To Alan

I know how you say that "shakespeare doesn't like emo poetry" but your final words showed that there is always time and room for "emo" in a lifetime.
This course was not only educational but also life learning and life changing. This class allowed me to escape from "the real world" and stressful college life to a place with plenty of room for creativity and to be myself.
I enjoyed the idea that you presented us with ideas and left it up to us to get what we wanted from them. It goes back to the idea that if one is interested then he or she will look more into it.
Oh this is not a way of sucking up, but I want to thank you for the many rambling talks that originally started with a purpose and ended with something completely different. These talks helped me think of life and view life in a different light. This exposure to your life experiences/ wisdom will help me in my future.

The class was lots of fun and I enjoyed the course.

-justin

Today's...

Class was amazing!! I loved everyone's performances. These past two classes have been the most entertaining of the year. Aside from just having fun, I feel that we learned a lot from one another. The class has about 100 or a lil more but we don't notice the size, (it's not the size that matters) we're connected. Through the performances we welcomed each other into our comfort zones and left a lil parts of ourselves in each other's lives.

While walking back to my room, I was thinking that this last class took me back to childhood memories. How the "last day of school" should be. I would love to see everyone again next quarter, but that's not how college works. I most likely won't see many of the people again but if I do see someone from the class I will not be shy to tell them hi and ask how things are going for them.

This class has made many friendships and I thank Alan for being the transitioning point from fellow classmates, work, and mandatory lectures to friendships and fun learning.

Thank you.

-justin

the sky

did you guys see the sky yesterday? dude it was gorgeous. so i took a Polaroid of the picture and this is what it now looks like...
~miyou

miyou was in a creative mood

so she decided to make a few things for the benefit talent show/art gallery. all the money went to feed the hungry in Africa.

End of the year!

This video is really random, I just wanted to see if it would upload on the page :)
-Vanessa

It'll be a great idea...

To do the extra credit because not many courses offer it. I think that we should use it to our advantage.
Al said that it's due soon, so I think that you guys should have it done by next lecture. Don't worry about turning in a hard
copy. Just email it to him or put it on the blog. Don't forget to mention what it is and who it's from.
LET'S GET THEM A'S!!!
-Justin

Welcome

Environmental Design

Environmental Design

Environmental Design

The Inspiration

Our inspiration for our upcoming live design.

the sky is blue

i painted this for a friend over the summer
~miyou

Operation Red Duck

I know that we're going to meet up on Sunday, but what time is it going to be?
I don't want to be in bed and get dragged out for the meeting.

-Justin

Thought for the day.... When was the last time that you stopped to admired something beautiful?

The Metaphor

Since the earliest years of mankind there has always been a need to illustrate moments that occur in life. These illustrations began with the use of pictures and evolved into the use of words and language. These illustrations are metaphors for something in the actual world. Borges gives an example of “a monster made of eyes” and it goes back to visual metaphors because we as humans view certain events in our own way. There are many interpretations to an image, “a picture says a thousand words.” With slight variations to words choice and the arrangement, people can create completely different effects to a metaphor. Borges mentions comparing a woman to a flower and comparing a flower to a woman; they are pretty much the same thing but the arrangement makes a difference. When someone speaks about a flower they think of something that is delicate, pure, and beautiful creating a welcoming feeling. But when someone thinks about a woman they relate to the experiences that they have had with women whether they are good or bad. Borges refers to the metaphor’s affect as a pattern. Each metaphor has its own pattern; some can be connected to another metaphor but others just stand-alone. When it comes down to analyzing poems and metaphors there are “only about a dozen” different patters used. These patterns send a message, metaphors many be considered as being a colorful way to send a message to the reader. Borges also mentions that the words he and I wrote are also considered metaphors because they stand for something more in the real world. When a person reads the word “car” they think of an image of a car. This brings the imagination into the reality and gives a person a break from the world. “Where’s Sofie?” is a metaphor. We’re about sending the message, one message at a time.

