R O S E


Taken from google images

For the film critique, Reilly and I decided to discuss the movie Donnie Darko.

Personally, I've never seen this movie when it came out in 2001. It was my first time watching this dark, coming-of-age, fantasy movie. I've seen similar films that are dark and intended to relate to young adults such as Pan's Labyrinth and so I was as horrified as some people might find this movie to be. I did enjoy it and was taken aback on the intensity of the film. I was definitely impressed with the storyline, it reminds me of books that I had to read in high school like Lord of the Flies or 1984. The film is though provoking and suggests controversial topics in life such as religion.

I discussed this film with Reilly and here is how conversation went:

Sent at 8:52 PM on Thursday

rose: Heyyy

reilly: hey!! sry sry... be right there

rose: Haha kk no worries

reilly: ok! ready to go. how's it going?

rose: Good, tired and just finished the movie

Which btw, was my first time and I'm still processing everything that I just experienced

reilly: Yeah, for sure, it's pretty intense.

I watched it over and over when I was in high school so it was kind of nostalgic to go back and see it again.

rose: U shouldve warned me the level of intensity of that film

reilly: Haha, you're right, I should have.

Sorry!!

rose: Dude, it was produced in 2004, so I was 14

And these kind of film was not available for me

But damn I missed out

I shouldve watched it during its time of release

reilly: Yeah I watched it around that time, but I'm old

so it's ok!

rose: Haha that's ok

reilly: So, first impressions? Thoughts?

rose: Uhh, definitely intense

Dark, ironice and thought provoking

reilly: Yeah, agreed.

rose: Its one of those movies that made at the end of the film

I like those kind of movies

reilly: Right, everything sort of comes together at the end, you mean?

rose: Where it ties altogether at the end

Yup

reilly: I think a lot of the incidental things that happen along the way are really great, too...it's such an awesome teenage story, where everyone around him thinks Donnie is crazy or rebellious but really he's saving the world.

Mrs. Farmer is like everything bad about high school rolled into one person.

rose: Who is she again? Is she the gym teacher? Because I hate her guts

reilly: Yes!!

Evil.

rose: it arouses my hate on ignorant people

reilly: I know, right? She's so sure that she's doing the right thing...

rose: *shaking my head

reilly: word.

rose: There so many motifs and symbols in this film that I HAVE to rewatch it

reilly: Yeah it's worth a second go, for sure... the whole time travel thing is still really mysterious to me.

I love the paths coming out of people's chests, leading them into the future!

rose: Yeah, the concept of time travel is mysterious

But even in the book on the philosophy of time travel, talking about tangent universe and other universe

Omg, mind-boggling

And its just cuz sometimes I do think about it

reilly: Tell me more!

rose: Ok, well I do think about existing somewhere else that isn't real. Even if its just in my mind, I'd like to think about other possibilities out there and that these experiences wouldn't be the same if u were in the other world

Do u get it?

reilly: Like another world of possibility?

Where things might be different if you made different choices, that kind of thing

rose: Yes and no.

Not just choices but the nature of things

Being imaginative, really accepting what could be on the other side

Idk...maybe I'm not making sense

But we could tlk about another concept in the film I found interesting

reilly: No no, I think I know what you mean.

But sure, what else was interesting?

rose: God

Dying alone, accepting God

Issues that the therapist thought were interesting

reilly: Yes, definitely... It's a heavy statement, when she whispers in his ear, "Every living creature dies alone."

The old woman

rose: What were u thinking

reilly: When the therapist is asking him about it, you mean?

rose: Yeah or the statement. It doesn't matter

reilly: Yeah, that's tough... in some ways I think we do, because each person only sees the world from inside him/herself, and we can't ever truly escape that... but then we're all kind of united, too. I mean, on a physical level, there's really no separation between the atoms that make up one person and the atoms that make up another... or the air... so there's no actual separation between anyone!

So I'm of two minds.

rose: I see,

reilly: Don't know if that makes sense! But what were you thinking?

rose: It sucks that to explore these things, our mind must be really ffed up

I mean, it such a huge idea, how do u organize it to make sense out of it?

reilly: Even harder on Gmail chat, haha

rose: And we see it in a perspective of a paranoid schizophrenic

Lmao! Definitely

So idk, do u want to continue it here or do u want to have some coffee and chat about it in person?

reilly: That could be a good plan! If you wanna talk more after class on Tues

The element of art I would like to focus on is pattern. I find that films or books that are thought provoking always seem to go in a certain pattern. I find that in the beginning, there is ambiguity then later on there is trigger or stressor, which is the plot line, that causes the movie to go along and have the viewer or audience to be more concentrated on the story. Then at the end, it concludes by putting everything together in which either the viewer questions what they have seen or it is when the ambiguity make sense to them. Patterns are usually seen in typical movies/books, that is why if you have seen enough movies or read books in your lifetime, you can usually predict what comes along. However, sometimes writers and directors try to stray away from the pattern to show originality and predictability that is why it is usually criticized the most. Art films gives the viewer a perspective and then interpreted in different ways. Similar to any artwork, paintings or other medias, the artist usually intend to make a statement in their artworks while the audience attempts to interpret or investigate the meaning.

For my sculpture, I was inspired by an artist, who I can't recall but remembered his/her work. The work of art of piles of garbage except when you saw the shadow of the sculpture it showed a figure that was recognizable. The focus for this blog post is on a sculpture that can be found all around us.

This is my sculpture.

Here is my first attempt:

To me, it looks like a person reading a book on top of a hill.

Here is my final attempt:

To me, the shadow is a picture of a man meditating on a cliff by the water.

I did two attempts because I wanted a different image portrayed. The shadows were accidental but I made sure it represented something. I prefer the second one because of the irony. The simple action of a man meditating represented by a pile of random things seems ironic. We are always in motion, we always want new things in life, things/luxuries makes life enjoyable but we never get the time to appreciate what we really have.

I like the results of my sculpture so others can interpret the shadow differently, it doesn't matter and I am open for different interpretations.

I would also like to focus on the element of line in the post. According to Schirrmarcher and Fox (2009) "line suggests direction, movement, rhythm, or form" (p.135). It is visible in my sculpture because the shadow formed the image and created the lines I wanted. Though it may not be a solid line around the image, the shadow created lines emanated a simple action/movement from the pile of solid objects.

From readings in class, this is another example of how adult art can inspire child's art. I would hope that children would be inspired by the artist's work and let them create their own shadow sculpture with other materials. I would allow them to create from anything and shine light unto to see if they were able to create a picture.

Reference:

Schirrmarcher, R., & Fox, J.E. (2009). Art and creative development for young children
(6^th Ed.). Belmont, CA: Delmar

R O S E

Ryerson University CLD 215 - Creative Arts 1

Interesting blog post

Film Critique

This is interesting.

Sculpture