Class 1

Janel Munoa - "Exhuming Andrew" Music Video

The composition used in the video was very well done. I enjoyed the music-- but it was much too loud in comparison to her voice, so I failed to catch most of the lyrics. The most visually compelling part, in my opinion, was when she vigorously drew on the wall with the coal and the residue flew everywhere with each stroke. It was not only symbolic, but very interesting to watch. I also adored the way her drawings came to life, like they could hear her and were awakened by her words. I thought it was interesting that the visually 'disturbing' images she chose were mostly of animals (buffaloes) and bombs exploding, but humans were not displayed until the very end when the audience was shown a picture of numerous amounts of wrapped up corpses. I'm not sure of the symbolic meaning behind that, but there probably is one. The music video was also timed perfectly to match the beat of the music, an element I liked very much!



Robert Adams - Photography

His photography was very beautiful. I especially loved his black and white pieces, because of the sheer contrast and attention to detail I saw in most of them. The picture with the black smoke against the white sky and the lone tree in the background was absolutely riveting. I found it interesting when he mentioned how he thought he was taking pictures of things he did not like, but as he continued to public his photographs he realized that they were beautiful. The images seem to be a connection for him as well, to the environment and the history behind each site. Through his photographs, he can not only convey what he sees to the audience, he can show the beauty and destruction in every inch. His work was similar to the music video we saw because of the truth it showed, never trying to make anything look beautiful but instead bringing out the beauty while still showing the ugliness.


An-My Le - photography

Her pictures have more of a personal feel to them than Adams', maybe because she has a history in those areas herself, maybe because she connects easier to where she used to live and what directly effected her, but these photographs were so much more enticing. I liked her statement that not having complete control over her subjects almost made her pictures better because she was able to capture the feeling behind the composition that way. Just like the first two artists, she brought out the history of her environment through her art.