Memento: On longing personal response

"On Longing" Quotes

1. The body is the primary mode of perceiving scale.

2. Capacity of objects serve as traces of authentic experiences. 

2. The souvenir reduces the public, the monumental, and the three-dimensional into the miniature... that which can be enveloped by the body.

3. Nostalgia cannot be sustained without loss.

4. To have a souvenir of the exotic is to possess both a specimen and a trophy.

Response to the "On Longing" Quotes

   When you have a souvenir or memento it turns something psychological into something physical. It takes a memory and turns it into something that materially exists. This ensures that the memory will always be with you. If the memory starts to fade in your mind it can always be refreshed with the physical representation of your memory. It can also be seen by others, giving them insight into a memory that ordinarily they wouldn't be able to see. It also is a way to show not only a memory but how you individually see it. A memory represents things only from the past, which is time that has been lost. Losing someone or something you love makes the memoirs involving them so much more meaningful. 

    

Memento: Inventory/ The tokens personal response

   The short story "Inventory/ The Token" took on such a serious subject and made it seem so casual and ordinary. The entire adoption system seems like a sick and twisted game. The wet nurses were paid a "general annual bonus" for keeping the children that they were responsible for alive, as if these nurses were playing a game to keep them alive only because of the reward they would receive. The upper class people of London in the 1740's turned unwanted children into a game by hosting a lottery event where the mothers who didn't want their children would pick a ball that chose the fate of their child. Even though forms of birth control and medical treatments hadn't been discovered its hard to believe that so many women would be so eager to give up their own living specimen. 

   With all other things not in consideration I thought the tracking system was really interesting. It gives us insight on how a mother could reclaim their child before things such as blood tests and social security numbers existed. Since a "token" was all a mother had to reclaim her children it seems that it brings great value to something that could be so simple. Since the token seems to be the only way for a mother to find her child it leads me to believe that If the mother were to loose the token there would be no other way for her to someday reclaim her child. This seems unfathomable to me that such great value can be placed on one simple thing. 

Memento

me·men·to [muh-men-toh]

noun, plural me·men·tos, me·men·toes.

Notes from class:

Process pictures:

    For the Memento project I created a non-representational piece to signify a memory of my great grandmother. Since purple was her favorite color, on her 98th birthday we released purple balloons into the sky and made a wish. Now every year on her birthday my grandma and I release purple balloons in memory of her. The sphere shape represents represents a round balloon. I designed it with a hole so you could see inside to represents capturing a memory, and the air in which makes the balloon float. The purple threat that belonged to my great grandma represents her, and the way I threaded it represents the different paths of our relationship as well as our relationship with other family members.

 

 

Drawings

Gregors Room

 In Process:

Final Project:
I chose to use dull colors throughout the every piece to express the dreary and sad feelings of Gregor's life.

In the story their was a picture of a woman in a boa that Gregor took with him when he was a traveling sales man to show people the product. I recreated the picture that was described making the boa bright pink. the boa is the most vibrant object in everything I created to represent Gregor's room. I wanted this to be the most vibrant thing since it represents what Gregor considered the best part of his life. I also made the briefcase bigger than scale to represent how important his job was to himself and his family.

Drawings

Elements and Principles in 3D

Progress Pictures:

     

Final projects 

                 For my first Balsa wood sculpture represents rhythm. I started out with a solid piece of wood and built it up using diagonal blocks decreasing in size as they went up. It created an interesting spiral shape.  

      

                

  

         
                    When I started my 2nd balsa wood sculpture i wasn't sure which design element I wanted to use. As I began working I started carving into the wood and then began to include different texture throughout. Therefor making my element of design texture.                              

          

                   In my 3rd sculpture I wanted it to represent scale but wasn't sure how. I started out with the smaller sphere and then replicated it in a bigger size. I kept it very simple so the two spheres would pop out.

                      For my final project I created three long V shapes with pieces cut out and surrounded by tape to make a cool see through effect. I then put them on a base. This is supposed to represent pattern since the three V shapes share the same pattern of tape and wood. 

Drawings

     

Metamorphosis personal response

   Gregor seems very selfless, when he awakes as an insect form he doesn't go into detail or worry about what has happened to him and his overnight transformation. The story takes an unexpected turn in the beginning; focusing on Gregor's job and making sure he gets to work on time. 
    Throughout the story Gregor's character stays completely selfless. After waking up no longer a human, but an insect he isn't concerned with what has happened to him. Gregor worried about the consequences he would soon face since he was late for work, and how these unknown consequences would effect his family. Gregor struggles with not having the ability to help his family, or to thank them for the minimal work they began doing for him. It seems as if while Gregor was a businessman he was unhappy with his job but optimistically dedicated his life to his job in order to support his family; which his dad clearly had the capability of doing all along. As time passes and Gregor becomes more mistreated and unwanted by his family he has nothing displeasing to say about them, nor ever expects anything more from them after all he did for them in his previous days. I found it particularly interesting that although struggling for money after relying solemnly on Gregor's income they never went without a housekeeper. The family makes it seem like a housekeeper is a necessity, which I find completely absurd since at least two of the Samsa's were always home. 
    As the story progressed Gregor no longer referred to the Samsas as his family but as their own family by saying "the sister" instead of "his sister. I thought this was a really empathetic way to show how far Gregor had come from the beginning of the story.  
   Although certain parts of the story seemed hard to read, altogether I thought this story was an interesting read. It went in a completely unpredictable direction and kept me wondering what would happen next. 
     

The Metamorphosis vocabulary list

Concede: exceeding what is sufficient or necessary
Scrupulous: having moral integrity acting in strict regard for what is considered right or proper
Asphyxiation: a lack of oxygen or excess of carbon dioxide in the body that results in unconsciousness and often death and is usually caused by interruption of breathing or inadequate oxygen supply 
Superfluous: exceeding what is sufficient or necessary
Monotonous: uttered or sounded in one unvarying tone : marked by a sameness of pitch and intensity
Perceptible: capable of being perceived especially by the senses

Favotire things to do

                          Painting                                 Going to the beach            Playing with puppy

People I find inspiring

               

                         My Grandma                          Steve Jobs                       Jennifer Aniston