne Parish town in Montegut, Louisiana. The set design was effective in making the film more powerful and meaningful. The town appeared messy and unorganized which was a consistent tone for the entire film. The protagonist of the film, Hushpuppy (Quvenzhane Wallis) is a six year-old girl who is struggling to survive with her dad, Wink (name the actor) in their small community, the Bathtub. Hushpuppy dressed in a ragged white tank-top, ill-fitted jeans, and white tube socks throughout the entire movie shows that she has more important things to worry about than her appearance. However, there is a little flower on her shirt that gives her a sense of femininity despite her father’s persuasion for her to be a “man”. Young Hushpuppy(Quvenzhane Wallis) and her father Wink(Dwight Henry) are struggling to survive in their small community where they live off farmland and fish. Hushpuppy's intelligent mind seems to get her in trouble multiple times throughout the story. She questions how her existence affects the world as she goes on with her life. Her father has different plans for her. He believes that everyone should be a man. Wink gets really sick and refrains from telling Hushpuppy this. Hushpuppy realizes this and starts to remember that she was the one that initially caused the heart failure. She got so mad at her father that one day she hit his chest with force, using both hands and said, "I hope you die and after you die I'll go to your grave and eat birthday cake all by myself." After this incident, Wink got sicker and sicker to the point where they were abducted by the outside people and he couldn't support himself anymore so he wasn't under care of others. After the two escape the outside place, they try to subsist off nothing in the place they once called home. The rest of the story is Hushpuppy trying to make her dad proud one last time by going on a journey to bring him food from a woman who is supposed to be her mother.

The protagonist is in fact, Hushpuppy (Quvenzhane Wallis), the real actor playing the part of Hushpuppy. Quvenzhane is eleven now, but at the time they started filming she was only five years old. The antagonist could be a lot of things, but in my case, I'm going to pick nature. I feel as if nature made everything complex. If nature hadn't caused all these catastrophes, then there wouldn't have been as much stuff going on. It may have even saved Wink's life. Maybe the plot of events is what killed Wink. There was a lot going on.

The setting played an amazing part in making the film more powerful and meaningful. The movie was filmed in Terrebonne Parish town, Montegut. The producer, Court 13 made good use of props in making the land a lot more messy and unorganized. He did a good job because it made me feel as if this film was real, because I can relate. My room is dirty and Hushpuppy's land is her room so we are alike in some cases. I also feel as if the setting and clothes are both equally amazingly presented. The clothes worn in the film are amazing for the plot and fit the characters very well. Clothes describe the people's personalities. Hushpuppy has a flower shirt on showing her feminine side but she also doesn't quite care about her appearance in the movie, so she isn't afraid to get dirty.

Director Benh Zeitlin has not been working on anything new as far as my sources go but I believe this film is a definite MUST-SEE. I give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars! Very famous movie critics like Roger Ebert gave this movie 4 out of 5 stars. I really believe that this is an amazing film to share with others that are interested in evolution, adventure, love, and curiosity. This film allowed me to feel a lot of empathy for the characters, as if it was based on a true story! Go watch it now!

"Beasts of The Southern Wild" has earned a number of awards including:

• Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival
• Seattle International Film Festival's Golden Space Needle Award for Best Director
• Sutherland Trophy for Most Innovative Debut
• Nomination for Four Oscars, in the categories of Best Picture, Best Director (Benh Zeitlin), Best Actress (Quvenzhané Wallis), and Adapted Screenplay (Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin)

References:
"Beasts of The Southern Wild Movie Quotes," Movie and TV Quotes. Web, November 16th.
"Hushpuppy & Director," FlicksAndTheCity. Web, November 16th.
"Hushpuppy & Wink," HitFix. Web, November 16th.
"Beasts of The Southern Wild," bbfc. Web, November 16th.
"Quvenzhane. A small force of nature," Rogert Ebert. Web, November 16th.
"Beasts of The Southern Wild Info," Wiki. Web, November 18th. 

If Only We Could Define Creativity: Chance The Rapper

In my first action project this term, the first unit, "Life Genius," helped us define what being a creative genius means. We looked at multiple people around the world that were seen as creative geniuses and we even picked our own. This project opened my eyes because I now know creativity is everywhere. Life itself had to be created and many fail to realize this. I found little difficulty completing this project because it's more opinionated. I had a fun time speaking my mind, though!

By personal experiences, I have observed Kanye West, Chance The Rapper, and Eminem create their own styles of music through different inspirations and genres. Some geniuses create things, like how Jonathan Ive created the design of the iPhone. So wouldn’t creating your own style potentially classify you as a genius?

