An Artist's Blog about Art

Class product for my Penthalon Events

[ellenfeng]

Pentathlon Event 3 - Part 5

Various Slam Poetry Videos - Viewed on March 30, 2020

I love slam poetry and I used to watch a lot of it during middle school and early high school, however I stopped when someone made fun of it once. The comment wasn’t direct towards me, but I still felt guilty about enjoying it. However, now I am a lot more confident in my interests and don’t really care what people think about it.

The reason why I am attracted to slam poetry is because almost everyone who goes up to the microphone sounds so powerful and emotional when they speak their words. Despite the fact that they are sharing something personal or even somewhat secretive, they can share this attribute proudly. I also often find that these random people on the internet can say the way I’m feeling in such a concise and coherent way. One of the videos I tagged below is about how anxiety is like a friends with benefits situation. Before I got a handle on my anxiety, this woman describes exactly how I felt 24/7. She says near the end of the poem that getting into a relationship is like being in a threesome, her, her anxiety and the significant other. This line really spoke out to me because it’s hard to explain to my parents, friends, and boyfriend why sometimes I’m paralyzed and can’t make a decision. Or why a seemingly normal event might make worry for days on end.

Slam poetry is an underrated art form and I have a lot of respect for those that have the courage to do this. I tagged about 5 videos that I watched, but I probably watched about half an hour’s worth of videos on youtube. These were just the ones I liked the best.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxV6s4oM1hg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vKL5K_n6Z0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WuJm3N0p9c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFQ7zqn6j18

[ellenfeng]

Pentathlon Event 3 - Part 4 

Enter the Anime - Viewed on March 29, 2020 

As a kid, I grew up watching anime and it was something that I loved to watch and desperately wanted to talk about with other people. However, I quickly learned that anime was not something that was really accepted as ‘cool’ and it became a secret hobby. I’m sure that many other people who watched anime during their childhood can relate. My friends would tease me constantly about it. Anime didn’t really become acceptable to talk about in public (or with people who didn’t know much about it) until now where it’s kinda seen as cool in 2020. I decided to watch this documentary about anime, considering it advertised itself as trying to describe why people liked anime and its history. However, what I actually watched was completely different. It was a badly written story line, in which the director Alex Burunova made some bad, and kind of racist jokes towards Japan and anime culture. I just felt like I was watching the kids in middle school making fun of me all over again. She goes in circles trying to “define anime” and never really reaches a conclusion. The film also hardly talks about any of the well known anime and I think really fails to explain to outsiders why anime is a normal type of television. I had a really hard time finishing this documentary and would not recommend watching it.  

[ellenfeng]

Pentathlon Event 3 - Part 3 

The Other Guys - Viewed March 24, 2020

My boyfriend suggested I watch this movie for a good laugh, and I hate to say it...but I was disappointed. We discussed it afterwards (because this movie used to be rated pretty highly in his mind) and both agreed that it aged badly. The Other Guys has some pretty famous people in it, like Will Ferrell, Samuel L. Jackson, and the Rock, and is kind of like your average cop story. These underrated cops find a lead, and their supervisor doesn’t believe them, and so on. However, the story line is not what made me cringe. The jokes from the early 2010s were so bad, filled with sexist and kind of racist jokes. During this time period, it seems like a lot of comedy was focused on not being a female or nerdy. Every character in this movie makes fun of Will Ferrell’s character because he’s the only one that’s not showing off his masculinity. Despite the fact that they are detectives, a lot of the characters don’t want to be seen as smart or sensible. Acting stupid or mean are seen as desirable traits. 

As I said earlier, this movie has just aged badly and I am so glad that humor has moved on from these types of jokes. It’s amazing to even think that some of these jokes were allowed back in 2010. While the film industry has a long way to go in terms of having better inclusion of minorities, there has been a major improvement. 

[ellenfeng]

Pentathlon Event 3 - Part 1 

Art Project - Finished March 26, 2020

I started this project as a thank you gift for one of my coaches last summer before I left for college. However, I got caught up in some of my other responsibilities and was unable to finish it. Luckily with the extended break I was able to paint a lot more and finally finished this piece, and I really like the way it turned out. I redid the woman on the right, most of the wall and the tube at the top. I also added various paint marks to look like hockey skid marks on the walls. When I left for college, I didn’t like the way this painting was going at all. This shows that sometimes you just need to take a step back for awhile before coming back to a project. I hope while I am at home I can experiment more with painting in different styles as I haven’t been able to do that much art at school. 

