Project #4

My diagram of daily interactions was inspired directly by a piece at the Mattress Factory. There was a collage kind of hidden next to the giant LCD TV on the first floor in the main building across from the elevator. In the same way that we can recognize bands by the initial sound of a song, I noticed that this was a David Ellis creation. I have noticed in several of his works the same shapes, like the Superman logo and the curved stripes that ran vertically, which were dead giveaways on this piece. He used what looked like everyday items; I remember specifically about two dozen still connected twist ties laid out over one section. It was from this that I decided to create a collage. I approached the idea of daily interactions by what different everyday pieces of paper we use or come in contact with, and how they are documentation for an exchange of money for a product or service. I was also interested in highlighting the numbers in a day – mostly in bright red permanent marker – from the time when certain events take place, to the amount of money spent. I laid out the items in order from the start to the end of the day and I think the time markings help the viewer visually maneuver through the piece. It was only looking back into the David Ellis’ piece today that I had realized this was the same idea behind his work. I do not remember seeing a name on the collage I saw, but the Mattress Factory website says of his two printed pieces, OH and US, that “the artist paints onto collaged pages comprised of the his to-do list and hardware store needs, papers from the daily grind, as well as things he finds on the street that might spark an idea for new work or trigger a memory”

In contrast to the hectic feel of the daily interactions collage, my colors and shapes of a favorite song piece is very calm. The idea behind the work was not a new idea for me. While sitting at my computer, I sometimes would start doodling to the rhythm of the music. The strongest, most recognizable sounds would come out as different shapes and the flow of the music determined the speed with which I would make these shapes. I applied this technique to a very flowing blues guitar song called “Out of my Mind” by the John Mayer Trio. In actuality, the five rows of lines in the piece only account for the first minute of the over seven and a half minute song. This intro is mostly a flowing, but also an up and down shift in the guitar solo, accompanied by some bass and drum beats. The guitar’s sound is represented by a royal blue pastel, highlighted by a sky blue pastel. I used pastels because of the way they are able to blend well when applied on top of, and next to one another, to seem to give it a neon light sort of effect. I showed the noticeable drum and bass sections as shaking lines and quickly sketched circles in orange and white pastel, to show the difference in musical instruments, but to also show the way in which they complement each other in the same way that blue and orange colors do. I laid it out in rows as if it were the color and shape representation of sheet music to the song. With such a flowing song, the shapes start to have this cursive or script effect, mixed with the topography of valleys and the cross section view of a roller coaster’s track.

Just as I said the idea behind my song piece was not new, neither was the idea behind the portrait of my favorite technology. I remember one time, I think it was at an Eat n’ Park, that while my family was waiting for the check, I took one of those pointed ended fries that was left on my plate, dipped it in the left over condiment on my plate – most likely barbeque sauce – and started drawing with it on the other side of the plate. Even now, if there is a delay getting the check or someone I am with is still eating, I find myself doodling. I decided to apply this idea to the iPod. I think the most recognizable image for the MP3 player, besides the shape of the iPod itself, are the silhouettes in the commercials for the device a couple of years ago. I decided to emulate one of the images onto a plate that was similar in color. I decided it was best to directly use one of the images from the ad campaign instead of try to create a new one because of how that style of Photoshop-adjusted pictures has become so popular. I felt that to make a new image might look as though I was mocking the idea. The silhouette was done in chocolate syrup, while the white of the iPod and its headphones were done with a couple of different white icings. I was interested in using syrup and icing because of the idea that these sorts of food items would be the last things you would want around such an electronic device. It would be like making a summer landscape scene out of ice. Only after the piece was done, did I realize how much the iconic Fiesta plate added to the idea of technology and popular culture. In the same way that Fiesta dinnerware became a classic symbol of the 1930s, I think the iPod is the symbol of this decade.

The most unconventional of all my analog art pieces was my neighborhood rhythm piece. I view the neighborhood where I live with some disdain. I live on the bottom most street inside a valley of nice, but similar looking homes. The houses are not small, but the yards are not huge. I think most people living in middle class communities can agree with this idea. However, for as nice as the valley is, with large hills that step down, layered with homes on each step, the landscape just above the valley is some cause for concern. Looking towards the bottom of my street, you can only see glaring lights from the local CCAC that pierce directly down into the valley, and smoke from manufacturing plants like Irvin Works dominates the sky. At the other end, the parking lights from the oversized Super Walmart light up the entire view of the region. The lights are so bright and so frequently placed that it looks as light up as a stadium. In contrast, and just down the hill from the Walmart is the struggling eyesore that is Century III Mall. At first, I was going to try to depict the scene as a cut away view of these things, but in the initial drawings, it seemed to be without the meaning. I decided that instead of trying to make a scene depicting cookie-cutter houses, I would actually put into a sculpture actual cookie cut out houses. I placed bowls inside of one another to depict the steps of the valley, and placed the cookies in scattered and cluttered positions one the bowls, “gluing” them down with icing. Around the outer Tupperware bowl container are the scenes from outside the valley on paper and drawn in pastel and charcoal. I think this idea does give off more of the feeling that people inside the valley are too comfortable to worry about the actions around it.