Week 13 – Classmate Interview – Quynh Ong

This week I had the pleasure of meeting Quynh Ong. Quynh is currently a freshman attending CSULB who is majoring in film. I believe Quynh is Vietnamese though I could be wrong. Being a quarter Vietnamese, I find her last name to be very interesting. Ong means “grandfather” in Vietnamese. Her last name doesn’t seem very common.. I first met Quynh on a CollegeBeat set where they were filming an episode for their Thanksgiving special. Quynh worked the camera and another art110 classmate , Nicole Ilagan, managed the set. I also asked Quynh about her short film which was presented earlier during the semester; which hasn’t been released yet. Quynh said that It would be released soon, I forget when she said it would be out.. Quynh is very quiet, quiet isn’t a bad thing though. She’s probably secretly a very loud person once you get to know her. Quiet people are also very mysterious and interesting. I hope to get to know Quynh better!

Week 13 – Artist Interview – Jeff Dulla

This week in the art galleries, i got to look at Jeff Dulla’s artwork. His artwork is very colorful and abstract. I was quite surprised by this week’s art pieces, they were all very colorful and Jeff’s work in particular is very detailed. His artwork gives off a feeling that it is lively. You can feel the movements in the pictures he paints. I would definitely want to buy his artwork if i had enough money.

Week 12 – Activity Feedback

My three favorite art activities this semester:
Kickstarter (Art Funding)- This was one of my favorite activities since I was able to go out and check out the Kickstarter Festival which was really cool. Looking at all the creative ideas was really interesting, you could see first hand the ideas of the artist and their work in one place.

Plaster Sculpture (Sculpture)- this activity was definitely a good excuse to go to the beach!
Venice Beach (Painting)- Spray painting on public walls, what more is there to say?!?
My three least favorite art activities this semester:
Vlogging- getting in front of a camera and talking is hard enough. .
Identity Art- dressing differently was quite hard since I choose to dress like a gangster.
Relational Aesthetics- I don’t really pay on instagram so this was kind of annoying…

Feedback on class: I think art110 is one of my favorite classes I have taken at CSULB. The class is really laid back and the environment is very open.

What could make it better: creaming down the air conditioning in the University Theater. . It’s really cold sometimes.

Week 12 – Activity – Teach One

This week’s art activity required us to teach one of our prior art activities to someone. This week, I decided to teach my sister how to spray paint her name on the Venice Beach Public Art Walls.

 

Week 12 – Classmate Interview – Savannah Cheung

(Me, Savannah Cheung, Denzel Belleza)

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Savannah Cheung. Savannah is currently a undeclared freshman attending CSULB. I ask Savannah where she is from and she says “San Gabriel”. I was pretty mean and told her that San Gabriel is really hot and there nothing really to do besides eating delicious Chinese food and drinking boba milk teas. San Gabriel is pretty far so Savannah currently dorms at Parkside which is awesome, I always wanted to dorm… In Savannah’s free time, she likes to listen to music(alternative), hang out with her friends, and play console games(first person shooters); she’s every geek’s dream girl AMIRITE LOL. Anyways, I later ask Savannah what makes her enthusiast about, she say that’s she’s enthusiast about life.. That answer alone tells me almost nothing about Savannah hahaha… but I suppose everyone is enthusiast about life in some ways.. Later, I ask Savannah what ethnicity she is and she says she is a mixture of Chinese and a hint mystery. Mystery being a sparkle of thai and a whole mixture of other ethnicities. I think it’s really cool since in also half Chinese. Anyways Savannah is pretty chill and down to earth, meet her!

Week 12 – Artist Interview – Angie Samblotte

This week at CSULB’S art gallery, I was able to view Angie Samblotte and Lacy McCune’s gallery, Taking my Time in the Paradigm. Angie Samblotte’s art pieces consists of the works titled Banana Peelings, The Red Bell Pepper, Cabbage Saviour, and etc.. There were a lot of Lacy McCune’s art work but my favorite was Five Million Year Friend. Lacy and Angie’s artwork is based around the idea that everything changes. Their philosophy is to slow down and see the beauty in the mundane things. I think Lacy’s art piece, Five Million Year Friend, really portrays their idea in the most blunt way. The piece depicts stalagmites which are rock formations that takes thousands of years to form since it is created from a drip process. The formations are beautiful throughout every second it takes to form. The process itself is really mindblowing. The message behind Angie and Lacy’s artwork is very meaningful which is why I picked it as my favorite this week.

