Life Map List

Born in Temple TX.

-Temple is where my grandparents live and my grandfather’s church is. I love and respect the both of them very much.

Lived in Salado TX

-This is where I spent my very early childhood; I have faint memories of this place with the exception of one very visually scarred occurrence. Our house was located at the top of a hill with a creek below.  My younger brother, mother, and I were about to head to town for baseball pictures. We had just sat down in the car when my mother realized that my younger brother had forgot his baseball glove. She ran inside for a short moment to retrieve it. When she was inside, my younger brother climbed into the driver seat and put the car in neutral. As the car started rolling backwards down the hill with the two of us still inside, my mother came out of the house. She tried to catch up to the car but the hill was too steep and the car was now moving too fast. She managed to grab the handle of a door. I can still see her facial expression as she was tossed around like a rag doll back and forth from the door slamming. She was drug down most of the hill because she refused to lose her grip. I grabbed my younger brother and put him underneath a seat of the car. We crashed backwards into the creek. I can still remember the color of the rocks beneath the clarity of the water. My mother still has the scars covering her legs. I always regretted being too young and helpless to do anything.

Lived in Boerne TX

-We moved to Boerne before I started kindergarten. I remained here all the way through high school. There are so many memories from this place to narrow down. To summarize, I grew up in the country. I fell in love with what some call the “hill country”, which Boerne was at the heart of. I played sports all my life. Football was extremely big in this town, especially when my class became seniors in high school because our history breaking season. When you think of a typical Dazed and Confused or Varsity Blues, Texas small town and the high school days portrayed, they are comparable to Boerne. This is where I had my first life experiences. This is where I dated the prettiest, most popular girl in the school. This is where I built a reputation only to be knocked down, but a reputation none the least. This is where I made plenty of bad decisions and learned from mistakes. However, this is also where I experienced great achievements. This is my hometown. This will always be my hometown. I love this place.

Moved to College Station after high school

-My two best friends and I found a house together. The plan was to attend Blinn College and make the grades to transfer to A&M considering that’s where we were raised to go. When we realized the limitless extents of our talent to throw the best, most famous parties, the priority of making the grades began to fade away. This is where I had some of the best, most fun times of my entire life and created memories that will last forever. I went through many relationships here. This is where I first fell in true love. This is where I feel like I abandoned my friends for a relationship that no matter how hard I tried to keep it together, it was destined to fall apart.

Moved to Huntsville

-Although I commuted to Sam Houston State from College Station for a while, the decision to move to Huntsville came upon the graduation of my girlfriend at the time from A&M. We had plans to last for the long run. She found a job as a third grade teacher in Huntsville. I was a horticulture major focusing on landscape design and a mere year and half left to go before graduating. We found a great two-story house in Elkins Lake with a small back yard, two-car garage, fireplace, and a big front porch. We would watch our favorite T.V. shows at the end of the day. We would have family in for the weekends and I would fire up the grill in the backyard while the dogs played. We would take walks down to the lake in the evenings. I enjoyed mowing and yard work on the weekends. Everything seemed to be on the right track. I had a ring picked out and financial arrangements in the making, we were to be engaged.  Like a flawless pane of glass being dropped from a great height, everything seemed to shatter in seconds, for us, a month. What I believed to be untouchable and truly consistent turned out to be a skin covering ugliness underneath. An act, an illusion.  This is that moment that you fall backwards and reach around for something to grab on to but nothing exists. This is where I was suddenly living alone in a town I knew no one, feeling like everything was now pointless. She was in another relationship within weeks. She is now engaged. I still see her car around town from time to time. This is when the decision to study art literally saved my life. This is when art helped me to get back on solid ground again and remember what it was like to stand up.

