Folklore Materials
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Avir’s samples of student art:
Picture 1:
Title: Radio Station Art
Collector’s Name: Unknown
Collection Location: IU Folklore Archives in the IU Archives in Wells Library.
Date Collected: 1990’s (?)
Genre: Music party art
Context: The picture seems to be about the radio station 95.1 WIUS at Collins dormitories. The flyer is advertising the station to students interested in popular music, trying to attract more listeners with the art.
Details: There are things in this art work that I would like to point out which were used to attract more people to read the flyer. First the text style has interesting features, the hand written aspect creates a more personal feel, and the placement of words flows nicely to the main topic of the flyer, the radio station 95.1 WIUS.
Picture 2:
Title: Radio Station Art
Collector’s Name: Unknown
Collection Location: IU Folklore Archives in the IU Archives in Wells Library.
Date Collected: 1990’s (?)
Genre: Music party Art,
Context: There is a “Rock N Roll” junkyard party at some house. It is hard to determine the context but it says “10% off” on the bottom right corner so it is probably a fundraiser for a fraternity.
Details: The details in this picture are the creative images, all of which I am sure the organization that is sponsoring this even relates to. The two images on the top, the person laying on the ground, the little head sticking out, the rat, and the person at the bottom with his thumbs up all seem to represent some characteristic of probably the organizers. Also the material objects in the picture could represent the “rock n roll” music they will have at the party.
Picture 3:
Title: Radio Station Art
Collector’s Name: Unknown
Collection Location: IU Folklore Archives in the IU Archives in Wells Library.
Date Collected: 1990’s (?)
Genre: Music party art
Context: This is another WIUS flyer which is advertising a live concert. The picture probably represents the band or the album being performed at the concert.
Details: I believe the greatest detail of this picture is the central subject with the dying clown. The information aspect of the flyer is not very appealing but the picture and the setup of the picture and the heading are really good. The emphasis on “Live” and the decorations on the side and then finally WIUS are all good details on this flyer.
Picture 4:
Title: Radio Station Art
Collector’s Name: Unknown
Collection Location: IU Folklore Archives in the IU Archives in Wells Library.
Date Collected: 1990’s (?)
Genre: Music party art
Context: A WIUS flyer about a get together every Wednesday night from 11pm-2pm, which involves listening to some type of hip hop or rock music. It is also interesting that the flyer also has an image on the bottom right to help people plug their radio in to listen to the music.
Details: The whole form and structure of this flyer is different than most. There is a lot of intricate design in text and the main subject, the skeleton in the clown outfit. The font style of the text is very elaborate and almost hard to read if one is not close to it, thus bringing closer attention to the text; exactly what the skeleton says seems to already attract a certain type of audience. Also in this picture is the informational image to help the listeners properly connect to the radio. It is interesting that the flyer has this image, clearly meaning that it is an earlier flyer when the station was still new.
Picture 5:
Title: Radio Station Art
Collector’s Name: Unknown
Collection Location: IU Folklore Archives in the IU Archives in Wells Library.
Date Collected: 1990’s (?)
Genre: Music party art
Context: This flyer is an WIUS product about a sponsored daily event. The images in the flyer seem to attract to the general population.
Details: This flyer is one of the new ones due to the fact that the entire flyer is made on a computer. The flyer was made in the later part of the 90’s when design technology was more available and cheap. The graphics still have the rock theme and also have the whole music aspect. The flyer still is aimed at music listeners but the content and the meaning of the flyer has changed from the typical rock and hip hop.
Meaning and Function of these materials:
The purpose of the flyers and the images on the flyers was to attract more people to the concert or to listen to the station. The personal drawings added to and attracted people at a personal and creative level. The personalizing of text styles and themes, and the colors, all add to and give character and expression to the flyers. The idea is to inform the viewer of the event, the location, the sponsor, and any other information required for the viewer to make a decision to come or not.
The meaning throughout the flyers is the same: come to listen to music and have fun with people who share the same taste. Of course each piece of art has a different theme and meaningful aspect but the concept is the same. Listening and being around good music of the time, which ranges from rock n roll to hip hop.
Item 1: Stomp The Spartans
Context: This is a sports banner that was done by the RHA-Residents Hall Association on Campus. This was used for a sports banner when IU played the Michigan Spartans. Each team is represented by M&M Candies. The date of this Banner is unknown.