After doing some research, I have learned that Kobe Bryant, Dr. Seuss, and Jerry Lewis all grew up in high middle-class or upper class families. They start off in a pre-made background so they have the resources and connections to do what they want to do easily.

The last pattern I found was that Eminem, Chance The Rapper, and Kanye West also had a hard time getting their careers off to a good start. Since they were so passionate about music, the coming up part was a piece of cake for these three because they kept on grinding and ended up being REALLY famous.

Dan Hyman. "Chance The Rapper." (2014)

Chancellor Bennett (Chance The Rapper) is a Chicago rapper from the South side. He grew up as an average kid with a mother, father, and 3 year younger brother, Taylor Bennett. At the age of 9 or 10, his significant other, Ramie Bonds’ mother got him “College Dropout” for his birthday, the Uncensored version, which later was confiscated by his mother because it was too “dirty.” Later it was returned to Chance as the clean version. This was the first album Chance ever listened to, so Kanye West was Chance’s first inspiration. Years later, attending Jones College Prep, at the age of 18, he released his first Mixtape, “10 day.” This mixtape was inspired by a ten day suspension he received from smoking marijuana outside his school. Not too long after that, Chance released his more popular album, “Acid Rap” in 2013. Following his “Acid Rap” album, his younger brother released his own album called, “Mainstream Music.” As his younger brother gained some recognition for his music, he was arrested for the assault of a college student at a party. Chance the Rapper is currently working on a new project called "The Social Experiment." I think Chance is someone to learn from. He came from less than I did, now he’s sitting on millions, doing what he loves to do. The message is clear: stay dedicated and inspired, and good things will happen. He continues to tour the world and live out his dreams of being a big star, reppin’ his city.

I think Chance brings a lot to the table in terms of uniqueness, variety, humor, flow, talent, and a raspy voice. Chance excels in the music industry with these traits & attributes. In the past, Chance has struggled to catch the eye of someone of any importance. This hurt his chances of having a fast start to his career. Even now that Chance has the fame and the money, many people still continue to say he's "weird" and "not good enough." Chance's music is directed towards certain groups of people. He isn't a drill rapper like a Chief Keef or an R&B Singer like a Jeremih or Chris Brown, but he uses all genres of music to create his own genre that is less appreciated in the industry by those who are used to more "mainstream" tunes. As he did in the past, Chance continues to make the music he likes to play for his fans as he blocks out all the hatred. 

"I think creativity is something that lives in the heart of a person, it can’t have any true definition. It’s just what’s inside of you, how you see the world," said by SJ in my interview with her. Her definition is very relevant to mine because I believe creativity can't be defined as well.

I believe I show three very positive traits: Determination, Skill, and Intelligence. Determination and creativity are two things that could potentially drive each other. For instance, you could be determined to do something creative. You can be determined to do anything. Skills usually define what you might be creative at. If you are skilled in basketball, then maybe a crazy shot or different way of scoring might be interesting or creative to you. Intelligence is the key to creativity. Intelligence means expanding your range to thinking outside the box. 

Sometimes I fail and then don’t learn from it because I am not very crafty with a lot of things. I am determined to work through things and find ways to bypass my problems. The world lacks the knowledge of Resource Distribution. We have the resources but, they are not going to the right places. If I am determined enough, I could definitely help the world, or at least raise awareness of the bad world distribution of resources.

References:
"Nardwuar vs. Chance The Rapper," iamOTHER. Web, November 16th.
"Chance The Rapper," Chancellor Bennett. Web, November 16th.
"Chance Facts," Craig McCutcheon. Web, November 16th.
"Chance The Rapper: Acid Rap," Evan Rytlewski. Web, November 16th.
SJ. Interview Over Phone. November 9th. 

Bon Appétit! Or Not? - Future Global Hunger

In my third and final action project this term, for the third unit, "IF/THEN," we looked at the world population and what problems could emerge from overpopulation. Population is more than a number. It changes every second. Someone dies or is born every second of the day, and I have failed to realize this. This project focuses more on the downside to high populations. It is actually interesting to see how different people think there is going to be problems with high populations and some think the same thing, but for different reasons. 

My class and I calculated the World Population in 2050. We used geometric sequences and the current world population to determine the world population in 36 years. Our work is shown below:

AMK. World Population, 2050. (2014)

For our project, we wrote a script to inform other teenagers about the problems associated with 

population growth. The script is for an animated cartoon that will be put on social media sites.


[Dillan and Savannah sit outside on a picnic blanket, talking about life]


Dillan: I’ve been waiting for this moment for a while Vannah, haha.


Savannah: Haha, all you had to do was ask! This is really nice by the way.


