viernes, 27 de noviembre de 2009

A review of this year

With the passage of time, one thing that I have noticed is that in all of the experiences, no matter what, nothing is what you were expected at a first time. There is always an event or just a little detail that is going to happen to you to get finally to your predestined destination. And that was exactly what happened to me when I have a review of this year, although not in a bad way, but in a different way that maybe I can answer to me too at the end of this text, because I though about it before but not so deeply.

At the beginning of the year, in the academic way, I had different plans than those that I have now. First of all, I was going to enter in another workshop, but I finally could not, so I applied for another which I did not know at all. I do not deny that I wanted to go to the previous one, because I liked their working program, but once I was inside of my new, but unknown to me, workshop, I realized that it was for me. I liked the program even more, I got along with teachers and the majority of my companions and I was freer to express my own concepts in the canvas, so I was happy with that.
In terms of my own production, I think I`m satisfied with what I have done. Now that it is the second year of the career, we have to think more by ourselves to make our own projects with our ideas, andI like that a lot. In my opinion, we need to reinforce this, because to me, a good piece of work has 50% technique and 50% concept, and that can be maybe our “Achilles’ heel”, by our lack of confidence.
In what respect to mistakes, I have to say that I was a bit lazy, plus the fact that I work slow. Even though this cannot give me many problems as long as I work well, at least I have the knowledge of what I have to improve to have better results next year.

In brief, it is reasonable to say that this was a good year, better than last year, so I am glad. The reason I mentioned that fate takes part of this, is because something similar happened when I applied to this career: I was about to study another thing, but finally I choose arts and until this day I am very happy for my last hour decision. For that I can say that both the conditions that surrounded me and my achievements by my own decisions made this a great academic and personal year.

viernes, 20 de noviembre de 2009

Blog # 7: About presidential elections

I`m inscribed since the past elections (to choose a mayor), and also to be more ready to vote for a president, because in that time I got a civic fever, actually. Nowadays, I regret a little sometimes, because i don't believe completely in any of the candidates, but the most part of the time I`m happy anyway for having opinion in my country, and vote, in mi opinion, for the better (but not the best). Like the saying "In a blind persons' country, the one with only an eye is the king".

So now that I`m going to vote, I`ve been more worried than the rest of elections about debates, propaganda and politics in general, but I`ve always though that pamphlets, the shows on TV before the news and speeches for themselves aren't useful at all. The information dissapears and politicians only try to get along and cause a good impression in the people by being charismatic and nice in the videos that they show us, wich is like a joke. So therefor, the plan of goverment goes unnoticed. I think that in those cases politicians spend a very lot of money for nothing, and what it's worse, It's something so persuasive that people believe it and finally they vote in many cases for the person with the best campaign, instead of what they and the country really need.
But we have to be careful too with what politicians say, because I think that the fifty percent is just to have more votes, like Frei telling us that he is going to be like Allende`s goverment, and Arrate saying that is going to lower the cost of all water to help poor people, when that finally would be a benefit for rich people, because they use more water than poor and they will not pay for it too, and being low a scanty resource, it's going to waste with no reason.

I would not like to participate in politics in the future, like in a party or something like that, because I'm not feeling represented with one party in special, and people is very corrupt in those circles. Maybe there are few that start entering in parties to make good for the country, but I think that in the most of the cases, the power make them opportunists of people and they stay in for the quick and easy money from the state.

martes, 17 de noviembre de 2009

Today I`m going to be a bit selfish because I`ll write about something I like only:




In short, the news is about the top 50 albums of the last decade, and the top #1 is the band that was once my favorite: The Strokes

The first album "Is this it" won the first place of the NME's ranking of albums of the decade. The second place belongs to "Up the bracket" of The Libertines.

I wanted to talk about this because I got happy when I read it in Guardian.co.uk and I remembered about three years ago when I was in the school and I had a band with some friends and played their songs a lot. When they came to Chile, we did some moves with people so we could go to the hotel to meet them, and they were so kind and nice and everything that we loved them much more than before. Me and my friends really enjoyed those times.

I remember too that in the early 2000s people said that rock was dead. The world of music was full of electronic interventions, such as a lot of techno, hip hop and pop too, all with technological mixes, and rock music was in its time of aggro and metal tronic music, that I, at least, found it boring. The Strokes went back to the esence of rock with their music inspired of the sounds of the early 70s but giving it a total new view of the contemporary age. The result was very good, but in my opinion, this was a type of music that wasn`t very common, and as any change, is difficult to be accepted at a first impression, therefor it was people that dislike this music by it simple compositions and with a touch of nonchalance, without being depressive, maybe the feeling of the world in that time, but it was music that made a whole new view for creating new styles that developed from this ingenious band.