Item 2: Cover of “Collins Columns”
This is the cover of a local dorm newspaper that was released in 1999. The newspaper is done by students living in Collins dormitory. This particular issue was a 1980s edition reminiscing on everything from the “cool 80’s.” Now these issues can be found online.
Item 3: Sashi’s College Dictionary – “Tetrified”
Context: this was a repeating comic within the Collin’s Column. This comic tells the stories of Sashi and her college experience. In each comic, she presents a made up word out of her own dictionary and defines it. I think that this comic is a way for her to vent through expression of art and writing. This particular word is “Tetrified,” defining what happens when you play Tetris for too long.
Artist and writer: Aveh Sile
Item 4: Sashi’s College Dictionary – “Wambamslam”
In this issue Aveh Sile, the artist, is defining the word “Wamblamslam” as the feeling you get when you walk in on your roommate having sex.
Item 5: Picture #5- “The Drawback”
Bridget Siebert
Archival Collection
Folklore Arts
The Drawback
Context: This is a weekly comic from the Collins Column, a weekly newspaper for the residents of Collins Dormitory. Lyolia, a local resident of Collins, does this Comic. This comic is discussing how the artist feels when he is carrying his large art case around campus and it makes his arm want to fall off. There are many artists and art students around campus that carry those cases so this is probably a mutual feeling among them, so many people can probably relate to this pain.
Who Created/Performed the Text: Lyolia, a local resident of Collins
Members in the Audience: Collins Residents
Location/ Timing: Herman B. Wells Library, Spring Semester 2008
Item 1: RHA Banner
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Done by IRHOC in 2003.
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Unknown collector and place of collection
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Possibly a dorm or association banner for a get together or game.
“Where the Wild things Are”- a re-creation of the book joined with the IRHOC 2003 stamp and the IU symbol. I tried to look up any detail I could on the IU website but found nothing except that it might have a connection to a state conference and the Alumni Association.
Item 2: Collins Column-80’s issue edition, Collins Hall, 09/08/99.
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Performed by Emily Hartsay.
Comic was done or published at the beginning of the fall semester in fall 99. I love the Caption at the bottom “Now after looking over the syllabus, if anyone finds the course requirements too easy…” How many times do we feel this way? Oh and the “weep(ing)” and “sobs” in the background; one character even says “there goes my life.”
Item 3: WIUS radio station presentation for rave.
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Unknowns=date and artist
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Rave went through radio station to have their Thursday night specials
Not much known for this one. I couldn’t tell if the play on words for Dr. Seuss and friends vs. the picture and point of the rave or if Dr Seuss is a real person and part of the company. There was no date when the Thursday night raves started, but the picture I think did an awesome job trying to replicate visually what a rave would/should do to you physically!
Item 4: McNutt’s Homecoming Tuesday, October 9,?
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Year unknown, performer unknown
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Semi-formal attire, displaying the formal lady and the semi man! For the homecoming dance in McNutt Hall. Probably displayed on the dorm wall.
I thought it was great displaying the semi-formal attire of the male and female…also the “Udderly Cool” cow in the corner with Utterly misspelled.
Item 1
Student Radio Flyer
Date Collected: Estimated mid 1990’s
This is an advertisement for the student radio station, probably collected from some ad posted around the campus. The performer who created this piece is unknown but it probably came from the public relations committee of the student radio station.
The flyer definitely comes from the nineties. You can mostly tell by the style of it. The speaker kind of looks a bit demonic and scary. Also the whole thing was drawn by hand. I mention this because computer programs like Photoshop make a lot of the student radio flyers you see today. Its content is all about music and it wants to gather large parts of the community to tune in to this one channel. The radio station uses art to grab people’s attention and then sends a message of music so more people will listen to the student station.
(Note that the design is clever, showing one of IU’s dorms as a speaker system – JMcD.)
Item 2
IU dorm banner
Date Collection: Estimated 2000
This artifact is an advertisement for the Resident Hall Association, collected from one of the dorms here at IU. It seems to me that this was a banner created by seven members of the Residence Hall Association. I assume that maybe it was representing some sort of after school activity. From what I can gather, these members of the Resident Hall Association got together and created this banner. They probably did it to advertise who they were. I think their creative idea here was to make a mock banner of the “starting line up” banners you see for college basketball.
