who am i?
My name is Astra and I am the second youngest of my five siblings and a first year university student hoping to major in some sort of art.
where am i?
I currently reside in Portland, Oregon. The same location I was born and raised, in the same house, for the most part.
why am i taking this class?
I essentially fell in love with analog photography and became intrigued by the films that came before the colorized movies full of soundscapes that we know today after taking a course in film history and black and white photography over the summer when I was a rising junior in high school.
I am very fond of history for some reason, specifically around film and art. I tend to gravitate towards it after spending over eight years learning about US history and government history, and post-cold war history.
Silent film specifically is very intriguing. I can't help but think of John Cage, of course early film came before him, and how he used silence as a tool. It makes me wonder about how silence might've been a tool instead of something that hindered the creation of films. But thats probably neither here nor there.
Silent film specifically is very intriguing. I can't help but think of John Cage, of course early film came before him, and how he used silence as a tool. It makes me wonder about how silence might've been a tool instead of something that hindered the creation of films. But thats probably neither here nor there.
what am i up to in quarantine?
I have been becoming more creative with how to spend my days.
I have put in time to create a 'watch list' with my high school friend that includes many movies that we will watch together during and after social distancing orders.
I have started creating collages in my sketchbook, as well as using a photo I have taken as a reference for a new drawing I am starting.
I have been doing a lot of reading. I'm currently reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, and Simulations by Jean Baudrillard. Yes, Simulations is most definitely for a New Media in Art course.
Other than that I have been watching unhealthy amounts of Netflix, keeping up with my friends through social media and FaceTime, as well as avoiding contact with other humans outside of my family.
My partner was born and raised in Portland too! Her parents still live in the same house that she was raised in near Wilson high school. We go there almost every summer. As you will learn in the first unit of the class, the name "silent film" is somewhat of a misnomer as silent film was rarely actually silent! It usually involved some sort of musical accompaniment or narration. It's actually more correct to think of it as pre-synchronized sound film but that name doesnt have the same catchy ring. I'm actually a big fan of Simulations but it is a hard text. I wonder if you'll see any overlap between this course and your new media course.
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