Shiyn's Statement

The cinematic art for me is a mirror for the real life. As the cinema theorist Andre Bazin said, cinema is the asymptotic line for reality. I have studied Journalism in China for two years. I believed that I can report news, present justice and discover the truth behind appearance to the public. However, I was disappointed because even the journalists are afraid of telling truth under the pressure of invisible authority. I cannot change the situation and I do not want be one of them. However, I never give up the right to give it voice. Why not change my direction to film making which is a better way to reflect reality. Indirectly, artistically but profoundly influence audience and public. I realize how powerful and emotional the cinema is to tell the story happened around us. Hopefully, I can achieve my dream someday.

Ally's Statement

In my work I attempt to move away from the traditional subversion of artistic materials as tools to create content and instead allow the materials to become the content themselves. I explore materiality by using the inherent and essential qualities of a medium, whether it be wood, yarn or skin and letting the physical nature of these decide how a work progresses. I choose to collaborate with my materials rather than control them. With this method I hope to create work that becomes a representation of not only myself but of my environment. I aim to focus attention on not only the way an artist can manipulate a material, but how a material can shape the intentions of an artist. I attempt to understand the ways in which my mind and actions can also go so far in creating a piece and the rest must be left to trust and chance.

Olivia's Statement

As an artist I'm not always out to create art that takes on a deeper meaning or to convey a metaphor.  I like to make art that is frank and to the point with an obvious intention or meaning.  While some projects require metaphoric concepts to communicate a subject, there are a lot of ideas that benefit from blatant intent surrounded in artist creativity.  Even though simplicity is sometimes best, I still strive to make my art unique and thought provoking.

Miranda's Statement

I have always been interested in the fascinating stories of Tim Burton. It's very disturbing to me how he uses cartoon characters in such weird and unusual story lines, but that's also what intrigues me. I feel like I can relate to him very well. I am so fascinated by the unreal and horror. I am terrified of scary movies but instead of shunning that fear, I embrace and explore that fear. I even try to project that fear into my artwork.

Chelsea's Statement

I have been through a lot in my life and I need my art to reflect this struggle.  it's what I know and it's what helps me get through it. When I learn something from my art is when I know I'm dong it right.

Preston's Statement

The biggest difference between present artificial intelligence and the
human brain is that humans forget. Everything we don't manage to
forget, everything we think we know about ourselves, is held together
thanks to a narrative glue. By tapping into this glue and telling
communal stories, people can form communities. But not all stories are
equal and not all 'communities' are good. Many stories abuse this
trait of the human mind and succeed in clouding up the truest
experience of the world (such as the story that money given to the top
1% will trickle down to the rest of the economy or all of
advertising). Given the slightest opportunity, divisive and
corporate-fueled stories will clog up our mental inboxes day in and
day out, forever. It has been the task of the worlds' greatest
writers to speak truth to power and to clear the air so that we can
reassess--at least for a moment--what matters and what should be
filtered out. The great hope is that strong true narratives are
remembered, and that weak ones die out. As I see it then, my job (most
broadly stated) is to humbly craft true stories that encourage the
healthy forgetting and re-imagining of a united world.

Nikki's Statement

Stares of judgment

Accusations of blame

Stolen innocence

Abandoned childhood

Awkward silence

Past experiences have haunted me, changed my life in everyway possible, stolen things from me that I didn’t know was possible, given me strength I didn’t know I had and made me ready to move on while remaining in place. This video is representational of what I go through everyday of my life. Fear of judgment when telling what this past of mine is, sitting with the stares, the accusations and the awkward silence when my mind is anything but silent: hearing all the hurtful judgments that have previously been spoken, being reminded of the pain, replaying songs that have gotten me through those times, praying that moment will be over and covering the self-consciousness with laughs and unrelated statements while being faced with all of the emotions, faces, and horrific memories again and again.

Lacy's Statement

Art has become the only thing in life I feel good at anymore. Not that I don’t think
I’m a pretty good novice at things like working out or having a wide range of useless
ninety-nine percent of the time information. I just believe that I can make art that
inspires others, and isn’t that a big reason why most people make art? When I think
about my life and what makes me beam from the inside out is making..making art. I love
to pick up my camera and just get lost nothing else in the world matters when I’m
releasing my shutter. My photography is centrally focused around the recollection of
memories, to recall an event and represent it artistically, that's what I do, and what I’m
good at.

