CAP

I worked with some awesome people - Anita and Andrea for a Community Arts project this week. Anita brought to my attention the issues that have been existing for the community houses within Toronto.

There are many underprivileged  people in our big city. The government is kind enough to provide homes to those who need it. But just how are they providing it, exactly?

Not very well, I am afraid to say...

If you saw our Powerpoint this Tuesday, you may be aware of the terrible conditions that are present within the community homes of Toronto. Let me show you one of our slides:

I found the image of M.L.'s balcony to be the most disturbing of them all...

Not only are these homes beyond proper living conditions, there is now a work in progress by Rob Ford, motivated to privatize the Toronto Community Housing Corp., which would lessen the involvement of the government - in terms of funding and provisions of scholarships to disadvantaged students. The conditions of these homes could worsen, and the costs of the homes could also increase. There is potential for tenants to lose their homes!

What I and my partners wish to do is spark awareness on this injustice.

OUR BIG IDEA!

We wanted to show the city that we are dedicated early childhood educators. Therefore, our idea begins with the involvement of children!

1. We discuss with children in a large-group activity the idea of a "perfect home". What is a perfect home? Who lives in your perfect home? What does your home need to make you happy?

2. Build a model of your perfect home. It can be made out of anything! Cardboard, paper, foil, you name it! To be friendly to our earth, we recommended using recycled materials. 

3. We now have our advertisements about this injustice. With the help of their caregivers, children can learn about the unfortunate tenants of Toronto, and how their homes are jeopardized. The children can show their homes off to the public - within the displays of their school, and if they're durable and transportable enough, throughout Nathan Phillips Square, or the subsidized housing communities. This is our creative way of exclaiming this injustice.

This would involve the attention of fellow Torontonians, the City Council, and hopefully the Mayor!

With our "perfect house miniatures", we could motivate fellow Torontonians to become aware of the issue at hand. It would be up to us to make known that we will not accept this injustice.

The delivery of justice can take many forms, which is the current Art Word of the Week. Form depicts how an art piece uses its shapes in order to portray a three-dimensional appearance. It encompasses many other elements of art, such as texture and colour, too.

The miniature homes would be made according to the skills and wants and needs of each creator. Their forms would be dynamic!

Little Bean Dogs

I really wanted this activity to be something that was, you know, unique. My first idea was "Oh my God! I will totally fill a room with yarn!" I looked at our GoBlog Invites and one of the suggestions was "yarn bombings". Thank God I checked before I took my bicycle up to Dollarama.

So it took me days upon days of thinking, "What the heck can I do to spread some artwork throughout the school without doing something unlawful?"

My ideas consisted of:

1. Paper cups scattered throughout the school with facial expressions and discussions about keeping our earth clean. 
Only one problem: Kinda hypocritical!

2. Using a laptop and a projector to display an image on a wall in the school. 
Only many problems: My laptop got a hole burned into it, I am not sure how I could keep my equipment from being potentially stolen, and it's not very inconspicuous.

Well, that's all I can think of. I think I'll watch Youtube!

Wanna see?

... LOL! What the heck was that! I was just totally thrown off! That was so random... What is that thing? A pistachio dog thing? WOW! LOL!

OH my God. That thing just gave me the best reaction... The reaction I want to give to some random students! By God, I HAVE AN IDEA! Genius!

Shitteru? [Did you know?]

Okay, so if it were up to me, I totally would have provided the "plain fun" portion of this activity. But I felt that maybe it'd be easier to grab people's attention if I was spreading random facts of information that were about happiness.

So, I made some posters: Here they are!

I'm going to be making a few more than this tomorrow morning, but I am just pooped! I'll let you know how my *ART ATTACK* turns out. Get it? Remember Art Attack? Hahahaha.

Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow!

....
Oh my Gosh. Some people are so weird...

Okay, so I drew about six of these photos! And I placed six of them throughout "The Dungeon" - which is really a seating area in Kerr Hall that is dominated mainly by engineers and computer programmers. I think maybe they're the type of people that require the most cheering up. Haha, I'm kidding. :)

Anyway, I placed each of these photos on the seats and desks in The Dungeon, and sat with my friend in a corner, camera in hand... Waiting for people to walk past, and give me some juicy reaction.

