11/15/10
Avatar: The Comic!
It’s curious how some moments have the ability to happen before events leading up to them have seemed to noticeably occur, it is one of these events that I am going to tell today.
It was your average not to special fall morning when I first saw the man who this story is about, he was roughly six and a half feet tall, wore black pants white shirt, and black tie. Oh yah and I forgot to mention he was bright blue. I have seen this man every day since I moved to this town, its a fun town, one of those where friends open windows of there cars, or apartments to say hi when they see you walk down the road.
Anyway, its not that I knew the tall blue guy, but he was one of those people you LOOKED for, like the guitar player at the station, or the pretzel vender with a pretzel shape shaved into his hair, you get the point. So it all came down just a year after I first saw the blue guy. I was sitting off to the side of the bus stop, minding my own and getting ready to get to work, the I was reviewing notes in some folder when I noticed I suddenly wasn’t alone, I looked up to see the blue guy standing next to me. We briefly acknowledged each other’s existence with an exchange of subtle head nods, and as quickly as we had acknowledged each other, we both looked as far away from each other’s we could without seeming “Rude” to one another. It was when I did this that I saw a face I had never seen before, of course that always happens, but in a small town like this, after a week you know everybody and there mothers, now there was a person approaching my direction with much haste. The figure was dressed all in black, face covered be a ski mask and hands full with small brown bags.
In a blur he was standing in the space between the blue guy, and myself and acting with the tenseness you can only see with a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. After what was to us a few mere seconds was apparently unbearably long time for this man as he blurted out “the bus shows up at 10:00 right?”
Both the blue guy and myself looked at him I honestly couldn’t remember, but the blue guy did, all he said was “Daylight savings Dude.” it took a few moments to register but the vivid flux in the look of the masked mans eyes spoke volumes.
Within a matter of nano seconds a faint sound wafted into the booth, a sound none to frequent in a small peaceful town, and as it became more clear the masked mans eyes shrank, like looking at water through a drain. At the first sign of flickering blue and red lights the masked man took off.
The events before the masked mans appearance were just as blurry on the security footage as in our memory, apparently al we could make out was that he had robbed someone, ran, and tried to get away, but forgetting that today was daylight savings time, his “getaway” was not going to show up for another hour.
Of course they caught him and all that but that just goes to show you don’t expect to get away from a robbery under those conditions.
Garion McCauley
6/1/10
Comunative Artistic Identity
Spinning around the products of our work, aside from the glow around everyone when they finally finish their instalazation there is an underlying and re-occurring theme. you might miss it if you were only taking every piece in individually but if you step back and look at this show as a whole, i see that there is a message in it. “We are right…” plain and simple, for high school students, any opportunity to be “right” is taken no-matter the odds, you see it all the time in John Hughes flicks, but here you can almost feel the freedom of each of our minds, bursting at the seams with brilliant ideas, we collectively endure thousands of hours of nothing but facts, the facts of this the facts of that, but we cannot see how any of them apply, we are told by some that “All that matters is money” and that “Art-doesnt pay” facts that millions of people agree with worldwide, but there is a far greater feeling than a paycheck, an accomplishment that cannot be felt only with a sporting event, it’s the feeling of having your own private gallery, a gallery which is impossible to ignore, and when all the students in the district get to put there best work on display at the same location, something magical happens.
together we are every celebrity, we are every comedian, we are every leader we look up to, we are the dreamers, we are the talkers, we are the ones who say “no that doesn’t look right.. maybe… yah that’s it!” to any opportunity, we exist in a world of rules, and live in a world of possibility
Garion McCauley
4/26/10
Survalence Project Proposal:
After Years of watching Saturday morning cartoons, i have often wondered that if their really was one fat security guard sleeping with his feet on the control panel and an empty box of doughnuts by his side as he “watched” the screens for hooligans as they scaled the walls with there grappling hooks they fashioned with old hangars and an extension cord. Given this you were led to belive that they were sneaking into some room without any problems, but somehow the villain would always be sitting in a big easy-chair petting a white cat, and sitting under bad lighting and then begin the sinister yet cleche’ “Mwu-Ha-Ha” laughter that goes along with villany. I could never figure out how it was that the big villan knew that a bunch of meddling kids would show up, if his “Security”was asleap on the job, yet in every episode of every show, that’s what happened.
