Review: AUM Faculty Art Exhibit

The Faculty Art Exhibit that took place at Auburn University of Montgomery last week was, in one word, disappointing. When I hear the world “exhibit”, I think of a large room filled with breathtaking art, but this exhibit met neither of those qualities for me. As I entered the small, white room in Goodwyn Hall, I saw only ten pieces of art. Even worse, of those ten, I found only four to really catch my eye. Not only that, but the room seemed to be quickly put together, and the pieces just strewn about on the walls and pedestals.

There were a few things about the room that could’ve easily been changed to make the exhibit a bit more professional and eye-catching. Instead of having to navigate your way through the exhibit with a mere piece of paper numbering the pieces one through ten, plaques beneath each piece would’ve been nice. As most artists know, one of the key elements in art exhibits is placement. The piece entitled Help! By Greg Brown definitely seemed to be the star of this exhibit, yet it was hidden behind the wall when you walk in, rather than placed for immediate attention.

As stated before, Help! seemed to draw everyone in the room’s attention. The abstract feel of the piece made everyone fawn over it. As I glanced across the room, I saw the word Help in big letters and thought nothing else of it. As I began to wonder what the big deal was, I took a few steps closer. Upon closer review, I began to understand everyone’s infatuation. The background was made of pictures filled with pain and anguish. The people in the pictures seemed to be either screaming for help literally or begging for it with their eyes. After a minute, I found it hard to continue to look at.

As my time in the exhibit went on, I found that the pieces that the other viewers throughout the room seemed disappointed with were the ones that drew me in. Cold Water 1 and Cold Water 2 by Heidi Lingamfelter seemed, at first sight, to be bland and computer generated. However, I found myself not able to pull my eyes from them. The pieces seemed to be playing on the water and how it reflects the sky. The collagraph really helped with aspect of water and how it ripples, while the acrylic looked exactly like the sky would on a cloudy day. Some other understated pieces from the exhibit were the Dependence pieces by Will Fenn. They were little pictures of nature (pine cones, leaves, and flowers) that were transparent through pieces of glass. They didn’t seem to catch many a glance, except from me.  I found myself wondering how they were made, what they represented, and who the maker was as a person.

Although the exhibit was a bit less than I’d hoped, it was worth the visit to see the pieces that did interest me. I’ve found myself already searching for the date of the next big exhibit.

Cranes for Oklahoma

This is the crane I made for the Oklahoma City Memorial. After the bombing a sick girl decided to make 1000 cranes for the memorial because a crane represents a wish. However, the girl died before she had a chance to finish them all. When people heard the story, they decided to help the girl by finishing her task for her. From what I hear, there are cranes all over the memorial to this day.

Thanks to Dr. Nobles and The Program

So the image to the left is an image of the Oklahoma City Memorial. Without Dr. Nobles and the Honors program, the class never would’ve been able to actually experience it. We would’ve never gotten the full impact of this event and the effect it had on the people who live where it took place. I probably would’ve never known of this even period. I also never would’ve met the people that I have. Each OCU student is one less person that I would’ve had the opportunity to befriend. They opened my mind to new ideas and experiences that I never would’ve known otherwise. Most people think that the honors program entitles them to get opportunities, but in reality, without the help of the program and Dr. Nobles, trips like this wouldn’t be available (or affordable). So thank you Dr. Nobles and the program for making it possible for our class to have the once in a lifetime experience that we did. Collaborating with OCU will always be an experience that I treasure.

Thank you to OCU

So this is my post dedicated to the class at OCU and Dr. Hessler. I wish I could’ve met you guys, but on the bright side, I feel like I know you all already. So the picture to the left is the picture that stuck with me the most this semester. It’s from a post by Something, Someone. The reason being, it’s from the memorial which was an event that was at the center of our class this semester. It’s from where you all are and it resignated with me because it made me emotional about that event. The entire post did. It made me feel lucky to have all that I do. It made me realize things that I probably otherwise wouldn’t have paid any attention to or been thankful for. I guess what I’m trying to say is, thanks for opening my eyes. Thanks for giving me a pretty unique experience by collaborating with us. Thanks for giving the class an up close and personal view of where you’re from. We are truly grateful to have shared this once in a lifetime experience with you guys. It actually made the class even more fun to have a long distance relationship with you guys. Maybe one day, by some twist of fate, I’ll meet one of you.