Lived in Huntsville for coming on 2 years 

monologue: a traditional rebellion

Instead of just plain talking into a camera for this assignment like everyone else, I wanted to incorporate different elements in my video to display a specific feeling. Elements that I could include without any editing to achieve this, as to fall inside the guidelines for this project. Such as... light, background audio, an action, props, and a bit of acting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgmypYLm7AY

Mod Mad Write Up

Modular Madness Critique Write Up

Materials

Yes, the materials respond or resonate with the objects chosen as modules. Every object and material including binding agent works together with one another and the relationship with the light. This piece could incorporate other material as far as the relationship between one another and light, but as far as my concept goes, these are the precise materials I think can only be used in a general sense. The only real difficulty that I had with these materials was the inability for a few bottom of the glasses to stay in place. Meaningful discoveries….light adds an entirely different perception.

Process/Ambitiousness

As far as scale, if I am standing straight up next to the piece it is not taller than me but in mass the piece is just as big if not bigger. The piece changed from the initial imaginings by the substitution of plaster with broken liquor bottles because of the focus on concept. The final piece is more ambitious because of the impact the substituted material brings to the piece and relationship with the additional objects visually.

Craftsmanship

The only issue I have regarding craftsmanship with this piece is the podium.

Form

The dominant formal elements are shape, color, texture, value, and space. These elements are visible and important in the piece, especially value with the impact of my concept. The dominating principles visible or implied in this piece are hierarchy, repetition, unity, balance, space, and similarity/difference.

Concept

The concept does relate to the object’s history, function, and purpose in this piece. The concept is based around alcoholism and each material revolves in some way around alcohol and displays a symbol of alcoholism. Rock salt is sometimes incorporated into alcoholic drinks and represents a craving. Champagne glasses speak for themselves and represent appeal and beauty. They broken shards of glass are from liquor bottles and represent fragility. The presentation is made to look visually beautiful and appealing with the incorporation of light but the concept will alter that opinion when explained.

Presentation

I chose to place this piece in the bathroom because of the light and because of the raw aspects within this space. The surroundings help to make the piece illuminate and glow. The surroundings also work in contrast with this piece.

Modular Madness 2.0

So as I was going about creating one of my first proposals for this project, I began to focus more on concept and the desire to experiment with light and the relationship with the materials I could use. Halfway through installation, I scratched the idea of using plaster. Although I wanted to incorporate it because of the artistic aspects and texture, I found that broken liquor bottles were a much better substitution considering the concept behind this piece and the incorporation of light. 

my make shift podium 

100+ champagne glasses

100+ rock salt crystals in stem

100+ shards of broken glass 

My concept is based around alcoholism. The crystals of rock salt represent the craving that we all have, the shards of broken glass that is actually from whiskey bottles represent the fragility that one has as an alcoholic and how close to the breaking point one can be, and the presentation and light represents the social appeal that alcohol holds in society. So in a way, I have three modular madness projects in one setting, 100+ glasses, 100+ rock salt pieces, 100+ shards of glass. 

Butt its ok because its art!

For this project, each member of our group had to chose 2 designs from our final dot collection and together, we had to come up with a photo shoot where we would incorporate the dots in human form. Our theme was based around this: We considered the cleanliness and perfection aspects present in most dot forms so we wanted to come up with a concept in contrast. By doing so, we combined a mixture of studio and photographic practices to create an edgy, unique, raw, and artistic feel, yet still achieving the visual shape of dots. So in essence one could say our general theme was based around contrast. 

Photos of Line

The design of life and the line within

If  there is one thing that I have learned about life, it is that it is not flat. Think of the concept of life in its entirety and consider it a design. When applied to the comparison of 2 dimensional versus 3 dimensional designs; actions, adventures, and emotions that are the spice of life are only a few considerations when determining the correct category of design. Obviously one would place life as a 3 dimensional design. Obviously, unless in the presence of a pessimistic.  Although there are many more than just three considerations included within these characteristics that are the make up of the mass of life. If it were even theoretically possible to transform the concept of life into a physical structure in which to be worked and altered then labeled as a design, it could most certainly develop a completely new design theory in itself. However, to stay the course, lets finalize the general decision that, if the concept of life were a design, it would be correct to associate this design as containing 3 dimensions.