for this project i would film an attempted “saturday morning cartoon worthy break-in” using of course roughly five kids dressed in black try to scale the “Deadly parking lot of Deadly Doom” and cross to the wall they will need to scale (luckily they have a grappling hook, but unfortunately they have nothing to hook onto…) they decide to sneak through the side door instead, and using a lock pick consisting of an old hairpin, and gift card they sneak in to find the “headquarters of terror” of the evil villan, Villin Von Villinberg who has been terrorizing the student population into a most “non-exelent” state of affairs, continuing the film with signature “lazer fields” and appropriate dance through by the kids, they come face to face with the “super secret room” in which they will most certainly find their evidence that Villin Von Villinberg has in-fact been pushing a non-exelent state of affairs onto the student population, they enter the room and there he is, however unclimactic to his entrance to the plot, he is asleep, in front of about ten monitors displaying various halls, and ironically one sleeping security guard. anyhow they get the documents displaying Villin’s hanous plans, which they will then use as evidence agensed him.
this successful group of thieves will then drive off in there mini-van drive off into the sunrise (to drop off the van at the drivers moms house) and then adjourn to the town diner where they celebrate over milkshakes and jukebox tunes.
I think it would be an interesting film, however un-sophisticated as it is, it would be great fun to make!
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Survailence log B)1)
When the still life was torn down we saw the space filled with nothing, in fact it was the largest amount of nothing I felt I had seen in quite a while, I saw instead blurriness, like my eyes had been trained over the past month to see only where the still life was, now that it wasn’t there to see, there was nothing there to see, given a few
Surveillance log B) 2)
Yesterday I couldn’t see much, I guess my eyes were really hard to adjust, but as of now my vision has gotten better, or at least I think it has, that pattern I saw yesterday is still hanging in the air-I don’t think anyone else has know iced yet, I guess I’ll keep my mouth shut, it might be the start of someone’s project or something. It’s odd though, this design for lack of a better word is just hanging there, it’s not attached to any surface, nor is it hanging by any kind of support, it’s just hanging there, looming over us awe work…
Surveillance log B) 3)
I found out what this mysterious thing is, its plad… you heard me, it’s just plad, I guess someone is making I somehow as a project for something of some kind, and I think they’re making it everywhere else too, threes a bit in formation over the counters and tables and even some behind my head on the ceiling whoever’s working on this is doing a good job…
Surveillance log B) 4)
I guess everyone has noticed the flood of plad growing, everyone seems to be clad in plad, no stripes, no polka-dots, no animal prints, just plad, I guess from the silence not a single person is going to comment on the phenomenon except me, it’s like imp stuck in a dangerous jungle and I’m trapped in by silent predators, what can happen tomorrow I wonder???
Surveillance log B) 5)
OK SERIOUSLY THEWEIRDEST THING HAPPENED TODAY!!! I was sitting in the art room, or I guess what was left of the art room every square inch of the room is covered in plad, the tables, the chairs, the art, the tools, even the people!!! As I walked through the room I felt a strange presence, but I chose to ignore it, and then it happened, I felt something drop on my arm, and when I looked down to see if it was paint, it was PLAD!!! Whatever it was that was attacking the room was attacking me personally, my arm went on changing from a blank canvas into a shirt, I started to scream (I Have a hatred for plad as a pattern you see, so seeing this was the final straw) when suddenly a guy swooped through the door and started shooting what I can only assume was a make-shift gun at everything, he turned to me and shot my arm, clutching it I discovered he had hit my with some kind of dart, or syringe looking thing, soon the plad on my arm disappeared and soon the room was cured of its plad-clad destruction-before my eyes my classmates reappeared, my teacher, the desks, the chairs, even the art, but most importantly, I found my keys finally, I dropped them on the table last week and I haddent been able to find them with all this plad around
Prompt question: What are the ethical differences (if any) between the surveillance of objects/property and living subjects?