I think what is significant here is that the group is trying to communicate something to the community. Because they are an organization that helps the community, the group wants their name to be known by others. By creating this banner they are documenting their attempt to enrich the community with the awareness of their organization.
Item 3
Presidents Council 90-91
Date Collected: 1991-92
The item is a caricature portrait about a school organization, in this case the Presidents’ Council. I believe was originally collected from the Forest Quad. The names of the people are unknown. I would guess that this was made as a group effort. One person may have drawn it but everyone probably helped in some way.
It’s hard to know what this one is really about. It is a drawing of a group of kids who were involved in some sort of council. I believe George Bush was president at the time so maybe this group was some sort of republican group.
Item 4
Comic created by Emily Hartsay, 1990s.
This is a comic strip from a student zine. The creator of this comic was Emily Hartsay. The collector’s name is the Collins Column. This comic could have started out as a joke amongst friends, with the artist deciding to turn it into a comic. So a group of people might be the reason this whole comic strip came to be.
This is another artifact taken from the 90’s. You can tell it is from the 90’s because Cow and Chicken was a popular cartoon during the 90’s. Again the fact that it is hand drawn is a sign of the times. Today’s comics are mostly done with computers. The content of the comic is interesting because it’s stating an opinion that is to be shared by a large portion of the community. This comic being circulated is the same idea as a joke being spread by members of the community. Eventually everyone picks up on it and talks about it with each other. They are all laughing at the same thing together.
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Picture 1:
Date Collected: April 9th 2008
Location: Forest Center Building
The picture serves two purposes in the main lobby of Forest dormitories. First, it is decorative and appealing to the visitors and students who see it. Second, it serves to show the theme and meaning of the community in Forest.
The artwork in the center is the main focus of the decoration. The image of pottery, basket, and fruits and vegetables give a feeling of homeliness. The theme reminds of picnics when growing up with the family. The things in the artwork include baskets, a brown cloth, and some strands of wheat with a paper background filled with autumn-style leaves. The background decorations bring the art to life and display the community values of Forest dorms.
Picture 2:
Date Collected: April 9th 2008
Location: Forest front desk
The art work in here was to make the front desk area less boring and more welcoming.
The theme of this piece is spring, which includes different colored flowers, birds, and animals prevalent in spring time. All the colors are very vibrant and welcoming, creating a relaxed and open environment. This display was created by Forest resident hall assistants, who seem to have added what each of them thinks of as spring to brighten up the front desk area with their individuality.
Picture 3:
Date Collected: April 9th 2008
Location: Forest B tower
Interviewee: Len
The images and the art on this RA’s door are mainly decorative, “cool” and good-looking sights for others on the floor to admire and enjoy. That was the reason given by the RA, and I observed, as well, that it was to make the RA more of a friendly person to talk to for the residents of the floor.
The door has many pictures representing hobbies and characteristics of the person in the room, specifically his banjo playing skills. There is an interesting small part on the door which was drawn by the RA’s friend when they were coming back to Bloomington on a flight. The friend drew it using his knowledge of the RA and his traits. It has deep blue and black colors that are the used to make different images such as eyes, hearts, banjos, and other imaginative things.
Picture 4:
Date Collected: April 9th 2008
Location: Forest Center Building
This piece of art work was created for informational purpose for residents. It seems to be created to convince students to be more environmentally friendly, showing facts and figures on how resources are being wasted.
The art is more or less an information bulletin, focusing on being “green”-minded, which explains the green paper background. The green leprechaun is giving advice on how we, the residents, can do small things to improve and use the resources more efficiently to save the environment. All the leprechauns seem to have hats and beards, which I thought was interesting because that is popular culture affecting the appeal of the bulletin.
Picture 5:
Date Collected: April 9th 2008
Location: Read Center Building
The work on this door was done by the residents of the room, Ben and Lindsey. The idea is the shapes representing different seasons.
The colors relate to the seasons the stencils portray: orange and brown for autumn and white snowflakes for winter season. The stencils have both the residents’ names written on them, simply done by a sharpie. There is also another image of a Wizard of Oz quote that talks about how fun it is to live at Read.
