FInal Project

           My thought process before the project was to make a narrative that is important to me, or something that was sort of a tradition. Since it was Thanksgiving break I thought about videoing the cooking process that demonstrated all of the steps put in to get the final project. I also thought about videoing our family grace before our Thanksgiving dinner because grace is very important to my family we have so much to be thankful for; and lastly I thought about videoing the madness of Black Friday because every year I go with my sister and it is chaotic especially at 4 in the morning.  

            For my final project, I settled on filming my family’s Thanksgiving grace and adding pictures to show my family and holiday celebration. The pictures that I captured were ones I thought really represented the day. I had the picture of the day on the calendar, a stuffed animal turkey, our harvest fall decorations, of course the plate of amazing food, some of my family eating, and lastly the two most important people in my life which is my mom and sister. Using Garage Band I added a sort of soulful instrumental over the grace so that it really added to the religious and emotional aspect.

            Overall, I am happy with how the piece turned out. My grandma is older and not in her best health so having her in one of the pictures while grace is being said means a lot to me because I am thankful for every bit of time I get to spend with her especially since this could be her last Thanksgiving. Every family goes through their own struggles, and my family has definitely been through a lot and to express to everyone our thankfulness and giving thanks to God means the world to me.

Brianstorming

1) Starting next Wednesday my starts preparing thanksgiving food. I thought about videotaping the process; the ingredients being out, preparing the food, the end product, then the next day snapping pictures of the family enjoying the food just to tie the project all together.

2) Since it is the holiday season my sister and I always go black Friday shopping super early in the morning, so I thought I could take my video camera to the stores and videotape different people on their hunt for their items. I figured it could be sort of a Lord of The Flies type film, with people salvaging, fighting, and waiting over the items they came to purchase. People get crazy, the only downfall is it isn't always super crazy every year so it would by chance if I got good footage.

3) My grandma is pretty old an not in the best health, so I will be spending time next week just us two helping her prepare thanksgiving food. I thought maybe I could just do an audio recording and take a few pictures as we bond and share our time together making memories enjoying whatever time she has left.

4) Since we always have turkey before thanksgiving I figured I could do a picture documentary of preparing the turkey from start to finish. Pulling whatever junk out that stuffed inside, rubbing it with seasoning, the cooking process, the person struggling to carry it, stuffing it with dressing, carving it, then serving it on a beautiful platter.

Whatever I do, I want to involve the holidays and my family because that's whats important to me and any narrative with that is something I will enjoy working on and can put my whole heart and creativity in it.

Failure Paper

   This class has been a very pleasent class; in all my years of school there have been only a handful of classes I can say I actually enjoyed, and this is one that I really enjoyed! I don't know as though I can really pinpoint this as my biggest failure in the class, but I will say my personal failure and biggest downfall would be just having the lack of knowledge for the technology and software programs that we used. I have to say I struggled quite a bit trying to make the visions I had, just because I was so unfamiliar and dumbfounded by the software. Although it took time, I really feel that I got more comfortable with the software and was able to use it more afficiently since having a little practice. By micro project 5 I definitely feel like I have gained the knowledge needed for these software programs but I am certainly not a master and will never be done learning! My biggest success in this class would definitely be finding my creativity and using it in my work. I have always known I was creative and had interesting and unique ideas, but this class really allowed me to push myself and think outside the box to really bring that creativity to life! This class really made me learn and understand that no idea is ever too crazy or too out there. Being creative is what art and photography is all about, pushing your limits and doing what others would never think of. I think if I could redo one project it would be the map project. This project being one of our first photoshop projects and me not being familiar with the software I really struggled. I think that I was so concerned with understanding the software and trying to figure out what to do I didn't allow myself to be creative and I just went with the easiest way out in doing the MapQuest map and photo-shopping pictures over top. If I could change things now, I think I would definitely use the software to create my map instead of using MapQuest. My approach was just too original.