Lauren's Statement

As an artist just starting out I have been especially interested in juxtaposing elements.  In my painting, photography, and video art I like to explore the use of color in forming interesting and contrasting compositions.  As far as what I am trying to achieve with my art, ideally I want my viewer to find fascination in the banal or to look at something simple as something new and unfamiliar. 

Brittany's statement

Through cinematic art, I want to create fictitious stories about the truth. I want to take events that occur in everyday life and turn them into a piece of art. I'll film a story about heart-breaks, break-ups, bullying, joy, discrimination, ignorance, first times, last times, dysfunctional families, love, sex, friendships, friends who have sex, adolescents, high school, high school relationships, high school bullying, politics, nature, anger, sorrow, happiness, humor, life. I want to create works of art about what’s happening to someone, somewhere, living their life right now in this moment. I want to tell the truth.

Kyle's statement

Inspiration. Meaning. Beauty. These are the understandings I draw upon in life. It's not hidden. It's around us. When I see a moment, I want to understand it. I want to know why this is perceived as this and why that is perceived as that. This is the way it is. Some people see beauty in carnage others sadness in amazement. For me, art embodies something deep inside us all. Representing emotions and life. I created the short video to awaken what we ignore. There's pain and suffering in the world, yet people are robots programmed to focus on tasks. DEATH SADNESS LONELINESS DESPAIR SUFFERING ENDURING OVERCOME RELIANCE LOVE

Andrew's statement

When I look around my environment I notice nature all around me. Sometimes it is the way it should be, while other times it seems forced into the environment it currently sits. I grew up in the country and moved into the city, so my approach to this project is how do people that live here see nature. To me nature isn't just how it looks but also the sounds.

Colleen's statement

        Art has always been able to entertain and inspire me, and has often been the subject of my leisure activities and Wikipedia tangents.  I believe I can only learn so much about art from a book or a museum.  The only way to truly understand and appreciate art is to participate in the process.  This is why I make art.  It challenges me to use what I have learned in books and museums and apply it, given the limitations of my own abilities.  Making art helps me to acknowledge and overcome my weaknesses.

            I am intrigued by the ability of art to connect the senses: sight can become sound and touch.  I like to think of art as an alternate means of communication; one not limited by the boundaries of language.  My art explores just that: the ability to convey an emotion through the combination of visual imagery and sound.

Evan's statement

I find art in the little things to be quite awesome. 

Anytime I can look back on something and see a deeper meaning that I had previously passed over, I get really excited.

 I try to capture these things, harness the essence of that deeper meaning, and promote or exploit whatever it is that I, in my own experience, took from it.

               It’s rather difficult {impossible} to share this experience, but that’s what makes art so beautiful.

 It’s so personal.

Joshua's statement

On the most basic of levels, I create art because I enjoy it.  I enjoy being able to sit down and create something. There is no better feeling than having a creation you are proud of. I think the most fascinating aspect of “creating” is that you can work with the same concept one hundred times and never get the same end result. And this is becoming increasingly true with studio and video art. Technology has allowed for an unprecedented number of tools, possibilities, and ultimately endless ways to share and experience art. I love being on the forefront of this ever-changing landscape of digital media creation.

Stephen's statement

I am not an artist. My wife is an artist. She thinks I am an artist. But I don't want to be an artist. I just want to be creative. I want to make stuff that I think is cool. I want to make stuff that I don't know how to make. I want to make stuff just to make stuff.

Kyle's statement

As an artist I aim to create experiences. I enjoy crafting environments that my audience can interact with and explore. In the case of my video work I take a more narrow approach and attempt to give this experience to my actors. As they follow my direction and act out my scenes I want to wholly involve them in the experiences of the characters that they are portraying. In this manner I can create both a piece that is visual interesting to those passively watching, as well as a work that is (hopefully) mentally stimulating to those involved in its creation.