Dillan: Thanks, it didn’t take too long, just made some sandwiches and stuff. It was actually kind of fun, since I was excited you finally said yes…


S: But Dillan… this is the first time you asked.


D: ...but anyways I used so many different recipes, trying to get all this food made correctly. My garbage had a bad stench because of all the food that was in there!


S: But Dillan you know there’s millions of people around the world that are starving because they can’t afford food to feed themselves and their family.


D: ...Vannah, that’s silly, we both know that people are hungry because the population is increasing and food is becoming scarce because we can’t produce enough!


S: No, hunger, poverty, and food prices are linked. Almost all hungry people are poor.


D: ..well--


S: Millions live with hunger because they simply cannot afford nutritious food.


D: ..I see, but--


S: And also the world produces 17% more food per person today than 30 years ago. But almost a billion people go to sleep hungry every night!


D: ..Vann--


S: Plus we already grow enough food for 10 billion people. And our world population is 7 billion. Now what did you have to say? 

D: Nothing anymore. Wow, Vannah I wasn't aware!

S: Yea, there's a lot of things we may not be aware of.

D: So you want to just go grab some food from the garbage? 

S: I never said that! Haha

What Would Life Be Without Super Heroes?

In my third and last action project this term, the third unit, "Journeys," showed us the stages of the Hero's Journey. The stages we focused on for this project are: The Call, Mentor, The Unknown, Trials, Infinite Despair, Rebirth, Atonement, and The Return. This project was actually really cool because you could see some of your favorite characters from a different point of view. Instead of just seeing them save the day, you respect the journey that got them to that point. This unit was amazing and surprising to me. I didn't know this course would change the way I look at story-lines so much.

I chose Yoda to analyze, from the Star Wars: Clone Wars animated television series for my fictional character. I chose Yoda because he is one of my favorite characters EVER. I like the way he fights people, making them face themselves; he rarely attacks. He just uses the force and the bad energy of the dark side to fight. He uses his opponents’ anger to pierce their armor, metaphorically. I chose my auntie, Ms. Jones’ for my real life hero because growing up as a kid, being in the army was the coolest thing there was. She is an active member in the Army and she continues to inspire me everyday. She also stays really involved in my life. Why not share the love? I feel my heroes,although seemingly quite different, could actually relate. Both of my heroes have been through similar types of experiences--not exactly the same things, but the same idea. They received an invitation to start their journeys, they opened that invitation and faced many problems, and then they overcame those problems to get to where they are now.

Below is an original image of my analysis, or what I like to call the "The Circle of Action." This circle represents Yoda on his hero’s journey to find the hidden secrets of the Force. My analysis of both heroes follows Joseph Campbell's theory of the monomyth:

DNR. Circle of Action. (2014)

DR: Hello how you doing, for this recording can you please tell the people what you do? Your Occupation?

Ms. Jones: I’m currently in the military I’ve been in the military for 12 years now. I’m active duty, rank of a Sergeant first class.

1.) The Call-
DR: What motivates you to keep doing what you’re doing?

Ms. Jones: The things that motivate me to keep doing what I’m doing is the fact that I’m able to assist others and their families to give them resources in which will help them in their time of need. It’s just basically giving soldiers options or helping them when they don’t know certain things. So being a viable resource to others motivates me to keep doing this.


2.) Mentor-
DR: Who was physically there helping/pushing you forward to accomplish what you wanted to?

Ms. Jones: I would say The person that motivated me to push forward during my basic training would probably be my auntie Stephanie who is currently deceased but at times when I did wanna give up and I’ll call home, she’ll tell me to stay strong and I can make it through it. It’s only a transition, you worked very hard to get there, you can push through it. So she believed in me which in turns made me believe that I can accomplish it.


3.) The Unknown/Crossing the Threshold-
DR: How was the transition into your line of work? How was it different than before?

Ms. Jones: I joined the military right when I got out of high school So I went from high school into the military so basically being able to do whatever I wanted to do as a teen to a structured environment where I had people basically yelling and screaming at me telling me what I needed to do. So I had to make a choice basically of what I wanted to do. It’ll be easier to just listen so at some point I had to put my pride in my back pocket and just follow directions and it made it a very easier transition. So I went from a non-structured environment to a structured environment. So it was a pretty hard transition for me.


4.) Trials/Tests/Allies/Enemies-
DR: Along your way, did you know anyone that was going through the same thing as you?

Ms. Jones: Actually I Joined with two other friends, so it was three of us so we all faced the same challenges right out of high school.


5.) Abyss/Infinite Despair-
DR: What would be the greatest challenge you would have to face during your career?

