Initially I wanted to do this narrative on restoring my 1971 Nova which I am currently doing. However this would be impossible to do in a week, although I do plan on doing this for myself. Then I thought of a way that I could still do this within the time constraints. I used to assemble plastic model cars as a kid and for Christmas my wife got me one resembling my Nova. I decided I would document the process of assembling the model much like assembling an actual car. Then I thought why not bring it to life, so I had the idea of having these images fade into an existing video of similar car.
I started by searching for a video of a similar car that would be easy to manipulate. I also had to find the video first to determine car color. I originally wanted to document this process piece by piece but this would have been too time consuming and difficult to maintain consistent angles and lighting. I also underestimated the time needed for the drying of glue and paint which made this a slow process. Given a month to do this I believe I could have documented a very detailed process. After assembling the model I took pictures and even had to match some angles. I used many different techniques on the computer to finish this piece. I used windows movie maker which made this process simple, all I had to do was insert images and videos and play with timing and transitions. There was the image of the model in the landscape prior to fading into the video which required photo shop.
Although this process was easier than anticipated it was very time consuming. Time was my number one enemy on this project. I was fighting against glue and paint drying and sometimes working when paint was still tacky. This does give my ideas on how to document
the actual restoration of my Nova and maybe I can make a similar narrative. Overall I am happy with the way this turned out considering how much time I put into this and how much time
I actually needed. Just getting this much took more than 14 hours of work and this time it was not the computer software but the actual physical model that consumed the majority of this time.

Final Project

I have put a lot of thought into this project thought about doing something with the many uniforms I have worn. This would be difficult with the time constraints and trying to locate my old uniforms. I then thought about how cool it would be to document the process of restoring my 1971 Nova, but again it will take much longer than a week. I think I am still going to do this for myself. Then I came up with the idea of using a plastic model of Nova my wife got me for christmas. I used to do these a lot as kid and haven't done one for awhile and it is still sitting untouched in the box. I will document the process of building the model much like I would if it was the real thing. I then would like the finished product to fade into a video of an actual Nova doing a burnout or racing, essentially make the model come to life. I will need to find a video of a 1968-1972 nova with solid paint color to make replicating it easier and ensure I can capture the angle of the model that is almost identical to that of the starting point of the video. I am looking forward to seeing how this turns out and I am open to this evolving into another direction.

Cathedral

I liked how this article gave some backgound information and then went into depth about the visit with Robert (the blindman). I think this is also a very good depiction have how uncomfortable people are around persons with disabilities. It was interesting to read about someone attempting to describe something to someone who is blind. This is because we tend to use familar images to describe something else and this simply does not work with someone who has seen nothing. It is more appropriate to define what a cathedral is rather than describe what it looks like.

One thing I found funny was on the second page when the wife says, "if you had a friend, any friend, and the friend came to visit, I'd make him feel comfortable." This is funny because one reason he may be uncomfortable is the fact she has male friend, and the fact that she did not imply his friend could be female shows the same discomfort. I also did not like the way this piece ended, it was a little too ambiguous.

Micro-Project_5

In this project I was to apply the action word roll to an object that I use on a day-to-day basis. I chose to use a pocket knife which I carry everyday and use on a regular basis. I looked up the many definitions of roll and decided to apply the definition, to wrap around onto self. I really wanted to do something more difficult than simply rolling something across a surface. I wanted to take something rigid like metal and roll it. Unfortunately there was no gas in my Dad's torches and I didn't have the time or money to fill them and I had to settle for using a handheld propane torch. I had originally planned to roll the entire blade but as the metal became thicker it was hard to heat it to a hot enough temperature with the small torch. I even broke a pair of my needle nose pliers in the process which I added above. I even found a little irony in this process because a slang definition for roll is to jump or rob someone. This is ironic because a common weapon used to "roll" someone is a knife and in this case it is the one being rolled.

Micro-Project_4

I thought about this project alot and what kind of superpower I would want. I just could not choose one power or even what I imagine as my altered identity. Instead I chose to alter my identity based on what my daughters think. They refer to me as the best dad ever and superdad so that is what the SD stands for. I enjoy spending time with them and giving them a hereo to look up to. This is a picture of us at disneyland and I simply drew a cape and symbol on myself. The background is a combination of the sidewalk by our hotel where we were standing for the pic, and the castle from inside the park. I played with the cartoon filter as well as the color and contrast to get sort of a comic book feel. In short I would have to say my power is being the best Dad I can be.

Micro-Project #3

I chose this location because of my love for Ohio State Football and the stadium is such a great structure. The objects I chose were comemorative coins from the military and some of my service medals as well as my Fleet Marine Force warfare device. I chose these because I wanted to show a side of me that is not seen at the university while also paying tribute to all military service men and women past, present and future. Sporting events are known to be very patriotic and openly show support for our service men and women. This location all though unintentional also faces the ROTC building. Today just about everyone personally knows someone who has served or is currently serving in the military and I just want them to think of those people when they view this image.

