Saturday, October 6, 2012

school

i'd rather not pester you lovely people, but i have a weird favor to ask of all of you.
i had an assignment for one of my classes, and one requirement was to post it on a social media platform and ask for feedback. 

the assignment was to pick a part of ourselves that we identify with, then find a piece of media/art/whateva that represents it. we then had to figure out what parts of the existing piece doesn't reflect our views, and then manipulate it to reflect our identity better. 
here's mine:


i picked the fact that i did ballet and other dance for a lot of years. when i was younger, i thought i would be doing ballet forever, and would end up teaching it or something similar. i still somewhat identify as a dancer, because i did it for so long, and thought i'd be doing it for much longer.

i took this degas painting and repurposed it to reflect my current views of dance. it's a really exclusive world. you have to start it early and be committed. you can't very easily stop doing ballet, and then expect to just start it up again after taking a hiatus (like i did). i still love ballet and dance so much, but i don't necessarily fit in that world anymore.

now, feedback? it's part of the assignment to ask for some. i welcome whatever you guys want to say about this, even criticism!

you guys are the besssst.

6 comments:

kirsten said...

I really like this idea and it is really easy to understand (sometimes art makes no sense to me). It is very personal, yet has far-reaching affects because lots of girls were involved with dance at one point and know what it means. Also, before I read your explanation, I first thought it meant something else, something along the lines of being an introvert and preferring to be on the outside of all the action. It kind of has double meaning when you look at it that way, pretty cool Jess. One question: Why is the ballerina's hair/bow blue? I'm wondering if that's on purpose.
And I think you're getting very good at photoshop.

Eryn said...

i didn't know that there was an explanation to the picture, so i just tried to figure out what it meant. i thought that it had to do with being an introvert. stepping back and just watching others instead of being in the action of everything. then i read your explanation and it makes sense. i think that this is relatable to other sports or activities as well. there was only one thing that i didn't really like about the picture, and it was the coloring of the girl and her dress, but other that that, this is really cool!

Em said...

I love this! I thought it kind of represented a dividing line between the extremely strict, classical, and demanding ballet being witnessed by a modern dancer that appreciates the art of dance but also has other interests. Maybe someone who wants to dance but also wants to dedicate life to other things as well.

erin lou said...

I like this quite a bit. I like how you can get the gist of it without necessarily knowing the explanation.

Cole said...

The alterations you made to the painting definitely match your explanation. You did a great job. I love that the way you altered it could be interpreted in others ways, too. That's the great thing about art. I have two interpretations: first, an introvert trying to fit in an extrovert's world, and, second, how the walls we build around ourselves actually blur our vision of our true potential.

Cynthia said...

OK, this will probably seem odd, coming from me, since I have only met you like... twice. But maybe it will help because I can tell you what you tell about yourself through your blog. and also what kylie says about you.
I really like the piece because what I get from your blog is that you are a very modern person, and very in touch with the modern world, and the possibilities enabled to people living in the modern world. I think that's reflected in how the colors of you are like iridescent gasoline.
I like that you chose ballet, because it reflects an appreciation for the past and culture, and art, and beauty, and hard work, as those are all things ballet represents. And your appreciation for those things is apparent in your blog.

the screen is interesting. The first thing i thought of was the NT scripture "...we see through a glass darkly." and how you said you don't feel like you fit in that world anymore. it makes me wonder if in a few years, will that screen be more obstructive? Will it always be blurry? or is ballet so integral, that it will just be a shade fuzzy all of your life?

the only thing missing in this painting that i think you like is an attractive celebrity. but everything has a time and place. haha