#engl400

[newculturesofwriting]

Introducing Me

So hello one and all; classmates, the NSA, and other denizens of tumblr. I’m Peter. Crapitto, Peter. I’m a creative writing major, and also I’m majorly awesome!!!! ;) ;D XD I’m funny sometimes, I swear. I guess this is sort of a reintroduction, as the internet can surely tell you with its seemingly infinite capability for holding onto the past.* I have actually attempted this course before, and so this for me is a return with a fresh, and hopefully constructive, new outlook. ** I really hope to broaden my exposure and understanding of new media, particularly social media, and its role in our culture. Particularly as a writer for our school newspaper, a form of media that seems to largely be going out of style and is at the very least going through a major evolution, I am interested in how news is found, reported and accessed in this modern day. I guess having never spent time on Twitter in high school I find myself now trying to catch-up with the times. ***

As for my response Wesch, I find I am more fascinated than frightened by the cultural/societal changes that are coming as a result of this new digital age. Certainly as an aspiring author questions of how we define authorship and copyright may be concerning, but the potential of media in this interconnected digital world is exciting to me, and I think we should not be so set in our ways that we cannot embrace such changes. Others things Wesch says we need to rethink include ethics and privacy. I think these are things we must accept, not react against. Loss of privacy in our current day is a major concern, but I think that is a reality we must face. We must open ourselves up to the world in order to benefit from it’s newly interconnected nature. Ethics too must be rethought, simply because our current systems are inadequate to deal with ethical quandaries of the internet age. Perhaps what concerns me most personally is that we may have to rethink the concept of our own identity. To suggest that we don’t just use technology, that technology is a part of us now. It’s intimidating. It brings into question the concept of a true-self that I think most of us would like to believe in. It’s difficult to fathom. Even then though, I am curious to see where this new world is going. How shall we perceive ourselves and others in a future that is all about the online?

*(It’s almost as bad as my ex-girlfriend in that regard) **(Backtracking, I should apologize for that ex-girlfriend joke. I’m actually on very good terms with all my exes at the time of this post. Sorry!) ***(Yes I know I could have deleted it before posting and then not needed to apologize, but that would ruin the integrity of my stream-of-consciousness style writing. Besides I still thought it was kind of funny...)

[yourfaveisproblematiclove-blog]

Bringing it All Together Attempt #2

Here is my second attempt at a conclusion, since my computer deleted the first one:

Over the course of this blog, I hope to have done a few things. First, I hope to have educated all of you at least somewhat on disabilities, disability culture, and its misuse/misrepresentation by the media.  Second, I hope that I've provided movie references that are comprehensible, relevant, and interesting. And lastly, I hope that I have created an atmosphere that was informative without being too stiff or formal, and that I've sparked a conversation somewhere that could lead to bigger things. I didn't set out writing this blog to condemn every movie you've ever known and loved, and I’m also not looking to create the types of discussions that lead to a cure for cancer or anything. It boils down to this: As an individual within the disabled community, I had the realization that I might have insights into the misrepresentation of disabled people in media that others might not. My goal is simply to have us all slow down and more carefully consider the implications to what we are allowing ourselves to take in, rather than accepting on blind faith that it is true and accurate simply because it is “popular.”

Thank you for the time you have taken to read and interact with this blog, and I hope to continue this project in the near future.

From one of the original characters with a disability:

[yourfaveisproblematiclove-blog]

Mental Disability: Rain Man & Charly/Flowers for Algernon

While movies dealing with mental illness are very easy to find, films dealing with mental disability are a different thing entirely.  Mental illness is a topic that, while still highly stigmatized, is something that society as a whole is at least somewhat educated on; on the other side of that, we have the topic of mental disability, where there are still many misconceptions and ambiguity, both because it is a broad field and because there has not been enough accurate or thorough information provided to the public as a whole. As such, movies and the like seem to have trouble portraying these disabilities in a manner that doesn’t rely--once again-- on stereotypes, assumptions, etc.  I hope that the following movies represent a step forward in this genre subset.

