Confessions of a Cashier

Revised: Staying in Line While Crossing the Line

Revision Staying in Line While Crossing the Line

     In high school I was the goody two shoes that never did anything wrong.  I didn’t drink, smoke, or swear, and I always did my homework. I never broke a rule or crossed a line, I was the perfect little Christian girl. Then the day came for me to leave the tiny town of Malakoff and move to the larger city of Huntsville. (Yes there are smaller towns than Huntsville.)
     As I rode in the car loaded down with my parents, my eldest sister, and all my crap I slowly began to realize what lay ahead as we crossed each county and city line. The almost 2 and a half hour ride gave me plenty of time to think. There would be no more mom and dad to take care of me, I had to take on that responsibility. I was capable of doing it, but was scared to death of screwing it up.  Hours later after arrival and unloading my heart started to pound harder and quicker as I watched the now empty trunk of my mother’s Rendezvous turn the corner. I was officially on my own. I imeadately called my mom on her cell and tried to hold back the tears that I'm sure she could here on the other end. My mom chuckled a little as she chocked back tears of her own and asked me if I missed her already. I admitted a raspy yes, and an I love you as she ashured me I'd be OK. I Hung up the phone now the real thinking had to begin.
     I had to decide what I was going to do now. Freedom could be a dangerous thing, I could have dove into the deep end, started partying and could have changed my general outlook on life. Deep down I knew that I would never be happy taking that path. In the borders of what seemed like a little town I had already made the most freeing and boundless decision of who I was and what I believed. I had decided to stay on a straight and narrow path years ago and my beliefs would not let me be content crossing the line of what I knew to be right and wrong. A change in location would not make me cross my moral lines. With the help of some well chosen friends and my willing participation in different organizations I did it. I stayed in line with my decisions and beliefs even had some fun and hilarious stories along the way.

Dr Pepper Monologue

Maping

Locations

Born and grew up in same brick house, in the same town until college
   Most significant relationship there was my family.(physical & emotional) Especially my mother who was a stay-at-home-mom, whom I've become exactly like.
Dorm, Elliot
  Friends with my roommate and suite-mates, we got along really well.
Camp for the Summer
   My first job, a unique experience. Made a lot of friends and met lots of people. Most significant would be Megan D.
Dorm, Belvin
   Was with my best friend Julia.
Rolling Brook Apts
   Moved in with my sister 12 years older than me, we actually got along great!
UH apts
   Met my friend Megan, have lots of fun with here and Julia. By coincidence Julia lives directly below us.

Church homes-Dogwood, then changed to Harbor @ age 8, then back to Dogwood @ 16.
    My early years at Dogwood the relationship that I remember best was my friendship with the preacher and music minister's kids.(physical)
While at Harbor I made the most important relationship of my life, the one I have with God. (spiritual) I also made very close friends with a guy named Roger, we where the same age and had a lot of similar interests. (emotional)We even became leaders in the youth group together.

Educational Experiences

Elementry
   peers-Annete and Amber, crystal
   adults- Mrs. Patacheck (PE), Mrs. Peck, Mrs Weems- Teachers
   things said- tatal tale
   objects-1st place ribbon at field day(I was not a runner), Kindergarden eggs that didn't hatch, Aligator backpack that my mom made.

Middle School
   peers-Eva, Sarah, Heather, Cora, Alicia, Lisa
   adults-Mrs Brown and Mrs Wharton(band directors), Mrs Bullock, Mr. Stockton (bus driver)
   things said-Dewdrop,
   objects- Flute
High School
   peers- Eva, Heather, Rebecca, Alex
   adults-Mrs. Garrad, Mr. Kilgore
   things said- "Come look me up for a job when your through"
   objects-new flute begging of musical career interest, letter jacket symbolized my smarts
College
   peers-Julia, Jeni, Megan
   adults- Mrs Daniel, Mr. Kilgore, mom, Mary
   things said-"I have no doubt that you can do it"
   objects-bible, is always something I can come to when I'm lost or discouraged


