Reflection

In reflection to this course I want to say I feel we have learned some very important things. I am enjoying this school because I feel we do have a lot of interesting curriculum and we don't just focus on one subject, it is very broad, such as the power of the everyday life and the world around us. I enjoy having a major that is untraditional such as Interdisciplinary Studies, many people say what is that and I have trouble explaining it but I guess that is the cool thing about it because there are too many things to explain. But in the end all this class has broadened my horizon on many artistic things and ways of expression, my favorite part of the course was working with the media equipment because not a lot of classes get to do that and it is a big part of today's world, so there should be more. I also want to say I thought it was cool how all of our groups really related to eachother and were portraying messages that need to be heard, which is to live life, be present and aware, and don't be afraid to think outside the box because that is where real creativity comes from, it is okay to be different. Have a great break and shout out to the "freeze group".

The "theatre" group

Today was a good way to finish class I enjoyed the theatre groups presentation and the way they got everyone involved. We now see why they are the "theatre group" because their acting was both creative and well done. I carpool to school with Jimmy and I knew the scene he was planning but I have to say it was much funnier to see it in person. The message they portrayed was also important in relation to the everyday life, that anything can happen at any moment. Another thing I took from their presentation was that life is precious and must be enjoyed while here because we all know it is short. This really helps you reflect on life as well as realize that every little thing matters so we must cherish what comes across us and not take anything for granted.

Synecdoche New York

I went to see Synecdoche New York last night at 9:45 p.m. at the 45th Guild Theatre. Prior to this I had seen two of Charlie Kaufman's films, Being John Malkovich and Adaptation. As a filmmaker, Charlie Kaufman certainly has an artistic way of portraying his thoughts with different and somewhat crazy but intriguing concepts and ideas, you could definitely tell Synecdoche was a Kaufman film. I have to say my favorite film he has done is Being John Malkovich because of the original idea and the creativity that went into the film, it is definitely something that has never really been done before. In relation to our course and our discussions with taking advantage of the moment and being present in life Synecdoche shows just that. It portrays a man who was not living in the moment in Phillip Seymour Hoffman's character where he was always very unsure of himself and instead of choosing to see the beauty he was surrounded with he focused on what he didn't have. An example of this is with his constant thinking of his own death but it was the people around him who were the one's passing away while he was failing to realize his own blessings, maybe he projected his own death on them. I felt it was both meaningful and comical how they continued trying to capture the essence of "realness" in life and how they never felt it was "right", but while he continued to do so life was passing him by, showing his own attachment to the past. My favorite parts of the film were the scene transitions, how it continued to take reality and turn it into a set, I had never seen that done before in a film. I enjoyed this movie but I think it is one of those films, like other Kaufman films, where you need to see it more than once to feel like you fully understand the meaning.

Yoko Ono "impossible projects"

"Freeze" and continue to sneeze while freezing for forty-five minutes.


Dribble a basketball one-hundred times with both your left and right hand without touching the ground.

" Freeze "

The first thing that came to my mind when I was going downtown to freeze with my group was that I was going to see someone I knew and they were going to say Sean... Sean... what the fu** are you doing? But once out there I really wasn't too much aware of anything around me and I really found myself caught up in the moment. As for our locations I really felt we nailed them both because of the crowds we encountered as well as the recognizable places we were, at least for someone familiar with Seattle. The thing that really helped our group was the practice because just going out there and acting without knowing what we were getting ourselves into would have been real difficult, as our class experienced during our presentation, it is not easy. It really was suprisingly hard to stay still at first but the trick was to get in the zone. In the end all I have to say my favorite part was just hearing people around us while we were frozen because we truly were the center of attention and for the most part people didn't know what was going on, therefore the side comments were pretty entertaining and made it hard to keep a "frozen" stance.

"Graffiti"

As someone who is a part of hip-hop culture I have always thought of graffiti as an artistic expression and feel that it can be used to show both powerful messages and meanings. I have always thought of graffiti as a part of the hip-hop culture, and it is, but in many ways it has branched off to create it's own culture. I am a supporter of graffiti and it is one of my favorite art forms however I do consider it people's right to have it on their own homes or business' because they own that right, it is their property. I felt the best point was said in class, which I fully agree with, we don't say anything about the advertising everywhere so why is graffiti such a big deal? That's something to think about and for me this really puts it in perspective and shows how so many people are both trained and immune to think a certain way, and it is no accident.

Reflection on the Advertising Group

I enjoyed hearing from the advertising group because not only did I like their presentation but more importantly I felt the message they portrayed was very important. This kind of message is especially relevant in today's society where being sucked into advertising has become second nature to most individuals. These ads are only benefiting big corporations through persuading people to buy their product and it works convincingly hence the reason companies spend millions of dollars annualy to do so. This kind of subject needs to be brought to attention and the internet is one of the only working ways to do so due to the amount of individuals it can reach. This subject will rarely be on public television or cable because these are the people who profit from the advertising. Sadly we are all victims to the consumption that advertising creates and it is almost impossible not to be in today's world with ads everywhere you look but to be aware of this problem is of great importance. This subject also relates to my groups project because our slogan is to "wake up and smell the roses" stressing the fact that society needs to start focusing on what really is important in life.