Ms. Jones: Being that now I am a parent. My greatest challenge would probably be having to leave my 3 years old daughter if I’m required to take a tour overseas. That would probably be my greatest challenge being that I’m a single parent.


6.) Rebirth/Reward & Road Back-
DR: How could you overcome that challenge?

Ms. Jones: I think the only way that I would be able to overcome is to have faith and know that my family would take care of my daughter if I’m forced to have to take another tour.


7.) Atonement-
DR: How has your career ultimately affected you?

Ms. Jones: My career has changed me as a person, it has changed my attitude, it has made me humble. It has made me caring, a more caring individual about others and their needs. And I believe it just made me a better person from what I was 12 years ago.


8.) The Return-
DR: How have you used your new knowledge to encourage others?

Ms. Jones: I use my knowledge to encourage others because I tell them what their possibilities are. To be optimistic about what they're facing and the challenges that come before them. I like to ensure that they build resilience within themselves and allow them to look at the situation, or look at their life from a different angle.


DR: Thank you again for answering these questions for me. Thank you!

References:

"Star Wars: Clone Wars, Season 6: Episode 12: Destiny" 

Harlie, The Omega Adaptor

In my second action project this year, the second unit, "FROM/TO," discovered what it takes to survive in not so friendly environments. Population's class is becoming clear as we roll through our second Action Project. My animal is such a beautiful organism. This assignment was quite interesting because we got to study Mars. The climate of Mars was a bit hard to research because of its complex environment; I didn't think any animal was fit to survive there. I chose this animal to live on Mars and you will learn a bit more on why below:

Since my animal will be living with humans, we will assume that my animal is provided things like water, food, and oxygen. I chose the Husky breed of dog.

PAWS. "Harlie," (2014) Web. fox.com 

My Collected Data (Age In Years): 1,1,1,1,1,2,2,2,4,4,4,5,5,5,6

DNR. Box and Whisker Plot. (2014) 

I chose my Husky off of Paws. Her name is Harlie and she has a sister that she is tied to, mentally.

The standard deviation for this sample was 1.83 with a group with an average of 2.93. This means there's a decent difference in the age of each of these animals. There was no distinct outlier in my data. Although, there was one number that came up only once, which was 6. Harlie is 5 years old, which is 1.13 standard deviations above the average of 2.93.

The Two Ants and The Magnifying Glass

In my second action project this year, the second unit, "Lessons," provided us information on how to create the perfect fable. We discussed the structure of dialogue and how to use sensory language. My fable was really fun to write. I love writing stories, especially those with a moral. The visuals I created were supposed to look like a merged photo and I did a pretty nice job transitioning to the next photo. This unit was right up my alley because of my love for story making.

DNR. Magnifying Glass. (2014)  

DNR. Ants. (2014)

The Myth of Cloudashe

In my very first action project this year, the first unit, "Creations," talked about how things came to be through stories. We discussed how etiologies are stories that explain the world. The name of the class is also called, "Stories," and it's ironic since, that's all we talk about. My story was well thought-out and really fun to write. Creating the visual was not easy. I had problems representing the story as a visual and coming up with the story itself. This unit was full of interesting and surprising myths and stories that I enjoyed reading.

DNR. Cloudashe. (2014)

Once upon a time, there was a goddess named, Cloudia. She was the nicest of all the gods. The gods feared Cloudia as a vulnerability to the gods, like a weakness. Cloudia didn't have parents. She was born from the sky. No god, not even the prophecy, had an explanation on why she fell from the sky. It was believed that mother nature sneezed or dropped one tear and Cloudia was created. Others just said that she was a blessing from the heavens. Either way, Cloudia was worshiped throughout all of Greece for her kindnes.

One day, a man named Aeos, was so hot that he couldn't bear working outside. He had to work really hard for his family, as he was a peasant. He was one of Cloudia's favorite. The day was extremely hot. Hot like summertime in Grandma's oven. Over 102 degrees°, clouds weren't discovered, no wind, Aeos sat down one day during work and got severely punished. He was whipped until he couldn't yell anymore. His family was forced to watch. After his punishment, he contemplated giving his life to Cloudia, he told him, "young child, your offering is a pleasure, but I will not accept your body because you have not yet finished your path and I do not want to interfere with the prophecy."