Loss or Absence
   directionaly challenged when driving San Antonio, Corsicana
Joy or Belonging
   band
Career
   teacher, currently cashier and student
Spiritual
   Not as strong as it use to be, but working on getting back there.
Achievements
   My degree one day, and musical success in high school, friendships
Pain/Loss/Crisis
   Grandmother died, car battery incident,
Dreams/Hopes/Desires
   Graduate soon, be a mom and wife, desire to be closer to God

Flosser Write Up

MATERIALS

1. Sensitive use of materials: does the form of the overall piece respond to or resonate with the objects chosen as modules?
2. Could the piece be made from another object just as well, or is there precise/necessary correspondence between the objects and the structure?
3. Explain any material difficulties in usage?
4. Meaningful discoveries?

The flossers connect in a way that would be difficult for another object to imitate and recreate the same structure. The overall form is related to how the flossers connect and their ability to curve and flow with each other. Overall the materials where easy to use, but difficult to keep together. I learned to embrace the flossers, experiment with them, relate and understand how they worked together.

PROCESS/AMBITIOUSNESS

1. Does the piece rise above the ordinary in terms of scale, materials or effort?
2. How did the piece change from initial mental imaginings to final piece?
3. Was the initial idea or final piece more ambitious? How so?

I think that as a material the flossers are unique and unusual. I do almost feel guilty because a great deal of my process was mental and the physical effort of making the structure was less than what I usually input.
My 1st mental picture of the structure was a vertical spiral-like shape kind of like a DNA strand. As I added on to the initial 6 in structure I began to realize the potential it had to curve and flow. As I worked on the construction I had a lot of people tell me it looked like a spine so in order to twist that perception I decided to let it became pile of twists and turns. When I finally got the piece in place on the black pedestal I wanted to try to define it even more so I decided to try and light it. Once the lights where in place I realized that the environment needed to be darker to get a bigger impact.

CRAFTSMANSHIP

Is the way the piece put together helping the overall effect or distracting from it (How so?) 

Craftsmanship is one of the focal points to this piece. The way the objects are connected create a very unique structure. Also as an added bonus because they are connected without any glue there is nothing there to distract from it.

FORM

1. What are the dominant formal elements (point, line, shape, color, texture, value, space) visible in the work? Are these elements important to the piece? In what ways?
2. What are the dominating principles (scale, hierarchy, repetition, rhythm, unity, contrast, balance, space, gravity, continuance, similarity/difference) visible or implied in the work? Explain how each dominating principle helps strengthen the impression of the work or detracts.

The dominant formal elements in this piece are: shape, line and texture. These elements are vital to the piece the entire work is about the curve and shape. The curved lines of the structure make an interesting contrast to the lines of the flossers. The smooth texture of the plastic flossers create an impulse to reach out and stroke it.
The main princiiples visible in the work would have to be repetition and rhythm and the implied would be the unity of the connection and direction of the flossers. All the principles and elements come together to strengthen the piece.

CONCEPT

1. Does piece relate to the source objects history, function or purpose?
2. If so, how?
3. How does the presentation of the piece alter the viewers understanding of the source object?

Yes there is a relationship of the flossers to the final piece. Flossers are used on teeth, teeth are bones, the final work looks like a spine. The mass of the curved balled up spine keeps the view from recognizing the relationship.

PRESENTATION

1. Why here?
2. What is the relationship of the work to the space?
3. How do the surrounding elements impact the viewing and impression of the piece?
4. Does the piece respond or ignore what is around it? How so?

I wanted it on a pedestal to give the viewer a better perspective. I used the black cloths to contrast the white and to help define the details in the piece. I feel like the piece stands out from the works around it, because it is higher off the ground and because of the black contrast.