Further, in this 3 dimensional design, lies a very ironic contradiction. The contradiction that one could say that the so called “key” to life within this design is in fact the skeleton in which the 3 dimensionality revolves around. But the irony is that this skeleton is 2 dimensional.  Not only a 2 dimensional design, but also an actual design that is existent and visible all around us. A line.  A line, created in the half way distance of the characters discussed earlier that are the make up of life. These could also be looked at in positive and negative generalizations. The line exists as the balance between positive and negative, high and low. It is the middle ground. Although there could be near infinity, the basic characteristics that might be commonly considered are happiness, sadness, loss, achievement, loneliness, and belonging. One could also say that the aspects here that create line are in fact the same aspects that create the foundation in which the 3 dimensionality of the life design is based upon.

This life/design theory proves that the key to life is to contain a constant even keel. Entertainment is applied when the truth becomes visible, exploiting the fact that in what manner and basis you choose to hold that even keel is completely up to you as an individual. After all, if we all were on the same key line, life just might become bland.  How you cross the line is completely up to you. Unfortunate? Or the rarest form of fortune? It is a question of morality.

Another reason why I'm becoming a Lucian Freud fan

HAY! CHECK OUT THIS LINK. A Lucian Freud self portrait sales for big bucks. Notice the black eye in the painting and check out the quote. Thats one old man that wont take no crap. Pretty cool.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/7208490/Lucian-Freud-self-portrait-sells-for-2.8-million.html

The Guild Studio

Long after W.A.S.H. is completed, i'll use this blog simply for artistic and personal uses so throughout this semester, sometimes you might find random posts mixed in with all the class assignments, such as....

Over the Christmas break, myself and fellow art students/ friends, Daniel Bertalot and Jay Cronin, renovated an old dentist office in downtown Huntsville transforming an abandoned, useless office that nobody wanted into a fully functional art studio (and rapidly doubling as the ultimate man cave). Although the flipping proved a little tough and costly, the results have been worth while. In the future we have plans for custom canvas construction and sales, private lessons, and commissioned work. Here are a few pics of our studio "The Guild". (Photos complements of Daniel)

Renovation....

Post renovation and productivity (maybe a little non productivity as well)....

100?!... ppssshhh... I'll call and raise you 1,000,000,000,000!.... (but probably not really)

So for the Modular Madness project, I started out completely blank. I had no idea what objects I would choose from and/or what I would create with these objects. Now i'm torn between three proposals.
      My first concern was cost, I didn't want to buy anything that I was most likely bound to throw away after grading. So, I went through my apartment trying to find something and discovered a box of 500 Q-Tips under the sink. Great!... I thought. Until I started playing with them and working with hot glue to get an idea of a proper binding agent. Turns out the sticks break, get dirty, and move around very easily. So I went back to the drawing board and this time the thought of spending a little cash seemed necessary.
      We watched a video in class representing the jist of this project mixed with performance art, using q-tips ( ironic...don't ya think? ) doused in different colored paints while attached to someones head. The idea of turning this project into a performance piece sparked my curiosity. With performance in mind and the likely hood of using hot glue as a binding agent because of its accessibility and simplicity, I thought why not combine this medium, concept, and use as a binding agent together. I would use glue sticks, by stacking or grouping, to create the sculpture, bind it together with dots of melted hot glue, then when constructed, for the performance aspect, take a blow torch or a heat gun to the sculpture to melt it all down and together. But, the only draw back to this plan would be the high cost of 100+ glue sticks. (and when I say "high" cost, look at the common price of a bag of glue sticks from the perception of someone that is broke as a joke).
      My third proposal, and the one I am now most interested in, combines the use of plaster and the 100+ objects placed inside. When set, I would carve away at the plaster creating the sculpture and exposing the items set inside. This idea follows more under the traditional practices of art which I am most interested in but still meets the technical guidelines of this project (awesome). Plaster = binding agent. Organic pieces set in plaster = 100 or more objects. Me = 1. WASH = 0.

I'll let everyone know how the plaster trial turns out.....

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Playing with plaster to get a feel for the medium and what I would be working with for the final concept.....