Change of Mind: Renaissance Music

As we listened to Renaissance music in Class, I realized how different the music was compared to today. The music style and the way people danced was very funny and it was not my style. I thought it was too old style compared to today's art. Then I began to think about how different Renaissance art was compared to the 21st century art. If music was so different, then the paintings and drawings would be different too. So I went to Google to research different artists and their works from the Renaissance time. I noticed I knew some artists like Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Rembrandt van Rijn. I was most familiar with Rembrandt's works because I have been into his house during my art trip to Europe. I was very excited to see them again!

As I was comparing the art from the Renaissance to contemporary art, I noticed one thing. Of course, the style was very different from each other. But one thing I noticed was that works from Renaissance time was almost all landscapes and people. Compared to that, contemporary art was about being unique and different. The portraits of people from Renaissance was so exact and still. However, the portraits of people from the contemporary art varied from using photo shops to deform people's faces to drawing stick figures. The idea that art is always changing came into my mind. I realized how much art changed from the Renaissance times. The clothes people wear, music we listen to, paintings, drawings, sculptures, all have changed so much over the years.

Change of Mind: Sophie's World

Before reading Sophie's World, I didn't know what philosophy was. I knew what philosophy was so I never really paid attention to philosophy. About two years ago, my friend John, who is all into philosophy, tried to get me interested in philosophy. He tried to explain to me what philosophy was and how fun philosophy could be once you are into it. However, back then, I found philosophy the most boring subject. Even worse than math and science.

After reading Sophie's World, I learned so many new things about Philosophy. The most interesting thing was how philosophy was formed. Reading through a novel was so much better than listening to John. At first, Sophie's stories drew me to the book. Sophie's World was not a book where it was only about philosophy but the little stories in between philosophy made it enjoyable for me. Sophie's World made it easier for me to understand and become interested in philosophy!

Best of Today: J.S. Bach's Chaconne in D Minor

In class, we listened to J.S. Bach's Chaconne in D Minor. While I was listening to it, I noticed that a work of art such as painting or drawing is similar to music. Before hearing this music and having a classroom discussion, I thought a painting and music were very different things. After today, I realized that those two things go together.

Both a painting drawn by someone and music composed by someone makes you think a lot. It takes you to a level you never experienced before. The things you miss out could be found again through music and a painting. Also, both of those art works provide different perspectives. There are so many perspectives that could be seen even through only one art work. Not only that, every time we look at an art work, we always see something different. I finally understood this time when Mr. Allen was telling the class that every time he listens, he hears some thing new. In the beginning of humanities, I wasn't able to understand what he meant but through this activity, I realized what he meant.

iMedia: Hofesh Shechter

Hofesh Shechter is one of the most famous young choreographers in United Kingdom. They compose their own music to dance to. They are modern day dancers. Hofesh Shechter striked me with their dance. The way they dance is so much different from dancers on televisions shows or performers for street dance. Through their dance, they tell a story and express the words in to movements. I was only used to seeing dances such as break dancing or dances in music videos. Hofesh Shechter's dance was very different. Their dances were not made to amuse people or brag about how many difficult dance moves they could do. Instead, they match their dance to their music and makes their performance as one thing. The movement is also different. They move in groups so there is a lot of movement going on for the audiences to see.

Dances for break dancing or hip hop does not make me think. However, the dance performance Hofesh Shechter did made me think. If I was watching a hip hop performance, I would be amazed at all the different style and difficult moves the dancers were doing. At the end of the show, I would been entertained. However, if I was watching Hofesh Shechter's performance, their dance would leave me with some thing to think about. I would question such things like what was the theme of that first part? Why were they standing in big groups? What was the thing they wanted the audience to understand?

When I went to go see a dance group that was similar to Hofesh Shechter in Korea, I found it boring in the beginning. They were not very good at dancing and I was expecting a dance show with head spins, moon walks, and crip walks. When the dance show was over, I was left with all kinds of questions. It was my first time to go see a dance show like that one. I was very confused. However, the more I read about them, I began to understand the modern day dances.

Best of Week: Born into Brothels

When we finished the week by watching Born into Brothels, different thoughts came into my head. The children living in Brothels were so much different from me. They were different from my friends and families. It made me realize that I was getting all the things that I needed. They did not have enough money to go to school in America while I was able to be educated in America. I felt ashamed of the complaints that I always had because I was not getting the things that I wanted. I never knew or thought about the children living in those kind of areas. I did not know that kids were born in brothels. This movie made me think how unfair societies could be. The kids in the movie were different from us because they came from different society that most of us in our class are not familier with. If only they were born in a better condition than Brothels, some of them might have had achieved thier dreams. Even the parents were not very supporting. In my case, my parents would never even think about making me become a prostitute. However, some parents of the girls wanted their kids to continue on thier jobs. I felt like I had no connection with the kids in the movie and that thought shocked me.

Metacognition: QE Essay

For my QE Essay, I thought about writing from my personal experience. My personal experience that I had made it easier for me to connect to my QE Essay. The QE Essay made me think at a higher level. Before, I did not understand why my mom was spending so much money just on books. However, after writing my QE Essay, it made me realize how the books played a huge role in my mind, it made me thank her.

My thoughts changed throughout the essay. All the creative thoughts come from reading. When I would read a story that draws me in, I used to think that the author was just very good at writing. I was surprised to find out that my mind changed the thoughts that I had. I realize that being creative takes more than just thinking. Reading plays a huge role in creative thinking. It was QE Essay that changed my views toward reading. In order to be creative, people should enjoy reading.

