ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALISM BY JASMINE KIM
AUTHOR'SÂ STATEMENT
This package consists of Jasmine Kim s coursework for the Entertainment Journalism course at St. Edward s University taken in the Fall of 2015. The beat she chose to work with for the semester was visual art. The assignments include a review, a profile, a personal essay, a desert island playlist, a scene piece, a query to cracked.com, and a feature piece. '
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TABLE OF CONTENTS REVIEW PROFILE PERSONAL ESSAY DESERT ISLAND PLAYLIST SCENE FEATURE BIOGRAPHY
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REVIEW
GRIMLY DONE Visual art is known to be an expressive form of creativity and oftentimes is hard to judge or label as good or bad. As the abstract movement has found itself in the center of today s art culture, it is hard to determine meanings behind the shapes and blobs of colors. ’
An exhibit that I d like to address is Natalie Frank s The Brother s Grimm collection at the Blanton. Frank is a well known artist from New York trying to spread a powerful message in this time of turmoil in America. Her gouache and pastel drawing interpretations of the classical Grimm fairy tales question the roles of feminism, sexuality and violence and reveals the complexity of familial dynamics during this time. Frank talks about wanting to show to her audience these characters vulnerabilities and strengths through the use of vibrant colors and mixed media, but honestly, I m not feeling it. ’
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It s frustrating to go to museums, look at paintings, and having to search for the artist s actual talent in their work. This fad of urban art with random colors and chaotic images drives me crazy, because artists seem to be covering up their true technique with all of this clutter. While I looked into Frank s online portfolio, I saw that she is attempting to create her own style, and I totally support that. But it seems so forced to the point where the message behind her work gets lost in all the colors and shapes. Because her message is so current and deals with an issue that is very present in our society today, I think she got lucky with her success. She didn t have to execute all the talent she learned throughout the years of studying art, because her personal story caught on before her talent did. ’
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Yes, her pieces share a powerful message in terms of the evolution of a woman s role in the world, but could the audience feel that without reading her artist statement? I don t know. ’
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PROFILE
HANGING OUT WITH BRANDON SNOW The art scene in Austin has been evolving as the city has been under the spotlight in the media. I never could put my finger on it, but the stereotypical image of these bohemian folk living in weird colored houses and dirty fingernails is starting to be overdone and even predictable. -
So while I was searching for an artist to interview, I went to the quirkiest art gallery I knew in Austin, with hopes to find an artist that could help me find a conclusion to this ever evolving art scene. Trying to pick an artist that intrigued my normally high standards, I decided to reach out to a screen printing artist named Brandon Snow. I ve dabbed in the screen printing scene myself, and I thought it was a medium that was going out of style. -
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His artwork hung next to weird hanging wall art made out of scrap wood and pastel silhouettes of nude women, and honestly it stuck out like a sore thumb. Snow s art was so, shall I say, organized and whole compared to the other abstract pieces that seemed unfinished. I wanted to know why he wanted to put his art here, in this weird shack of an art gallery where clutter was a friend, when his art looked as if it belonged in an empty room with white walls. ’
So I emailed him. And thank god he responded in a heartbeat. And I was on my way to meet him at his studio. At this point, I was expecting the worst. I assumed he was this middle aged man with an untamed beard hiding half of his face, a beer belly and a closet full of obscure shirts from the 90s. He told me to meet him in his studio, where I expected there to be no place for me to sit and a slew of his work would be on the ground. He told me his place would be where the motorcycles were, so I automatically pictured leather. Just a ton of leather. -
But actually, he lived in this clean cut apartment complex next to Bowie High School, one of the snobbiest schools in Austin after Westlake and Lake Travis. I literally could not find his studio. Maybe it was because I couldn t grasp the idea that this cool artist lived in this cookie cutter place, so I just blamed my lack of sense of direction and assumed I was in the wrong area and that maybe he actually lived in the woods that was across the street. Then I eyed some motorcycles and a beard in the distance and I had a hunch that indeed, my GPS had not failed me. ’
And let me tell you, Brandon Snow was the typical clean cut Austinite hipster that anyone would fall in love with. He was the perfect mix between edgy and professional, and to be honest it made my palms sweat just a little bit. He had this nicely trimmed beard and a pair of big brown eyes and stood over six feet. He wore a fitted black tee and brown leather boots as Beach House played softly in the background. I walked into his studio where his older pieces leaned stacked and organized on the wall and his ink was stacked by color he only had three colors on the single shelf that was in the room. He had one table in the front where his iPod dock was, and he had one canvas on the floor in front of a hammock like chair where I was supposed to sit. -
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Like his work, his studio was kempt and clean, making it a little hard for me to believe that any creativity happened in this room. He told me that he has a habit of keeping his place clean, and I think it s the strangest thing to come out of an artist s mouth. ’
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Snow comes from a photographer s background of 10 years with a hand me down camera. From a small suburb outside of Dallas where art wasn t as widely accepted as a career path, he took on photography while his friends took on other forms of art and found himself in this weird town. ’
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I did some shows where I printed my photographs from a computer and I was honestly kind of bored by that.
