WP3 Pre-writing assignment 4

During the class where we examined John Cage’s 4’33”, we were forced to listen and view the piece numerous times and were given absolutely no instruction as to what to listen for, write, or do during the entire class. Some of us were dumbfounded as to what we were viewing, others took the class period to take a nap. No matter what it was that we did during this class period, we all were taken aback by this new form of class. This class made some of us laugh, while others were angered by the fact that this was what we were doing all class. During class time, I jotted down some ideas as to what it was that I thought we were doing, but after viewing the video for nearly a half hour, I became befuddled and confused as to why I was sitting in the class.

After reading the blog and discussing this class session next class, I became aware of the idea that John Cage, and Joshua were trying to emphasize. John Cage conceptualized his piece as less than music. It was still music, but it was a completely different form. The following class we listened to Zaireeka. This forced us to not only do a complete one-eighty from our last class, but we now needed to view this piece as more than music. So, how can Juan Hamilton’s “Fragment X-O” be intensified? This is something that I knew I would have trouble with.

At a glance, Hamilton’s piece looks extremely dull and boring. Let’s face it, it’s just a circle! But what if we were to examine this piece in a completely different way? After getting to know Fragment X-O a little better by observing it from numerous different angles and intensifying it, I realized that it is much more than just art. My initial thought about this piece is that, even though it’s called “Fragment X-O,” there is no “X” to be found. That is, until I viewed the object from behind. When viewing the object from behind and looking through the sculpture, you are able to see that the sidewalks in which the object rests near create a perfect “X” when they intersect each other. Although this may be completely irrelevant to what Juan Hamilton was going for when creating this piece it still is very interesting to see how the art is influenced and viewed when it is considered with its natural surroundings. The topography helps very much in analyzing this photo.

Fragment X-O highly resembles a ring. Actually, it is a ring! Rings are extremely meaningful! An engagement ring can be the most significant item in someone’s life time. A ring symbolizes some form of wholeness or completeness. “One ring to rule them all. One ring to find them. One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.” This quote comes from The Lord of the Rings. Here, again the ring symbolizes a binding or a bond. Although this sculpture seems very simplistic, it actually may have some incredible symbolism.

WP3 Pre-writing assignment 3

The piece “Fragment X-O” is constructed by Juan Hamilton in the year 1991. Juan Hamilton, born in Texas as John Hamilton in 1946, is a potter and is most known for his extensive work that he did with Georgia O’Keeffe. Juan’s father was a Presbyterian minister who worked throughout Latin America in schools and churches in countries such as Ecuador, Venezuela, and Colombia. Their family was constantly moving throughout South America, but eventually Juan ended up attending high school in New York then, after graduating, he moved to Nebraska to go to college at Hastings College where he graduated with a double major and a degree in fine arts and literature. Juan Hamilton then went on to study sculpture for a year at Claremont. but dropped out after finding a woman who he fell in love with who also happened to be a historian of Japanese and Chinese art.

Hamilton moved to Japan with her for half a year, but shortly after divorced her.

Down on his luck, Hamilton went to Ghostranch, New Mexico to work in the kitchen of the Presbyterian conference center. Ghostranch was also where he met Goergia O’Keeffe. In 1973, when O’Keeffe could no longer see well enough to paint, Juan showed up at her doorstep looking to help her. Juan ended up doing odd jobs for O’Keeffe and helping her around the house. As O’Keeffe’s eyesight got continuously worse, Juan’s help became increasingly more useful to O’Keeffe. Many people believed that Juan was only helping Georgia out for his own good, but O’Keeffe and Hamilton developed a long lasting relationship that brought about many happier days for an elderly O’Keeffe. While working with O’Keeffe, Juan became very enveloped in pottery. The two worked on pottery together until O’Keeffe died in 1986. After she died, she was cremated and Juan Hamilton scattered her ashes from Pedernal Mountain, just as O’Keeffe had requested.