Map from OCU

The map I got was from Swisher Sweetings. The map is of Lake Hefner in Oklahoma. The original map itself was pretty basic but had a lot of detail. You could definitely tell that the lake was meant to be the center of the map. Most maps don’t show depths of a body of water but merely the location. When I look at the map with its additions, it reminds me of what a tourists map should look like, except more personal. I like that the maker didn’t add to much too it. She used bright-colored ink and arrows (great handwriting by the way) to show where a visitor should go. That was it! The thing is, I can’t really see the map needing much more than that or it would look to cluttered. The vision that I get of Oklahoma from this map is fun. The different spots and funny comments help me to get to know what the author thinks of this place and helps me shape my view of it. Of course with the fun in this map comes lies. That’s what our entire class was based around this semester. How we lie with maps. One that jumped out at me was mermaid bay. The obvious lie here is that there are no such things as mermaids (although I wish there was). It makes me want to go there and see just how pretty it is. The two landmarks that I think may have some sort of inside joke to them are the secret medieval park and the thieving leprechauns. The places that aren’t lies, but I would really like to visit, are the place to sit and watch the sunset and the restraunts. I’m not even going to lie, I love food so this would be great for me. The sharks in the middle of the lake remind me of every horror movie I’ve ever seen with killer sharks so I won’t be swimming in Lake Hefner anytime soon. Overall this map was really cool and I enjoyed using my imagination to picture all the places.

My Line

“I’m from Bayou La Batre and the Old Texas dirt, Gumbo and cheesy potatoes.”
In this picture you see a shrimp boat captain. Bayou La Batre is where my grandparents met and grew up. Shrimping was a big part of the culture there since it was a place filled with cajun culture. Naturally gumbo is a big dish in our family.

 

 

image source: http://www.ourworldtravels.com/deep-south/biloxi/gallery/shrimp-boat-captain-biloxi

The Bombing of the Alffred P. Murrah Building

The Alffred P. Murrah building was built in Oklahoma in 1977 and designed by Wendell Locke. The building was opened for use on March 2, 1977. That use was  to house regional offices for the Social Security Administration, the United States Secret Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration (D.E.A.), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (A.T.F.), and recruiting offices for both the Army and the Marine Corps.

The picture from the post.

On April 19, 1995 the building was bombed by Timothy McVeigh  and his co-conspirators. He said that he bombed the building on the anniversary of the  Waco Siege in 1993 to get back at the US for their actions there and at the siege at Ruby Ridge. 168 people died, including 19 children, and over 800 were injured. When the rescuers came, all but three bodies were found. When demolition occurred those three were recovered. All this death reminded me of this post I read from one of the OCU students. The picture that they used was the first thing that came to mind when I read the article on the building. When I first read that all but three of the victims hadn’t been found during the first rescue, I thought that three of those sets of keys could be theirs. I also thought about what thier families might have been feeling when they heard. What the unknown felt like. After picturing the unknown I began tp feel anger. Who would do somehting like this? and not feel remorse or guilt!? I don’t usually care for the death penalty, but I feel like it was deserved in this case. Killing innocent people is never the answer to your problems. Revenge fuels many fires and kills many people. Revenge creates  terrorists.

Thought of the Day: Smartphones

So right now I’m writing to you on my cell phone. Yea I can’t believe it either. I’m pretty sure that in the future we’ll have phones that can wash your car or do your laundry and I’ll b totally fine with being lazy enough to let them. I was watching ‘DOOM philosophers’ or ‘predictors of DOOM’ or something like that the other day, and those guys are pretty dark. According to them, cell phones will get so smart that they can take over the world. That’s kind of a big jump don’t you think? My cell phone can barely get a signal in my garage let alone take over the universe. If my cell phone can become smart enough to take over the planet then he…or she…or it deserves  to have it. And which ever dipstick decides to create a phone that smart and/or evil will be the first one to go.

Pics of my map

Thought of the Day: Hunger

Have you seen that commercial where the two teenage boys feel like they are dieng of hunger and the mom points them in the direction of some pizza rolls? Well… that’s how I feel right now. I was up all night working on homework, which led to no sleep, which led to not hearing my alarm, which led to no time, which led to no breakfast. I’m not sure if you’re seeing the same pattern here but…homework causes hunger. That’s all I got from this experience. Homework should be illegal unless you have a required month for completion. Well I’m off to do a project. Just a little tidbit for the day.