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He didn t like the idea that the computer was making all of his images come to life, and he ultimately wanted to physically have a hand in how his images came out. ’
I saw that these other artists were making their photographs into silk screens and I thought that there was no reason why I couldn t do it so I just did it… I literally bought a small little kit for silk screening and I did a lot of YouTube. “
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He mentions that his main goal at the beginning was to be able to make his photographs as big as possible, some of his pieces reaching the size of five feet by four feet. More concerned about the quality and message rather than the actual appearance, he talks about how his creative process is simple as well. All my stuff is really rough and it s still a really DIY process, and this points to small ledge he s standing on is where I do all of it.
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Because of his simple personality and love for black and white, Snow had a hard time making his pieces look stronger and stand out from other odd creations that hung next to his work. Even though most of his pieces are majority monochromatic, some have a giant red streak going straight through the middle of the photo. I tried doing the streak with a few other colors but I just didn t really give a shit about it, because I m not really a colors guy. I don t want you to look at the colors, because that takes away from the image itself. I always make sure the red makes the image better. “
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He talked about how that was his way of contributing to the controversy towards minimalist art, mentioned that it actually takes a lot of self discipline to make abstract art, and that you could go so hard right now but you have to learn to stop yourself. -
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It was so strange to see this twenty something year old guy not only being a successful artist, but being such a normal guy. He introduced me to his fat chihuahua and talked about all the odd jobs he s had that made it hard for him to concentrate on his pieces, and it just stuck to me how religiously he lives by this rule of keeping his art and creative process so sacred and pure. -
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No one s telling you what to do, and that s awesome. But you have to be your own coach and set your own standards. When you re working for yourself it s really easy to be drinking beer all day and slop some paint around, but you have to really make something that matters. “
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Maybe it s because I never thought of creating art as being in a different mental space that could be compartmentalized, but this seemed so strange to me because artists always seem to be so chill and always appear to be vibing. Snow not only kept his things organized on a physical level, but his art was organized on a mental level as well. ’
I ve always had odd jobs because it s important to me to not rely on the art to make money. It s like a plague. It will completely alter the way you think about your artwork and if the work doesn t sell and you don t like it you ll just be ultra bummed out. “ ’
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Snow talked about how constantly creating art all the time is mentally and physically exhausting, and sometimes things don t go as planned, and I think that s such a valid point. Most people don t consider art to be a career path in this world, and we re lucky that Austin is a little more supportive, but even that isn t going to put bread on the table. Snow made an important point that creativity is the purest form of self expression, and making art isn t something that should be forced under any circumstance. ’
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You gotta respect the medium, man.