Photography Scavenger Hunt

Person Up Close

Person and their Surroundings

Symmetrical Image

Asymmetrical Image

Micro-Project #2 (Final)

These are just a few objects that help Identify my life and personality. Although I arranged some items in specific places with a specific reason, the image as a whole came together this way because I just felt this was the best fit. Since the project was to incorporate only inanimate objects I took photos of my daughter's objects as well as my wife's to show that they are as much a part of my identity as my own belongings. Jillian's blankie is her form of security and placing my 9mm on top of this demonstrates my form of security. The shot glasses take up a lot of space because I started collecting these in 1999 well before everything else in the image. But more importantly they represent my travels and experiences which allowed me to meet my wife and start our family, also I have shared many of these experiences with my wife and daughters. The UNO cards represent Alexis because she loves this and many other games and I chose the green 4 because her favorite color is green and she is 4 years old. The purse belonged to my wife's great grandmother and has a lot of sentimental value to her therefore it has the same value to me. I am not into jewelry other than watches and my wedding ring, other than my everyday watch these are the other two I own. The movies represent strength, hard work, opportunity, justice and family.

This image can be summed up as security and protection of family and our possessions.

This image does not come close to showing all of my interest, experiences or personality. I consider myself "a jack of all trades and master of none". I enjoy cooking, working on my own cars, carpentry, other sports like paintball, golf, rugby, fitness, medicine, many different tv shows and movies. I like to do just about anything and have tried a lot of things and still have more to do.

Micro-project #2

Since I had to chose inanimate objects for this project I decided to include things of my daughters and wife.

Alexis is my oldest daughter, she is 4 years old loves Uno and the color green. This shows my personality because I can't put any objects on here only thinking of myself, days of thinking of myself are over. I enjoy spending time with my daughters and playing Uno.

Game Night












This is my youngest daughters "Special Blankie" Jillian is 3 years old and she has to have this blanket at all times. This is an item that reminds me of her. We were instructed to photograph images of things that we would grab if our house was on fire. Due to this being Jillian "Special Blankie" she would be scooped up blankie and all and out the door we go.

Innocent Security

This is an image that represents my wife Carolyn, again using the fire as my motivation this is my wife's first inanimate concern if the house was on fire. This purse belonged to her great grandmother.

Sentimental Value

All three of these objects represent my personal identity as a father and a husband.

Micro-Project #2

A few more images for this project.



This is one of my favorite movies, I actually like all six Rocky movies. Sylester Stallone held onto the script that he wrote to play the part in the movie rather than Tom Selleck or Burt Reynolds. and the struggle that Rocky overcomes in the movies are great. It is a tru classic. I mean who doesn't get pumped up listening to the Rocky soundtrack.
Underdog












Tombstone is another great movie, it is probably the best western of my time. I have five brothers and can relate to three brothers in the film and even have very close friend who is like a brother like Doc Holiday is to Wyatt Earp. I just feel like taking on the world when I watch Wyatt Earp walk through the creek shooting at the "Cowboys" and everyone of their shots missing him.
Justice













What can I say, I would be surprised if someone in this class doesn't have some sort of OSU item in this project. I was born at OSU hospital and have been a die hard Buckeye fan my whole life. I moved back home after 8 years just to attend OSU.

OH-IO














My Oakleys, if it is sunny outside I just have to have them. I hate bright lights and besides they just look cool. I do get annoyed with the whole poker scene wearing sunglasses at the table. I love poker and find this really stupid and contagious due to poker on tv.

UV Protection

Micro-Project #2

These are just a few items that help to identify my personality.

Gun: I chose to include this Sig 9mm because I used to be in the military and carried one while in Iraq. Now I like to shoot for fun and keep this in my nightstand for security.
Home Security

Watches: I don't where any jewlry besides a watch and my wedding ring. Therefore I am beginning to collect watches, I got the stainless steel citizen in Hong Kong and the other I just bought recently. I forgot to add my everyday watch which is a casio G-shock. These represent my personality because I hate being late or not knowing what time it is.
Punctuality












Shot Glasses: I started this collection 1999 when I graduated high school and buy one everywhere I travel too. I currently have 85 shot glasses from a dozen different countries, about 35-40 states, amusement parks, restraunts, sporting events and many others. I like to travel and I am not a big fan of T-shirts that state where you have been, plus shot glass just says "I had a good time".
Memories

Micro Project #1

The goal of this project was to map out my journey from home to class. I chose to use architecture that I passed on my way to class. I began with my house which is less visually appealing than the other three images and continued with the Courthouse in Washington Courthouse, and old house along St. Rt. 62 and the Ohio Stadium which this class is held. I chose to put two different sizes of buildings to represent distance either ahead of or behind me. Using my house as the starting point it is the largest scale that is undistorted while the images get smaller the further away they are. Once I arrive at my destination then the building behind me also get smaller and are distorted to show the past. I added the windshield view to depict this as you can see the image through the windshield is clear corresponding with the undistorted images and the rear view mirror is unclear corresponding with the distorted images. I chose a windy road through the country because that is three quarters of my drive to class. The other images represent thoughts I have while driving along with music on the radio. My process was simply using many layers and adjusting images sizes while also erasing the unwanted portions of the images to allow the background to become visible.

