Week 15-Art Activity- Design Thinking Applied to Life

For this week’s blog post project on Design Thinking applied to Life, I, as asked, came up with three different possibilities for my future.

Future #1: My present goal is to major in business, and get a good stable high-paying job. So right now I’m trying to get my degree while working part-time which is step #1, then I would go apply for a paid-internship, then id get a good job, get married to my girlfriend, get better positions at work as time goes by, hopefully become a boss, have kids and be happy.

Now that’s really the goal at the moment and what I know id be happier doing.

For this option I interviewed one of my close friends who majored in business like me and got the kind of job id hope to stumble upon. I asked him what exactly he did, he answered; he represents the company and flies abroad to meet different company representatives in order to talk them into deals or close them. He also manages a whole section of the company which sells a large amount of ambulances world-wide. He told me how much he was paid, his benefits and how much his job impacts his life. He is currently married, has good income, and a nice house.

Future #2: My second option would be to major in engineering and become an aerospace engineer. So the steps to realize that dream would be: get my engineering degree, get an aerospace engineering job, get married get higher positions throughout my life, buy a house and have kids.

I personally don’t think it’s really that possible because I don’t think I’m smart enough to be an aerospace engineer and I’m not passionate enough to succeed in that department even though it’s the second best thing I could think of. I also don’t think id be nearly as happy doing that instead of doing business like I always wanted to do; which I’m actually good at.

Future #3: Now I was asked what id like to do for the rest of my life if I was financially secure and no one would laugh at me, to which I answer; id like to keep my present job as a pizza delivery person. Why? Because I like my job, I drive around, jamming to some music and deliver pizzas to hungry customers. It’s a fun job and I’ve always told my girlfriend that if I could’ve ever made a really good living off of pizza money I would’ve.

For the Practice part of this project, I practiced this option by going to work and imagining myself actually doing it for the rest of my life and I was very satisfied.

Back to Reality: Seriously though, option #1 really is my best option, logically or I wouldn’t be doing it right now, I feel like I’d be far more happy doing that. I’ve always been passionate about Business and Marketing and economics so I think I’m going towards a reachable future and a good choice for myself and my happiness.

Week 15-Classmate Conversation-Kathryn

For my final classmate conversation I met Kathryn. She is a 3rd year dancer from Fresno California and she is 21 years old. Kathryn lives off campus and works at Pieology. She really likes spaghetti and her jam right now is the song Humble by Kendrick Lamar. Her favorite color is blue and she really likes the show impractical jokers, which I also love. We also both chose blue as our favorite color. She was a really cool and funny person to talk to and I enjoyed my last classmate conversation with her!

Week 14 – Art Activity-Sketching in the Garden

This week we went to the Japanese Garden to draw some sketches of our surroundings. It was my first time going to the garden so at first I did not even know where it was or what to expect when I got there. Once I found it I was blown away by how nice it was. I would have never thought there would be such a beautiful garden on our campus. I am not the best artist by any means but I still enjoyed sitting in the garden on a beautiful day and drawing what I saw. There was a huge pond with many coy fish and many nice trees and plants and flowers everywhere. It was very relaxing and I know for a fact that I will be back there very soon!

Week 14- Classmate Conversation-Toria Painter

This week I met Toria Painter. She is a Dancer here at CSULB which is really cool and modern dance is her main interest. Her favorite activities include Hiking and Snowboarding. She is from Grass Valley California and really likes lake Tahoe and goes there a lot. One thing that I really liked about her is that she is a San Fransisco Giants fan.   Toria is a really cool person and I am happy to have met her.

Week 13- Artist Conversation- Laura Lopez

Artist: Laura Lopez
Exhibition: Selvatica
Media: Paint, Large canvases
Gallery: CSULB School of Art, Werby Gallery

About the Artist

Laura was a really nice person born and raised in Columbia and is now here about to graduate with her MFA in Painting and Drawing. After she graduates she would like to do an artist residency if she can find one or she may return to Columbia. She also likes to sing and dance because they allow her to express herself in different ways.

Formal Analysis

Bright colors on large canvases show the impression of a jungle. Each canvas has different colors in it, but you can tell they are all of the same place. The paintings really grab your attention.  They are very vibrant because of the colors. The paintings make you feel happy as the colors really speak to you.

Content Analysis

Laura is exploring the nature that has been around her since she was a child. She wants to bring the jungle to life with color so that people can see it as something that is really beyond beauty. She wants to show that the jungle is alive and something worth exploring.

Synthesis / My Experience

I really loved the colors she used, allowing you to see the jungle in a new beautiful way. I’ve always wanted to travel and one place I would love to go is the jungle. Seeing her exhibit is making me want to go the jungle and experience it for myself. I would love to make my own interpretation of the jungle and give my own thoughts like she did. Her exhibit made me happy and I was really moved by all the extravagant colors.

