Amelia

Make a Kilometer project

For this project I wanted to present what a kilometer sounds like. My sister and I both ran a kilometer at the same time, each of us with our own microphones recording our entire run. We ran around a lake near our home, which happens to be exactly one kilometer.

My sister is a far better runner than I, so she finished much faster. You can hear me struggle by myself after she finishes a minute before me, and then my complaints as I finally catch up to her. It’s also interesting to hear how rhythmic everything is at the beginning as we start off with a strong and steady pace, and as the minutes go by the recording starts to sound more and more jumbled and the breathing gets heavier as we get more tired (mostly me).

Here is the final recording:

Turning the Gestures of Everyday Life into Art

A reflection on the article by Zoey Poll

Katja Heitmann’s work shows and celebrates individual body movements. The little movements we make every day when we walk, talk, sit, eat and sleep are unique to us and are part of our personality. Heitmann invites volunteers to share their body language with her which are then imitated by dancers. For the volunteers, this can be a very vulnerable thing; the way a person moves unconsciously can in fact make them self-conscious, and the article states that sometimes people would instinctively try to fix their postures or change the way they move to not seem strange or different. However, I believe the whole point of this work is to point out the beauty in those differences, and show how everyone’s body movements have their own differences.

Some of the movements I saw in the article struck me because I realized I do the same thing! One of them being cracking the knuckles on your hand – something I do all the time, usually unconsciously. My mom always gets upset at me for constantly doing it, but it’s a subconscious habit I can’t seem to break. Another image showed a girl walking on her toes, something I did throughout the majority of my life. While I had worked hard on correcting this way of walking, sometimes I instinctively stand on my toes or walk on my toes for a few seconds before falling back into a “regular” way of walking, something which many people have pointed out to me. It was refreshing to see somebody have the same unconscious habits. 

Some habits I observed in other people is that a friend of mine blinks very hard every once in a while. I can tell he does it without realizing, but sometimes he doesn’t blink with just his eyelids, but instead his whole face scrunches along with the blink. One I observed in my sister is that her right foot turns slightly inwards when she walks – it is a very subtle thing, but the slight turn of her foot can sometimes make her walking a little asymmetrical. I really don’t know why she does it, whether her body is just made for that sort of walking or if it is just what is comfortable for her. I’ve noticed my mom bites her nails only when she is nervous – I often notice her doing it when she is very wrapped up in a book or movie, or when she is deep in thought about something important. These movements imply that the human body acts on its own according to our emotions or our body types – despite it being our vessel, it is not something we can always control. Instead, we should celebrate and bring light upon the fascinating uniqueness of every individual body, just as Heitmann does in her work. 

Toronto Field Trip!!

Last Friday the whole class went to the AGO to see The Culture exhibition, an art exhibition which celebrates hip hop culture through contemporary art. I thought the exhibition was amazing, and I genuinely loved the paintings, sculptures and photographs displayed. I may not be very knowledgeable on hip hop, but this was such a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the culture and the works truly left quite an impression on me.

One of my favourite works was Aaron Fowler’s Live Culture Force 1s. It is a sculpture of Air Force 1s made of recycled car parts. This sculpture was so huge in person and so fascinating to look at and to locate the different car parts it is made out of. The description stated that sneakers, specifically Air Force 1s, are very big in hip hop culture, but this artwork was also made as a tribute to a friend who had passed away in an accident. I thought these shoes were amazing and a highlight of the exhibition.

Another stunning artwork was Knowledge of God by Jayson Musson, a beautiful piece which looked like an incredible abstract painting at first, but as I got closer I realized it was entirely created from intricately woven yarn and fabrics! Musson’s pieces are an ode to Coogi sweaters, which not only hold deep cultural significance but are also colourful and eye-catching, creating a beautiful abstract work of art. I love the colours and the movement in this piece – it looks like an explosion of colour, something unreal and otherworldly twisting and snaking on the canvas. Beautiful.

This exhibition was an incredible glimpse into both the historical and contemporary culture of hip hop, with videos of dancing, hair braiding, mannequins wearing famous wigs, outfits worn by hip hop artists, etc. were displayed. It really did allow me to learn so much about a culture that is so popular and will continue to be popular for a long time.