Week 11 – Activity – Do It Yourself

This week’s art activity had us choose our own activity to so. For this week’s activity, I decided to rewatch a Chinese film called Shaolin. The first time I watched this film, i didn’t really know what was going on since it was in Chinese and there were no subtitles. This second time watching the film, I was able to watch it with subtitles so i understood what was going on. The film depicts a warlord/general who is extremely powerful in his province. Under the warlord/general is his captain. What happens in the film is that the Captain tries to overthrow the general with a coup d’etat. The general loses his daughter in the process and this causes his wife to leave him since she no longer has any reason to stay with him. The warlord then takes refuge in a Shaolin temple. The warlord who has lost everything in the world now has to live with Shaolin monks who he in a prior time tried to take their land. The monks don’t really want to shelter him but they have to forgive his sins because that is in their philosophy. The warlord’s former Captain later is seen trying to invade the Shaolin temple to try and take over the land as well as trying to kill the former warlord. In the end, the Shaolin monks are able to defeat the Captain and his troops but the Captain and the warlord are caught in a burning building with the captain trying to hold for his on a ledge. The warlord saves the captain and tells the captain that everything he has become is because of the warlord’s teachings. The warlord is the one to blame for the Captain’s anarchy and rage.

After watching this film for a second time, it has become on of my favorites. At first i thought it was another Chinese Kung-fu movie but it isn’t . This film has a very deep meaning, It teaches you about life and how your own actions can influence so many people around you. It also teaches you to forgive.

I really admire the way this film was made, it depicts the human spirit very well, every aspect of this film enhances the philosophy of the Shaolin Buddhists and their true teachings. You don’t have to be a Buddhist to learn from this film, this film basically preaches the fundamental teaching of most religions, forgiving others for their sins, no matter how terrible, and helping them find an understanding in their life, when that is found, they will be able to know how to change themselves.

Week 11 – Classmate Interview – Anna Joy Floresca

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Anna Joy Floresca. Anna is currently a freshman from Lakewood, California majoring in pre-nursing. Anna is quite an interesting character, she loves reading and listening to alternative music. Her favorite book is The Alchemist. I haven’t heard of it but it sounds pretty interesting. Anna’s hobbies include playing The Sims 3, watching Korean dramas, and working on her art journal. Anna wants to travel to New Zealand one day. She really wants to try out “zorbing”. Apparently zorbing is an activity where you roll down the hill in an orb that’s generally made of plastic. Anna asked me what animal I would be if i could be an animal, i choose a falcon. I asked Anna which animal she’d choose to be, she choose to be an swan. She then tells me how sometimes she feels like she is an ugly ducking “personality wise”. I didn’t quite understand what an ugly ducking personality type was so i asked her to elaborate. Anna says “They’re kind of shy, but they’re very nice. Kind of like late bloomers idk exactly how to explain it but the idea is like a caterpillar changing into a butterfly- there’s still lots of growing and maturing that needs to happen.” Her animal sure put mines to shame… hahahaha…. I could tell Anna sure put a lot of thought into her answer. I then told her one day she’ll evolve into her spirit animal… (digimon reference). Apparently Anna got the reference 😛 Anyways Anna Joy Floresca is definitely someone you’d want to interview next, even though we were both really tired when interviewing each other, I’m glad I was late to class and asked her for an interview 😀

Week 11 – Artist Interview – Romina Del Castillo

This week at CSULB’s art gallery, I had the chance to view Romina Del Castillo’s art work. Castillo’s art is very captivating, the artist’s paintings express very dark and sad emotions. Castillo’s art is drawn using charcoal. Her art seems very deep, each of her art pieces hold a lot of emotion and each art piece seems to speak to the audience. The third drawing is a self portrait of herself. Overall, I really like Castillo’s work, it makes me want to pick up charcoal and draw too. Im nowhere as good as she is but one day…

Week 10 – Activity – Photography

This week’s activity required us to imagine a reality where you could die the way you want. For my “fake death” i choose the honorable path of seppuku. Suicide is a terrible thing but in ancient Japanese culture, it is a very honorable way to die on the battlefield instead of falling into the hands of the enemy. In reality i wouldn’t choose seppuku since i don’t think i’d want to stab myself and leave a bloody mess for someone to clean up but since this is imaginary, why not…