Month: April 2023

For this sentence (or rather, paragraph), I would try to come up with a longer explanation of the connection between the Lama and Balch quotes. I should have kept that sentence as is, except for fixing the “Balch’s article showed” into “Balch shows”, but I would have added more for the connection onto that. For example, “Both Balch and Lama prove to understand the need for more international knowledge on the subject so that a wider audience can be included in the decision-making process” or something along those lines.

While I had written some debate papers in the past, I think this paper helped improve my ability to write “naysayer” style paragraphs. When I would write a counter argument, I wouldn’t really have a structure in mind as to how I would write the paragraph so being introduced to the naysayer template helped me picture an outline of how the paragraph and the argument should look. I think also overall just having more practice writing papers, specifically with structure, have improved my writing ability and forced me to write and learn about things outside of my comfort zone: especially with this paper in particular. Overall, I think I’ve improved on quite a bit of my writing.

Rough Introduction/Personal Anecdote

If I had to recall the first time I heard music, I wouldn’t be able to. Did my mom play music for me before I was born? After I came home from the hospital? On my first birthday? Music has been so deeply ingrained in my life for as long as I can remember, so trying to figure out when I first heard it would be impossible. As a child, my dream was to become a singer. I loved music and I loved singing; I joined the chorus at my elementary school in third grade which was the earliest one could join. I loved music class at school, and my teacher recommended me for “music enrichment” which was a special class she taught for students who enjoyed learning more about music. Only one other student besides myself took the class, and we learned how to play the violin as well as the piano. This was my first time learning to play an instrument other than the recorder and while it was really difficult it was also very fulfilling. I also signed up for band classes after school and played the flute for one year, but I realized that I wasn’t as passionate about playing instruments as I was about singing. I do regret not keeping up with at least playing the piano as that was the instrument I enjoyed learning and playing the most. Even outside of school, music was so ingrained in my life: the theme songs of TV shows that I watched after coming home from school that I still catch myself humming occasionally to this day, the Taylor Swift and Kelly Clarkson CD’s that I would play over and over again on my little blue CD player alone in my room writing down the lyrics as I listened. I would listen to country music with my best friend even though I could never understand the appeal, and even now that we have long since stopped being friends I am always reminded of running around with water balloons in her backyard in the middle of summer whenever I hear certain songs. To me, music is such a large part of my life and I truly wouldn’t be the same without it. I have heard songs that have changed the way I think, songs that made me cry, songs that made me want to dance. Some songs make me think of old friends or significant others, or specific moments in time. The way that music has been able to evoke such powerful memories and emotions from me is both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time; something as simple as a mixture of sounds can change your life. Because all art already encompasses the thoughts and emotions of their artist, art does not have to attempt to have a certain significance or meaning.

TRIAC
There are no requirements to be able to make art. As an artist, what medium you choose and how you choose to express your emotions through art are entirely up to you. If there were strict guidelines for what you could and couldn’t create, we would not have a lot of the beautiful works of art we have today. Nina Simone declares that “An Artist’s duty is to reflect the times”. While I understand Simone’s idea, I propose that all artists are already reflecting the times whether or not they are trying to. All of the things people are thinking and feeling are reflected in their artwork through music, paintings, dance, or film, etc. By placing a “duty” onto an artist their work is restricted, which would produce work not reflective of the times but instead reflective of their disdain at having their art broken down into their “duty”. Artists do not have to consciously work towards making something reflective of the times: the products of their work will be indicative of the times regardless.

