Justin Maciel is a student attending California State University Northridge, majoring in Biotechnology.
The piece I've decided to chose to right about is "Life is Beautiful" by infamous graffiti artist Mr.Brainwash. This wheat paste and painting was put up around November of 2011 and was originally made to advertise his art show that would only be a couple blocks away. This piece was made sometime around after the film Exit Through The Gift Shop was made through Mr.Brainwashes inspiration by Bansky. This artwork is posted up on Highland and Santa Monica near the new and up coming local restaurant called Fat Sal's. So far this mural has had much publicity and is well known around the Hollywood area. Many graffiti artist such as Shepard Ferry, Bansky, and Mr. Brainwash have different pieces of art displayed around Hollywood. However, the use of Ghandi and Einstein both turn small phrases into large messages. The aura of this mural is peaceful beauty. After going around my home town searching for a good mural to write about I finally found the perfect one for my writing assignment. It’s a painting on the side of a building near the train station. The masterpiece is named Vendell Dovling and was created by Lynne Dovling. The mural was painted in 2001. I find it very interesting because it’s an exact painting of how the railroads and train station looks like. It’s extremely detailed and once you stand in front of it you can feel the aura. When I went to go visit the San Fernando Mission, it was really a unique experience. That is because there is so much history in one single location, and this isn’t some painting where you have to guess what their meaning behind the piece of art was, rather there are hard facts of what actually happened. Over 200 years ago is when this beautiful gem of a place was founded, in saying that its crazy to think about all the important footprints that walked across the grounds. That is why I wanted to go and visit it, because this building made a huge impact in the way California was set up. That was a huge reason for me wanting to go and visit one of these places. An image can have so many meanings depending on so many things. The simple environment around the image can change the meaning of it .The picture that I picked was a painting that was on a wall of a local flower shop. It is an image that pops out on you when I was there it is a regular street and there’s barber shop next to it and other small shops that image is important because it is a religious image it is an image of the virgin Mary an important god in my religion. I was fortunate enough to spend my spring break back home in northern California with my family. I had often been told by friends and family members about this art structure located 2.3 miles from my home. I figured this assignment would be the perfect opportunity for me to finally stop by the interesting looking structure. I had visited Baylands various times before but I had never done very much exploring of the area in which the art piece was positioned. It is situated on a far end of a nature preserve in East palo alto. I arrived a little after six in the afternoon, so the sun was beginning to set and just at the right angle for me to snap a few photographs. And now thinking about it, it really did added to the initial aura I experienced when first observing the design. Perception and originality is everything, this is the message that Walter Benjamin stressed in his article Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.This brilliant man shed light on how originality is drifting away due to the invention of the camera which caused loss of aura and authenticity. Many people had a hard time grasping the concepts that Benjamin was trying to project in his article so a man by the name of Mike Poster developed a film called The Aesthetics of Distracting Media to help viewers understand the message that Benjamin was trying to share with his audience through his immense use of comparisons and analogies. Although these two people themselves have different perceptions of how they view are they can still reach an agreement on how many people blindly see works of art and are fooled into believing that a replica of a piece of heart has equal value of an original piece of art. These two men stressed how important it was to recognize true art in different environments and also how people perception of true art has shifted throughout the years. As we viewed the video about art and how it changes with modern technology, my group and I began to interpret the video with critical analysis and thinking. We came into a conclusion of agreeing with the video in the topic of art changing through time. The video argues Benjamin view on aura and how he was right about technology eventually pushing the authenticity away from an original painting. The video argues that different perspectives of a painting can change the entire mood setting of the tone it is trying to place on the audience. In Walter Benjamin’s essay “The Work in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”, he introduces the ideology of artistic forms such as paintings losing their aura. Originality of aura seems to be manipulated with the invention of technology such as film and cameras. Creating variations of perspective manipulates the human ideology of aesthetics by creating false introspection between the object and the eye of the beholder through film and pictures. An actor is only seen from the point of view of the camera. The actor himself is manipulated by the “camera” being his director. He also introduces that all forms of art can be reproducible, and that men can imitate any kind of artifact. Even though credibility of such authenticity is being changed, Benjamin agrees that “mechanical reproduction of work of art, however, represents something new”, but fears that the mass accelerated progression of aesthetic slowly loses its uniqueness. It loses its originality because people do not process that it was one a master piece. They are fooled by the reproduction that technology has created. He believed