Final Project

I created a video essay for my final project. The thesis is how violence as entered our society. I included a majority of the topics talked about in class. The following were discussed:

• Questions: When discussing how and why violence has become a part of our society, it is important to ask questions regarding nature vs. nurture.
• Evolution comes into play right off the bat when looking at the evolution of guns. We must note that life is a battle of the survival of the fittest
• American violence is noted when recapping the role of firearms in the Astor Place Riots and Haymarket Bombing.
• Nature and Nurture is discovered when wondering about if violence is naturally in our system or if we have been taught to be violent.
• Violence in the media is also suspected for teaching us to be violent.
• Auto-destructive art is found in the first image we see in the video. While the evolution of firearms are in a circle, we notice that each gun is shooting the one in front of it and destroying itself. Therefore, auto-destructive art.
• Random Dance is speculated to use violent instincts as a way to portray the human mind.
• Stage Combat is used in films and stage productions to simulate violent events.
• Curiosity is explored when physiologists begin to ask why murderers kill people.

In this project, I learned about creating a video essay and important things to include. It was challenging for me to find the perfect source material to enhance my point and thesis. It was also extremely challenging to put all of the units together to come up with a final project. Overall, I think the video essay came out very well.
If I could change my project, I’d try to make it more exciting and interactive. It is currently very boring and mind-numbing to watch. I’d add some more humorous elements or make it a little more creative.

Auto-Destructive Art

For the auto-destructive project, my group decided to create a simple scope of how erosion works. We sprinkled dirt around a piece of drawing paper on an incline to simulate a hill. We then poured water at the top of the hill to see what the reaction the dirt had to the water. We learned that the dirt will wash away and leave a thin watery residue on the paper. The final result ended in an artistic array of a muddy pattern. The final piece functioned exactly as expected and was what I hoped it to be. I learned that water is a universal that will destroy any material.

Auto-destructive art is a piece of work that destroys itself without outside support. For example, a robotic piece of art that is made to catch on fire is considered auto-destructive art. I can use my artistic training to develop auto-destructive art by working backwards. Let me explain: In class, we have discussed that while we are trained to work logically and clearly to end up with a polished item. Within the auto-destructive art world, it is important to have a clear beginning and idea to end up with a chaotic finish. This artistic expression clearly shows that society strives for perfection; it is perfectly fine to have a “messy” process and come up with a solution that is not organized and well thought out.

The STEM disciplines has an imperative role in auto-destructive art. Although, yes, it is art that is being made, the sciences, technology, engineering, and math have high regards to that kind of art. You need to be able to put together a piece of art that is well thought out logically in order to make that piece destroys itself successfully.

Media Violence

 During this unit, I learned to appreciate the media and closely analyze the content being delivered to society. Prior to this unit, I never thought about the amount of violence portrayed in video games, the news, and in films. It is fascinating that the world we once lived in – a world filled with the hunter/gatherer life style – has now become a world filled with vile information not pertinent to daily living. We don’t need violence to live our lives to the fullest extent; rather, it is only something that gets in the way. Violence is discussed in the news because of the human’s natural need for action and dominance. Humans have always wanted to feel empowered and on the top. However, the media uses violence as a way to pull in people to their product.

Wakeford discussed violence through the ages. The media (paintings) that was shown in class pictured the violence through the years.

Grendlein focused on the violence found in psychology and a variety of medias. King’s unit assisted in tying all of the classes together.

The project seen below depicts how the media promotes violence throughout the years and how the media has changed because of it. As seen, headlines and magazine covers have evolved throughout the years in order to excite the reader so they will want to know more.

If I were to do this project over again, I would attempt to use a different layout. While all of the information that was going to be used, was used, I would have laid it out in a way that would be easier to understand what was being conveyed. 

Nature vs. Nurture

Although not an art per say, stage management requires skill and a close eye. Stage management is all about working with people and getting important information across to a group of people. The stage manager for a production is a the hub of the communication wheel, making it a neutral job in which one cannot take sides to an argument.  One also must be a quick-thinker and have a ‘plan B’ for every scenario. High stress and a tolerance for many personality types is also a requirement for the job. Being able to handle all of these things create the ultimate stage manager.  I believe I have specific experiences in my upbringing and training that allow my to calmly yet efficiently execute the duties of a stage manager.  

In my childhood, I was constantly surrounded by three loud and wild older brothers. I am convinced that the  constant noise in the background while little ole’ infant me was snoozing on my mother’s nap in turn allowed me to stay calm and collected during hectic times. My environment has taught me to stay relaxed when there has been a lot going on around me (specifically 5-11 year old boys rough housing and playing catch with baseballs indoors). My mother is a very calm and collected person. I was never yelled at as a child – I was always a good kid and seldom got in trouble. Lack of yelling and punishment has made me become a calm person who can handle stress on a daily basis. It is obvious that, in this case, nurture, not nature, has molded the man I have become.

My training here at UNCSA has absolutely taught me how to stage manage.  Even though I am not stage managing main-stage productions, I am learning how to collaborate, communicate, and work with my piers.  All first year Design and Production students crew various shows for scenery, lighting, and costumes. Being able to work with strong theatrical personality types allows me to learn how to better work with specific types of people. For example, when I work with people who like to take control of a situation, I can easily sit “in the backseat” and be a follower. However, if working with people who don’t take initiative, I am able to jump up and start to take control of a project. Having the environment to do this helps me learn how to better work with my piers, and eventually my colleagues. I would definitely say that nurture has a huge part of molding the way I learn in the UNCSA environment. 

