Blog Post 2: Seeing Between the Lines

So this week, we continued on to finish the time-twisted, mindboggling film that is Memento. As stated before, one of the most noticeable elements of the movie was how as the movie progressed further and further backwards, the scenes were getting shorter and shorter. It was almost as if it was race to the start rather than finish. The entire class was dying to know what had happened and who the real and infamous “John G” was. Was it Natalie? Was it Teddy? Who is who? What was the significance of Sammy’s role in the story? My first thought was that Teddy was actually a good guy whereas Natalie was the real John G, manipulating Lenny’s short-term memory to work in her favor. Yet as the storyline traveled backwards, the truth revealed that everyone was “John G”—including Lenny, himself. Lenny was both John G and Sammy. He replaced his own memory and accidental murder of his wife with that of a made-up character—one which he thought to be real and not him, of course. Yet in reality, his wife survived her attempted murder by another, unidentified John G and Lenny, in trying to protect his wife, was badly beaten to the point that his memory was incredibly damaged. And the days afterward, Lenny, who would always give his diabetic wife, insulin shots, gave her an overdose of insulin, thus killing her. After the death of his wife, Lenny went on a wild rampage and search for the supposed killer. And it turns out that both Teddy and Natalie manipulated Lenny’s memory to work in their favor. Both wanting revenge, Natalie was able to get Lenny to capture and punish the suspected murderer of her husband while Teddy, or Officer John G, used Lenny to kill elusive and infamous drug dealers and criminals. Lenny was simply a puppet for Natalie, for Teddy, and for himself as he continued to create lies and new memories and new stories in desperate search for the truth—or whatever he wanted to be the truth.

After we finished with the film, we then moved on to observing time in a linear perspective. For one class, we were assigned to read Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain  by Betty Edwards and do the given exercises. What I found to be the most interesting and slightly challenging exercise was the up-side down drawing in which we were instructed to replicate a drawing of a man as he was shown upside down. We were to do this by following all the lines and observing their relations and interactions with other lines. Overall, this reading proved to be both fun and engaging in that it provoked us to create a shift in the flow of information in our brains from the logical and empirical left hemisphere of the brain to the creative and visual right side of the brain. For the following class, we were prompted to move around Monty and observe both lines from nature and lines from man-made objects. It was challenging in away because though St. Mary’s is a school fully immersed within a natural and eco-friendly environment, it was hard to find lines other than the ones that outlined trees, leaves, vines, and stones. Yet within those categories I found different types of lines such as the varying lines that create different shapes of leaves and trees or when bugs or bees would fly by. We then moved as a class down to a small part of the woods where we were instructed to observe and draw the natural setting using the hand-eye technique in which we were to coordinate our eyes with our hands as we carefully observed every inch, every line, and every detail of the outline of the object all the while not looking down at our papers or hardly looking at it at all. This too was challenging and even a little frustrating but in the end, we were able to enhance our hand-eye coordination. Lastly we moved to the drawing studio where we observed and drew to stools placed together. We created a basic drawing in which we then cut out the free or negative spaces and recreated the drawing using those spaces onto another paper. In doing so, this proved that line and space are inseparable and related because line exists within space—just as time exists within space as well.

We then were to read Ways of Seeing by John Berger. This excerpt was very fascinating from the start with its opening statement proclaiming that “Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes it can speak”. This quote outlines the premise of this excerpt which basically talks about why and how we connect and associate visual aspects to concrete objects and social constructs or ideas. Berger used the Key of Dreams by Rene Magarite, an early 19^th century surrealist painter, to further delve into this thought of how and why we make such a visual associations to the world around us and what constitutes and classifies an object or even color, like the color red, to be the word “red”. In researching this idea online, I found two pictures relating to this idea of seeing and associating. In the first, it is picture of oranges but in different colors. The second, it displays the names of colors but they are printed in colors other than the colors their names imply. This further leads me to ask the question as to why an orange is specifically orange, “blue” is blue and not “green” or why “red” is red and not “yellow” and who mandated color names to be associated with specific visual elements. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this excerpt and I agreed most with author when he said that “Images were first made to conjure up the appearance of something that was absent”. We all see things differently but we’ve created a universal medium for seeing alike. Because of society, we are conditioned to see “red” as the color red and an apple as an “apple” as well as the color red or an orange as the color orange. Yet regardless, everyone experiences and is free to associate things differently for the world around us as well “art [cannot] be understood spontaneously [and simultaneously]. It is meant to be widely and creatively interpreted. Yet this leads me to question, “Why do we need to make associations?” and “how do people come to an agreement that “red” is red and “blue” is blue?