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Snow concluded the interview with a few wise words for aspiring artists and showed me his new series he had been working on that morning called Solitude and Serenity, and I called it a day. “
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PERSONAL ESSAY
MY DARK BAPTISM I was fifteen and wore pinstripe skinny jeans and my arms were decked out in bead bracelets. My nails were painted black and I had red streaks in my hair that swooped over my eye if I straightened it just right. I thought screamo was a legitimate and acceptable genre of music and my parents just didn t get me. I questioned anything and everything about my life, and Angst was my middle name. ’
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I was fifteen when I had my first spiritual experience. I m not going to tell you about a time I had a dream and Jesus told me to follow him and I m not going to tell you about a time my pastor spoke in tongues and made me see the angel Gabriel or anything, because it wasn t like that. It was just me and a chapel, the Rothko Chapel to be exact. My first and only spiritual experience consisted of me just looking at a black canvas, and it was the heaviest thing I ve ever experienced in my life. ’
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There s been this air of skepticism around modern art, questioning how it could be considered art at all. My dad was a classical painter at the time, so I was one of those people that looked at minimal paintings and thought to myself I can totally do that. So I didn t really understand at the time why these people dedicated an entire building to this Rothko guy, and why they called it a chapel. ’
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Wasn t a chapel supposed to be a religious building? How are these black canvases supposed to be even closely related to any spiritual entity or experience? What if this was actually hedonistic or something? ’
I didn t understand the building s location either. Why reside in the middle of a suburb where cats sunbathed on the sidewalk and old people did morning exercises nearby? Is this place geared towards the elderly? Entrance was free and maybe fifteen people were inside, so how was this place even being supported at all? ’
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It turns out that the Rothko Chapel was founded by a cute Houstonian philanthropist couple named John and Domonique de Menil in 1971 who wanted to dedicate this space to people as a place to meditate. An intimate sanctuary available to all people of every belief yet owned by none, the Chapel provides a spiritual experience through Rothko s work. ’
Rothko lived during the Second World War when hate and fear was a common theme, and so he found a strange peace with tragedy and sadness and found that the meaning of life was filled with much uncertainty. He even stated once during an interview that the exhilarated tragic experience is for me the only source of art. As a result, he was fascinated by primitive religion and named mythology and the unconscious mind as forms of inspiration for most of his work. Rothko was a leader of the new American post war movement and became a religious leader of a secular age, giving his audience a space to daydream. “
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He considered himself as a mystic and aimed to eliminate all pigment and canvas and just suspend clouds of color in the air. Rothko stated once in an interview with a critic I m not interested in the relationship of color or form or anything else I m interested only in expressing basic human emotions. The colors were murky hazy, conveying rawness and maintaining the social revolutionary ideas of his youth. “ ’
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This serious energy of abstract expression was ultimately his response to the terrors of the perils of war, the Holocaust and the start of the Atomic Age. He wanted to create a secular icon for a nonreligious age by banishing all references to nature and bring focus to the concepts of infinite space and timelessness. In terms of the his work and how I feel about it, I think the universal message that Rothko tries to portray through all of his pieces is to accept this open invitation to feel what Rothko felt. When considering the chapel, I think Rothko and the philanthropist couple are trying to encourage the idea of self discovery and self knowledge, and attempting to really understand yourself and who you are. In this sense, I think through this series of black canvases Rothko ultimately is trying to not just portray the relationship between light and dark, but light and dark at the center of our human psyche. While reaching -
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My dad brought us to this secret sanctuary not only because he loved Rothko, but because he wanted to interact with Rothko s pieces and understand his sad story as well. As an artist that has yet to make it big, he often took our family on small journeys for sources of inspiration and to encourage us to open up on the spectrum of arts and culture. ’
Of course, at the ripe age of fifteen I didn t know any of this, and I was more annoyed than anything to have to be at this small chapel with my parents at my side. It didn t help that the docents of the chapel were old white ladies with their red framed glasses halfway down their noses and lips pursed ready to say shhh once we were ready to mutter a word. They handed us pamphlets with their clammy fingers and we walked into the silence. ’
