Class Take Away 4

We talked about our 50 What If questions for the altared book and it was crazy hearing various ideas so similar to my own.  I think the idea of turning a book into a pendant sounds pretty awesome.  I definitely considered the options of burning, transforming it into something new, cutting out the center to put something inside, burying it, and beating the hell out of it.  However, I am pretty excited about turning my works into a masquerade mask after I finish the scrapbook portion of my altared book.  I can't guarantee that I will stick with the masquerade mask idea, but right now it seems like it would be a good representation of the way my life is always switching from one role to another.  For the scrapbook portion of the altared book, I think it would be good to cut up the bindings to represent freedom from such a rigid rule bound life, I am not sure how great the scrapbook will look after that, but it would definitely feel good in spirit.


The concept that we have become desensitized to violence, in general and through media, was brought up in class. This concept deeply bothers me.  Many different scientific and medical studies were done on the effects of media in correlation with violence.  Consistently these studies found, that unless a person was already predisposed with violent tendencies, then they would not become violent just from viewing violence through media. I understand that it is possible for a child not to understand violence as wrong and may try to act out the violence they see, but then it is up to the guardians of that child to ensure that the child understands the difference between acceptable and unacceptable behavior.  I don't think that humans can become desensitized to something so innately a part of their nature. I think that because we live in America we are blessed not to be confronted with the brutalities happening in the world around us, but we are also blinded in the sense that we forget how bad it can truly be out in the world because we are so sheltered from it.

Altared Book: Ideas

By the end of this semester we have to create an altared book.  Altared, in the sense that this book will be an altar to our creative journeys during our time in Seeing Sideways.  It is also altered in the sense that we will be taking a book about something we hate or that represents something we hate and turning that book into something we love.  The point of this particular blog, is to come up with fifty “what if I did this to my book” scenarios and eventually using these scenarios as guidelines for our finished altared books.  Here is goes…

What If I???

1.       Use a scrapbook instead of a book

a.       Books are eventually going to become obsolete in the face of technological advancement and I can’t destroy one, but I hate scrapbooking and this could be a good opportunity to try something creatively different for myself.

2.       Put newspaper over scrapbook (Hides the fact that it’s a scrapbook)

3.       Put favorite quotes on front & back covers

4.       Cover the front with images of books I like (Makes it more like something I love)

5.       Cover it in images of my creative journey in Seeing Sideways

6.       I burned it (Freeing)

7.       Turned it into a box

8.       Cut it up into tiny pieces (Freeing in a different way)

9.       Turned the scrapbook into a digital file with playback of my blogs

10.   Hollowed out scrapbook to make a picture display of favorite works in Seeing Sideways

11.   Turned it into a mini safe vault of creative works

12.   Hollowed out with cover still intact to create the semblance of a moving image

13.    Transform the whole thing into a one page giant collage

14.   Transform it into a lampshade of works (only using bulbs with 10-15 watts)

15.   Transform it into a purse of works (Can store tokens of class)

16.   Transform scrapbook into a flower or wreath

17.   Transform scrapbook into a clock (I have issues with time perceptions, so it’s a good representation of my personality)

18.   Cut up scrapbook and make into a necklace

19.   Cut up scrapbook and make into a bracelet

20.   Cut up scrapbook pieces and turn it into a tiny town

21.   Throw paint at it/on it

22.   I rub it with sand

23.   Decorate it with little crystals

24.   Decorate it with water color paints

25.   Decorate it with ribbons

26.   Cover it with stickers from things I enjoy

27.   Cover the scrapbook in bark

28.   Cover scrapbook with images of games I love

29.   Turned scrapbook into a game board

30.    Turned it into a map of work (Shows growth)

31.   Turned scrapbook into a scroll (represents wisdom)

32.   Turned it into a sculpture of a tree (represents wisdom/growing)

33.   Turned scrapbook into a sculpture of an owl (represents wisdom/growing)

34.   Bury it in a time capsule (When finished of course)

35.   Seal it with concrete

36.   Sew it shut

37.   Make doodles & highlights all over scrapbook

38.   Ran over the scrapbook (Hopefully leave some tire impressions or would be somewhat pointless creatively)

39.   Write code on Scrapbook back cover

40.   Fill inside of scrapbook with finished projects

41.   Create a slot/bag in scrapbook for class tomes (Good reminder of creative journey)

42.   Leave the scrapbook whole, but cut out the center of the cover to place a paper sculpture in

43.   Use glitter glue to decorate scrapbook

44.   Cut paper into crazy shapes before placing it into the scrapbook

45.   Color the scrapbook with metallic markers

46.   Color the scrapbook with glitter markers

47.   Filled the scrapbook with different page designs

48.   Give the scrapbook a chameleon style look (Representation of putting on different faces for different places or situations)