Of course, when working in the performing arts, there will be plenty of people with huge personalities and egos. You have to know when and how to address various types of situations. For example, if the star of a production bursts out into a vicious rage that her dresser brought in a bowl of mixed M&Ms when only greens were requested, a stage manager needs to be able to talk to the actor and calm him/her down so the show can go on. Violent moments can absolutely erupt out of no where. During a production I was working on, two performers began to argue with one another—one said to the other that their dancing wasn’t up to par while the other mocked the way they moved on stage. Each equally vulgar and neither right to call out the other.  

The psychology of egos is fascinating – once someone thinks they are better than the rest, everything becomes about that one specific person. This can be seen in The Phantom of the Opera. The diva in the play demands attention because audiences grovel at her feet for more performances. Is there a connection between violent outcries and the performing arts? Absolutely! It isn’t necessarily bad, however. Creative minds must have an outlet in which they can express themselves…besides the performing art. Humans have been using art as a form of expression, but when that becomes your job, you must find another way to “let go”. The easiest way to let stress out is to yell, scream, and become violent. So yes, there is a definite connection between the two and it should remain that way. For the better or worse. 

Creating the Perfect Society

This week we tackle a tough question of how our art relates to the pursuit of an ideal society. Wow. That’s a big question. I first came up with a list of what is my ideal society. I came up with things like no social class, crime starvation or the need for laws. I also thought about a compassionate and sophisticated society. How can does art relate to these yearnings? Let’s focus in on the performing arts specifically for how it can relate directly to an ideal society.

Last night I saw the national tour of “Evita” at the Durham Performing Arts Center. The show was about the rise of Eva Peron and how she got to the political position that she held. The script was all about Eva’s ideal society: everyone praised her. What was amazing to me was that the script and acting were executed so perfectly that at times I wanted to jump right up and praise Eva with the rest of the ensemble. It is marvelous how a moment on stage can really stir something in an audience’s mind. With a great script, directorial vision, and creative team, a group of people can change the thoughts and emotions of an audience.

One of the most classic ways the performing arts interacts with society, is that it mock the way people lead their lives. It shows our faults and makes us realize what we do wrong. For example, in “Annie” the musical, the audience realizes that the rich upper class can do anything with the help of money while a production of “Aida” informs an audience the importance of community and love. Each show has valid arguments for their ideal society or utopia. It is wonderful how any show can influence an audience and hopefully change them to become more and more into a perfect society.

Theatergoers can increase their compassion and become more sophisticated by going to various productions; increasing knowledge about the world can help any society become more knowledgeable about the diverse world we live in. As long as people are aware and at least know what is going on around them, we can all become one step closer to a perfect society. A utopia.

Evolution Meets Stage Management

This week's blog prompt of connecting evolution to our art got me thinking. How, if in any way, can this biological phenomenon link up to stage management or anything similar. I turned to Google to look up a definition to get started.

"the gradual development of something, esp. from a simple to a more complex form."

Well then! That is something I can work with. You see, evolution is a process. It is all about how something developed from point A to point B. It is about how a simple and easy thing becomes a complicated being. Through changing, shaping, and molding the little 'thing' becomes a beautiful and phenomenal 'thing'. This is the basic idea of evolution and how it works. 

Evolution is very similar to the performing arts process. When starting to work on a production, you receive the script and begin to analyze what the playwright is trying to say. Exploration of the text becomes coherent through discussions and collaboration. Once the script is analyzed, rehearsals begin where the director molds and shapes the production. Ideas and thoughts of how actors will deliver their line, how they will walk, etc. is explored during that time. It is up to the stage manager to guide the director and actors in making certain everyone stays on schedule and everything happens when it needs to. It is also the stage manager's duty to record all movement on stage in order to be a fountain of answers as various people need information for a specific scene. 

Similarly, designers work with the director to come up with the environment in which the characters of the story live. All designers go through an evolution process as they come up with new ideas for how to portray a specific scene. While working with the director, set, costume, lighting, and sound designers are able to create the space for the production. It is because of the discussions of the text that makes the evolution process  thorough and complete. 

A stage manager is responsible for ensuring the evolution process of the production to be well maintained. The stage manager is part of the process from the early stages of preparation through the closing of the production. It is part of the stage manager's responsibility to maintain the the gradual development of the production especially from a simple to a complex production. 

McGregor's Theory

Although he prides himself on his choreography, Wayne McGregor is a scientist at heart. While McGregor teaches his movements to dancers at months at a time, he trust’s his dancers to remember the choreography so if need be, he could ask the dancers to reproduce the material at a moment’s notice. In other words, McGregor uses the human brain as a hard drive to store choreography. By using the human brain as a way to store information, McGregor experiments with ways to present material.

McGregor is so successful in his choreography because he uses the sciences and technology to enhance movement. It is fascinating how McGregor combines art and advanced technology to create artistic solution to choreographic problems. For example, six video cameras were set up around a dance studio to monitor the dancers. The experiment was to note how the dancers reacted to McGregor’s working method. The combined technology and artists mix together to create even more art. McGregor’s choreography brings scientists and experts in their own field to flourish in the arts.