This final project we had to do is the research through art project. For this assignment we we required to explore an area of research, whether it be research we are currently doing outside of class or some small research to do just for this class, and then explore this research through art. We had to express this art through a video about the research using the art skills that we have learned as well as creating a website for our project. I ended up doing mine on the psychological effects employed by video game boss battles. Overall I really enjoyed this assignment as it allowed us the freedom to do anything we wanted for the video portion. I also enjoyed the idea of using art to supplement research. I think that is a great way to help bring information across.
Throughout this class we have learned a variety of skills. Before taking this class I only had a vague idea of how to use photoshop but now I understand it a lot better. Certain assignments taught me different skills such as movie making, photo editing, and good photo composition. The skills I learned in this class I will definitely use in the future. Having the ability to do a little graphic design goes a long way. As a computer science major I will be creating websites and programs regularly. The ability to design these things to look good is a valuable asset.
In the past I’ve never really thought about identity much. I have thought even less about personal identity. This class was the first to really bring that to my attention, which segways nicely into my RA leadership class where we discussed the same thing. Through the usage of art our goal to to explore that identity. Throughout this class this identity portion of each assignment is definitely the portion I struggled with the most. Most assignments I was never sure about what the identity component would be, however I believe that I got better at this as the semester went on.
I greatly enjoyed many of the assignments in this class. They allowed me do activities that I wouldn’t have otherwise done. For example, A friend of mine and I had been planning on making funny videos for a good portion of the year however we never had the time to do it. The iMovie project gave us the motivation to actually start making videos. The iMovie project was probably my favorite assignment. This is because for that assignment we had to make a video about a story so a friend of mine and I went over to the arboretum across the river to film. I had previously never been to the arboretum so this assignment transitively allowed my to discover the cool gardens there. I enjoyed almost every assignment in this class. What made many of the assignments great was the freedom and the creativity to design each project as creatively as you want. This class was wonderful and I thoroughly enjoyed each assignment.