First taker(s): Two boys. They glance down at my drawing of an edamame, which describes how your happiness levels increase when you are dancing. They look around, give out a laugh, but dang, they're too fast for my camera! I miss them.

Second taker: A young girl. She's been sitting with her boyfriend in a four-seater desk the whole time I've been here, and I'm sure she noticed me placing the sheets down and donning the camera. She gets up and walks past one of the desks with my drawing of the edamame. I manage to get a picture of her!

As you can tell, she is about to take another step, but is totally frozen in place by the awesomeness of my drawing. She looks at it and stays frozen in that position long enough for my camera to take its photo! Haha, silly. :) 

Third taker(s): A trio consisting of two girls and one boy. They sit right at the desk where my drawing is placed, and they don't seem to have noticed the drawing until they're all seated. I manage to catch their reactions after they look down!

The girl on the left gives me the best reaction - look at her holding in that laugh!

That was exactly the reaction I was looking for!

Fourth taker: Okay, I kid you not, and you seriously don't have to believe me... But the fourth person to come across my drawings sits in the desk less than a metre away from me, which has a drawing of a pistachio, with the fact: "Exercise increases your happiness by 10-20%"

You know what he does with it? I kid you not, he uses it as rolling paper... Right beside me! He looks a little bit tough, and I am a little worried about taking a photo of him doing it, but I managed to snap a photo of him when his back is turned, just to show you guys how close this was happening:

Do you realize how close this was? I couldn't suppress my laughter very well!

So yeah, I didn't get that drawing back... Oh well.

Well, I had mixed emotions about this assignment. I felt like a voyeur, but the reactions of some of my takers were just so funny! Would I do it again?

... Probably not. I mean hell, someone made my drawing into rolling paper!!!

The Art Word of the Week in relevance to this experience is "Space". In this activity, I used a very large space to scatter some of my art pieces around, and gather the reactions of various people. It would be a little harder to do this in a room that is tiny, because I'd have no place to hide, and there wouldn't be a never-ending source of random passers-by. 

The 8-Ball's Cloud-9

"Baby, I used to be part of every bash. If ever a clyde needed some sense, then I would be the one to talk to. Back then, people didn't ask for much. All of their questions could be solved in a simple "yes, "no", or "reply hazy", if I wasn't feeling so in orbit that day. Really, people were able to take advice like it is, and I was just the cat who knew how to dish it out. I was just funky like that, y'dig?

But now, things have just become so dark, and everything's flipped! You just can't solve problems with a "Signs point to yes" anymore. It's just everyone's bag to know "why" or "when" too. Not cool... Where does that leave me? The guy who used to dig it all?  It leaves me as a crumb... a square! And it's a real drag." - (The Magic 8-Ball, 2011). 

...

The Magic 8-Ball. A classic toy of the 50's. Can you imagine what it's like to be a vintage toy? People look at you, they laugh at that would-be fun, then toss you in that old junk drawer, along with the faded markers and used staples...
They must feel pretty dark and lonely. And the poor 8-Ball, the toy that knows and sees all, sees only the dust piling up on its window to the unknown. 

I can imagine that they're the type of character that doesn't need to know much about you, and can solve all your problems in less than four words. You know that type of person, right? Perhaps way back when, those four words could really do the trick. But in the modern age, those answers aren't enough anymore, and so you're proven to be no help at all. Suddenly, you feel empty..., like you're drained of that good ol' dark-blue dyed fluid that swishes and swashes when you're shaken up.

If there's one thing Magic 8-Ball knows, it's contrast. Contrast is the presence of conflicting elements. And the Magic 8-Ball is made up of contrasts: It can only say yes or no, and it's always presented to be black and white (otherwise it's another billiard ball, like a one ball, if it's yellow, right?) 

Non posso parlare, io sto mangiando!

Here's a list of pastas that I have encountered throughout my Italian life-style.

Gnocchi; Spaghetti; Farfalle; Ruote; Linguini; Ravioli; Tortellini; Fusilli; Lasagna; Maccheroni; Cannelloni; Conchiglioni; Penne; Rigatoni; Ziti; Stelline; Risi; Risoni; Ditalini; Ditali lisci; Pipe.