Cloudia was in fact, so pleased with Aeos' request that she pondered ways to repay him. After awhile of thinking, Cloudia granted Aeos one lightly covered cloud. At first, she had no idea what to name this creation. This blessing from Cloudia was more than convenient, it was something that Aeos had to share with a lot of his friends. A couple of days passed and Aeos went around bragging about how his family was nice and cozy under his very own cloud. Everyone questioned what a cloud was and how they could get one. Once Aeos told them the story of how Cloudia gave him the cloud because of his worship to her, they were enraged. They thought the god was being very selfish because they also had to suffer the harsh heat. The people of Greece complained for days. Cloudia had to take action. Those were her people and she was their Goddess.

Not too long after Aeos revealed his secret cloud to his people, Cloudia gathered enough energy to create a full sky of clouds. Everyone, all over Greece were ecstatic about the warm weather. So happy in fact, it attracted the attention of Hera, the meanest of all the gods. She feeds off fear and sadness, it makes her happy, she is the devil.

When Hera heard of this catastrophe, she immediately looked to punish Cloudia for her kindness. It took Hera quite a while to come up with the appropriate punishment for Cloudia. She thought and thought, and she came up with something brilliant, evil but brilliant. "Since you like clouds so much, you will now become one and be banished off my planet to your very own," Hera said while laughing obnoxiously.

And so it was done. Cloudia was summoned to a new planet as her own creation.

This other planet was not the same. It had clouds, a lot of them. It was almost as if all the planet was just full of clouds. It was. Clouds surrounded the whole planet like it replaced the sky itself. The whole planet had not but one animal. There was a large abundance of sheep. Beside the animal, Cloudia did not come alone. Hera was not yet finished. She saw out all the people in Greece that worshiped Cloudia. She sent them all to this planet, including Aeos.

Life on this planet was not easy, but was functional. They created their homes and tools from the rock, founded all around the planet. The weather was always chilly, but Cloudia still watched over them as a cloud. She tried her best to create moderate weather for her people, but the planet would not give in.

This planet was their new home. They had to adapt. Cloudia kept peace and harmony within the planet. She continued to be nice, since she was aloud to speak to everyone, just in cloud form. They lived awkwardly, happily ever after. 

My Tarsier

In my very first action project this year, the first unit, "IN/OUT," we discussed the taxonomy of some animals and organisms as a whole. The name of the class is also called, "Population," and it isn't exactly clear how our discussions relate to populations but, it becomes more and more clear as we progress through the course. I had an interesting time researching my crazy looking animal. The math for this course is quite difficult but I'm not bad at math so it comes naturally as easy. This unit was full of fun and exotic creatures and I enjoyed learning about the Tarsier.

DNR. My Tarsier. (2014) 

                     

DNR. Organism Venn Diagram. (2014)

Taxonomic Level	My organism’s group	Key characteristics of group
Kingdom	Animalia	Has more than one cell. Eats things.
Phylum	Chordata	Has a visible backbone. The spinal cord is housed within its backbone.
Class	Mammalia	The possession of hair, three middle ear bones, mammary glands (organ that allows females to feed milk to offspring), and a neocortex (a region of the brain).
Order	Primates	Lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment. Most primate species remain at least partly arboreal.
Family	Tarsiidae	Tarsiers are mainly seen alone.
Genus	Tarsius	Several bones of the heel (tarsals) are longer than those of any of the primates.
Species	T. tarsier	Lacks adhesive toes.

Below is some elements of my organism, that I observed as interesting, stated in Set Notation:

DNR. Set Notation Evaluation. (2014) 

Book Cover Abolitionists

In the third unit of my summer class, "P'art of History," we talked about revolution in Chicago. The third unit that we have been working on is called, "Revolt." In this unit, we learned about how the people of Chicago have revolted in the past. This whole project was actually quite fun, I found minimal amount of difficulty. I decided to focus my project on discrimination as a whole. I chose the main subjects that come to mind when I think of discrimination and inequality.

"Book Cover Abolitionist Visual" (By DR) Jul 28, 2014. 

By DR
Title: Book Covers Abolitionist
Medium: Linocut/ Plaster
Size: 6x6 inches
Date: July, 2014


Discrimination is huge EVERYWHERE. Only thing I could think of in a broad point-of-view.
The oppressed people that I will be discussing are the gays, women, African Americans. The oppressors I will be talking about; Catholics, men/media/government, the people. The oppressed that I will be talking about were stripped of their rights to be expressive, to be discriminated against because they are black, and to be equal.

My poem is read below:

This is the year that wages & salaries are paid by ability and not by gender,
where WNBA players get paid even a third of what NBA players make,
where a salary of 72 thousand is not equal to a salary of 5.15 million,
where playing in the NBA is only a side job,
where one player from the WNBA gets paid more than 100 players from the NBA

This is the year,
a time where the woman comes home from work to a clean house and nice dinner ready to be served,
where the woman is recognized as someone with a goal instead of someone on a pole,
a time where people will see a feminine figure screaming “Yes We Can” at the inauguration.