 

Staying in Line While Crossing the Line

     In high school I was the goody two shoes that never did anything wrong.  I didn’t drink, smoke, or swear, and I always did my homework. I never broke a rule or crossed a line, I was the perfect little Christian girl. Then the day came for me to leave the tiny town of Malakoff and move to the larger city of Huntsville. (Yes there are smaller towns than Huntsville.)
     As I rode in the car loaded down with my parents, my eldest sister, and all my crap I slowly began to realize what lay ahead as we crossed each county and city line. There would be no more mom and dad to take care of me, I had to take on that responsibility. I was capable of doing it, but was scared to death of screwing it up.  Hours later after arrival and unloading my heart started to pound harder and quicker as I watched the now empty trunk of my mother’s Rendezvous turn the corner. I was officially on my own.
     I had to decide what I was going to do now. Freedom could be a dangerous thing, I could have dove into the deep end, started partying and could have changed my general outlook on life. Deep down I knew that I would never be happy taking that path. In the borders of what seemed like a little town I had already made the most freeing and boundless decision of who I was and what I believed. My beliefs would not let me be happy being less than what I knew to be quality. A change in scenery would not make me cross my moral lines. With the help of some well chosen friends and my willing participation in different organizations I was able to stay in line with my decisions and beliefs.

Line pictures

I took several pictures of different aspects of my room. Here are my favorites:

Dots in my world

From the walls of my apartment, to the tabletops, to the practice room there are dots, dots, dots.

 

Flossers

My found object became the flossers when my multicolored popsicle sticks were vetoed along with my marshmallows. I have to admit I'm actually excited about this project I think that it will be a lot of fun.  The first thing I noticed is that the stick end has a section that can be folded back to create a pick and this can hook on the string of the other end of another object and connect them.

 

They can also be hooked together by inter locking the loop end to get a kind of stacked look.

 I also found that they can hook together through the string sections and I continued the structure to add a base.

I spent hours playing with them until I finally found a structure that I'm really excited about.

The only concern I had with it is how to expand it upwards to get it to represent the mass of my body. Until I started to add on to its structure. I continued to do the same thing with the flossers until I used 12 bags of 75 flossers to create this....

these picts are for some reason stretched  and the structure is not as wide as appears

not as wide as appears

not as wide as appears

I ran into some issues of the structure wanting to come apart at various places, when it did it was not an easy task to put back together, but it was doable. I hopefully found a solution to keep it from coming apart in the future to keep the over lapping parts as close together as I can . And believe it or not this is unfinished, there is still more flossers to come and I still have to figure out how exactly I want to display it. I could have it crawling up or around something, on the floor, on a pedestal, or hanging, not sure what I want to do yet...
I'll have to do some more brainstorming and see.

Figured it out this was my final product. I decided to not have it crawl for fear of it looking like a giant snake.  I added a light inside of the work to help illuminate the negative space.

Kurt Schwitters

German collage artist who constructed from the trash on the streets. Not a new but definitely an interesting concept to take the forgotten and turn it into the amazing. His home became a work of art on the walls that he pieced together over time eventually cutting into the ceiling. Wasn't his upstairs neighbors surprised. This home was destroyed in WW2 so his final work was done on the side of a barn.

squared

So I thought that I had done this blog weeks ago, but I checked and nope no sign of one so.....
this was also an assignment that I missed thanks to the lovely flu.

When I first embarked on the assignment I had no clue what I was doing I had to read the assignment page like 20 times and then I just kinda guessed at what I was doing.
we were given 4 sets of two words and then suppose to use squares and different gestalt principles to create visual representations using squares. The words that we were given were: smooth/rough, light/heavy, relaxed/anxious, playful/ordered.

I drew thumbnails of each word then picked the ones that I hoped fit the assignment and words/concepts the best. As i drew the thumbnails since I had very little sense of direction I started to try to represent the different words using things I was familiar with, even to the point of getting kinda goofy with my thoughts. Then I picked my favorite out of each word and made my final squares.

smooth/rough

Anxious/relaxed

 ordered/playful

heavy/light

when we critiqued the squares mine was 1st so in some cases it became a little overwhelming, but overall I think I kept a pretty open mind. I honestly wanted the input. As my group began to critique I began to understand the concepts and the assignment a whole lot better. Overall my lines needed to be more sharp and clean, and some of my representations a little more clear. My x shape for anxious, my pacman for playful and my reclining chair for relaxed all went over very well. Kathy even said that no one else in the class had done relaxed like I did.

