CHALLENGE:

Find a way to communicate the information and experiences gathered in Iceland to the public back in the states. The website not only acted as a blog and gallery space for our images, but it also allowed our group reSENSITIZE to keep our peers up to date on the exhibition that occurred in January 2015. 

SOLUTION:

This reflexive and responsive website was designed to reach people on all types of devices ranging from mobile devices to large desktops. The tabs along the top make the site easy to navigate and icons and jump-links allow the viewer to jump to the desired blog entries. A book was also created based off of many of our blogs and additional images. This hard copy allowed for people to bring a little bit of our experience home with them.

 
 

poster, postcards, proposals

initial poster was hand stitched, then photographed for printing

 

CHALLENGE:

Create a work that followed the theme of reSENSITIZE. 

solution:

After trying to "reSENSITIZE" my own life, I found myself minimizing my belongings very quickly. It is not that these things no longer held any use or value, but they were things I no longer felt the need to keep. With this in mind, I was sure that many other people could benefit from what I had sitting in my closet. That led me to create, "Take / Leave".

The concept was to allow people to take whatever they wanted. If they could find a use for it, just take it and leave something that you no longer need in return. Functioning almost as a library of belongings it allowed me to find a home for items that I no longer needed, while challenging people to question their wants vs needs. Each time someone took something they were requested to fill out a card that told what they took and why they took it. This allowed the participant to actually question if this was something that they actually needed in their life. 

The shelf, hanger, and table were all made from reclaimed palettes. All of the remaining items left at the end of the show were donated to a local resale shop. 

 

CHALLENGE:

Increase my photography skills.

Solution: 

Have my camera on me at all times.

 

challenge:

After month in Argentina and thousands of photos later, I needed an effective and efficient way to display my work. Completing a final project for my study abroad photo class and my honors thesis were also concerns.

solution:

A book comprised of photography of the people, culture, and street scenes in Buenos Aires accompanied by research of the city became my most favorable option. It allowed me to include an abundance of photography, while also continuing to learn and share about the culture of Buenos Aires. I also printed ten large format images, which were hung on display all summer. 

 

challenge:

Create a thought provoking installation that will allow the viewers to interact and contribute to the piece.

SOLUTION:

From the moment we are brought into this world, there is an excessive list of concrete factors that will affect our lives. The majority of factors we have no control over. Our family, gender, social norms, and the weather show just a snip-it of our decided environment, an environment that has the ability to manufacture and mold each individual into the person they are today. 

The words written on the glass of the installation are all related to different aspects of people's environment or factors that are out of their control. Phrases such as “parenting” or “culture” are situations that seem out of our hands, are laser cut into the glass or plexi, while “friends” or “location” are inscribed in dry erase marker because we have the ability to change those things if we desire to. These distinctions are made to show that even though you always have a choice on how you allow your environment to affect you, some factors pose as greater challenges than others. 

Lastly the mirrors are a reference to the double consciousness that exists in the world. As we compare ourselves to people through outlets such as social media, we are constantly “looking at one's self through the eyes of others,” as W.E.B. DeBois states. We are in conflict between who your environment raised you to be verses who you aspire to be. Dry erase markers were left out with the installation to allow people to interact with the installation and add their own comments and words to the glass panes.

installation in the Arts & Journalism Building on Ball State's Campus...

INSTALLATION IN irvington neighborhood...

 

Challenge:

Produce a glass piece inspired by nature.

SOLUTION:

By imitating the form of a bird’s nest there was space to weave in actual twigs. This mimics the idea that birds gather all sorts of odds and ends to build themselves a home.

 

CHALLENGE:

An exploration in the mediums of intaglio printmaking and bookmaking.

SOLUTION:

The intaglio prints are animals simply taking on human characteristics. The plates underwent many levels of etching along with aquatints. The book binding used is known as crown binding. This unique bind allows requires no stitching and allows for the blue triangles to be folded up to release the pages.

 

CHALLENGE:

Time and motion change how a text may be perceived, and can add interest or punctuate visually. Animate the words of a song or any spoken audio recording. Song chosen: Royals by Lorde

SOLUTION:

Devised a visually stimulating depiction of the words by using effects to enhance the beat and meaning of the lyrics. 

 

CHALLENGE:

Exploration of film photography and the dark room.

SOLUTION:

A semester’s worth of experimentation with transparencies, Pentax and Holga cameras, burning film, photographing strangers, and incorporating type into the film images.

 

challenge:

Explore the medium of artists books. The book can be centered around any desired subject.

SOLUTION:

This artist book was created by photographing strangers in downtown Indianapolis and asking them two simple questions. First, what was one word they used to describe themselves, and second, a word to describe the world. The viewer of the book is given the opportunity to see how people reflect on themselves by reading the answer to the first question in combination with the portrait. Additionally, by starting from the back, viewers can look at the world through this stranger’s perspective in connection with their second answer. The viewer also has the opportunity to mix and match people's answer for a whole new view of the book.

 

challenge:

Explore digital imagery through a low resolution process such as phone photos, projectors, screenshots, etc.

SOLUTION:

If given the chance to drop everything and be in a whole new reality, where would you end up? Each participant given this opportunity by bringing images of their escape locations, the images were then projected, and then the individuals were allowed to become part of the image. Their shadows projected a different image compared to what their physical bodies seemed to be doing as well, which only continued to distance reality from the image in the pictures.

 

Challenge:

Create something that explains who you are without using any common identifiers such as your name, family, occupation, etc.

SOLUTION:

Starting with a list of words that captured who I am as a person, I then used the words and searched through my pictures to find images that expressed those qualities. Even though I had specific emotions, ideas, and qualities attached to each picture, viewers may have a different interpretation of “who I am” based on their analysis of the images.

 

challenge:

Create an installation in correspondence with its environment.

SOLUTION:

Society has lost its ability to be observant in our developing world. As we rush from one place to the next, people are constantly talking on the phone, texting, and catching up on social media. Basically doing everything except observing and relating with the people and environment surrounding them. 

The goal of this installation is to bring amusement to the few who are aware and hopefully catch the attention of those who have drifted into cyberspace. Even if a person is caught up looking at their phone, there is still potential for the viewer’s downward glance to be drawn in by the mirror on the ground. 

This piece intended to make people more aware of their surroundings by placing subtle inconsistencies in their environment. Starting from the ground up (this caught many people glancing down at their phones). And working from the ceiling down (for those walking with their head held high).