Chigozie's Statement

I say that Art is an expression of Something--whether it is an idea, an image, or a feeling. Art brings that out of the person so that it can be experienced by others.

Queenie's Statement

My art is selfish and I don't make it on demand.  It's a creative abstraction of life.  It's a puzzle I make that the viewer must solve through analysis of the piece.  My art is a small universe of which I am the god - I make the meaning and I know the answers.  Although there can be several interpretations of a single piece, there ARE correct and incorrect conclusions.  Interpretations that fit within my original intended theme are the correct ones.  Slop doesn't count and I can't take credit for it.  If you like your interpretation better than mine, that's fine - but you're still wrong.
I have no "formal training" in art and it's not my profession nor obsession.  I make art but I am not an artist in the sense that everyone who swims isn't a swimmer.  My art takes advantage of its medium such that the same piece could not be rightfully experienced outside of its original context.

Arianna's Statement

Sometimes I feel like I cannot help making art. I find countless inspirations in the ordinary world around me. To me, making art is about taking what is already there and presenting it in a way that makes natural qualities more prominent to a viewer. I think the best way to get through life is to have a sense of humor and an admiration for beauty(because how else could you endure all the tragedy and injustice.) There are so many quirks, oddities and ironies in today's society and I like to include them in my art, subtly. I make art to share my point of view, so others can enjoy the beauty and humor of the world as much as I do.

Elizabeth's Statement

All I have are moments.

Moments are what I frame, capture and have published to create a connection between those moments and the audience.  My goal is to produce an immediate and lasting connection between the subject and the audience, thus promoting a reaction, and hopefully action, from the audience. As my medium is changing (newspapers) and the audience is more and more bombarded by information, I am struggling to find the most poignant way to still get that connection and reaction.  I never considered myself an artist in the artistic sense; more like a visual story teller, an editor of situations and most importantly: a shameless agitator.

Mike's statement

I’ve never thought of myself as an artist. Do I enjoy art? Do I wish I thought of myself
in that way? Yes, of course. I am majoring in film, which is considered a form of art,
so it’s interesting that I did not think of myself as an artist until asked to complete
this assignment. My focus is film is editing because that is where I feel most
comfortable and what enjoy the most. After the director I believe that the editor
has the most control over a film. The more I edit the more I notice how little details
within the editing process are so important. An editor either takes their own or
someone else’s work and molds into what they believe will work best. So in the end
I see myself as an artist who works as a medium for someone else’s art to reach it’s
potential. With every transition and effect I use on a project I mold it into something
all my own

Josh's Statement

My thoughts are my art, and writing literature, creating video or digital images, or capturing photographs is my practical attempt to understandably express my thoughts. My goal is to have the thoughts be ambiguous, not the creation; therefore, my work has nonnegotiable, practical goals to achieve.

Sarah's Statement

Often I am trying to reflect a personal experience or memory. To make physical something that is conceptual, a dream, a memory, or a feeling transformed into a reality. Through the experience of creating these objects representing emotions a little piece of my self is revealed. It is my method of seeking and finding the self through the creative process and revealing my sub conscious ideas about my self and how I interpret life.

My personality denotes a very emotive approach to experience, understanding and response. I consider the emotions to be one of the only things in life that are solely individual and honest. In my work I try to transform an emotional experience into the physical realm. Like the Abstract Expressionist uses brush strokes or fields of color to communicate emotions I use form and object as brush stroke. Sometimes working more formally and minimalistic and sometimes more conceptual and chaotic, it all depends on the feeling of what I am trying to express. Through the process the form is revealed and often, something also revealed to the form where a moment of reconciliation and understanding is apparent. I want to create for the viewer an honest feeling, whatever it may be.

Through feeling and acknowledgment we find truth in ourselves and our identity.

Dennis' Statement

As with any artist, I appreciate things. What those things are, are what separates myself from the other thousands of artists staking their claim in vast frontier of modern art. I am drawn to appreciate things that seemingly uplift the spirit that all of us humans are intrinsically imbued with.

No matter the faith or the culture, we can all agree with the idea of everything living embodying a certain energy/life force/spirit; It is with this energy that we are able to dictate or influence the mood of not only ourselves but with those around us. I see this energy and wish to recreate it in my pieces in order to ignite a revolution of happiness or joy with the viewer, and for the viewer to ignite and spark others into happiness. I believe “interaction” is a powerful tool that can be geared towards to a certain feeling or emotion, as in impressionistic art. I believe that interactions with humans amongst other humans are very powerful and can directly influence the outcome of some many other series of events or sets of circumstances. These subsequent events and circumstances can easily be negative or turn negative if any interaction in the long line of sequential events was not a pleasant one.