If I had to recall the first time I heard music, I wouldn’t be able to. Did my mom play music for me before I was born? After I came home from the hospital? On my first birthday? Music has been so deeply ingrained in my life for as long as I can remember, so trying to figure out when I first heard it would be impossible. As a child, my dream was to become a singer. I loved music and I loved singing; I joined the chorus at my elementary school in third grade which was the earliest one could join. I loved music class at school, and my teacher recommended me for “music enrichment” which was a special class she taught for students who enjoyed learning more about music. Only one other student besides myself took the class, and we learned how to play the violin as well as the piano. This was my first time learning to play an instrument other than the recorder and while it was really difficult it was also very fulfilling. I also signed up for band classes after school and played the flute for one year, but I realized that I wasn’t as passionate about playing instruments as I was about singing. I do regret not keeping up with at least playing the piano as that was the instrument I enjoyed learning and playing the most. Even outside of school, music was so ingrained in my life: the theme songs of TV shows that I watched after coming home from school that I still catch myself humming occasionally to this day, the Taylor Swift and Kelly Clarkson CD’s that I would play over and over again on my little blue CD player alone in my room writing down the lyrics as I listened. I would listen to country music with my best friend even though I could never understand the appeal, and even now that we have long since stopped being friends I am always reminded of running around with water balloons in her backyard in the middle of summer whenever I hear certain songs. To me, music is such a large part of my life and I truly wouldn’t be the same without it. I have heard songs that have changed the way I think, songs that made me cry, songs that made me want to dance. Some songs make me think of old friends or significant others, or specific moments in time. The way that music has been able to evoke such powerful memories and emotions from me is both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time; something as simple as a mixture of sounds can change your life.

INFO SHEET on the SONG I CHOSE FOR Project #3 

WHAT SONG DID YOU CHOOSE? (include name of song and artist) 

Sunday Bloody Sunday – U2

WHAT IS THIS SONG ABOUT? 

The song seems to be about witnessing the effects of war from an outsider’s perspective. The lyrics allude to watching the news and witnessing the damage of this tragedy but feeling a sort of powerlessness or helplessness about it. Also, the repeated “How long, how long must we sing this song? How long? How long?” also further shows that even witnesses are tired of war and conflict and are tired of feeling helpless to stop it.

AFTER DOING SOME BACKGROUND, WHAT IS THE BACKGROUND/ HISTORY ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SONG? 

This song was written about an incident named “Bloody Sunday” that occurred in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1972. British troops shot 26 unarmed civilian protesters during this “Bloody Sunday”, killing 14 of them. This incident was one event in a series of conflicts called “The Troubles”, also known as the Northern Ireland Conflict. It began due to the discrimination of the Catholic/nationalist minority by the Protestant/unionist majority.

WHY DID YOU CHOSE THIS SONG? 

I grew up listening to U2 so I wasn’t unfamiliar with the artist or the song. However, it has definitely been years since I’ve heard the song, so I listened to it while reading the lyrics and was surprised. I had never really paid attention to the lyrics before, probably because at the time I first heard it I was too young to care. Listening to the song again while reading the lyrics really made me appreciate the song, and I learned something completely new while looking up the events that inspired the song. I think that the history behind the song is interesting and also important, as well as the message. Anti-war songs always evoke some pretty powerful emotions from me, and I think that the nostalgia of having heard this song before also impacted my decision in choosing this song.

PRE-WRITING FOR your NEXT ROUGH DRAFT: 

___Think back on the first time you heard music. Where were you? How old? Alone? With a brother, a sister? Did your parents listen to music? What was the first song you downloaded? Why? Who are your favorite artists and why? Think about any emotions associated with your initial exposure to music. Do certain songs remind you of an old boyfriend, girlfriend, friend, or maybe an old “you”? Explain why you think music takes us so easily back to memories. 

If I had to recall the first time I heard music, I wouldn’t be able to. Was it while I was still in my mom’s womb? After I came home from the hospital? On my first birthday? Music has been so deeply ingrained in my life for as long as I can remember, so trying to figure out when I first heard it would be impossible. As a child, my dream was to become a singer. I loved music and I loved singing; I joined chorus at my elementary school as soon as I could. I took advanced music classes and practiced singing and playing instruments in my free time. I spent hours upon hours listening to the two Taylor Swift CD’s I owned alone in my room while memorizing the lyrics and trying to find deeper meanings. To me, music is such a large part of my life and I truly wouldn’t be the same without it. I have heard songs that have changed the way I think, songs that made me cry, songs that made me want to dance. Some songs make me think of old friends or significant others, or specific moments in time. The way that music has been able to evoke such powerful memories and emotions from me is both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time; something as simple as a mixture of sounds can change your life.