Micro Project 5

The object that I chose for this project was a light bulb. My words were gather and scatter, I had the hardest time coming up with an object that I felt would make sense to everyone without having to go into deep explanation but at the same time I wanted it to be creative. One night I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and the light was shining so bright in my eyes after being asleep for so long, and I began to think it is truly amazing how with just the flick of a switch electricity just shoots out of the light bulb. It was at that moment I realized light bulbs gather electricity to then scatter light throughout whatever room or place you are in. I chose to make a video going through different rooms in my house starting in the dark then videoing the from beginning to end with the flip of the switch, to the light scattering around the room, to the electricity and light being gathered back up in the light bulb, to the turning off flick of the switch. I used several lights and even a lamp just to demonstrate that even though the object may look different it works in the same magnificent way, to gather electricity and to scatter the light.

Micro Project 4

      This video soundtrack takes place in my car. I spend a lot of my time in my car between commuting to school, going to work, and whatever leisurely activities I go to in my free time. I love country music so I always have my radio on 92.3 WCOL, which is the reason why I have one of my favorite country singers Tim Mcgraw driving a truck as my soundtrack picture. It was interesting doing this project because it really allowed me to focus on the sounds I heard in my car rather than just the music blaring through my speakers. My turn signal was a really prominent sound that stood out to me, I also had my windshield wipers on which created a squeaking sound depending on how fast they were going, and lastly the sound of my car when I would break and accelerate really stood out to me. I have never focused on any of these sounds before, so now when I get in my car they are all I can hear!

Carver Cathedral

        Carver's writing was very interesting. It really demonstrated how the senses are so powerfully used when one sense is missing. The blind man compensated his lack of vision with his hearing, taste, and touch to get through his life and understand the environment around him. It was really cool to read the part of them drawing the Cathedral and the blind man holding on to feel the trace of the drawing so he could understand what the Cathedral looks like. I have never done something like that before so I think it would be interesting to see what I could do and if I could function normally with my eyes closed. I just really liked the end of the writing when the husband closed his eyes and didn't want to open them because he had never felt a feeling like that before, it was like he was amazed and that is really nice to read especially after he made such a fuss about being around the blind man and not knowing how to act.
       Overall I really liked this piece, it was a little hard to get into but once it carried on I really liked the objective it had about how people with deficiencies can sometimes enjoy life and things in life better than people without the deficiencies. This piece really did focus on the senses and how they get you through life; it was really interesting.

Wallace This Is Water

          Wallace's writing This is Water was over all pretty good. It manly focused on how many people walk around oblivious to life and the situations they are put through. In a sense I agree with the writing, but I don't think everyone is this way. Like he said, it is the mindset that the person has. When the example was given about the men in the bar with the atheist that was a little crazy, I feel like that man was sort of oblivious to what was going on around him but not completely. I am religious, so based off of my religious values I believe that God can get you through any obstacle especially with prayer; but I have to look at the standpoint of maybe the man wasn't oblivious maybe atheist and no beliefs was how he was raised, so he wouldn't know if his prayers were answered or not.
        Overall, this writing was pretty interesting, the only thing that I have to disagree with is that everyone has their own life story which could be the reason they seem oblivious to Which is why we can't judge them based on whether we think they are walking clueless through life or whether they have just been brought up in a different way. My feelings are that whatever you are accustom to in life is the objective you will live by whether onlookers don't understand or not.

First Movie Project

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FktukBSCCRk&feature=youtu.be



Cassi Lemaster, Sara Starkey, Sam Stockert

Annie Leibovitz

           My experience at the Wexner Center was amazing! The Annie Leibovitz exhibit was fascinating, I have never been to an art exhibit before so this was a perfect first experience. Her pictures were so unique and creative. I have seen several of her pictures before but I never new that she was the photographer. I think my favorite picture in the exhibit was of Nicole Kidman; the dress she was wearing was stunning and the way she was posed was perfect, she looked just like a mermaid. I love celebrities and and the whole Hollywood aspect, so the fact that most of her pictures were of famous people it was very interesting and cool to me.
           While at the exhibit, I also went in THE BOX and watched Mary Reid Kelley's short movie "The Syphilis of Sisyphus". The short movie was very bazaar, the costumes and script were pretty funny but mostly weird. I came into the short movie a little after it started so I didn't get the title, but after watching it and finding out the I realized how sexual it was. I definitely liked the Annie Leibovitz exhibit over this Mary Reid Kelley strange film! Over all, the Wexner visit was an amazing experience and I look forward to going back.
           