Nowadays, each member of The Strokes is working on different projects, but they are going to keep making music together.

miércoles, 11 de noviembre de 2009

Correcting a classmate's posting

Well, the posting that I choose to correct is this following text:


¨the news that i choose, is about a photographer who makes a study of the polaroid photos. we could say he talks about the magic who has that photos. it turn refers to his model, the person whom he takes the picture.he says that the attitude of the model to pose, makes it look that doesn`t require much production, to take a good picture, to capture the moment, disposition only.he talks about the difference that is created respect to the digital photos, which can be errased or modified, a polaroid photo captures a moment and let it embodied.....maybe you can capture intermediate moments, in which one are not posing for the photo.about he regrets, is that we dont use it very often, also argues, is that is not used for meaningful purposes. He loves the format, but he feels it is a waste, the lack of importance to it.basically, i didint choose just something in my special field, but i interested in photography and i also work with it often.I think it is quite right when he talks about the moments that do not move back or change, and that moment is special...soemtimes we think that to take a good photo, we need a some kindof preparation or setting...but the spontaneous and unexpected is an element to, interesting in the area of arts in which i use.

And my correction, according to my knowledge (which I do not know really if they are a hundred percent well) would be this:

¨the news that i choose, is about a photographer who makes a study of __ polaroid photos. We can say he talks about the magic that have those photos. It turn refers to his model, the person whom he takes the picture. He says that the attitude of the model to pose makes it look that doesn`t require too much production to take a good picture, to capture the moment, disposition only. He talks about the difference that is created respect to __ digital photos, which can be erased or modified. A polaroid photo captures a moment and let it embodied.....maybe you can capture intermediate moments, in which one are not posing for the photo. About his regrets, is that we dont use it very often, also argues, is that is not used for meaningful purposes. He loves the format, but he feels it is a waste of ... , the lack of importance to it.
Basically, i didn`t choose just something in my special field, but I`m interested in photography and I also work with it often. I think it is quite right when he talks about the moments that do not move back or change, and that moment is special... sometimes we think that to take a good photo, we need a some kind of preparation or setting... but spontaneity and unexpected things are an element (that I find) interesting in the area of arts in which i can use it for.

Of this exercise I can say that i could noticed some mistakes in Kamille`s writing wich are most of all about draft and punctuation, I think that is because maybe she sees blogs more like a way of expression over formal writing, so she doesn`t worry by writing well in terms of structure, she just worry about say what the blog ask you to do. I`m sure that if Kamille want it she could be fix those mistakes without difficulty.
Another mistake that I noticed happends with a lot of students I think, including me. We often forget many conectors that make phrases sound good in english, because we don`t know yet completely how to tell well many sentences, although we can make people to understand us in english. In my case too, I think that I`m more worried by vocabulary than grammar, I don`t know if another students as well.

jueves, 22 de octubre de 2009

A bicentenary faculty

I like my faculty. I like it more than faculties of private universities, for example. Although they are very "modern" and aesthetically well built, it seems that there`s no soul in there. It`s like a cube with more cubic things inside where people go and when classes are finish, they doesn´t stay so much there, but go to the pubs near because their university is not so "comfortable" as another institutions like this one. I don`t know exactly what it is, but I feel that. Maybe is the time, and the tradition of the boulding as a human group. In spite of this, I accept that this faculty need some arragements...

The most visible problem is our infraestructure. The building, wich is like an old fashioned school of the 50`s, is falling into pieces. Besides, the maintenance is poor, there are some rooms that are flooded when it rains; the material of the doors and tables are the worst, and is not that I`m a refined person, but with so much years of movement, this things can`t hardly stand with its function.
There is a Bicentenary proyect that includes the improvement of all JGM campus, but the ideology of most people of the university doesn`t want this plans to work, because they say there are another things that are more important, and most of all, they think that annual fee is going to get more expensive if the proyect is accepted. I don`t think so; the authorities of the university already said that this is not going to happen, and I think that is an useful inversion, because we need improvements to work better. And by the economic conditions of the world, the annual fee is going up anyway. Sometimes I feel that student centers of politics only search polemic themes to be against with, because in part, they have the feeling of changing the world and, in the oportunity of being important in a good university like ours, take advantages to protest and be someone.