Meanings and Functions:
The function of the art and the images in the dormitories is to create a relaxed, fun, and easy going environment amongst the residents and the people in charge. The personality and individuality of the people came out in their drawings and art work, which appealed to people at a personal level. The detail of the shapes, sizes, and colors of each piece of art work and the main subject addressed give character and expression to the work. The purpose was to unify, inform, or ease the tension of the residents in the dormitories.
The meaning of the art work varied depending on the location of the piece. Typically the ones in the main building or the lobby of the residential halls were either informational or fun. The ones on the floors were typically on the doors of the students, who essentially were expressing themselves or making comments about others though art.
Item 1: Peoples Park Mural
Artists Unknown—other than students at
Rhino’s
Context: This is a mural made up of six different paintings that were done by students involved in the Rhino’s All age club, and can be found at Peoples Park on East Kirkwood. The manager at Rhino’s said that the artists would like to remain anonymous and were not available for consultation. This mural is available for public viewing, for it is located in a very central location.
This mural is made up of six different paintings. There is everything from abstract art and figures to landscapes and cartoon characters. This mural was meant to be an outlet for the teens at Rhino’s and I think that a lot of the mural paintings are paintings of feelings and visual images; it is used as an outlet of expression for everyday life.
Interview:
I interviewed Kayleigh Chrzan, a local at the People’s Park.
BS: Are you at the Peoples Park a lot?
KC: Yeah, I hang out here about everyday, it is uh close to everybody.
BS: So you see the murals every day then? What are your feelings on them?
KC: I think they are great. This is such an artistic town and an artistic street and I think that this park is really cool too cool at when you drive by and the murals make people look, ya know?
BS: So you like them? Do you think they give anything to the community?
KC: Yeah, definitely. It gives a since of community to the park which is fitting because the park is meant to be a gathering place.
Item 2: Graffiti Around Campus
Location: Bloomington Indiana and Indiana University Campus
Context: Much of this graffiti was found in various places around town. Just about everywhere you look you can find graffiti, which is an artistic outlet for those who want to express themselves artistically as well as politically. The artists of these drawings are unknown. I found the graffiti shown below on North Walnut and on 11th Street.
Much of this graffiti shows tagging by the artist, but some are meant to make a political statement. Graffiti is an outlet for the artist to express him or herself without having to face the repercussions of being outspoken or artistic. Some of these, like the tags are done with multiple layering of different styles and textures of spray paint, are really detailed and intricate. The picture of the smiling face was very simply done, made to look like permanent marker but really done with black spay paint. This one is a simple work, but I think it says a lot -- it gives off just a very chill mood, and a don’t worry be happy feel.
Item 3: Big Mouth Subs Graffiti
Artist: Jetene
Location: Big Mouth Subs, 2007
Context: This work of Graffiti can be found at Big Mouth Subs on Third Street. This was done by a true graffiti artist. The owner got tired of having to paint over the graffiti that this artist was doing illegally to the back of the sub shop, so he took down the art in the store and gave the artist an entire wall to tag, as long as it had something to do with the sub shop.
These paintings are extremely rich in detail and personality. I think that because this person was given the opportunity to do what he loves on a blank canvas, then he really took off and ran with it. This was in a sub shop, so the topic of this work of art is obviously a man eating a large and delicious sub sandwich, as well as the Big Mouth Subs name.
I interviewed a worker at Big Mouth Sub Shop about the painting, he wished to remain anonymous so we will name him Dan.
BS: So what is your take on the huge wall of graffiti?
Dan: I think it is really cool, I haven’t worked here that long but it gives the place something extra.
BS: Do you notice a reaction when people see the painting?
Dan: Oh yeah, definitely, I mean (pointing to the wall) it’s kinda heard to miss! Normally when people
come in, this is the first thing they see and they are usually like that’s tight, or that’s really cool, has that been up here the whole time and I just not noticed? It makes me laugh, and I’m like, uh I think that you would notice this painting was up the whole time ya know.
Item 4: Pizza Box Drawings at Baked
Location: Baked on 7th street.
Context: This was a really cool piece of folklore art. When walking into Baked on 7th street, you can’t help but notice the wall-to-wall covering of pizza boxes that have been colored on. These drawings do not have to be done by artists, but the owner encourages people to pick up a pizza box and start drawing! These drawings can be anything from political statements, to portraits, to happy pictures of rainbows and flowers, to psychedelic marker drawings.
