Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Majors

What is a Major?

–noun
1.
a commissioned military officer ranking next below a lieutenant colonel and next above a captain.
2.
one of superior rank, ability, etc., in a specified class.
3.
Education.
a.
a subject or field of study chosen by a student to represent his or her principal interest and upon which a large share of his or her efforts are concentrated:History was my major at college.
b.
a student engaged in such study.
4.
a person of full legal age (opposed to minor ).
5.
Musica major interval, chord, scale, etc.
6.
the majors,
a.
Sportsthe major leagues: He coached in the majors as well as in the minors.
b.
the companies or organizations that lead or control a particular field of activity: the oil majors.
–adjective
7.
greater in size, extent, or importance: the major part of the town.
8.
great, as in rank or importance: a major political issue; a major artist.
9.
serious or risky: a major operation.
10.
of or pertaining to the majority: the major opinion.
11.
of full legal age.
12.
Music.
a.
(of an interval) being between the tonic and the second, third, sixth, or seventh degrees of a major scale: a major third; a major sixth.
b.
(of a chord) having a major third between the root and the note next above it.
13.
pertaining to the subject in which a student takes the most courses: Her major field is English history.
14.
(initial capital letter(of one of two male students in an English public school who have the same surname) being the elder or higher in standing: Hobbes Major is not of a scientific bent.
–verb (used without object)
15.
to follow a major course of study: He is majoring in physics.
Dictionary.com definitions of a major but for us college kids, #15 is basically what we call a "major".
Even before i came to college people were asking me questions like, "what's your intended major?" or "have you decided on what you want to major in college?". I simply answered..."something artsy".
Currently a junior in college and now im starting to wonder, what really is a major? why do we even need one? For me, I've switched majors twice from interior design to advertising design to computer art and now I'm not really liking what I do in computer art as well xD Surprisingly im still graduating on time thanks to roll over studio credits.
This question of "what is a major" came to me in illustration class today. We had this scratchboard assignment and we were critiquing it and I noticed that everyone's piece was so nice and very technical. Mines on the other hand, a bunch of scribbles that somehow came together to make up what is thought to be a headshot of Phil Collins. Its then that I realized how much passion my fellow students have for their work, something that I lack very much. I have no motivation to do maybe 90% of work from school whether it be drawing, painting, sculpture, collaging, photoshop, design, audio sampling, audio and video editing, animating, movie making, and all that other good junk. What I have motivation of doing? (random videos for sister's night lol) Anything random. Sometimes I am really passionate and motivated to do an illustration while other times im really passionate with creating a musical score. My style of working is very random. I cant describe it anyway else. I love working with illustrations and audio sampling and designing layouts and making films...all at the same time. My interests tend to shift a lot from here to there hence im once again unsatisfied with my major.
Why do we need a major? For me, its just something that I "need to have" so i can actually graduate from college. A good percentage of students graduate with a certain degree and go on to do completely opposite things. Im bound to be one of those. Im gonna graduate with a computer art degree and go into something totally random. Maybe for some people they found THE ONE area of study they REALLY like and want to do for the rest of their lives. I haven't. I like leaving my options very open. Yes im gonna graduate with intermediate knowledge across the board in art, design, and transmedia, but its what I like doing. I hate being confined to a singular style of work. I need more freedom in my work. Something sort of a picasso who completely defied all the trends of art schools throughout the world. I wish I can define my own major which would tie in all sorts of art elements into one. I really hate not being motivated to do my work and I get jealous sometimes when I see my fellow classmates who seem so passionate about their major and im just...meh, just get it over with. Once I graduate, I dont wanna think about it cause the future doesnt look to bright at the moment. Might end up working at a fast food restaurant or something. I just wish that this world can just accept randomness as a style of working. Maybe I'll change my major again, probably not (dont wanna stay here for any longer than needed). As for now, I guess computer art is my "major" so im stuck to this particular field for the next 1 1/2 yrs or so. Still, inside of me stirs an energy of random creativity that will never be satisfied with a certain "major". Its just waiting to explode out into the real world and maybe reshape what defines creativity and art, or just fail miserably. So at the moment, will somebody please save me from this single (or dual...or triple)-major-defines-who-you-will-become-world!







Think Different.




Monday, October 19, 2009

Dear Kpop...