Micro Project 3

The background of my project is based off of an iPad, because I am obsessed with my iPad. I start everyday waking up getting right on my iPad so I can get my eyes used to the light before I get out of bed. I also bring it to school with me and do assignments in my free time, as well keep up on my social media sites. It also holds all my music, and music gets me through each day.

iPad Life

One of the most important objects I have on my project is my phone. I cannot go anywhere without my phone; I text all the time(except in class of course). My phone is always in my pocket, my purse, or my bookbag, and if I dont have it with me I stress out; I have to stay connected to my friends.

Text Me

The second most important object is my makeup. I LOVE makeup! I usually always have it on, and I love how it can be an art. I match my makeup to the colors of what I am wearing that day and what kind of mood I am in.

Face Art

I chose to put my jewelry rack on here because I am obsessed with jewelry. I always have jewlery on everyday to match each outfit I wear. I feel that without jewelry no outfit is complete. I am actually known for being the girl that has jewelry to match everything.

Outfit Completion

I have handsanitizer on here because I am a huge germaphobic. I am constantly washing my hands and handsanitizing. I have a handsanitizer in every purse I own, in my bookbag, and in my car.

Germ Killer

I have my coffee mug in the center of my project because I LOVE coffee. I don't drink it just because I love the taste, I drink it because I need the caffeine epecially with the long days I have.

Caffeine Cup

My toothbrush is a part of my project because I brush my teeth constantly. I hate the feeling of dirty teeth. I also work for an orthodontic office, so I must always have good oral hygiene.

Brush Clean

My Buck Id was a big part of my project because being a student at The Ohio State University is my life right now. I am a full time student so my Id is always with me. I also carry it with me all of the time for when I go to the Rpac and workout.

Buckeye Identity

The three perfumes that I have a picture of are Curious, Someday, and Hearts & Daggers. I love to smell good, and these are my three absolute favorite scents. I wear one of these everyday.

Smellin Good

I put my car keys on here because my pepper spray is attatched to them. I am very cautious and always want to be safe, so I carry my pepper spray in my hand whenever I am anywhere alone.

Safe Spray

Last but not least, I have the  Facebook and Twitter icons on my project because I am addicted to both of them. I am on them as much as I can just to see what is going on in my friends lives.

Staying Connected

This overall piece represents the physical objects that I love and use in my day to day life. These objects are the things I have with me all the time, I don't feel as though I would be myself without them. Of course I couldn't put everything about me in this project so there are several things missing that make me who I am. I could not capture in a picture the amount of love I have for my family and friends, the sense of humor I have, and my everyday struggles and triumphs. These pictures I posted just brush the surface of who I am. I do think of myself as my iPad I use in my everyday life though. I like to think that just like my iPad I am searching for new information everyday, I am the sole connection to interacting with people and making friends just like the technology it has connects me with twitter, skype, and facebook. I am filling my internal memory with the experiences I have and the familiar things I constantly do just like the sites it visits and the tools it uses. I am a very deep person but these pictures are only what you see on my screen.

Kaprow The Blurring of Art and Life

              Kaprow's piece The Blurring of Art and Life was so fascinating to me. The way that the different art forms were introduced and exemplified really brought clarity to me. It is not so much the piece of work that's displayed in a gallery it is the piece of work and the story behind it. Real life scenarios for example Kaprow and the toothbrush; it wasn't so much the the toothbrush and just brushing your teeth. It was the real life action that triggered the 5 senses which truly made it live art.
             In my opinion there was nothing wrong with this piece of writing. Kaprow did an great job demonstrating art and life, he says "An artist concerned with lifelike art is an artist who does and does not make art" (222). This really shows me that it's not about captivating an object that people will understand, it's about creating the unthinkable that may be ignored in everyday life.

map project

My morning route to school begins with my cup of coffee that I drink on my drive here, while blasting my radio to my favortie country music . On my journey I take Dublin Rd. which consists of a school zone and several school buses that slow down my travels. After Dublin Rd. I take Riverside to Lane Ave. and on Lane there is quite a bit of construction which leads to another slow down in my travels, several days Lane Ave. has actually been shut down completely forcing me to change  my route through neighborhoods to make it to west campus. Once I park at west campus I catch a bus sometimes waiting several minutes for them to arrive, riding the bus is often difficult because it is very crowded causing me to stand trying to hold onto the pole to stabilize myself with one hand while holding my coffee, phone, and keys in the other hand, this provides quite a challenge. I end my bus route when I get to Woodhayes Dr. which sometimes can be complicated as well, depending on where I am smashed in the bus it takes me time to get to the door and sometimes the bus driver starts to leave so I have to yell at them. I walk around towards the left of the stadium to get to our classroom gate door as the girls cross country team runs past me almost trampling me. Once I get to the door I walk up the stairs where I then go to the classroom, sit down and enjoy the rest of my coffee and wait for class to start.                                                                                             

