I Think I Love History...of Art

Cabaret de l'enfer

I cannot express just how much I love my history of photography class and how enthusiastic I am to go to class everyday. I have learned so much in just the few short weeks I have been attending. I even find myself replaying the lectures over in my mind, testing my memory of the photographers and linking them to their respective photographic works. The photographs above and below are the works of Eugene Atget, my current favorite photographer right up next to Ralph Eugene Meatyard (I seem to have a thing for Eugenes, a fact that would greatly disappoint my brother--he hates the name). I immediately fell in love with Atget's photographic documentation of Paris, particularly the cabaret and carnival photographs. I find them to be incredibly eerie yet intimate, a combination that stirs within me a deep sense of nostalgia for the past. They are just too beautiful! 

Despite my loathing for all that is history, my desire to learn more about the history of art continues to grow exponentially. I guess art history is just in a different, more interesting league of its own. 

I know that no matter what I do, I will one day work in the fashion industry. But as of now, I have decided (yes, a real decision I plan to see through!) to take the scenic route and pursue my master's in art history. In the end, not only will I feed my desirous intellect, but a master's in art history will nicely complement my work in fashion, whatever that work may be. 

But until then...art history homework!

Interested in more of his work? I find this site to be incredibly informative! 

ENJOY <3

A Watermelon Craze

I have been craving watermelon agua fresca for days! And the heat has not eased my craving at all. To satiate my desire, I have been frequenting my favorite haunt almost daily (I lived on their agua fresca all during dead week and finals week), but sadly they have not had it.

SO...I decided to make my own, but only after my best friend assured me that making my own was not only possible but easy peasy! 

{Thanks, lovely!}

Watermelon Aqua Fresca

Makes One Tall Glass

1/4 Cantaloupe-Sized Seedless Watermelon, cubed and refrigerated 

1/4 cup of water

And, are you ready for this, all you have to do is blend these two ingredients until chunky!

Serve Immediately! 

ENJOY <3

I know I will enjoy my delicious drink while reading my new book, Chanel!

My Childhood Dress Put Away Indefinitely

For my Practice of Art class, my teacher assigned the seemingly easy task of creating a story using only 6 words, based on Hemingway's own six word story: "For Sale: Baby Shoes. Never Used."

It was a really fun task.

For my story I decided to play with the issues of memory and time. I envisioned a white lace dress being packed away into a box and put into storage, a symbol of childhood, as we also pack away memories as daily challenges occupy the forefront of our minds.

 My next task was to recreate this concept visually. I sketched out several ideas before settling on the creation of a paper Polaroid camera. In my exhibition, I crafted a Polaroid camera with a developing Polaroid picture still resting in its slot, a picture frame showing the developed picture, and a storage box packing away the frame. In this sequence, I hoped to capture the passage of time as is relative to the creation, possession, and storage of memory. Moreover, I made all of these items from paper to show how these items all possess the ability to decompose, to break down into nothing and lose their value over time. With time, the mind and memory share this very outcome. 

As a child, I parted with many items that I found incredibly sentimental. And each time this happened, I was told that the item would live on in my memory. The item is remembered, as it is captured in my exhibition, at its finest, the way we choose to remember it. But despite the fine quality we snapshot in our memory, the item does not live forever. With the element of time, nothing can last forever, not the actual item, not the paper-imitation item, and not even the memory itself. 

The Back is Not Yet Made, But It is Coming Along!

The Back is Complete!

 The Polaroid represents that particular moment when the memory is created, as the photo has not yet developed. My choice to make everything out of cardstock paper allows for the capture of this particular moment (I wish I could, but I do not know how to do this chemically). 

 The framing of the Polaroid indicates the larger increment of time in which the love for the item (in this case the dress), and the possession of its memory still resides in the mind, as the  concept of framing so indicates. 

Finally, the box signifies the moment in which the item is taken from the shelf and put away, separated from the everyday life, separated from the mind's preoccupations and stored away somewhere where it now possesses the ability to be forgotten, as the placement below the top shelf portrays.