So it is with art that I explore the realm of interactive pieces and works that leave a different yet always positive interaction with the viewer, in hopes that, that one simple interaction would be a catalyst to more positive interactions and so on, creating a peace of mind that lets me feels as if I am controlling the production of potential good in the world.

Brian's Statement

My goal as an artist working with new media is to deconstruct and reanimate
popular culture, reconfigure electronics to produce unnatural and undesired
effects, manipulate photographs and other images to humor, write remarkably,
find alternative routes in specific processes, creatively work through lengthy
processes and leave ordinary end results or little tangible “artwork”, analyze the
Internet as a source of inspiration, show people the world from unique perspectives,
understand “viral”, interchange old and new technologies to create innovative
pieces, build it bigger, and ultimately create work that is thoughtful, interesting, and
advertises my name.

Sarah's Statement

This quarter has really made me question why I became an artist in the first place. I have dealt with difficult in art in the past but this quarter has almost pushed me over the edge. I have been asked more often than not this quarter about why I create art. My answer is I don't know. I have a professor this quarter (like most students will at some point have), who seems hate everything I create and say. This has been extremely difficult for me to handle. Not because I am unable to handle criticism but because if I create art she does not like then it reflects on my grade. But if I do create art she likes it is not really a representation of me. I have struggle to figure out who I am as an artist and I can honestly say I do not know. I create art to express who I am and how I feel but is that enough? Do we create art for a viewer or for ourselves? If it is just for ourselves then why do we have galleries? I don't know. Thats all I can really give up at this point in my life. I don't know, (much about anything in fact). I guess I create art because it feels good.

Jennifer's Statement

As an artist, my use of video art is somewhat mediocre, but in ways that are useful or purposeful to my needs. I feel little need to make videos for the sake of making videos, but the more I think on it, the more impossible it is for me to negate the idea. Since I want to use video as a means of documentation, it is hard to NOT make videos for the sake of making videos. I want to document the processes I undergo when creating art, when building pieces, the trial and error of in a field where it is so damn hard to succeed. And yet, because I have never truly experienced it before, or felt that it was necessary to create something reflective of such things, I now want to use video art to capture emotions, reactions, or really anything. Since I want to document my artwork, or creative processes, it would be difficult not to document the emotions that are involved in the making. And I would like these videos to be naturalistic, even minimal, despite that there may be a copious amount of them to come. But all together, I want to use video to record things raw, and potentially unedited, if not just minimally edited.

Jeffery's Statement

I am a filmmaker at heart. To me, film (and by film I am referring to all forms of moving pictures) is the marriage of all arts. It is the culmination of thousands of years of artistic expression. Every aspect of the creation process is important to me and I work hard to learn as much as I can about each one. For me, there is no more complete way of expression, ranging from documentation of life and reality to the completely surreal.

My interest in film is not necessarily in recreating reality, however. I read once that film is nothing more than holding a mirror up to society and then filming the mirror. And while there may be merit to that method of looking at film, I would find it more interesting to hold a fun house mirror up and filming that. Real doesn’t always equate to interesting. And many times, the lack of reality is what it takes to move the viewer. Which reminds me of what the great Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz said, "Art is not trying to be accurate, but art may be more accurate than science."

Rebecca's Statement

Art isn’t an easily definable or attainable thing. If only someone had told me before I was hooked. In trying to figure out what it is, or in which ways one can go towards it, many things become more and less comprehensible. I adore and detest each attempt of making art, but the inquisitions sometime give way to moments of beauty and intrigue before I am confounded yet again. Process, color, texture, gesture, ambiance and so many other elements influence me and call me to animate and correlate them in hopes of creating something worth being called art.

Claude's Statement

Being creative is challenging. However, this is exactly what makes it beautiful. The importance of doing the things we do, I feel, is that it offers an immense opportunity to develop as people and as creative individuals.

Zach's statement

I think of art as a form of communication. While art's lack of a codified set of meanings means it can rarely produce as specific a meaning as a codified form of communication such as spoken language, I find that it can also pack a much greater emotional punch than simple speech. That's not to discount art that involves speech in any way, as speech can be used to create art in the same way that paint or metal can. I also think art is defined by the user, if someone identifies something as art they have made it into art themselves as people will then begin attempting to assign meaning to it.

