Rectangles in a Square....

“Rectangles in a Square…” My inspiration came from Milton Glaser’s photo array and design elements. I love the simplicity yet uniqueness of his artwork and graphical designs.  I decided to see if he did comparable work besides his famous Dylan poster and since we needed to do this in black and white with basic shapes; I choose to take both squares and rectangles as my two primary shapes, with black and white being the color choices.  I used as a visual reference Glaser’s ‘Baby Teeth’ image as it uses the color design cues I wanted however I had to experiment with different shapes to avoid ‘creating a picture’.

I decided I would go with abstract shapes and have my primary shape be a square along with a deep depth of all black. Using two varying sizes of the rectangles I inverted both the border of each shape and filled it with the color contrast of black and white; Alternating from an all-white border black fill rectangle, to a black border white fill rectangle. Trying to make a ‘picture’ without actually creating one was quite different I must say and sort of confused me as I was stumbling on how or what I would create. I blended and filled the right side of the image with a mesh of the color hues black and white to give it that inverted feel. Breaking up the unity and allowing a clear path is the white streaks purpose.

Friends how many of us have them? Pop Culture

I never knew how subconsciously vested one could be when it comes to the knowledge of pop culture. I too value the word "friend" I value you it so much I wonder why the word "friend" has been so commonly replaced with the proper term 'associate'. There isn't enough TIME to have an abundance of the word Friend truly... 

Stereotypes Don't exist "The best way to maintain something is to never forget the struggle it took to achieve it"

I don’t believe in race so I couldn’t co sign a stereotype of a particular race; however there are people who do classify themselves with race and because of this I am able to logically place those individuals in said stereotypes. Do I mentally profile? Off course I’ve have we all have but I make sure I don’t allow it to manifest. Profiling is a part of survival and happens naturally we should be accessing people places and things as they come about but to make a definitive statement about a group of people is asinine when you clearly haven’t met all those people and even just one odd ball debunks a ‘stereotype’ so how they exist I haven’t the clue. The best way to maintain something is to never forget the struggle it took to achieve it; the reality of the word sustain….maintain is just the name.We endure stereotypes everyday of our lives; its how we handle them and eliminate them. But to do that we have to get people to stop thinking they can logically exist.

HUMN240-1-3-2 - Evolution or Big Bang

            World renowned historian James Gilberts create a theory of connection set between Scopes trial of 1925 to Seattle’s World’s Fair of 1962, linked together by Science and Religion in theory according to Gilbert. The narrative begins with Gilberts suspicious view on William Jennings Bryan centered around the Scopes trial and famous during the Progressive Era known then as ‘the Great Commoner’; whose defense of the literal account of the literal biblical account left Gilbert in doubt calling him a scientist who bases his understandings on what is commonly understood experiences;  Which plays into Gilberts standpoint on common sense science in compare to professional science and how the two have grown over time. However Bryan joined the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 1924 as an astronomer who did not believe in evolution and was against it. Nothing screams science and religion like the debate between evolution and creation, when debunked by Edward Rice, stating he knew nothing of Darwin’s theory or the scientific method it posed the question who should speak for science the elite or the interpreters of science.  The start of educating about ‘Evolution’ did not begin until 1957 and much later for other states this is vital to American Culture anytime something shapes ones beliefs.  The media was the target of conception it would appear with the attempts to popularize the atomic scientist views to the mass media at all cost to get their theory into the heads of the impressionable.

        The dialogue between science and religion is one of pure centers focused on proving each individual agenda. The focus here is to essentially proving that one side is right versus the other. Science as it pertains to Religion is man’s explanation of the unknown and explaining the impossible. Religion basically debunks man fret over what it tries to explain thru science. This is a divided topic and until the foreseen ‘end’ however you perceive it shall be the deciding factor for both sides debating evolution or a higher power. I always found it funny how some scientist are against the idea we were created by a higher power rather than the big bang theory; are they atheist how is it you believe bits and pieces of religion yet debunk the beginning of said religion? Another reason I take pause with both Religion & Science as it has been passed down over the generations because it seems its intent is to serve an agenda of the said purposes. From government dispute, military involvement, to even pushing the views thru mass media production, seems quite alarming. Very ‘Democracy’ ‘DE-MOCK-CRAZY’ in its nature this element of the debate I feel is important because it does give the informed a chance to formulate their own decision or is it two parts created to purposely misguide a hidden third truth?  Perhaps this written narrative is not important in its delivery but the content is briefly viable to the common researcher. It inspires thought and speaks to the content of our heritage and ‘Pop’ culture and the differences we have faced over time, a story anyone could narrate chronologically.  It’ relevance could be challenged not solidified

