Something I Wish the High School Designers had Thought About

Color theory. It is a well thought out process that any halfway decent artist thinks about when planning their painting. Planning a piece of art you say? Does that really happen? Yes. Many people think that great art just "happens", that you just get a blank canvas and go for it. Some art is indeed done this way, but most art has a very long, drawn out (pun so intended) process. Most artist have intent in a painting, and the original idea of how they are going to express something is far from how it ends up being. The first idea is always the boring, obvious one. This, in my opinion, separates the good from the bad. Like writing, visual art is edited until the artist wants to maliciously rip the painting into a million little pieces and never look at it again. Perhaps that's why most artists are so cynical. Their work drives them insane. 


Color theory is a very complicated and controversial subject. Color theory is what its name is, just knowing what colors will look good together and what color combinations will ruin a work of art. Some believe that a great color theorist is born, and it isn't something that you can teach. In the interview that was linked from salon.com, two color theory experts were inteviewed about their feelings on the subject. They both agreed that anyone can learn color theory, and I cannot agree more. Thomas Bosket, who teaches color theory at Parson's New School of Desgin said "I have taught unteachable [color theory] courses for 16 years and have never found a student to be unteachable. That is a myth based on teachers who want to feel like exclusive geniuses. "Genius" is not born; it’s in all people but it needs to be tapped. That is done by reaching into the well of creativity, finding our own unexpected reaction or response to a need of society that is yet unmet."  


Being a fan of color theory and artwork in general, I die a little every time I walk into our school. None of the pod colors really work for me, and I often wonder who they paid to make this school look so "retro". Just because it's a 'retro" style does not mean it needs to look bad. I also do not understand why we would go for such a look when the whole idea of a new multi-million dollar school was to bring us into this century. It seems like a terrible, orange tiled step back. Seriously though, mustard colored walls and bright scarlet orange tiles? Clearly the person who thought that up had it out for this little town and wanted to make the town look absurd. Mission accomplished.


This interview had a lot of ethos, because the men being interviewed were experts in their field. They know what they're talking about. It also surprisingly contained some pathos. Colors do express emotion. The teachers do this really cool project where their students have to paint on their hands to match their skin. Bosket said "Color is the most emotional element and to create a refined response we need to tap into our emotions (our psychological makeup) and that is a very dream-like arena, a very personal arena. So, instead of having them match any random color I thought, "why not have them paint a very personal color!" and that was their skin. (This assignment has led to some amazing discussions about expectations and preconceived notions. Another longer discussion!)" So the next time we build a new school, I think that we should get one of these men; as they clearly understand how deep a hue can be. 


The first part of the interview. 
The second part.

When I Learned to scrape By

This article was more like a journal entry than an actual article, but it was effective. It was about a woman who was unemployed and scraping up change from the streets just to eat. Which is really, really sad. America is obviously in a terrible recession, and it isn't anyone in particulars fault, but I am starting to think that someone should attempt to do something about this issue. Just maybe. It makes me worry that this will be me when I graduate college, fresh out of school and in debt. But hopefully eight or more years from now this recession will perhaps be more optimistic looking, or better yet, over with. This recession is probably the biggest issue facing our country right now. I have not personally seen a lot being done, and I just cannot fathom why. 
This article had so much pathos. You cannot help but feeling bad for the narrator and all her friends. "I think about Javier, his cough. He’s worked at the gas station for 15 years. Last month the company decided to cut his hours. Working part-time means he’s no longer eligible for benefits." That is terrible and awful. I cannot even imagine what my family would do if that happened. The worst part about it though is that Javier probably did not do a thing to deserve it. The money just was not there for the station to pay him. I wish that the narrative had given a little more background on how the author ended up in this predicament. It felt kind of empty and abrupt when it ended, because there was not really a conclusion. Hopefully the author gives an update someday. 


The article.

The Super Bowl Ads

We all watched the Super Bowl last night. Some of us cried, others lost large amounts of money, and at least one person in New England was happy with the outcome. But, for those of us that do not enjoy sports all that much, the advertisements that happen during the game are extremely fun, and motivate us to join in on the game time action. The ads were as funny as ever last night, my personal favorite being a Pepsi one that featured a diadem donned Elton John and Flavor-Flav at the very end. But this article, Puppies and Nostalgia will Always Sell, was about much more than just the highly over-priced articles, it was about the need for instant gratification in the American culture these days. "But now, in a hyper-accelerated world where 4G is just waiting for 5G to supplant it, the speed of light is too slow, and even the sense of immediacy somehow feels inadequate; we prefer to experience our events, particularly the enormous ones, well before they happen." I cannot agree with this more. Our culture is based a lot on who can get it done first, with the best cost efficiency  of course. This is true even for things like the Super Bowl ads, where they have teaser trailers on TV and YouTube out weeks before the game happens. The real question here is how our society got this way. Is it a uber need for control in an unstable economic environment that causes us to want to predict the future? Or perhaps we want to know what's going to happen so we can try to "improve" it. In any case, nothing can happen fast enough, and patience is becoming a thing of the past.
This article was more of a rant than anything else. Othmer, the author, imposed humor and quick wit to get across his point: the ads are " are a reflection of a desperate media reality and the degree to which advertisers and their agencies are asked to exceed the massive expectations of an increasingly brand-savvy, post-ironic culture that is almost impossible to surprise." 


The article here.