 

Week 13- Classmate Conversation- Joseph

This week I met Joseph. He is a really cool dude from San Jose and he is a business management major in his 2nd year here at CSULB. He loves cars and enjoys snowboarding and music. He is starting a blog channel on YouTube over the summer and he works in the audio video industry. He also used to work at in n out. I really enjoyed meeting him, even though he’s a Sharks fan, and I hope to meet more cool people like him in the future.

 

Wk 12-Art Activity-Ethnography

For this weeks art activity we had to spend a night without electricity. I thought this would be impossible for me as I spend the most time on my phone before I go to sleep compared to the rest of my day. I really wasn’t looking forward to doing this activity. The activity was just as hard as I expected too. I repeatedly found myself looking for my phone or going into each room looking for the light switches and other things like that. It was also an extremely frustrating activity in my opinion. I already sleep good and feel liberated so I didn’t feel any benefit from this activity. I understand why some people would benefit from this but it was not for me. Living without electricity is obviously better for nature for many reasons, but as long as we use electricity in moderation and continue to use alternate sources of electricity the environment should be fine in my opinion. Living without electricity is much more boring and limited. Since I am not used to living without it I found trouble finding something to do so just decided to go to sleep earlier than usual. I am not sure how people survived without electricity but I am just lucky to not be them. I am thankful for all that I have now and I wouldn’t change anything about my current lifestyle.

Wk 12-Artist Conversation-Travis Lober

Artist: Travis Lober

Exhibition: Work: It’s a Four Letter Word

Media: Mono Print

Gallery: CSULB School of Art, Merlino Gallery

Website: N/A

Instagram: N/A

About the Artist

Lober is in his fourth year as a Printmaking Bachelor of Fine Arts student at Cal State Long Beach.  Travis Lober was in the construction industry for years before becoming an artist. There is a connection between construction and his artwork.  As a carpenter, he remodeled kitchens and bathrooms and became aware of the immense importance of tools. Lober is planning on getting his maters degree after graduating.

Formal Analysis

The artwork showed different types of tools that he used in construction. The prints had neutral colors such as gray and silver. The prints allow the audience to see boring items to be more interesting. I thought the concept was really cool. Also, one of the prints showed how ordinary shoes can look exciting. The exhibit was very appealing.

Content Analysis

 A tool, in his definition, is anything that helps a person get a task done.  So wearing a pair of shoes helped him create and remodel when he was a carpenter. Which means that in his eyes almost anything people use is a tool.  The pieces shows his previous experience in carpentry, and shows the raw beauty of tools.

Synthesis / My Experience

I really liked this exhibit because I am very familiar with carpentry and construction. I have worked construction before and I was able to relate to his exhibit. Tools help create such beautiful things so I’m happy to see an exhibit that shows how beautiful tools can be.

Week 11- Artist Conversation- Yujia Gu

Artist: Yujia Gu

Exhibition: Tracing Gun Violence In The USA

Media: Graphic design

Gallery: CSULB Art Galleries, Dutzi

About the Artist

Yujia Gu is in her third year at CSULB as an MFA major in graphic design. Gu originally received her MFA in graphic design in China, but came to Long Beach to further her education, and gain more experience. Her work explores cultural differences in terms of behavior, ways of thinking, and living styles.

Formal Analysis

The exhibit was a visual representation of gun violence. Gu used vinyl to construct images of guns, people, and words on the walls of the exhibit. She also used other forms of media including photography, glass, and projection. Her exhibit was very powerful and immediately caught my attention,

Content Analysis

Gu’s exhibit ‘Tracing Gun Violence In The USA” addresses the extreme issues involving gun violence in the U.S. by comparing percentages to other countries. She said that there was definitely gun violence in China, but it was a lot worse here in the states and she had a definite fear as we all should.

My Experience

When I walked into Gu’s exhibit I was immediately drawn in by the visuals that she had in her exhibit. On the wall to the right as soon as you walked in was the big giant vinyl and that definitely caught my attention and reading it was definitely something that moved me. Gu is definitely concerned as we all should be about gun violence.

 

Week 11-Classmate Conversation- Kevin Sharp

This week I met Kevin Sharpe while looking through the galleries. He is a CSULB Sophomore and he is majoring in communication studies and is also going to minor in criminology. He plans on getting his masters in communication which is really cool.  Kevin is a sports fan with his favorite being baseball. His other hobbies include camping and he is really into clothing. He also has never really been into art but has found himself enjoying art more after taking this class. Kevin is a cool dude and I look forward to meeting more people in future classmate conversations.