Pentathalon Semester 1

As an experiential component of College Park Arts Scholars, I attended a selection of five art events during my first semester. These events ranged in art mediums and each sparked dialogue among my peers.

Game Day on Zoom

September 12, 2020

#Presentation

I attended the Game Day Event with some other scholars. We spent hours playing different games such as Among Us, One Night Ultimate Werewolf, and Code Words. During the first two games, I had to use my creativity and problem-solving skills to find who in the group was deceiving the others. Also, the third game required teamwork and thinking outside the box to discover which words we had to pick. I feel this experience reminded me of the logic and problem-solving I have to use as a Computer Science Major, especially when programming.

Film Day on Zoom

September 26, 2020
#Film

I spent time watching the movie Howl's Moving Castle with other art scholars over Zoom. I enjoyed the movie and thought it had an interesting story. The movie was made by Studio Ghibli and I love their art style and movies. Additionally, the movie had themes of the importance of outer appearances and the effects of war on people. Watching this movie, made me wonder how deep themes are able to be effectively woven into the plot of a story.

Among Us on Zoom

November 14, 2020
#Art Scholars Event

I spent some more time playing the game Among Us online with other Art Scholars. We spent time playing different game modes such as the regular game and hide and seek. I learned more about different ways to manipulate people and also use social deception in order to win the game. I feel that having the skills to effectively persuaded and interact with others is important in any career field that requires interpersonal skills.

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Chill with the Quill on Zoom

November 17, 2020
#Literature

I spent this event writing poetry with other people on Zoom. At first, we looked at many other examples of poetry and then were given time to write our own or a letter to our future selves. I chose to write a poem about existentialism. I felt that this exercise help me with my creative writing skills. This event also made me think about the mindset of certain poets and the thought that goes behind each word.

Chill Art on Zoom

December 5, 2020

#Visual Art

During this event, I spent time following drawing tutorials online and also sketching drawings. First, we followed a tutorial online to draw an Among Us character and then sketched a character from a picture we found online. Then, we each had to sketch another person in the Zoom, and then finally draw a character of our choice. I felt that this event helped me learn different drawing techniques and also sketching under a time limit. Doing this makes me wonder if exercises like this can actually help improve a person's drawing skills, or if it is more for fun.

Pentathalon Semester 2

Follow along this semester as I document my arts experiences this semester.

Game Zoom on Zoom

February 6, 2021
#Presentation

Last Saturday, I spent time on Zoom with other Scholar Students playing a few games. This first of which was Drawphone where everyone in the game picks a word and then other person will draw that. Afterwards a third person will give a title to the drawing for someone else to draw until everyone have made a drawing or guessed the title. The works like the game Telephone but the players communicate through drawings instead. From this experience, I learned about the importance of communication and how easy it is to muddle up the original message when it goes through many people. The first phrase I had to draw was a frog eating a hamburger which over time had evolved into a ghost after many drawings and guesses. Because of this experience, I wonder how information can become unrecognizable and a new thing entirely due to it passing through many people that interpret it slightly differently. In a time where information is easy to access, it is also incredibly easy to spread misinformation or twist facts around. In a small game with 16 or so people, a word or phrase can be twisted into a new thing entirely, so what if the participants increases even slightly. On a brighter note, I did also see how people are able to interpret and envision art in their own unique way. Where one person sees it as a hermit crab, someone else assumes that it is a rocketship. From that, I can see how unique every artwork is because of not only the artist's own interpretation but what idea it gives to its viewers.

Pentathalon 2 for 1 - Draw together on Zoom

February 28, 2021
#Visual Art

For the first thirty minutes, I spent time drawing to two different themes. This activity allowed me to be creative because the themes we used were unusual and allowed us to try out interesting ideas. The first was to draw animals that normally didn't have legs with legs and the second was humans and pets with their roles swapped. For the first one, I drew a slug with four legs because I thought it'd be funny since the anatomy of a slug makes the legs look out of place. For the second theme I first drew a human napping on a cat tree as a cat tried to feed it some food and a hitman and fish that swapped places. The human was sitting in the the fish tank while the fish watch them from a robot suit so it wouldn't suffocate from being out of the water. The second was my favorite because I liked the idea of a fish manning a robot suit and taking care of its human.