Repition and Rhythm

Once I started I couldn't stop finding pictures. I found the rhythm of finding repetition very easy. But it took me a little longer to start picking out the rhythm visually.

The concept of rhythm is fun to me because I easily relate to it due to my music experience, but at the same time my musical background can be a hindrance because I find myself almost closed off to other possibilities of what rhythm can be. At the same time though every style of music has a different rhythm, a different way of making you feel or move. The same way that the rhythm in a work of art can make you feel or move your eye differently. In fact I wanted to include some picts that I took of my music world showing these concepts, but alas my phone camera did not do them justice so they didn't make the final cut.

The streamers and balloons were leftover from a roommates birthday party, the vents where from my apartment, the grid is from the grill on my car, and the carpet is from the performing arts center (I had to include some connection to music.)

Newspaper

We were told to pick our favorite of the dot or square projects, create topographical maps and use news paper to recreate it 4 different ways in 2D using the text of newspaper or magazine while playing with 3D aspects.

The 1st one I started with the dots as letters cut in a circle using the letters a,b,c in order to show continuance. then used the text of the newspapers to create a ripple effect of circles and on one ring added a flick of color. 

On this one I cut out different size circles and stacked them. I used wood glue on the surface of every other circle to create a contrast and visible layers. as I glued them the edges of the circle began to peel up and instead of fighting it I worked with it and let all of the circles have a raised tattered looking edge.

After that  I created one use strips of newspaper that I tore and starting with the thinnest strips and working up to the thicker I rolled the newspaper tightly and then let it unwind. I let the dots get taller and larger as they moved across the page. After a critique I also used the strips to create the outer circles, and created a frame with cardboard covered in newspaper. This one was probably my favorite and it was definitely 3d. Even though it was part of the 2D assignment.

The 4th one was wadded up newspaper balls flattened and stacked to create levals. After critique I decided to scrap that one and created a fifth.

On this one I covered the base with a sheet of paper and cut out circles of sky each one with less cloud.

Lastly  I created one inspired by something I saw in someone elses work. I covered the base square in one sheet of of newspaper then used twisted pieces to create the dot and ripples

Then based off of the previous pieces we created 2 3D cardboard structures. One of which we collaged and inserted found objects into and placed on the wall for our final project. The second went on our accordion books along with the original pieces.

When I created my 3D  structures I had trouble building on my rolled concept so I went another route. My final project was not as elabrate and I still liked my original rolled piece better. I didn't hang it as my final because it was one of my original, but in retrospect the rolled one was more interesting and I should have hung the it instead.

Then we made critique groups of 3 and went around and critiqued  others final project based off of  craftsmanship, concept, ambitiousness,  and overall impression.

Object

As I began looking at the magnolia blossom I began to think of all the different possibilities and meanings behind this object. I then began to come up with 3 proposals. I went through the nature=life/baby then moved onto a headdress, dress, or a spiked club. With some consultation help I decided to go with the headdress. I spent the rest of the afternoon producing sketches to  help figure out the construction aspect of this sculpture.

I started out creating the main structure of the cardboard using circles of cardboard  that sat inside each other at angles to form the base arced structure.

Then I cut out the spikes and curled them like I saw on my original object. After that I had to face the issue of it being back heavy and not wanting to stay on my head. 1st I tried to attach chin straps but they started to tear under the weight of all the card board. Finally I inserted a stack of cardboard into the top of the headdress to make a buffer on my forehead to keep the headdress on. This worked great until I had to leave it on for a longer period time and it ended up leaving a bruise on my forehead.

 
I wanted to take the time to add in some more textural elements, but due to time restraints I was only able to add some hot glue dots on the stem to create the bumps.

In the critique I was told that I needed to shape/taper the end cylindrical piece instead of just letting it be cutoff. My performance was also lacking. A positive point was that the piece curved with the shape of my head and I got high marks for process.

Overall I wish that I had been able to dedicate more time. Unfortunately I was a week behind on getting started on the project. So while the final piece wasn't exactly what I would have liked to have accomplished I was pleased with the end result.

By Geoffrey Rascher 

 

        By Geoffrey Rascher