Blogging Around: Dasom and Vanessa

Dasom wrote about how she enjoys doing her mindbook and inside her mindbook, she could enter all her ideas about what she wants to express. The way she described her intention on her each mindbook assignment, I thought it was very unique and creative

Hannah Roh said...
Me too. I enjoy doing mindbook. Mindbook is the one place other than my sketchbook. I could write or do anything I want to. I liked how you wrote that in mindbook, you could express all your thoughts. I loved the idea of your first entry. I also agree with that idea that beauty is what is really inside a person, not what is on the surface. To really know a person, you have to know them really well and when you are close to that person, that is the point when you decide if that person is really beautiful or not. From reading your blog post, it feels like your mindbook will be full of your thoughts and very creative! :D
October 8, 2009 10:18 PM



Vanessa described about the roles in society and how every role in society is important in some way. Her blog shows how her thoughts changed about the roles of artists. She mentions that without artists, people will not be able to enjoy the world as it is now.

Hannah Roh said...
I agree with your post. I agree that when you name the most importants roles needed in society, artists are not the the first thing that comes up to mind. If I was given the same question, I would have said the same things you thought. I liked how you mentioned that without artists, the walls would be empty and there will be no beauty in the world. Your post changed my mind about artists' roles in society and that their roles are as important.
October 8, 2009 10:30 PM

Metacongnition: Mindbook

For mind books, I want my mind book to be creative. It takes a lot of time when I am starting a new mind book page. In such a little space, so many of my thoughts has to be crammed in. Most of my thoughts end up being taken out of my mind while working on the mind book. Everyone's mind book is different from each other. Each mind book is unique. They have different ways of expressing their thoughts. All thoughts are creative and different. My friend was explaining about her mind book to me about how she used a thread to represent her thoughts. I found it to be very unique and creative. However, after school, she told me one of her classmate used thread to represent her thoughts. Now, does that become unique anymore?

Jackson Pollock was special because no one thought of doing such thing. If there was someone that had the same idea as Jackson Pollock, he would not be as famous as he is now. That thought becomes something other people could not think of. I always thought creativity was creating something that no one could think of. But now my thoughts changed. What if two people had thought of the most creative idea? It should not be as creative since two people had the same idea. Then what does that idea become? If two people could think of it, then another person could have thought of the same idea too.

Best of Week: My Self Portrait

During the summer break, I was in Korea. On Saturdays, I went to an art studio about five minute walk from my house. I was working on my self portrait with oil paint. I got to the studio at about ten in the morning and I was the first one to arrive. I had been working on this self portrait for a long time. Self portrait meant expressing my self to the colleges I apply to. I took the most time for this piece so there would be no mistakes. When I showed my paintings to all my friends , they were amazed and told me how good my works were. Most of my friends picked out my self portrait as their favorite pieces.

The seats in my studio was arranged so that two people would share one table. The seats were arranged so that everyone could look at other's works and learn from them. Monday was the due date for the paintings. I came up with an idea that would separate my painting from the rest. I wanted my painting to stand out among others. It took me about 8 hours of trying different styles to create my own style. Before I came to the art studio, I showed my painting to my friend who attended a different art studio. Later through out the day, I found out that my friend used my idea and got all the credit for herself at her art studio.

When I was reading about the Television article, I sort of felt a little connection to him. However, I observed that Farnsworth was wrong. I disagreed that he gave up his hopes when his idea got taken away. Farnsworth could have lived his life by realizing that he was the one who really invented the television. Now, everyone who knows of Farnsworth knows that without Farnsworth, there would have been no television. Unlike Farnsworth, if someone takes my idea again, I am going to come up with another idea that is better than the old idea.

Connection: Magritte and Creativity

In class, we learned about the different types of creative personalities. Even thought all the aspects of personality that were being mentioned was important to have, I thought the fourth statement was most important to have as a creative person. It states the idea that creative people are both in the world of imagination, fantasy, and reality. When I was reading section of paragraph, one of my most influential artist came up to my mind. Magritte, who is known for surrealism, could connect to this section. Those relate to each other since Magritte is sort of the artist who lives in his imagination. He thinks very differently from others. Magritte's paintings stand out to the audience because his paintings go beyond what artists thought back in his days. They inform each other since creative means understanding imagination and reality. Artists need to go beyond what normal people thinks, otherwise they can not create anything new. However, they also need to be informed about their reality and the things happening around them. Magritte's surrealistic paintings always influenced me. His works are so creative, it becomes more interesting every time I review his works.

Change of Mind: Vertical Listening

Learning how to play the piano was the biggest achievement when I was young. By learning how to play the piano, I began to listen to different classical music. Classical music was like a lullaby for me when I first started listening. As time went by, I started to enjoy listening to classical music. As I became older, classical music fascinated me.

Last Tuesday, when I listened to Maple Leaf Rag for the first time, it was just another classical and joyful music played on the piano. I was very familiar with the song. The first time I heard it, I heard the same music I heard back when I was young. However, when I was instructed to concentrate only on the bass part, I heard a completely different melody. Vertical listening improved my listening. After listening to it the fourth time, I was able to switch and concentrate on bass part, melody part, and the two combined together.

After practicing vertical listening, I realized that the bass and the melody sounded very different from each other. I did not realize this since when I listened to music, I would only be able to hear the two melodies combined together. Through this activity, now, I could enjoy hearing the bass part and blocking out the melody. Before, my opinion of the music was that, in a music, the melody is the most important part and bass is just there to keep a steady beat. After, I realized that bass is as important as the melody and without bass, a song would feel extremely empty.