The Accidental Masterpiece

I liked the fact that there were two arguements presented back and forth in this article, it helped to see two perspectives on art. I think I tend to lean more towards Metcalfs arguement about basically how art is in the eye of the beholder rather than placing overwhelming value on individual works. I liked the example of Xanadu, which I relate to the movie Citizen Kane in which Orson Welles character Charles Kane built this enormous estate in Floridia. I don't remember if he even finished it, but he ultimately ended up living there alone with No Trespassing signs, and after his death they found obscene amounts of art still in crates. I think that this shows how wealthy and influencial people give value to an art piece simply by admiring the work. Essentially art is all around us, but only when it given value by an influencial person is it really worth anything. I think Metcalf is trying to point this out and state that art should be valued differently by different viewers.

I had a difficult time following the arguements due to my lack of knowledge of art. I was able to recognize a few artist and terms but was lost with majority of their arguements. I am sure these arguements are much more persuasive and meaningful to the art community who have studied this works and artists.

Interpreting Visual Culture

This article did a great job of illustrating the difference between denotation and connotation. I like the fact that people view an image and will observe the same denotations but will have varying opinions on what connotations surround each image. This allows the audience to both agree and disagree on things in the same artwork. I even found myself making my own connotations about the examples given in the article. For instance I took the oil lamp on the shirts as the hard work and long hours put into obtaining a degree at those universities, essentially "burning the midnight oil"

I did not find anything in this article I did not understand or anything in which I completely disagreed. However there we other connotations that came to mind when reading the examples. I have two daughters and one purpose their stuffed toys seem to serve is security. The fact that real bears are scary and they have a toy that is theirs gives them a sense of power and security. Think about times in movies or personal experience when kids get scared they hold their stuffed bears tight to their bodies. I am not disagreeing with the other connotations in this article but some other ideas popped into my head first.

Big Ideas and Artmaking

I like how walker explains the big ideas in this text. she states that in order for a student's art to be more than a product of skill and formal choices it is important to have a big idea to convey to the audience. I agree that our first idea is not always the biggest and best but instead evolves from an initial idea into something more meaningful. I also like the fact that she distinguishes the difference between the theme and the big idea.

I was not a big fan of the format of this text, it looks like an excerpt from a text book and things were very choppy and hard to follow. There were many distractions from the reading due to the activities, tips, facts and assessments that jump from left of the page to right of the page and top to bottom. Now that I write this it makes me think about the cheese monkeys and the part about how we are trained to view things.

The Heresy of Zone Defense by Dave Hickey

I like how the author explained the shot made by Julius Erving, he was able to paint a picture of a magnificent shot using only words. I believe that one of the greatest forms of art is the body in motion and this piece really captures that in this basketball example. I like the quote from Thomas Jefferson " the liberating rule that civilized us yesterday will, almost inevitably, seek to govern us tomorrow". The quote is true in so many things and his example of Jackson Pollocks art work is great one. This goes to show that rules and guidelines made with good intentions can later be used to restrict the things we do whether it be in life or art. When people decide to do this they are missing the whole idea behind the changes which are to create more freedome and expression. Pollock states that it is ok to drip paint and not be perfect and then this is turned into strict rule requiring you to be a little messy to be accepted.

I am not particularly fond of basketball so some things were hard to follow. I didn't care for the way the author worshiped basketball like it was second to none. I am a football fan and didn't agree with James Naismith's guiding principles of Basket-Ball as it was compared to football. Although this was not written by the author it was added and seemed to be endorsed by the author. I believe the author did a great job promoting the sport of basketball and providing great imagery in his own writting and to me personally only weakened his piece by adding these guidelines.

The Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd

I really like the use of imagery and metaphors to describe what an artist will endure during their time as artists. If I am reading this correctly the author is lecturing art students and refering to the people we will view and judge their work as the enemy but they can't destroy the enemy because they are necessary to be the audience. I also like how he points out the fact that we view things from left to right and top to bottom and while the artist should challenge this they should also remember that this is the way their work will be viewed. Kidd also makes a humorous valid point about in front of and in back of in two deminsional works. This is because in reality they exist on the same plane but by using different techniques we can give the illusion of depth.

Althought there were things I liked I found this hard to follow without context and only getting exerpts. I was particularly lost on the first page because I know nothing about the author or his audience. Through reading all the excerpts I can only infer he is an art teacher talking to a class of art students. I am also lost on who is refered to as the cheese monkeys.

Top 5 Beers

1. Newcastle
2. Sam Adams Octoberfest
3. Oak Creek Brewery Nut Brown Ale (Sedona Arizona)
4. Smithwicks
5. Yuengling