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.