Mack Smart
Cohort 1
Studio A
Sensory
Too Late For This depicts the sound of Conway Hall's boy dormitories at night. Specifically, it's a depiction of how they sound at eight o'clock, which I do consider a little bit late. The sound here is a mix of both chaotic and somewhat ambiance. The chaotic sounds being somebody deciding to move their furniture around and the sounds of doors slamming and people exiting as it's not yet quiet time. The more somewhat ambient sounds in the hall being the sounds of the air conditioners kicking on and the quiet chatter of the men. The reason this sound was chosen is due to the fact that I thought the piece had the most going on it it. In some areas, you can see the absolute chaos while in others the calm is evident. The most effective element of this piece has to be the square spiral dominating the page - it's there and showing all the chaos. What needs to be worked on is the use of value. Some areas blend together due to the way that they're both similar looking; in some areas, the piece looks calm when it's needed to be more chaotic.
Perspective
Why would artists want to draw objects both proportionately and in scale? One of the reasons could be that to do an installation, the piece would in theory need to be able to be balanced. In a drawing sense, the reason proportion and scale need to be used is due to the way a reference could look that the artist is working from. That is if the person in question wishes to make their drawing equivalent to the reference. I did this with the first scale drawing by making sure the phone was at an equal distance from the edge as well as to make sure the can parts were essentially the same way. Now, why would an artist want to draw an object out of scale and proportion? Well, my guess would be because it's fun to figure out how to do it out of scale. The artist could make an object so much bigger or so much smaller. With mine, I made the can parts both bigger than the taboret and the phone they rest upon. It's almost as if the parts are teetering off the edge.
Pattern, Variety, and Color
The shape I obviously chose for this assignment is a lightning bolt. People can think of a lot of different metaphors that would fit this, as do I. When I compare myself to a bolt of lightning, I think of the thunder that often occurs before the strike happens. Like the thunder, you can hear me before I arrive due to the squeaking sound my boot makes, the sound of my keys, and my pocket chain. Before I'm even in the room, I'm quite loud. When I think of the bolt itself, I compare the spontaneous strike to my spontaneous nature. Lightning can also be high-wired, quite like me at times.
As you can tell, the pattern evolved quite a bit. Before coming with the nice lines of bolts, they were all scattered among the shirt. I also added the lines of 'wool' in between each line of bolts to signify the thunder that comes before them. Of course, color was added, and the palette has its own little meaning. I didn't choose a specific color wheel, but I chose colors that usually don't go with each other to create this color discord to give the viewer the feeling of disgust. Now, this is actually how some people do feel when they see me for the first time. After all, nobody gives somebody with rather colorful makeup and dark blue lipstick a friendly look.
Emphasis/Focal Point
This turtleneck has gone through many iterations, and I would like to think the final one is the best. I say this due to the fact that I tweaked the bottom half and added a new, more colorful focal point: bigger and colorful lightning bolts. These help to signify the fact that I have a bit of a 'fun' and 'out there' personality. The wool increments were extended a bit due to the fact that I don't always appear after somebody can hear me coming.
.jpeg)
One Day Data Collection
One Day Data Collection
Why I decided on this organizational structure is for the fact that I wanted to have this venn diagram feel. However, I really didn't want it to be a normal circular diagram, so I went with triangles. I think triangles are pretty neat, due to the sharp points and crisp straight lines. I've also been told by a couple of people that they think of triangles and sharp points (as well as bold lines) when they think about me in a more abstract way.
The main two elements and principles I used in this piece are form and color. I would like to also say focal point, but with the big jumble of color, there really isn't one. I made sure that there was some good balance between the triangles, making sure to keep some bigger and smaller triangles in the mix.
What I learned about myself from this whole project is that I really do think too much. As I did come home for a funeral during this time, it wouldn't be such a surprise that there are so many different thoughts racing. However, due to the fact that I do have anxiety, overthinking is going on all of the time. With this, it was so much more than being anxious about the funeral. It was more being anxious about coming home for the first time in a month. It was also seeing old friends that I haven't had a lot of time to talk to. Overall, it's all overthinking.
.jpeg)
Sketchbook 1
Mid Semester Reflection
Thinking back to the beginning of the year, I would say that this course is meeting my expectations at this point. I'd say so because not only was the sensory work done, we had a good lesson about the elements and principles of design. I am looking forward to the collection assignment. We had a mini one before being transferred to Hornbrook and I did enjoy it. I have been challenged to think differently, thanks to creating a piece based on what we think a sound would look like. Some of the newer skills I've obtained are paying more attention to detail, examining an artwork to get a good idea of the meaning, and how to better critique our work. The course materials are easy to access. I would say I've had some good participation as this is the first class I've spoken in. What I'm doing well is my work and I could work on getting things in a timely manner instead of stressing over it.