Dear Korean Music Industry,

Korean music, kpop, hallryu, whatever you wanna call it. Amazing isnt it. Such talented entertainers just taking the world by storm. Amazing!! I feel so proud to be korean at the moment. Seriously! I mean who wouldn't be? I just want to take this time on this blog to note the numerous accomplishments that our O so super talented Korean "musicians" have brought to the table!! Simply amazing stuff!!

1) You successfully marketed under age girls who haven't even hit puberty with sex appeal. We're talking 1990s, 91s, 92s...94s...
Sm Entertainment Presents f(x)
They're average age is...16.6yrs old. Thats nice, its only 2 years under legal.

2) You successfully mastered the art of repetition in your songs, to the point of killing it. Sorry sorry for having sucha sucha sucha sucha bad bad bad bad view against your mu-mu-mu-mu-muzik again and again and again. Gee gee geez..........te te te tell me about it...i dont care-e-e-e-e-e-e anymore lol. But this song definitely killed it, figures, they are from Rain's entertainment company.
MBLAQ - O Yea
O yea!! I forgot to tell you that, o yea!! you said O yea like...o yea...what was it...o yea!!! like o yea!!...yea, plz just chill out...o yea?

3) You successfully made whiny girls famous, aka 4minute. Yep, its pretty much a "hot issue" if you're in high school and sound like a 5 yr old who got a candy taken away from her. You call that singing? I sang better than that in my mother's womb.
4minute - Hot Issue

4) You "successfully" penetrated the American market.
Boa - Eat You Up
Se7en - Them Girlz
Wondergirls - Nobody (in english...on an American TV show)....
Hmmmm, at leat you meat the Engrish cloud and sing sung in Engrish on Emeri khan tele bi tion

4.5) At least someone made their "debut" into Hollywood.
Rain in Speed Racer
Congrats Rain, you said a total of 51 words in the whole failure of a movie...but then again I understood like 20 outta 51 english words you said and 19 of those 20 were "and, like".

5) You successfully plagiarized your whole album.
Gdragon's plagiarism rep
Not gonna Lie, it sure is Heartbreaking to be accused of plagiarism on every single hit song you produce. Maybe you just need to Breathe in some fresh ideas.
Btw, Korea does NOT need a Lady GaGa figure. No no no.

6) You successfully captivated 75% of the male population in Korea with a single "leg dance".
SNSD - Genie (live on top of the world, literally)
My bad, "leg dance" times 9 was what I meant. I guess you just had to show your plastic barbie legs to the whole Korean nation that you performed on top of a skyscraper.

7) You successfully just kicked out a poor guy from a group in the peak of their fame.
2pm former leader Jaebum gets kicked out of Korea
Congrats guys!! You just completely screwed over this poor dude's dreams, future, and aspirations just because of your pride and thick headed skulls full of shallowness.

8) You successfully bombarded the Korean market with more "talented" young groups.
MBLAQ
SHU-I
B2ST
JQT
Secret
HAM
DNT
Kudos to whoever came up with the names, clever ;)

9) You successfully redefined the term "comeback" which refers to a band's return to the music scene after a long hiatus.
SHINee - Ring Ding Dong "comeback stage"
(just on a side note, I absolutely HATE SHINee and this song proves my point even further...they suck. Period.) Sorry, but a 3 month break is not considered a hiatus. Its songs like this that makes me feel embarrassed to be Korean.

Im sorry but, THIS is a REAL comeback! Pure musical genius...
SeoTaiJI - Moai <---------props!!

10) You successfully mastered the art of lip syncing...and now "play syncing"?
FT Island - I Hope
Apparently there is a belief that FT Island doesnt actually play the instruments but just "play sync" aka poses who play the instruments. XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD. I still give them some props for breaking away from the norm of electronica and actually "attempting" to make some "real" music.

11) You successfully brainwashed the korean student population completely into becoming mindless fans that know only one thing, their "idol groups". Whoever has beef with a certain group beware, the fans will go to any limits to do some crazy things.
DBSK, Super Junior, SS501 fans boycott SNSD
Crazy @$$ motha...................u get the point xP

12) You successfully made yourselves into a comformist society.
Lets all just jump on the autotune bandwagon!!!!!
Epik High sends you "mainstream kpoppers" a nice little song dedicated to you :)
Epik High - Wannabe (new fav song at the moment)

Congratulations Korea!! You just won the Most Trashiest Music Industry in the World Award 2009!!! Just keep producing those plastic barbie dolls and robotic voiceovers and you'll succeed!!! But for those 1% of the Korean Music Industry that actually take time and effort to make some real music, my personal props to you. For the rest of you, Jay-Z said it best, "I know we facin a recession, but the music yall making gonna make it the great depression".