[ellenfeng]

Pentathlon Submission 2 - Part 2

February 29, 2020 - Parasite, Regal Theater Hyattsville 

This past week I had a pretty bad back injury to the point where I couldn’t walk. Luckily my mother was able to drive from home to help me out this weekend (as I couldn’t even get up the stairs to my dorm). I was actually planning to see this movie on campus the day I hurt my back. Instead, my mom and I went to see it over the weekend. There are a lot of people on the internet who are saying that Parasite shouldn’t have won Best Picture, but I disagree. The story is unique, new, the acting is good, and there is a lot of symbolism in the film that always leads to something new when looking at it from a different perspective. As an Asian American, the fact that Best Picture was given to Parasite also means a lot to me. To have Asians and Asian culture represented on such a big stage is a huge step to creating a more inclusive film environment. 

The movie sought to show the inequality between the rich and poor. The thing I had trouble sitting with was finding who was supposed to be the protagonist. In hindsight, it is easy to tell that the movie is more complicated than having a clear good and bad guy. The Kim family (main characters) are the parasites of the Park family, tricking them into giving them more money and using the Park family’s resources. It is illegal and somewhat immoral, but the Kim family hardly has any money for food. The Park family is the one who is being tricked and stolen from, but also have a horrible and ugly attitude towards people like the Kim family. This just goes to show that having money, or not having money cannot make you into a good person. 

[ellenfeng]

Pentathlon Submission 2 - Part 3

February 22, 2020 - Noises Off, The Clarice 

Last Saturday my friend and I went to go see Noises Off, which was like a farce on British lifestyle and theater in general. It showed the actors trying to get ready for a performance later that day, and they are not prepared at all, with the director giving passive aggressive comments. When showtime arrives, the stage flips to see the backstage of set and the audience views everything that is going wrong. However, the cast is still trying to keep it together, showcasing the emotional developments between the cast members, technical issues and more. For the final act, the stage flips around again and the actor perform the original play, but it is much more haphazard that the first time the audience saw it. This part was probably the most funny, as cast members would go in and our of their prescribed character, and the whole thing was really a mess. I think the actors did a great job playing their role and succeeded in creating a funny play. The set was also impressive, and must have taken a lot of work to create.

[ellenfeng]

Pentathlon Submission 2 - Part 5 

February 20, 2020 - Knives Out, Hoff Theater 

I went to go see Knives Out with my friend Sidney! It was a wild movie, and I swear I had my mouth open for more than 75% of the movie simply because of how many twists there were to this plot. Firstly, the casting was amazing. I love Jamie Lee Curtis and Chris Evans in particular. Secondly, I really appreciate how similar this felt to an Agatha Christie book. My dad really likes this author and would give me books to read by Agatha Christie. One common feature in her books is that most of the characters are flawed in one way or another. In Knives Out, the whole family is ridden with greed and selfish ambitions. It was hard to watch these people behave so badly, and I cringed during many parts of the movie because of this. I don’t want to talk about the plot too much so I don’t spoil it. It is quite good, and I think everyone should see it if they get the chance! 

[ellenfeng]

Pentathlon Submission 2 - Part 4

February 12, 2020 - Rex Orange County Concert, The Anthem 

I have been wanting to see Rex Orange County for such a long time and despite the tickets being kind of expensive, it was definitely worth it. I was super stressed out this day because school was becoming more intense, and I was just feeling a lot of anxiety building. However, this concert was able to make me forget about all my worries (which is hard to do). Rex mainly played songs from his new album, Pony. I like his songs because they seem a lot more genuine than other artists and they speak to the somewhat unspoken feelings that everyone goes through, especially the awkward teenage emotions. Rex’s performance was quirky, but very cute as he asked the audience if it was okay if he played certain songs, and had bits of choreographed dances to make his stage performance use more of the platform given to him. I really enjoyed this concert, and it’s probably the best one I have seen so far. I hope I can see him again in the future. 

[ellenfeng]

Pentathlon Event 1 

February 9, 2020 - Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia 

Despite the fact that I have lived in Pennsylvania for the past nine years of my life, I have never been to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, an iconic landmark of Philly. During my visit home, my boyfriend and I took a trip from Temple to the museum, which had an exhibit about new technologies that are predicted to become popular in the future. While some of the technology is extremely cool, it’s also disturbing. There was some information about deep fakes, which are edited videos that can make a person look like they are saying one thing, but in reality it is totally different, or perhaps completely made up. This makes the future look really grim, as people will have to become more skeptical than ever and know how to distinguish fake vs. real news. I hope on another visit I have time to explore the rest of the museum. I left for school on the same day as visiting this museum, so we didn’t have much time to explore. 

[ellenfeng]

Pentathlon Event 1

February 7, 2020 - A Doll House, The Clarice

As I forgot to take a picture of the actual event, here is a screenshot of the receipt of the ticket for the Doll House play at The Clarice. The play centers around a girl named Nora, who had received some money to help her family in a suspicious way. She lies to her husband about where she receives the money, but this leads to complications within the family, and at her husband’s work. Eventually the source of the money is revealed to Nora’s husband and at first he is furious about it, saying all sorts of nasty things about Nora. However, once things were cleared up, Nora’s husband takes back these claims, expecting everything to be fine. However, Nora instead determines that her marriage is not really based on love and equality, so she leaves. I like how this play focuses on women taking charge of the situation and making their own decisions about their life. UMD’s interpretation also relied on a full woman cast, making this rendition even more interesting.

