Student 1

12/12/00

When I first began to think of how to make my art project I couldn't even think where to begin. Several days before I actually began to construct my project, I had spent a lot of time just trying to figure out where to start and what to use. After a few minutes of brainstorming, I was able to concoct the best interpretation of myself through different art techniques we had learned. The main reason why I couldn't think of how to start is the fact that I don't consider myself a very good artist. Not that it should matter, but every idea I had I cancelled out because it just seemed generic or unimaginative. My completed project I now have represents, to me, who I am now as a person. My project is a little complicated but not hard to understand.

The shape I chose is actually a combination of two different shapes. By combining the cross and spiral, I was able to show that I am experiencing very hard decisions about my future, as well as spiritual, mental and physical change. My most important decisions right now are deciding if I want to do what my parents want and stay in Milledgeville and continue to go to school, move to Atlanta and go to school, or just move to Atlanta and take a break from school. Each corner of my project identifies these choices as being very important, always making me aware that a decision needs to be made soon. I chose the cross because, since moving away and being on my own, I have learned many things about the real world over a short period of time. I went to a private high school where I felt we were sheltered from a fast pace and uncompassionate world. Because I attended school there, I feel like I'm only catching up to where I should be. Each corner of the cross and at each end of the spiral, my struggles, growths and decisions are all represented. At the center is me, who must decide which path to choose. The paths to each are colored and drawn to show how I feel and am influenced by my parents to feel towards them.

My path to family and friends is a straight and horizontal one colored in green. The straight and horizontal lines represent how taking the path my parents want me to is dependable but boring since they are choosing for me instead letting myself chose. The green colors are from the Yoruba color dudu, which is symbolic of being "practical." Doing as my parents wish is practical since they are probably write, but I still want to see if I can find something else do beside finding a job where I sit in a desk all day. The second path leads to following the course I'm already on, college. I put college on here since I may continue at Georgia College, go to school in Atlanta, or just take a break from it for a year. The straight and even lines symbolize emotions similar to the one's I have about my parents. I know if I continue to go school I will get a job and a dependable source of income. But right now, the last thing I want to think about is what I'm going to do for the rest of my life. So, continuing to go to school or not I know I will make the right decision. I decided to use the Yoruba colors dudu and pupa to express how I feel about this decision. I have a passion for learning and schooling but I have so many other desire and interests that won't be there forever that I want to learn about. The red and orange colors represent these feelings. The greens show how, like my parents, I know this is the most practical and reliable way to go, it is not the most practical and reliable right now. The third path, and most tempting, is the big city of Atlanta. I have so much fun in Atlanta every time I go that I know I would love living there. I don't think I could live there forever, but I know I would enjoy it enough to move. The diagonal lines obviously represent how fast and exciting Atlanta is. I'm young and feel like being active and what better city than Atlanta for to unleash all this energy. I chose pupa for this one since I know Atlanta will always have me moving and fired up. My sister lives there and loves it so I'm sure I would have no trouble either. My fourth path is the one I desire to follow the most. Unfortunately it is the hardest. I have always been a music fanatic ever since I can remember. Making music and performing for a living is my ultimate dream. I realize that this is a very common dream but I feel my musical taste is so varied that I might actually have a shot at becoming a performing musical artist. The lines are curvy and diagonal because music is art and makes me the artist. Also, performing and producing music is no easy task and would always have me moving, keeping me active and ready to go. I will soon have to pick one of these since I can't just sit around and let something happen. My possibilities for the future are varied and parallel my complex personality

By making my cross/spiral three-dimensional, I am able to show that I consider myself to have a complex personality. I don't think it takes long for people to realize who I am because I am very outspoken. I have strong feelings towards many different things such as politics, music, college and many other areas. Because I have strong feelings about all these very different fields, I am able to converse wit many different types of people. I'm not bragging or anything, but I do find it easy to pretty much be able to talk to anyone. I feel that I can also be very funny or very serious. I believe I get my personality from my father and my seriousness from my mother. These are all reasons why I feel I have a complex personality.

I made my project out of cardboard. I chose cardboard because, well, I just didn't know how to make the project out of glass. I think I am easy to understand most of the time and I let me people know what I think about things. While the surface of cardboard may not be the warmest or fuzziest, it is supposed to show that I am a pretty compassionate kinda guy. I have strong emotions about keeping others happy and accepting others for who they are. I constantly work on reducing how much I tend to judge people before I really know them. I don't tolerate bigots or racists and never will. I used to judge people on looks alone but this was one of my worst vices. I have slowly overcome this and consider myself to now be very open-minded. This project definitely helped me see myself.

Overall, I really did end up having fun with this project. I am also looking forward to seeing the other projects and how people interpret themselves. Today it seems that everyone is so quick to judge and they do it without even thinking about who they are. I was able to see myself closer than I had before because of how much time I spent on this. This project ended being a lot of fun.

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