Handmade Book [Poem] Final Project

Handmade Book [Poem] Concept

The concept that I wanted to originally go for, and am still attempting to go for, is a love journal. Kind of like a composition notebook, I want to alter pages so that on one side it's doodles like one would create when bored in their room or in class, and on the other have the actual poem. I selected a lot of poems to chose from and after thinking about it, I wanted to create a love journal. By incorporating a really deep love poem, I wanted to make this journal look like the thoughts of the person who created it. I wanted to give it an original notebook/diary feel and this is the reason why I wanted to use doodles & random drawings on the opposite pages of the actual poem. I plan to give it a regular spiral binding and use stock paper to create the book. Another thing I plan to do to the book is place Velcro pieces on the ends of the pages to create a book within itself. Once you open the Velcro pieces, a letter is revealed that goes together with the poem. On every other page there is a new letter,and the reason why I decided to do this was to prove the poem correct by incorporating real pieces of letters to the supposed person in the poem.

Artist Presentation -- "Transcendence"

My partner (Delisa O'Brien) and I, presented J.L Robbins & Lucas Samaras. Our ‘exhibit’ is entitled “Transcendence,” and we chose this name based off its definition and its comparison with the works our artists created. Transcendence can be defined as, “beyond or above the range of normal or merely physical human.” Our artist both altered the human anatomy in all of their compositions. Robbins creates his works of art with paint, while Samaras usually uses blurred images of himself in his modest apartment. Lucas Samaras experimented with the wet emulsion on Polaroids, and has said that his images were an exploration of the inner battle and different spectrums of himself. J.L. Robbins says, “I try with my paintings to discover and physically manifest the different layers of consciousness in myself and in turn learn more about the rest.” The works presented from him are all of exhibitions he has done in series. Majority of his presented works have been in sets of two or more, but for the exhibition, we’ve only included two of each included series. Lucas Samaras’ Photo-Transformations were a project that he was doing to learn more about himself while Robbins loved anatomy and loved painting various scenarios of an altered human body. From this exhibit, we hope that the students could appreciate the vulnerability of these two artists, and will also learn to look inward and realize their own inner battles and turmoil.

Triptych [Final Project] Concept

The three main points I wanted to cover for my triptych was Birth, Life, and Death. Within each piece I distinguished something that was important to me. With the help of text throughout each portrait, I used this to represent my everyday thoughts. I used various font styles and forms of text to come up with a general background. I wanted to do this to differentiate moments in my life that weren’t always the same. With “Birth,” I included a baby picture surrounded by various text and texture. Along with my birth date added in the composition, my general idea was to emphasize my birth. Life’s main points were the two pairs of arms trapped by two different schools. My current school, TCNJ, and the school I am transferring to NCA&TSU. I placed TCNJ in the background and NCA&TSU in the forefront to show how I’m starting to let TCNJ go as the semester comes to a close, and accept my new school. Behind the arms laid a brick wall which signified the constant road blocks I’ve faced and still currently face in life, and Death was a memorial to my grandmother who recently passed. I used script to signify words I wanted to say but just couldn’t.

Triptych [Final Project]

Illustrator Word Project: Edge

Handmade Book [Poem]

The Killer

by Mark Spencer

I'm tracking a killer
With notches on his gun.
And if I ever find him
His killing days are done.

His MO's been the same
Since all of this began.
And the closer I get,
the more I know the man.

He's been one step ahead
And I've stayed on his heels.
Each time he takes a life,
There's more that he reveals.

Now I've nearly got him,
His days are getting short.
His next plan of attack,
Will be the plan I thwart.

I've got him in my sights,
He's on the prowl again.
He found his next victim,
The hunt will soon begin.

But I arrived too late;
Another victim dead.
Though the wolf is cornered,
In the darkness ahead.

He steps from the shadows,
I'm shocked by what I see,
a grim revelation,
For the killer...is me.

End.

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Nothing Like A Murder Poem That Rhymes
by Misty

From all the pain you put me through,
I just don't know what to do.
All I can do is sit here and cry
And simply wait to die.

Then I stop and wonder why
Why should I die if you're the one who made me cry?
So now I know what to do
I will just have to kill you.

I am going to choke you
Until you turn blue.
Or will you turn red?
I'll just choke you till you're dead

Ill cut you open and look inside.
Your heart is cold just like mine.
Blood, blood all around
On your sheets and on the ground

You should have been sorry for what you said,
But its too late now that you're alone, cold and dead.
I don't care about what I have done.
You deserve it and killing you was fun

Don't make me mad, sad or cry,
Unless you are fully prepared to die.
So now you've been warned, now you've been told.
Just don't f * c k with me you stupid a s s h * l e.

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No Love for the Nice Guy
by The Forgotten Poet of Today

People say Im such a nice guy,
but I always get hurt, I wish I knew why...
I give my whole heart, and I try my best,
but in the end, I have nothing left to supply.

people say any girl would be lucky to have me,
but my heart is always broken see,
they say Im an amazing person with so much,
Ive just about had enough, this is my plea.

This is for all the guys who have
Been left waiting for the call
Just to make her laugh and smile
When she gets home from a date so awful.