Sincerely,
(insert you're name here if this blog entry applied to you)

Monday, October 12, 2009

God is my witness so let the damn truth prevail

Plagiarism blah blah...It sucks being ratted out and basically falsely accused for plagiarism...twice. To hear about a judicial hearing I have to attend just moments after I had finally put it behind me is another low blow...I hate Syracuse. Ok so im kinda nervous after talking to my VPA advisor to go over the logistics and the procedures of the hearing. I told him basically the truth and nothing but the truth. He shared his sympathy with me because its just my word against their evidence. At the moment, it seems kind of hopeless because I have no hard evidence to prove that I'm innocent. All I have is my bare honesty and truth vs. hard evidence. Does truth and honesty still prevail in this corrupted world? My advisor told me that if you push strong enough, it'll be my best weapon for my defense to prove my innocence. Ha. Should I be worried? Should I be panicking right now? Well the worst case scenario is that I get suspended from school for a semester or academic year without any guarantee for a refund for tuition, but thats just a small consequence right? Hopefully it wont get to THAT point xD. For about 10 minutes after my meeting with my advisor I felt worried, pressured, stressed, all that good junk. Reality hits you hard. Now I feel, indifferent. Maybe I should be caring more about my trial but at the moment its not really effecting me. Should I be caring more about it? I don't know if its a good thing to have this carefree lifestyle 24/7 but thats basically it, I don't really care that much about the trial. Certain circumstances may seem harsh, unfair, unjustified but who gives a damn, its only a negative situation if you allow it to be. So no, I'm gonna take this as an opportunity to miss class if my trial goes on longer than planned. Yes the situation seems dire, dreadful, and is hopeless. Hopeless is an overstatement actually scratch that thought. If I do not turn to Him, then I'm hopeless. God knows that I've done nothing wrong, He knows that I never attempted to plagiarize the two pieces of work, He knows my innocence. Lawyer? Who the hell needs one? They charge X amount of money for something they cannot guarantee to accomplish (and that X amount is usually some ridiculous amount...). I got a everlasting lawyer who does pro bono anytime anywhere. "If God is for me who can be against me?". With God as my witness, I go to trial in 2 days and I'll sit back and let truth prevail. Romans 8:31 ftw!

Monday, September 28, 2009

Creative vs "Creative"

What is visual art? Visual art in my opinion is literally ideas on paper (or whatever medium you use). Each creative mind has their own style of work. My style? Simplicity. I love simplicity. The ones that can truly express an idea, thought, or opinion in the fewest methods possible: my respect goes out to you all. I have pretty much adapted this minimalist idea and most of my work has been done in that sense. Im the type of person who cannot draw for more than 15-30 min tops. I just cant. The longer I take the more limiting it is for my mind. The only reason it takes so long to perfect a piece is because you try to "perfect" it. Yea right. You cannot "perfect" a piece ever. Because of my careless attitude towards my work I got my fair share of criticisms as well as compliments. I really dont care about the criticisms though. Yes some have been very constructive especially from some professors and peers. However, some people just need to accept the fact that im not a perfectionist. Im not one to make anything look "real". There are cameras for that. Im the type of person that will finish a drawing in less that 10 min and say im done. Why? Its my form of expression: simple, straight to the point, yet intriguing. No one will ever draw anything more realistic than a camera. You just cant. Camera = machine. You = human prone to numerous mistakes. While some ppl spend countless hours and days trying to "perfect" their work, ill point, snap, shoot, print out at CVS for $.49 all in less than 15 min time. Do you really need every single detail of your subject to get your point across? Sucks for you if thats the case. In the time you finish one drawing, ill probably done with an album. This has been just a plain rant about some of the complexities of the creative minds vs the "creative" minds who look towards perfection as their goal. My goal? Freedom of expression best describes it. 


PS: Sorry professor. This is my "real life" portrait that I did. 



Not exactly the most "realistic" drawing is it? Sorry for being creative and not "creative".





The Lost Blog

I really need to keep up with my blogs and crap.

Will try to update more often...not in increments of years :)