Pentathalon 2 for 1 - Guessing Songs on Zoom

February 28, 2021
#Music

For the last thirty minutes, I participate in the song-guessing game. We voted on using the category of feel-good songs. I chose a song from a game I have played a few months ago because I had a strong connection to it and it always made me feel better. Once the game started, we listened to a variety of songs. My favorite from the ones we listened to was "Everybody Talks" by Neon Trees. Unfortunately, I was only able to match three of the songs to their right person and did not win the competition, but I felt that I had learned something new about the people I was playing with.

I enjoyed this 2 for 1 Pentathalon experience because it gave me a chance to try out new games and things outside of my interests. For example, I had seen people come up with many different ideas for the same drawing prompt I had that I would never even consider, like an Octopus with human legs, and I had also heard some new songs I had not heard before in the guessing game. I feel this experience helped remind me how vast and far-reaching the skills and interests of those in Art Scholars are, and how there are an incredibly large amount of ways to express oneself through art. I also wonder how many people in Art scholars have similar interests, goals, or ways of expressing themselves to me. I am drawn towards expressing my creativity through gameplay and story, rather than drawing or music, so I hope that I'll find some like-minded people in Art Scholars.

Memes on Zoom

March 27, 2021
#Presentation, #Art Scholars

For this event, I participated in a presentation of my peer mentor's Capstone project. We learned about the different types of popular memes and then tried to make our own. The themes that we had were quarantine and Art Scholars. For quarantine, I made a meme about realizing just how long we've been in quarantine. I enjoyed this one because I find it interesting how memes can joke around about our situation but at the same time make us aware of things we could forget about such as being in a pandemic for over a year. This event makes me wonder if memes can serve the same purpose as political cartoons have in the past where it pokes fun at a topic while also informing people about that. However, memes can also be enjoyed like other art where people can derive enjoyment and happiness from a distraction. Some forms of art can be enjoyed as a catharsis or a way to distract us from our worries. After seeing many different types of memes in many communities, I feel that I can also see them in that light as well.

AAB Poetry Slam on Zoom

April 6, 2021
#Literature

During this event, I attended a poetry slam and created a mad-libs poem. The first part of the event was spent in breakout rooms where we worked together in a group to make a mad-lib poem. Mad-lib poems are poems with blanks that people work together to place random words to create a mish-mash of words for a poem. My group's poem ended up being quite funny, but I wonder how different the final product would have been had different people been a part of the group or if we had known what the full sentences were beforehand. With different people, many different possibilities could occur with how creative each individual person is. Additionally, had we known what the whole poem was, I feel some would have tried to make the poem make more sense while others would try to make it make less sense, I believe it depends on how serious the person feels about the activity, where some find more enjoyment through the meaning of art and the investment while others enjoy the experience that comes with creating it. With this experience, I feel that the experience of creating is more enjoyable than the final product because it becomes harder to feel proud of one's art if one doesn't enjoy making it. I learned in my Art theory class that many artists suffer from mood disorders and expressed these feelings through their art, but I feel that expressing positive emotions in art as well as negative in a balanced way is a good way to create quality art that speaks to the artist and viewers.

Pentathalon Semester 3

IMD@NextNOW at Brendan Iribe Center

September 17, 2021
#Presentation

I attended an event part of NextNOW at the Irbe Center. There, students part of Interactive Media Design presented various projects that students had worked on over the summer. Many of the projects use VR and AR technologies while others had creative ways for people to interact with them. During the event, people were able to view and interact with the different presentations. Some of the presentations that stuck out to me were the VR chess simulation, a VR rec room, and a silhouette creator. The first used a combination of chess.com and unity to create a 3d scene a person could play within VR. The rec room had various games that the player could use such as shooting a basketball or a strength test. The silhouette creator had a camera people could stand in front of that would project various images of the people's silhouette. The most intriguing display was one where therapeutic music would play and create a scene of light that can be moved around using a stylus. The combination of the beautiful colors and the calming music allowed me to relax entirely. Going through all of the displays here reminded me of VR technology started to gain popularity and it was enjoyable to see how much it has changed over the years. Technology is rapidly advancing faster over the years and I wonder if interactive media will evolve more interactivity and capabilities in a few short years. I especially enjoyed the displays here because of my interest in creating art through video games. With advancing technology, the possibilities of what I can create are ever-expanding. Having so many possible ways to express me creatively can be overwhelming, but challenging myself by moving past my comfort zone can allow me to be more creative with my art.

