Chapter 1 Response

            I found a couple images and concepts interesting and compelling in Chapter one. First was the Beauty Composites by Nancy Burson. I find it interesting that when all these famous people’s faces are combined, you get a pretty yet mediocre face. I did think the concept behind the two pieces was original and inspiring.

This takes me to the next piece I found particularly interesting, I think Leonardo would think so as well if he were around. The Mona/Leo piece by Lillian Schwartz is so dynamic in many ways. The science of the works of Leonardo Da Vinci will probably still be uncovered in the future, as so many of his works have deep secrets. The Shroud of Turin, thought to be the cloth Jesus was wrapped in after death, was actually carbon dated back to the time of Da Vinci and is linked to him specifically. At the time Leonardo was experimenting with chemicals used in photo development. He dipped the cloth (Turin Shroud) in a chemical and stood back, the light hit the cloth and the image that developed instead of being Jesus at the time of death is Leonardo Da Vinci standing in his workshop, successfully creating the first photograph. I find anything to do with this great man fascinating and it is very interesting that technology is needed to crack some of his life’s works secrets.

I also found the ghostly fingerprints in Horror Vacui interesting. It is very innovative the way the artist used the hand to create depth, light, and shadows. It is a very naturalistic piece and yet it does have this scary feverish tone to it, kind of like old depictions of the writhing creatures that inhabit the underworld.

The last piece that I found intriguing is EYE by Jochem Hendricks. It is so interesting how the eye movements that were captured reflect the image of what the person was looking at, for example, the face on the outward facing page. I think it shows the similarities between human beings and technology. Our eyes work like a printer slowly working their way down the page, creating images as they go. I thought this piece was original in concept and very interesting visually.

Obama Parody

I think this is an interesting image because it plays off the overly naive and culturally inept Borat by making Obama look like him. This implies that Obama is clueless, naive, and has no experiences in life. I think this is a tragic comedic piece because although Obama may have been a little green in politics, he was left with a heap of troubles to sort out from the last administration. Its not like the Politics of the United States is wiped clean for the new president to start out fresh with their own new and improved ideas and policies. There is a tangled ball of red tape to cut through and Obama is not magic, contrary to what most people would like to think.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://politicalirony.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/obama_borat_parody.jpg&imgrefurl=http://politicalirony.com/2008/05/14/borat-barack/&usg=__JkZC-a1wnj0A0F7t1Elf3CreR2I=&h=500&w=335&sz=32&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=YftvF86PxNYFtM:&tbnh=123&tbnw=81&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dparody%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1212%26bih%3D768%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=214&vpy=136&dur=12712&hovh=274&hovw=184&tx=72&ty=112&ei=h3eiTP-ZA8H48Aaz4aT1CA&oei=ZHaiTLvuO8O88gaxlJn4Aw&esq=16&page=1&ndsp=31&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0

Herods Temple

Project1 Holiest Site Process Portfolio

I thought about in class how we were talking about how a picture is a representation of a memory, not the memory itself. My first idea was to take about 15 pictures of my dogs running around and playing and super-impose them into one picture, hoping to create movement and try to engage the other senses. But when it comes down to it, no matter what you do, a photograph is a representation there to remind you of a special event. Unfortunately my dogs got sick, which made it hard to create movement with sickly sleeping dogs.

So I decided to go with the historical themed images I had created for class exercises such as, the Wolves in the Roman Forum, Ruben's skinny women and the Pigs in the Vatican. The last piece struck a cord because I find the filthy pigs being in one of the holiest places in the world interesting.

I thought of even holier places in the world and came up with the Holiest Site image.

A little history is helpful in understanding this image. In biblical times, King Solomon built a temple that was thought to literally be the house of God, built to his specifications and where Abraham offered up his son for sacrifice. It housed some of the Holiest objects in history, including The Arc of the Covenant, which contained the 10 commandments. This Temple was built on a historically Holy mountain called Mount Moriah, which was sacred to many cultures for thousands of years.
 The first temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, all the sacred objects sacked. Until King Herod rebuilt the temple years later, only to be destroyed by the Romans. The only part of the Temple that remains is the Western outermost fortification wall of the second temple, also called the Wailing or Western Wall. People from many faiths travel from around the world to pray at this wall and write down their prayers to stick in between the cracks in the imposing stone blocks, hoping their prayers will be answered. Being that this wall is only a couple hundred yards from the site of their temple, you can see why it would be the holiest place for the Jewish faith.

The Mosque in the background of the picture is called the Dome of the Rock, and was built directly on top of the ruins of the first and second temple. According to the Islamic Faith, it is also holy for the same reason, it is where Abraham gave up his son to sacrrifice. It is also believed to be the place where Muhammad ascended to heaven directly on a rock contained within the mosque on top of Mount Moriah. So you can also see why it would be one of the holiest places for Muslim people as well.

These two faiths have fought for many reasons for thousands of years, but one main reason is that the Jewish people believe the Messiah cannot come unless the Temple is rebuilt. I don't see Muslim people destroying one of their most holy sites for the rebuilding of anything let alone a temple for their enemies.

It saddens me that 2 faiths that come from the same forefather have fought for thousands of years. Every religion has fundamentalist and it is wrong when texts are construed for one group's beliefs, or taken out of context to prove something or persuade someone.

The concept for the Holiest Site is that a simple student, sitting in a classroom could cause controversy around the world with an image or photograph. This shows the impact that  photography has on modern culture is huge.

 I placed Orthodox Jewish people praying at the Mosque's outer walls like they do at their Temple's outer wall. I then added pigs to show both the "unholiness" of the actions taking place and the similarities between the 2 faiths, as neither one eats pork (the reasons for which are complicated traditions that are thousands of years old.).