[ellenfeng]

Pentathlon Event 1

February 1, 2020 - Lunar New Year Performance, SAAM

I was lucky that I went to the Museum of American Art the same day the museum was holding an event for the Lunar New Year. They had various arts and crafts, food, dancers, and other performances related to the New Year for Asian cultures. I really enjoyed the traditional Chinese dances. As a kid, when I was enrolled in Chinese school, I took classes in traditional Chinese dance. It was exciting to see the same dances I performed as a kid, but done much nicer than an 8 year old could do. This one is called the peacock dance, and the dancers are supposed to emulate peacocks with their hands and flashy dresses.

[ellenfeng]

Pentathlon Event 1 

February 1, 2020 - American Art Museum, Washington D.C. 

After the first weekend of being back on campus, I decided to take a trip to the American Art Museum in DC. I had been to the National Portrait Gallery last semester, but I wanted to see the rest of this huge museum. This collection had the largest amount of Asian American art I have ever seen, which I was extremely excited about. In my search to look for more Asian representation in media, I have noticed that in many art museums, there is a lack of Asian painters being showcased. I was pleasantly surprised to see several rooms dedicated to one Japanese American artist, showing his experience in the Japanese interment camps, as well as many drawings of nature. 

[ellenfeng]

Pentathlon Event 1 

February 8, 2020 - Birds of Prey, AMC Theater in Philadelphia

While I was back home visiting my boyfriend at Temple University, we decided to see the new Harley Quinn movie. We were both actually pretty surprised that the movie turned out to be pretty good. It doesn’t include the Joker at all, finally giving Harley Quinn her chance to develop her own story on the big screens. It also includes other women who have been overshadowed by men their entire lives. Out of luck, these women bond together to protect a teenage girl against a mafia leader. I liked how this film displayed women’s strength without making it cheesy, and just made these strong female characters normal. They just relied on each other’s characters, without over emphasizing the fact that they are women. I would also like to note that the music and fighting scenes were very impressive, in my opinion. Each character had their own fighting style and it’s obvious how much time went into choreography each fight scene. The ratings for this movie aren’t the best, however I would recommend watching it especially if you are a comic book fan. 

[ellenfeng]

Pentathlon 5 

November 30, 2019 - Frozen II, Pottstown AMC Theater

Over break, I dragged my family to go see Frozen II with me. I don’t think it lived up to the hype, and definitely was not as good as the first one (however, they did have a lot to accomplish if that was their goal). The animation was great and the music was relatively interesting. However, the plot line was really predictable. I pretty much guessed everything that was going to happen before I saw it on screen, but it was still enjoyable. I think the best factor about this movie (besides the animation) was Disney’s ability to make fun of itself. There were many parts of the movie that kind of teased Frozen one, which was very amusing to watch. I would say this movie isn’t worth going to the theaters for, but instead to watch it on DVD or if you have Disney Plus

[ellenfeng]

Pentathlon 5 

November 25, 2019 - Brockhampton Concert, The Anthem 

I went to go see the rap group Brockhampton with my boyfriend before leaving for Thanksgiving break. I had an 8am the next day, but the concert was definitely worth it. They played mostly songs from their new album Ginger, and some of my other favorite songs. This group is different from a lot of other ones, because rappers usually do solo careers. Brockhampton is the sort of fusion between boy bands and rapper, they have no instruments on stage, dance with each other and go back and forth between who sings/raps. The lighting and set up were also done really well, and used the lighting to highlight each of the singers. 

[ellenfeng]

Pentathlon 5 

November 24, 2019 - Hirshhorn Museum 

I only went into the inside of the Hirshhorn Museum, not the sculpture garden. I’m not usually a huge fan of modern art, it can be a hit or miss with me. However, I really liked the collection at Hirshhorn. I like art that makes me think a little bit more, rather than blocks of color (which modern art can be this). The Hirshhorn museum had a whole exhibit dedicated to videos, which seemed interesting. There might have been a connection between all of them, but I didn’t have enough time to watch every single one. I think I’m going to have to go back to that and relook at the videos. I also liked the ground floor exhibit, which contained large text and colors all over the room, including the ceiling and floors. 

[ellenfeng]

Pentathlon 5 

November 22, 2019 - Monica Bill Barnes & Company, Milk Boy Art-house

This performance was about two girls (not that it really mattered, men could have been doing the same thing) dressed as business men doing things that would usually be done in private, like acting silly, doing weird handshakes, etc. I thought it was really cool that these girls had been able to master dancing/acting like a guy. Dressing like one can be kinda easy, but I think dancing/behaving like one is much harder. They used the audience and various props around the room. The two dancers were extremely expressive and talented, and I admire their ability to be such good performers.