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There were maybe twenty people total in the entire room and all we could hear was the bustle of people situating themselves in front of canvases. Wooden black pews were all around the room and black cushions littered the cold floor, and people were scattered all around with eyebrows furrowed. I spotted a girl that looked just a little bit older than me decked out in weird hippie tribal print sitting cross legged on the floor with her eyes closed and I assumed she was meditating or praying. -
At this point, instead of looking like the typical Asian family of tourists, my parents and I split up to do our own self reflecting. Still not 100 percent certain on how I was supposed to blend in, I quietly made my way over to a canvas that no one sitting in front of and popped a squat. I wasn t sure how long I was supposed to stay in this weirdly cold and eerie place, but I wasn t an uncultured swine and wasn t going to whine about it. I silenced my phone, took a deep breath and just took in the vast blackness that was in front of me. -
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To be honest, I wasn t sure where to even start looking with my eyes because there was just so much black. After a while I could feel my eyes start to dilate and get fuzzy because it wasn t used to focusing on all this nothingness, and my sense of ’
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time and space was getting blurry. The blackness was calming in a weird way, and the fact that I was sitting alone made me feel utterly vulnerable. At some point where I had felt like I had been sitting and spacing out for a while, my heartbeat had slowed and my body felt heavy. Everything and everyone around me disappeared and it was just me and Rothko in the universe. I felt as though I could sense every cell in my body and was personally directing where each cell needed to go, and I encountered this ultimate blankness. I didn t feel like I was inside my own body, and then my hands that were in my lap were starting to get wet. I was crying. ’
I don t know why, but once I realized I was crying I just started sobbing harder. I felt so exposed like everyone could see under my skin and I didn t know if I liked that feeling. I didn t know much of anything at that point. I felt like I didn t know who I was anymore and I wanted to know where God was and why the world was turning into such shit and why I felt so alone all the time. I felt like I was unraveling, and I had no control over how fast it was happening. ’
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I felt like I had just met Rothko and heard his whole tragic story. I understood the fear he faced during the Second World War and the hurt he felt when critics didn t like his art and the sorrow he dealt with when he sliced open the insides of his forearms in his New York studio. I understood all of it. ’
Not sure what this feeling was I almost started to panic. I started to feel my senses again as if my body was rebooting itself. My legs were definitely asleep at this point and my fingers were cold, so I began to clench my fists and dig my nails into my palms to regain the energy that was drained out of me from this weird experience. Once I was able to pull myself together and wipe the tears from my eyes I abruptly stood up and walked out of the room, legs still wobbly and shoulders hunched over in a sort of recovery. I walked outside to breathe without the thick solemn air that filled the chapel room and I tried to grasp what had happened to me while sitting there. It s not like I saw some crazy image in the all the blackness or anything, I just seemed to focus inward and truly meditate on my own being. ’
At this point I began to understand how Rothko s work was aimed to portray a raw experience rather than just being pleasing to the eye. All of the different layers and degrees of the blackness of his work sucked me in and abandoned me to float around in this infinite void of nothingness all alone. Experiencing the pieces brought about questions of existence and whether or not there really was a God or even any hope left in the world that we live in. ’
The Rothko Chapel is a dark baptism or immersion that creates a psychological and spiritual understanding between the artist and the viewer while keeping the eyes in a constant disoriented state. It probed my unconscious mind without me even knowing, and it was an experience that s hard to put into words. ’
Even though I was a skeptic moments before walking into this chapel, I now understood after that experience how Rothko s work and the chapel itself is this ultimate representation of our inner selves in times of hardship, in that he has this way of digging deep inside the viewer and pulling all the grossness out and laying it all on the floor for you to look at. ’
He didn t only succeed in exposing himself and his vulnerability, but he also created a psychological journey and a voyage into the unknown with each of these black pieces. He saw beyond artistic ability and instead reveals that everyone, including himself, is hurting. I think he wants to relay the message that sometimes, not everything is going to be okay but that sometimes life just isn t that great. Because of this rawness, I now find his work forever maddening and alluring, and I think it will always bring people together in the simplest yet most tragic way. ’
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Every time I go to Houston I always try to make time for a little meditation at the Rothko Chapel because I find it peaceful now. I seek the purification and focus it brings about, and find the vast blackness of the collection of canvases intriguing. Every time I go I experience something new, but never as intense as what I experienced the first time around.
