Kiwi - the bird not the fruit

At the beginning of last year, my life was in a rut.

I was debating whether I should pursue a graduate degree.

After earning my undergraduate degree in accounting, I felt I needed a profession that allowed for creativity. But with no previous education or experience in a creative field, I thought there would be no chance.

Then I watched this short film.

Afterwards, I knew I had to at least try, so the search began.

And here I am.

Make A Wish

The movement and visual contrast of this piece caught my eye.

Use The Brains Your IBM Wasn't Born With

The headline for this 1988 CompuServe advertisement for Internet Access made me go - huh.


Old stats:

Price: $6.00 to $47.50 per hour ($11 to $83 adjusted for inflation)

Connection: dial-up

Speed: 300 to 9600 bps (Avg. speed now is 6,000,000 bps)

Services: 400 databases, covering news, shopping, finance and the like; 140 discussion groups, e-mail

Robotic Cunning

The video clip shows my topic for project two.

Dario Floreano and his team at the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology have been studying the evolution of robotic communication so that we can better understand ourselves and other social species. Last year they published their results in the report “Evolutionary Conditions for the Emergence of Communication in Robots.”

The Robots began with no knowledge of communication and slowly developed their own. Their goal was to find the food and avoid the poison. The researchers found that some robots lied to eat the food source by themselves, and others were heroes warning their peers of the poison before they died.

Palette knife Artist

Leonid Afremov is an American artist known for his palette-knife technique, using vibrant colors, and romantic scenes. The below piece is titled Anticipation of Happiness. His colorful art is inspiring. My style is usually methodical and geometric and I would love to be able to incorporate his in-the-moment approach.

More of his paintings can be seen at the link below:

http://www.afremov.com/

Narrative Description Example

"Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out" by Shel Silverstein

Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout
Would not take the garbage out!
She'd scour the pots and scrape the pans,
Candy the yams and spice the hams,
And though her daddy would scream and shout,
She simply would not take the garbage out.
And though her daddy would scream and shout,
She simply would not take the garbage out.
And so it piled up to the ceilings:
Coffee grounds, potato peelings,
Brown bananas, rotten peas,
Chunks of sour cottage cheese.
It filled the can, it covered the floor,
It cracked the window and blocked the door
With bacon rinds and chicken bones,
Drippy ends of ice cream cones,
Prune pits, peach pits, orange peel,
Gloppy glumps of cold oatmeal,
Pizza crusts and withered greens,
Soggy beans and tangerines,
Crusts of black burned buttered toast,
Gristly bits of beefy roasts...
The garbage rolled on down the hall,
It raised the roof, it broke the wall...
Greasy napkins, cookie crumbs,
Globs of gooey bubble gum,
Cellophane from green baloney,
Rubbery blubbery macaroni,
Peanut butter, caked and dry,
Curdled mile and crusts of pie,
Moldy melons, dried-up mustard,
Eggshells mixed with lemon custard,
Cold french fries and rancid meat,
Yellow lumps of Cream of Wheat.
At last the garbage reached so high
That finally it touched the sky.
And all the neighbors moved away,
And none of her friends would come to play.
And finally Sarah Cynthia Stout said,
"OK, I'll take the garbage out!"
But then, of course, it was too last...
The garbage reached across the state,
From New York to the Golden Gate.
And there, in the garbage she did hate,
Poor Sarah met an awful fate,
That I cannot right now relate
Because the hour is much too late.
But children, remember Sarah Stout
And always take the garbage out!

My cousin gave this book to me as a gift when I was ten years old. After moving overseas, it was lost, but I have always remembered the vivid description of the above poem.

Dolphins at Play

I thought this video was amazing and shows creativity in play.

My Interviews

I was able to get in contact with both Chef Wolf and Ysabella Brave; the interviews were conducted by phone and email respectively. The interaction with Chef Wolf by phone helped me get a better idea of who she was. I've also talked with Mr. Kliman, Dining Editor of the Washingtonian and will be submitting a lengthier profile of the chef on spec.

An Inspiration

Sainte Chapelle located in Paris, France is a place of geometry, vibrant colors, and sacredness. A sprawling picture in "National Geographic" inspired me to visit the small chapel. I love the aesthetic of stained glass and its influence can be seen in my work.

We Have Contact

Today, I received emails from Ysabella and Allison who is head of marketing and communications at the Charleston. I will not be able to interview Chef Wolf until she returns from a business trip in a week. Waiting to know if Ysabella would like to be interviewed by phone or email. Here are links to find out more about each:

http://www.charlestonrestaurant.com/
http://chefcindywolf.blogspot.com/
http://www.ysabellabrave.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/ysabellabravetalk
http://www.youtube.com/user/ysabellabrave

Finding the Interview

I have begun making calls and sending out emails. Thus far, I have tried contacting Santino Rice from Project Runway, Cindy Wolf, Executive Chef of the Charleston, and Ysabella Brave a music personality on Youtube. Will let you know if any get back to me.

Is It Art or Pure Randomness?

http://typogenerator.net is a random generator that uses both text and images. Visually they are inspiring, but is randomness art?

Below are some examples (The titles are the words I inputed).

Silly Nilly

Wonder Ponder Asunder

a to z