This is for all the guys
Who have heard girls say?
This is the nicest anyone has ever been
You would make a great boyfriend

This is for all the guys
Who have loved a girl in secret?
Just to support her when
She needs to cry at 3am

But for me.

I could wait for the world to end
and search every land and sea
not anywhere on this earth
is there a girl who could love me

So lonely, hiding in the dark,
waiting to be played again in the end.
No girl could ever want,
for us to be more than friends.

Ive been told that I was the nicest
Guy that these girls have ever met.
Im the one guy who these girls
Turn to when there in a fret

I get praised for being different
Ive heard I would be perfect
Im like the shoulder to cry on
Im here just to protect

I wish to be more than the shoulder to cry on.
Is this what it means when people say nice guys finish last?
Is this the drawback to being the nice guy?
Do I not get credit for my nice actions even as time has passed?

Love.

People often say it to me,
just as a figure of speech.
But when I really need them,
there's no-one I can reach.

Im done with love...I give up
I can try my hardest, and still wont be good enough...
girls say guys are jerks,
well let me tell you...thats the only way it works

If I were to die and go to heaven
Love would still not exist.
No matter how sweet I could ever be,
all girls have learned to resist

I guess Im just not enough for anyone,
all I want to do is hide and run,
I try to be sweet, and sweep them off their feet,
then they hurt me, and leave me to weep

All I wish for
is someone to care
for someone to love me back
so my feelings I could finally share

So alone I sit, day by day,
wishing love could be real to me.
But nothing but alone,
will I ever be.

This is for all the guys who feel the need to be
The nice guy since it gives you joy
To make her happy no matter what
this was just something for you girls to think about.

Triptych* [Self Visualization]

For the second project, I had a sort of wild idea in the beginning. I wanted to somehow portray myself has in the middle; half man half animal symbolizing the difference in my attitudes. From there I wanted to incorporate things that made up my life on each side, which allowed me to act as that half from the middle. So for the side that had my normal face, I would include a crazy collage of things in my life; my family, important events that I hold dear to my heart, love, etc., and on the side that portrayed the wild side of me, things I do that lean more towards partying, and a dark eerie sense of things that I enjoy and others don’t.
I plan on working with Photoshop as well as having a visual with some audio. I wanted to portray this other person, let the class hear the animal side that tries to come out too often than it should. As if he was conversing with the class explaining various things. My idea isn’t still nailed down, but I plan on branching from this idea.

Tracing Pt. 1

Project One: Illustrator Version

Project One: Photoshop Version

Project One: Original Photo

Wall, Sherman, & Crewdson

Jeff Wall, Cindy Sherman, and Gregory Crewdson, three artist who have different means of expressing themselves in the form of art have appealed to my senses inspiring me more in the field of photography. Because my imagination is so broad and imaginative, I am able to come up with ideas that take me outside of the box and enter me into a world much different then those around me. The two artist have both in their own way grabbed my attention and for different reasons.

Artist Jeff Wall created this work of art entitled, "The Destroyed Room", where it in a sense literally looks like a destroyed room. I enjoyed viewing this piece of work because it sort of reminded me of how I look at things in regards to art. Wild, untamed, and unscripted. It looks as if he literally just went into a bedroom and destroyed everything; however it may have been thrown around was how he left it, photographing it as it. It has no restrictions and no boundaries and that's what I liked about this piece. With Jeff Wall's other pieces of work, he in a way manipulated photos by adding landscapes and people to the image that may have not been there before. I enjoyed looking at every piece for they were all never the same and in a sense had their own creative moments for various reasons.

The ideas that Cindy Sherman wanted to invoke were to portray various movie stills of stereotypical women in film back in her time. What drew me to her work was the idea that she did everything on her own. Costume, make-up, and concept/idea were all thought out and produced herself. What makes her art so unique in my eyes is that she changes her style for each photo that individually portrays a certain woman. She turns her body into this canvas where she creates women of different race, shape, and size. I enjoyed looking at her various pieces.

Gregory Crewdson, last but certainly not least attracted me because his sense of gloomy photos. When you look at his work it doesn't quite look as if the people are real, but after looking closely at the photos and looking at photo reels of the actual production, his photos are in fact photos and not paintings. The reason why I like Crewdson's works of art because like the other two artist they're different. Rather then him being inside the box and creating art that is quite similar to pieces already seen he creates these different worlds with the help of models. In this photo entitled, "Vanity from beneath the Roses," Crewdson portrays a women looking in the mirror in a zombie-ish sort of way only to reveal an actual zombie looking women standing behind her full unclothed. This grabbed my attention because once again it was different and gave me the random feeling that I get when I see art that I enjoy.

In conclusion, these three artist though different in various ways, all have in some way created a vivid imagination in my head that lets me know my crazy concepts would be excepted especially after theirs were and are now considered famous pieces of art.

What really inspires me?

I chose this photo as an inspiration becuase it doesn't have a set meaning. It creates random forms with various colors that in a way create a random image. I enjoy photos like this that leaves the viewer in a way guessing, attempting to figure out what exactly photos like this are supposed to mean.