Category: 2023

“The best thing you can do is make art you care about – and lots of it!”(p.6)

I liked this chapter of the book, and the beginning of it makes me want to read the rest of the book. These few pages trying to tell us that someone must be an artist to believe in themselves and accept how much they have done regarding their art practice. The author shows us the importance of believing in yourself, putting effort and hard work into your pieces, and accepting the level of artist that you are at now.

One thing that stuck with me was that he mentioned how talent does not play as big of a role for an artist as we think. Still, it is rather a bonus inherited by chance, but what makes a good artist is his hard work, effort, expression, and determination. This is something I fully stand for, as I think many people give up at the beginning of their creative journeys because they do not “have what it takes to be an artist,” what they tend to misunderstand is that this “it” is effort, patience and lots of hard work, it’s the journey the artist goes on, how he progresses his work and his practice.

This chapter is a good way to start this book called “Art and Fear,” I have felt before that I do not have what it takes because I would see people around me, around my age, sometimes even way younger, that I deemed more talented than me. But art is an outlet, and I have seen my progression in my techniques and pieces after not giving up and continuing the hard work. I think this applies not only to art but to anything someone would want to pursue; Do you get a love for football but never played? Apply this strategy. Do you want to code websites but don’t even know how to code? Apply this strategy. Do you have any other interests you want to pursue but think it is too late, or you are not talented enough? Apply this strategy.

“In practice, backwards thinking is however more concerned with explaining an effect whereas forward thinking is more concerned with bringing about an effect.” (p.93), I think in this scenario, both of these ways of thinking are equally crucial to the innovative side of your brain when it comes to coming up with new ideas, i think it is both crucial to move forward, but also understand how you even got this far. When you are stuck, you go backwards in order to understand how you got stuck where you are now and be able to keep moving foward with your innovations.

“Being effective means being right only at the end” (p.95) When brainstorming and coming up with new ideas, the author suggests that using lateral thinking throughout the process is crucial and that at the end we use our vertical thinking and make sure that what we suggested works and is doable.

I think the author in these chapters wants us to understand the importance of innovation (what is it consisted of) and encourage us to not judge ourselves nor our ideas when we are becoming creative but instead build on them, and see what could be achieved based on what was thought. Despite him agreeing that one would need to judge the end of their project, he heavily discourages us to start rationalizing and treating our creativity like we are in classroom where we are constantly expected to say the correct thing or correct answer, because in creativity, there are no correct answers as long as the final product is achievable or at least, attempted.

I was unsure of what to do for this assignment. I still wanted to try something outside my comfort zone, but I also wanted to explore one of my interests.

For some time I have been thinking about documenting my crochet projects so I can have an archive. Crochet documentation is usually characterized by visual support: pictures of the finished design, videos of the stitches and patterns written in an incomprehensible language. When I think of my projects, I think of what I was doing while I was crocheting. I often crochet during my 5 minute breaks while studying or when I listen to a podcast. I wanted to assign a mix of sounds to each project. For this one, I used different sounds I associate with my last project and actual recordings of my environment while I was crocheting. The blue sleeves is a project I started during finals week to help me focus, especially while studying chemistry. I finished the second sleeve yesterday while going back to the dorms, and I finished weaving the ends in my room while listening to a podcast (about Darth Vader). The audio is not supposed to be “musical” or have actual rhythm, it is more a fingerprint of my process than a musical piece on its own.

Here is a link for the final audio:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gyaknu6m6B_kM9RMfMS2YGZ6rBTr1ME-/view?usp=drive_link

Here is a photo of the final product for reference:

For my make assignment, I decided to draw a sketch of a dream I had that contained a plethora of things. For instance throughout the dream, I was in Berlin witnessing the graffiti, in Italy roaming around and having olives, and in Dubai going to a concert in the Coca Cola Arena.

Each picture depicts a certain scene I had throughout my dream, so I decided to create a collage of all of the instances throughout to portray my subconscious.

On the right side of the page, you can see the Coca Cola Arena, a view of Berlin, some Easter eggs, as well as a cup of chocolate pudding. I then moved on to draw a depiction of some graffiti, olives, a hamburger, whiteboard, and an aerial view of Florence.