This might as well be the amount of words I can say in Italian, too. ... Yeah, I can't speak Italian fluently, but I know enough words to tell my mom a secret on the bus; to curse when I am right annoyed, or know when my nonna is saying, "Come, have something to eat!" That's all that matters, right?

I have come to notice that if there's anything that is important in the Italian culture - it has to be our cuisine.We would rather preserve a recipe for a really good tomato sauce, than preserve our language. Yes, we are right proud of the food that we make, even though it appears as if we are actually just pawning off of other cultures: (noodles and pizza are actually of Asian descent, and tomatoes were discovered in the Caribbean)...

Is it just me, or is living the same culture all your life very boring? There are days where I overlook the qualities of other cultures, and I am awestruck... I am even more awestruck when I encounter an individual who has TWO cultural backgrounds. One of the most amazing cases I have seen, is one of my good highschool friends: Off the top of my head, I know that she is Maltese, Spanish, French, and Scottish. I can guarantee there's more. But I won't go ahead and ask her, because I want this reference to be a surprise. HI!!! :D

But I digress.

 So yes, as an Italian, I am very knowledgeable of the food that I am eating. And would you like to know something interesting? I'm sure all of us are aware of the famous Renaissance Italian sculptors; but I bet you didn't realize that even our pasta are dainty, edible sculptures too! Allow me to present to you some of the most interesting shapes of pasta-dom:

Stelline - the "tiny star" pasta!

Farfalle - the "butterfly" pasta!

Ruote - the "cart-wheel" pasta!

Shape effects what an object looks like, and therefore, a shape can be used to create similarities to another object. This is the process of creating sculptures. I can tell you, that by the looks of some pasta-shapes, that they are nothing more than miniature edible sculptures. In the above pasta-shapes in particular, all of these shapes create a certain appeal particularly for Italian/American/Canadian children. Wouldn't you know that a certain shape is a bit more appealing - and appetizing than another? 

"Stelline" is a type of "pastina" - this means "tiny pasta"! Pastina is a dish most often served to toddlers - because their small size is easy to spoon and swallow whole. Not only that, but the shapes of most pastinas are just so fun! Stelline - which means "tiny stars", is one of the most common pastinas I had in my life, and I can tell you that I'd certainly feel like a tiny star after warming with a hearty bowl of stelline after an hour of playing in the snow during kindergarten, getting my socks and snowpants soaked! Mmm... Nostalgialicious! 

"Farfalle" means "butterflies" in Italian, and you can tell by its shape, the shape is so close to butterfly wings. However, my cousins would call this pasta "bow-tie" pasta, because, well, yeah, they clearly look like bow-ties, too! Bow-tie pasta is most yummy in a garlic oil, or creamy white sauce. That said, I've seen it served most often during special occassions. Well sure, they're just so fancy!

And then, there's "Ruote", which is also known as "cart-wheel" pasta. There's not much more to say, except.. "VROOOM!! VRROOOM!" Yeah that doesn't make much sense. Carts don't have engines.

Anyway, shape is a principle of art which leads you to think of symbolic things. Pasta is a good example! 

Harmonizing with Scissors

Harmonizing with scissors... When I say that, I think of playing a musical instrument with the aide of scissors. Like banging or piercing a drum with a sharp blade, just for the destructive sounds. Or clanging scissors against a metal surface to hear that screech, clank and bang. Industrial! 


Oh, awesome, on that topic:

Heh-heh... Witty.

Anyway, I have composed a creative activity which can aide children in become aware of their perspectives - emotionally, musically, and visually. I have engaged in such activity whenever I feel nervous, or totally chill with the beats I am listening to. Here's how it goes:

What Does the Song Look Like?

Have you ever listened to a song, and closed your eyes, and just watched the shapes and images that your brain associates with the sounds? They can be obscure clouds, lines, polygons, squiggles; but they can also be like your very own music video, as the music plays, you reminisce a past memory that relates to the lyrics or emotive beat. Well, this activity can allow you to expand on this. 

It's really, very simple. Grab a sheet of paper. It could be any size, but preferably something large, maybe even body sized! Once you've found that, you could set it on a flat surface. 

Find some colours. It doesn't matter what kind of writing utensil it is - whatever you feel -or your kids feel most comfortable expressing with. Paint; Pastel; Chalk; Coal... You know. 

