Elizabeth Gilbert's Talk on Creativity

It is not in my natural inclination to watch a video twice, and if that is ever the case, only for two possible reasons. First, the video bores me to death but yet watching it is necessary for certain purposes. Second, the video is freakin good that only when I watch it twice or more that my enjoyment is completed. This video by Elizabeth Gilbert undoubtedly falls into the later one, and my excitement went to the extent that I, to my own surprise, got up off my chair, and in a perfect harmony with the audience in the video, gave a standing ovation.

So, what's in the video that really piqued my interest? I think the way she delivered the talk was beautiful, as in no-other-people-can-do-it beautiful, as in exceptionally beautiful. Her word choice, eloquence, body gestures really arrested my attention, and these factors alone, without considering the argument heavily, already earned my favor.

I will not talk about the content beside this, that it is a subtle way to describe God, an "entity" that some called Jehovah, Allah, Shiva, Zeus, The Universe, The Force, The Light, or The Creator. Whatever label you want to put on the word "God", it is secondary to this talk. For me, at least, this talk shows that God, or "A Genius" actually exists, be it inside or outside us, and the belief that there is no god will only do more harm to those who believe it.

So, please enjoy the video, it's worth 18 minutes of your time.

Cirque Du Soleil - From Obsession to Reality

I will never deny my acute appetite for Cirque du Soleil, a Canadian organization which reinvented the unappealing old circus and as a result gained world-wide recognition. But I have never imagined that I would be given the chance to imitate some of Cirque's acts to which I, unlike Cirque, received rounded mockery and humiliation from the unappreciative friends. It started out as a stupid prank during my 10-days road trip with five other friends, and we managed to keep the folly till the very end of the trip. Here are the collection of our bitter hard work and hopefully they will come out to you as a series of our serious endeavor to present the gist of Cirque du Soleil.

We call it: Cirque du Lamar. Now, allow me to present our cover picture.

We believe in the importance of a cover and we take it seriously!! This image represents the essence of Cirque du Lamar, we are all about the beast shown: powerful yet swift, sturdy yet acrobatic. At the same time, the image also reveals our value: we love animals! (and I believe the model's stern expression portrays that better than my words)

Now, without further ado, please enjoy the snippets of our acts!!

3rd Evidence - My Dyptch Unveiled

Those of you who follow me on Twitter must be very familiar with my Dyptch Project, simply because I keep on buzzing and giving real-time report about what's going on with the project. Now that it is over, I can sit back, relax, and give comment on my own artwork. Well, this is the continuity of the Modulating Meaning assignment and Nature is still the big idea. Please observe this picture (they should be paired side by side, but for the sake of visibility, I separated them) and enjoy whatever emotions or ridicules that this picture may entail. 

As you see it, this is a comparison of good vs bad human nature, and each reflected in its effect to the environment. Humans have power over the environment and they can choose which side they want to engage, to which the environment hinges. 

First picture

1. The butterflies and flowers are preserved in the water drop, each still maintain its natural beautiful color.

2. The scene is desaturated, first, to give a soothing feeling and second, to show that the environment will never be preserved completely. Humans' destructive agenda is inevitable and thus, "black color" will always exist and will never be eradicated. However, some parts are colored to show that at least humans can choose to protect the environment and the beauty is visible to everyone - even stands out.

Second picture

1. Destructive actions from humans part result in chaos and distability in the environment. 

2. The butterflies are moving away from the chaos and flying towards the first picture, in hope to be preserved and protected.

3. Although the scene is colored, I hope you can feel that the color itself is sinister. It should disturb people's tranquility and contrasting it with the first picture, the effect is intensified. 

Why I Am Not an Artist - 2nd Evidence

I can remember clearly what got into me when I created this picture: Desperation! Truthfully, I had no idea what objects to put, let alone to understand the meaning of expressionism (this is an assignment about expressionism painting - don't ask me). 

While I painfully, restlessly and desperately writhed on my seat, I saw the person sitting next to me browsing through several skyscraper pictures. Well, I didn't have to look very far for an inspiration. Being left with no option, I  decided to "borrow" his skyscraper concept and used it in my picture. 

The rest of the objects (globe and background landscape) were totally random. If I were to be asked what's the meaning of this picture (and I'm super relieved that the teacher didn't), my jaw would drop. There was absolutely no meaning. Even if you ask the great Michaelangelo to concoct a meaning out of this picture, I doubt he can pull that off. Because who in the world could give meanings to such picture? Or let me rephrase the question: Who the heck would put a globe, skyscraper, and forest in one picture? Well, a knowledgeable artist will not, but a desperate and novice college student, apparently, will.

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Briefly, this is a classic before-after retouching attempt. Every time I look at this picture, I can't stand to ridicule myself "Dude, this was supposed to be a retouching picture - to make her looks better - not an opportunity to create an extraterrestrial creature." Oh my, look at her "white" teeth. Her neck. Her skin. Did I mention her teeth?  Oh, what have I done???

Why I Am Not an Artist - 1st Evidence

I always feel that I have an undiscovered talent in art, and covertly believe that I am a prodigal artist yet to be found. After a lifetime full of curiosity, this quarter I decide to give that theory a try. Thus, here I am, taking ArtEdu252 class - an art class that uses Adobe Photoshop to produce imagery - for the purpose of learning Photoshop and confirming my presumption. However, after three weeks of pain and agony, I come to understand that my theory was based on reckless and irrational judgment. Here is why.

Modulating Meaning Assignment: I was supposed to, at least, convey some meanings through all of these images. My grand idea was to compare and contrast human nature: the good and the bad, and incorporated them in the context of environment. Humans have control over the environment, and the environment will react in response to humans treatment. Good human nature will result in nature revealing its utmost beauty while bad human nature usually entails destruction and disaster.

The problem is not about formulating the idea, but visualizing it in the form of pictures. And this is the best piece that I can come up with. My own critiques:

1. I don't know why, but Hitler looks so disproportionately modified. lol. I think I played with him too much.

2. I tried to make Hitler's background a little darker - to elicit a sinister feeling. Apparently, it didn't work.

3. Don't worry if the "monkey and tiger" picture, hanging over a mountain top, happens to bother you. Me too. I just didn't know what to do with it. I spent so much time cutting that picture and I want to make sure it was up there so everybody could appreciate and recognize my painstaking effort.

4. What's with the baby in the beach? No specific reason. I believe the baby, smiling innocently like that, evokes a positive feeling. So, I hope that the image will enhance people's liking or reduce people's annoyance, and hopefully lessen their probability to question the man behind the piece.

5. There were really no sophisticated techniques used in this piece. I just simply dumped all the pictures, moved them to and fro, played with opacity, hue, saturation and rotation. This is not an issue of complacency, but ineptitude.

6. I genuinely like the "evil" face in the polluted water. I think it is so creative of me. =) Not to mention the combination of butterfly with a forest background. Oh, and also the concept of rainbow with prominent figures representing each side. Beautiful? Yes, I think so too.

(to be continued, with more thought-provoking and mind-boggling pictures)