NYU is an interesting place. It is not only a university that is set across 15 borders, but is also a university with non-conventional campuses. NYU Abu Dhabi has such an integrated campus complex that every corner is used. NYU Shanghai was just an office tower located right in the central financial hub back then but now has a similar campus design like NYU Abu Dhabi. NYU New York and many other international sites have their academic and residential locations completely blended into the city, sort of using the whole town as its campus. Students take public transportation just to get to their classes. As a study away student living in the Palladium residence in Manhattan but have to get to Tandon in Brooklyn everyday, being on time was not an easy task, but something that requires extra effort, timing and planning. Hence, I made this small brochure about potential solutions to get to school on time using Canva.

The author argues that art creation often occurs in isolation, as artists connect with their materials and ideas, enabling them to express themselves authentically without external distractions. This solitude provides an environment conducive to exploring artistic visions and tapping into inner worlds. While there are exceptions, it is generally true that art rarely comes from committees. The personal nature of artistic creation can be hindered when too many voices and opinions are involved, diluting the artist’s vision and compromising the purity of their expression.

Artists commonly face the burden of real and imagined critics, which can paralyze their creativity and impede artistic growth. The fear of not being understood or accepted is common, as artists expose their vulnerability through their work. The personal nature of art makes it susceptible to criticism that can feel deeply personal to the artist.

Finding a balance between one’s artistic vision and the opinions of others is crucial. Artists should welcome feedback and constructive criticism to refine their work and broaden their perspective but resist catering solely to audience expectations. Striking this balance allows artists to maintain their artistic integrity while considering different perspectives. The struggle between risk-taking and seeking acceptance is a genuine dilemma for artists. Staying true to one’s artistic path and resisting pressures to conform to established norms is vital for growth and innovation.

I worked vertically on a short film that I had done previously. The purpose of the film was to investigate music would affect the tone of a film. I added visual effects to the video to make it more cinematic. I also added text in different parts of the film. I also edited the sound to include a fade-out at the end of the film.

This is the final film:https://youtu.be/glDUq5zUKgo

Yesterday for our group creation, my group and I made a an apple museum. I was inspired by this idea of collection to make a collection of a certain item into something deeper than the the individual items alone. I know my parents keep a lot receipts at home “incase they ever need it.” I asked my dad to send me a couple pictures to see if I could make a story out of this collection. Below is a collage of the receipts (these are receipts for one person only), and here are the things I was able to tell from this collection:

• Drinks a significant amount of coffee (almost everyday)
• Coffee from the same shop, usually same time (morning)
• He/she probably spends a lot of time in that area (work place? home?)
• Coffee addiction? Age? (based on coffee consumption)
• Country of residence (based on currency and information on receipt)
• Spending habits
• Income bracket he/she belongs to
• How often he/she eats out
• Physical health (Pharmacy receipts, Physiotherapy)
• Age (based on doctor’s visits)
• How developed the city he/she lives in is
• Whether he/she lives in this country or is just visiting

Majid Ibrahim

I found this reading very profound as I have experienced the state of flow many times when playing video games. For me, it is a state where I am suddenly performing at a very high level relative to my own standards. My focus increases to the point where I do not think of anything other than what is happening in the game. The game also becomes immensely enjoyable for that period of time. Every time I play it is a battle for me to enter this flow state. I never understood what caused the flow state to happen up until this point. 

The diagram the author drew of the challenges vs skills was very enlightening to me as it shed light on the general conditions of how flow is achieved. This made me realize that every time I entered flow when playing a game it was when I was just barely able to beat the level or opponent. I think that by understanding how flow works, we can plan our actions and pursuits to help us get into this state. This can help us do things better, get more done, and enjoy them more.

Majid Ibrahim

This chapter delves into topics that I have never thought about before as a person not pursuing art as a profession. The author shows how society doesn’t always make it easy for artists to make art. Artists must make work that is both new and easy to understand hence earning society’s approval. It’s a tricky balance, and feeling like you have to meet these standards can stop you from being creative while not conforming to them will get you weird looks.

This ties into the difference between acceptance and approval. I found it interesting the way he describes these 2. I understood acceptance as essentially a “green flag” from the already established artists while approval is whether or not the general public likes it. When the author explained the difference between them I was instantly reminded of the rotten tomatoes rating system for movies where there would be a rating from hardcore critics and a rating from the public. Artists will try to find their own unique balance between acceptance and approval, hoping to make work that speaks to both the artistic community and the general public.