Cardiff, Miller and the Power of Sound

             This article was very interesting to me. I thought it was amazing how some people who really are at peace can get so engrossed with a sound or sounds that they can forget where they are. For example when the author was on the iPod walking through the train station he got so involved and so focused to what he was hearing in the iPod speakers and what he was seeing on the screen he thought it was actually real life. Also, when they were at the "Forest" he said that once the real life weather started happening he was so used to the noises around he couldn't tell what was real or fake. This was just so fascinating because I guess I have never really paid any attention to all the noises and sounds I encounter in my everyday life unless they annoy me.
            I really liked reading this article, I didn't find anything that I thought was really problematic. The only thing I questioned was at the end, when the author was talking about "The Forty-Part Motet" and how a man ran away crying and a girl was swaying back and forth. When he asked the woman she said some people had no peace; so I was curious as to what this meant. If it just meant they were annoyed by the sound and it took over their minds or what the problem was?

Hornby Nipple Jesus

       After reading "Nipple Jesus", it was clear that their were only a few purposes to this story. The main purpose I felt to be the mosaic of the piece, the fine detail that onlookers must really observe and examine; the tiny pitures innertwined with one large beautiful piece of artwork. I believe this is story was pretty much telling people to study a piece of artwork in a gallary, look at the fine print, ask questions to yourself and make up an explanation like Dave did. Another purpose I feel this story had, was that it's clear everyone has their own opinion that is was art provides. Art allows viewers to see what they want, to fuel their creativity and their emotions. It is clear that a true artist knows this, which is why it was Martha's intention all along to to fuel the emotions of her viewers in hopes of violent reactions.
       This story was interesting to me, I have to say I did think it was problematic in the beginning for me because I think making a picture like that is just unacceptable no matter what religion you are. But after further reading into the story and seeing the actual motive behind Martha's artwork it was kind of understandable and a little less offensive. If I were to see a piece of artwork like this in my life time I would be upset, I would think of this story in hopes it would make things better; but I would never trash the picture just never revisit that gallary I would be to offended.

Micro- Assignment

Asymmetrical

Ants Point of View

                                                                     Symmetric

                                                                          Stable
                       

                                                                        Unstable

                                                                             Radial

                                                                   Birds Point of View

                                                            Name on Campus

                                                 Person and Their Surrounding Space

                                                         Person Up Close


Questions:

       There was quite a big difference between taking the first 10 pictures and then taking these 10 pictures.  The difference was that with the first set of pictures I just took pictures of what I felt like with no real meaning behind them, just what I personally liked. With the second set of pictures I really had to think, I had to make sure I was captivating what we were assigned to take pictures of while trying to make them as creative as I could. The only things that were really the same in taking the pictures is that I used the same camera and I enjoyed taking the pictures. The process that was most enjoyable to me was probably the first set of pictures, I was able to captivate things as I wanted to not in a certain form.  Out of both sets of pictures I love the elephant, the crown, and the deer head. I loved the elephant because it looks so realistic and I have grown up with animal decorations all my life. I love the crown because it just has that rustic royalty appearance, which I think is interesting. Lastly, I love love love the deer head because that has been on the wall in my family room my whole life, and I have never seen it from the angle of the picture it's just humorous to me. 