Brendan's Statement

When I went home for my freshman summer of college I suddenly gained an enormous amount of time. Without the burden of available friends. a job, or places to go, I did what anyone in my situation would do--make a movie with Lego people. I did all the voices myself, distinguishing the ladies with a fairly pronounced falsetto. All of this occurred while my parents were away so I could rant and rave and use all the profanity I preferred. (For realism's sake of course).

When I returned to school, the movie was a hit (at least among the people I knew well enough to humor me). With this experience in hand, and under the looming deadline for declaring a major, I picked film studies. The more I thought about it the more I had always enjoyed movies. Since I was a kid I wanted to be Marty McFly or Indiana Jones or Luke Skywalker. Considering that wasn't exactly possible, I figured I might as well try to craft the kind of stories I thought were the Iliads of our era.

To be able to relate a good story--one that sticks with people throughout their entire lives--is a pretty amazing thing. To do that on a mass scale and for fabulous profit is beyond even that. As an artist I hope to create interesting things from nothing. And if doing that keeps me from pushing papers no one will ever give a second thought to, so much the better.

Marie's Statement

I attended a lecture this week by Laura E. Perez and Queen Brooks on spirituality in artwork. They specifically addressed that spirituality didn’t have to mean God or Spirit (with a capital s.) Instead, they talked about spirituality as an expression of the disembodied, and that could mean a god, a spirit, Gods, Spirits, or even the spirit of self as seen through human interaction, emotion, and desire. Love is spiritual. Sex is spiritual. Pain is spiritual. Everything I go through on a daily basis is linked to my spiritual experience as a human being. I really related to this, and it helped me to embrace the idea of spirituality in my artwork even though I would never previously have called myself spiritual. I spend so much time trying to express feelings through both the words and imagery in my artwork. What about this isn’t spiritual?

Additionally, Queen Brooks showed us this one piece that she saw as a self-portrait. She told us a story about how this one woman walked up to the piece, spent so much time with it, and then pulled away crying, claiming that her husband just had to purchase the piece because she related to it so much. Queen was surprised because she put all of her feelings into this work, and yet someone else found herself in it. This is what I want to happen with my art.
All of my work this year has been a physical representation of what I’m thinking while creating the pieces. They are excessive, non-narrative, hard to follow, and 100% about me. I’ve tried to display them in an aesthetically appealing manner so that viewers are first pulled in by the visual content and then as they start to break apart both the words and visuals they become interested in the emotional concepts. It’s not important to me that the viewers know exactly what’s I was thinking when I put down the symbols, objects, words, and colors. Instead, I hope that some of the ideas the viewer can divulge and relate to, comparing it to their own lives.

I’m also engrossed specifically in the ways a person makes themselves vulnerable by producing artwork about all their thoughts with no editing. I write down something that I wouldn’t even tell my best friend, but then I paint over it, only allowing some of the words to show through. In this manner, my struggle to become accessible, my reluctance, my vulnerability is shown. This process is the exact process that can happen when a viewer relates so strongly to a piece that he or she allows the work and concepts to engulf him or her and share his or her spirituality. The person allows his or her walls to be broken down and shows in a physical way the ways in which the art touched their disembodied soul.

Blake's statement

I make art as a way of understanding. Making, for me, is a way to process information and perhaps come to some level of comprehension I wouldn't have otherwise. I make art because I want to take something I am thinking about, something I cannot find or see, and make it visible. There are times when I am not entirely sure what I am doing in my work, or why I am doing it, and those are the most exciting avenues I pursue. By creating something and allowing for new, unexpected things to happen, I create work that often branches and creates a new interest, it becomes work that feeds itself.

In my current work, I am investigating the nature of desire, what it is to want and be wanted. I am most interested in foods that act solely as objects of desire. Foods that have no nutritional value, and exist solely for our pleasure. I am extremely fascinated by want gone wrong, turned to gluttony or sickness. I am exploring the tipping point, when wanting one cookie turns to five, turns to ten, turns to sickness.

Ultimately, my work investigates what we desire, and through various means turn them toward repulsion. Human beings are creatures fraught with desire, consumed with animal longings for food and sex. My work is a reevaluation of these longings, an attempt to make visible my unease with the nature of want.