I interviewed The owner Jared about the drawings
BS: So can you tell me a little about the drawings? They are really cool!
Jared: Yeah well it started with one of my delivery drivers, she was a really good artist and I guess was
bored one night and started to doodle on a box and we just put it up on the wall, and then people would start to come in and as for boxes so they could draw on them, so I guess it just caught on.
BS: well this was a really good idea huh?
Jared: Yeah at the other store the walls were pretty bare, so when we moved here I just had a few
pictures hang up, so this ended up being really cheap wall art, and something that people seem to enjoy.
BS: Yeah, do you plan to fill the place up?
Jared: Well apparently fire marshals and building codes will let you put things that could be considered
flammable material on only 40% of the walls, but I have my whole kitchen that I am obviously not going to fill up so I figure when I am full out here I will move to the ceiling, They didn’t say anything about the ceiling.
Item 5: Greek Art, advertising little 500
Artist: Unknown member of fraternity and sorority
Location: Pi Kappa Sigma and Gamma Phi Beta
Context: These works of art can been seen in front of every Greek house on campus. These paintings are just a creative way to show people things like the house pair for a particular event or to welcome incoming brothers or sisters into their house.
These paintings seem to be done with simple latex based paint. These are usually done on banners hung from the house or painted on the sidewalks or walkways up to the house. This particular one done on the sidewalk is advertising their pair for little five, and to wish their riders good luck!
Meaning:
With all of the art on campus, there can be one word that describes it, and that word is “outlet.” I feel that all of these works of art are an outlet for artists to express themselves and their thoughts in a constructive (though sometimes illegal) manner. The graffiti on campus can be found anywhere and everywhere, from walls to dumpsters to chalk on the sidewalk, and it is a way to make a statement. The Greek art is a bit different in that it is a tradition in the Greek system to paint sidewalks and banners to show support for their houses.
Most of the graffiti on campus was done illegally with spray-paint, mostly to make a statement about politics or to tag that particular area with their name. Some of this graffiti was done so nicely and beautifully that it is hard to consider it an illegal act. In any case, it is hard to track down graffiti artists for they usually want to remain anonymous.
The art within the restaurants was very interesting to me because this would have been the last place for me to look for folkloric art. However, when you walk into Big Mouth Sub Shop you can’t help but peer up and see this graffiti on the wall. This art had a purpose -- to make a logo for the sub shop -- but it also gave the artist a way to express himself and an outlet to do so. And the cookie shop Baked gives anybody the opportunity to tap at the untouched artist within them and have a fun and constructive way to decorate a hot spot for people in a very inexpensive way. The owner of Baked did not pressure people to draw, and did not even hang up the first box for this to be a trend, but by word of mouth and by seeing, this idea caught on, and it became an art project that people talk about!
Item 1: World made out of cigarette butts
Date: Fall of 1996
The cigarette Earth was created by three students living at Collins Living Learning Center in the Fall of 1996. This entire work is made from cigarette butts that were collected from the courtyard of Collins. It stands as a cry for more careful environmental awareness.
Item 2: Sharpie mural created on student’s living room wall
Date: 2007-2008
Location: Student Apartment
The art mural was created by an unknown number of students. Dry erase board was tacked onto the wall in the living room of a student’s apartment. Whenever people would come over they were free to draw whatever they wanted on the board using sharpie markers. Over time the wall grew and grew until it became a spontaneous and collective piece of art.
Item 3: Graffiti
Date: Estimated 1990-Present
Location: Railroad Tracks
Graffiti Bridge is interesting because it, like the board and the mural, is a collaborative effort. And what is unique about this specific graffiti spot is that it is mostly done by stray graffiti artists who happen to stumble upon this spot.
Item 4: Opium Board *
Date: Fall of 2007
Location: Student’s apartment
Informant: Anonymous
*A note about discussion and interview in concerns of the opium board. As this art does deal with drug culture names have been changed for interviews. These Interviews are from three contributors to the opium boards and they shared their thoughts on the creation of it.
Jakobi “The Yellow Jacket” Smith
"In the beginning there was the wall. In the beginning of the apartment was the wall. A project put together by the residents and many friends. It all started with one stroke of a permanent marker and since turned into a beautiful monstrosity of art. A giant mural and a kaleidoscope of drawings. Brick by brick, picture by picture, artist by artist, it grew. The inspiration? Copious amounts of ganja and great conversations. Each person and painting adds something new and insane; it may seem like chaos yet it flows like the clothes of heaven."