The purpose of art is to expand our understanding of the diversity in our society. Art allows so much room for the artist to express themselves as well as groups of people, particularly those who are marginalized. Rajan expresses his belief that “Those who make art — good art — have a responsibility to advance individuals and communities who have been historically marginalized and underrepresented by amplifying their stories, by building a culture that reflects their true reality or, perhaps most powerfully, by giving them a platform to speak for themselves” (Rajan). Rajan believes that giving artists the opportunity to be political is incredibly important and proves beneficial to the kind of work they produce and the effect it has on society. By making art that is political, artists are changing the way in which we see and experience the world. Creating more diversity in art is something that can be not only done by creating new art, but by amending historical pieces of art. One artist who has used this method is Titus Kaphar, who creates new renditions of historical paintings that aim to highlight marginalized people in these works of art. Kaphar explains that “I want to make paintings, I want to make sculptures that are honest, that wrestle with the struggles of our past but speak to the diversity and the advances of our present. And we can’t do that by taking an eraser and getting rid of stuff” (11:14). He doesn’t want to erase the history of these old paintings, but rather create something new with them to amend their meanings and highlight those who have long been brushed aside. What Kaphar is doing is political art, and I believe Rajan would consider him a “good artist” by doing so. Both Rajan and Kaphar emphasize the importance of magnifying the voices of those less heard and trying to bring about more diversity in our society through art. By creating paintings, music, films, etc. that highlight marginalized groups, it will provide more opportunity for understanding of this diversity and how integral it is to our society.

Write a 6 sentence summary of what this Ted Talk is about.

In this TED Talk, Titus discusses the lack of representation of Black people in particular in historical pieces of art. He gives examples from his own life experiences, such as seeing the Roosevelt statue in the Natural History Museum and having the whole chapter about Black people in historical art and Black artists from his textbook be skipped over in one of his classes supposedly due to “lack of time”. These experiences caused him to realize that representation of Black people in art is something that needs to be addressed, and his way of doing so is amending historical art pieces. He shows his own rendition of a painting by Frans Hals, and then proceeds to paint over the white people in the painting with what looks like white paint but will actually dry transparent. This shows that it is possible for artworks to be amended to highlight Black people without erasing or eradicating history. His message is that historical art and paintings can be changed or amended to showcase Black people in history without actually erasing the history of the original work.

Identify 2 claims Titus is making, either directly (via transcript, ie. quotes) or indirectly (practice your paraphrasing!)

“Painting is a visual language where everything in the painting is meaningful, is important. It’s coded. But sometimes, because of the compositional structure, because of compositional hierarchy, it’s hard to see other things.”

The history of art in the past can be amended to highlight Black people in history without erasing the history of the original pieces.

Do you agree with his approach to remedy the perceptions of history through his unconventional art? Why or why not? (150 words!)

I definitely think that it is an intriguing approach. As someone who is represented everywhere throughout history, I can’t say I know what it is like to experience a lack of representation or misrepresentation so I think that any approach to try to highlight more marginalized groups in history is a great idea. His approach is something that doesn’t erase the history and meaning of historical paintings but rather presents a new perspective on the works of art. I think that it also highlights the inequality faced by marginalized groups in history and further proves that there is such a lack of representation for Black people not only just in historical art but in history as a whole. I think that also along with Titus’ approach, more modern art done by Black artists should be showcased as well instead of only focusing on the past. Right now, we are making historical art for future generations, so creating a lot of representation now will prove useful for people studying art a hundred years from now.

Titus Kaphar’s Artwork