Bill's statement

I make art to chart my paths & tangles and unravel them after the fact. Art is mark-making, cave painting. So is living. Every day leaves a mark, every path has stuff strewn by the wayside. So this process involves collecting what's left over and looking inside for patterns. Art as archaeology. Some patterns are true, others not so much. Unraveling them really means re-raveling, weaving them into something new: this weaving's mirrored in the artist's act of making and the viewer's act of renewing. Fortunately, the patterns found emerge from the work as much as the intention. Striving goes three ways. Patterns make art on their own.

Lydia's statement

I understand the power of art. Art can accomplish many things but I desire art that teaches, enlightens, encourages, and entertains. While I hope to do all those things with my art; I know the reason I am an artist is because I enjoy creating and experiencing art.  I create art that others can enjoy, the same way I enjoyed creating it. In the end, I am an artist because of arts ability to affect the lives of others.

David's statement

I love video and film because it allows for expression deeper than what I can paint or sculpt. Whether i shoot actors or just objects, I can put emotion into it and tell my story or someone else's story. Emotions can be brought out in a thirty second clip or a two hour feature but everyone can feel something different. Video art is that ability to make one feel something different than another. To bring them together to discuss the piece and draw new or make clearer new possibilities.

Ellen's statement

I am an artist to create 
connection 
between seemingly unrelated ideas
between supposedly incompatible truths 
between initially distant humans

Adam's statement

As an artist I would like to evoke emotions from the viewers of my art. Whether it is sadness or happiness I want my art to make them feel. I hope that my art makes people feel enough to offer an escape from the world in which they are living in, whether it is for seconds or something they can take with them for the rest of their lives.

Mike's statement

I make art because I see the world in a unique perspective. That's not to say that mine is inherently more special or insightful than other people's but merely a factual statement that only I see the world exactly as I do. I want to relay my perspective so that people might understand me better or just share in my experience of something interesting. The problem is that I have trouble sharing my art sometimes because it comes from my core and can say so much about me as a person. Still, I think that the sharing of art is important enough for me to get over it and let others into my world. It also helps me to expand my horizons and forces me to do something outside of my comfort zone. My art is therefore as much about me sharing what I already see with the world as it is about me finding out new things about myself. I see where I came from, where I am and where I'm going in life more clearly and fully than I otherwise do. I use and abuse art to make me happier, wiser, stronger and more insightful and consequently I love making art.

Alan's statement

Art to me at this moment means creation. Anything that is brought to existence through thought and action is art.  From music, to video, to paintings, to computer programs, to food.  It's all a process of re-working and re-working an idea into the best possible version of a concrete form that can be gotten. A concept in art I'm trying to focus more on as I go is subtlety, and it is best conveyed in a quote from Stephen King's 'Dark Tower' series: "He had long since learned that bangs and smoke were more often the marks of ineptitude than expertise." I keep this in mind as I go and try to work on crafting art; consciously having everything present for a reason and in balance.

Tina's statement

The only reason I consider myself an "artist" is because one definition of an artist is "A person whose work shows exceptional creative ability or skill."  The part of that definition that lets me know I'm an artist is the part saying "creative ability".  I'm not creative in a philosophical or a meaningful sense or any of that kind of deep thinking crap.  I'm only creative in the more...lazy sense.  I like to be creative in the most obvious ways.  My "art" does not take any in depth thought or strange concepts.  It's simply whatever my random thoughts formulate. 

My favorite thing to draw is stick figures.  Most people look down upon stick figures as drawings that are made for novices of art; those who are inept, if you will.  But the reason I love to draw stick figures is because you can make them do whatever the hell you want.  If you want the stick figure to be a break dancer, you contort the limbs; if you want your stick figure to get hit by a car, you detach the limbs; if you want the stick figure to be a living water raft, you draw no limbs.  Your mind can go in an which direction you can think, which is something I love doing: thinking of the weirdest events or scenarios and drawing them.  Ideas are so much more pleasing and fun when they're drawn as stick figures rather than opening your trap and telling people that don't care. 

I'm an artist because I use stick figures to express the weird shit that I think about in my head.  I won't be called insane if they're all on paper...