One famous example is Rain Man, in which Raymond (Dustin Hoffman) and Charlie (Tom Cruise) are estranged brothers who are brought together after their father’s death, the former of whom has autism and exhibits savant-like qualities.  Charlie resents Ray for the majority of the first part of the movie, because he sees his brother and his disability as being both an embarrassment and a burden.  As they progress in their time together, Charlie begins to realize how extraordinary his brother’s intelligence and talents are; Raymond is able to tell how many toothpicks fell out of a box just by looking at them, he can count cards, he knows old comedy sketches, etc. Although Charlie decides to exploit his brother’s abilities in order to cheat the casinos and win easy money in Vegas, along their journey they become closer and discover or remember things about one another that neither had realized. Eventually, Charlie realizes that he must embrace his brother on a human level, along with his disability and his “quirks,” and he decides to move forward with Raymond being a part of his life. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvyJ93k_AH8)

The film Charly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charly) is based on the short story/play “Flowers for Algernon,” which chronicles experiments to increase human intelligence on a mouse named Algernon, and observations by the human patient Charlie Gordon. Charly, the movie inspired by this story, is a similar story of a mentally disabled bakery worker and the experiments that are conducted to increase his intelligence.  Both the short story and the movie changed the discourse about treatment of the mentally disabled and seemed to help to some extent in dispelling many of the existing misconceptions.

Although these movies made large strides in giving a voice and understanding to an underrepresented and often misunderstood community, there’s still a ways to go. In order to truly comprehend the full spectrum that mental disabilities covers and hence portray them well, we need to first understand the disabilities and the individuals each as their own entity; then, we need to learn how to craft a story/narrative that highlights one part or both without distorting or overshadowing the other.

[steadymovingforward]

The Whole Picture

Rag Paper, Photo Album Protecting Sleeves, Waxed thread, Sharpie

May 2015 

Once again, I’ve delved into the realm of illusionary art and interactive art. The same artists as I’ve mentioned before, such as Dorosz, were huge influences. Especially since he even experimented in larger, more interactive worlds such as ‘The Painted Room’ below. 

However, larger and less delicate works such as Whiteread’s ‘House’, 

display opportunities for actual interaction. 

It’s only recently that I’ve realized that the best learning I’ve done is when I’ve been able to physically interact with what I’m seeing, such as the children’s museum when I was young. I don’t think that we change much from children to adult, and interactive art/entertainment should monopolize that. 

It’s works like Paul Nulty’s interactive light design...

that reminded me that art can be beautiful and inventive, but without a connection from the audience, the art may well be useless.

Though I didn’t work with electricity or programming, it’s my hope that interaction with the pages, and the changing views, may help the audience to better understand the meaning behind the importance of every aspect of a picture.

[steadymovingforward]

Media Portraits

Digital Photograph Manipulations 

Spring 2015 

Each of the digital photograph manipulations above is another extension of the portfolio mentioned in yesterday’s post (surrealism on perspective medias). 

However, this series titled ‘Media Portraits’ is a group of photographs loosely based on works such as ‘Rene Magritte’ by Duane Michals ...

(1965)

and, ironically another work by Magritte himself, ‘A Friend of Order’:

(1964)

Both works make a statement on the depicted individual in retaliation to objects surrounding in silhouette. Michals’ work displayed the painter Magritte in silhouette against an easel, speaking to who Magritte was. 

Magritte’s work speaks similarly to the silhouetted individual. 

My works are based on self-made media, and each silhouette speaks to eh media that the portrait-ed individual utilizes to display themselves. In this way, the portraits are  more self-made then displayed by myself.

This new media, self-made media, allows each individual to edit and show who they believe themselves to be, or aspects of themselves.