This is the year that we see gays and Catholics together in harmony because they have simply realized that we are all human,
a time where people aren’t breaking the law just because they fell in love.

This is the year when activist, Bobby Seale of the Chicago 8 who was discriminated against his race, locks up Judge Hoffman (discriminator) for knowing his own rights.

This is the year that black men and women will work hard and not be held back because they can’t afford to go to college,
where the emancipation proclamation is actually realized,
where discrimination is abolished along with slavery.

This is the year that people look past clothing, beauty and style to see education, potential, and uniqueness.

If the Emancipation Proclamation began
with the vision of equal rights amongst blacks and whites
then this is the year;
If the legalization of the civil unions began
with the vision of people in love coming together
then this is the year;
If Women’s Lib began with the vision
that the glass ceiling would be shattered
then this is the year.

So may every person that is discriminated against
be able to live on
and be free.

This is the year that discrimination is abolished.
______________________________________________________________________

My image represents the saying, “don’t judge a book by its cover.” Instead of saying the term, I instead, open the book and say, “you have to open it first.” My poem is based on discrimination so I thought about how people assume women aren't strong enough, or black people aren't smart, or people who don’t have the new Jordans aren't cool. So basically the message that my visual tries to get across is to stop assuming things about people who are “different,” because at the end of the day we are all human. A propaganda poster is a visual that is fighting for something that someone believes in. Some elements of propaganda posters are a clear message, symbol of power, and simple. I used elements of Propaganda Posters by incorporating a clear message in my art piece.

I created this art piece by, sketching my image, then flipping my Image onto Soft Cut Linoleum, then transferring the drawing onto the lino by rubbing, then start carving the lino, then build the clay walls around the carving, then pour plaster onto carving, then paint carvings, lastly I installed the visuals.

Práva Homosexuálů

In the second unit of my summer class, "P'art of History," we talked about rebuilding our Chicago. The second unit that we have been working on is called, "Rebuild." In this unit, we learned about how Chicago has came back from many crisis' in the past. It was really difficult to find an event where Chicago has showed weakness or resilience. I decided to focus my project on Gay Rights. Creating the drawing and carving was even more difficult this time. This project took plenty of time and required very hard research to complete.

"The Práva Homosexuálů Visual" (By DR) Jul 16, 2014. 

By DR

Title: (of your piece) Práva Homosexuálů (Gay Rights)

Medium: (used to create the piece) Linocut/ Clay
Size: (of the piece) 6x6 inches
Date: (Month/Year of completion) July, 2014

The purpose of my art piece is to represent the equality issues in Chicago.

The problem I am addressing is inequality regarding gay rights.

Word has spread that god doesn't believe in homosexual people. The bible says that god put us all on this Earth to reproduce and the only way to do so, is to be involved with someone of the opposite sex. This has lead to political and environmental chaos between gay people and religious people. This has also lead to people all around the world using the term, "gay" and "fag" loosely. I don't really know what the fight is for, god loves all his children.

Based on my Chicago experiences, there are still people here that are completely against gay people, aside from this setback, same-sex marriage was recognized by the U.S. state of Illinois by means of a law signed on November 20, 2013 by Governor Pat Quinn that took effect on June 1, 2014. Despite any resilience Chicago has shown for gay rights, till this day, the government still looks at gay people as second-class citizens. Life isn't only discriminatory but, it can also be expensive for gay people.

All the protests finally got to the government of Illinois. The idea of inequality was supposed be abolished on December 6, 1865, when slavery was outlawed. Is that not true? In doing the signing of same-sex marriage, it allowed the real freedom of our people. When people say "gay rights," it enrages me, because I think they mean "human rights." To say someone can't marry the one they love, they might as well outlaw opposite sex marriage too. Same thing right?

Chicago had their first homosexual rights organization in 1924 and now we have a same-sex marriage law enforced that was finalized by June 1st of 2014. 


Many people have recognized the significance of this subject, such as famous rappers, "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis"



My art piece represents baby mortality. The idea of humans being put on this Earth to reproduce. I drew a picture of a baby with skull eyes to represent the population depletion of infants. The idea I had for this visual was to show what religious people see as result for people being gay. It means if people are gay then they can't reproduce which means extinction of some kind.

There is a style of art called Art Deco and it is used often to describe art in patterns using clean, straight lines. I think the pattern of the skull eyes and the pattern of the face serve as Art Deco because of the clean lines making straight patterns along the face represented as facial features.