Apart from all those things, I like my faculty, because it`s big and has a lot of green areas. And it`s located far from the noise of the city. In this place (forgetting infraestructure) I think I can work very well and calm.

Country(ies) I`d like to visit

Hi Hi!

I found this question was very difficult! because I want to visit a lot of countries, allmost all of them. But if I have to choose one, it would be Italy.
Why Italy: To me it has everything. The best food I've taste, beautiful and nice people, a lot of the most perfect art (let's no forget that Italy was the center of the new art and culture of the renaissance and also a bit of barroque -Caravaggio is what I'm interested in-), the famous ruins of the Roman empire, passing through the medieval age and a big quantity of culture that I think a person should know, and finally, its great climate and its beatiful fertile landscapes.

With all those points that I want to know of this country, I think I would have to stay a few months maybe. Because Rome isn`t everything. There are at least Florence and Tuscany too. In Rome are located the ruins, in Florence the uffizi gallery and most of all art, and in Tuscany actually I`d like to go there to live. Also I have to visit Napoles for its food (There spaghettis are the best) and Venice for its festivals. Anyway, whole cosmopolitan world with a calmier view (not like New York, for example) in only one country.

That`s why I want to study there when I finish here, because it has the birth of occidental art, and also I found it a beautiful country with even more beautiful people. Italians are not like french o english people. They are happier and nicer. But the question for me was in fact difficult because I`ve travel a lot: I`ve been in Brasil, Argentina, EUA, Bahamas, Costa Rica for example, and my conclusion is that every part of the world I know (even Santiago) has it`s charm. For that, I`m happy here in Stgo. But I hope I`m not dreaming now and I can go at least once in my life to Italy.

sábado, 5 de septiembre de 2009

About some topics...

Hi,
First of all I have to say that last semester we talked a lot about our career, what do we want in our lives and so muchs things like that. So for the blog to not to get boring writing in it, I suggest to writing about things that we like, but out of our area: this can be another kind of things that we are interested in, like our second option of career to study, or maybe art itself but our area. For example, I'm in a painting workshop, so I can write about sculpture or performance etc, except painting.
The other suggestion is to watch a movie maybe or select a poem, a tv program, a work of art, or even a country and talk about them and show our opinions. Or to put us in situations of real life life (or maybe more fantastic too) and explain what we could do about it in the blog.

jueves, 3 de septiembre de 2009

Taking experiences of real people

I chose the interview of the photographer David Bailey called "Question time ", that speaks about his art in the world today and what he thinks about problems produced by technology in the art of photograph nowadays. All this with questions about himself.

Although my specific area is painting, not photography, I'm very interested on this because in the future I want to learn this art. Besides, there will be always a debate between this two forms of representation, so I have to keep it in mind.

In the first part of the interview, Bailey is asked about his work in Vogue magazine, and he talks about the mass media: the only way that he could get paid to do anything creative, that is interesting to me because I need to know how people in my area develops in any kind of work, and how they could get money of it, because that theme is very uncertain in my career.

On the other hand, he talked about technology in photos, wich is a controversial topic nowadays, because there's a fight about who is better, if its the technology or the human technique what is the most valuable thing. He explains too that, now and then, for that reason (techonology envolved into your photograph) people can`t realise who took the picture, that's for the digital fixes on the photos that finally makes them all the same. By the way, that is why I prefer painting, because it is more personal and unique. It'll never be mediocre in the terms that Bailey speaks.

I think there is very interesting (sometimes more than read informative texts) to listen to the opinions of an artist or people who works everyday in the area. Reading interviews you receive information in a different way and so you can prepare for what your future life is expecting for you.

Link of the interview to read here : http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/sep/03/david-bailey-question-time

sábado, 11 de julio de 2009

Hi,
I think this is the last text that i write, although I want this blog to post another things in a nearby future, maybe it'll still be useful after all.

I have to say that I did enjoy my blogging experience, because I like to write and I like english. For me these tasks wasn't a bother at all, on the contrary, i liked more than any english work. Besides, I had a blog on my own before this, but since a long time ago that a never write in there. I had other things to do and i didn't had a great topic to write about either, so that turned boring actually; but with this blog i had to write for a certain date and about a certain topic. Those factors and the fact that i have to write in english were like a challenge to me and that made it funnier. Plus the other fact that i think I'm a bit lazy person who only works well under pressure.