Coffee & Crafts Pop Music Jeopardy at Bel-Air

October 1, 2021
#ArtScholars, #Music

During this event, I had teamed up with other people and competed against other teams in Jeopardy about pop music. Our team ended up with only 500 points and I almost lost points with a wrong answer. I was wary at first because I have not listened to pop music in years, but I tried my best and failed miserably. However, I was able to learn a lot about pop music such as the Beatles holding a world record in worldwide sales or that Olivia Rodriguez is a popular artist. Doing this reminded me yet again how vast over-reaching art is able to be. Everyone else in my group also listens to other music that is different from pop and eve my own. Just like other art forms, music has a talent for being able to express so many ideas and emotions through various styles so that me and the person sitting next to me can have completely different tastes in music and art as well. While art can reach out to so many people in this way, it can also alienate people who have no interest or knowledge in it, like i was with pop music. This begs the question, how is an artist trying to make a change in their community express themselves effectively without alienating their audience. If it caters to the artist's feelings too much, people outside can become confused or put off by the art. On the flip side, if it becomes very digestible, but generic, lot's of people would be able to enjoy it but the message can become muddled and lost. Striking a perfect balance would take the benefits from both, but is very difficult to achieve. However, because it difficult, it makes making a change and spreading awareness that much more important.

AAB Arthouse at CCC

October 15, 2021
#Presentation

For this event, I was a viewer for the performances at the AAB Arthouse. There were many talented acts. The ones that stood out to me was the guitar performance and the meme presentation. The guitar performance was an enjoyable experience because the performer played two of their own songs they had written. Learning to play an instrument can already be a daunting task to take on, but becoming proficient enough to write music yourself is a sign of talent. I also enjoyed the meme presentation because he showed off memes and small joke projects he had made in the past with autotuned or animation. The presenter also was funny and nice to listen to even when there were technical difficulties throughout the presentation. Though I did not participate, I was able to see a lot of talented performances from others and have a good time. I was wondering throughout the event, how would things have gone, had I performed? I do not have much to showcase, so it would be interesting to try to come up with something. On the other hand, I would probably give myself too much stress since performing is not my strong suit. However, being able to put oneself out there is an important skill in both Art Scholars and Art Activism because if you don't put yourself out there, how is anyone ever going to hear what you have to say. The biggest take away I had from this event was how to improve myself so that I could also share my own talent with others

Concert in the Quad: RAJAS

October 25, 2021
#Music

For this event, I watching a performance by RAJAS at the CCC. There, the group played an improvised piece. The music was a very unique mix between jazz and Asian styles. While I listen to many types of of music, this was a new experience. This reminds me of how art is reused and mixed together to create new art in different forms, such as sampling music, fan fiction, or reinventing a genre. Art changes overtime as different creative aspect work together to make something new. This makes me wonder about how much of an understanding and experience with the different aspect is needed to be able to blend them well or else the result ends up uncanny or tacky. I also wonder about how well the group was able to improvise with each other because of how long they had been working together over the years. Without any prior practice, they were able to synchronize well and also join in and exit naturally. I admire how skilled and talented they are at their craft. Their skill makes me as an artist want to improve myself to the point I'm able to create with more talent and less struggles as I have now.

