HW 38-Art Project

We would like to think our paths are set in stone.

It is our excuse for our lack of change.

Is it because we like who we are? 

Are we satisfied? 

Is it clear that we are just recycled?

Individualism doesn't exist.

As we waste our lives living behind something else the earth keeps spinning.

It doesn't stop for us for any reason.

It doesn't give us the constant attention we long for.

It won't stop spinning when we stop spinning.

Our dreams, hopes and desires are someone else's.

Our thoughts, opinions and ideas are someone else's.

Our style, taste presence are someone else's. 

It was someone else's before us and will be someone else's after.

The cycle continues over and over again, so much that it repeats itself.

As cool fluctuates we fluctuate with it,

Not because we want too,

it's just the way the earth spins, the oceans flow, the birds migrate

we have convinced ourselves it is how we undergo survival.

For my art project I used some of my photography which I feel fit with the poem I wrote.  I think that my art takes cool to more than it just being a materialistic obsession which integrates with our obsession of appearance.  But into the idea that it is taking over so drastically and affecting our lives so deeply.  When first going into this unit I never thought I was going to get to this level of my understanding of how dangerous the whole concept is.  It is so much more than wasting money and being something completely opposite of your true self.  It scares me that all of these companies, advertisers and even the government go so far into convincing us that we need certain things to fulfill a meaningful life.  We lead lives with such a wrong conception of how to deal with difference.  It seems as if the second we don't look like everyone around us we go out and buy something to fit right back in.  While at the same time we think we are so individual and authentic.  I am not really sure what I want people to take away from my art but maybe just the idea that we need to remind ourselves to find our moments of stillness to make sure our sanity is still around.  

At first I was inspired by a picture I had of myself as a little girl behind a carnival stand.  The one where there is a whole for your head but the body isn't your own...I thought that went back to the whole idea of trying on so many different bodies which all have somewhat of a relation and following those paths.  This was what inspired my poem and I wrote a lot of ideas down but came to put this together.  I was going to put the picture with the poem but I can't find it unfortunately.  So I decided to use some of my own photography... the first picture I think relates back to the maps and paths we follow throughout our lives that fit us best.  The second photo I think best describes our fear, the idea of not being here forever, and not knowing what is coming after.  The third photo is suppose to symbolize endlessness and how big this world is, how big this galaxy is, and how I believe we forget that.  The last photo relates to the first photo's meaning, of paths and "destiny."

I love art although I don't necessarily think it is cool.   I think it is a great way to express ourselves.  Although I don't think there is one person who is nothing like anyone else in this world, art is as close as it gets.  Our expression gives us somewhat a branch of individuality and allows us to show our interpretation of what we feel meaning is.  This unit has really made me think and come to the understanding that trying is such a waste of time, and just by living with no final destination or no next stop might allow us to find purpose in this confusing world.