Of course that the blog helped me improve my english, because anyone doing this could realised that it helped to write better nad to think better in english, and i think too that those are good advantages of blogging at an english class, but the disadvantages are lack of practice after the end of classes. After that, many people could forget what they've learned. But I think this could happen with any exercise, specially with a languaje, when you leave practice.
The other disadvantage is that people doesn't take too much attention to the corrections: not because we don't read them, but is something that we see and realised but don't remember so much at the time to write again, because we remember more when an explanation of a correction or a tip is given verbally by someone, with examples, etc, more didactic, not just reading it.
In spite of that I think that this helped me a lot and I hope to keep writing in the next class, but if it's not like this, I hope I don't forget what i've learned. Bye!

miércoles, 1 de julio de 2009

Painting: One of the bests in my area

Hi,
For me is very difficult to choose just one person who I think that could be the best. In fact, I believe that it's difficult not only for me, but art critics, historians, etc. But what I do can write about is about someone that in my opinion fulfills all the requirements to be "the best" or, at least, one of them.


Salvador Dalí


Spanish painter, known as one of the most eccentric and craziest persons of the 20th century. Histrionic, intelligent, creative and over all talented, Dalí represented dreams, guided by the movement of surrealism, as no one could do. Even more than precursors of this movement. I think he was the best in that area. Apart from this, he did more types of art and communication like sculptures, movies or commercials.
I Like him because of his capacity of create credible scenes of dreams (specially about theories of Freud) and then, when he was older, mixed that oneiric world with ideas of nuclear physics.
Besides I love his biography (full of weird stories, like he was expelled of his art academy because in a exam he didn`t answered about an oral test of Miguel Angel because he said that knew more about him that his professors) and his personality. It fits very well with the times in wich he lived. The truth is, that I like this painter too because I like the 20th century and all its rushed causes and different times that people had to live.
But not only for his eccentric life or for surrealism that I find him the best. I think that his way of painting is incredible and Dalí was really a person full of imagination. And I aprecciate both characteristics over the rest. Although I think that some people who I can were bests in painting too were: Vincent Van Gogh, Caravaggio, Jacques Louis David, Da Vinci and many others.

Some commercials: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa2rwk-SlCo

jueves, 11 de junio de 2009

My ideal futures

If I had to write about an ideal future for me, I would say that I'd like actually two kinds of pararell futures, hahaha. So I'm going to write about them both. Mmm... thinking about that, in five years from now I'll be about 25 years old.

A first idea, that in fact that`s precisaly what i want to do in my life (but I'm not sure) is to travel to Europe for having a superior studying of arts (the ideal location would be Tuscany) for a few years. I'll stay a few years in there, but then maybe I'd go back to my country... or maybe not, who knows. I hope to have the sufficient money to live a calm life in that subject, and over all, I hope that this money would be earned by at least a few of my future art works. I want to be an independent artist, therefore, anda obviously, recognized. But I know that I have to work hard for that!

On the other hand, in mi most householder side, I imagine that I'll be, at that time, received from my career, living on my own in the center of Santiago (because the truth is I live far, and my adress in some cases is a problem) with a boyfriend of mine, both creating art xD, so the apartment would be big for our artistic need, like a workshop and a home at the same time, very similar to the apartment of the main character of the movie "Blow Up" who was a photographer (I loved that movie, very 60's stylish). But an important thing, both of us making works of that we want and we love to do. In the academic situation I will be working and making equally kinds of superior studyings, but lighter, like more courses of painting, or photography classes, seminars, etc. I hope to get the time for those projects!

Well, these are my happy dreams, I wish that both futures where written like in this blog and I had only to choose one. That would be wonderful. But -and i hope I'm not still dreaming- if I really want that and I'm able to see things in the realistic way, I think I can obtain a future similar to this. Like Obama's slogan.

martes, 2 de junio de 2009

The Meaning of Knowledge

Hi. Today I have to wright about Ken Robinson's talk.
To be honest, I totally agree with this man. Although the speech was in fact very persuasive and charming, his point of view, within information and proofs from another sources, is quite right for me and true.