 Get a music player... If you want this to be personal, a headset is totally cool... If you want this performed in a group, you need something that can play for all the ears to catch - a stereo system?

Find some music which will produce an emotive response. Well, THAT'S easy. All songs can do this. You can have children think of their favourite songs, and this way they will feel a sense of individuality, or togetherness, when they get to select a song which represents, them, or their friendships. 

The song's playing, now, right? Okay... Whatever the music's making you feel, in your hands, act it out with your utensil!

The song's soothing... Ooh.. it makes my hand lazy... Can you imagine how your shapes and scribbles would look? Gentle, dragged strokes across a huge page. Swirls caressing the page. What colours would you use? Nothing too bright and exciting, Perhaps gray, pale blues... It makes me think of the rolling sky. 

Oh, but let's change the track. Now it's a samba! Ha-ha! This is exciting! I feel the urge to party and dance! How does that make you feel? *scribble scribble dot dot dot dot jab jab JAB the pencil!* The colours are so festive and exiting - yellows, reds, electric blues! I am thinking of confetti! I will draw confetti! 

As you can tell, the music that you play will have an effect on each person in an individual sense. The activity will also have a cultural value, when you use music of cultural significance. You know what I mean, just a simple tune from a nation's significant instrument, will make you picture you're submerged in that culture? Yeah. :) 

Well, the bigger the page, the more parts of your body you could use! The more messy and intense! You could dance on the page (just make sure the paper and paint isn't of the slippery persuasion)!

The Art Word of the Week that correlates with this topic would design. Really, the artwork that is produced from this activity is a composition of shapes, lines, colours and patterns to create an emotional response to a tune. The design can depict whether the artist was pleased, or displeased; feeling organized, or totally scattered and confused. It's all out, in the open, and debatable. 

CellarDoor

Why are we watching movies for homework?

Because:

(... Not that I didn't want to!)

Here's the run-down of my assignment's process:

-The Selection-

Oh well... Let's go through these movies... Princess Mononke? I heard of that, it's a Hayao Miyazaki movie, like Spirited Away, or My Neighbour Totoro. Those movies are so cool... Maybe I'll watch that... Wait a second... No way... They are suggesting to watch...

DONNIE DARKO!?

SERIOUSLY? Oh my God, NOSTALGIA! I watched that when I was only thirteen! It was SO WEIRD! I had no clue what was going on! Maybe I should watch that again, now that I'm older, it'll TOTALLY make more sense! Right!?

-The Viewing- 
I watched my movie with two friends, and my movie buff little brother. Here's the rundown:

The whole watching of the movie involved mixed emotions: GUYS SHH! I WANNA LISTEN? Oh God I missed what he said. Now I have NO CLUE what's going on. Oh my God WHAT'S GOING ON! HAHAHAHHAHAA What did he say!? Oh my God, eewww! HAHAHAHA! ... What? OH MY GOD! *Gasps* ... What? Wait.. What? REWIND!! What?! Oh my God. I don't get it! Oh wait, maybe I get it! OH!!! WHY DOES SHE WEAR THOSE EARMUFFS?!

Thank God my friend did some research on the movie, prior, and I had seen the movie, before... It made the discussion very informative.

-The Discussion-
Well, after the movie was finished, we all looked at each other, and blinked, and were like, "AWESOME MOVIE! ... I DON'T GET IT!" Well, except for one of us, who was smart enough to have looked it up. The thirty minute discussion that we had after the movie consisted of this friend explaining the dialogue and images present in the film.


It is evident that the main character - Donnie - is "troubled" and "pretty confused". Within the movie he is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, making him prone to "daytime hallucinations". But these hallucinations turn out to visions of the preordained, and his destiny, as "The Receiver".

Within the story, it is Donnie's duty as "The Receiver" to guide the "Tangent Universe", or a parallel universe, back into a normal state, "The Primary Universe". It is made clear in this movie, in a very unclear, mysterious and disturbing way. This is why the movie is most often accommodated with a manual - in order to make sense of it all.

The symbolisms in this movie will span from notions of medieval witchcraft, to time travel... It is a sci-fi, a mystery, a comedy and tragedy all wrapped up into one oddball package. If you are into the strange - I recommend.