Blog Post 2: Memory and Momento

This week, we continued delving deeper and deeper into the concept of time and how it corresponds to art and creating the art form. Our newest subjects were that of the creation of time concepts and the idea of memory and framing. Through the readings, What is Time?  by G.J. Whitrow as well as the film Momento, we began exploring how time was and is conceived as well as that of how memory is formed and its effect on people, places, things, and, of course, the art form.

            So we began class with a drawing. We were asked the simple question of “How did we get here?” Yet even such a simple question can leave room for a thousand and one intricate interpretations. Many of us drew maps, some drew feet, and some even went as far as interpreting and drawing how they came to be and the cycle of birth and death. There were so many ways to perceive the questions which ultimately lead back to one of our definitions or attributes of art which is that art is infinitely interpretable. Time, being a critical part of art is also vastly interpretably. So we then referred back to the readings and how early thinkers perceived the concept of time. It was fascinating to see all the mechanisms used to enumerate and order the process and progression of time. The Mayans used astrology and cosmology as their basis for creating a calendar and calculating the movement of time while Egyptians used their main source of water, the Nile River, as well as the pyramids and the sun to direct time.

In the second half of the reading, What is Time?, the subject of memory was then explored. Upon reading this, I found the article to be overall, very interesting but I had some disagreements. One thing I disagreed with was the studies of Kant and how he discussed the superiority of the human race over that of animals and those below them. He made it seem as though animals and insects lack the capacity to recall and remember or distinguish between past, present, and future. This, I believe to be completely incorrect because animals, especially domestic pets like dogs, cats, mice, and other animals like elephants and monkeys, do indeed posses the capacity to remember and it has been documented that animals and even some insects possess an extraordinary sense of memory and are able to recognize faces, schematics, or systems. Like humans, they also possess instinct which is an internal and natural memory that could also be learned or conditioned. Nonetheless, instinct serves as our core memory. It guides us in survival and thrival and allows us to be able to communicate or even be “in tune” with our environment. So with that said, Kant’s claim is simply opinionated and false.

After discussing the readings, we were then shown the first half of the film, Momento by Christopher Nolan, to help us further engage in our discussion of time and memory. Momento so far proved to be a psychological and mind-bending thriller that will have its viewers always asking questions and always trying to “remember” what happened and how it happened just like as the main character, Lenny does. The film follows the story of Leonard “Lenny” Shelby, an ex-insurance investigator who finds himself suffering from the adverse effects of strange type of amnesia or short term memory loss which is similar to that of one of his past clients, Sammy Jankis. He is on heart-pounding and dangerous journey to find the murderer of his wife yet what impedes him is his inability to form new memories or even hold onto to certain memories. It is so damaging to the point that he must make constant notes to himself or even tattoo notes to his body to remind him of where he is, who certain people are, and who is looking for—the real murderer. This story is indeed mind-bending in the way it continually regresses backwards in order to move forward in Lenny’s journey to find the killer. Upon watching the film, I took note of how the story was rewinding but progressing. What was interesting was that as it was progressing further and further back in time the scenes were getting shorter and shorter. I also noted that everytime Lenny started his memory over, it would flash back to a black and white scene where he was on the phone discussing to an unknown person information about one of his past clients, Sammy. This scene was also always progressing and never repeating because it was introducing another piece of vital information that would correspond to the next scene (which was in color) in this progressive-regression story. What’s also interesting is the fact that the further back the storyline goes, the more Lenny as well as the audience begins to question who the real killer is. We learn more about the alleged killer “Teddy” and his connection to this mysterious “John G” whom Lenny is supposed to kill. We also learn more about Natalie, a woman who shares the same pain as Lenny and pities him because she too lost her spouse, yet hired Lenny to find and kill the suspected murderer of her husband. Yet this suspect seems to want to have a plan to kill Lenny first.

I can honestly say that I am purely perplexed and puzzled by this movie and am not sure what will happen next. I have a feeling that Natalie may prove to be not as sweet and pitiful as she seems to be and that she, not Teddy, could be the killer and that John G is not really anyone—just someone Natalie made up to distort Lenny’s memory of what really happened. Another guess is that Lenny himself could be the murderer or his wife may have committed suicide or something totally convoluted and crazy!  I also see the ending of this story turning out to be nothing but a dream or an endless memory and that all of this never really happened. There’s no telling what could happen but I feel that the story is telling us that things are not always what they seem and that even memories can be distorted version of reality and of the truth.