Aside from the AGO, we also went into the Power Plant in Toronto, where we got to see a couple contemporary artworks. I thought the pieces there were visually interesting and required a deeper sense of viewing than just simply looking at it – I had to try and understand it, learn how it was made and take in the variety of elements that bring to life an otherwise simple looking piece.

I liked Charles’ Campbell’s How Many Colours Has the Sea, a work which ties in both the visual and auditory experience of the sea. I liked this metal sculpture piece which resembles wave patterns in water, and cast beautiful haunting shadows on the walls. I always find that emulating nature with industrial materials makes for an interesting work of art. I have not been to many contemporary galleries so the Power Plant was something new to me – definitely much more difficult to understand than a painting of a landscape or religious scene. But there is no doubt that even if contemporary art is different than what I am used to or seems overly simple or bizarre at times, there is very often meaning and creativity behind it. Sometimes I just have to look at it from a different perspective.

Video Assignment

Audio Assignment

“Hello?”

“Hello?” is a compilation of different ways people (or answering machines) pick up the phone. I called most people in my contacts list and recorded them picking up the phone, with the responses differing based on their personalities and the relationship I have with them. It also allowed a reflection on what role phone calling plays in the lives of people in my generation – many of the people I called were my close friends whom I talk to every day and yet this was my first time ever calling them. Many of my friends thought I was in trouble when I called them because of how rarely it happens! Because of social media and the ease of texting, I find phone calls to be mostly unnecessary. However, this project allowed me to hear the rare sound of the people in my life – my friends and family, my workplace, employees at the gym I go to – saying “hello” as they pick up my call. It also led to some fun conversations afterwards with people I haven’t spoken to in a while.

I decided to start the video off with the sound of the phone ringing as I make my first call, and finish it off with the answering machine of a caller whose number no longer exists. One of the friends I called had changed her number and I was not able to reach her for this project, but I thought the response of the caller no longer being available and the empty beeping of the line was a good way to end my series of calls.

Open Studio!!

This year was my first time attending Open Studio, where I got to see the work of both the Masters students at Guelph and some of the 4th year undergraduate capstone students. It was such a great opportunity to meet new artists and see what they’re up to in the upper years of the program, and to learn more about what furthering my art education can look like.

I had the privilege of meeting several artists, but here are some of the ones that I really enjoyed getting to know:

Natasha Verbeke

I thought her abstract art was beautiful. I am not always the biggest enjoyer of non-representational art but I was very intrigued by the paintings and studies she had displayed in her studio. Her use of colour is wonderful and reminds me of nature.

I unfortunately cannot remember this artist’s name but I spoke to her and learned about her fascinating painting process. She creates abstract paintings and collages from inks which she makes herself, using natural ingredients like plants, bugs, copper, etc. She showed me a jar of dried beetles which she crushes to make a vibrant purple pigment. It was very interesting to listen to!

Stephanie Fortin

Stephanie was my TA in my first year core studio course, and it was great being able to chat with her about her work. She worked at a scrapyard over the summer and printed rusty cars onto fabric to create this intriguing pieces of art. The rust from the cars makes a super interesting abstract piece. I also got to ask some questions about the Masters program and what it takes to get in. So far I’m not sure I’ll continue my education after receiving my bachelor’s degree, but we never know…

Overall a great way to explore studios I’ve never been to before and learn about new ways to make art. Very inspiring and I’ll be sure to come back next year!!

Conceptual Portrait Assignment

I decided to photograph them all individually and put them on a large poster. I thought this made a visually interesting grid of colour and graphics. The gum packets are life-sized and you can see the wear-and-tear on each one – some are ripped and crumpled, others in pristine condition. The packets on the poster are assembled in chronological order based on the Best Before dates, which shows how long ago I bought them. It allows you to see my taste in gum over the years (I have a clear favourite).

Overall this was a fun project to do and I’m so glad I finally got an opportunity to use my bizarre but fun collection for something!! It definitely shows me as a person… I really can be rather odd at times.