Here's a trailer of the movie for you to see:

The best art word that I could associate with the watching of Donnie Darko is LINE. See what I did there? Underlined the word line. Ha-ha!

Anyway, a line suggests directions, or movement. In this movie, Donnie Darko begins to envision lines jutting out of people, which would predetermine where they would travel along a continuum of space and time. In other words, he could predict where they would go, before they went. Line was used to represent time travel within this movie.

-The Suggestion- 


My dear professors of Creative Arts. If I could make a suggestion for the next choice of movies? I am hoping you have seen the movie before, because it would be relevant for this entry for future students. It is relatively popular among cult classics - a childhood 80s film.
It is about humanity's hopes and dreams, the significance of childhood storytelling and imagination. I feel it would be totally relevant for Early Childhood Educators, and it's SO fun to watch!

It is called The Neverending Story (1984). Have you heard of it?

Here's a trailer:

Please, consider this! :) I guarantee some students will have most fun with this movie! Thanks!

Happy Birthday, Squishy!

I'm celebrating a birthday this month! You'll never guess whose it is... Or rather, WHAT it is... But I'll tell you, and please try not to laugh at me... 

This is Squishy. :) She is my computer, and she is a year old now! <:o)

... Yeah I'm not joking... Okay, normally people wouldn't celebrate their computer's birthdays... But there are reasons to why I am, just hear them out, okay?

1) I'm a total nerd. B-)
2) It is the success of my boyfriend and I. We built this thing as a little home project. Yup, all the parts that make her work - and glow that hellish red - were purchased and put together, by us. It was quite a learning process, and many arguments arose, but it was so worth it. I mean, look at it! Isn't it pretty? You gotta admit it's pretty...
3) My previous computer was ten years old - and a total mess.This was my computer's start-up routine:

1. Get my ON button pressed.

2. Make a beeping sound.

3. Black screen with white text telling you how I'm doing.

3. Welcome user to Windows XP

3. Load. 

4. Load. 

5. Load. 

6. Load .

7. Load for another fifteen minutes... 

8. Did you click on something? I can't tell.. I'm so busy..

9. Load. 

10. Load. 

11. Load. 

12. I'm sure you clicked on something this time! I felt it, for sure!

13. Groan.. groan... my fans are so dusty...

14. Load.

15. Load. 

16. Load for ten more minutes.

17. Avast! Antivirus is now running!

....

 You know computers like that, right? Having the relief of owning a computer that can actually start up and get its programs a-movin' in less than ten seconds is a blessing. 

Anyway, reason 4: 

4) It is going to allow you to show my understanding of patterns. Awww yeah, once again technology comes to my homework's aide. Here we go! 

Pattern is a pretty neat art word. You hear it a lot. "Ohhh, that blanket had a funky comforter! Ikea is so cool!" What does pattern entail, I wonder? To me, it is the presence of regularity, sequence, symmetry. So when you see a little row of the same shape, THAT'S a pattern. 

Apparently pattern also allows a viewer to get a sense of flow and motion. Well, Squishy has all of the descriptors of pattern right on her face! Allow me to explain:

As if you couldn't already tell, this is a close-up of Squishy. It's her bright, red smile! Err.. I mean, it's her front-panel intake fan behind a grill... 

This section of her body is really important: It lets cold air inside her, and allow her to keep going without getting too hot. Overheating is Squishy's (and my boyfriend's) biggest fear... But it's okay, because this fan not only makes her safe, but it also makes her look beautiful, because while the fan spins, it glows a beautiful bright red. How pretty!

Yeah I know, I'm lame.

Anyway, the pattern seen here is a symmetrical and efficient sequence of circular holes, with the purpose of allowing air to flow through the computer's chassis, as well as the passing through of light via LED fans, for aesthetic quality.. In that case, this image brings to me the sense of pattern, because the grills show a sequence of circular shapes, all symmetrical in size... And the purpose of these shapes is for movement and flow: Of air and light. :) 

I thought this blog was the right about time to introduce squishy, because she - and the resourcefulness, ingenuity, inquiries, frustrations and brainstorming her birth gave to my boyfriend and I - became in a sense, a work of art.

And so, I say, happy birthday, Squishy! And have a good one, readers! ... You may laugh at my silly geekiness. :)