DESERT ISLAND PLAYLIST
6 CLASSICAL ARTISTS WHOSE LIVES SUCKED HARDER THAN YOURS Being an artist in this day and age is too easy compared to how it was back in the day. Yeah, it s hard to make a living income solely on your artistic ability and you probably cry yourself to sleep every night because of how unaccomplished you feel, but at least you don t eat paint or shank people as a hobby or have 10 kids to feed. So for all you modern artists out there, quit your bitching. Here s a list of 6 classical artists whose lives sucked a lot harder than yours. “
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6. GIAN LORENZO BERNINI (1598-1680) Bernini was a Baroque sculptor from Italy and was considered one of the greatest sculptors of the 17th century. But Bernini was one of those guys that got into relationships knowing that only bad things were going to happen. He had an affair with a married woman named Costanza. But Costanza, while cheating on her husband and having a passionate love affair with Bernini, was also sleeping with Bernini s baby brother because Bernini left Constanza unsatisfied. Bernini broke his brother s ribs and ordered a servant to slash this two timing bitch s face with razors. Constanza ended up in a monastery and Bernini ended marrying a woman he didn t love as much as he loved Costanza. Now that s what you call a fucked up love affair. ’
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5. JOHANNES VERMEER (1632-1675) Vermeer was a Dutch painter who s most recognized piece is The Girl with the Pearl Earring. He started his career with large scale biblical and mythological paintings, but later reached fame with his depictions of the daily middle class domestic life in interior settings. His work is praised for the purity of light and form, which created a sense of serenity, timelessness, and dignity. But his life wasn t as dignified and serene as his artwork may show. ’
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Vermeer and his wife bore 15 children, four of whom died during infancy. As a selective painter who only took certain commissions and only sold to local patrons, it was hard to put food on the table for a family of 13. He lived in Holland when France invaded the country, and was listed as a member of the civic guards and being put on the defense
line. He suddenly died at the ripe age of 42, leaving his wife and children in enormous debt. His wife blamed her husband s death due to stress for not being able to provide for his family, which also led him to becoming extremely depressed. Despite his incredible talent and depiction of middle class women, Vermeer only created 36 paintings in his lifetime. ’
4. REMBRANDT HARMENSZOON VAN RIJN (1606-1669) Rembrandt was a famous Baroque painter and receives praise for his realistic approach to his work. He actually achieved fame at a young age, and was a recognized portraitist by his mid twenties. He became wealthy at this age, and learned a few bad financial habits. He became greedy and spent most of his money buying extravagant goods from different countries just for show, which bit him in the ass later in his life. Rembrandt married young, and his wife bore three children that all died during infancy. His wife bore him a fourth child, and she died a year after that. Vermeer had an affair with his maid and ended up marrying again to a different younger woman and his life really began to spiral. -
The Anglo Dutch war that started in 1652 and lasted two years brought upon desperate times for Vermeer. The money he was making through commissions couldn t compete with his spending habits, and this war took away most of his commission work. Vermeer had to sell of his prized possessions at local auctions which didn t have as good of a turn out as he expected. He declared bankruptcy after that. Then in 1663 his second wife died, and then his son died five years later, leaving him alone and poor. He died alone and malnourished 11 months after his son s death, with an unfinished painting still sitting on his easel at his home. i mean, how sad is that? -
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3. MICHELANGELO MERISI DA CARAVAGGIO (1571-1610) Caravaggio is the real life rebel of the 16th century. Often referenced as pernicious poison, the anti Christ of art, and the decline and total ruin of painting, Caravaggio s life of darkness is easily depicted in his art. He was born in the midst of a terrible poverty and famine in Milan, and has no actual birth record. The plague of 1567 took his father and grandfather, leaving a six year old Caravaggio exposed to the cruelties of life. He ran away from home at the age of 21 to pursue his painting career and started getting commission in 1594. His work was often seen as controversial, played on the borderline of indecent naturalism, and sometimes even morally questionable. One time he actually used a corpse of a drowned prostitute he found as a model for one of his famous pieces. -
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Caravaggio and his gang spent a lot of time wandering the
streets and engaging in legal issues in Rome. The definition of a tortured soul, oftentimes he was seen walking in the middle of the night with his black messy hair and untrimmed beard dressed in all black with a black dog, brandishing swords and daggers as he walked. He was charged with assault, illegal weapons, harassing the police, and having street brawls. Even though his talent is indescribable, his lack of sense of direction is what brought about his end. At one point he was forced to flee Rome, leaving him unable to complete a commission piece. A little before his death, he actually killed someone by stabbing him in the groin and had to spend the last of his years running from city to city, from prison to prison. His fame lasted only a few years and his name was forgotten. No one actually knows how he died and his body has yet to be found.