that it would manipulate the future to lose the true value of art. Human perception through history explains how so by capturing human satisfaction through popularity of technology from the lithograph to photography. Mass reproduction of art forms advanced swiftly throughout the centuries, which replaced authenticity of true aura with mystification. A sport can change the lines of millions of people. A ball can change your life. A soccer ball is a very precious object to me for the reason that my life has been surrounded by it. I have a huge passion for soccer my family is hugs fans of soccer. I’ve had the opportunity to play with a professional team in Mexico. All that I owe to my parents because of their support and time they helped me get where I wanted. Soccer is one word that describes me as a person. Soccer is my passion, my love and my life! Ever since I arrived as a freshman at Heritage College Ready Academy High School I knew I had a goal in mind and I was eager to accomplish it! Beside from earning good grades in school, I knew I wanted to be part of the Heritage High School soccer team. I knew that it was going to be tough to make the team especially as a freshman with the abundance of competition. But I was ready for the day of the try outs to hopefully accomplish my goal. A Legend is born At the age of 16 was when Cristiano Ronaldo accomplished his goal when he first signed with his first team called Sporting Portugal in 2001. That was always his dream; he had a great passion for the sport ever since his father brought him into a boy’s club where he was introduce to soccer. Cristiano would sneak out through the window of his bedroom with a soccer ball in his hands and go play soccer with friends, when he was supposed to be doing his homework. As everyone walks into my room they have all asked me the same question. “What is happening in the poster? It looks like a picture of something that’s just there.” They call my poster boring but I know what makes it exciting. The memory that is holds is extremely dear to me. My dad and I hardly past good times when I was younger. He was a strict man, at times stubborn, that always punished me for the smallest things. The way I was punished was by getting hit. I would always have a bruise on my body every week in a new place. I don’t remember a time where I lifted my shirt up and didn’t see purple on me. “Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful, that's what matters to me.” -Steve Jobs Steve Jobs changed computers, phones, laptops and music players forever. Those devices will never be the same because of him. He made technology so advanced using his intellectuality and his creativity. He invented many of Apple's products as well as created the animation company, Pixar, which won 20 Academy Awards and generated over 7 billion dollars. He impacted mine and everybody's life by making technology better and easier to use. I remember coming back from school, it was a bright but scorching Friday, and I could see the sweat stains from my backpack straps start to form. I saw my mother’s red Jeep Cherokee parked in our drive way, which was always the sign that she was home, so I rushed towards my front door. As I walked in I could see my grandpa’s old cigar box sitting on the dining room table. “Finally your home! I have something I’ve been wanting to give you.” she said as she walked towards the dusty box. I followed her towards the dining room and she asked “Do remember this?” “Isn’t that the box grandma gave grandpa?” I replied. “It was. But I know he wanted you to have. So now it’s the box I am giving to you.” Given to my grandpa by his wife and then passed on to me by my mother. This was one of the best things I’d ever receive. A relationship in which one person is more dependent on the other is not healthy at all. One does not have to be a certified doctor to know that. In this case, the prime suspects for my story are my father and mother. When my mother wanted to go away to a 4-year university, instead of going to a community college, my dad asked her to stay behind. And of course, my mother, being head over heels in love with this man, consequently obliged and ended up never following her dreams. I pass by an old, black and white picture taken by a photo booth every day. It hangs by a folded piece of tape on the wall right next to the light switch in my bedroom. It’s a simple four-stripped photo of my grandfather and I that was taken in a Las Vegas mall about 10 years ago. Every time I stare at this photo, it takes me back to that hot summer day. His silver, shiny hair was always slicked back and his face was always nice and smooth. He always smelled like the cologne I got him one year for Christmas. I see the picture and it’s like I can smell his cologne and hear his voice and his laugh. He had such a good laugh. This photo is so dear to my heart and I will keep it for the rest of my life. It reminds me of his huge arms squeezing me until I couldn’t breathe. It reminds me of how hard he could make me laugh about anything. It simply reminds me of him and I would do anything to get him back. The Taj Mahal There is a souvenir sitting in my showcase symbolizing years of intense love and is also known as one of the seven wonders of the world. It has been sitting there for four years glorifying its value every single day. There is not one speck of dust on this souvenir because it is kept safe and cleaned. This white smooth stoned beauty is the souvenir of the Taj Mahal that my grandfather bought for my grandmother. It has all hand carved details that is on the real Taj Mahal. Even though this little Taj Mahal in my house is the imitation of the real one it has a deep meaning to my grandmother and my mother. My father knew that he wanted to do great things in his life, so he tried really hard in every thing that he did. He graduated from high school, and went to college at a local school nearby his home in the Philippines. He went to study zoology, and realized that zoology was not for him. He did not know what he wanted to do with his future. He spent time