Welcome to my Explorations Website! For this website, I used something called responsive web design which allows this site to be viewed from multiple devices with different sizes. This site can be seen from computers, tablets and phones and is designed to fit perfectly on each screen. Responsive web design was a very valuable technique to learn because it is very applicable in the real world.
During our last quarter here at Freestyle, we were introduced to the the Blink unit. In English, we read Malcom Gladwell’s novel, Blink, and did many quick writes with an assigned prompt that allowed us to stop thinking and write freely. In Design, we were given the opportunity to let our artistic abilities shine by using different mediums to create art. This art corresponded to our quick writes and were a nice connection. In WebAudio, we were assigned to complete a “Mini-Project” or “Feature” that enabled us to pursue our personal interests relating to web design and/or audio engineering.
Overall, attending Freestyle has been the best decision I’ve made throughout my entire high-school experience. Not only have I been able to acquire tremendous skills, but I’ve also blossomed as an individual and become more confident. I am so grateful to built a tight-knit community with my peers and teachers here at Freestyle. This interdisciplinary program has pushed me in the right direction and helped me figure out what I want to do in the future. I know I will never forget my amazing experience here at Freestyle.
The Blink unit was one of my favorite units here at Freestyle. It was very playful, relaxing, energetic and allowed my creative juices to flow better. In English and Design, we started off the day meditating for 10-15 minutes. Right after, we all remained silent and transitioned to a quick free-write based on a specific prompt. One day the prompt would be about “thought” and another day about “regret”. After our quick writes, we had designated play time. Although this this seems child-like, it was actually very stress-relieving and allowed our creative juices to flow. When play time was over, we would all come back into design and spend about an hour or so creating art based on our quick write. Each day we used different mediums, some of which were colored pencils, water colors, ink, etc. As the unit progressed, we used one of our pieces of art and scanned it onto a computer and ultimately used our design skills to create a mixed media amplified piece. You can view my final amplified design art below!
Aside from our blink unit, we also had a separate humor unit that allowed us to explore a whole other side of art. We started off my researching various comedians and their styles in English. As an honor student, I read the "Importance of Being Earnest", which was a satire, essentially mocking old Victorian rituals. Later, we were able to choose groups and create our own creative, humorous projects that we later had to present in front of the class. For my group's humor presentation, we decided to do a parody and satire on MirandaSings, a famous youtube star who is a comedian herself. Our goal was to display caricature and satire in a different way that brought entertainment to our audience. In Design, we were assigned to create a funny piece using Photoshop or Illustrator based on our English presentation ideas. For my design piece, I decided to take a historic work of art that a plethora of people praised and Photoshop Miranda (Gabrielle's) head in place of hers. Overall, I was satisfied with the outcome of my piece and I hope you all find humor in it as well!
As part of WebAudio, we were assigned to create a "Mini Project". For my mini project, Paige and I decided to record the process of making an art project. We essentially filled balloons with paint and hung them on a big canvas. Instead of darts, we used a knife to pop each of the balloons and make the paint drip down. Our goal was the capture the art making process, colors and simplicity of this art project. We then decided to use Final Cut Pro to edit this short film and put in background, electronica music. Our video is shown below, enjoy!