Marshall's Statement

I draw, paint, record music, and make videos. I partake in these activities because I feel I have the ability to and it would be unjust to squander that. I also am at my most artistic when I feel I have something to say, a valid point to make. I always try to improve my skills and challenge myself not to be a better “artist”, but to be a better “Marshall”. I don’t believe in standards based on skill in art. The only bad art in my opinion is art made with the wrong intentions such as selling a product or acquiring fame. My life motto is ( Make. Do. And Make Do. ) The “Make” is my art, the “Do” is activism, humanitarianism and general productivity, and the “Make Do” is the rest of my life; taking whatever hand is dealt to me and using critical thinking to get by.

Ryan's Statement

The focus of my works is based upon user centric interactivity and
organic motion within a digital environment. I research and try to understand
other people’s cognitive patterns so that I can seek new ways of interaction
within an environment using multiple tools, mostly consisting of various 3D,
graphic, and animation platforms. Each one of my interactive works is a hybrid
of these different digital mediums.

Working on a project for commercial purposes can sometimes be very cut
and dry to get the user what they expect as quickly as possible and in an
unambiguous matter. But understanding the process of how that system works
and what the user is expecting can be a pleasure and challenge, because it
allows me to make the interaction and object attractive or playful – creating a
better user experience.

In the book, “Programming Interactivity”, the author Joshua Noble
mentions interactive art being, “...the interaction between the viewer and the
system that the artist has created”. When conceptualizing ideas for a new work, I
think about the situation the viewer will be in and how they’ll interact with the
work within its given environment. I also think of a narrative or story, and try to
tell it not by words, but by the actions and reactions of the created system.
Allowing the user to explore and interact with a work to come up with their own
conclusions is a lot more intriguing to me than having them follow direction. This
system, that’s designed for a specific environment and task, overall exists to try
to be a thought provoking art experience.

My latest works have been a hybrid of various applications and hardware
modifications to design a system to allow a user to experience a body of work
with their own body. This experience is an evolution of my previous interactive
works. In the past, my works were dependent upon a monitor, keyboard, and
mouse. This type of interaction, called natural user interfaces, has recently
made huge strides of progress in the field of technology. The latest progress in
this field is being able to track an object or person’s whole body in three-
dimension through real-time video at a cost-effective budget. This can allow an
artist, designer, or developer to use that extra data to create new types of user
interaction that we haven’t experienced before. My future works will continue to
follow these new technology trends and being able to manipulate them in a way
to create new experiences.

Emily's statement

As a photographer I strive to tell a narrative in a physically compelling way. As a video artist I use my foundation of photography and give the concept a new platform. I am also developing my software skills so that I may be able to convey my artistic concepts with the appropriate medium and in a resonating way.

In my current project I chose to focus on giving a voice to people who have been through adversity and have found a positive outlet or means of coping. I am using still portrait and documentary photography as well as audio recording of the subjects speaking to create an interactive DVD project. I am interested in using technology and art to display each narrative in a non-linear way and to link the real life stories in order to show a common thread of hardship and hope between humans.

I enjoy using humans as my main subjects, but I do not forget to utilize their environment. Whether it is a model or a person off the street, I believe that both my photography and video work display formal characteristics like composition, consideration of color, and the use of space.

I very much enjoy the relationship between artist and subject. I seek for the opportunity to get to know their story, or in a staged situation, it is intriguing to create the subject’s story.  This is important to me because I believe that the value of life is found in relationships. I would love to harness this value of life to influence and inspire others. We are shaped by the relationships, big or small, positive or negative, in our lives. My practice allows me to personally grow through my relationship with the subject and enables the viewer to be influenced by their relationship with the subject as well. It excites me to join together what I love to practice and what I value most in life.

Briana's statement

I aim to create visual solutions that are pleasing to the eye and compelling to the soul. I am a creative problem solver, an immersive learner, and above all, I am passionate about using art to impact people and transform society. My purpose has always been to channel my creativity in a meaningful way. My thinking combines logic and function with emotion and innovation. My strength lies in taking the intangible and making it accessible. I am convinced that you learn art not just through art, but through experiencing life. Just as art shapes culture, my cultural identity has shaped my art. I am an artist because it gives me the opportunity to be a storyteller that expresses and communicates complexities.

As a visual communicator, I find where design, art, photography, and video making can intersect. There are many aspects of video shooting that are in the domain of design. When graphic design tools are combined with other forms of media, it can be very powerful in informing, engaging, and educating audiences. I hope to present a topic visually and help people understand and connect in a way that you cannot do through reading a book. Artists can translate any topic and make an impact. In my work, I am driven by a mission and deep sense of responsibility. By telling a powerful, moving, and emotional story with a message, I strongly desire to inspire people to take action and do something. Ultimately, I want to create something with a large human goal and become an active producer of information.