Blog Post 1: Art and Time?

From the moment we stepped in through the doors into IVT, we were already immersed into a whole new reality, a whole new atmosphere, an alternate universe where we would be equipped with thought-provoking questions to aid us in the deconstruction of time and space in art. On the first day of class, we were shown a music video in which the storyline was endless circle of duplication and repetition. Upon watching it the first time, we focused only on the main character as well as the song she was singing. We did take note that both her and her environment were replicating but we remained focused on her. Then we watched it a second and third time. Then, our focused shifted from the main character and the song to what in her surroundings were changing and replicating. There were some things that were dynamic and always changing and there were some things that stayed the same through out the video. In all what we were observing was the interaction of art, time, and space. There were several different stories taking place at different moments in time and in different spaces all the while the main character was progressing in her own story.  In short, it was an organized yet chaotic collision of past, present, and future.

The following class we then discussed the concept and art and asked the age-old question of What is Art? Using the reading, The Whole Ball of Wax by Jerry Salz, to guide us, we came up with our own definitions. Of course, there were agreements and disagreements and thousands of varying definitions of art but we finally came down to consensus that art is an expression of a person that is viewed and interpreted by another person. Simple and straight to the point. Afterward we viewed another music video that further delved into the subject of art and time. We were challenged to view the video and come up with a sort of schematic as to how the video was made. The video featured two characters and members of the band called Sugar Water. They were seen in separate panels and slightly differing but ultimately similar and connected storylines. Yet there was a twist. One story was played in reverse while the other was played forwardly. And at one point the storylines switched and the opposite was played in reverse or forward. It was confusing and mind-boggling at first but we then watched the actual production of the video and found that the video was basically a palindrome. Both featured the same story played but in two different settings: forward and reversed. Indeed, it was clever tactic of the director and a great deal of thought went into it. In all, what I took away from both classes was a better insight into the concept of time in art and how the manipulation of space, replication of ideas or images, and the repetition of forms or concepts create time in 1-D, 2-D, and 3-D medias and mediums. It is a concept that I never had appreciated before but now, want to further explore.

For further insight, we were assigned to read The Whole Ball of Wax by Jerry Salz and What is Time? By G.J. Whitrow. The Whole Ball of Wax  reading, in its discussion of the necessity of art, seemed to be more opinionated in some respects, though it was backed up with historical and philosophical content as well as quotes and facts. Yet the What is Time? reading took on a more factual approach and integrated historical facts and accounts into the discussion to define and reinforce the author’s concept of time. Overrall, both readings made sense in that they were clear as to the mission or purpose of their writings and that they had wealthy amount of facts or outside sources to better reinforce their ideas and concepts. Upon reading the What is Time? reading, I’ve gained more insight into the Christian, Ancient Egyptian, Mayan, and Roman and Greek concepts of time and I find it to be fascinating. I also enjoyed how Whitrow even included scientific information with Kant’s study and theory of the origins of the solar system and how the positions in correspondence with the sun, and their direction of orbit as well as differing gravitational forces affect the passage of time on each planet. What I took away from the The Whole Ball of Wax  reading and I really liked was that “art is not optional; it is necessary” and “Art is an energy source that helps make change possible; it sees things in clusters and constellations rather than rigid systems.” I agree completely with Salz in what he says and in addition to being necessary and an energy source, I believe that art is an unavoidable force that drives the existence and progression of humanity. Without it, we would cease to know and acknowledge the past, stay static and unprogressive in the present, and make no moves toward the future. Art is indeed not an option—its life.

One thing that I’d like to know more about is how art plays a role in people’s live and the creation of society or even humanity for that matter. I believe that art surrounds us and aids us in everything that we do. It designs and dictates the way we interact with an environment, the way we travel, the way we learn, the way we communicate, and even the way we govern. It has fabricated history and connected past to present. Without documentation of cave paintings, I believe that we wouldn’t know or even want to know as much about those who lived before us thousands and even millions of years ago. I want to know more about why it seems that most of society fails to acknowledge art as a critical aspect in education and the construction and progression of a society. I feel that art is the very force that fabricates humanity. Everything begins in a design or at least a creative thought, does it not?

Love,

Anuli