Albert Ias
"The “Opium Board” is most notable for its non-directional style. The drawings literally grew organically and randomly. People came and went, all the while adding their piece and moving on. It mimics life as good art should.
The piece as a whole is drug-induced. Though questionable to some, to many others, drugs are a mechanism by which we can connect to our subconscious minds as well as our imaginations and creative drives. People who’ve never tried marijuana may view it as a way to escape. In a way it is. Drugs allow us to escape reality, our conscious minds, and move into a place free from distractions. Buddhists see the ability to clear the mind from distractions as an uphill battle. Years of meditation and practice precede enlightenment. For those of us without the time or willpower to dedicate our lives to “cleaning the mirror of our mind,” drugs give us a peek at this world.
Naturally, being stoned tempts one to draw drug-related material. This pins the expressions to drug sub-culture. Good art, it now seems, relays messages from the sub-culture. Picasso tore art apart. Andy Warhol made something out of nothing. They painted with their minds instead of their hands. We painted with drugs…with our minds."
Isis Key
"When this board came into my possession, I was in an artistic phase deeply influenced by Frank Stella; therefore I began my contribution with this in mind. I drew straight lines to begin, but they quickly morphed into curves, arches, and finally, a sphere. I was feeling the full effects of the opium kick in by this point, which kept me glued to the sphere. I added shading and colors to make it a vibrant focus in the artwork. Keeping in mind that I was one of the first to touch what I knew would be a collaborative effort, I left space and opportunity for others to add on, or hopefully, play with what I had created.
When I saw the completed project in all its drug-induced glory, I was surprised-no, quite pleased. Everything worked together so harmoniously. The drugs created a bond with the artists; they were connected."
Comments:
For this project I was able to obtain three really great interviews discussing the Opium Board and the wall art. These pieces of art turned out to be an anonymous group collaboration. In a sense it was an artistic experiment. Combining drugs and a giant canvas for anyone to doodle on. The wall slowly grew into a beautiful beacon of creativity and became a visual interpretation of a collective subconscious.
Really its function is to produce a message that is created from individual creativity. It is also stands as a symbol that sends a message from the drug community. This is physical proof that drugs aren’t entirely destructive. That maybe they can have positive benefits and help creativity flourish in a person. I honestly feel like the drug culture connected to this art is a statement that helps shine a more positive light on drugs such as marijuana.
The cigarette board is a very interesting piece. Its meaning is to help make people aware of how much they are littering at the Collins Courtyard. Also, at the same time it functions a message about littering around the entire world. Seeing the Earth made out of cigarette butts gives the spectator a small insight on just how much we pollute the Earth. And as a result this piece of art may inspire people to be more responsible about where they put their trash.
The graffiti bridge is also an interesting location to find art. Again it follows the theme of individual art that is done anonymously to create a large community art. This specific area was interesting because compared to the wall art Bridget discovered this is much more unorganized. Bridget finding showed that the artist were a group of people who were very organized in their work. Here I like to think of the art being done by “stray graffiti artist”. The location can be seen of more as a place found by stray graffiti artist to freestyle whatever they want.
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Picture 1:
Genre: Facebook Art
Date Collected: April 23th 2008
Context: The picture was placed in white space on an individual’s face book profile. The picture was drawn by the individual or by his or her friends as a humorous compliment.
Details: The image seems to have been drawn using paint or some other similar program and created in Facebook. It could also be done using a Facebook application. The detail on the ruler the rock and the text all are basic, like using a pencil tool on a painting application.
Picture 2:
Genre: Facebook Art
Date Collected: April 23th 2008
Context: The picture was placed in white space on an individual’s Facebook profile. The picture was drawn by the individual or by his or her friends as a humorous insult. The humor is crude, making fun of the Asian stereotype.
Details: The image seems to have been drawn using paint or some other similar program, and created in Facebook. It could also be done using a Facebook application. Specific details include the face of the Asian person and the use of vulgar language, which is a sign of the culture amongst students in college.
