Ugly statues

The art of not living in the dark...

So my roommate came back to tech today after enjoying some time at home this weekend. With her, she brought string, tape, and pulleys. At any other college this might have been odd, but shes a mechanical engineer and so I honestly did even blink at the contents of her bag. Instead, she informed me that we would now be able to use those pulleys and string to turn the light on and off from our beds. Genius! And so we spent the next few hours figuring and reconfiguring this mess of materials into a random assortment around our room. Now we have little pulleys attached to walls, the ceiling, and our beds. We used physics, engineering, and creativity all so we could be lazier in the future. Mission accomplished!

How is that art?

The modern art collection at the High museum is something interesting. For me, modern art rarely gets the senses going much. Instead it just gives me the sense that half of that could have been created by any 6 year old. While some of the pieces are visually interesting, as well as intricate and even aesthetically appealing, others simply aren't. Piece of canvas that has been cut into a geometric shape and painted red does not say art. It says that the "artist" was inspired by nothing, then created nothing, and somehow was praised for his nothing. If this sounds harsh, well it is. But in all honesty, how can you stick random geometric shapes in a room, call it art, and then hang other pieces of art by Dali or Titian in the same museum and give them the same praise. Clearly, they are not one in the same.

English next semester...

Next semester, I am taking the Pre med English course. I am really excited to be able to take an English class that is within the major and career track that I have chosen, but at the same time, I will miss the break from all the math and science that this semester offered. I might have gripped about writing the blogs or the essays, but studying and thinking on more creative terms was a nice reprieve from all the numbers, and chemicals, and problems that my other classes consist of. And I appreciate the excuse to go see some of the exhibits at the High without it taking away from my classes. I saw exhibits that I never would have seen, and by always walking there with a bunch of my friends, I got to see a side of Atlanta that you just don't get looking through a window from the seat of car.

Arabic calligraphy

I'm taking Arabic this semester and part of the language is calligraphy. But unlike many languages, Arabic has set rules for its calligraphy that allows for more than just a language of words to be communicated. It creates art.

UP in the AIR

A few summers ago I went to the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum in Washington D.C. Its a different kind of museum than the High, or the Louvre, but it is just as artistic and creative and fulfilling as any art museum. For someone like me; a person into the arts and sciences equally, a place like that museum was a place unlike most others. Here are a few pictures I took.

Architecture of the future

This is a video about some of the buildings of the future. Many of these are located in Dubai, in the UAE. I like the idea of the super modern, futuristic look, but I still enjoy the old century style of architecture as well. Many of these buildings are also being built in conjunction with the green movement as well. The materials used, and they way they function are more than just for aesthetic appeal, but also for functionality, and conservation.

Project reflection

As I reflect on the visual argument project, I realized that what I liked most about the project was the fact that I was finally able to use my artistic skills towards something academic at Tech. I took photos from all over the campus, which is an activity that I already love, and then used editing software to enhance the aesthetics even more. I loved seeing the transformation from original photograph to the doctored version. The hardest part was restraining myself from editing the pictures even more. Although I didn't realize it at the time, the actual amount of hours I spent on this project out numbered the previous assignment by at least 5 or 6 hours. Whenever I got stuck on a chem lab or calculus problem, I would switch over to editing my images and thinking about my argument, and it gave my brain a sort of reprieve from all the numbers and concepts and allowed me to exercise another area of thinking and creating. I appreciated the ability to do so without actually wasting my time on something that wasn't related to my classes. Overall, I enjoyed getting to work on something more artistic and getting to know the campus on a deeper level.

Art while you Eat!

So one of my favorite spots at Tech is ironically the Dining hall. The catholic church style architecture, that allows for Brittain to be called Hogwarts, and the stain glass art piece on one end make eating there rather enjoyable. I've spent a good bit of time staring at that stain glass piece and every time I do, there is something new that I did not recognize or realize from the last time. While is was donated by an alumni class from the 1920s, when there was no CS, or MATLAB, or Webassign, many of the objects and phrases in the piece are still very representative of the culture of Tech. Overall, the glass intrigues me the most because it is just another part of the rich history of Tech and how much the school has grown since the time that the piece was created.

AWESOME ARTIST FROM ATLANTA

This guy is an Atlanta native and he does graffiti art for a living. Although many don't appreciate the art in graffiti, and instead see it as destructive, the truth is that graffiti is a kind of quite rebellion and expression. For those who create it, the simple act of painting a mural on the side of a building, bridge, etc, is a way to show their loyalties, their creativity, and make a statement.

Public art

My favorite kind of public art is the interactive kind. Its all about imagination and exploration and ingenuity and creativity! These are some examples of interactive public art. I also included a picture of Centennial Olympic park here in Atlanta because I myself have actually experienced it.

Project Idea!

