End of Semester Reflection

This semester in Contemporary Composing, or DMA, has pushed me to think about art and composing a way I would not have otherwise.

It exposed me to a myriad of questions and theories. I was constantly pushing myself to translating the intangible or theoretical into the practical. It's a very specific kind of thought process I was using. And then, having been presented with all these ideas, I formed my own opinion about the material based on my own identity as a composer and artist.

• The contemporary cultural contexts of UNCSA and beyond

Our modern day context has opened up so many more possibilities for composing due to technology. Technology lends itself really well to boundary blending, a concept that has really interested me. With all these different tools, we can mold processes together and compose something that defies definition because art is always evolving with the evolving context of our world. 

• What makes us all composers

We are all composers because we constantly infusing our lives and actions with creative thought and intention. Here at UNCSA, we do this on an even more heightened scale because we are artists with evocative and empathetic visions and ideas about our world. We have technique and skill with which to compose. But all human beings are composers, this is true. Translating thought into creation, that's composing. Getting dressed, writing a note, wrapping a Christmas present, all these actions are forms of composing. 

• What makes artistic types of composing unique

I have a lot of respect for the differences between composing processes for different art forms. Whether you're dealing with language, music, film, movement, etc, the form dictates the process. Different artistic types of composing also can achieve different impacts. They allow for unique nuances and effects on an audience. They do this by appealing to different senses and parts of the psyche. For example, music appeals to the auditory sense, whereas visual art obviously appeals to the visual. The very nature of the art forms dictates their impact. 

• How composers in various artistic domains or fields conceptualize and enact the composing process

Composing processes are varied and personal. After listening to so many articulate lectures, it's clear that there is no one right answer. It is different for every composer and every artist. I think composers are constantly searching for the most authentic route to the most impactful work. Over time and with experience, composers have some sort of road map for how they compose, but even then that road map is constantly changing and evolving with the ever changing forms and context of our world.

• What it feels like to compose in artistic fields other than your own

For me, composing in artistic fields outside my own has been an exercise in self discovery. Even though I'm here at UNCSA pursuing such a specialized field of study, I still feel like I have a voice to be discovered in other artistic fields. It's very liberating and reassuring to know that my identity as an artists translates into other fields besides acting. 

• What happens when first-generation multimedia (dance, design and production, drama, film, liberal arts, music, and visual arts) and second-generation multimedia (digital text, image, audio, and video) are combined, recombined, and remixed in contemporary composing 

When first generation and second generation multimedia are combined, recombined, and remixed, it opens a door for a flood of artistic impact. Because now not only are we dealing with the context of the media, we're also dealing with the comment that the interaction makes. Often the interaction of two forms of multimedia can make a very profound and symbolic comment about our changing context.

Composing in Movement and Performance

INTRODUCTION

In this unit we looked at Composing in Movement and Performance, particularly what makes a performance a performance, which has all to do with the composing process and context.

STARTING POINTS

As an actor, I had thought a lot about the definition of performance, and what makes an action performative. I had also spent a lot of my training battling against letting my work become too performative and forsake naturalism.


WHAT I LEARNED

Looking at Marvin Carlson's perspective on performance, I was stuck by how he looked at the bare bones of performance- what in its machinery gives it the right to be performance, in other words. I grappled a lot with his ideas.

I did find his way of thinking about perfomance interesting because it actually seemed to juxtapose some of my beliefs about acting. He talked about the notion of duality in performance, in other words, the idea that performance involves putting on a mask, or pretending to be someone you are not. As an actor, we actually actively work against this idea of performance. We work to live authentically in imaginary circustances. "Performing" to me implies an air of affectation and awareness of perfoming which can detract from the authenticity and the impact of the work.

Nevertheless, I very much agreed with his idea about the purpose and impact of performance across the art forms. Regardless of the mechanics of how something becomes a performance, a performance is always a generous thing. It is giving a plethora of stumuli and stories to an audience to be devoured, interpreted, and reflected upon. Therein lies the power of art. 