The Scene as a Machine and Richard Foreman as Scenographer summaries

The Scene as a Machine, by Baugh, discusses and questions scene language, the way a scene relates with the actor, and the purpose of scenery. It also focuses on the work of two designers, Appia and Craig, and their different scenographic styles. Both saw the stage as a place that could achieve its ultimate artistic life through the act of live performance.
"All theater artists have to contend with the complicated inter-relationship between the real-time existence of living performers and the physical actuality of their surroundings- their place of performance" (Baugh 46).
The interaction between architecture and scenography is an important aspect considered by both designers as it is a space that must be articulated to serve as a venue for performances of all kinds. Architectural devision between the audience and the performance was eventually abolished, followed by the idea of including the audience itself in the atmosphere of performance by sharing the lighting. It was Appia's goal to reflect the atmospheric qualities of the performance and physically embrace all participants.
Both designers understood and showed through their work that physical scenography is given form, color, texture and dimension by the use of light.
Richard Foreman as Scenographer, by Aronson, explains Foreman's style as unique and unmistakable designer. "Text, character, sound, language, space, thought and decor are, in a sense, all aspects of a single entity in Foreman's world; inextricably bound up with each other and each functioning essentiality of the play" (Aronson 161). His style is an embodiment of a rich and textured mind. He stated that the stage is a landscape in which all details are significant; the audience's perceptual flow may not be uniformly focused. The distorted perspectives and creation of a spacious stage reflects the flow of Foreman's consciousness. Designing and re-designing the set is "a pretty much normal procedure" (Aronson 169).

Operation Red Duck

Since I'm going to be the wolf.. I was wondering if you guys wanted for me to do my hair a certain way. Or would you like for me to wear my furry looking hat along with some wolf ears?
-justin

Operation Red Duck

Communication post for operation red duck. if there are any ideas, questions, whatever, post it here.

Tricky

The Stage is a Dangerous Machine Summary

George Tsypin is considered the principal designer in postmodernist stage design. His range of work, from The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez to Henry IV, to Don Giovanni, all support this claim. His favorite material to work with is steel: “I’m obsessed with metal….is very hard and dangerous, but at the same time it’s flexible, and you know, it rusts (George Tsypin).”His use of metal creates a danger, both artistically and physically. The actors themselves must deal with his intricate sets, while the audience must deal with his sometimes harsh landscapes.



Tsypin’s inspiration comes surprisingly from the past. He is inspired by the medieval, ranging from architecture to statues. He uses these historical inspirations in conjunction with the play’s content to create his inspirational sets. He likes to use vertical space to create a large sense of scale. Additionally, these vertical spaces suggest a spiritual connection to the audience as Tsypin tries to transcend the physical limitations of the theater space. Such uses of this vertical space include a highway to nowhere and a giant net. Tsypin also uses light effectively in his designs. His designs must reflect light in a way to reflect his scale. Additionally, he uses projections to add to his lighting scheme.

A unique challenge for Tsypin was working on a film instead of a traditional stage. His odd perspectives were in contrast to the realistic sets required for a film. Additionally, film proved to be less dimensional than traditional theater space.

Around the 1990s, Tsypin career took off, designing more than thirty productions. His materials have grown to include a lot of glass, stone, and wood. His designs have become more symbolic and grand, settling his place as the ideal modernist.

-Vincent

Poet's Creed

Borges states that:
1. poetry is the language that is music, passionate
2. for a book to be great, you need something pleasing to the imagination, characters people believe in. it is not the story or the parable that people believe but what makes it believe, but it is the characters that people believe.
3. some works (like Edgar Allan Poe's work)should be read when you are young.
4. literature begins with verse and so forth (a pattern). a free-verse disrupts the pattern so it is harder to write than a verse.
5. if the reader thinks the writer has a moral defect, he will not put up with the writer or his work.
6. we are already modern so there is no reason to strive to be modern; we live in the present.
7. being a writer means being true to imagination; one must be loyal to the dream, not the circumstances around it.
8. only believe in allusions.
the meaning is not important but music, like the way of saying things, is what is important.
9. ultimately, we are writing for the audience and their experience.