I think that there are those who feel that any material items are so much a part of them that they feel the need to keep an eye on them, but I also know that there are those who wish to view another human like they were a common object, (its almost funny that both theses behaviors are the same actions and for the same reasons, but I think that it is impossible to actually view an object constantly (any kid who has been grounded and snuck out can tell you this) there will always be an angle that is unviable to the person survailing, even if its just them blinking at a convenient time) as for weather or not it is ethical is difficult for me to say, personally I have very few material items I would actually worry about, let alone people to watch, I do think that there are those under the impression that they can protect what they love by watching it constantly, but I don’t think they are actually seeing anything,
For example-if you went to a concert of your absolute favorite band, and wanted to take a video of it, so you could enjoy it later, it would be all pixilated and blurry, and you couldn’t hear anything. You might remember the mood and the fun at that concert, but by protecting it that much, that moment or that object is not what it was…
Garion McCauley
3/1/10
I belive that one can argue that there is both truth, and fact in what we do as we are observed, however I don’t belive that it is nessisary to look for those facts in the search for the truth, we are constantly surrounded by physical forms of observation, from security cameras, to security guards, and from (in our case) the teachers eyes. however there is another form of control that i find much more disturbing, the kind of control first used on prisoners in order for them to “self govern” is used onto us, students, we are constantly watched, and with the clicks of a few buttons, all of our grades, and other records can be summoned. This kind of mental containment messes with our heads enough, but we are also constantly warned and chewed out for faults we have not preformed yet, from the first day we entered this building we were told all of the consequences for any action we could commit, the first twenty-five pages of our assignment books are filled with rules, regulations, and of course more consequences… it is true that some of us don’t look up to authority enough to bow down as much as the rest of us, but the constant reminder of what can possibly happen to us getting thrown into your face makes us all feel like we actually did break the rules. As i said before it is true that some people do break rules, but it is also true that we are all under survalence for it, I is a fact that some kids fail major tests that affect there lives, but it is also fact that after eleven years of filling in bubbles some kids are so tired of it they just say “Forget it” and they move on to what they can…
Garion McCauley
Surveillance Log 1: Monday, 2.22.10
Hi im Alfred you may know me as the little tiki dude sitting at the end of the still life, my job is simple and easy “Dont Move” but its the people who constantly stare at me trying to get the design perfect that scare me… Mabey tommorro will be diffrent and these kids will do something other than look up, and make a few marks on paper, and look up an make few more mrks on paper. After all it was my first day, it cant get any more boring than this.
Garion McCauley
Surveillance Log: Tuesday, 2.23.10
It’s Alfred agen, after my last entry things started to lighten up, the people left, the lights went off and after my body reluctantly stood up after hours of sitting i was up and studying my surroundings. im not quite sure why these kids stare at me, the room itself has some very interesting quality, that could be inspiring to the mind, the guys who hag around me are pretty cool, even the guy in the tank that was pointing at me for hours walked up said hi, and apologised for parking the way he had, and he assured me he would turn it around so the cannon thingee wont be pointing at me the whole day, i guess this job isn’t so bad.
Garion McCauley
Surveillance Log: Wednesday, 2.24.10
I can’t belive it, I just can’t comprehend what is up with these kids, it all started like the first day, we all lined up, got in position, and like that the lights were on and first classes started, and sure enough, the same kids I had seen the day before were back and doing what I guess they do best, being dead silent (with the radio giving the only hint of noise) and staring, and mark making, I’m bored to tears how can it be they arent, they must have the patience of rocks…
GarionMcCauley
Surveillance Log: Thursday, 2.25.10
after consulting with my newly acquainted other tableside friend (otherwise known as the rope-dude), i have been able to discover some things about these kids lifestyles, they work constantly all year, some for multiple hours, all for one event, apparently every year the school allows it’s not-so-ivory towers to be decorated with every art piece the kids have made, the gym smells like paint and various chemicals afterward but they don’t mind, its the first time sence parents hung there grades on the fridge when they were kids that they could actually see all their hard work, and everyone can appreciate it.
Garion McCauley
Surveillance Log: Friday, 2.26.10
My last day, funny, during the days I would have killed to get out of here, but it wasnt untill what everyone was doing that i understood it, im sad to go, I feel like I have a connection to these kids, and there work, but I guess after I go I can start using my creativity I might take up painting, or wrighting, and share hose thoughts and ideas with the world like they do.
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Garion McCauley
11/18/09
Going into this project i hadmixed feelings, this would be one proect where we can explore two or three diffrent worlds, using art which verry rarley happens, however i was slightly nervious about the actual matter of the project because it implyed diffrent sports or activitys that we have all been involved in, personally i have never been involved with sports, which happens to be everyones jumping point for this project, i have been involved in games that have been rejected by national school sports teams, but still thrive, such as Turkey bowling, posering (seing how farsome posers can go, its more of a bet) but i settled of more of the rules and things that i think are extrordenaraly strange, for example, when we compair or challenges, to explain why we cant do things, or the generalazation that college helps more than it holds back and that your not acceptable in sosiaty if you dont go, yet with all of those rules, its as hard as it is to get into college
Garion McCauley
11/12/09
This project was interesting to me because my anticipation for this was just looking at yourself and figuring out what aspects of your life you found “heroic” or even in the “other” scenario. However as I started working I realized how little of me is involved in my life, not to say I haven’t been on many a whirlwind adventure, or had many life altering experiences, I just how little I had actually done of it, when we think of just the general terms that were given to us “”cultural” “familial” “Stereotypical” “other” and “heroic” we cant help but see ourselves in that, but as I look back on most of the cards most of my identity I explain with other people, and characters I created to give me a slightly less odd vibe. This is not a way of saying I live my life to others standards, rather I need them to show the juxtaposition as an attempt to explain my life.
