S3 Scribble #6: Underneath

Sydney Braun Leave a comment

“There is no difference in what we’re doing in here,”

I’m in the home stretch of the semester. Lots of final papers, exams, and projects are coming up, but in the back of my mind, I know that there is a month of rest waiting for me once I complete them. I haven’t spent much time at home in the past year, and I’m looking forward to being able to have more than a few days at home for my upcoming winter break. 

“That doesn’t show up as bigger symptoms out there.”

Today, my mom bought Alanis Morissette tickets so we can go to her concert together this summer. Music has always been something that my mom and I have bonded over, and even though the concert is over six months away, I am very excited for it and grateful that my mom is as well. This inspired me to listen to Alanis Morissette on my walk to class today, and I was reminded of how her music makes me feel so understood. Right now, the song “Underneath” resonated with me because of its emphasis on the need to heal yourself before you are able to most effectively extend that healing outward.

“So why spend all our time dressing our bandages?”

This past year, I’ve learned something very important: in order to do my best externally, I have to feel good internally. This internal healing can happen through many activities: recharging alone, going on a run, spending time with friends, journaling, calling my loved ones, going to therapy, and more. For me, it’s been a combination of things, but as I gear up to finish the Fall 2023 semester, I feel great inside – I feel satisfied, hopeful, and capable. Of course, I occasionally feel doubt, anxiety, and unease. This is natural, and I now know that these feelings are not permanent and never are. As I keep working on myself and my inner mentality, I am confident that my strength, courage, and positivity will continue to see me through.

“When we’ve the ultimate key to the cause right here, our underneath.”

Listen to Underneath by Alanis Morissette here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVfz74FayzM

Wolverine Stew: Painted Mountain

clydemg 1 Comment

There is a deep rolling green at the

Base surrounding a small, clear lake, where

If you tilt your head to listen to the ground, you can see

How the waters make a still reflection

Of the perfect circle of leaves to each tree

The lake is fed by streams of thawed lightning

Coming down from the grey clouds that are

The gold-wood upper borders of this world

I wonder if there is a peak

The greens meld together on the mountain

Unsure whether to be trees or grass or moss

But there is a gentle slope to it all

One to get closer to, to walk and rest at one’s own pace

And maybe you will cross that rainy border of the world

Into some vast sky, blue and shining

But me, I am content here at the base

Wrapped in green reflections and that thought

Of going just a little further up each day

Mixed on Campus #13 – Naomi Rodriguez

Alice Conner Leave a comment

Name: Naomi Rodriguez
Mix: Black & White (Colombian-Puerto Rican)
Major & Year: Interarts Performance (Stamps & SMTD); Junior

Born and raised in Miami-Hialeah, Florida

Q: How has being mixed affected your campus experience?

A: I never realized how my looks are perceived until I was placed in the context of a predominantly white space. Being mixed began to cause confusion to people I meet to the point where I became confused with myself. I became so insecure about my closeness to a community and what community would even claim me. Because of that, it took me such a long time to find people I can relate to and feel welcomed. Even to this day, sometimes I feel hesistancy, from myself mainly, because of my lack of confidence in a space. However, the friends I’ve been making in these communities have helped me feel more comfortable being me; the combination of what my ancestors came to be.

Q: What do you wish more people knew about the mixed experience?

A: That it is very complicated. Sometimes people ask me questions about things as if I know, or I’m expected to speak for a community. Especially as an artist, a lot of my work is informed by my experience and the stories of my family, and sometimes I’m tired of my art being seen as a ‘protest.’ I make things to tell stories of my family and the ancestors I never got to meet, it helps me understand my story and bring communities together. It’s tiring having to educate people especially when your history is tied to colonialism and slavery.

Q: What is your proudest moment?

A: I finally made a piece titled “chains & links,” that comments on my mother heritage and ancestry, which is Afro/Indigenous Colombian. It finally felt like a perfect combination of what my mother has taught me growing up while teaching her about the care of textured hair.

Q: What are you most anxious about right now?

A: I’m anxious about the stories of my people disappearing. In Latino America, a lot of history related to slavery and indigenous peoples are becoming lost especially through immigration, and I think it’s our generations love and honor that needs to continue thee stories.

Q: What kind of person do you aspire to be?

A: Someone who is a listener. There is so many people with their own stories to tell and I hope to become a space that can have people feel welcomed and heard.

Q: Who is the most influential person in your life?

