xuenan lily hu

this is a digital journal for my arts and design class at ucberkeley (ls 25, spr 2018)

[artanddeisgnjournal]

week 15 notes

this is week 15′s notes, a reflection post will follow. 

[artanddeisgnjournal]

week 7 reading reflection

“Be vigilant,” the work seems to say, “guard yourself from this world, a world both dangerous and unpredictable.”

-irina leimbacher, imaginative feats

the reading on imaginative feats, which explores artworks named guarded, lost, and flat land, showcases the human emotion of anxiety and loss, as well as the dissolving family boundaries that exist in this world. i chose this specific quote because it stood out the most to me in this reading. the selection about guarded made the exhibit seem eclectic and extremely avant-garde as it seemed to flit between different scenes and words but eventually had a general theme of anxiety. the work wants us to be cautious, but walking into guarded causes one to be overwhelmed by the feelings of anxiety. 

“The engagement with history as an intentional set of events and conclusions, the location of radical freedom hidden within narrative seams, the execution of unpaid useless and meaningless labor, the democratic investigation of the banal on equal terms with the monumental, the refusal of concrete packaging and compartmentalization”

-rebecca ora, finley + muse

this by far was my Favorite quote from the reading. as i’ve mentioned in the past, many of these lectures and discussions made me long for and old, not yet gentrified san francisco, one that may never exist anymore. like another part of the reading, where the author believes that despite careful maintenance, san francisco will never be the place it once was. i love seeing that there is an intersectionality between art and history, i feel like it uncovers a hidden side of the artist, one that reveals their past in mysterious ways only art can reveal. 

[artanddeisgnjournal]

reflection on week 1: what is experimental media?

since i wasn’t here for this lecture, i’m reflecting purely based on the notes i obtained from this lecture i’ve always been interested in art and design, and being able t grow up in such a culturally diverse area such as the bay area has impacted me to no end.

recently, i’ve gotten into a new hobby called ‘urban exploring,’ which to put in simpler terms, is going to abandoned buildings and seeing the graffiti and taking pictures. i have been watching bay area artists grow in number, continuing to diversify the culture.

this course seems very interesting to me, because it closely focuses on the bay area, which i really appreciate.

[artanddeisgnjournal]

week 1: what is experimental media art?

notes on lecture and discussion

these are notes on week 1′s lectures and discussion, a reflection post will follow shortly.

[artanddeisgnjournal]

reflection on week 2: bay area underground art

i was not physically in lecture because i had not enrolled in it yet. however, based on the notes of ‘way bay’ and craig baldwin, as well as the reading, the topic created an interesting narrative in my mind. 

for starters, the way bay exploration on the background of the exhibit and history of how it came to be was very interesting. in the past, i simply went through exhibits and noted which ones i liked the most, or picked at ones that seemed peculiar. i immensely enjoyed reading the notes on way bay because it really felt like i was there while the exhibit was being curated. it was really cool to see what components factored into each piece of art.

the section on craig baldwin was also very interesting. the concept that stood out to me the most was ‘making something out of nothing equals frugality.” to me, i believe that making something out of nothing was being resourceful. i wouldn’t consider that frugal, more like being efficient. i don’t think using nothing to make art is frugal, i think it’s smart, to create something out of nothing.

[artanddeisgnjournal]

week 2: bay area underground art

notes on lecture and discussion

these are notes on week 2′s lectures and discussion, a reflection post will follow shortly.

[artanddeisgnjournal]

reflection on week 3: experimental film

wednesday (barbara hammer’s lecture), was the first lecture i attended, since i had just enrolled in the class. i didn’t come in with many expectations, just a standard, informative class. however, barbara hammer really made an impression on me, and this class topic in general.

as someone who identifies as part of the lgbtq+ community, i felt inspired by barbara’s bravery. homophobia has been a recurring theme in our society, i cannot even begin to imagine how homophobia impacted barbara. her films were so sensual, and her art pieces reflected very critical thinking. they not only made people feel uncomfortable, they made people feel. she was so funny and quirky, i really enjoyed her as a speaker. 

i claim that im from the bay, and that i grew up here. however, after hearing barbara’s account of older san francisco, it was really cool to see old snapshots of the city, compared to what it looks like now. it makes me nostalgic for a past that i have never experienced.

[artanddeisgnjournal]

week 3: experimental film

notes on lecture and discussion

these are notes on week 3′s lectures and discussion, a reflection post will follow shortly. 

[artanddeisgnjournal]

reflection on week 4: experimental music

my reflection on this week begins with david bernstein. his lecture was very focused on giving historical context and background for the origins of experimental music. i really enjoyed his pictures of the old sf tape center, and following it as it moved to mills college and became more and more privatized. it was interesting seeing how large and bulky the machines were for producing music. 

ken was very interesting as well. i immensely appreciated that there was an asian person being introduced in the curriculum. just like ken, i grew up very driven in one direction and after some exploration, found myself exploring an entirely different path. ken’s music was very eclectic as well - his lecture literally began with a performance on the bullhorn. initially i was shocked by it, im sure most of us were, but as it progressed i found that i was actually enjoying the sounds. when ken asked us to all yell, i found it interesting how a lot of people didn’t yell. was it because we were afraid of societal expectations? i felt like our yelling disappointed ken, since his music encompassed ‘experimental, untraditional music.’

[artanddeisgnjournal]

week 4: experimental music

notes on lecture and discussion

these are notes on week 4′s section, a reflection post will follow this. 

[artanddeisgnjournal]

week 5: experimental tv and video

media object for the week’s topic/weekly reading

i wanted to make this post a little more personal than usual. this summer i had the privilege of going to europe, touring different museums and eating good food for the entire trip. the museum that made a lasting impression on me was the Museum der Moderne Rupertinum in Salzburg. i remember watching a small, short video clip on the televisions in the first post, where the word ‘humanic’ flashed over and over again with different pictures depicting different human emotions.

[artanddeisgnjournal]

week 4: experimental music

media object on the week’s topic/weekly readings

experimental music to me, is very eclectic and in my opinion, not pleasing to the ear. the reason i have selected this song is because i think this is the closest song that i listen to that reminds me of experimental music. masego, an american jazz and hiphop artist, combines very discord music samples together. this piece is a thrill ride, since so many different songs are in it (there’s even a sample of “happy birthday to you”).

[artanddeisgnjournal]

week 3: experimental film

media object relating to the week’s topic/weekly readings

mulholland drive is a film about a girl who wakes up with amnesia. in this film, the director not only uses very avant garde music, the film style very typical of that of avant garde films, slightly hard to follow along. it uses very untraditional film techniques and draws viewers towards uncanny details of the film. 

[artanddeisgnjournal]

week2: bay area underground art

media object related to the topic/weekly readings

after getting into urban exploring (a recently booming hobby in the bay), i began to follow this artist - GATS (graffiti against the system), who paints in decrepit/derelict buildings and sewer systems around the bay area. a mysterious artist, his true identity has never been revealed. 

[artanddeisgnjournal]

week 1: what THE HECK is experimental art?? 

media object related to the week’s section/reading

this is the women’s building in san francisco, with the ‘maestrapeace mural’ decorating the walls of the building. beautiful and bold, and located in the historical mission district, this is what my mind goes to when i think about “experimental art.”