Juan Hamilton’s “Fragment X-O” is made completely of cast bronze. It rests in the Sheldon Art Garden in Lincoln, Nebraska. The piece was put there in 1991. The piece does a very good job of blending in with the environment around it. By that I mean that it is not something that seems to be intensified by any means. It is somewhat of a simple piece of art and seems to characteristically match the lifestyle that Juan Hamilton lived. Juan was a very simplistic man, and was never extremely outgoing. In fact, Juan would not be known nearly as much had it not been for Georgia O’Keeffe. When googling his name, almost all I could find were biographies and stories on Georgia O’Keeffe. When walking by this sculpture, It did not grab my attention whatsoever. Only after taking a step back and realizing that I was in its presence did I realize its true beauty. Hamilton’s life seems to reflect his sculpture very well.

Pre Writing Assignment 1 - WP3

Art is something that I have never worked a lot with, but have been very interested in. In grade school, at Christ the King Catholic Grade School, I took art class for nine years but it was just an introduction to art. During those nine years I learned how to do simple things like color, draw, and I even worked a little bit with clay objects. One of my art pieces actually won a contest at Omaha’s Duchesne Academy Grade School Art Contest. In this piece, I drew a picture of a lion’s face, then put a piece of copper under the picture and imprinted the drawing in to the copper. After this was done, I put paint

on the copper three separate times, each time with a different color and printed the picture onto four different colored pieces of paper. When this was done, I put the four pictures in a square shape and put and even larger black piece of paper behind it to create a background. This picture was the best picture I have ever drawn and will probably never draw a picture as good as that lion.

The reason that I have never completely dove into the realm of art is because, for one, I was raised in a family where the boys played sports so I was always playing a different sport every season. Another thing that I did not like about art was that it seems like every piece of art that I look at has some kind of extremely deep meaning that I am never able to understand unless someone else explains it to me. Personally I like looking at art solely because I think some pieces of art are made by extremely talented people and I like to observe the details. In other words, I like looking at art for art’s sake.

WP2 Final Draft

Social norms are things that are seen as acceptable in our society. Many times these social norms are made normal completely unconsciously by people who seem to just “be going with the flow.” In today’s world, something as simple as wearing clothes can be seen as a social norm. In the comic above, two older people, a man and a woman, are seen casually strolling a convenience store with nothing but undergarments on. In our society, this is seen as completely unacceptable attire for shopping in public. However, in other parts of the world this may be seen as acceptable. Social norms are created over time and depending on where you live, who raised you, what religion you are, what kind of culture you grew up with, and several other things, they can be extremely different from what you may know to be socially normal today. In this particular comic, Tim Whyatt is trying to make the argument that depending on your culture and background, different behavior can be seen in several different ways.

Typically, it is not only seen as not normal to be wearing nothing but underpants and a bra out in public, especially in the United States, but to some people it may even be offensive! Many stores today have a policy of “no shirt, no shoes, no service.” People may be asked to leave a store if they violate this policy. Many stores, restaurants especially, claim that it is unhealthy for other customers for people to be walking around in bare feet or without a shirt on. A group called the barefooters are a society for barefoot living whose intentions are to provide a friendly forum to share experiences, thoughts, feelings, and tips on bare feet and barefootin'; to provide a "support group" for members encouraging and helping one another to get along in a shod world. In the state of Nebraska, there is no law that states that you are not allowed to sport bare feet into an establishment, but rather it is up to the owner of the establishment to make any laws regarding not wearing shoes. Some companies, because of insurance policies require customers to wear shoes into restaurants. This policy of “no shirt, no shoes, no service” is very different from indecent exposure.

Indecent exposure is defined as “The deliberate exposure by a person of a portion or portions of his or her own body under circumstances where such an exposure is likely to be seen as contrary to the local commonly accepted standards of decency, and may in fact be a violation of law. In some countries a breach of the standards of modesty is considered to be public indecency.” The key part of this definition is understanding that it is only thought of as indecent exposure when the local commonly accepted standards of decency have been violated. If these people would have been sporting their lovely underwear around, say a colony of nudists, or possibly around a group of barefooters, they would be much more welcomed. Clearly in this photo we have two citizens who have indecently exposed themselves. Although this is against the law and these people could be fined for it (of course, this is a comic) we as the audience find this humorous. Why? Over the past several years America’s idea of humor and acceptable clothing has radically changed.