2. HENRI DE TOULOUSELAUTREC (1864-1901) Toulouse Lautrec was a Post Impressionist painter born into an aristocratic family, but suffered from the effects of inbreeding. He broke both of his thigh bones in his early teens and never recovered properly, stunting his growth. He stood at 5 1 , with an adult sized torso and child sized legs. He walked with a cane and couldn t take part in activities with other people his age, so his loneliness led himself to get immersed in art. -
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He was drawn to Paris s nightlife and the Monmartre bohemian lifestyle, and spent a lot of his time drawing dancers and singers in these areas which led to him becoming the premier poster artist of Paris. He often lived in brothels for weeks at a time, befriending many lesbians and prostitutes. He took pride in how his work defined his love for women, whether fabulous or fallen, and expressed his generosity and sympathy towards them. As the loneliness and self consciousness got to him, Toulouse Lautrec became an alcoholic. His alcoholism was so bad that he would hollow out his cane and fill it with absnthe so he would always have some access to a drink. He was admitted into a sanatorium for his addiction and his syphilis, and died at his mother s home alone and sober. ’
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1. VINCENT VAN GOGH (1853-1890) One of the most famous Post Impressionist painters today, Van Gogh fought a lot of internal battles that made him the truly most tortured artist of our time. At a young age he was already extremely emotional, lacked self confidence, and struggled with identity and direction in life. Originally he wanted to follow in his father s footsteps to become a pastor,but he didn t like the pressure it had on him so he looked to painting instead. -
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Van Gogh had fits of madness and lucidity at the start of his artistic career, and as a result had to spend some time in an asylum for treatment. He was diagnosed with manic depression, epilepsy, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and lead poisoning. He lived most of his adult life in poverty, malnutrition and was often overworked, spending all the money he had on art supplies, cigarettes and coffee.