Dean Wilcox brought up some very interesting points about the validity of postmodern art. I do very much believe that we have to be careful of becoming relativist about art. In other words, we can't just let anything pass as art. I do think there has to be artistic intention and creation. I don't think I can call my clothes hanging in my closet art because I did not hang them there thinking I was creating art. Now, if I actively label my closet as art with a clear process behind that choice, maybe we're having a different conversation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7gYMariIgQ

This is link to our filmed exploration of public performance. The pithy thing to note here is that we both had an awareness of performing but also were following a real life objective and had not scripted anything

WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT

I'm very fascinated my this discussion on post modern art, and I think I would like to explore more viewpoints on it. When I'm home for Christmas, I want to go to the museum of contemporary art in Chicago and see what strikes me there.

CONCLUSION

Composing in performance offers a lot of opportunity for artistic content, and the question of its definition and execution brings up a lot important questions about the nature of art.

Composing in Film, Video, and New Media

INTRODUCTION

In Unit Four, we looked at Composing in Film, Video, and New Media. This included exploring the definitions and boundaries of these three terms and how they are effectively and artistically used in the modern context.

STARTING POINTS

At the beginning of this unit, I had some understanding or idea of the boundary between film and video. Especially since starting my training here, I've been struck by just how multi-faceted and complex the art of filmmaking is. It's such an amalgamation of visions and skills and efforts. I had virtually no idea of what new media was.

WHAT I LEARNED

I dug a lot deeper into my understanding and point of view on the boundary between film and video.

I think video becomes film when there is a separate and specific intent coming from the person or people controlling the filming. When the person filming is himself/herself going through an artistic process, there becomes an artistic exchange between the filmer and what is being filmed. Point of view, editing, and cinematography come into play here. Video becomes film when it is not merely an accurate capture of an event (unless that was the specific artistic intent), but when the manner in which the event is captured heightens or makes a comment on the event itself. This is why films have such power as an artistic medium, and why filming acting, music, visual art, or dance is such a dynamic interaction of art forms and different media.

We also looked at Lev Manovich's assessment of the historical trajectory of new media. While a lot of these ideas seemed abstract to me, I pushed myself to practically apply them. New media has opened up so many doors for artistic expression, but I think the main conflict is the question of if technology puts overly numeric confines on film and video. Is something lost in today's modern context? I had a very similar thought process to Jordan Boatman, who is in my online discussion group. She had a similar fear about what happens to art when it becomes more quantitative than qualitative. Today's society looks at composing and the composer a lot differently because of new media. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHicEAMMl3Q

This is link to my channel surf video, which was made my stringing together video clips and separating them with TV static. What struck me the most about this project was something sort of profound about what film can accomplish. By using images, it can subtely comment of make a statement without being overt. Just by putting these clips together, our mind starts to make artistic and even poetic connections between them.

WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT

I'm very struck by what film can do with imagery, editing, and perspective. I've been thinking a lot about my potential as a director, and I'm thinking at some point in my career I would love to play with how images comment on a story in film or even theatre too.

CONCLUSION

I'm grateful for the opportunity to take a closer look at composing in film, video, and new media. I think it brings up a lot of poignant points about art in the modern context.

INTRODUCTION

Over the past couple weeks in Contemporary Composing, we've looked at how language, sound, and music influence and define composing. We've explored how these elements can heighten a piece or make it more resonant by virtue of their identities.

STARTING POINTS

Essentially, I knew that language, sound, and music had power in that they are all auditory elements. A lot of good art achieves a great impact by making a strong impact on the senses- either one in particular or in combination. Auditory media is unique because it is fleeting in a sense.  Unlike written word, you cannot immediately refer back to it. We hear and process it in that moment.