Humor is “the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement.” (Wikipedia) Humor occurs when the brain recognizes a pattern that surprises it which is why we find the old people funny... We are surprised by the fact that they would not be wearing clothes in public. Of course, the fact that the people are exceptionally overweight makes them look even more humorous. In 1910, Anette Kellerman was arrested for wearing a one piece swimsuit in Australia. Some of you may be thinking to yourselves “Wait, aren’t one piece swimsuits the kind of swim suit to wear when you don’t want to show too much skin?” In early 1900’s, the social norm for swim suit apparel for women was a long dress with a very heavy top, and if you really wanted to test the waters, you wore a tank top. Nowadays, women’s one piece swimsuits are worn by athletes who are shown on worldwide television during the Olypmics.

American society today finds nudity and sexual based jokes funnier than it used to. Some of today’s “funniest” movies are full of indecent exposure and sexual innuendoes. Take “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” for example. If this movie wouldn’t have been banned from movie screens ten or twenty years ago solely because of its name, it would definitely have been banned due to its incredibly bawdy content. But in today’s society this movie was able to make $57,368,762. This is including DVD sales as well. Humor is something that is evolving with the human race. Future generations will find some things funnier than what, say, freshmen in college find funny. As humor keeps changing, it will continue to surprise humans. Tim Whyatt, the author of this comic, is another person who has discovered that American Society finds nudity funny. His website is full of raunchy comics, calendars, and cartoons and in his “About the Artist” portion of his website he can’t even tell us anything about himself without trying to be humorous.

We can tell that the woman with no clothes on in this picture clearly has no idea that she is out of place due to the look in her face and by reading what she is saying. The look on her face seems to be saying “can you believe this?!” Not only has she completely missed that she is being alienated but she thinks it is bizarre that the “darn computer crashed!” She thinks that today is just another normal day for her, but obviously cannot be taken seriously due to her socially unacceptable ensemble.

There is very clear visual hierarchy in this photo. The thing that jumps out at me first is, well... the fact that the people on the left have no clothes on! I see this as the main vector of attention because I have grown up in a society where it is only acceptable to wear clothes out in public. The second thing that grabs my attention is the kind, confused looking woman standing next to these people who seems very taken aback by the sight that she is seeing on what seemed like a normal day for her. Her eyes are pointed down and her body is turned the opposite way of the two unclothed people. We can tell that she too is confused as to what she is seeing because before she encounters these people, her body is faced in the direction of the items that she is shopping for. Based on these two things, we can see that the author is setting the stage for a very uncomfortable setting for the woman on the right which shows that she is not welcoming of the unkemptness of these two people. This adds to the argument that different cultures judge different things on whether or not they are acceptable.

Works Cited:

Hanssen, George E.. "Barefooters". State of Nebraska Department of Agriculture. November 16, 2009 http://www.barefooters.org/health-dept/NE1997.pdf.

"Wikipedia". November 10, 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annette_Kellerman.

Tim, Whyatt. "Whyatt". Whyatt Cartoons. November 16, 2009 http://www.whyatt.com.au/.

Rough Draft

Statement of Purpose

WP2 Rough Draft

Social norms are things that are seen as acceptable in our society. Many times these social norms are made normal completely unconsciously by people who seem to just “be going with the flow.” In today’s world, something as simple as wearing clothes can be seen as a social norm. In the comic above, two older people, a man and a woman, are seen casually strolling a convenience store with nothing but undergarments on. In our society, this is seen as completely unacceptable attire for shopping in public. However, in other parts of the world this may be seen as acceptable. Social norms are created over time and depending on where you live, who raised you, what religion you are, what kind of culture you grew up with, and several other things, they can be extremely different from what you may know to be socially normal today. In this particular comic, Tim Whyatt is trying to make the argument that depending on your culture and background, different behavior can be seen in several different ways.