During his entire 47 years of living, he only sold one painting. He cut off his ear due to a seizure while fighting with friend foe Gaugin, because he kept hearing critics saying negative things about his work. He ate paint, because he sincerely thought eating colors would make him happy. He drank a lot of absinthe to help the hallucinations, but it never worked. He shot himself in the chest to commit suicide but survived and lived the next 29 hours after the gunshot, giving him time to walk to a physician s house and dying in a hospital. He failed at killing himself and ended up dying from an infection from the bullet, and his last words were, the sadness will last forever. /
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SCENE
TATTOO HYPE LOSING ITS EDGE The culture of tattooing has been changing slowly over time, and our modern hipster culture can t get enough of this body mod trend. As the live music capital of the world and home to SXSW and ACL, Austin has definitely jumped into this new art scene and is thriving. With tattoo parlors almost as common as local coffee shops and tattoo artists considering their pieces as real artwork, this ancient form of self expression isn t as unique as it used to be. ’
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Honestly, it s getting to the point where it s more unique and edgy to NOT have a tattoo. Once considered as a form of nonconformity and self identification, tattoos are starting to all blur together and look the same. And the trend is spreading. Tattooing isn t a cool hip city thing anymore. I mean, it s getting to the point where my Korean grandma that lives in the suburbs is starting to notice and I think that s kind of ridiculous. ’
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Tattooing has been around since the beginning of humanity, but its meaning has changed as time progressed. In the past, having tattoos often had a negative connotation relating people to gang violence, unforgivable sin, or physical disabilities. Otzi the Iceman, for example, was discovered with tattoos of short, vertical, parallel lines on both sides of his spine, a cruciform mark behind his right knee, and various marks around both of his ankles. Otzi was found in 1991 in a mountain range on the Austrian Italian border, and it is assumed that Otzi lived around 3,300 BCE. His tattoos may have been related to pain relief treatments like acupuncture, as he seemed to suffer from joint and bone density problems. -
Later in the years, tattooing found its way in Asian and European cultures as forms of markings for wrongdoings or gang relations. The Yakuza in 27th century Japan, for example, all covered their entire upper bodies in tattoos to make them stand out in society. They were the largest organized crime group in the world and still remain in Japanese society today. Often associated with violence and criminal behaviors, people with tattoos in Japan are often avoided and feared. In Europe, tattoos were also associated with gangs, crime, and sin. It was an art often associated with sailors and the lower and criminal class, where self identification became an important value of society. Oftentimes, public school boys and teen gangs like skinheads and bikers sported tattoos in a form of amateur fashion to appear as rebels and rule breakers and easily associate themselves with specific social groups. -
But as time progressed and sticking it to the man became a normal thing that anyone could do, tattooing lost its unique and edgy sparkle. Band members started repping them, fans of those bands started getting tattoos of the bands, and fans of those fans starting getting tattoos too. Caree Otis, a Calvin Klein model from the late 80 s and 90 s posed in Cosmo and Vogue with her tattoo showing. Johnny Depp got a tattoo of Winona Ryder s name on his arm to show his passion and never ending love for her to the rest of the world. ’
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Originally in North America, tattooing was common for sailors and soldiers so identifying their bodies would be easier. Now there are television shows dedicated to it and tattooing has transformed from an image of deviance and nonconformity to a major form of pop culture. As tattooing has become a trend and an accessible form of art and self expression, its once scary and menacing appeal has dwindled. Tramp stamps have become a joke, anchor tattoos have lost almost all of its respect, and the once respectable tribal tattoo is now considered just plain douche y. Siblings are getting matching tattoos to bring them together. Tattoo parlors themselves have lost their intimidating vibes as they started doing Friday the 13th specials and holiday themed tattoo nights. -
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Regardless of their less scary appeal, tattooing has been more associated with artistry and has been more acceptable than in the past due to the value of individualism over collectivism in modern day society. Tattoo artists are being recognized for their body art, and are getting opportunities to show their talents for others. -
Tattooing has also become a more accessible to the public as well. Stick and poke, for example, is a growing trend among the pastel goth scene. People can now buy their own tattooing kits and make their own tattoos in their own homes and on each other instead of planning appointments and consultation with professionals and paying hundreds of dollars. Parents today seem to be concerned with this growing trend of permanent body modification, and honestly, I get it. Tattooing has lost its true meaning, and getting them done is too easy now. Getting a tattoo doesn t require much thinking anymore, when once it led to real consequences. Now, tattoos are being accepted in the professional world, and people of my generation are actually looking forward to growing old and having these tattoos on them. ’
Maybe it s because we are a part of such a headstrong and no ragrets generation, but this careless tattooing fad is a little worrisome. I guess all we can do is wait for the effects in the next half century, and see if there s going to be a huge I told you so moment. Trends do come and go, and tattooing might be one of them. ’
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Because tattooing isn t as edgy as it used to be, will the future generations have to look at other forms of body modification to get the edgy look again? I don t know, and I really hope not. ’
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FEATURE
PARIS ATTACKS, US NEWS COVERAGE, AND AUDIENCE REACTION On November 13, a series of terrorist attacks occurred in Paris resulting in the death of 129 citizens. The acts consisted of suicide bombings, mass shootings and hostage takings and the event is considered the worst attack in France since World War II. -
Three suicide bombings occurred outside of Stade de France in Saint Denis, along with another suicide bombing and a series of mass shootings in four other locations in Paris. Aside from the death of 129 citizens, the attacks left 380 injured and seven of the attackers dead. -
ISIL, or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, has taken full responsibility for the attacks, stating that it was a form of retaliation for the French involvement in the Syrian Civil War and the Iraqi Civil War. The incidents in Paris for the past few weeks has made a strong presence in social media. In a positive light, apps like Facebook allowed its users to check in to insure safety. The overlay of the French flag on profile pictures to express solidarity and support went viral as well. Articles about the event have become easy to access and read as they pop up on newsfeeds and are shared between friends. “
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But even as social media is being utilized to inform society members about the Paris attacks, it also opens up the floor for much criticism towards social media and news sources.