Blacklight Summit at the Clarice

February 6, 2022
#Dance

I went to the Clarice to view a performance called Keep The Light On. The show consisted of multiple artists doing dance performances. All of the dances were unique and some of them seemed to have an interesting central theme to it. One such performance was a recorded film of the dancers dancing to sounds clips of commercials and of products targetted towards men and promoted masculinity. The performances were incredibly entertaining and intriguing. After watching this performance, I find myself wondering on how much time it takes to plan and practice for an individual performance and how long many of these performers must have spent perfecting their skills. Talent is only one part of creating art, and the hard work needed can take a long time, so I have a lot of respect for performers like thee for beingso talents and experts at their craft. Addittionally, while watching this performance I noticed that a lot there was potentially a lot of hidden meanings that could be infered from the background music and the performers body language. This performance showed me how a central theme of an art piece can still be abstract or more hidden, yet still enhance the artwork. The main message of an artwork does not always have to be obvious in order to make a piece meaningful, and I believe that can work depending on what art the artist is trying to create. In the future, I might try to make the central themes or messages more subtle or abstract to make the audience ponder on it more.

2 for 1 Pentathlon Fall Fire Sale

February 10, 2022
#Music, #Art Scholars

I went to an event where I ended up watching a portion of a film and an acting performance. The performance revolved around the relationship of Latina mothers and daughters. What was incredibly interesting was that the performer did interviews with real people, and then performed those actions in front of an audience. I also enjoyed how the performances were able to highlight how problems can span over generations and also the identity of being a Latina. As a Latina myself, I enjoyed the performance and felt connected to the performer and the people she played. I admired how she was able to embody the people she was playing and switch between them so quickly. This showed me how much talent Maldonado has in her craft and how she spent a long time working to perfect it. After watching this performance, it made me want to reconsider how I would bring the message behind my art to my audience. A lot of times, it seems best to argue a point, to push the audience in a direction of how they feel on the topic. However, the approach the performer took just objectively presents others' opinions on the matter and allows the audience to think about the matter for themselves. The artist's approach helped remind me how to differently approach my audience. Additionally, the performance itself left me with questions about my own sense of self as a Latina. My family comes from Brazil and speaks Portuguese which leads some of my experiences to be different from many other Latinas. However, I found myself instead relating to many of the people that came from different countries. It makes me wonder if there are a lot more experiences I didn't know I shared with other Latinas, and I am curious to look into the topic more in the future.

Coffee and Crafts Architecture Drawing at Bel-Air

March 31, 2022
#Visual Art

I decided to attend an event where we all made drawings using scratch paper. It's an interesting medium where you scratch away at the black paper to reveal a variety of colors underneath. With this, interesting drawings can be made using color and the negative space.

We were tasked with making scratch drawing about architecture. I found the experience to be quite relaxing. It was satisfying to keep scratching away at the paper and have a nice end result. For my drawing, I decided to do a landscape drawing of the Christ, The Redeemer Statue in Rio. My drawing ended up being more like a sketch and a little messy but I ended up liking it. Sometimes, when it comes to making art, I stress out when it doesn't come out the exact way I wanted it. However, with this medium, I soon realized that every mistake was irreversible. I decided to try and go with the flow and avoid getting stressed over it. I feel I was able to learn to relax a little more when creating instead of trying to perfect every bit of it. After this experience, I wonder what other constraints I can put myself under to help with making progress in any artwork I make in the future.

Sketch Around Campus

March 17, 2022
#Presentation

I attended an event where we walked around campus and sketched some places. I ended up drawing sketches for two locations. The first was the circle area near the Stamp building and the second was Mckeldin Mall. The activity was enjoyable and quite relaxing. I enjoy creating art with pencil sketches rather than painting, so I had a lot of fun enjoying the nice weather and relaxing drawings. My favorite out of the two was the first because it was a lot cleaner and had more scenery depicted in it. This event helped me practice my drawing skills, and I improved at drawing landscapes a little from this. I normally don't take time to go out and enjoy and draw what I see, so it was a break from studying. Additionally, this experience reminded me that inspiration can come from mundane things around me. Constraints and boredom foster the best environment for creativity. Going out and forcing myself to draw what is in front of me requires me to sit still and get into the zone while also limiting me to only what I can see. Additionally, it can help people avoid running into an art block since the subject is in front of them.