I think that the bottom of this problem arises from the idea of education since the 19th century. Don't forget that in those days the main objective was work and the production of industry more and more every day. It is easy to understand why the world wide system put in an education method the most "useful" subjects (in a certain way) on the top. They needed people able to work and to obey. Of course that an artist would not fit in that world, specially if we mend to the function of the artist in that time: the professionals were practically independent workers and their creations were the most for culture and recreation.
The thing is, that education system wasn't always like this. At least, in the ancient Greece, teachment was about all kind of knowledge, that included science, mathematics, literature, sports and also dance, music, even cooking, etc. because not only the mind has to learn things, but the whole body (like Robinson saying about the function of body only for transportation for the head). And that is a strong reason of the decrease of our creativity: all we do in thirteen years of school is to sit in a chair and listen and follow instructions. Just like a machine. Created by another men. Maybe this could be a transformation of the human being into a machine, like once was the personification while the machine was being created. With a system like that is so much easy to have a control.

Well... closing the chat, I found very interesting what he said about mistakes. They actually need to be observed, instead of being eliminated, and also punish people for doing them. Mistakes not always are bad ideas. I think that a solution for this could be that schools would do more open tasks, in wich kids can use their imagination. And every different offer should be allowed to do. Using this method, maybe not everyone find the artist inside, like Picasso says, but the children a few years later might have their mind clearer to figure out what to do in the future, instead of studying any career only because someone said so.
Mr. Robinson speaks only about the school. Maybe school is not the whole problem, but the world today. But one thing is true: that school and education is really the root of the situation. Because with kids without any tool of the knowledge of creativity and diversity, we have later adults that can't do nothing about it.

domingo, 10 de mayo de 2009

I love communication

Although all the conversations we've had have in class, I have to say that my favourite piece of technology is my cellphone. I got it when I was the age of thirteen(I'm changing the equipment every time the device expires), but I use it now more than ever. I use it everyday constantly.

My cellphone is a simple device actually. Well, not that simple, but it's not an I-phone or something like that. I don't need one. I like mine because it has all my requirements. No more, no less. By it I can see what time is it, so I don't need a watch. I have the calendar, calculator and other stuff in it to organize myself. I have radio in my cellphone too and headphones to listen music wherever I want, and I have too a camera if I want to register a moment and I don't have the digital camera. That is very useful. But the most important thing is that Thanks to this piece of technology I can stay in touch with the people I care about, or simply, I can make or change plans, meetings, projects etc very easily. That's why I always try to keep it with the full battery so I can use it wherever I need it.
The truth is that I can't complain if I live without a TV, an MP3 or a computer (this one only if nobody has it, so I can be free of working on it) but my life really would change without a cellphone. I use it for so many things. I think that if I hasn't got one, I would need urgently an MP3 and I couldn't make quick plans with my friends or co-workers, so the bill of the land line would be bigger. My life would be very uncommunicative. So thank God I have one so I can make my life easier and keep in touch with my world with it.



Other piece of technology I couldn't live without would be stoves. But that's another story.

martes, 28 de abril de 2009

Well

That is the reason I put the name to the blog. If I have to write about my life in college, necessarily I have to put the oil on this. Because it's everywhere to me (clothes, skin, books and maybe what else).
You can suppose that my favorite subject is Painting. Jorge Gaete and Patricio Gonzales teach it. Gaete is a very kind man, I like his way of teaching because everyone can tell that he really loves his work. He's passionate, and i only trust in passionate people to teach me on this career. On the other hand Pato Gonzales doesn't speak to me. The same as the helpers of the class. One of them helps me a lot. The other one doesn't.. maybe is the helping girl of Gonzales....anyway.
I like this subject because I've always wanted to paint, so I'm very happy. And the other important thing is that in this workshop you are more free than in others. You can choose your own "model" to paint (objects, textures, even garbage), so that's a great idea for practice the creativity in the students. Is not an exigent regulation that you must follow. I think that you don't need that in an art subject.
The things I learnt untill then are tips of composition, colors and drawing , and some other of the materials we use, for example. It is very interesting, actually.
But I know that I have so much things to learn this year that will be useful for my career. =)

Like ripples on a blank shore

Hey you, guys

This is my new blog for the english classes of my college. To be honest, I thought that having english classes would be boring, specially at this time of the day, when all the energy has gone already, but I really like this method to exercise our english, and I like the quantity of students in the class too, is useful for concentration.
Anyway, what I want is to learn more about the draft and also can speak with eloquence, and to not staying in silence when i haven't got a word =/.
So I hope it works!

Paula