Homework 21- Art Project 1

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I believe that my art is a mirror. In my art, I reflected the world as I see it. I took pictures of my friends and family using technology, and incorporated that into my collage. Instead of telling people how they should or should not be using technology, I showed people how people I know use technology in their daily lives, whether it for schoolwork or just for pure fun.

For my art to be a hammer, it needs to reflect our society as I see it, and then reflect on how I believe our society can change it’s over excessive use of technology. However, I did not want to do that. I don’t want to tell people they have to cut down on their use of technology, I want them to realize by themselves they need to. I don’t want people to cut down on their use of technology because I am telling them to, that is the same as going to school and having a teacher tell you what to do, without explaining why. If, after looking at my collage, people feel the need to cut down on their technological use, so be it. If not, then I can’t say I didn’t try. I want people to enjoy my art, and have a glimpse of how I see our society. I want them to act like they are in my shoes for once, and look through my eyes.

My art does indeed make me think and feel. My collage incorporates pictures that I took in one period of time. During class, I took pictures of my friends and classmates using their digital representation devices. I never realized how obsessed our society is with technology. Since we had a substitute in class, my classmates immediately pulled out their cell phones, iPods, and laptops, and began using them. While looking at my art, it dawned on me how obsessed we all are. My art makes me analyze our current generation and how society affects them.

The most interesting aspect of making my art was figuring out which pictures to use and how to place the pictures in an interesting ways. I wanted to vary my picture positions, and didn’t want to clump pictures of the same people together. Making a collage always requires a lot of thought, in my opinion, and trying to reflect our society in a collage required a thought out process. I didn’t want my art to look like something I slapped together last minute; I wanted it to tell a story. I have some pictures in color and some in black and white to show the various stages of people using technology, and to create a contrast in the photos. I wanted the viewer’s eyes to first be drawn to the quote about art by Bert Brecht, and then to the pictures around it. As the viewers eyes take in the whole picture, they will take in the whole picture. I wanted the collage to be viewed in different stages.