A: My mother. Everything I do has been in honor of her. My work is an extension of her passion and I hope to one day bring her into my work and we both become creators.

Mixed on Campus was inspired by the Humans of New York project. The purpose of Mixed on Campus is to give a voice to this university’s mixed community and shed light on its members. Being mixed means to be multiracial, multiethnic, and/or a transnational adoptee. Through Mixed on Campus, mixed students have the opportunity to have their portrait drawn and share their experiences!

aSoSS 01 | Numbers

a-spider-on-state-street Leave a comment

Hey, I appreciate you coming to the gym today.

No problem man. I’m going to be honest, I was really tired today and I don’t think I did well. But you being there really helped me.

No human being can give one hundred percent every day.

That’s true. You gain what you give.

Mosher-Jordan Dining Hall, 8:00PM, 11/11/2023

how easy is it to define the number one hundred? to exert maximum effort at the gym is to repeat a set until your arms start to tremble and the muscles give way. must we live the same way? i imagine you poring over a textbook until your eyes glaze over. maximum effort does not equal maximum success. perhaps maximum success is a function of time, an exponential improvement. a chemical delirium – dopamine or serotonin, what’s the difference? one molecule away from madness // from heartbreak // from shutting yourself out — in — away — behind — above…

I used to work at a flower shop, did I tell you that? That’s why my favorite flower is white lily.

Not roses?

They die too fast. I put them in the fridge and after a few days they start wilting. Don’t ever order roses, they always die. I seen them.

Washtenaw + Pittsfield, 3:00PM, 10/30/2023

the cardinal flower of love, so quick to die! i could spend all summer researching the history and symbolism of flowers. beauty is an interpretation, but so is love, and hate, and passion, and almost every adjective in the dictionary. it’s up to perception, the view from above. you stare at the rose too much and the color drains — from your face, from your eyes — and drips to the dirt. the grass bends to collect the drops. you smile and your teeth are stained scarlet.

How much for this candle jar? Oh, forty percent off? That’s great!

Yeah, we’re trying to get rid of our Halloween inventory now.

I really should get this. My kids will love it. I’m a science teacher, you see, and my last name is Bones, so I try to decorate my classroom with them…

Found Gallery, 11:00AM, 11/4/2023

the world we live in is made up of multitudes. in another universe, i have mr. bones as a science teacher. on the first day of class he gets up and shows us a plastic skeleton. i graduate high school, graduate college, and invite him to my wedding. thanks for teaching me about the cranium, i say. he points to his head, an inside joke — among other things. we laugh and drink brandy and attend each of our children’s sports games. we go to bed and rise and realize that we don’t exist. ’tis but the figment of imagination! i imagine an eighteenth-century playwright scoping out the details of my life. he probes and probes until he feels nothing but flesh and eight spindly legs and a web of memories encased in silk.

Blue

Mattie Grace Levy Leave a comment

I want to paint my nails midnight blue

But I can’t understand why an Ab pedal is not included in the diminished triad

Someone can’t make opening night on January 25th

And the workshop attendance numbers need to be compiled

I want to paint my nails midnight blue

But I can’t seem to write my mother’s emotions fast enough

I can’t find the right rhythm in my song

I can’t stop long enough to talk

I want to paint my nails midnight blue

But I can’t stop watching gilmore girls

And then falling asleep

Waking up with the light on at 4:00am

Sleeping an hour and then starting again

MediaScape Musings # 4 : PointAt

dsuart Leave a comment

Greetings, everyone! Today, I’m thrilled to share a sneak peek into an exciting work-in-progress team project from my PAT 515 class: PointAt.

In the evolving landscape of interactive experiences, PointAt is set to redefine the boundaries. This project seamlessly integrates cutting-edge technologies, including visual motion capture, movable hand installations, a dynamic visual eyeball projection, and immersive sound design.

Picture this: a visual eyeball projection that never wavers, meticulously tracking your every move with precision. Simultaneously, a movable hand installation dynamically points at you, forging an immediate and responsive connection. This unique amalgamation creates an immersive ambiance, inducing a subtle yet palpable sense of “pressure” for the user.

PointAt is not just an intersection of visual and auditory elements; it’s a journey into the unexplored realms of multisensory engagement. As a work-in-progress, we are pushing the conventional boundaries of interactive installations, redefining the very relationship between users and their interactive environments. Stay tuned as we delve deeper into this exploration and the final concept video!!