WHAT I LEARNED

I learned several things about how language, sound, and music can impact composing, and moreover, how they can interact and create a dynamic effect. I learned that language spoken orally can have a more human and evocative impact that written language. I learned that when you layer different forms of sound, you can achieve maximum impact on the auditory sense, as we learned in Bruno Loucharn's lecture. I was very intrigued by the idea of layering and boundary blending in sound and brought this to practical application in my own composing, with our assignment from last weekend. Unfortunately, I had trouble uploading my wav files to soundcloud, but I did email them to our instructor, Bob King. I found a sound clip of Bill Clinton addressing his affair with Monica Lewinsky, and I used music and sound to make a comment about the falsehoods he was expressing. 

WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT

I'm interested in learning more about how language spoken orally differs from written language because this contrast is very relevant to me as an actor. I'm banking on the bright and human impact of hearing language spoken aloud. This is why plays pack more punch when read aloud than read on a page.

CONCLUSION

Language, Sound, and Music offer a unique element and impact to composing, especially when layered and manipulated within and around each other.

Composing in Design and Visual Art

INTRODUCTION

In the past couple weeks, we've looked at how visual artists/designers compose. We've explored their processes and inspirations. We heard lectures from Will Taylor, Bob King, and Lindsay Bierman.

STARTING POINTS

Before this course, I thought about composing in Visual Art in this sense: an artist has a vision, derived from personal inspiration and purpose, and seeks to represent it, either literally or abstractly, through technique, precision, and skill, or a deliberate lack thereof.

WHAT I LEARNED

From the lectures this week I began to think more about how the process of creating visual art has a direct effect on the piece's impact and statement. The notion of mark making and gesture are more important than I realized. Visual art can be a very physical art form. 

Creating these three visual images really made me think about how technology allows us to see nuances of artwork in a whole new way. If you place the images side by side, the man doing a puzzle and love in the sky, it becomes a clear comparison. (ie love is like a puzzle, we want it be idyllic but it is in pieces). If you layer them it almost becomes a competition. (ie does love win or does the struggle win.) If you play with boundary blending, it becomes a progression. (ie love is a struggle but if you put it together it becomes idyllic)

WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT

I would like to learn more about how personal history impacts visual art. Will Taylor mentioned how his mother's death impacted his work and I would like to delve further into how that manifests itself in the creative process.

CONCLUSION

Visual art is a unique and dynamic mode of composing which sheds light on how process, technology, and personal history come into composing. 

FIRST POST

1) Introduction

In Digital Media for the Artist, also known as Contemporary Composing, we have been exploring what exactly "Composing" means, and how as artists we approach the creative process of composing. We have been pushing the boundaries of the term and challenging ourselves to think about how we create art and communicate ideas.

2) Starting Points

Here's where I began: "Composing" implied "composition" which pointed to some kind of essay. It implied a logical and organized representation of ideas. I came at composing, writing specifically, knowing there was a logical order. Research, outline, draft, final product. 

3) What I Learned 

My definition of composing has expanded greatly since beginning this course. Now, I think about composing as "making" not just writing. To communicate ideas, I could use all variety of media including music, dance, performance art, visual art, poetry, and more. Furthermore, maybe the composing process is more recursive than I originally thought. After all, when I'm composing something, as a student or an actor or both, I pull from a variety of inspirations and media. My definition of composing is broadening and likewise I am as an artist.

4) Things I Would Like to Learn About

I'm really interested in exploring how I can be inspired by somebody else's composing to compose something myself. For example, as an actor, I observe other actors' work to learn how to make more meaningful or poignant art myself. Or even I'll listen to music or read something to help aid my creative process as I try to compose something. I am also interested to learn more about this question: Does the thesis or the content come first? Do I need to have a clear point before I begin composing or can I discover the thesis as I compose?

5) Conclusion

All in all, this class is pushing me as an artist to think about how and why I compose and what I personally have to say. I think I'm coming to further understand my identity as a composer and how I compose.