References:

Busse, R. (1998). Religion and Science in America: Populism versus Elitism. Zygon, 33(1), 131-145. doi:10.1111/0591-2385.1321998132

 

Gilbert, J. (1998). Retrieved from Religion and Science in America: Populism versus Elitism.

HUMN240-1-4-4-Je' - Celebrity Cult

The popularity of social media definitely owes some of its success to the ‘heroes’ & ‘celebrity’ for its popular influence on people. Bandwagon theories are ever prevalent because the individuals using this formality can gauge their popularity by how many ‘likes’ they have or ‘followers’ they have on sites like Facebook and Twitter. If a celebrity is not self promoting or casually talking about their day they receive several comments, replies, and retweets; and some post even get selected as a ‘favorite’ by their following. This type of influence is both a gift and a curse because when issues say for instance Trayvon Martin once the ‘elite’ picked up on the story and thru their two cents in the masses began to care and follow. Moving forward the recent movie massacre is another story that received popularity on sites even such as Google+. Analyze closely we can deviate the differences among the youth and how they interpret the social media and its endeavors.  When you do that you began to see what some feel is a problem and others not but the influence that some ‘heroes’ or ‘celebrities’ have on their ‘fans’ are scary. Too much ‘respect’ is given to people many do not even know personally and they trust them before they would someone they do know personally. In theory social media and its popularity are unifying the masses thru various outlets passing and sharing information some for the good and others for the bad. Take away the fear of the weak mined and consider the theories to be debunked when the actions are not sustained by their definition; just because you’re a celeb or someone’s idols should not make you popular automatically.

HUMN240-1-4-3

            There are many mis-conceptions and conceptions that come with social media. What started off as a thing for teens grew to be an eco structure for the college like and adults to now you can follow on twitter your favorite brand of cereal to your favorite musician.  Using these sites varies person to person depending on the purpose of the usage. With this option of personal or business it comes with certain unspoken guidelines. For instance if you have a business Facebook ‘Like’ page  you don’t want to post personal things that are not supportive of the page itself. People assess one another by their friend count, type of post they make, pictures they use, groups they belong to, to even who they follow on twitter. It’s all circular theory at best.

        As far as rituals is concerned I highly doubt or at least I am hoping there isn’t any Facebook or Twitter rituals like on your child’s 12^th birthday they activate the usage. However I will say there is routine, like email some people check Facebook first thing in morning or before they go to bed at night. We all develop our own routine on usage but I don’t think anyone has a ritual that would be pretty scary considering the source. Social networking is a big part of the world now almost everyone has some form or type of iteration to be connected with others virtually. Some may call it bandwagon theory or even evolution; but for the most part people want to use the tools.  I take away from this how rapid times and thing change and that nothing is guaranteed forever. I look forward to seeing what else we incorporate in life.

HUMN240 -1-4-2- Popularity of Social Media

The popularity of social media has evolved and spiraled since the popularity of MySpace. From the evolution we grew to have Facebook which originated as a way for college students to stay connected was later implemented and use by business professionals, celebrity fan pages, and people of all ages groups. From there we have the introduction of Twitter which became the ‘following trend’ both Facebook and Twitter is a means to meet people and connect with those you know. News is spread instantaneously from popular celebrity news, to the latest in the presidential election there is no topic either can’t handle; thusly feeding a range of diets.

        This does create rising issues in interpersonal communication because the uses can vary so vaguely you are often passing opinions back and forth between each other and due to netiquette (or the lack of) presents some challenging communication barriers. Relationships of all types are started from and even end on the social networking and some say are devaluing what true relationships are. One thing is for sure theories a part social networking is social media and this will only evolve versus diminish. We see this unification with services like Google+ becoming more popular as well; unifying the mobile market product share even more. There are many positives as well for instance balancing multiple friend and family contact, business can reach their customers directly, etc are all vital roles played by social media. Social media is a responsibility and those who use tread lightly.