Typically, it is not only seen as not normal to be wearing nothing but underpants and a bra out in public, especially in the United States, but to some people it may even be offensive! Many stores today have a policy of “no shirt, no shoes, no service.” People may be asked to leave a store if they violate this policy. Many stores, restaurants especially claim that it is unhealthy for other customers for people to be walking around in bare feet or without a shirt on. In the state of Nebraska, there is no law that states that you are not allowed to sport bare feet into an establishment, but rather it is up to the owner of the establishment to make any laws regarding not wearing shoes. Some companies, because of insurance policies require customers to wear shoes into restaurants. This policy of “no shirt, no shoes, no service” is very different from indecent exposure.

Indecent exposure is defined as “The deliberate exposure by a person of a portion or portions of his or her own body under circumstances where such an exposure is likely to be seen as contrary to the local commonly accepted standards of decency, and may in fact be a violation of law. In some countries a breach of the standards of modesty is considered to be public indecency.” The key part of this definition is understanding that it is only thought of as indecent exposure when the local commonly accepted standards of decency have been violated. If these people would have been sporting their lovely underwear around, say a colony of nudists, they would be much more welcomed. Clearly in this photo we have two citizens who have indecently exposed themselves. Although this is against the law and these people could be fined for it (of course, this is a comic) we as the audience find this humorous. Why? Over the past several years America’s idea of humor and acceptable clothing has radically changed.

Humor is “the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement.” (Wikipedia) Humor occurs when the brain recognizes a pattern that surprises it which is why we find the old people funny... We are surprised by the fact that they would not be wearing clothes in public. Of course, the fact that the people are exceptionally overweight makes them look even more humorous. In 1910, Anette Kellerman was arrested for wearing a one piece swimsuit in Australia. Some of you may be thinking to yourselves “Wait, aren’t one piece swimsuits the kind of swim suit to wear when you don’t want to show too much skin?” In early 1900’s, the social norm for swim suit apparel for women was a long dress with a very heavy top, and if you really wanted to test the waters, you wore a tank top. Nowadays, women’s one piece swimsuits are worn by athletes who are shown on worldwide television during the Olypmics.

American society today finds nudity and sexual based jokes funnier than it used to. Some of today’s “funniest” movies are full of indecent exposure and sexual innuendoes. Take “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” for example. If this movie wouldn’t have been banned from movie screens ten or twenty years ago solely because of its name, it would definitely have been banned due to its incredibly bawdy content. But in today’s society this movie was able to make $57,368,762. This is including DVD sales as well. Humor is something that is evolving with the human race. Future generations will find some things funnier than what, say, freshmen in college find funny. As humor keeps changing, it will continue to surprise humans.

We can tell that the woman with no clothes on in this picture clearly has no idea that she is out of place due to the look in her face and by reading what she is saying. The look on her face seems to be saying “can you believe this?!” Not only has she completely missed that she is being alienated but she thinks it is bizarre that the “darn computer crashed!” She thinks that today is just another normal day for her, but obviously cannot be taken seriously due to her socially unacceptable ensemble.

There is very clear visual hierarchy in this photo. The thing that jumps out at me first is, well... the fact that the people on the left have no clothes on! I see this as the main vector of attention because I have grown up in a society where it is only acceptable to wear clothes out in public. The second thing that grabs my attention is the kind, confused looking woman standing next to these people who seems very taken aback by the sight that she is seeing on what seemed like a normal day for her. Her eyes are pointed down and her body is turned the opposite way of the two unclothed people. We can tell that she too is confused as to what she is seeing because before she encounters these people, her body is faced in the direction of the items that she is shopping for. Based on these two things, we can see that the author is setting the stage for a very uncomfortable setting for the woman on the right which shows that she is not welcoming of the unkemptness of these two people. This adds to the argument that different cultures judge different things on whether or not they are acceptable.