Picture 3:
Genre: Facebook Art
Date Collected: April 23th 2008
Context: The picture was placed in a white space on an individual’s face book profile. The picture was drawn by the individual or by his or her friends as a unique compliment. The showing of affection as friends is in the phrase attributed to the dinosaur.
Details: Specific details include the different colors, especially on the “rawr” part. By just the colors you can see the enthusiasm in the image and its uniqueness. Also the dinosaur picture is very neat and nicely done, so maybe that part of it was from clip art. The text is clearly paint text including the small heart in the middle.
Picture 4:
Genre: Facebook Art
Date Collected: April 23rd 2008
Context: The picture was placed in a white space on an individual’s face book profile. In this image, we see text that has a humorous way of using math to explain sex. The rest of the words are there to convince more people to post this image on their profile -- in doing so will make the person with this on their profile a “hottie.”
Details: The major details include the use of color lines around the text to bring attention to the image, and the emphasis on the word “sex” in vibrant green text.
Picture 5:
Genre: Facebook Art
Date Collected: April 23th 2008
Context: The picture was placed in a white space on an individual’s face book profile. The image features two popular characters fused together. The Mona Lisa, the famous image of the Italian Renaissance, is fused with Harry Potter, the popular book of a boy wizard. This image brings a new perspective of our current time and shows how we can relate it to the past.
Details: The details that point to Harry Potter are the scare on the face, and the glasses that Harry wears in the movies.
Meanings and Functions:
These images work with stereotypes, humor, and make fun of popular culture. The crude humor about Asians and their eyes is an example of culture amongst students. The function of the Asian image was to attract and embrace the fact that one is Asian and accepts the stereotype. The ruler and rock image and the dinosaur image are both examples of elementary school motifs that persist amongst college students. Their function is to show friendship to one another online. The Harry Potter image fuses popular images from the past and present. The sex joke makes fun of something college students are most interested in.
Item 1: Art Themes
Art Themes allowing the AIM live chat box to be personalized to represent one’s own personality, hobbies, obsessions, artistic ability or lack there of:
http://www.picgames.com/perl/scat?cat=Art
Using this site along with the two following sites allows anyone to create their own art to express themselves while chatting live with their friends. These are the backgrounds for where the text appears.
Item 2: AIM Art Buddies
Italian gangsta
Art Buddies allows a creative way to personalize smiley faces to suit one’s own personality:
http://www.picgames.com/buddy-icons/buddy-icons.php?cat=Art
These are smiley faces you can send with a variety of different types of faces: sad, mad, kisses, devil horns, etc.
Item 3: AIM Away Art
Combination of key stokes and smiley faces together to create away pictures or away art:
Pictures can be Christmas trees, hearts, pumpkins, shooting stars, any holiday generally, bunny angel, etc.
Meaning and Function
These sites offer the capacity to identify oneself electronically without needing a great deal of artistic talent – you just need to click and choose your favorites. The combinations of the three kinds of elements will always create something unique to give a sense of ownership and sense of identity online. In other words, you are not just another username. You have a face; it just lies beneath this beautiful display of what you choose to show. Things that people don’t get to see about us, we get to show through displaying it through our themes and icons and away messages. I think this is an awesome way to show others the other side(s) of us that doesn’t (don’t) always come up in every day conversation. Now we don’t play 20 questions like we used to in grade school, and we don’t know much about our friends, let alone our online friends. This is a way to show our friends a little about ourselves without actually saying anything. It’s like our clothes. We are saying something about ourselves without saying anything at all verbally. These three sites show the online way to do the same thing while communicating instant messaging.
Item 1: Xanga Personal Blog
Xanga is a website similar to Myspace and Facebook. A good way to think about blog sites is that they are like the doors of a dorm room. In college, students decorate their doors to express who they are and show their friends what their interests are. With a personal blog students can design the layout of their site as they see fit and also post pictures of anything from their favorite cartoon character to their favorite actor. Using different applications students can make their own designs and show them to their friends.
Item 2: Xanga musician sites
Xanga provides options for musicians to present their art in new and creative ways. As well as designing their own layout, they may advertise their own music. Here they design their own site and make it coincide with their music and with the music videos and other art they produce.
Item 3: Xanga Photography Blog
Photography is another avenue of art affected by Xanga. Professional photographers can create their own design from the ground up rather than using what the site provides for them. On top of this they use the site to advertise their work.
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