49.   Color every page by hand

50.   Covered it in photos of my world perception

Class Take Away 3

I think one of the hardest parts of being a college student is the fact that you have all of these responsibilities outside of being a college student.  It's very easy to get caught up in the responsibilities and just go through the motions, like we talked about in class.  The more I thought about the more I realized tons of people everyday just go through the motions instead of experiencing things they enjoyed.  Keep in mind, I work at a college where I get to meet people everyday doing the things they love, but they get so caught up just living everyday life and they forget to stop and enjoy what they love about the things they do.  I wish I knew a way to help remind these people that even though it can get tough, it's okay, because they are doing what they love and that in itself will pay off one day.

On the doodle project...
The doodle project was somewhat frustrating in the beginning, because I started out with a blank page.  It never really occurred to me to use a page with notes already on it.  I did not doodle much before this project, but next time I decide to doodle I will use a page already covered in notes.

30 Minute Doodle

     This is my 30 minute doodle.  I am not really sure what I was thinking about while I was doing this, but one thing I can tell is I was definitely hungry when I started making the apple, mushroom, and the cauldron of soup.  Spontaneity with a little bit of serendipity played a big role in this, because I would usually start out drawing one thing and it would come out something completely different than what I was initially expecting.  The little alien dude actually started out in my mind as a little snowman.  The food was forced from my thoughts to my hand and then the paper.  In a way surrender played a big role too, because I had to surrender my starting ideas to the final image I had produced.  The only time my thoughts and hands were working in sync, was when I decided to make the tesseract (which is much harder to pull off 2-D), flowers, and little star jelly.  I did enjoy doodling all of this stuff, but I do wish I was better at drawing.    

The Egg & Eye

Egg Art

The idea was to take the egg home and create something with it. Well, I couldn't even make it home before my egg broke.  When I got home, I decided to finish cracking the egg open and throw it outside to see what would happen.  Unfortunately as you can see from picture 1, it looks just like an old egg that has been sitting out for way to long.  I used the leftover shell and the shells of three other eggs from my fridge to create the dyed egg shell pattern of the last picture. Picture two, is basically the start of the egg dying process with food coloring (blue, red, green, and yellow), vinegar, and water.  Picture three, is where I let the egg shells dry and crushed them, so I could mix the colors together more easily.  I like the way it turned out, even though I initially started out with very different plans for my egg.

Class Take Away 2

Why do I pay good money to come to a class where I color and destroy books? 

I think the class could be very useful for opening students up to new creative pathways that they may not have necessarily been able to find on their own.  I don't really like the whole concept of destroying a book, but I can definitely see how it could be beneficial and even therapeutic.  The idea is to take a book that represents something you don't like and transform it into a representation of something that you do like.  I can see how that would cause not only creative growth, but potentially even personal growth.

The things we do in class help in giving everyone a sense that their ideas are ok to try and no one will judge them based on what they come up with.  Discussing our various projects, helps us grow in understanding ourselves and it helps us realize that we are not alone in the things we feel.  It also gives us a sense of other peoples perceptions and understanding the things they are dealing with. The class forces a person to keep an open mind, thereby forcing the individual to stay creatively open.

Class Take Away 1

 I read the synopsis of the class before deciding to take it, but I was not sure what to expect going into the class.  I certainly did not expect to be rolling around the halls in my desk during break.  The break really resonated with me for a couple of different reasons.  The main reason it really resonated with me, is because it completely forced me out of my comfort zone.  I did a similar experiment when I was in high school, but it did not change the feelings of discomfort that came with it the first time around.  These feelings of discomfort come from the knowledge that, if the roles had been reversed with the people I came across I would think they where nuts and wonder what would possess them to do such a thing.  I was one of the first people out of the room in my desk and I definitely got a lot of crazy looks, so I just smiled and waved to mask my discomfort.  When I started to see more of my classmates in the hall the discomfort faded away and I realized I was actually enjoying myself.  I am always telling people that it is important to stay in touch with your inner child, because that was a time in our lives when we where unencumbered by the responsibilities that come with being an adult.  In a way I felt I too had to be reminded of this and rolling around the halls in my desk definitely helped.  Another thing about the break that really stuck with me was the experience of what life would be like if I where stuck in a chair.  The whole concept completely unnerved me, but it also made me appreciate what life must be like everyday for people who are like that.