Walker & Barrett

       In Barrett's article, it was interesting to see how artists can market different interests by intertwining connotations and denotaions in their artwork. I loved the discussion about Michael Ray Charles. He used his artwork to illustrate the racism era to express his feelings to the world. Rather than stating how he felt about racism and all of the controversy he could have caused, he spoke with his paintings. His paintings inspired and touched the souls of many, making him a memorable artist.
      I did not find anything problematic in this article, there was just a small thing that bothered me. Into the reading, the Rolling Stone cover with Destiny's Child was being examined; it was baffling to me how it was explained that even though the girls were artists it would only be assumed to prepare their readers for sex, based on the magazine cover title "booty camp". It's understandable that every reader would have their own opinion, but I don't think it gives anyone the right to put a label on something based on a picture.
    In Walker's article, it was all about how that "big idea" is what every artist needs to fuel their productivity. It was interesting to read the about how its easy to get confused between the big idea and the subject; but the subject was merely the topic and the big idea is the concept. This article depicts the importance of the big idea, and how one artists big idea is different than the next creating a great contrast. For example, I liked how artist Deborah Butterfield always loved horses and her big idea was to create horses even though she was afraid; but she did it and she succeeded.
    Overall, I thought this article was very interesting. The only thing that I found problematic was how towards the end the reading became sort of jumbled and confusing to follow. Walker kept discussing student assignments and teaching, I was unsure of what I was supposed to be comprehending while I was reading an assignment listing and problems.

Pictures

Kidd, Hickey, & Weschler

 In response to Kidd's Cheese Monkeys Excerpt, I thought overall that the reading was pretty engaging and informative. It was interesting to see how our third dimension was explained in comparison to the two dimensional world "Flatland". It was also interesting to see how each comparison was broken down and demonstrated, really showing how Left to Right, Top to Bottom, Big and Small, and In Front Of and In Back Of really build off of each other and are used in everyday life.
      The article was difficult to interpret at times just because in my opinion it jumbled a lot of information together. But what I found problematic while reading is that I know that "Flatland" doesn't really exist, but in a sense I think it does. There are people living in our third dimensional world that I believe are two dimensioal people; they see things very flat and boring, they don't open their eyes to see the creativity, uniqueness, and wide range of variety that our world really entails.This to me causes world issues not allowing people to see eye to eye.
       In response to Hickey's The Heresy of Zone Defense,  I thought that the reading was very interesting. I liked the way Hickey started out with such graphic detail of the basketball play; I am not a huge basketball fan so I was unaware of the play that was described, so reading this I actually felt like I experienced what happened which was cool. All the way through the reading it was nice how basketball was described as being so beautiful and free, how it allows people to express themselves, and how for a lot of people its there way of life. It's nice that people can be so passionate about something that it drives there life in a positive way.
       In this reading there was only one thing that I found problematic. The problem occurred to me when Hickey said, "This is not to say that basketball is a religion. It is better  than a religion"(pg4). I know there are different religions and everyone has there own beliefs, but reading this whether Hickey intended it in this way or not it was upsetting, because without religion and in my case without God I don't believe people would have talents for things such as basketball. I think religion goes hand in hand with everything, in order to succeed and have unconditional joy religion should be most important above all.
     In response to Weschler's Uncanny Valley, it was mind blowing to read that the face in animation was not yet mastered. I realize that the technology is constantly improving everyday, but from the movies and television shows I have watched the face and hair seems mastered. Although, after reading the fact that the face produces over 5,000 expressions I realized where the animators could have their issues; I can't even think of 100 facial expressions let alone over 5,000 and mastering the detailed drawing of them.
     There was nothing problematic to me in this reading, the only thing I could find problematic was for the animator. Thinking about creating the perfect face and milk complection over and over has to be very frustrating. The fact that the animators mastered the black skin and elderly skin is a good accomplishment, but the movies I have seen there are very few black and elderly people in them. With this being said, it could be a ongoing struggle for them until every animator has mastered the perfect skin and face because that is what the animation is based off of in every film. 
     
      

Background

My name is Cassi Lemaster, I grew up in Dublin Ohio and attended Hilliard Davidson High school. I graduated in 2010 where I then went to college at Columbus State Community College until I decided what major I was going to embark on. This is my first year/semester at The Ohio State University where I plan on achieving my bachelors degree in Fashion Merchandising. I have many interests (mostly ones out of school) including: shopping, music, celebrity gossip, being with family, football, hunting, and traveling. Traveling is a huge part of my life, we travel twice a year and I recently just got back from Nassau Bahamas.
Top 5 vacation spots:
1.) Ft Lauderdale Florida
2.) Nassau Bahamas
3.) Chicago
4.) Hawaii
5.) California

More photos from Cassi Lemaster