I really like the idea of reactionary art.  The first thing that comes to mind with having an environmental emphasis is something that earth first! did to some dam that they were protesting outside of.  Two people went up to the top and center of the dam and dropped a black sheet, that when it reached the bottom it looked as though it was a crack going down the center.

Something that maybe we could do is drape a sheet across trees, or obstructing the view of the lake, and have different buildings be the only thing that they can see.  Or maybe painting the windows black on a sunny day so that people will, eat, talk, conduct class, and so forth, outside.  

As far as advertising goes, i think that we would get a better turn out with anticipatory advertisements.  The kind of advertisement that only gives people a glimpse of what's to come.  Like, a flyer that just says," Are you going to be there...(date and time). 

Back to the Primative, A.K.A Ooga Booga, Ooga Booga!

Being an advocate and practitioner of DIY (Do It Yourself) art and expression, digital literacy is very important to me (even if i don't search it out all the time). Keeping up with new technologies is one of the only means to survive as an artist if you don't have a backer, or pimp. Most of the technology that i am interested in involves:

• layout programs for independent publishing and
• regular scanners

I have never really considered any other means of media producation because it has either not been brought to my attention, or I dont really think that it applies to what i am trying to create. I, as well as many others, see value in the written word (my chosen form of expression) and dont really see the value of turning it into something that it isn't, like a mini movie, slide show, or publicity trailer. If making films is what you're all about, than go for it, but I dont want to turn a written story into something people can lazily sit back and watch. The images that words create are much more powerful than any digital image anyone can upload onto a computer.

As a blanketed statement, our memories and attention spans are becoming shorter with every new generations. Could that have anything to do with our ever growning reliance on technological media for entertainment and quick and easy information (internet, movies, ect)? Is there a connections between murder rates and societies inability to communicate in person or even on the phone(texting, emails . . .second life ;-) )? OKay, so maybe i'm being a little fecicious with that last question, but i dont want to end up sounding like this guy from my environmental literature class last semester (he specialized in conspiracy theories and general bullshit), so i threw a little humor in there for the two people who might actually make it this far into my BLOG. Tah.

wh(o)at am I?

In a word...afraid.  Even coming to this class made me a little edgy.  I went down to De Harts and bought a pack of American Spirit ultra lights (one of my many vises) and couldn’t rip out a cigarette fast enough from the yellow box. 

 

Why this reaction?  Fear of failure maybe.  But more of a fear that I am going to have to endure another class so full of shit that I am not even going to be able to hack it, and have to quit before I even make it half way.  I am quite popular for doing that.  Quitting that is.  I start something that has a lot of potential and then I drop it.....abort it.....slit its throat.  If I don’t see potential right away then I slowly start to convince myself that I am wasting my time and should move on, just say fuck it. 

 

This is true for all things in my life.  Writing.  Jobs.  School.  Relationships.  Friendship.  Family.  However, when it comes to school I tend to get more anxious, afraid.  I’ve been here since 2001 (With the exception of that year and a half where i tried to "find myself" in Seattle....Jesus, was that a mistake) and I still don’t have my associates degree.

 

So why bother, you might ask?  Because with every semester I learn something about myself that I probably wouldn’t have attained otherwise.  Because with each new bit of information about the world I become more comfortable in my own skin and see a hope that is still blurry, but there.  Because I come “this much” closer to polishing my craft in writing.  Because, although I know that I will not make as much as a CEO of some land raping corporation, I will be happy with my ability create fictitious truth, that I hope will shake the very foundations that I and others stand on. . . 

 

I can only anticipate that this class will give me a few more tools to push on, grow, and conquer those terrors which hold me back.

 

With these (im)perfect words, I leave you.