Introduction

This conceptual website was made in order to learn how to put up a website, as well as the different aspects and aesthetic representations to take into consideration in order to make the website comprehensive. This project synthesized projects done in English and Design class. Included in this website are the projects and works made in the first unit of these classes such as poetry, first artist statements, experimental music, and more. Through this conceptual unit, I learned how to use programs such as Pro Tools, Photoshop, and Dreamweaver. In addition, I learned new techniques and rules to take into consideration in order to take quality photos and edits. For example, before Design I did not know what shutter speed, aperture, and ISO are. I also did not know how to properly use Photoshop, or how to code websites.

In English class, we were given a concept statement to build some of our projects for this unit on. My concept statement was “Exploring the feeling of disbelief through meditation”. I explored the different ways of meditation, especially the two that are most important forms of meditation in my life; dance and yoga. In Design, one of our projects was to develop a photo that is derived from the concept statement. In Digital Media, our projects and concepts were pulled together to form one, cohesive website.

Although these projects may be rough and imperfect, they were made in order to learn and understand these new concepts and programs.

One of our assignments was to write an expository essay, an essay that explain or investigate and idea or argument, based on a passion or subject of our choice. I wrote about the reason why people like Kpop, or Korean pop music. Recently, I have rediscovered this genre of music, and felt motivated to write about why so many people are fans of this genre. It interested me that this particular genre of music has so many passionate fans around the world, so I set out to investigate the reason for this phenomenon.

Poems

In English class, we wrote three poems. The first was based off of a concept statement that we pulled out of a hat. Mine was “Exploring the feeling of disbelief through meditation”. When I think of the word meditation, I think of words such as; serenity, vastness, openness. And so I wrote about my experience at a yoga class, with comparisons to the ocean because of its vastness and coolness. The second poem could have been about anything we wanted, except I continued on the topic of meditation. My personal meditation is dancing, and I had recently taken a class that my friend was teaching on improvisation. Using her words and her narration as we closed our eyes and felt the music, I wrote my second poem “Improv’. The third poem is an ekphrastic poem, which is a poem about another piece of art. This poem was inspired by an installation called “Melter” at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. We took these three poems in Digital Design class and created visual representations and backgrounds for these poems using photoshop.

Through writing and producing these poems and their visuals, I learned how to develop a representation of my writing through photography and photo manipulation, as well as how to use and control the tools in photoshop effectively. In addition to just visually, we created and recorded audio to go with these poems as well. In producing these poems audibly and visually, I learned how to apply the skills learned in class to actual use in projects.

A roll of pink
Extends
And lays flat like a ray
At the bottom of the ocean.
I make myself into a U
And then a T and an A
As we lay our backs
On our sea of pink rays.
And breathing too!
Sometimes we forget to just breathe.
The air feels like a remedy
When we are underneath.
Free Verse Poem
It starts slowly
Along with the music
At first low to the ground
Eyes to the ground
Press into the ground
It starts with an itch
Just beneath the skin
An itch to move
An itch to keep moving
But it starts slowly
It starts at a click
A conductor takes his stand
As the violinist creates her dance
What musical appeal!
Toe. Ball. Heel.
It starts with awareness
Of all the negative space
Of the connections within oneself
	And of the travelling direction
It starts to become natural
Even though it may look strange
A realization of self in the exchange
It starts to evolve
And it ends
With improv
Spoken Word Poem
Lights flash before my eyes
But I feel more alive
Regardless I feel frozen
But in front of me is melting
The lights morph
And melting
The giant orb
melting
M
E
L
T
ing
Ekphrastic
Haiku

We started our Haiku journeys in English class. I learned about the elements of a Haiku; such as metaphors, a kigo or seasonal word, and a kireji or “cutting word”. Our Haiku’s were also based off of the concept statement. “Exploring the feeling of disbelief through meditation”. Our assignment was to write our haiku off of these statements, using all the elements of a Haiku that we learned, and then to attach a photo that goes with the Haiku for a visual that connects to the message. The background image of my Haiku was taken in Central Park in New York. The image was taken while resting at the park with my family. While resting, or meditating, with my family members, I thought about all the things I had seen on this trip; the schools, the atmosphere, the people; and I decided that I wanted to live here in the future. I thought this correlated to the poem because “the new ambition” described in the poem is the ambition I felt to move here in the future.

In Digital media, we took the photo haikus and made them into videos using Adobe Animate CC, with music made in Pro Tools to set the tone. I learned how to use Animate and Pro Tools for the first time by doing this project, and I really enjoyed making music that connects to the poem.

screenshot of Animate file used to produe Haiku Video
Art

I am exploring the feeling of disbelief through meditation

thumbnail of conceptual art piece
Click on image to view art

The Design Conceptual Art assignment was to express our concept statements through the art of photography. ("Exploring the feeling of disbelief through meditation") We also learned how to manipulate our photographs using Photoshop. We also learned about the important Elements of Design such as form, color, texture, etc. We got to apply the skills we learned in photoshop to an actual final project. For the first time I had to apply the knowledge learned about aperture, shutter speed, and ISO to an actual project, and not for just practice. I found that although photography is not my favorite way to express myself, I really enjoyed photo editing and using photoshop to change the tone of the photo.

My poem was focused on the art of meditation through yoga, and the feeling of openness and vast space. “I make myself into a U / And then a T and an A”. The letters resemble shaped in yoga that you can make using your body. The idea for this piece came from balance. When I think of yoga, and the poses that are done when doing yoga, I think of balance. Meditation too is all about balance; maintaining a proper balance both physically and mentally. On instagram, I came across an artist who uses rocks to form intricately balanced sculptures. I was inspired by this to stack rocks to signify the balance in meditation and yoga. The first time I took a yoga class, I took it with my best friend. I was reminded of this experience when composing this piece as there are two stacks of rocks propped on the ledge of a fountain. Inside the fountain, the water is still and clear, further demonstrating balance and serenity of meditation.

I had a really difficult time with photography and learning to shoot in manual. During this shoot however, I finally figured out how to properly adjust the shutter speed and exposure so that my photos would not turn out too dark or too bright. Another hardship I had was difficulty finding the right angle to shoot. Because there were too many colorful flowers and bright reflections from the sun in the background that seemed to distract from the focal point of the image. I ended up editing the photo in photoshop, making the background less saturated and tinting the entire background so that it is all a deep green tone. I also took out all the bright light reflections from moisture in the plants that distracted from the light on the rocks. The blue in the water was increased as well, in order to give the image a cooler tone that brings out the feeling of relaxation.

screenshot of photoshop file of conceptual art piece
Music

After learning how to use and navigate Pro Tools, we were allowed to make our own experimental music. The inspiration for my music was from “D(half moon)’ and “What 2 Do” by my favorite artist Dean. His songs are primarily composed using only a keyboard and a piano or keyboard. I was inspired by its complexity even though there are only a few instruments used, and was inspired to experiment with only using the piano and drums/beats.

The tone of the song starts sad, and simple with only the sound of the piano. It then progresses into a repetitive theme with small accents that change the rythymn or value of the music. I also drew inspiration from rain, and running for cover on a rainy day. So I tried to use the repeated measures to represent rain pattering down.

screenshot of ProTools file