Before anything I had to create the circle which represented the face of the baby, the hardest part. Along the face, came the ears and the hair. Then when I was finished, there was a lot more left. I had to create the mouth and eyes. The mouth was quite difficult trying to center it and make it look decent.The eyes were one of the more impossible tasks. For the eyes, instead of eyeballs, I replaced them with skulls which was hard because I still had to carve the rather, small skulls inside the eyes. After I got through with the more difficult work, I just started adding texture the face and made it stand out more. My results are showed at the top of this blog post. 

The Claim of Sanity

In the first unit of my summer class, "P'art of History," we discussed the history of Chicago and who laid claim to our Chicago. The first unit that we have been working on is called, "Reclaim." In this unit, we learned about the history of Chicago. I put a lot of thought into my piece and I believe I have a wonderful message that I'm trying to get across. Creating the drawing and carving was not easy. In order to create my piece, I had to exit my comfort zone of drawing and create clean, straight lines while focusing on the drawing itself.

"The Claim of Sanity Visual" (By TC) Jul 2, 2014. 

By DR
Title: The Claim of Sanity
Medium/Material: Linocut (Soft cut Linoleum, Carving Tools)
Size: 6x6 inches
Date: July, 2014

“The Claim of Sanity” 

Want to know who claims my Chicago?

The CPD

The Gangs

But not even the government

Because the government isn’t full of ruthless people,

if Chicago was claimed by the government,

there would be no homicide.

People wouldn’t complain about how their children starving

or not getting the right education

The people we call our “protectors” and “leaders”

are sitting on stacks of money so high,

they can see the hope we are so desperate to catch out of the sky

got old men on Stony Island sellin’ bean pies.

But yet we embrace Chicago like we satisfied

We live off, under 10% of the money that others make but we’re satisfied

well I'm not.

it’s funny how we all have conditions to live under

how we can work in hotels that we can’t afford

how most people say Chicago is “sane” but I’ve never seen these people in my neighborhood.

three of my cousins just got murdered in my neck of the woods,

where were you?

Already in 2014, 108 people have been murdered

How much time will go by,

until we tell another brave soul goodbye.

Insanity claims Chicago,

Meanwhile, Chicago claims sanity and that’s nothing but an illusion.

---

I was asked, "How Do You Visualize Your Chicago?" My answer was kind of long. 

I started thinking about something that is widely regarded as representation of my “beautiful” city. The first thing that came to mind was the skyline. Then I began to think about who really has the power in the Chi. The first thing to pop up in my mind was violence; The CPD and the Gangs. I’m starting to think the police kill more than the gangs do. So I tried to complete a six point star in the middle of the skyline to represent the police and I thought a gun inside the star would be just the right touch.

I honestly believe people are the same. Remorseless, Ruthless, Nonchalant, and Stupid. I think that just as people were trying to be greedy back then and just because they could, they would kill for reputation and land, it’s the same exact thing now. In 1763, “The French and Indian War,” was regarded as a time where the British took loads of land from the French, simply because they had the power to.

My art piece is the Chicago Skyline, representing how people think of Chicago as the best city and “beautiful,” but look past the fact that Chicago is ruled by death and violence. I will use the carving I created in the picture above to make a plaster sculpture.

I showed many Neoclassical qualities such as the badge in the middle of the drawing, meaning a supposedly “heroic” figure. Also there seems to be clean lines and it is pretty simple.

TGIGMF (Thank God It's Genetically Modified Food) - Pro GMO

The unit in the Food class, revolves around the genetic evolution of our food. This unit goes deep within the genetic makeup of organisms. This action project, we were asked to take on the position of either pro GMO or anti GMO, talking about the pros and cons of genetically modifying our foods. I chose to be pro GMO because, how could we be against GMOs when 75% of our foods are GM, getting rid of GMOs may mean sacrificing some of our favorite foods. How do you think apples taste different? Are we really prepared for this HUGE change in our lifestyle? I spent countless amounts of hours researching my case. I had a fun time preparing arguments and debating with my classmates on the topic.



What did you have for lunch today? I bet you had something that was modified to your liking. You’re anti GMO but you eat it everyday? About 75% of our foods are GM. To say you're against it, isn't so smart. Seems to be a bit of contradiction on your side. You have to be reasonable. Salmon, Tomatoes, Potatoes, Corn; all amongst the top 10 most modified foods. I see people eat fries everyday, everybody on the anti GMO side has ate a potato before! I wouldn't be surprised if they had them today. Also tomatoes! Who doesn't like pasta! It’s plenty of peoples favorite food. So what you're trying to do is, take away some of our favorite foods because they're changed to taste better and last longer? That sounds so smart! Lets all go get some pizza and wedges! A woman on the opposing side named AMK’s favorite food is pasta and that goes to show she’s not ready to give up our tomatoes.