thinking it over, and he eventually ended up dropping out of college. He later met my mom after he moved to the United States. He had been working multiple jobs at a time during his first few years in California. Although being a college drop out, he knew that he wanted to make a name for himself and he wanted to be very successful. A quinceañera is every young hispanic girls dream. Quinceañeras are the celebration of a young girls crossover into woman hood. The quinceañera celebration roots are believed to come from the Aztec society. At the age of fifteen Aztec girls were prepared to become and take the roles of women. Today, these celebrations have extended through out all hispanic cultures. Each quinceañera festivity is portrayed in a unique way. Drenched in cold sweat, I could feel my heart jumping in my chest, I could feel it in my throat and in my head, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. It was the dream again, the one where my oldest sister, Maria dies before my eyes. Different scenarios, but all ending the same way, my sister dying in front of me and can’t do anything about it. I wake up needing to call her and making sure she is alright. Everyone knows that to be successful in life you need to be educated, but sometimes education goes beyond the classroom. The environment in a classroom can be recognized around the world, when people think of classrooms they typically think of young students sitting in a room diligently working on a paper that their teacher had assigned to them. My mother was lucky enough to be apart of this environment when she came to America, it was here where she learned the same generic information that everyone else learned such as how to multiply and divide fractions or how millions of people died during the Black Plague. Neither math, history, or any other subject sparked her interest.What she was really interested in was not offered at school, she found her interest at home where her family needed her. Throughout life there are many people and things that can be influential, whether it is in a good way or in a bad way. In my life, the single most influential person would by far have to be my aunt Dora. My aunt has been more than an aunt to me since I was born, she has been the mother figure in my life and she has always been there for me and my dad. My aunt came to the states when she heard I was being born, and little did she know, from that point on she was going to be my mom. Nobody ever asked her to leave her family in Colombia to contribute to her older brother’s family and we are all very thankful for that. Since then my aunt has been nothing but sweet, caring and exactly what a mother should be like. My aunt is influential in my life because of all the sacrifices she has made for me and my dad, because of the great hardworking woman she is and finally because of the great mom she has been to me for almost nineteen years. Many people are fortunate enough to have a mother that shows them unconditional love and support. My mother is like any other mom. She loves me and my sibling to death and would do absolutely anything to see us happy. However, it is sometimes hard for her to do so because of her health issues that do not always allow her to be her normal self. February 20, 1965 had to be one of the most amazing days. A man by the name of Saul Valente Salas was brought into this world. A baby with huge eyes, fat cheeks and crying with all his might, it seemed as though this baby was going to be just like the rest. Growing up moving from California to Mexico and back to California, Saul was always trying to make the best of every situation. In a family with four boys and one girl he was the third oldest but, he acted as if though he was the elder of the group. He struggled most of his life, as his family would fight to make ends meet. He was forced into working at an early age, which led him to become a bus boy and pizza boy. Asking him how his bus boy experience was he stated, “ Being a bus boy taught me how tough it is to earn a dollar, you are constantly moving around and always have work to do. If you are sitting down then you are not doing your job correctly.” That shows that this man must have been very hard working and was always looking for ways to keep himself busy. He knew he had a big responsibility of having to help support his family and he was also aware that the way out of his tough situation was through school. “Oh Jake, I almost forgot!” my aunt said as she reached into her pocket on her green plaid shirt. “Do you remember this?” She had pulled out the heart pendant my brother and I gave our grandmother several years ago. I took it from her, held it tight in my hand and closed my eyes. What It Looked Like The heart supplies oxygen and blood to all parts of the body, without it we would cease to exist. Anatomically, the heart looks like a strawberry, protected by our ribs, lying in the middle of our chest. Everywhere we go, we see images of hearts though not anatomically correct but represent love. Love is a powerful emotion that we all experience. The classic shape of the crimson red or hot pink hoops that are seen everywhere come February. For these purposes we will be referencing the cartoonier version of the heart representing the emotion of love and it’s attachment to our feelings. Obtaining this mineral rock has opened up to me huge part of history that I would have never learned. What seemed as another souvenir became not only something correlated with a lost part in history but also part of my families history. Its amazing how something so small that can fit in hand or pockets can hold so much importance. It doesn't have to be something as grand as the Eiffel tower or the pyramids of Egypt to have a sense or importance. |
Project Space
We’re interested in how space shapes our conception of the world, and how our personal experiences ripple through our communities. For this reason, project space will examine the everyday stories around us. Students will investigate the larger narratives tied to the objects and people they admire. Categories |