I think I'm going to do my project on the old and new of Georgia Tech. The architecture around Tech is a combination of old and traditional, and new and modern. The blend of the two creates an expression of the culture that is Tech and its students.

GT chalk art

So my previous post was about professional chalk art. But this week is homecoming week and at the moment, Skiles walkway is covered in a different type of chalking with a Tech twist. As I walked by them, I was honestly really impressed with the creativity and craftsmanship of these blocks of art. Some of them must have really taken a good amount of time in order to get the level they achieved. I wouldn't even walk on the art I was so impressed.

Really cool art!

This is awesome chalk art!!! They look so real!
chalk art!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwQk8tE0Xa0 

ِ قشلاهؤ

So I'm taking Arabic and it is currently making me a little bit dyslexic. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I spend a good 20 minutes reorienting my brain to think from left to right and then after class I have to do the same thing in order to get back to thinking in English again. The fun thing is that I actually notice an increase in my ability to retain more information in my classes and when I'm studying. I thought I'd blog about this because languages fascinate me and there seems to be a kind of art to learning them as well.شقف هس سخ بعى فاشف سخةثفهةثس ه تعسف صشىىش صقهفث شلاخعف هفز 

An intro

Upon first seeing the image of Salvador Dali floating in mid-air with loaves of bread hovering behind, the initial reaction is one of laughter and curiosity. Why would the photographer, Philippe Halsman, capture such a moment of awkwardness and instability? The photo, simply entitled Salvador Dali, is one of many in a series of photographs from the book Jump!, by Halsman himself. In the photo, Dali’s body language, as well as the background items and people serve to mesh Dali’s fascination with both science and religion and makes the argument for the belief in both while simultaneously also feeding the Dali ego by drawing attention to both the art and subject, Dali, of the art itself.

Project: Dali

So I'm using this photo for my project because it reminds me of the pictures my friends and I take all the time and put on facebook. There always so random and funny and happy! While there usually isn't bread floating in the background of my pictures, we do occasionally capture random people just going about their daily lives.

Extraordinary people, The artist with no eyes, Esref Armagan

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3AgO6H0H98

The art of the human face

On Friday I participated in a research lab for the School of Biology. They were researching the the genetics of human facial expressions. The lab required that I sit in front of a super high tech 3D imaging camera and make faces for it to capture. Thirty minutes later it was done and I was officially apart of something that would hopefully lead to medical advancements and new technology, or at least that's what I hope for.

The strange thing about it was that they were essentially mapping out the part of the body that people spend the most time altering to look just the way they think everyone else wants to see them. The lab was studying the very reason my face laughs, speaks, and moves the way it does. They were studying the way I express myself without words, just the way a piece of art says it all without actually saying anything. They were analyzing the signs the very same way an art critique picks apart an art piece while trying to explain why the artist did what he or she did. It was art and science working together and for me, an artist and endeavoring chemist, there is nothing better!  

Why do I blog about art?

I'd be tempted to say that the only reason for my current predicament is that I, like many others, strive to achieve the highest grades, the most knowledge, and the respect of the teacher, but in reality that is only part of the truth. I consider myself an artist. Therefore, I think about art and now I write about art. I create art, I think about art, and I write about art. It is the complete trilogy of a well-rounded education.

Picture journey (camera phone)

First Adventure

Nisha and I went to the High together. To be honest, at first, I was more excited to ride on marta than to actually see the exhibit, but we ended up just walking to the museum instead. The walk itself was like walking through art. Every other building had some type of either historical architecture or really modern-day style. Being that it was just Nisha and I, there was a feeling to our journey that had the strangest scent of freedom. We were roaming the streets of the big city on assignment for a college course and we were amongst all the people going home from work, going out for a fun night, and even those just looking for their next meal in the streets.
Walking into the museum was like a little sad at first. It was back to academia and responsibility. But as I continued through the exhibit and studied photo after photo and painting after painting, I realized that I was actually really intrigued by the style of Dali. His strokes were unique and I enjoyed the way he meshed religion with physics and science and managed to create real art. His intricate designs and hidden images were memorizing. All and all, the exhibit was inspiring!

Define Art

How do you define something that exists in so many forms? Something that changes with perception, experience, culture, and time cannot possibly be put into a single defined state. The word itself suggests expression, attractiveness, and uniqueness, but no one person decides whether a piece can be considered an art form or just simply an aesthetically pleasing work. However, it is still up to the individual to decide for themselves what is considered to be art to his or her own mind. This is the difficulty with defining such a perceptive object. The individual may see art as one thing, while the masses believe art is something completely different.
Also, there is the issue of time that greatly affects the perception of what is considered art. In modern times, computer generations, programs, and computer enhancements are very much included in the category of “art”. But until recently, in order to be classified as art, the piece pretty much had to be created by the artists own hand directly. Time, differences in social culture, and the increasing mix of cultures has allowed new forms of art to emerge while others have fallen out of mainstream society.