To say you are against GMOs, would probably mean you shouldn't eat them because even if its said to not be GM, its modified anyway. GMOs go back to the descendants of our foods, like bananas and broccoli! I believe GMOs are good and safe because Genetically Modifying organisms are completely natural and they can be beneficial to humans.

Using biotechnology, we can create a lot more food with less money, less employment, and saving million of lives in the process. Also since our technology is improving, we now have ways to add nutrition and valuable vitamins to our meals through biotechnology.

GM foods are everywhere in the supermarket and have good nutritional value. Scientists are working to increase the nutritional value of foods. In Canada, scientists have genetically engineered salmon to make it grow faster and larger. This means more protein. Genetic Engineering is changing an organism’s DNA. Furthermore, our everyday foods are starting to lack nutrients so we have come up with substitutes. One substitute for rice is called “Golden Rice.” This rice may be able to save over 1 million lives because it provides Vitamin A. 

GM crops can depend on themselves for protection! This means that if we modify our plants to repel their unfriendly pest and bugs themselves. We can use less pesticides which means less money and less pollution. An example of one of these GM plants would be the Monsanto soybeans. "We'll soon be able to produce more crops with less pesticide, less fuel, less fertilizer, fewer trips over the field. We'll produce much more with much less.” Said by Dr. Ray Bressan, professor of horticulture. Pesticides and insecticides are substances that find their way through the soil of the plant and leech the groundwater which then releases into streams, polluting our water and impacting our bodies and environment horribly.  

Scientists have proven that genetically modifying organisms is completely natural. Organisms like plants and animals genetically modify themselves all the time, like cabbage for example. According to geneticists, evolution already started the GM process. It been going on for millennia. Genetic modification goes as far back as the descendants of our everyday vegetables. Breeding of plants is done daily by humans, and biotechnology is no different. Biotechnology is the genetic manipulation of microorganisms to create useful substances.

Since most foods are already GM. You are going against your favorite foods and things you eat daily. Your favorite foods are modified to taste good and last longer. The opposing side may say that they're "bad" but yet eat them daily and are perfectly fine. Are you ok, because I'm fine? Anybody can say something is organic but does it really mean it’s organic? 

Are you convinced yet? It seems to me that there’s NO real downside to GMOs.

Conclusion:
 In conclusion, TGIGMF (Thank God It’s Genetically Modified Food) . Thank You All, VOTE PRO GMO!

Agricultural Masterpiece

In the last unit of Food for Thought, our humanities course, we were assigned to team up in four groups to demonstrate the understanding of our four units in pictures. The main points of the whole drawing are agricultural history, and to envision a sustainable future of food production. Each group had to have 3 topic points to demonstrate in the drawing. My group was assigned the first unit which was Life. This unit talked about the beginning of agriculture and ancient civilization and how different foods were found and domesticated. For inspiration the whole class looked at a very interesting piece of artwork done by "The Beehive Collective," called the "True Cost of Coal." The major challenge of this drawing was to connect all the units together through different styles of artwork. The other challenge was thinking about the future of food, with all the experiments that scientists do with food, is there really a bright looking food production ahead of us?

NVA(2014). Food For Thought

This drawing is based on the first unit, called “Life.” The main focus of this unit is how and why humans transitioned from hunter-gatherers to agrarian societies, and how different ancient societies domesticated and found food. In my group, we decided to make a road timeline to connect all the units together. For our unit, we drew an assortment of different foods on the road. The reasoning for this is to symbolize how people grew crops to survive. There were no chemicals or fertilizers, so societies grew organic gardens. In 10,000 B.C.E, people were hunter-gatherers, which means they hunted animals and fish support their diet.

We drew trees and plants on one side of the road to represent life and peaceful times. We used keywords to guide our drawing. We used organic, domestication, and life. On the other side of the road we drew trees and plants to represent life. We also drew hunter-gatherers to show them hunting for food, and how they lived a natural lifestyle. We showed the society by water and we showed the people farming and hunting.

The beginning of agriculture is where the word “life” comes from. We wanted to show in our drawing, how our ancestors settled where they did and how they domesticated their foods. The importance of this unit is vast and it all comes together since this is the first of four units. Unit 2 revolves around monoculture, death, and colonization. Unit 3 revolves around this world’s food industry and the way that our food is made and treated today. Unit 4 revolves around the modification of the food industry and how life has transitioned through all 3 units, and imagines what the future of food might look like.

GS(2014). Food For Thought