Glenn Greenwald, co founding editor of The Intercept accused CNN for encouraging Islamophobia, stating that CNN opinionates its facts and is allowed to demonize Muslims. Greenwald referenced a recent clip of CNN anchors John Vause and Isha Sesay blaming the community of French Muslims for not doing enough before and after the attacks. -
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Why is it that no one within the Muslim community there in France knew what these guys were up to? asked Vause in the clip. “
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Surely someone beyond the seven guys who ve been killed over the last 48 hours would have to have known something and that was probably within the Muslim community but yet no one said anything. “
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CNN is still considered a reputable news source, yet their filter on religious tolerance has come into question. Even though these questions may seem valid to some, it s clear that these terrorist attacks in Paris didn t happen solely because of religious influence. ’
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St. Edward s students from France kept up with what was happening in their country through friends, family, and French news sources instead of referencing social media or American news channels for information. ’
I learned about what happened mostly through my friends, and I didn t really keep up with the US coverage of the incidents at all, said junior Bea de Vega Contreras. “
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Other students, like junior Ismael Bassam, watched both American and French news coverage to compare and contrast the different perspectives. He concluded that while the French news focused on what the nation was to do from this point on, American news couldn t shake off how religion came into play in regards to the attacks. ’
Even though these attacks were devastating and shocking, correlating anentire religion, especially the second most popular religion in the world, to terrorism doesn t seem very religiously tolerant or considerate. ’
I know that these are people guided by their own interpretations of Islam and seem to use the religion as excuses for impulsive actions, because Islam doesn t encourage people to spread the religion through force or massacre, said Contreras. “
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Another point that Contreras makes is that these attacks are not just happening in Paris. Because of the attention the City of Lights has been getting, other nations are getting swept up into the shadows. Countries like Syria are still struggling, yet the United States seem to look away because a more westernized nation has been messed with. According to CNN.com, the suspected mastermind of the attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was killed on Wednesday in a major police operation in Saint Denis. Whether or not his death resulted from Abaaoud blowing himself up or a police raid remains unknown. -
On Friday, a mosque in Pflugerville was vandalized. Feces was splattered and a Quran was torn up and was found by members of the Islamic Center of Pflugerville when they went to open their mosque to pray. The FBI is closely monitoring groups of people they think pose the highest threat of attempting copy cat attacks in the United States. -
AUTHOR'SÂ BIOGRAPHY Jasmine Kim is a Senior at St. Edward s University, majoring in Communication with a concentration in Public Relations and Advertising. She is also pursuing a Journalism minor, and hopes to attend journalism school after she graduates in May. '
She currently is the editor in chief for New Literati, a literary magazine at St. Edward s University and will be the co editor for the Life and Arts section of Hilltop Views, the St. Edward s school newspaper. for the spring semester. -
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With a passion in writing as well as visual art and art history, she hopes to incorporate and shape her creative background, innovative thinking and drive into a career that she loves.