Something I found very interesting was that topics such as culture and family while they are related essentially but not specifically were completely different because of my views on them, centrally being that most families are always together and the cornerstone of mine is that we aren’t, and I felt that I should have expanded on the center of my culture I just went with the state that its in today spread out as opposed to clustered together having variations within itself. Also I had a similar mishap with the Heroic and Other cards because my view of a hero is the person we other because we don’t know how to explain them or what there doing, yet despite this they still save us without a second thought, however when we feel like as much of an other as we would have made them, we feel anger and depression, not an energetic feeling and saving feeling (if there is an actual word for that ill insert it here later)
However breaking away to the one topic I didn’t feel fit with the other ones (talk about othering) was the stereotypical, this was difficult because I rarely am surrounded by average stereotypical people, I’m usually around people with as eccentric personalities and lives as myself so coming up with a set that would fit that became unsettlingly difficult, however instead of describe my stereotypical identity was to imitate all of those who I feel close to, because I guess we are as stereotypical as a crazy (and some have even gone far enough to say misguided) group of hooligans
Heroic Identity
What defines a hero and what is heroic about you currently, or what heroic qualities would you hope to develop as you grow up???
When we hear the words “hero” or “heroic” we think of someone who cares and sacrifices enough to make big change, we think that they don’t stop until they beat the bad guy. But I don’t think that is an appropriate representation of what a hero really is, I think a hero is someone who is willing to wait for slow and small changes to happen for the benefit of there lives, however when they help someone else, then thy go to the ends of the earth to fix there problem, no mater the affect it has on them.
When thinking of myself as heroic I can’t help but laugh, because I don’t think that anyone that we look up to, and think are heroes think that were right, they know there just another person, who helped someone, they wouldn’t see themselves as a hero, just a good person. I cant save the world but I can make the world a little less heavy on people, by making them forget there problems, if only for an instant.
“Other Identity”
Garion McCauley
10.13.09
“in what ways or situations do you find yourself treated as an other?”
I must say I feel most treated as an other as I’m at church, I feel much more like an “other” everyone else still dresses in there “Sunday clothes” and I roll in wearing ripped jeans, sneakers, and a flanal shirt, I look completely different in the land of suit jackets and neckties. We need to sit near the back, in an attempt to hide, however we then get noticed swaying to the hymns (we even did that one sene from the breakfast club to carol of the bells.)
its not that we are not welcomed as part of the congregation, in fact were one of the families that tries there best to help out. We just visualy are that “odd family” that shows up to everything and does not care how we look.
Steriotypical Identity
Garion McCauley
10.1.09
when trying to describe me i would first like to create an image for reference (or just a cheep laugh) i would see myself as a panda, an animal that has nothing expected of it and is completely fine with that, they do not push there abilities on the world, yet they live lives of emense relaxation, they sit and munch while gazing out across expansive landscapes, and always seem to be thinking, with this peacefull being in mind i would then like you to imagine what would happen if that panda found coffee store and got a large whatever-its-called-capocheno-frapavheno-venti-caffeinated-drink, at this point the panda would become hyperactive and would have no idea as to what to do with its time or energy, that is the only way i feel i can explane the next discription
seeing as im writing this from my view of how others see me, i propose a scenario, when someone first sees me sometimes what happens is there heads shoot back trying to observe what i look like, or there eyes will suddenly widen doing the same action, they then gather what they think i will be like as a person based on what i look like, however sometimes this doesn’t work because i usually present my self odd enough that they cant do that for a while, then i start to talk and they get a clearer picture of who i am, the way i talk is very similar to how i look, awkwardly calm with spurts of hyperactivity.
so its sortove like a panda who had a coffee…..
Familial Identity
9.18.09
Garion McCauley
How are you positioned within your family dynamic and how does that influence your identity?
My Family was messed up long before I came to be, I was the third of three children with a eleven year gap between me an my sister, and a thirteen year gap between me and my brother, my parents divorced when I was seven and my siblings were already out doing there own thing, so for six and a half years I went along with ongoing custody battles and agreements, the only way I kept my sanity was by living two different lives or being a chameleon, however about a year ago I sorted out what was right and decided that my father would no longer have a roll in my life (with very good reason).
This being said I always had a vision of my family in my head and what it should be, I saw my family as a bunch of people who have no relational value between any of them yet all get along and live under the same roof, as to how this affects my personal identity I have seen very little reason to be like the members of my family, I look, dress, and act different then most of them, and I have seen my life as a great experiment to find where I truly belong (and yes I am still searching but now I have a much better idea of where that is)