[steadymovingforward]

Window Screens

Digital Photo

Spring 2015

This semester I’m participating in a digital photography class. For my final portfolio I’m covering a topic utilizing surrealism techniques while creating a photographic conversation on modern perspectives of media.

While exploring my topic I came across several famous surrealist artist however, the section of my portfolio shown above, tilted Window Screens is loosely based on works by Rene Magritte.

In modern education, Magritte may be most famous for his portrait Son of Man.

However, when exploring his works, I found myself drawn to two of his works, both with the same title: The Human Condition.

1933

1935

Both works adhere to an artistic style referred to as ‘a painting within a painting’, and make a statement about the artist and what interior may truly mean. 

Utilizing these pieces as inspiration, I explored what the idea of a store, or the interior of a store may be to the modern individual. I concluded that a store has expanded past its physical boundaries in the modern era, and has trespassed to a virtual platform; just as effectively used as the original brick and mortar.

[steadymovingforward]

Skeptic Circle

Tea Lights, Foam Core, Fishing Wire 

Fall 2014 

This year, I’ve become less interested in what my art means to me, and instead more intriqued by what the audiences sees or responds to. Because of this, much of my art has started to become more audience-interactive. The sculpture above is no different.

Skeptic Circle is a piece ‘in the round’. It’s a sculpture meant to be viewd from all sides, with changing views from different viewer heights and angles.

When orignially beginning my project, I was intiqued by the works of Elba Bairon, a Latin American artist. She works with simplified in the round sculptures carved and sanded from blocks of paper. Below is a sample of one of her shows, Contemporaneo 30.

Each of the individual sculptures is stylized so that shadow helps to create the form, and the viewer interacts by moving through the crowd of sculptures.

Though Bairon’s style was intriguing to me, the way she utilized light and physically placed her audience within the work, I found myself pulled to illusionary art. Below is an example by Chris Dorosz titled, Stasis 79 (The Duchess of Alba’s Wedding).

Though this isn’t a sculpture in the round, I found myself particularly drawn to Dorosz’s installations. He creates his work by artfully placing acrylic blobs in such a way that the image may only be properly viewed from one angle. This forces the viewer to interact and sometimes react through placement.

When I created my own piece, I decided to move the audience in the same way as Dorosz, while at the same time playing with light to create emphasis like Bairon. When viewing Skeptic Circle the viewer must walk around the sculpture until the small units align and the individual is able to see the triangle clearly.

Through creating works that stress the importance of viewer perspective, I mean to engage the audience and emphasize the change that vantage may make in relationship to art and the viewers’ daily lives.

[steadymovingforward]

KIDtech Poster

Digital Poster 

Fall 2014 

The poster above was the culmination of a semester long project aimed at developing a graphic theme. The theme I cultivated evolved into one simple word: KIDtech. This was meant convey the combination of children and technology that has become increasingly common especially in respect to childhood education, communication, and creativity.

When creating my poster, I spent copious amounts of time researching the evolution of technology, especially communicative, which is how my poster design took shape.

The basic structure, or grid format, is based off of print press advertisements. Specifically, advertisement from the time of the industrial revolution. When technology was growing in leaps and bounds, as it is today, and still followed a block-printing pattern.

Notice the easy to view grid-like pattern on the advertisement above.

While researching, I also learned that as far as font was concerned, printers had to make due. In typecasting, using a letterpress was the preferred method for 19th century newspaper printing, and often creating a forced – grid pattern.

I also found myself intrigued by the type itself. Printers were often forced to use whatever type was at hand and ready to use. Jumping off of this, I decided to force myself to use early Macintosh fonts. These fonts, such as Chicago (example below) have come to represent a pivotal moment in personal technology growth. This I found to be directly applicable to my KIDtech report, and so used such fonts in my poster.

The fonts and grid pattern I used in my poster represented two pivotal moments in technological industry: the printing press and development of personal software. In combination with the child-like color pallet, they portray the familiarity of today’s children with technology.